Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to rise in the House today to praise and bring attention in this place to the upcoming Yorkton Film Festival. The Yorkton Film Festival is the longest-running film festival in North America. It was established in 1947. This will be its 71st year of celebrating short films. In 1956, it instituted the Golden Sheaf Awards. Filmmakers originating from the Netherlands, India, Sweden, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Norway, France, and the United States have all competed for our Canadian prize.
It surprises many that Yorkton, a small city of 16,000-plus people in the heart of Saskatchewan, has managed to continually pull off one of the most prominent film festivals in the world with class and perfection, but it is not a surprise to me. I am honoured to be presenting the Golden Sheaf Telefilm award at the Yorkton Film Festival red carpet dinner this coming Saturday evening.