Replacement for Ecole Valois progress excites parents’ group

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Replacement for Ecole Valois progress excites parents’ group

Last week the Government of Saskatchewan and the Conseil des écoles fransaskoises (CÉF) announced the sites for new Francophone Schools in Saskatoon and Prince Albert.

The new CÉF school in Prince Albert will replace École Valois and will be designed to accommodate up to 350 Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12 students, including 51 childcare spaces. It will be located near the Alfred Jenkins Field House.

Roger Boucher, the president of the Parent Council for Ecole Valois, said they are happy to see the project making progress. “I think it’s exciting to have made headway,” Boucher said. “I think there’s a lot of work to be done moving forward because really that’s the first step in the new school. We’re now at step one.” However, there is also disappointment mixed in with the excitement.

Boucher said the council preferred the new school be located on Marquis Rd.

“There’s always a lot of a lot of different things going on with any kind of large build, especially school builds and especially when you’re dealing with the Charter of Rights,” he said. “There’s always different things that kind of come up and mess with things.

“Being that it’s a francophone school system. The Charter is involved, which is a double-edged sword,” he added. Although it’s not their ideal site Boucher said that they are still excited to see what the project will look like. “

We’re hoping that it will have the components that are necessary for an amazing school to flourish and have enough space that we can move forward,” he said. “Because we all know that once a school is built, it’s going to be many years before they build another school, so (it has to be) big enough to carry the school and the students into the future.” The provincial government announced plans to replace Ecole Valois on Budget Day in 2023, although the idea had been talked about prior to that. Boucher also spoke about the project to City Council in August.

The business case and cost analysis for the conversion of Rivier Academy to a citizen-based community school centre were submitted in February 2020 to former Minister of Education Gord Wyant at his request. In March 2019, the Government of Saskatchewan and its Fransaskois school board signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the construction of a francophone school in Prince Albert. Currently, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement and the CÉF are working with the City of Saskatoon and the City of Prince Albert and will soon begin procuring project managers to ensure the specific needs of the Francophone community and CÉF are fully understood and thoughtfully included in the planning and design of the new schools. In Saskatoon, the planned location is in the Kensington neighbourhood, adjacent to Lions Century Park. When complete, it will accommodate up to 400 Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 6 students and will provide 51 child care spaces.

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

Party reps spar over independent school funding during STF election forum

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Party reps spar over independent school funding during STF election forum

The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation hosted the first forum of the 2024 Provincial Election virtually on Thursday evening. Representatives from all six parties were present for the Vote for Public Education Election Fo-rum. Representatives responded to moderated questions before an invited audience of teachers, retired teachers and post-secondary education students.

Forum participants included Rose Buscholl of the Progressive Conservatives, Jeremy Cockrill of the Saskatchewan Party, Valerie Brooks of the Green Party, Matt Love of the Saskatchewan NDP, Jahangir Valiani of the Saskatchewan Progress Party and the Buffalo Party’s Philip Zajac. The Saskatchewan United Party did not provide a representative. Moderator Jennifer Quesnel noted before the final question of the evening that the forum had received several questions on funding for qualified independent school. Quesnel noted that the money going to private schools had increased by 79 per cent while funding to public schools in-creased 13 per cent. She asked how much tax dollars should be going to private or home schools. Candidates were on a rotation so each would have a chance to respond first. For this question, the NDP led off. NDP candidate Love said that a new category was created for all independent schools, some of which have former staff facing criminal charges.

“We have other categories of schools that have really been created to get massive amounts of dollars and it has been the position of the Sask Party government to see that that category of schools expands and grows and flourishs,” Love said. “It’s been their stated goal and they use very American-style Republican-style talking points, both parental choice and educational. Most parents in this province don’t have choices (with) one school in their community.” He said that the priority of the NDP was to increase funding for Public, Catholic and French Schools. “Our position has always been that any school that gets even a single dollar of public funds needs to ensure that they’re abiding by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code and that they’re not mistreating their students in ways that we’ve seen from several of these schools where allega-tions have come forward,” Love said. Love said that the NDP would review funding, but did not provide details. “Our priority and our commitments are to publicly funded, publicly delivered schools and to not do what the Minister and his party have done here, which is divert funds into these independent schools,” Love said. Buffalo Party leader Zajac said that the party does not believe that the government should dictate where parents want their children to go to school. “The Buffalo Party is a true believer in not being a father figure to families in this province,” Zajac said. “I think that funding should be fair across the board and equitable.” He said that incidents like those alleged at the religious private schools can happen at any school. “Education is important. If a parent chooses to send their kid to a private school or a Christian School, that’s their choice, and if we help fund their education, I don’t think anybody should have a problem with that,” he said. Zajac added that the Buffalo Party would listen to everyone and come up with a solution. “If Buffalo had a choice, you would be able to pick,” he said.

