Going out with a bang

Jason Kerr
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Going out with a bang

Dyllen Bieker and Katrina Bear took slightly different paths to being honoured for their athletic achievements, but their reactions were almost identical.

On Monday, Bieker and Bear were named Carlton Comprehensive Public High School’s Male and Female Athlete’s of the Year, respectively. Although both athletes have a history of championship wins behind them, this final award still came as a surprise.

“I thought a football player or something would get it,” Bieker chuckled. “I was very shocked and very excited when I was walking up to that stage.”

“I was really shocked,” Bear added. “It didn’t really hit me (at first). I thought, ‘wow, I have that title,’ but it’s not just a title. It’s something much more than that.”

While both students excelled on the basketball court, their passions extended beyond the hardwood. Bieker was a fixture on Carlton’s Sr. Boys volleyball team, while Bear represented the Crusaders in badminton, volleyball and Track and Field.

As graduating students, they’re going to miss the camaraderie that comes with playing high school sports.

“It’s just the family atmosphere that I get here,” Bear said. “It’s phenomenal. I couldn’t have asked for a better.”

“It just brings back too many good memories to put in one picture,” Bieker added. “It was such a fantastic time.”

For the rest of this story, please see the June 14 online or print edition of the Daily Herald.

Carlton alumnus has eye on Tokyo

Jason Kerr
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Carlton alumnus has eye on Tokyo

Brock Munro has faced his share of challenges on the wrestling mat over the years, but the next one will be his biggest.

Munro, who won a provincial championship as a Grade 12 student at Carlton Comprehensive Public High School five years ago, just finished his CIS wrestling career at the University of Winnipeg.

Now, he’s looking to make an even bigger jump: to the Canadian Men’s Wrestling team, and a spot at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

“The senior level is a whole different scene,” Munro chuckled when asked about taking the next step. “Now, you’re actually wrestling guys from other countries…. You’ve got guys who, when I was in Grade 9, were in their fifth year of university. I’m wrestling guys who are 30 years old now, and I’m only 23. I’m still young, but that’s why the Olympics in four years are the goal.”

The skill level isn’t the only difference for the Prince Albert product. Weight is an issue too.

Munro currently wrestles in the 70 kg division, which exists at the world championships but not at the Olympics. In addition to honing his skills, Munro is going to have to put on some muscle. He’s not shying away from the challenge though. Instead, he’s embracing it.

For the rest of this story, please see the June 14 online or print edition of the Daily Herald.

Late charge falls short

Jason Kerr
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Late charge falls short

It was a rough start for the Prince Albert Outlaws in more ways than one on Friday.

The visiting Saskatoon Steelers jumped out to an early lead and held off a late Outlaw charge to win 12-9 in a penalty filled affair at the Kinsmen Arena.

Despite not getting the result he wanted, Outlaw co-head coach Mark Peterson said he was pleased with how the team responded.

“The guys were getting pretty down and frustrated with themselves and each other in the second period,” Peterson said. “Things just weren’t going our way. After the second period we went into the dressing room and just talked and got it figured out.”

After a sluggish start, the Outlaw found themselves down 10-3 at the end of the second period. However, the club battled back, outscoring the Steelers 6-2 in the third.

Peterson said the club showed much better communication and poise in the final frame, and got some timely stops from goaltender Tanner Fetch.

“The game was getting a little heated. We just got back and got our heads into it and did the little things,” he explained. “We were putting the ball in the net and our goalie made some key saves.”

The loss drops the Outlaws’ record to 3-7-1 on the season. The Prince Albert club got what should be a gift win on Saturday after the Estevan Impact couldn’t assemble enough players to make the trip north.

The Outlaws close out the season at home on June 16, when they take on the Saskatchewan SWAT. The SWAT are 2-9 this season, with the last meeting between the two teams resulting in an 11-9 Outlaw win in Saskatoon.

“We beat them on the road, so it would be nice to come back and get a win at home,” Peterson said.

He added that the team has come a long way in their inaugural year. Now he wants to see them finish strong.

“It’s gotten better throughout the season,” he said. “It seems that a lot of the games we’d play two really good periods, and have one bad one that puts us out. It would be nice if we could just play that full 60 minutes of the game.”

The Prince Albert Outlaws take on the Saskatchewan SWAT at Kinsmen Arena on Friday, June 16. Game time is 8 p.m.

