Call for submissions: The Saskatchewan Issue

With worldwide demand for Saskatchewan resources and the skyrocketing prices of oil, natural gas, grain, potash and uranium, the province now leads the country in economic growth. Couple this trend with the recent election of the right-wing Saskatchewan Party, and Saskatchewan, the birthplace of Canadian socialism, is undergoing significant transformations, including a government attack on workers’ rights, tar sands development and talk of a privately-owned nuclear reactor. What are the implications of Saskatchewan’s polarizing economic boom for the rest of Canada - a country whose progressive activists look to Saskatchewan as a leader in the fight for workers’ rights, public ownership and social justice?

Briarpatch Magazine invites contributions to our December 2008/January 2009 special issue on Saskatchewan politics. We are looking for feature articles, provocative essays, investigative reportage, news briefs, reviews, interviews, profiles, poetry, humour, and artwork that explores issues related to Saskatchewan’s current political, economic, social and environmental climate and its implications for the rest of the country.

Possible topics could include (but are by no means limited to):

• Resource royalties and the booming economy;
• Enterprise Saskatchewan versus democracy;
• Arts & cultural policy;
• The Saskatchewan government’s decision to pull $8 million from Station 20 West;
• The Saskatchewan government’s attack on workers’ rights (Bills C 5 & 6);
• The uranium industry and its push for a nuclear power plant;
• The dropped equalization legal challenge;
• The state of rural Saskatchewan;
• The Status of Women Office (or what remains of it);
• Organizing on the Left;
• Party politics: pitfalls and prospects.

Queries are due by August 22, 2008. If your query is accepted; first drafts are due by September 25, 2008. Your query should outline what ground your contribution will cover, give an estimated word count, and indicate your relevant experience or background in writing about the issue. Please provide a brief writing sample.

Please review our submission guidelines before submitting. Send your queries/submissions to editor AT briarpatchmagazine D0T com.

We reserve the right to edit your work (with your active involvement), and cannot guarantee publication. Briarpatch pays contributors (though not as well as we would like to).