One new COVID-19 case and only one in hospital as of Friday

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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One new COVID-19 case and only one in hospital as of Friday

The number of COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan continues to decline with one case reported in the far north on Friday after reporting a single case in the entire province on both Wednesday and Thursday.

The number of people in hospital also declined with one person in intensive care in Saskatoon being reported after two the previous day.

As well, three more recoveries were reported bringing the total to 611. The total number of cases is 649.

Of these there are 258 of the cases are from the far north, 170 are from the Saskatoon area, 112 are from the north, 80 are from the Regina area, 17 are from the south and 12 are from the central region.

The number of deaths reported remains steady at 11.

The active case number has gone down one more to 27.

There are currently 51 cases who are health care workers.

Of the 649 cases in the province: 143 cases are related to travel, 390 are community contacts, which includes mass gatherings, 79 have no known exposures and 39 are under investigation by local public health.

The age breakdown shows 97 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, 230 cases are in the 20-39 age range, 198 are in the 40-59 age range, 106 are in the 60-79 age range and 18 are in the 80-plus range.

The gender breakdown shows 52 per cent of the cases being females and 48 per cent being males.

As of June 5, 50,597 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province, an increase of 682 from Wednesday.

On Friday the province also noted that if people are experiencing symptoms of fever, cough, shortness of breath, headaches, aches and pains, sore throat, chills, runny nose or a loss of your sense of taste or smell, contact HealthLine 811 or your family physician for advice on whether you should be tested for COVID-19 or use the self-assessment tool.
Testing for COVID-19 is also now available to anyone currently working outside the home, or anyone returning to work as part of the Re-Open Saskatchewan plan.
As well testing is available for those being admitted to acute care for more than 24 hours, including expectant mothers and immunocompromised individuals and their health care providers.

Landfill project moving to next phase for City of Prince Albert

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Landfill project moving to next phase for City of Prince Albert

The City of Prince Albert has moved ahead with their project to redesign the Prince Albert Landfill.

The city has put out a request for proposals, which opened in mid-May and closes on June 10, for consultants to provide the city with a detailed design and tender for a new waste cell at the landfill and for decommissioning and reclamation of the existing waste cells.

“The two existing waste cells are coming close to their end of life so the City is planning to have the new waste cell in operation by the fall of 2021,” Nykol Miller, Capital Projects Manager for Public Works said.

The project has already received interest with 11 interested parties visiting the sight at a pre-qualification visit that occurred last week.

The landfill is located three kilometers northwest of the city in the RM of Buckland and is 120.4 hectares, including 13.2 hectares of decommissioned mound disposal, 2.1 hectares of contaminated soil storage, two active waste cells and 30.3 hectares identified for future use.

The existing waste cells are reaching capacity and the new cell will be required by the next year to continue operations.

“The decommissioning and reclamation would be bringing it to Saskatchewan Environment standards where we have to put a cover on top of the existing landfill. There would be a seeding plan, (and) an upgrading plan to bring it to their standards and in compliance with environment,” Miller explained.

Once the request for proposals ends, the project will be voted on the 2021 budget. Pending budget approval, the city anticipates that there would be one new waste cell tender with construction completed in 2021 and one tender for existing waste cells decommissioning and reclamation with construction completed in 2022.

“In 2020 Public Works put out a budget for putting the study together for the cell design and the design and tender for the new weigh scale and the decommissioning, reclamation and also the operations plan and the actual new construction of the waste cell would be part of the 2021 budget,” she said.

The landfill has been in operation since 1974 and in 2002 a hundred-year landfill was designed.

“It is just a continuation of that design from 2002 where we are going to an engineered cell complete with a liner and a Leachate system that takes any of the water from the waste,” Miller explained. “It treats it correctly compared to the cell that had existed prior to that from 1974 to 2002 which was an older design.”

Without knowing the cost of the project the RFP asks that consultants base their proposal on an estimated construction cost of $3,500,000 for the cell construction and $2,000,000 for the optional project pricing for the decommissioning and reclamation utilizing 2020 rates.

This project is for the detailed Design and Tender for one new waste cell and decommissioning and reclamation plan for the landfill including the existing two waste cells. The project will also include a review and update of the Operations Plan.  The scope includes new cell design, future cells design, the updating of the operations plan and a decommissioning and reclamation plan.

