Things were almost normal at office of the RM of Prince Albert, RM of Buckland, the Prince Albert and District Planning Commission and Prince Albert Rural Water Commission on River Street West on Thursday, March 19. The RM of Prince Albert still held their regular monthly meeting on Thursday, March 19.
The meeting offered some normalcy in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We can’t predict the future (or) where will be on a day-to-day basis,” RM of Prince Albert Reeve Eric Schmalz said.
The rural municipalities of Buckland and Prince Albert announced on Wednesday that the Municipal Centennial Building will be closed to the general public until further notice.
“We are still operating here, the staff will still be in the building or if they are working from home, if they are not feeling well they will be sequestered at their homes and their phones will be forwarded so someone will answer the calls and be able to process bills electronically,” he explained.
Thursday’s meeting had some social distancing with absences of two councillors but with four councillors and the Reeve there was enough to establish quorum.
“The whole gist of the building closing is to keep our staff safe,” RM of Buckland reeve Don Fyrk said. “The office is still being manned, but they can call us to for any questions and if there’s any business that has to be done instead of coming here in person.”
“We can still do things remotely over the phone or via e-transfer if you need to make payments or anything like that,” Schmalz added. “We’re going to leave the building closed indefinitely until the health authority indicates that the risk has been mitigated to the public and we will reopen to the public as soon as that time comes.”
The RM offices are still accepting the following means of payments during this time:
Cheque via Canada Post or the mail slot in the back door of the building
Online banking if available through a person’s financial institution
E-transfers to the RM of Buckland that can be sent to rm491@sasktel.net
E-transfers to the RM of Prince Albert that can be sent to rm461@sasktel.net
Staff will remain in the offices during the regular business hours and can still be contacted via phone or email.
The RM of Buckland can be reached at 306-763-2585 or at rm491@sasktel.net.
The RM of Prince Albert can be reached at 306-763-2469, by cell at 306-941-1709 or at rm461@sasktel.net.
The Prince Albert Rural Water Utility and the Prince Albert District Planning Commission are also in the same building and are closed to the public.
The City of Prince Albert has enacted its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and continues to meet to evaluate the impacts of COVID-19 measures on City services and employees. For now, city facilities will remain open.
The majority of third party events have been cancelled including sports groups and tournaments and cleaning of high touch surfaces continues.
“Our EOC has been meeting since last Thursday,” Prince Albert Fire Chief Kris Olson. “We got together and being a health issue we have been following Sask. Health and their recommendations. So their recommendations initially on the outset were gatherings of 250 or greater would be restricted. We followed that lead and some of the organizers of some of the planned events had pulled out based on that information right away.”
He explained that he was getting calls about cancellations of events as late as Sunday.
The EOC is operational and meeting to monitor the situation.
“We are meeting daily so as information is rolled out of Sask Health we are meeting as a committee and as it’s an ever changing or evolving situation so stay tuned,” he said.
“Attendance at facilities is very low and we are able to achieve parameters of social distancing,” Olsen said in the city’s release.
“Given announcements from other municipalities, we will be evaluating the impact of closures on our staff and the public and expect to have more information soon.”
The City of Prince Albert is following the lead of Saskatchewan Health in terms of recommendations on public gatherings and direction to staff.
At present there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Prince Albert and there is no evidence of community transmission. Olson explained that there is some confusion because all municipalities are taking different approaches.
“Right from the onset we said we are going to follow the recommendations of Sask Health so that’s what we are doing,” Olson said.
Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne addressed the issue during the regular council meeting on Monday, March 16.
“I want to ensure all residents that we are taking the safety of our public very seriously, and we will evaluate the COVID-19 measures on a daily basis, and we’ll keep you updated,” Dionne said.
The public was allowed at the meeting but that may change in the future, Dionne said.
The situation continues to change quickly. The EOC will be meeting daily to review new developments and new information will be made available regularly.
The federal government has released new restrictions on international travel. Residents should review travel advisories in effect.
As a precautionary measure the RM of Prince Albert, RM of Buckland, the Prince Albert and District Planning Commission and Prince Albert Rural Water Utility temporarily closed their administrative offices on River Street East in Prince Albert.
Acccording to RM of Buckland reeve Don Fyrk the closure was only for one day.
“We are back to work tomorrow. One of the councillors had a very bad chest cold so we were waiting for the tests to come back and they came back negative so the office will be open again tomorrow,” Fyrk said.
“It is all good it is just a regular seasonal cold,” he explained.
The councillor had recently returned from Costa Rica, a COVID-19 hotspot, and returned via Toronto.
The short-term closure was in response to receiving the information late in the day on Sunday, March 15 that an individual who recently traveled abroad is currently undergoing testing for COVID-19 and has been in contact with several employees and members of Council for both RMs.
The organizations said in their statement that they take the health and wellbeing of the public and their employees seriously.
Both school divisions in Prince Albert have sent out letters to parents regarding the COVID-19 outbreak. The school divisions are trying to keep communication open with parents.
“We are always trying to communicate with our parents in a proactive way so whatever we can do to help our families understand the necessity to remain as healthy as possible we will do our best to make sure we are communicating that,” director of education Lorel Trumier said.
The Roman Catholic Division’s letter was sent to parents on March 11 before the first known case in Saskatchewan but after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic. The Saskatchewan Rivers letter came out on Friday, March 13 after the first case in Saskatchewan was announced.
