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Home , Capital city, District of Saskatchewan

THE CANADIAN ATLAS ONLINE – GRADE 6 www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas Choosing a Capital for Saskatchewan

Lesson Overview In this lesson students will learn about the important process in choosing an appropriate site for a provincial capital. When Saskatchewan became a in 1905 several communities vied for the honour of becoming the new province’s capital city. Each had advantages and disadvantages to its location and resources. In this lesson students will play the role of civic advisors and will develop a rationale for choosing which community offered the best location to become the centre of government in the new province. Grade Level Grade 6 (may be adapted for Grades 7 and 8) Time Required Teachers should be able to conduct the lesson in one or two classes. Curriculum Connection (Province/ and course) Saskatchewan Social Studies (Grade 6 – Maps and the Earth, Location and Atlases; Grade 9 – Causality, examining cause and effect). Link to the Canadian Atlas Online (CAOL)  www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/ Additional Resources, Materials and Equipment Required  Bristol board, chart paper, and/or PowerPoint, or other presentation software. • “Choosing a Capital City” Rubric – 1 teacher copy • “Choosing a Capital City” student activity sheet – 1 copy for each student. • Historical Atlas of : Volumes 1 and 2 (optional)

Main Objective The primary goal of this lesson is to examine the process by which the capital city of Saskatchewan was selected in 1905 giving the students opportunity, through discussion and role play, to replicate part of the process and choose the location they think would be best. Students will examine the process and what it meant to leading politicians of that period and how they promoted their own community to earn the status of provincial capital.

Learning Outcomes Students will be able to examine the benefits that a city chosen to be the capital of a newly formed province, like Saskatchewan, would enjoy. They will understand and, by the end of the lesson, will be able to: • Describe positive characteristics of a community/city • Decide which characteristics are vital to the growth of a healthy community • Critique many aspects of what makes up a major centre, one which would make a good provincial capital city

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• Discern between strengths of a community and weaknesses that may hinder its growth and to examine solutions to some of those problems • Examine population growth as it related to the influx of immigrants to Saskatchewan at the beginning of the 20 th century • Develop rationale and arguments to support the selection of one community over another for the title of provincial capital

The Lesson The Lesson

Teacher Activity Student Activity Introduction Brainstorming activity: Ask small Students brainstorm and record How will the groups of 2 or 3: #1. What is what is needed to make a /city lesson open? needed to make a town/city a a great place to live. (Possible great place to live? (after 5 answers: shops/malls, recreation minutes record answers on master facilities, green spaces, location for list). #2. Ask: What is needed to entertainment, close to other make a community a good place communities, etc). Student groups for a provincial capital (record share their lists with the whole differences from list #1)? class. Students will begin to see that there Similar activity with students trying are few distinctions in what a capital to distinguish what might be needed city would need. This can lead to a for a capital city (possible answers conclusion that many communities might include: central location, could become a good site for a access to government services – a capital of a province. place for politicians to meet with offices, etc.) Note: This is what many communities believed in 1905 when Saskatchewan became a province and they all thought they should become the capital of the new province!

Lesson Introduce student activity “Choosing Students have 15 minutes fill out Development A Capital City” by dividing class into their Submission Proposal. Then Detail point by 5 teams. Each team represents a they must develop a way to present point how the pre-assigned community. (Each their proposal to a selection lesson will team should have a copy of the committee (or the rest of the class). develop by selection criteria plus their Utilizing the Canadian Atlas Online student and community’s Strengths and teacher activity (refer to maps which show Weaknesses). immigration, development of the Introduce The Canadian Atlas Online railway, and community resources which can aid the students development throughout western in finding supporting evidence for Canada) show how the trends in their community’s strengths and early 1900s support your

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potential. community as having a good future as a capital city.

Conclusion Using Bristol board, chart paper, Each “product” is submitted to the How will the PowerPoint, or other presentation teacher (or panel of judges) to be lesson conclude ? software have each team try to be as evaluated using the attached rubric. What final persuasive as possible. It can also be product or set up in a quasi-debating format culminating where each team has 2 minutes to activity is recap their strong points after all the expected? “presentations” have been given. Recap the realities of the situation within these actual in 1905 where similar debates pitted one community against another in attempts to gain the prize of becoming a “government town.”

Assessment of Student Learning

Further Reading • Waiser, W. A. (2005). Saskatchewan: A New History . Calgary, Fifth House Publishing • Saskatchewan Settlement Experience website: http://sasksettlement.com/index.php - an excellent resource on the settling of Saskatchewan from 1870s to 1930s. Many primary resources which can be utilized by students for their presentations. Excellent teacher resources which tie in with Saskatchewan curriculum outcomes: http://sasksettlement.com/teacher_resources.php • How to read Homestead Records (Section//Range/Meridian): http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cansk/Saskatchewan/homesteadlocatio n.html

Link to Canadian National Standards for Geography Essential Element #1: The World in Spatial Terms • Distribution of major human and physical features at and global scales • Map types (e.g. topographic, navigational, thematic) • Major cities of the province, Canada and the world

Essential Element #2: Places and • Physical and human characteristics of places and regions in Canada and the world • Factors that influence people’s perception of places and regions

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• Changes in places and regions over time • How culture affects places and regions (e.g. cultural landscapes) • Concepts of formal, functional and perceptual regions

Essential Element #4: Human systems • Population density, distribution, and growth rates • Human migration patterns (forced/voluntary) • Types and patterns of human settlement (from to • megacities) • Internal structure of cities • Cities as providers of goods and services

Geographic Skills

Skill #2: Acquiring Geographic Skills • Use a variety of research skills to locate and collect geographic data. • Use maps to collect and/or compile geographic information.