After the tender is awarded a cost estimate will be required by October 2020 for budget purposes. Another estimate will be required pre-tender.

Another estimate is required after the tender is awarded based on low tender and other items including engineering and consulting fees with adjustments. These estimates are used for obtaining approvals, budgetary control and construction cost control.

NDP calls for concrete planning for next school year

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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NDP calls for concrete planning for next school year

The opposition NDP is looking ahead to school’s possible return. Education Critic Carla Beck, in a press conference on Wednesday, called on the province to introduce a plan for the safe reopening of schools this fall, including hiring additional teachers and education assistants (EAs).

Beck emphasized that the NDP wants assurances that planning and funding can be in place in the fall for any eventuality.

“We, like everyone in the province, want students to be back in the school as soon as it is safe to do so. But we want to ensure that not only the planning is in place in order for that safe return to school in the fall but the resources are in place as well,” Beck said.

They want to ensure that no Saskatchewan family has to see their kids return to unsafe, overcrowded classrooms this fall. Beck explained that the planning and cooperation that exists in the Provincial Education Response team is a hopeful sign.
“But we do have some concerns based on past funding of classrooms and some of the conditions that existed in classrooms (before) COVID that we would like to hear some answers to from the minister.””

Examples of areas where assurances are needed were classroom size, school buses with three students to a seat and items such as resources for extra cleaning.

“We had increased class sizes right across the province in many cases that there simply weren’t enough resources to look at things like class size. The provincial government quit tracking class sizes in the province a number of years back. Those are the concerns that we are hearing that both teachers and students and of course parents are looking for assurances that when students do go back that those resources will be available,” Beck said.

Beck explained that prior to the suspension of the legislature in March, the estimates released showed that cuts could be forthcoming in school division budgets which will be passed this month by school boards.

“The numbers within that budget had some school divisions still looking to make cuts within their budget and some school divisions received barely a one per cent increase in their funding which meant they were looking at staff cuts and cuts through attrition.”

Saskatchewan does not publicly report how many kids are in Saskatchewan classrooms.

If public health guidelines still limit the size of gatherings this fall, this will present a significant challenge for school divisions seeking to comply with those measures.

With a four-year contract with teachers now ratified, the NDP is are also calling on the government to commit to fully fund the pay increase, and not leave divisions to pick up the tab.

“We want to make sure that the resources are there in the fall for school divisions and for schools to ensure that students can go back in a way that is safe and provides assurances both to school divisions and schools but also to parents,” Beck said.

When asked whether it was too early to bring this subject up as we do not know the future, Beck explained that it is budget season for school divisions and the beginning of plans for a new hiring cycle.

“There are a couple of plans that we are going to have to make at the same time. I understand that school divisions were asked to sort of come up with three scenarios, one being a status quo opening which I think is very unlikely at this time, a sort of hybrid opening where you could see some in class or some online learning which is probably more likely,”

She explained that if a second wave of COVID-19 comes, schools could return to another scenario like the end of this school year.

“What we are seeking is not a certain number at this point but only that there are assurances if school divisions incur additional costs because of COVID planning in the fall that those costs will be picked up by the provincial government.”

Beck said that they are looking for assurances that the new contract will be fully funded unlike the previous one which fell to the school divisions.

”We just want the assurances from the provincial government that they will be funding any of those additional costs that school divisions incur either because of the need to insure social distancing within schools or because we have gone back to online learning and they need additional resources for students who need technology or teachers who need additional bandwidth,” she said.

She said that the numbers they saw before the closure of the legislature might still challenge some divisions.

“ I think that there is really no scenario in which we aren’t going to require additional cleaning measures within schools and we need school boards of course to have the responsibility to do that but in order to do that well they are going to have to have the proper resources from the provincial government and if school boards are making decisions based on budget numbers that they just can’t make stretch ,” Beck said.

Additional costs could also come from insuring that there is not only proper staffing but also proper PPE in schools which is not under procurement yet.

“Either the procuring of the PPE but also the funding, the payment for that additional PPE,” she said.

A local example of new costs is in a revision to the Preventive Maintenance and Renewal (PMR) plan from the Prince Albert Catholic School Division purchasing of plexiglass shields for offices was added.