Cockrill said the government’s position was that every child should have access to education whether it was through Catholic, Public, French of independent schools. “Our party would continue to fund independent schools at the current rate,” he said. “The reality is that we believe that parents, at the end of the day, should have the choice of where their chil-dren go to school and we allow that between Public and Catholic schools. “Certainly, we would continue providing funding to independent schools because they do pro-vide choice and options to parents,” he added. Cockrill said the largest driver of the funding increase was increased enrollment at these private schools. He also noted that these schools are not funded to the level of Public or Catholic schools. “We’re comfortable with the Independent School funding as is and as I said, we want to continue to support to parents and families in whatever decisions they make for their children,” Cockrill said. Cockrill noted that Harvest Christin Academy is an associate school in the Regina Public Schools. He said there was an opportunity to increase accountability. “(We’ve) added oversight to independent schools over the last several years as we have devel-oped these tiers to make sure that there is a higher level of accountability if you’re in the certified category,” Cockrill explained. “There’s a process for schools to enter the certified Independent School category, and certainly we’ll always be looking for ways to … strengthen that accounta-bility.” When asked if he would have changed anything in hindsight Cockrill again focused on school choice for parents and increasing accountability. Valiani from the Saskatchewan Progress Party said that one of the most important jobs of the provincial government was to fully fund public education in the province including Public, Cath-olic and Francophone education. “I think it’s entirely fair that the other candidates said that parent choice is valuable and that par-ents want to take that route that is a decision they can make, but I don’t believe that public tax dollars should be moved to that direction,” Valiani said. Valerie Brooks of the Green Party said that her party would phase out all funding for private schools over the next five years. “A strong community comes from a diverse and inclusive welcoming environment,” she said. “I’m okay with parents having choices. I fully agree that a parent should have a choice of where their kid goes to school, what their kid learns. I understand that, but public dollars tax dollars in a public system needs to be allocated completely to fully public, accountable, transparent schools that are accessible to everyone.” Rose Bushell leader of the PC Party of Saskatchewan said that public funding should go to pub-lic schools and then discussed how Catholic Schools are written into the constitution. “Parents need to have the right to send their children to wherever they want. They have that right of choice. However, we’re talking public tax dollars. Public tax dollars should not be going to pay for an Independent School that will focus on areas that don’t belong in public schools,” she said. “We keep church and state separate for a reason. It should be out of the schools and if they want to teach that, then maybe they should get funded by this churches which they represent,” Bushell added.

Each participant was asked to respond to questions addressing the issues most important to teachers and audience members. A recording of the forum has been made available on the STF YouTube channel. Each representative had an opening and closing statement and was given two minutes to respond. To conclude the 90-minute forum, candidates were asked to make a pledge for public education.

The pledge reads: Do you promise to advocate for public education in Saskatchewan and ensure our students and teachers get the support they need to succeed in the classroom? Of the six can-didates in attendance, all took the pledge for publicly funded education.

STF President Samantha Becotte was glad to see so many parties represented at the forum. “This forum is an important part of our Vote for Public Education campaign, making sure that public education remains a key issue at the ballot box this fall,” Becotte said in a press release. “The Federation is non-partisan and does not endorse any particular party or candidate. We en-courage teachers and all Saskatchewan voters to listen to the policies and platforms of each party and make an informed decision about who they feel will best support the current and future state of our publicly funded education system.” michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

Art Abandonment project lifts off

Michael Oleksyn
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Art Abandonment project lifts off

Art Abandonment – Hearts for Humanity project brings people to art

As part of Culture Days in Prince Albert, local artist Cheryl Ring opened the doors to her studio on Saturday to allow guests to take part in her public art project.

HeartSpace Clay studio is located on Fifth Avenue East. Ring does her own work out of the studio, and also uses the space for classes.

“It is a one stop shop,” she said. “I have spots for six people to take classes and as you can see there is a lot of work going on here, and more classes starting all the time.”

The back door of the studio was open and people were welcomed to work on her project outside.

The project is called Art Abandonment – Hearts for Humanity. Ring said the Culture Days event drew on the theme Heart of the North.

“Hearts are a very prevalent shape and theme for me, so in keeping with the overall theme of Culture Days, I decided to have participants come in and paint clay hearts that I’ve previously fired in preparation for them to paint and decorate, and then abandon as part of an initiative that I have called Art Abandonment Prince Albert,” Ring said.

“It’s just me right now,” she added. “I don’t know if it’s going to grow, but I like doing it.”

Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald. Participants learned about the Art Abandonment – Hearts for Humanity project from artist Cheryl Ring at HeartSpace Studio on Saturday, Sept. 28.

This activity builds on an initiative already in motion, Art Abandonment Prince Albert.  Ring started Art Abandonment in the community, a number of years ago. The local project is based on a book of the same name written by a husband and wife artist team in British Columbia. 

“They decided they would get their artist friends together and ask (them) to make a piece of art once a month and abandon it,” Ring explained. “I thought, ‘wow, I’d like that for my city.’”

Ring said she has involved the art abandonment project in some of her classes, but has done most of the work herself.

“I will do an art abandonment drop just whenever I feel like it,” she said. “Whenever I have time during COVID, I went into the parking lot at the hospital and put the art abandonment pieces on to the cars of the workers just to give them a little boost because I know things are really hard for them and I like to go downtown.”

