The Saskatchewan Dream
What will every young Saskatchewanian in 2043 dream of?
Everyone has heard of the American Dream. Nuclear family, a cat, a dog, a nice house in a cul-de-sac, a nice car, and a stable job. Well, get ready for the Saskatchewan Dream now that we’re nearing the end of 2043!
First: a single bedroom apartment to live in alone. Now this apartment has got it all: a bed, a fridge, an oven, a microwave, a dining table, and even some chairs.
I know, I know, does it have a dishwasher? Maybe! But probably not.
That would make it cost more than 50 per cent of the paycheck you get each month (you silly goose, you, expecting so much from a landlord).
Hell (if you’re lucky), that single bedroom apartment even has the utilities and parking spot included in the rent!
Next: that paycheck you’re living off of is stable and doesn’t need to fully go towards the things you need to live. You’ve even got a little extra to save or invest with! The job itself isn’t all that exciting (but at least you’ve got one). Plus, it’s paying for your (oh-so extravagant) lifestyle, right?
Third: this one isn’t a requirement, but it’s nice to have if you can afford it and aren’t allergic to it. A pet.
Someone to keep us tied to this plane of existence and keep us coming back to the apartment from work everyday. I know, how exciting (or a poor money and time management decision, depending on who you ask)!
Fourth: if you’re really lucky, maybe you can get in a healthy and happy relationship with someone. Maybe someone of the same gender or even multiple someones (scandalous, I know!), if you’re into that. Doesn’t have to be romantic, though, so don’t worry about that.
Fifth: you have your own vehicle and you don’t owe any money on it! If you do, it’s at least affordable on that stable paycheck of yours.
And last, but definitely not least… Earth is a livable planet (what the actual fuck is a “fire season”). Wild, I know, right? Everybody worked together and we actually managed to reverse climate change to bring us back to when seasons were seasons, in the right months, so we’re going to keep it that way.
I mean, come on, who really thought things were normal, you know? “Fire season.” That’s not a thing! There’s spring, there’s summer, there’s autumn, and there’s winter. Do you see a “fire season” in any of that? No! Because it’s not normal or good that there were flowers blooming in Antarctica in 2023!
I digress, since there are also some small details to go over.
One: groceries aren’t so expensive anymore. Now there is money to spend on other things, like going to the movies, the bar, or a road trip over the summer! Getting pretty extravagant up in here, eh?
Two: education has greatly improved. After the last couple elections, there have been major changes to the education system, including better pay and protections for teachers (who thought treating the people who teach the next generation poorly was a good idea?).
This improved the retention of teachers and quality of teaching, so now Canada and Saskatchewan’s future workers are better prepared to enter the workforce.
Three: housing is more affordable, which means there are less houseless people. Regulations were put in place to stop the usage of MAiD as a round-about way to lower rates of houselessness (if you think killing houseless people is the solution, you have some baggage to unpack).
These next two are big ones when it comes to improving the quality of life for a lot of people in Saskatchewan, also population growth and retention.
The end of harassment, -isms, and -phobias (asking a lot of Saskatchewanians it seems, but a person can hope). For example: racism, homophobia, classism, sexism, transphobia, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism.
It was amazing really, how quickly people realized that being against people who don’t think, look, and act like you or believe in the same things was a really weird and incorrect way of thinking.
The second thing was the increase in things to do in Saskatchewan and the nightlife! So many different things started popping up that you could do at night with friends without having to spend any money.
In 2023 I’m sure this all felt unreachable, and in some cases impossible to ask of Saskatchewanians, but with some hard work and teamwork, we got to where we needed to be for this to be the dream!
