ACRE MAKES FIRST RECOMMENDATIONS

The Action Committee on the Rural Economy (ACRE) today recommended six

preliminary stepping stones for rural revitalization to the provincial

government.



ACRE's recommendations are:



Improve access to capital funding;



Develop a rural skills development program to help grow rural

communities;



Improve government approval processes for rural development projects;



Provide universal, affordable high-speed Internet access and cell phone

coverage to all residents throughout Saskatchewan;



Work with the federal government to ensure immigration policy addresses

the labour shortages currently experienced in rural Saskatchewan; and



Fund an industry-led public education program to promote the strengths

and resilience of rural Saskatchewan and the facts about our

competitiveness with other provinces.



ACRE co-chairs Agriculture and Food Minister Clay Serby and Kamsack-area

producer and community leader Audrey Horkoff, announced the recommendations

today following a meeting in Regina.



Serby appointed the 45-member committee last fall. The industry-citizen group

is charged with recommending innovative ideas to stimulate rural economic

development. Its final report is scheduled for the spring of 2002.



"ACRE has made an excellent start on its task of taking an in-depth look at the

big picture and addressing the rapid changes taking place in rural

communities," Serby said.



"In our consultations with rural communities to date, a number of proposals

have already emerged that we feel we can put forward to the government for

immediate action," Horkoff said.



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For more information, contact:



Scott Brown

Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

Regina

Phone: (306) 787-5168