She said the Art Abandonment project is similar to the Hope Rocks project that ran during COVID. She has her friend Rhonda Levesque from PA Fast Print make the cards that accompany the abandoned art pieces.

“So when somebody finds it, they can keep it for themselves or they can pay it forward,” Ring explained.

Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald. Several people were hard at work on their hearts at the Art Abandonment – Hearts for Humanity at HeartSpace Studio on Saturday, Sept. 28.

Visitors to HeartSpace Clay studio could paint and decorate small 3” clay hearts, attach an art abandonment card and abandon the art in their neighborhood. 

“With kids I’ll say ‘you can make two hearts, you can keep one and give one away,’ right? Because, I mean I’m not going to ask kids to give away their only one piece of art,” Ring said.

She said the point of the project is to spread the joy of art.

“It’s very nice, and over the years I’ve had feedback on it—not huge, not a whole bunch. Any feedback just warms my heart and it just makes me feel so good. And I just love doing it.

“I’m going to continue myself and opportunities like this for me to get people interested. I talked about this as ‘introduce this this concept as making somebody happy, giving something for no reason and not knowing what their response is.’”

Ring noted that Saturday was a beautiful day and any turnout was a good turnout in her mind.

“That is my attitude for sure, because I just doesn’t matter how many people come to participate. We’re changing our community by doing the little steps. Every little step helps.”

Ring is always looking for ways to support her community and was  proud to contribute to 2024 Culture Days.

“‘I’m just really appreciative of the Culture Days initiative nationally, but I’m especially thankful for all of the work that goes into it by the local coordinators and anything that we can add to the lives of our community members is a bonus,” she said.

Culture Days – Heartbeat of the North runs from Sept. 20 to Oct. 13 in PrinceAlbert.

Upcoming Culture Day events

• Free Drop-In Art Day – Oct. 5, 10:30 a.m. – Mann Art Gallery

• Bison Ridge Farm Tour – Oct. 5, 10 a.m.

• Studio 1010 Art Reception – Oct. 5, 1 p.m. – Margo Fournier Arts Centre

• Journaling for Caring Hearts with Beth Gobeil – Oct. 10, 6:30 p.m. – Margo Fournier Arts Centre

• Youth Open Studio (ages 7-13) – Oct. 10, 5 p.m. – Margo Fournier Arts Centre

• Make a Beaded Poppy Pin – Oct. 6, 1 p.m. – Margo Fournier Arts Centre

• Youth Fall Pottery Workshop – Oct. 8, 5:30 p.m. – Margo Fournier Arts Centre

• Sights, Sounds, and Tastes of Africa – Oct. 10, 6 p.m. – YWCA Prince Albert

• Paint Your Own Mug – Oct. 10, 6 p.m. – Margo Fournier Arts Centre

• Zine-Making Workshop with All my Relations – Oct. 11, 4 p.m. – Margo Fournier Arts Centre

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

Former Carlton student wins $5,000 4-H Scholarship

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Former Carlton student wins $5,000 4-H Scholarship

Recently Carlton Comprehensive High School Graduate Skyler Preston was named one of the winners of the eight recipients of the 2024 McDonald’s Canada Future of Agriculture 4-H Scholarship by 4-H Canada.

Valued at $5,000 each, the McDonald’s Canada Future of Agriculture 4-H Scholarship is offered to senior 4-H members across Canada to support their pursuit of advancing important work and educational pursuits in agriculture.

Preston spent 12 years in the Whispering Pines 4-H Multiple Club north of Prince Albert. During that time, she worked on numerous projects but her main project was light horse.

“I am greatly honoured to have been chosen for the scholarship. Receiving this scholarship helps me to relieve some financial strain and allows me to focus on my studies,” Preston wrote in an email to the Daily Herald.

Preston is currently studying Veterinary Technology at Lakeland College in Vermillion, Alta. She said the course is the first step on her journey.

“Once I have completed my Veterinary Technology program, l intend to continue my education in animal health and wellness focusing on large animal and livestock. I would like to obtain my artificial insemination and my equine massage and chiropractic certification,” Preston said.

She eventually wants to work in the agriculture sector focusing on livestock health and wellness.

Both McDonalds and 4-H Canada congratulated the recipients.

“The impact of agriculture on our future goes well beyond the farm. Areas of expertise such as environmental protection, climate change, biodiversity conservation, food security, and more all play a critical role in securing a prosperous and sustainable future for Canada’s agriculture sector,” says Hugh Maynard, Interim CEO of 4-H Canada. “As we make progress towards more innovative practices in the agriculture and agri-food sectors, it’s great news that McDonald’s Canada recognizes the value of investing in our youth leaders, and in turn, investing in the long-term resiliency and the future of our industry in Canada.”

“At McDonald’s Canada, we are proud to partner with 4-H Canada in our shared commitment to fostering the next generation within our Canadian Agri-food industry,” said Ashwin Ramesh, Head of Sustainability & Impact Strategy at McDonald’s Canada and Canadian 4-H Foundation Trustee. “This scholarship is a testament to their dedication and potential, and we are thrilled to be part of their educational journey in shaping the future of agriculture.”