With social distancing additional buses may also be required.

“Schools, school boards and parents would like to have those assurances from the provincial government that the funding will be available for them in order to put those additional buses on the road,” Beck said.

Though it was separated from the teacher’s contract, a classroom composition committee has been struck to deal with the classroom size issue. The committee’s structure is modelled after the Education Sector Response Planning Team and the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation is cautiously optimistic a collaborative sector approach to COVID-19 response can be replicated to address class complexity.

“There are routinely classes with over 30 or 40 students in them right around the province and that won’t be something that will be sustainable I don’t think in any scenario in the fall,” Beck explained.

In a release by the party she said that classroom size is now also a public health concern.

In the release they also stated that they wanted to see a plan for the safe reopening of Saskatchewan schools.

The NDP wants assurances that these needs are met while school boards are finalizing budgets this month. Both the PACSD and the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division are expected to pass their budgets at their next board meeting.

As far as students returning to school next fall, Beck explained that the best advice comes from Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab and the Provincial Education Response Team.

“Speaking as a parent, I would like to see children back in schools as soon as possible, but as soon as safely possible. Some of the things are under our control and some of them aren’t,” she said.

With a possible second wave it is tough to plan with certainty, Beck said.

“But I think we do have to do exactly what the Provincial Response Team is doing right now, looking at a number of scenarios. If it is safe to do so in the fall then sure I think kids should go back. If we need additional resources in order for kids to be safe in classrooms in the fall I absolutely think we should be providing those resources.”

A different kind of fish release at Nisbet Pond

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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A different kind of fish release at Nisbet Pond

It was a different conclusion than everyone hoped for but a project between the Riverside Public School Outdoor Education Program released 75 rainbow trout in Nisbet Trout Pond on Tuesday, June 2.

When the fish were released they wandered away as a group when they usually stuck around the shore of the pond before leaving.

“The fish were happy to get out of lockdown just like us,” Jordan Holmen the outdoor education teacher at Riverside said.

The Riverside Outdoor Education is part of the FinS (Fish in Schools) program which is a chance for local schools to partner with their local Wildlife Federation. This is the program’s fourth year at Riverside.

Holmen explained that a program like his is important during these interesting times in education since schools closed in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s even more vital in a year like this because a lot of these extras sometimes get put off to the side and canceled and now is the time when mental health stuff and outdoors is more at peace than ever for kids,” Holmen said.

The program provides students with a firsthand look at fish and aquatic habitats in their classroom. The program involves raising trout from eggs to fry before releasing them in a provincially-stocked waterbody like Nisbet.

The program began early in 2020 and the school closure took away a majority of watching the fish grow.

“Schools closed and the program would just be really getting off the ground and the eggs would have just hatched. That is a bit disappointing but it is what it is,” Don Erhardt of the Prince Albert Wildlife Federation said.

In January students received 100 fish eggs to raise from the hatchery located in Fort Qu’Appelle. The Wildlife Federation assisted with the associated costs.

Over the following three to four months students care for their fish by monitoring and maintaining the conditions required for their trout to thrive.

The program is a project of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation and the Prince Albert federation sees it as a chance to learn about biology, have some fun and watch the fish grow.

‘”So it’s a good opportunity for kids to see what happens in nature and this replicates what has been going on and we are naturally laying eggs and hatching them and so on.” Erhardt explained.

Both Holmen and Erhardt see the partnership as fruitful and an opportunity to expand how students learn.

“It’s a good partnership the schools are running outdoor education programs and it is a good opportunity for kids to participate in something like this and the opportunity to get outdoors and then do some of these kinds of things for sure,” Erhardt said.

“It’s a multitude of reasons. It’s good to connect learning to the land for the First Nation’s perspective at our school and environmental stewardship and connecting what we learn in a textbook to the real world. So it is so nice to have that as an actual live piece,” Holmen explained.

Usually students are part of the release, but this year it was different.

“It is sad that the kids aren’t here with us. It is obviously a critical piece with this whole thing but we made it work in our circumstances. So we are just glad that they were able to have the first piece of it right,” Holmen said.

