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Yes, my home province, having already launched the first avowedly socialist government in North America, the first publicly-funded universal health care, flat land of the co-op, is taking the next natural step in its collective(ist) history.
Residents and visitors to the downtown business districts and post-secondary institutions of Saskatchewan’s four largest centres will soon be able to access the country’s largest wireless Internet network, free-of-charge. Premier Lorne Calvert and Minister responsible for Information Technology Andrew Thomson made the announcement today in Saskatoon.
Linktribution to Alec Couros.
And go Roughriders!
Update: leave it to a displaced but ancestral nonetheless flatland blogger to make an obvious comparison with the decidedly paranoid reaction from groovy Van Rock City’s finest.
And it wasn’t until I read it on Darren’s blog that my brain processed the name of this initiative as something other than an HTML glitch — remember people, when we hail this worthy effort, let’s not fail to loudly articulate the boldly-placed internal emphasis in the “Saskatchewan! Connect” project. A quick perusal of the government website reveals not only the ultra-cool appropriation of the Roughriders insignia as a URL field favicon, but that the homeland braintrust have embraced aggressive and unorthodox use of the exclamation mark as the core strategy of its marketing blitz. I’m optimistic. I think this is going to work. I really believe they will stem the population drain with their relentless use of dissonant punctuation.
Hell, I’m ready to move back (for the summers, anyway) just so I can literally pronounce the name of every one of these new Saskatchewan! Initiatives every chance I get. This is Freaking! Awesome
Now there is something to both endorse and believe in. Imagine that, free, open wireless access for the people of a lived community. Why does something so civic-minded and right in the age of information, seem so extraordinary and remarkable in this day and age?
You forgot Saskatchewan’s other vital gift to the world – Kaiser!
Good point. Of course, if I want to play Kaiser Online I have to pay for it (and use Windows to boot!)… when will Calvert and Thomson get their priorities straight?
http://www.kaisergame.com/Home/
As it stands, I have to convene three other Saskatchewan expats to make up a game — unless Alan Levine or members of his family happen to be around.
And Rob, accept my sympathies that the Battlefords have yet to become Saskatchewan! Connected.
Gods love Saskatchewan! I want this image in poster size.
And speaking of Kaiser – it’s been awhile since the last kaiserfest… I count two expat Saskies in this house that are game – get a fourth and you’re on.
If only I knew where the poster could be had… it seems the Prairie People’s Populist Proletarian Post-Revolutionary Progressive Printshop has no web presence whatsoever, at least nothing indexed by that name on Google.
You know well that I was thinking of you when I mentioned expats. I agree, we Saskies must prevail, if only in the spirit of prairie forbearance, and the pursuit of the perfect twelve point bid hand — KAISER! KAISER! KAISER!