Wednesday June 26, 2013. Day 28

Yorkton to Russell, Manitoba

Paul’s presentation to the meeting in Hong Kong last night was well received but the Skype audio started to break up at the end. Because of this there were questions that were unfortunately left unanswered, at least for now. Paul did get a chance to see and chat with colleagues from WHO and the Public Health Agency of Canada beforehand.

We were back at the Cup and Saucer again at 7:30 a.m.  As we left Yorkton, the skies began to clear and the temperature climbed, hitting 30C by early afternoon. The wind was behind us again and the cycling felt good.

We stopped at the small town of Saltcoats for a break. It was named after the Scottish town that was home to the Allan Shipping Line that brought many of those that immigrated to Canada and settled in the area. It was also the first village created in the Northwest Territories in 1894 and was governed by a system of direct democracy where ratepayers met regularly and made regulations related to sanitation, fire and animals and authorized public works.

We crossed the Saskatchewan/Manitoba boundary about 20 kms before Russell, after which the highway dropped steeply to the Assiniboine River valley and then ascended in a very long  climb. It was the first real hill since North Battleford and a bit of a shock!

Russell, Manitoba has the unfortunate distinction of being home to a Barnardo Industrial Farm,  to which more than 1,660  British children were sent between 1888 and 1907, to  be trained as agricultural workers.

Wildlife Notes: We were “dive-bombed” by nesting Black Terns. Lois even had to duck!

We are now in the traditional territory of the Treaty 2 First Nations. The Waywayseecappo First Nation community is the closest to Russell, but is affiliated with Treaty 4.

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