Students to help researchers track climate change and wildflife impacts in the north

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Students to help researchers track climate change and wildflife impacts in the north

As part of a University of Saskatchewan research project, small teams of high school students from Saskatchewan and Manitoba will spend their summers in bug jackets, venturing into the wilderness to measure permafrost and track caribou around Churchill, Man.

Originally delayed due to COVID-19, the three-year project is funded by a $129,000 grant to Usask agriculture researcher Ryan Brook from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s (NSERC) PromoScience Program, which supports projects that promote an understanding of science and engineering among young Canadians.

Beginning in 2021 Brook will lead small teams of high school students, Indigenous undergraduate students, high school teachers and staff from Parks Canada in a collaborative long-term study of the impacts of climate change in the Arctic.

“The program will engage youth in science, targeting under-represented Indigenous youth and girls in Saskatchewan and Manitoba,”Brook said.

“It’s the experience of a lifetime. Students will be the sole human inhabitants of a national park. Visiting this place can literally change a student’s life.”

Every August, a student-teacher-researcher team will helicopter in to conduct field work in Manitoba’s remote Wapusk National Park on the western bank of Hudson Bay.

Students will measure vegetation cover, collect plant and soil samples and record the thickness of permafrost at several locations in the park adding to extensive climate data collection started by Brook in 1998.

Every winter a smaller team will measure lichen and snow conditions of caribou habitats to better understand the qualities that make a location attractive to the animals.

“Caribou are a keystone species,” he explained

“They’re a core part of the culture of many Indigenous communities and an indicator of a healthy ecosystem. If they are doing well, then the whole ecosystem is probably doing OK.”

During both winter and summer trips, the students will help build a photo database by using long telephoto lenses to capture pictures of caribou at a distance, and will collect images from automatic trail cameras that snap photos year-round.

“The really exciting part of the whole project is that the research is student-led. They take the lead on data collection, analysis, and also learning to be good leaders,” Brook said.

“I’m really there as a science advisor and polar bear guard.”

In the lead-up to the field trips, students will learn essential skills in data collection and wilderness survival, including dealing with hypothermia, identifying plants, and staying safe around polar bears.

After each trip, the research team will present their findings to the community in Churchill, and upon their return home, the students will present about their experiences to their high school classmates. A small group of students will also get the chance to present at an international conference each year.

“Feedback that we have received over and over again from northern communities is that they want the students from the North to understand both science and traditional ecological knowledge,” he explained

“This program recognizes the critical value of engaging the communities.”

The research program builds on Usask’s international student-led Arctic monitoring and research program and on a Usask senior undergraduate field course which has engaged 400 students directly and hundreds of students indirectly over the last 14 years in hands-on research in the Hudson Bay Lowlands.

The research is also made possible in large part thanks to in-kind support by USask and logistical support from the Canadian Polar Continental Shelf program, Parks Canada and the Government of Manitoba.

CFIB calls for changes in commercial rent assistance program

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is warning that anxiety for many small businesses remains high as they head into a third month of severely reduced revenues and no rent relief the organization said in a release Monday.

While the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program opened on Monday, May 25 many continue to report it won’t help them either because their landlord won’t apply or they do not meet the revenue loss criteria of 70 per cent.

“Fixing CECRA and putting in place a safety net for tenants whose landlord won’t use it is critical right now. Even with more businesses opening up, many are still struggling and losing money,” Marilyn Braun-Pollon CFIB’s vice-president Western Canada and agri-business said.

“That is why CFIB joined with the Saskatchewan Hotel and Hospitality Association, the Retail Council of Canada, Restaurants Canada and the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce and sent an open letter to Premier Moe calling on the province to implement temporary commercial eviction protection for tenants (who were in good standing with their landlords prior to the COVID-19 pandemic) during this unprecedented time.”

Adding to these challenges they said that CFIB has received hundreds of calls and comments from both tenants and landlords frustrated with the CECRA application process. Comments range from confusion over the amount of financial information required to apply, complex attestation forms and technical difficulties with the application portal.

One landlord reported spending four hours on hold with CMHC trying to verify their login information. While others are finding the requirement to attest to 70 per cent revenue losses for April, May and June challenging given that June revenues are still uncertain.

“It’s June 1 and rent relief is a mess that needs a major clean-up,” Laura Jones, CFIB’s executive vice-president said.