For more information on the McDonald’s Canada Future of Agriculture 4-H Scholarship, visit 4-h-canada.ca/scholarships.

Coffee and Conversation looks into 3 communities that grew into Prince Albert

Michael Oleksyn
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Coffee and Conversation looks into 3 communities that grew into Prince Albert

The first Coffee and Conversation for the new season on Sunday at the Prince Albert Historical Museum focused on how three settlements eventually became Prince Albert.

Connie Gerwing, a member of the Prince Albert Historical Society presented the story of how the Isbister Settlement, Nisbet Settlement and a place called Goschen eventually formed what became Prince Albert. Gerwing said she likes to share Prince Albert history with the people of Prince Albert.

“That’s one of the things we get to do here is just find a topic that interests us and research it,” she said. “When you research it, then I think it would be good to share it with the community.”

The Isbister Settlement was located near the current penitentiary, the Prince Albert Presbyterian Mission started by James Nisbet and Goschen, was the company town of the Hudson’s Bay Company in what is now the east flat area, were three separate settlements.

Gerwing said that the first person to settle in Prince Albert was James Isbister with his settlement near where the Saskatchewan Penitentiary is now. Isbister was recognized for his historical significance with a plaque in the area in 2022.

“A few stores and then St. Mary’s Church got built out that end, and Emmanuel College got built out there. All of this was in the 1870s, 80s and 90s, so that was a little community. It was a lot of Anglicans because the Anglican church was Saint Mary’s and Emmanuel College was Anglican,” Gerwing said.

Emmanuel College eventually moved to Saskatoon and became the College of Emmanuel and St. Chad.

In 1866 the Reverend James Nisbet began his Presbyterian Mission.

“He came here with the aim to settle and build a mission, so he started, and he built a school in a church,” Gerwing said.

In 1866, the Hudson Bay Company started a farm west of where Isbister was located. They then moved it to the area where the Hudson Bay Company reserve was located, east Sixth Avenue East by about a kilometer. The company had roughly 3,000 acres in there.

“In 1870 when Hudson Bay Company turned the land over to Canada and they got a bunch of land in return and they kept that as their settlement, (which) became Goschen. One thing you’ll note is there’s still a Goshen Place out at that end, but spelled differently,” Gerwing said.

The Goschen that joined Prince Albert was named after the Hudson Bay governor at the time in London.

“Goschen actually became quite a thriving community,” Gerwing said. “It was all the Hudson Bay Company. They had workers housing out there. A guy named Richard Deacon who was a Steamboat captain, built a hotel out there in the 1870s and they built a Methodist Church out there, so we had the Anglicans, the Presbyterians, and then the Methodist.”

The railroad eventually came through Goschen but when the Telegraph came it became an issue between Goschen and what was eventually Prince Albert.

“There was a big fight over where the main telegraph office was going to go, like fight as in fist fights and fight as in they put poles in to put the headquarters in Goschen and then some guys from the mission area came and pulled the poles out of the ground and put them in where they wanted to go,” Gerwing said.

“They went to court and people beat each other up and there was drinking and beating up and fighting for about 10 days and the courts had trouble handling it. It was a very small town and people, everybody knew everybody and everybody was mad.”

Eventually to settle the dispute the Federal Government put a telegraph office in Goschen and Prince Albert. The office in Goschen closed a few months afterwards and Prince Albert became the headquarters.

In a way, she said, the telegraph fight helped to unite Prince Albert.

Afterwards, residents began looking into making PA an incorporated town. The process began in 1879.

“It took them quite some time,” Gerwing said. “It didn’t happen till late 1885 that they actually did it, but their first town boundaries that they proposed didn’t include Goschen.”

Gerwing said Goschen residents did not like not being included in the new town boundaries. The area was formally called the East End, but informally, residents still called it Goshen.

There is evidence of the Isbister settlement and the Nisbet settlement but not much remains of Goschen.

“There’s really nothing left to mark what there was but that might change,” she said.

The research will also be part of an article in the Saskatchewan Folklore and History Society’s magazine called Folklore at a later date.

The next Coffee and Conversation is on Oct. 20 at 2 p.m. featuring Anne Hyriniuk on the history of La Ronge.

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

New format for Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame induction a success

Michael Oleksyn
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New format for Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame induction a success

The Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame welcomed four inductees on Friday evening at the EA Rawlinson Centre.

Brian Sklar and the Prince Albert Concert Band were inducted in the performing arts-music category, Darcy Blahut in the literature category and Lana Wilson in the builder category.

Adreanna Gareau chair of the Prince Albert Arts Board acted as emcee for the evening along with Elliot Byers.

The format for this year’s induction was changed to having supper before and the induction take place on the stage of the EA Rawlinson Centre.

“The new format we’ve already been kind of discussing it, the pros and cons, but it’s one of those things where you don’t know how it will be until you try it,” Gareau said.

The evening featured performances by local performers during the induction and Gareau was pleased to expand what the induction does.