Goals for kids

As part of their inaugural season celebrations, the Prince Albert Outlaws are raising money for Prince Albert KidSport. Hillside Physical Health and Fitness, who sponsors the Outlaws, has been donating $25 to KidSport for every Outlaw goal.

Peterson said it’s been a fun way to stay motivated and help the community.

“We jumped on it right away,” Peterson chuckled. “We though it was a great idea.”

The Outlaws raised $225 for KidSport in their most recent game against the Steelers, and will continue the fundraiser again in their season finale.

Preparing for legalization

Jason Kerr
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Preparing for legalization

The federal government is one year away from legalizing marijuana, but city council is already taking steps to prepare for the change.

On Tuesday, Ward 6 Coun. Blake Edwards brought forward a motion asking for city administrators to submit a report the potential implications of the new law. The report will cover issues like business licenses, grow-ops, operating hours and business locations.

Edwards says he’s already fielding calls from residents inquiring about business licenses for when marijuana becomes legal, and he wants the city to be prepared when the day comes.

“This is an unknown area, so this is why I’m asking administration to start diving into it a little bit,” he explained during an interview on Wednesday. “There are already cities researching. I know that cities are consulting back and forth, and P.A. needs to be involved in those consultations, if they’re not already.”

Edwards said he’s particularly concerned about how many marijuana vendors will be allowed to operate in the city, as well as where they’ll be located. He also has concerns about grow-ops, which he wants the city to bar completely.

“Grow-ops, to me, are just going to open it up and it’s not going to be easily controlled,” he said. “The police are going to have difficulty with that, and that’s my major concern.”

Although home-based grow-ops will be difficult to police, Edwards said he has no issues with licensed sellers growing their own stock, which he thinks will lead to a decrease in marijuana with crystal meth, fentanyl or other drugs laced into it.

Ideally, he’s hoping council can use the report to develop core laws necessary for business owners to sell their product.

However, residents shouldn’t expect administration to produce such a report any time soon.

The city is limited in what changes they can make until further legislation comes down the line from the provincial and federal governments.

Ward 8 Coun. Ted Zurakowski was one of three councillors who spoke in favour of Edwards’ motion on Tuesday. He said municipalities should start prying as much information out of the federal and provincial governments as they can.

“When it comes to bylaws and zoning, that conversation needs to start and needs to continue,” he said. “We need to push the feds as to what their plans are.”

Some Canadian cities are already selling business licenses to distribute marijuana for medicinal purposes. In Vancouver, for example, you can legally sell Marijuana in a for-profit store, provided you buy a $30,000 license from the city.

Mayor Greg Dionne said some cities are still considering whether to allow the sale of marijuana inside municipal limits, but it’s too early to speculate on whether that will happen in Prince Albert.

The federal government is expected to legalize the sale and consumption of recreational marijuana by July 1, 2018.

@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca

[Correction: a previous version of this article stated that Coun. Blake Edwards was against all forms of grow-ops. He is against grow-ops in private homes, but not for grow-ops run by licensed sellers.]

Paying a toll

Jason Kerr
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Paying a toll

There could be a cost to using Prince Albert’s only bridge in the future, as city councillors look at creating ways to fund the construction of a second one.

On Tuesday, Ward 1 Coun. Charlene Miller brought forward a motion asking for a report on the feasibility of implementing a toll on Diefenbaker Bridge.

Once collected, the toll funds would go towards the construction of another bridge in the city. The possibility of providing free bridge access for Prince Albert residents will also be considered.

“I think that this toll will make the province and the federal government see that we’re actually trying to do our part,” Miller said during the meeting.

Miller added that she hoped the two levels of government would take the project more seriously if they saw the city’s efforts.

However, there were some concerns from city councillors who felt Prince Albert residents were getting a raw deal.

Ward 7 Coun. Dennis Nowoselsky said he thought residents were already paying for too many services, while Ward 2 Coun. Terra Lennox-Zepp raised concerns about residents in her ward who cross the bridge for work, school and other services.

Ward 8 Coun. Ted Zurakowski also wondered how the implementation of a toll would affect the city’s relationship with the surrounding rural municipalities.

Miller said she’s heard those concerns, but respectfully disagrees.

“There are residents who have phoned me. They want a second bridge, but they don’t’ want to pay for it,” she said. “I understand that, and I get that, but if you’re going to use the bridge, I think that you should be paying for the bridge as well.”

Any decision on whether to implement a toll is still a long ways off. City councillors will still have to wait for administrators to look into the matter, and no completion date was set.

Despite her desire to move the issue forward, Miller remains skeptical that an actual toll will ever be put in place.

