Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA Brenda Bakken Lackey will take part in the annual meeting for the Midwestern Legislative Conference, a joint U.S.-Canada group of Midwestern lawmakers, which will be held for the first time ever in Canada.

The 60th annual conference will be held on July 31-Aug. 3 in Regina, and will discuss issues of importance to the region.

The MLA will take part in numerous public policy sessions, with planned topics to include homeland and border security, strengthening state and provincial energy policies, and growing the Midwestern economy.

There will also be workshops on the importance of U.S.-Canada relations, and on the contrast between the two countries' health care systems.

Speakers will include Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph Ellis, and journalist and political analyst Morton Kondracke.

The Midwestern Legislative Conference includes Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario as affiliate members, with the legislators of 11 states as members, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.