“We really were happy to have local performers be part of the night in addition to our inductees, so that it was a true celebration of the arts,” she said. “(We) celebrate people who have enriched our community, but also to put a spotlight on the people who do this every day and give them an opportunity to perform because we do art to share.

“You need an audience to share it with and we had an audience gathered. We thought, why not put some performers in front of them.”

The evening opened with a performance by Iron Swing Singers and included a poetry reading and a concluding performance by the newly formed Resonate Choir.

Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald

Lana Wlson is presented their Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame trophy by Adreanna Gareau at the Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Friday at the EA Rawlinson Centre.

Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald

Brian Sklar is presented his Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame trophy by Adreanna Gareau at the Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Friday at the EA Rawlinson Centre.

Gareau said that they wanted to have performers across the performing arts spectrum and wanted to include dance, but only had so much time.

“But having Iron Swing, they were here last year as well, so we really wanted to have Iron Swing come back again. It’s just such a powerful way to open the evening and Resonate is very new,” she said.

The poetry reading was supposed to be done by Lynda Monahan who was unable to attend due to illness.

Gareau said some poetry readings seem almost a little niche, but do well in Prince Albert when someone hosts them. She said that having a poetry reading would expose people in the audience to the joy of spoken word.

“The people who go to poetry readings are people who are poets themselves (and) in my experience already have a standing interest in it,” Gareau said.

“It’s too bad Lynda was sick and couldn’t be here, but it was lovely to be able to read some selections from her brand new book that she just launched in the last few weeks.”

Having four inductees in one year is a bit unusual for the Arts Hall of Fame. Gareau said they had so many nominees, they decided to expand the number of inductions.

She said that the board would like to see nominations come in as soon as the call for nominations for 2025 comes out.

“If you know someone who’s worthy, definitely nominate them and if you did nominate someone this year and they weren’t chosen, we roll them over to next year so they’ll be considered then too because it is very hard to choose,” she said.

Gareau added that they wanted to represent as many categories as they could through the Arts Hall of Fame.

Prince Albert Concert Band member Peter Lozinski spoke about the band during the ceremony. Arts educator Jesse Campbell introduced Lana Wilson. The Rev. Shawn Stanford-

Beck introduced Darcy Blahut and fellow Arts Hall of Fame nominee Donny Parenteau introduced Brian Sklar, who regaled the crowd with stories of the music scene in Prince Albert.

Gareau said that feedback on the new format for the Arts Hall of Fame is always welcome.

The Arts Board’s next Part for the Arts will be a Margo Fournier Tribute One Day Choir at the Margo Fournier Arts Centre under the direction of Brock Skomoroski and Kayleigh Skomoroski on Nov. 3.

“We’re trying a bit of a new approach for our next Part for the Arts instead of it being a professional enrichment sort of day specifically for artists. We want it to be something that’s open to absolutely anyone,” she said.

Gareau said that all of the Parts for the Arts are helpful, but the new one will be special.

“Our voice is the one instrument that doesn’t cost us anything. It’s accessible to anybody, and so that means that saying is accessible to anybody, whether you think you can sing or not. And so yeah, we want it to be within everyone’s reach, young or old, and it will be at the Margo Fournier Arts Centre. And I think it’s just going to be a really great day. It’s going to be beautiful,” Gareau said.

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

Tapestrama Cultural Festival celebrates food, dance and song

Michael Oleksyn
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Tapestrama Cultural Festival celebrates food, dance and song

The annual Tapestrama Cultural Festival returned to the Carlton Comprehensive High School Cafetorium on Saturday and Sunday.

The event has celebrated food, dance, and song from various cultures and customs every year for over 40 years. Prince Albert Multicultural Council executive director Micelle Hassler said nearly 500 people passed through the doors on Saturday.

“That’s actually a really good number on a first date, but because it’s a come and go event there’s a there’s a number of hours that will be filled up and then it comes by waves.” Hassler said.

She explained that staff noticed that people came and stayed for several hours, which is excellent for a casual event.

“It’s so nice to be able to see and learn and immerse themselves into all of the other variety of cultures,” Hassler said. “If you just stay for 30 minutes or one hour, you will only see one or two cultures, but if you stay for longer than that then you’ll get to see the various cultures.”

The event featured a diverse group of performers including the Wanuskewin Heritage Dance Troupe and Chinese Dance School of Saskatchewan on Saturday. It also included local performers the Creeland Dancers and Ashden School of Irish Dance.

“We cannot showcase them all, but we try to be very diverse, as much as we can and we have very good support from all over Saskatchewan,” Hassler explained. “All the wonderful cultural groups all over Saskatchewan have known PAMC and Tapestrama, and so the support from the cultural groups, who are very willing to come and perform for Tapestrama, is wonderful.”

Hassler said they try and bring in as many different cultural performers as they can.

Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald
The Chinese Dance School of Saskatchewan performed on Saturday at the Tapestrama Cultural Festival at the Carlton Comprehensive High School Cafetorium.
Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald
The Sounds of Afghanistan performed on Saturday at the Tapestrama Cultural Festival at the Carlton Comprehensive High School Cafetorium

“There are a lot of performers that would like to come every year, but also we the Tapestrama also wants to showcase new culture as much as we can every year as well too,” she said.