“Workable rent relief is make or break for over half of the small businesses we surveyed and governments need to make this a top priority yesterday.”

CFIB is calling on governments to do three things immediately to address the rent crisis;

One is to allow tenants to access their share of CECRA support directly through the program or find another means to get money to those that need it. For example, they could expand the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loans to at least $60,000 (from $40,000) with an increase to the forgivable portion from 25 per cent to 50 per cent (from $10,000 to $30,000). It should also be a priority to ensure that announced expansions to CEBA are implemented immediately as some business owners have been waiting three months to be included in the program (e.g. those with contract workers, personal bank accounts and those that pay by dividends).

They also call to fix CECRA by simplifying the application process, expanding the number of months it covers, and reducing the 70 per cent revenue loss criteria.

As well they call to put in place a temporary moratorium on commercial evictions for tenants otherwise in good standing with landlords which the CFIB has been calling on provinces to do this since March.

Dispute between land owner and RM continues

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Dispute between land owner and RM continues

The dispute between a land owner and the Rural Municipality of Big River remains unsettled. Dana Pettigrew, who owns property at Michel’s Beach on Delaronde Lake, was looking for a permit to build a garage in May, 2019 and the matter appeared before a Judge in Saskatoon in early March.

The leave to appeal was filed by the R.M. On January 15, 2020. The leave to appeal sees the RM and Pettigrew appearing before a judge so the RM can ask for the right to appeal a decision by the Saskatchewan Municipal Board Assessment Committee.

According to Pettigrew, the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down court proceedings has delayed the ruling.

The RM won’t hear from Pettigrew until after the completion of the leave of appeal.

“We have now gotten a note from the appeal board and the RM went to court to I guess they asked as a leave to appeal which when I went to the court the judge explained that the leave to appeal is just really asking for permission to appeal. So he is not going through any facts of the case and just ruled on whether I had the right to appeal,” Pettigrew said.

On May 22, Pettigrew sent an email which also included residents in Michels’ Beach, Stone Ridge, Ivory Drive, and South Stoney which officially requested the RM revise their SBE survey reference for building permits to more accurately comply with the Municipal Act. The email stated that under the Act, the RM council is bound to any official community plan. He explained in the email that “Since this issue is prevalent in all the subdivisions within the RM of Big River, that have a SBE (Safe Building Elevation) requirement as part of a building permit, I wonder if it is also prevalent in all of the RM’s across Saskatchewan.”

He further asked if the Saskatchewan Land Surveyers SBE reference affidavits were valid if they were not based on proper “official” surveyor bench mark for that subdivision.

“I outlined what they needed to do in the email. At the time they needed to go to a two-stage permit and they didn’t and even now they continue to acknowledge what they are doing is wrong,” Pettigrew said.

According to Pettigrew, the RM should immediately correct the root cause of the elevation discrepancy the RM directly caused.

Pettigrew alleges that the RM is not following official subdivision documents and the affidavit’s are therefore false.

“It might also be something that is done in numerous RMs because they don’t seem to know that you just can’t give an elevation based on a standard benchmark because for whatever reason surveyors are changing benchmarks and I guess they have their own reasons for it. But when you have an official safe building elevation with a document and it is dated back to 1980s or even earlier you have to be consistent with those elevations for what you are doing,” Pettigrew said.

After sending the email, several residents of the areas sent follow-up emails of support.

Pettigrew is a retired Alberta provincial certified professional technical engineer and understood what was needed to construct above a flood plain.

The application was made on May 7, 2019 for the garage adjacent, approved initially on the foundation for the garage subject to conditions including an elevation of 495.5 meters above sea level based on the 1998 Sask Water Report for Michel’s Beach on Delaronde Lake. The Pettigrews then applied for a permit to build the garage on or about June 26, 2019 which was denied.

Pettigrew explained that the whole process has been educational.

‘If I knew last year what I know now I wouldn’t have argued all of the wet sod proofing to be legal which the RM didn’t understand. Which is why I plainly argued the elevation discrepancy for that. So it is the things you learn as you go along to what their legal commitments are and they are not following through with them,” he said.