“Probably not, but you’ve got to try,” she said when asked if the issue would gain any traction with city council. “Every session I believe has to try (to fund a new bridge), and this is our kick at it.”

@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca

Becoming a survivor

Jason Kerr
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Becoming a survivor

On an early April day in 2016, Candy Braaten was on her way to a doctor’s appointment.

She was concerned about a lump she’d just found on her body, and was about to undergo a mammogram and a biopsy. A doctor had told her 80 per cent of these lumps were benign, so she wasn’t prepared for what she heard.

The biopsy report came back positive. Braaten had breast cancer.

“I was pretty shocked,” she remembered. “Really shocked. I thought, ‘I’m young. I’m very healthy. I’m very active. I watch what I eat.’ I was really in shock.”

Despite being jolted into a new and unwanted world, Braaten approached the next few months with determination. She wasn’t the first member of her family to have cancer, and if they could beat it, then she would too.

More than a year later, she was in Prince Albert wearing a yellow survivor’s shirt, walking in her first ever survivor’s lap at the Relay for Life.

“I had thought I might feel a lot of emotions, like crying … but actually I felt really happy to be in this big group of yellow survivors,” she said. “It was an honour to be one of them.”

For Braaten, fighting cancer was as much a mental battle as a physical one. Even though she had strong support from her family and friends, feelings of isolation started to creep in.

She overcame those feelings through social media, setting up a Facebook page to help friends and family members stay updated on her progress. The changes worked, but Braaten still remembers those early trials.

“Even though you’re not the only one with breast cancer, you tend to feel like you’re the only one going through it,” she explained.

The importance of maintaining family connections and friendships during treatment is a common theme among survivors.

For the rest of this story, please see the June 6 online or print edition of the Daily Herald.

Relay for Life beats fundraising goal

Jason Kerr
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Relay for Life beats fundraising goal

Despite poor overnight weather, organizers say the 2017 Prince Albert Relay for Life was a rousing success.

The annual overnight walk raised $124,934 for cancer research, which was just ahead of the $120,000 goal. Roughly 190 survivors walked the victory lap at Harry Jerome Track in Prince Albert, while more than 1,100 luminaries were lit in honour or in memory of someone who had cancer.

Organizer Charlene Bernard said it was great to see such strong support from the community.

“Friday night was a testament to the symbolism in Relay for life,” Bernard wrote in an email. “Staying up all night is hard and it takes endurance. So does the Cancer Survivor’s journey.”

 

Baird lauds Scheer and Dief during stop in Prince Albert

Jason Kerr
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Baird lauds Scheer and Dief during stop in Prince Albert

Former cabinet minister John Baird has his disagreements with Andrew Scheer, but that hasn’t stopped him from throwing his full support behind the newly elected Conservative Party leader.

Baird, a longtime Ottawa MP who served as the Minster of the Environment, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure under Stephen Harper, said he was “very comfortable” with Scheer’s leadership, as well as the overall direction of the party.

“I think everybody is just happy the leadership race is over with and we’ve got a leader that people are rallying behind,” Baird said during a stop in Prince Albert on Saturday. “Whether it’s western populists, social conservatives, economic conservatives like myself, or Red Tories, it’s going to bring everyone together.

Since announcing his bid for leadership of the Conservative Party last September, Scheer was often dubbed “Stephen Harper with a smile.” Critics of the new leader focused in on his social conservatism, but Baird said voters shouldn’t worry about the party moving further to the right.

“I’m pretty conservative, but I’m not a social conservative. I’m pro-choice. I’m one of the few (Conservative MP’s) who voted for gay marriage 12 years ago, and I’m very comfortable with Andrew as a leader,” Baird said. “On day one he said he wouldn’t revisit abortion or gay marriage, which in 2017 I think is a smart decision.”

Barring any future by-elections, the Conservatives will enter the next federal campaign in 2019 with 99 seats. Baird said he thinks the party is in a good position to form another government, pointing out that the Liberals had only 34 seats before they won the last election.

“Sometimes leadership campaigns can be really divisive and there are deep wounds, but I don’t think there are (any),” he said. “Everyone seems pretty happy.”

Prince Albert MP Randy Hoback joined Baird during his visit on Saturday. Like Baird, Hoback was happy with the party’s direction, calling Scheer a “bright, young leader,” who MPs were “excited to get behind.”

“I thought there were areas where it would be tough for him to gain support, and he not only gained it, he actually grew in those areas,” Hoback said. “I think he’ll grow even further as we get into election time.”