“We have new groups this year and so hopefully that culture will bring in more people.”

She said that having free admission to see the cultural performances was an advantage.

One unique aspect is that each group tells about their culture or performance before each part.

“The majority of the group has a cultural introduction before dances, and it’s for the audience to learn more about the dance and the song in a deeper meaning rather than just watching them dance and sing,” Hassler said.

Hassler thanked all of the supporters for coming out each year in whatever way they could.

“I think we would like to thank you for the support of our Community. (There is) always support every year from the Prince Albert Community and all our funders and sponsors. We are very, very grateful.

“We are very honored as PAMC to continue to deliver Tapestrama for more than 40 years now and we would love to continue it and, but we need the support.”

The event was one of many that are part of Culture Days in Prince Albert.

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

Barveenok withdraws from Tapestrama due to involvement of Russian group

Michael Oleksyn
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Barveenok withdraws from Tapestrama due to involvement of Russian group

A well-known local Ukrainian dance group declined to participate in the Prince Albert Multicultural Council’s annual Tapestrama Cultural Festival this weekend after a Russian dance group was also invited to participate.

The Prince Albert Barveenok Ukrainian Dancers pulled out of the event on Wednesday after learning that they had been booked the same day as the Kalinka Folk Dance Group, which is based out of the Saskatoon Russian Folk Centre.

Barveenok organizers said the ongoing war in Ukraine was the reason.

After Barveenok withdrew from Tapestrama the Kalinka Group also withdrew. PAMC executive director Michelle Hassler said that the Multicultural Council respects both groups and was in contact with both after the posts on social media.

“It was very good to be able to talk to both parties and all I can say is the PAMC will work together with the two groups to have a deeper conversation in the future and have a better understanding, because it’s a very sensitive a lot of on both sides,” Hassler said.

Hassler said that there is trauma and pain for Ukrainian people with the war ongoing, and she respects the decision of both groups to pull out of the event.

Hassler added that the PAMC is trying to listen respectfully as they try to navigate this difficult situation.

As a multicultural group, she said, they have to take a balanced approach.

“The Tapestrama Cultural Festival—for many, many, many years since it started—has always been a cultural gathering,” Hassler said.

“It’s always been the main goal and focus of Tapestrama Cultural Festival to showcase the various culture, heritage and traditions of each culture that comprises our community and the province of Saskatchewan in general. That is the main goal and focus.”

Both Kalinka and Barveenok are long time performers for the festival, according to Hassler. She said both groups know “the heart and soul’ of Tapestrama, but there were bigger issued that needed to be navigated.

Barveenok President Kayleigh Skomorowski said the group dropped out after people online raised concerns about the group performing in the same program and is such proximity to Kalinka.

“We knew very little about this Kalinka Folk Dance Group, other than that Kalinka, is a very Russian word and very much associated with Russian culture,” she said.

“We felt we were best just to step away given the timeline, lack of information and how sensitive the issue is between the two groups.”

Skomoroski said they have been in contact with the PAMC, and would like to talk about policies when inviting several groups under the banner of multiculturalism.

“We’re willing to sit at the table with them (and talk) about how to move forward with events in the future and stuff like that,” she said.

Skomoroski added that the decision was not rash but, they would have had questions even if they were not on the same day. She also said that there are other questions because of the Russian name and type of dance.

“We have a lot of questions and concerns, so I don’t know if this is an easy solve, but I definitely want to have some conversations with the Multicultural Council about some possible policies going forward,” she said. “Hopefully we can come to some sort of agreement and understanding when it comes to future planning and future events.”

In a statement Kalinka has said they support Ukraine but that still leaves questions for Barveenok.

“it’s a really hard space to navigate even if they put out a public statement, because the people that are there to watch the performance might not have read the public statement,” Skomoroski said

“It has to be very, very apparent and even if they say they don’t support the war, what do you not support the war about in particular, because we have Russians that say they want the war to end, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they believe in a sovereign Ukraine, right? Like, there are so much nuance,” Skomoroski said.

Skomoroski said that Barveenok’s default position is to unequivocally stand with Ukraine and unless they have enough information they will separate themselves and not support spaces where Russian culture is celebrated.

“It’s a really tough space to be in,” she said.

“It’s a really difficult time and I think these conversations are important, but these conversations also need to happen in the right timeline of things occurring. Then maybe we would have been able to say early on, ‘you know what, if you are going to have this group perform. We’re not comfortable being a part of this.”

Oleg Kougiya of the Kalinka Folk Dance Group said that the situation started because of online agitators trying to bring the war in Russia to Canada and spark rage between Russians and Ukrainians.

“Those people, it looks like they don’t have enough war in their country. They’re trying to bring the war between people of Canada here also,” Kougiya said.

He said that many people assume if you are Russian, you automatically support President Vladimir Putin and the invasion. He said that’s not actually the case.

“I’ve been in Canada for 20 years. That’s not how we do things here, right? We judge people by what they do, what they say and how they act,” Kougiya said.