Skill #3: Organizing Geographic Information • Prepare various forms of diagrams, tables and/or charts to organize and display geographic information. • Integrate various types of materials to organize geographic information.

Skill #4: Analyzing Geographic Information • Interpret information obtained from maps and geographic information systems • Use statistics and other quantitative techniques to evaluate geographic information • Interpret and synthesize information obtained from a variety of sources

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STUDENT ACTIVITY “Choosing a Capital” Activity Each team represents a community which, if selected, will become the capital city of the new province of Saskatchewan. From the strengths and weaknesses of your community, compared with the criteria listed below, your team must fill out the attached “Submission Proposal” and present it to the panel of judges. The criteria for a good site are the following (in no particular order): • Plenty of land to allow for future expansion. • Access to the railway to transport immigrants to your area and to take agricultural and manufactured goods to larger centres in eastern Canada. • Traditionally a trading centre with group. • Close to main roads or trails which connect with surrounding communities. • Access to a major source of water (river for fresh water, fishing and transportation or lake for fresh water and fishing). • Access to fuel for heating buildings in winter. • Evidence that your community’s population is growing. • A strong economy with several industries involved in manufacturing and commerce.

Community A: () Strengths: • Located on a large river with ample fresh water, deep enough for transportation by steam-driven river boats, good source of fish. • Large area of land for future expansion. • Incorporated as a city with a rapid increase in population (between 1901 and 1911 the population increased 100-fold from about 120 to 12,000). • Located in very good agricultural land. • Became the divisional centre for both the CPR and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and also located on the Canadian Northern Railway line. • Located near the centre of the new province (easy to travel to other communities).

Weaknesses: • Rapid growth has meant large increase in costs to maintain services such as street and sidewalk construction, sewage and water services, and public transportation. • Larger population has created concerns over crime and abuse of alcohol • Not located on the major CPR. The Canadian Northern Railway has not proven that it will become a major route between and the rest of Eastern Canada

Community B: (Regina) Strengths: • Former capital of the Northwest (currently has the territorial government buildings for the new provincial legislature)

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• Large supply of land for increased growth • Rapidly growing population • Western Canadian centre for the North West Mounted Police. • Human-made lake surrounded by world’s largest green space for a city park (three times larger than ’s Central Park) • Located on the CPR (became the refueling and servicing centre for the CPR in western Canada) • Land is flat with no trees so it is easy to prepare for building houses

Weaknesses: • Not near a large amount of fresh water (for drinking water and for use on the steam locomotives) • No natural windbreak for winter storms. All trees have to be planted. • Soil, though good for growing wheat, is very made from very heavy clay. There is poor drainage (potential for flooding) and large buildings tend to sink in the mud (requires more expensive foundations) • Located in the southern part of the province. The northern part of the province (with most of the rivers, lakes and forests) are difficult to get to. • Rapid growth has meant large increase in costs to maintain services such as street and sidewalk construction, sewage and water services, and public transportation.

Community C () Strengths: • Former capital of (though twenty years earlier the capital had been moved to Regina) • Located where two major rivers meet (good for river transportation to Saskatoon and Prince Albert plus excellent source of fresh water) • A former trading centre for First Nations • Located in good agricultural land not too far from the forests of the north • Located in natural forming valley with ample woodland to provide shelter from the winter winds and fuel for warmth. • Plenty of land for future expansion

Weaknesses: • Not a central location (difficult to travel to southern communities) • Population has decreased in recent years when the Canadian Northern Railway chose to cross the North a few miles to the north at North Battleford

Community D (Moose Jaw) Strengths: • Major repair centre for the CPR (provides many jobs which will help the local economy) • Rapidly growing population (temporarily larger than Regina in early 1900s) • Located in natural forming valley with ample woodland to provide shelter from the winter winds and fuel for warmth.

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• Good supply of fresh water • Plenty of land for future expansion

Weaknesses: • Located in southern part of province (far removed from northern communities) • The Moose Jaw River is not large enough to transport goods and is not connected to any other community

Community E (Prince Albert) Strengths: • Located where the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers meet (good for transporting goods to communities along the rivers) • Former capital of the of Saskatchewan (part of the Northwest Territory), up until 1905 • Serviced by both the Grand Trunk Pacific and the Canadian Northern railway companies. (these were both branch lines extending north from the southern lines). • Rapidly growing population (largest northern community in the new province). Became a city the year before in 1904 • City leaders are willing to try new ideas to attract business to the city (even to build a hydroelectric dam to create electricity) • Close to good agricultural land plus near the northern forests to provide lumber for construction of buildings (known as the Gateway to the North).

Weaknesses: • Willingness to try new ideas (such as hydroelectricity) will not guarantee success • Located a long distance from the communities in the southern part of the province • Only located on railway branch lines, not on any major route

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Choosing a Capital Submission Proposal A. List the five most important characteristics of your community in order from the most important to the least: Strength Reason why this is important

1

2

3

4

5

B. List three weaknesses which can be overcome:

Weakness Problem can be overcome by…

1

2

3

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Choosing a Capital - Rubric

1 point 3 points 5 points Community Strengths Five strengths placed Five strengths placed Five strengths placed Identified in descending order in descending order in descending order but no reasoning but incomplete or with reasons indicated limited reasoning described Weaknesses identified Weaknesses identified Weaknesses identified Community without any proposed but incomplete or and method to Weaknesses method to overcome limited method to overcome problem Identified problem overcome problem explained Presentation has many creative Presentation has Presentation’s Little evidence of elements which help some interesting and Creative Elements creative effort to support the creative elements argument being put forth

Little evidence of Some evidence of Evidence that a good Presentation’s thoughtful supporting thoughtful supporting effort was placed in Persuasive Elements arguments for arguments supporting arguments community

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