Originally established in Edmonton in 1976, the NeWest Review was "a new magazine for the new West," promoting a "radical regionalism" and intended as an antidote and alternative to the central Canadian and U.S.-dominated mainstream culture. University of Saskatchewan professor Don Kerr moved the publication to Saskatoon in 1981. The magazine had contributing editors in all major prairie cities, four volunteers serving as an overall editorial group, and volunteer directors - 20 individuals - working as a collective based in Saskatoon.

The North Atlantic Coast Fisheries Arbitration settled an economic dispute between Canada, the United States, and Great Britain over fishing rights. The dispute centered on the interpretation of several treaties granting American citizens special fishing rights in Canadian and Newfoundland waters. The dispute began in 1905 when Newfoundland introduced new regulations which restricted the fishing rights of American citizens and were enacted and enforced without notice to the Americans. The three countries were unable to settle the issue on their own so they agreed to take the case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. On September 7, 1910, the tribunal ruled that while Canada and Newfoundland had sovereignty over the waters in question, the reasonableness of any new regulations must be allowed to be challenged by the United States. All three countries were pleased with the ruling of the tribunal. Using the ruling, the three countries were able to agree to a new treaty, which was signed in 1912. The new treaty stipulated that at the end of the fishing season, Canada was required to notify the Americans of any new fishing regulations for the following season. The United States was given a set number of days to object to these new regulations. If they filed an objection, a commission would decide if the new regulations were reasonable. If the Americans did not object, then the new regulations were presumed to be reasonable and in effect.

Marketa Newman was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1918. She was married Arthur ("Bobek") Neumann (later changed to Newman), and had two children, Karel (changed to Charles or Chuck) and Eva. She and her family (at the time husband and son) were taken to the "model concentration camp", Terezin, in 1942. The family was not deported to Auschwitz due to the fact that Arthur was the only oral surgeon in the camp and the SS needed one for "decoration" purposes. Kajo (11 months when they arrived) was one of only 100 children who survived, out of 15,000 children who passed through Terezin. The family emigrated to Canada in 1949, first staying in Toronto, and settled in Saskatoon in September 1949. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan (English and French Literature) in 1962; and a Bachelor of Library Science degree from the University of Toronto in 1964. From 1964 until her retirement in 1985 she worked for the University of Saskatchewan Library in the cataloguing, acquisitions, and collection development departments. She was the author of Biographical Dictionary of Saskatchewan Artists - Women Artists (Saskatoon: Fifth House, 1990) and Biographical Dictionary of Saskatchewan Artists - Men Artists (Saskatoon: Fifth House, 1994). In 1997, largely in recognition of the dictionaries, she received an honorary degree from University of Saskatchewan; a Melva J. Dwyer Award from ARLIS Canada (Art Libraries Society of North America); and was one Saskatoon's Women of Distinction (YWCA). She died on 6 November 2000. When she died, she was nearing completion of a biographical dictionary of Saskatchewan folk artists.