He added that the Kalinka group could not be called a Russian group because more than half of their members are Ukrainian and some are from Canada.

“I mean, we’re doing all the best we can right,” Kougiya said. “Our group cannot “Only my family are ethnic Russians, but we’ve been here for over 20 years. My question is what in my behavior and what in my political statement gives people the right to say even suggest that I’m supporting this bloody regime?”

Kougiya said that the group withdrew so the Barveenok Ukrainian Dancers wouldn’t miss the opportunity to perform for their hometown crowd.

He does not hold ill will towards either Tapestrama or Barveenok but more the agitators who created the situation.

“We’re not mad, we’re not angry at Ukrainians. They’re going through devastating times, right. Our group members are supporting Ukraine, as much as we can and basically we’re trying to stay united,” he said.

After the war started in 2022, Kougiya said they withdrew the Russian parts of their program. The only remaining Russian part is the name Kalinka. He added that Russian culture is not responsible for what the Russian Federation is doing now,” he said.

Kougiya said that he and his family participated in anti-war rallies in Saskatoon and held no ill will towards anyone involved in the situation.

However, he also said the group received many negative comments on social media because of the situation.

“I’m not saying we should put politics aside. No, it’s still there, but let’s not think that all the Russians are Putin supporters,” Kougiya said. “That’s my biggest thing, right. I honestly cannot see what else can I do in this situation.”

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

Elder’s Council part of work on Truth and Reconciliation in Sask Rivers

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Elder’s Council part of work on Truth and Reconciliation in Sask Rivers

In the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division introduced the Elder’s Council in the 2018-2019 school year. 

Elder Liz Settee has been around since the council’s beginning. She said it acts as a sounding board for Indigenous learning in the division.

“We meet with the Indigenous Perspective Coaches, which would be Theresa (Thorsen) and her team Shea Pilon and Kayla Vandale Some of those positions have changed throughout the years, but if teachers have questions on how to do things culturally correct, we meet them minimum four times a year to go over things like that,” Settee explained. 

The current Elder’s Council is composed of Settee, Elder Suzie Bear, Elder Bette Huntley, Knowledge Keeper Mike Relland and Knowledge Keeper Cecil Eashappie. 

The Elder’s Council does a Pipe Ceremony for each season. This is the fourth year for the board of education to do a Pipe Ceremony, with the most recent coming on Sept. 16 at Kinistino School. 

Settee said they try and host a pipe ceremony for every season. Other schools and communities that have hosted Pipe Ceremonies include St. Louis, Queen Mary, Riverside and PACI. 

“After the pipe ceremony, the Elder’s Council meets with the board and we talk about things,” she said. “First of all, we debrief how the pipe ceremony went, so each school has the opportunity to host.” 

Following the Pipe Ceremony in Kinistino, the Board was welcomed at the Muskoday Elder’s Lodge for a plant walk led by Elder Bente Huntley as part of their first Elders Council meeting of the school year. 

Settee said the next Pipe Ceremony will be used to feed the drums. 

“The drums are spirits with the trees to make the base and the animal hide,” she said. “We have to feed those spirits, and we do that once a year. Then, if there’s anything the board wants to ask us for insight, for cultural appropriateness, we discuss those things at the board meeting.” 

Bente Huntley is also Thorsen’s mother and Thorsen said that the board had been wanting to be part of a plant and medicine walk for over a year. Thorsen, who is the Indigenous Perspectives Consultant with the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division, said that the Elder’s Council brings a tremendous amount of knowledge. 

“When we gather with them, it helps us to (clarify) when we’re supporting the teachers across our division or students,” Thorsen explained. “We also work hard to incorporate Elders and Knowledge Keepers into our professional development that we offer. Having them there in person is the best way to do that.” 

Thorsen said that the goal is to have the teachings permeate all levels of the system. 

“The students, the community, the parents, and the teachers, we really want to make sure that we are asking ourselves how are we decolonizing education when we’re offering PD (professional development) and how and making sure that we are incorporating Indigenous worldview,” Thorsen said. 

“Meeting with the Elders Council provides us with those opportunities to ask questions, for clarity and for guidance on things that teachers are asking us that we might not always have the answers to,” she added. 

Thorsen said that one example of this is drum protocols in schools including proper storage, how and when to feed the drum, and how to properly store it. 

Settee said she learns from questions asked by students and teachers and from other Elders on the Council. 

She said her mentors, the late Cree Elder Leonard Cardinal and Lakota Elder Stuart Amyotte, influenced her way, and her way is not necessarily the right way. 

“The teachings I carry came from them and so sometimes to hear other people’s ways of looking at things is nice,” Settee explained. “I feel like in this whole world I know very, very, very little. I will never know everything, but I always I’m always willing to learn. 

“(They have) very similar teachings, but in a slightly different way, so I have some from both (Cardinal and Amyotte) and I feel very privileged for that.” 

Settee said that she also learns from what the Indigenous Perspectives Team brings as questions from teachers ands students. 

“Honestly, doing some work in the school, our children are very smart and very curious, and I’ve had questions put to me where I’ve had to say ‘I don’t know the answer, but I will do my best to find out and I will get back to you,’” Settee said. 