Hoback predicted the party would see gains coast-to-coast in the next election, particularly in Quebec, thanks to Maxime Bernier’s rising profile. He also predicted a Conservative sweep in his home province.

“We have 14 ridings in Saskatchewan. I think they’re all going to go Conservative the next time around,” he said.

Baird on Diefenbaker: “Larger-than-life character”

While Baird did attend some party events while in Saskatchewan, his main purpose was to visit the home of one of his political heroes.

Baird is a self-proclaimed huge fan of former Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, and was eager to visit the restored Diefenbaker House on 19th Street West.

“I think he was so ahead of his time as a civil libertarian,” Baird said of Diefenbaker, who won federal elections as the Progressive Conservative leader in 1957 and ’58. “The Bill of Rights was a real landmark in Canada.”

Baird has been a fan of Diefenbaker since he was a boy, calling him a “transformational” leader who helped turn Western Canada into a conservative stronghold.

He lauded Diefenbaker for his support of individual rights, like his stance against apartheid in South Africa, and expressed sadness that the legacy of Canada’s 13th Prime Minister isn’t celebrated more often.

“He was the last of the old-time politicians,” Baird said. “He went and toured the country by train and gave off the cuff speeches. He was an original, larger-than-life character.”

@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca

Consolidation and review coming for Rivier

Jason Kerr
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Consolidation and review coming for Rivier

A year after joining the Prince Albert Catholic School Division, more changes are coming to Blessed Marie Rivier.

In May, the division board decided to consolidate Grade 9-12 students at Rivier with nearby St. Mary High School, effective at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year. Grade 7-8 students will also make the move to St. Mary, although they’ll continue to function as a different school for at least one year.

Lorel Trumier, the Prince Albert Catholic School Division’s director of education, said the school’s already small enrolment was in decline, which made it too costly to continue operating under the current system.

“The two aspects of that together, make it very difficult and cost-prohibited to continue to operate Blessed Marie Rivier the way we have been,” she explained during an interview on Friday. “With low and declining (enrolment) … we had to determine how we could address the programing (needs).”

The change comes just one year after Rivier Academy joined the Catholic school division as Blessed Rivier Marie Catholic School.

Since that change, Trumier said they’ve seen a number of Blessed Marie Rivier students leave to enroll at St. Mary.

Roughly 30-35 Grade 7-8 students will remain in what Trumier called the “school within a school” that will continue operations. Another 30 students enrolled in Grade 9-12 for the next school year will join St. Mary

St. Mary principal Mark Phaneuf will oversee both schools. Trumier said they have had positive feedback from Rivier families making the move to St. Mary. Tours have been set up to help students get used to their new schools.

In the meantime, school division administrators and board members will conduct a review to determine whether the consolidation will become permanent.

“What the board would like to do is take the review process to discern the most affective way to address programming needs for students,” Trumier said. “Hopefully in the next six months they will have a decision made in terms of how that could look in the fall of 2018.”

Elements that will be under review include transportation, and the allocation of staffing and other resources.

“The board obviously, after very careful consideration, had to look at some operational changes,” she said.

Trumier added that not all of Rivier’s eight teachers and two support staff will make the move to St. Mary, but the won’t be cut loose either. All will be offered jobs with schools in the Catholic school division.

“We do have a need for every staff member, and all of them have been assured that they have a position within the school division.”

@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca

Gutsy Walk returns

Jason Kerr
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Gutsy Walk returns

After a one-year hiatus, a yearly Prince Albert fundraiser is making a return.

The annual Gutsy Walk, put on by Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, was last held in 2015, but was cancelled the next year due to a lack of volunteers.

The 2015 event raised more than $12,000 for research and programing, and the organization is hoping to draw on that support again in 2017.

“This year we had some volunteers who were willing to put themselves out there and make it work, so we are giving it another try,” said Carol-Lynne Quintin, the organization’s Saskatchewan Development Coordinator.

Canada has one of the highest rates of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in the world. Roughly 1 in 50 Canadians are living with the diseases, including a large number of first and second-generation immigrants who have no previous history of illness.

An estimated 8,000 Saskatchewan residents live with the diseases, which can affect a variety of internal organs, particularly the large intestine.

“We know there are a lot living (with Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis) in Prince Albert and the north,” Quintin said. “We don’t want to not have a walk representing that portion of the province.”

For the rest of this story, please see the June 3 online or print edition of the Daily Herald

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