Wilkie is a town in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, located at Section 5, Township 40, Range 19, west of the 3rd Meridian (of the

Dominion Land Survey The Dominion Land Survey (DLS; ) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile (2.6 km2) sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United St ...

). The town is at the junctions of Highways 14, 29, and

784 __NOTOC__ Year 784 ( DCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar, the 784th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 784th year of the 1st millennium, the 84th year of the 8th century, and th ...

. Wilkie is surrounded by the RM of Buffalo No. 409 to the north and the RM of Reford No. 379 to the south.

History

On February 2, 1907, the first post office was established with the name Glenlogan at Section 4, Township 40, Range 19, west of the 3rd Meridian. The post office changed names on October 1, 1908 to Wilkie. The town of Wilkie, Saskatchewan was named after Mr. Daniel Robert Wilkie, who was the president of the

Imperial Bank of Canada The Imperial Bank of Canada was a Canadian bank that operated from 1873 to 1961. In 1961, Imperial merged with the Canadian Bank of Commerce to become the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. History It was founded in 1873 as the Imperial Bank ...

(1906–1914), a backer of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

, and a member of the

Canadian Art Club The Canadian Art Club was an artists' group established in Toronto in 1907 to advance the standards of Canadian art exhibitions and to exhibit the work of distinguished Canadian artists, particularly those who had studied abroad or lived there. ...

. Mr. Wilkie and his family lived at "Seven Oaks", a heritage property at 432 Sherbourne Street, Toronto, which was completed in 1875. His son, Major Arthur Benson Wilkie, graduated from the

Royal Military College of Canada The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as CMR, is a Military academy#Canada, military academy and, since 1959, a List of universities in Canada#Ontario, degree-granting university of the Canadian ...

and served with the

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foo ...

(1901–1920) in

Lucknow, India Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

(1902); Thorncliffe, England (1903–04);

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

(1904–05); Candia, Crete (1906); British Legation,

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

(1908); and

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

(1910–1920). His other son Major Charles Stuart (Chas) Wilkie served as a lieutenant with the

Royal Canadian Artillery The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery () is the artillery personnel branch of the Canadian Army. History Many of the units and batteries of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery are older than the Dominion of Canada itself. The first arti ...

(1899–1919) and volunteered with the 10th Regiment in South Africa during the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

(1899–1900) and during the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Wilkie was once home to "The World's Largest Grasshopper" (a

roadside attraction A roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road meant to attract tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere, rather than being a destination. They are frequently advertised with billboard (advertis ...

), which used to be located in front of the town rink and hall.

Transportation

Wilkie is a station on the

line from

Portage la Prairie Portage la Prairie () is a small city in the Central Plains Region of Manitoba, Canada. In 2016, the population was 13,304 and the land area was . Portage la Prairie is approximately west of Winnipeg, along the Trans-Canada Highway (exactly ...

, via

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, 160 kilometres west of Saskatoon. Wilkie is also the starting point of Canadian Pacific's Reford Branch, to Kerrobert, to the south-west, and of the former Kelfield Branch, of the CPR, to Kelfield, south. Adjacent to Wilkie is the abandoned aerodrome, Wilkie Airport.

Parks and recreation

Wilkie Regional Park () is a

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distr ...

that was established on February 24, 1970 on land owned by the town. The park is well treed and features 22 campsites, four ball diamonds, and a picnic area. It is located along the west side of town along Highway 29. On the south side of town is Wilkie Golf Club. It is a 9-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

with grass greens. The Wilkie Saskcan Community Centre has an ice rink and curling rink. On October 9, 2015, an electrical fire caused significant damage to the building. In 2019, Wilkie was a top four ''

Kraft Hockeyville ''Kraft Hockeyville'' is an annual competition sponsored by Kraft Heinz, the National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Association in which communities compete to demonstrate their commitment to the sport of ice hockey. The winning community ...

'' finalist. Funds from that and a campaign started by Brett Wilson, raised $126,000 for a new ice plant for the facility. Installation of the new ice plant started in the summer of 2021 and was up and running by September 29, 2021.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Wilkie had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Education

Wilkie is home to Norman Carter Elementary School (k–6) and McLurg High School (7–12).

Latimer controversy

Wilkie was the site of the controversial murder of Tracy Latimer, a 12-year-old girl with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

, on October 24, 1993. Her father, Robert Latimer, killed her via

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...

poisoning at the Latimer family farm near Wilkie, wanting to end her suffering. The case sparked a national controversy on the definition and ethics of

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

, as well as the rights of people with disabilities. The killing led to two Supreme Court decisions, R. v. Latimer (1997), on

Section Ten of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

, and later R. v. Latimer (2001), on cruel and unusual punishments under

Section Twelve of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as part of the Constitution of Canada, is a legal rights section that protects an individual's freedom from cruel and unusual punishments in Canada. The section has generated some case la ...

. Latimer was released on day parole in March 2008 and was granted full parole on November 29, 2010.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Buffalo No. 409, Saskatchewan Towns in Saskatchewan Division No. 13, Saskatchewan