Thorsen said that the division has a priceless opportunity with the Elder’s Council. 

“Elders and Knowledge Keepers carry a tremendous amount of knowledge, and that’s how we learn—through and from our elders and knowledge keepers and through different experiences that we that we take part in,” she explained. “It’s extremely valuable to have the five elders and knowledge keepers that we do have.” 

Settee said that the Elder’s Council is all inclusive and that makes it a part of the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation. 

“One of the beautiful things about being an elder on the advisory committee is it’s not just the indigenous perspective coaches and the board that we work with, but we work with the teachers, we work with the students, we work with the Community, so it’s all inclusive.” Settee said. 

One of the schools that Settee visits frequently is Ecole Arthur Pechey School. She said that one time at the school there was a community smudge and it took her an hour to complete the smudge. 

“There were so many people in the circle. Absolutely amazing. But we had moms, grandmas and aunties there and the students that are newcomers. They came out to the circle an that’s what truth and reconciliation is,” Settee said. 

“Everyone is welcome in the circle,” she said. 

Thorsen said that it is important for Indigenous students to feel that they are represented in both worldview and culture in schools. 

“It’s also beneficial for all students to know about different worldviews and perspectives, and it benefits everybody you know. That’s what truth reconciliation is,” she said. 

“(It’s) to feel like you’re a part of it as well, that it’s not just for indigenous people,” Settee added. “We’ve always been a people that shared.” 

PAATA President not surprised by numbers in report

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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PAATA President not surprised by numbers in report

Earlier this week the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) released a study showing high rates of workplace violence and harassment in Saskatchewan schools.

The study, Beyond the Breaking Point: Violence Against Saskatchewan’s Education Sector Workers, reveals that 84 percent of education sector workers surveyed about the 2022-23 school year experienced at least one act, attempt or threat of physical force, while 87 percent reported incidents of harassment.

Prince Albert Area Teachers’ Association (PAATA) President Jean-Marc Belliveau said that the numbers found in the survey were disturbing.

“My biggest concern is that in situations involving violence and harassment in schools is becoming normalized and part of the job for teachers,” Belliveau said. “I mean that’s not right. We should address conditions. How can we fix them? At bare minimum, we should report these incidents.”

Bellieveau said he was aware of many incidents of violence in Prince Albert classrooms, but couldn’t comment on specific cases.

Survey participants included teachers, direct student support workers like educational assistants, and indirect student support workers like custodial and clerical staff.

The study was authored by Darby Mallory, Chris Bruckert, Darcy Santor and Hanya Ismail of the University of Ottawa, and asked participants about their experiences and responses to workplace violence (i.e., acts, attempts and threats of physical force) and harassment (i.e., slurs, insults and put-downs).

Most respondents reported experiencing acts of physical force, with most of the violence being student-initiated.

According to the survey almost three-quarters of respondents experienced one attempt of physical force from a student, 85 per cent witnessed at least one student-initiated act, attempt or threat against a co-worker, 78 per cent reported one or more instance of student-initiated harassment, such as refusal to respect authority, swearing and offensive remarks and more than half (54 percent) of respondents experienced harassment by a parent.

Director of Education Neil Finch the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division board of education said there will be a report on the issue of violence in classrooms delivered at the board’s next meeting on Oct. 21.

Belliveau said that he is looking forward to seeing the numbers presented by Saskatchewan Rivers.

“I just hope that we can address this classroom violence provincially,” he said. “We are told we have to do it at a local level, so I’m interested to see how that reporting to the board will come. I’m curious to see what information (will come) out of that and how we can address these issues. That’s the biggest thing. Solving the issue is the most important thing.”

According to the STF a lack of resources and support to address student needs means violence directed toward teachers and support staff is increasingly normalized as simply being “part of the job.” In their responses, education sector workers detailed impacts to their physical and mental health and described themselves as burnt out and dissatisfied with their jobs.

For students, routinely witnessing violence is destabilizing and harms their access to instruction, capacity to learn and emotional well-being.

According to the study’s findings, only six percent of respondents indicated that actions taken to deal with the violence they experienced were “very effective.” Most institutional responses were reactive, deflective or dismissive – participants described having their concerns negated and incidents being “swept under the rug.

STF President Samantha Becotte said in a press release that proactive measures such as safety plans that can address the issue are compromised by a lack of resources. She also said providing those resources should be a priority for all elected officials responsible for schools and education.

“Teachers and educational staff are frustrated by the failure to recognize the realities faced by our schools and the lack of action by government to address violence and harassment,” she said.

In the release, she also asked the public to support the STF’s Vote for Public Education campaign which asks all parties and candidates in this fall’s provincial and school board trustee elections to make a public commitment to address classroom violence.

“We cannot afford to have committed teachers and educational staff leaving the profession because they are denied the resources they need to thrive as educators and support students,” she said.

The full report is available on the Violence and Harassment Against Educators Project website.

The Daily Herald reached out to the Prince Albert Catholic School Division for a response to the report, but did not hear back by press time.

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

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