The Development Officer for the RM issued an order on July 10 the order claimed that the garage and foundation contravened subsection 62 (1) and section 243 of the Planning and Development Act because the foundation had not been constructed to the safe building elevation and that construction had commenced without a development permit. The Pettigrews were ordered to remove all above-foundation construction and flood-proof the foundation up to the elevation of 495.5 meters.

Pettigrew thought that his stamp, even though it is from Alberta, would be good enough but Big River still rejected his two permits. Pettigrew went to Prakash Consulting in Prince Albert and had Martin Kiffiak explain dry and wet floodproofing and residential accessory building floodproofing.

Later he took the letter to the RM from Kiffiak that stated the construction was fine . He explained that Big River ignored the letter. The Pettigrews filed an appeal with the RM’s Development Appeals Board on July 24, 2019 seeking to overturn the July 10 order and reverse the denial of the above-foundation construction.

The board dismissed the appeal because they considered the evidence that the foundation was flood-proofed to the correct levels as irrelevant because their bylaw does not distinguish between wet and dry flood-proofing. The Board also found that the foundation contravened the bylaw because it did not meet the estimated safe building elevation. The Board also found that the appeal did not meet the criteria in the subsection of the act relating to determining the validity of an appeal and could not proceed. The Board also found that allowing the development to proceed would grant them a special privilege, be inconsistent with the bylaw and negatively affect neighbouring properties.

The appeal appeared before the Saskatchewan Municipal Board Assessment Committee on November 22, 2019.

The Committee found that the Board made a mistake in dismissing the Pettigrews’ appeal. They found that the Pettigrews did present proof of adequate flood-proofing to the required levels. As well, if the project violated the bylaw the Board should have still allowed the appeal to go forward because they met the criteria for an appeal.

According to Pettigrew during the time of the dispute 780 pages of documents were exchanged. These included a surveryor’s plot map which agrees to his elevation.

Vincent Massey School celebrates connections with parade

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Vincent Massey School celebrates connections with parade

Vincent Massey Public School is the latest school in Prince Albert to pay tribute to the connection between students, families and staff.

The school held a parade Friday afternoon, and principal Harriet Tomporowski said they want to see their student’s smiling faces and be able to connect.

“It is so important, I think, during this time to keep those connections going,” Tomporowski said.

The parade was led by the Prince Albert Police Service (PAPS) and stretched down Third Avenue originating in the school’s parking lot. Tomporowski said the entire concept is great for everyone’s condition.

“When we meet with kids through meetings and phone calls it is not the same as seeing them, so I think for our staff it is going to be really good (for) everybody’s mental health,” she said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought clarity to the connection between families and schools, she said.

“I think people just realized how important those connections are for our kids, our families and our staff. It has been a really rough go for people not having that closure of a school year and teachers being able to say goodbye to their kids and kids being able to say goodbye to their friends and their teachers. You realize how important that stuff is for everyone when you don’t have it.”

She said that that teachers like herself had a tough time working at home because they want to be with their students.

“I am really getting tired of myself because I hang out with myself all day every day,” she said.

“I talk to a lot of people on the phone through Zoom meetings but there is something being in contact with another human being in the flesh that is different.”

Students traveled from long distances to greet the parade as it began.

Students and families were out in force to greet the staff on their parade route.

The parade did not include some cul de sacs as the police decided which ones were safe because of the amount of vehicles. They chose instead to drive by them.

According to Tomporowski, the entire affair lasted around and hour and when rain came in the middle of the event it did not dampen the festivities.

The idea actually started before other schools like John Diefenbaker, Ecole Arthur Pechey and others hosted their parades.

“We talked about it early on our vice principal (Sylivia Delisle) actually had the idea before anybody had started doing them but at that time we were worried about getting people to gather on the street so we wouldn’t do it then.”

The staff of Vincent Massey School wound through their neighbourhood Friday afternoon.

    The original plan was to host it next Monday, June 1, to celebrate the start of the last month of the school year but staff training made that not feasible.

    “We thought we could hold off and wait until now.”

    Project by City to recognize Class of 2020 moving forward

    Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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    Project by City to recognize Class of 2020 moving forward

    The City of Prince Albert will be using the city-owned electronic billboard to pay tribute to the many graduates in the Class of 2020. At the executive committee meeting on Monday, May 25 council moved ahead with a plan to use the billboard on Second Avenue to honour grads.

