THREE TO RECEIVE SASKATCHEWAN DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

Premier Roy Romanow and Provincial Secretary Berny Wiens today

announced the 1998 recipients of the Saskatchewan Distinguished

Service Award. The award recognizes exceptional service rendered to

the Province of Saskatchewan and its residents by people in other

countries or in other Canadian provinces and territories.



"When we established the award in 1997, we wanted it to reflect

Saskatchewan's growing contacts both nationally and around the globe,"

Romanow said. "Saskatchewan has a vital interest in its links with

the rest of Canada and with countries around the world and we rely on

international trade for our economic well-being."



"The Distinguished Service Award gives us an opportunity to recognize

partners elsewhere in Canada or around the globe," Wiens said. "The

award complements the two provincial honours, the Saskatchewan Order

of Merit and the Saskatchewan Volunteer Medal, which are open only to

present and former long-time residents of the province. The

recipients just announced are excellent examples of such partners in

finance, research and culture."



The three recipients of the award are:



John Cook, of Toronto, recently retired Vice-President of RBC

DS Global Markets, who has a long history of helping

Saskatchewan with its access to domestic and foreign bond

markets.



Buffy Sainte-Marie, internationally-acclaimed singer and

song-writer, originally from Saskatchewan, who has

maintained close links with her roots. In her visits to

Saskatchewan she promotes Aboriginal culture, education

and youth.



Ian Wahn, of Toronto, born and raised in Saskatchewan,

retired lawyer, former federal M.P.and Cabinet Minister.

In memory of his parents he donated $500,000 to launch the

Technology in Action Fund of the Saskatchewan Research

Council.



Plans for individual presentation events for the three recipients

will be announced at a later date.



The first recipients of the award, in 1997, were U.S. transport

consultant Robert Banks, Canadian broadcaster Peter Gzowski, and

Japanese businessman Moto Motohashi.



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For more information, contact:



Michael Jackson

Chief of Protocol

Regina

Phone: (306) 787-3001