    Council is expected to give final approval of the plan at their next meeting on Monday, June 1. Council approved the motion brought forward by Ward 8 Coun. Ted Zurakowski, who was enthusiastic about the plan.

    “I think this is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate those graduates in our community that are going without high school graduation in whatever form it may or may not take place. These are our families in the community and our students as well,” Zurakowski said.

    “I think in this way we can, as the City of Prince Albert, recognize those families and those graduates,” he added.

    Coun. Blake Edwards of Ward 6 also voiced enthusiasm.

    “I am very pleased with the report, I am very pleased we have come up with some solutions to it and good job,” Edwards said.

    Mayor Greg Dionne also voiced his pleasure for the concept.

    After an earlier inquiry by council communications manager Kylie Bear reported that her office had received a number of requests from graduation groups in the city about recognition on the billboard. The city’s criteria is that it is for city use but some groups can also use the service. The groups were initially advised that it did not fit city criteria, but upon further review of the request, Bear thought this was a feasible method.

    “I have had a chance to review the request for the use of the billboard since that is what was originally coming into my office and I knew it was a popular option,” Bear said to council.

    “I think that it can be accomodated,” she added.

    Issues such as privacy and the massive number of graduates were raised but Bear explained that this can be worked through by communication with the school divisions in the city. They would have to be provided with releases for image use to go forward. As well, the divisions and schools would have to provide the images as collection is a time-consuming task.

    “So if they would be willing to help with that I think that administratively it would be a simple enough task for me to just drop those images into the billboard and then dedicate a week for graduates and just make it exclusively for them since it would dominate with that many on the screen,” Bear said.

    According to Lorel Trumier, director of education with the Prince Albert Catholic School Division this process is already under way. She explained that they are getting pieces together for the project.

    “We will look at getting consent from our students so that can happen and we are going to work with the city to see if we can acknowledge our grads. They worked very hard and this is not the ideal situation of what everybody thought graduation would be this year, us included, but we have to do this safely. So we are very appreciative of the opportunity that the city has given to acknowledge the grads in a special way,” she said.

    The administration recommendation is that the billboard be dedicated to graduates between June 21 and June 27.

    -With files from Jason Kerr

    Catholic Division seeking technology assets for new education world

    Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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    Catholic Division seeking technology assets for new education world

    With the look of the 2020-21 school year up in the air, the Prince Albert Catholic School Division is looking to invest in technology. The division has put out a request for pricing on laptops or notebooks and tablets in order to be prepared for whatever may come in the next school year.

    According to director of education Lorel Trumier, the division is investigating the pricing to prepare for whatever may come in the future.

    “We, as teachers, want to be in the classroom with our students. We think that is the best way to teach and learn. We do know that we were forced into a remote learning procedure because of COVID-19 and so what we are looking for is everything in between,”

    She explained that the division is being proactive and is also working with digital learning expert Dr. Alec Couros from the University of Regina about what is involved with best practices in remote teaching and learning. She explained that teachers had to learn very quickly and have been working hard to understand how to do remote learning in the best way.

    “We are also working proactively at perhaps a blended learning approach for the fall so that when we are in school we will be there to help our students with the teacher in front of them and when we are not we still have a means to support our students via remote learning video or remote learning lectures, notes and activities that our students can engage in,” she said.
    The division suspects next year’s school year could involve many modes of teaching and learning.

    The division is seeking pricing on a purchase of up to an estimated 900 tablets. They reserve the right to determine the quantity of tablets provided by the vendor. The purchase is contingent on pricing and availability but they are prepared to begin the purchase once the supplier is selected.

    The division in pricing up to 2,200 notebooks or laptops which have a minimum Windows 10 Pro operating system, 11 inch screen, 64 gigabyte hard drive and four gigabyte memory among other features. The number is also an estimate and the division also reserves the right to determine quantity. The PACSD qualifies for Microsoft’s Shaping the Future Program and this is part of the consideration to the vendor. The closing date for both requests is Friday, June 5.

    The catholic division is seeing families begin to register online for the next school year.

    “We just posted that online registration process and our families are currently registering as we speak,” Trumier said.

    “There is a chance to ask families that are thinking about working with our school division. That puts us in a better position to plan for our students.”

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