“We feel that the activities we have done to date to prepare for this is sufficient and we will because it is an ever evolving element that occurs in our society then we will just ensure that we are responsive for the request of our Sask Health Authority,” she explained.
In their letter, The Saskatchewan Rivers Division explained that they have placed some temporary operational changes in place. These include cancellation of field trips or gatherings that involve more than one class or with significant members of the public, cancellation of guest speakers, external presentation and tours, cancellation of gatherings such as pep rallies, suspension of any school-based incentives or rewards for attendance and the replacement of Parent-Teacher Conferences with a phone call or other electronic means.
The upcoming visit from Lt.-Gov. Russell Mirasty, which is scheduled for Tuesday, March 17, could not be confirmed as canceled in time for deadline.
Both divisions letters include information such as contacting 811 HealthLine if you have questions about your health, stay at home if you are feeling ill and seek advice from 811 regarding self-isolation. As well, both divisions encourage practicing proper coughing etiquette, proper hand washing and hygiene and other things encouraged by the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
The Roman Catholic Division’s letter includes an insert on proper coughing methods.
Both divisions are continuing to monitor the evolving situation. In their update on Friday the province said school closure is not being considered at this time. The SHA will communicate with education leadership daily as the situation evolves.
“If the Saskatchewan Health Authority or Ministry of Education or perhaps the province endeavour to close schools then we will do so if necessary but we are not at that point yet. I think it’s really important that we understand that if school closure occurs it is probably in the spirit of slowing down virus distribution,” Trumier said.
She explained that they will continue to use the division’s website and communications within the division to keep parents up to date.
Saskatchewan Rivers director of education Robert Bratvold was not available for comment Friday.
Students from Prince Albert and Shellbrook were on hand for the annual Model UN Assembly at St. Mary’s High School on Wednesday, March 11. The event, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Prince Albert, saw Carlton Comprehensive Collegiate students Sanjana Brijlall and Jarica Gooding who represented France come away as the winners.
The event organized by staff at St. Mary’s invited Shellbrook and Carlton to attend. The subjects of the Model UN assembly was veto powers and their possible removal to make decision making more consensus based. The second topic of the Assembly was food security. After presenting amendments and caucusing among countries the winning duo also addressed a topic that is top of mind at this time.
“We presented a emergency resolution at the end which was prevent. At the end we presented an emergency resolution on misleading information and misinformation,” Brijall, who is a Grade 10 student, said.
They used it because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We thought it was important we have people know what is true and what is not. Especially with this virus it is really important that people aren’t getting misinformation,” she added.
“That one is just addressing things that are going on in real life in real time and ours was about preventing the spread of misinformation and propaganda,” Gooding, who is in Grade 12, said.
Gooding explained that the duo is also involved in debate club.
“You still have to debate an issue but there is a different layer (with model UN) of being a country as well so that is just really intriguing for me personally and for Sanjana as well. Because it is just a really interesting experience debating things from not only just one side of the issue but somebodies perspective on the issue,” she explained.
Both students want to see more Carlton students become involved in the Model United Nations Club.
“I think it’s great. I hope that encourages more people in Carlton to join the Model UN,” Bijlall said.
“It’s a great opportunity for other students to get involved with because it helps with your speaking skills, your listening skills and then your community involvement,” Gooding added.
Gooding thanked the Rotary Club and all of the volunteers and teachers who organized the event.
Around 40 students from around Prince Albert rallied in front of Prince Albert-Carlton MLA Joe Hargrave’s office on Wednesday, March 11. The students were rallying because they would be affected by the loss of extracurriculars if teachers begin sanctions on Thursday, March 12.
The loss of extracurriculars and before and after school supervision is part of sanctions announced by the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation (STF) as part of an ongoing labour dispute with the province. The two sides have been in negotiations for ten months. A sticking point remains class size and composition. On Wednesday, the province announced a new offer that would see teacher salaries rise higher over the next few years. The STF has said, though, that they would not be bought, as they have concerns about growing classroom complexity amid a new integrated learning model and a reduction in classroom supports.
Teachers voted 90.2 per cent in favour of job action with a 96.6 per cent turnout.
Students involved in all types of extracurricular activities were present including musical theatre and athletics — specifically basketball.
Hoopla and basketball playoffs were cancelled by the Saskatchewan High School Athletics Associaton (SHSAA) later in the day after the organization’s Wednesday deadline passed. Students from three high schools — Prince Albert Collegiate Institute (PACI), Carlton Comprehensive Collegiate and St. Mary’s High School were present at the rally.
“I support and I speak for the students of our province who are highly involved in extracurricular activities at their schools and how these are essentially being taken away from them,” Grade 11 St. Mary’s student Tatum Young said.
“For all students but especially those senior students in Grade 12 whose extracurriculars affect their university applications and their futures. I am involved in my school arts, my school musical, people are involved in sports and it’s their last year, their last show, their last concert, their last everything and we can’t let that be taken away from them.
“It is nice to see three high schools coming together from sports and arts and all different programs uniting for a common goal,” Young added.
Young explained that the show must go on and the musical theatre production will continue.
“We are going to work it out and we are going to put on our show. We are going to do everything in our power so that we can have our show and our concerts and everything that we look forward to,” she explained.
Nearly every player from the PACI Golden Bears senior boys basketball team attended the rally. The Golden Bears have advanced to SHSAA Regionals and want to see their season continue, according to Grade 12 player Brandon Sayese.
“For PACI it is a big thing that we are making it to regionals and also the first time our team has been successful. It will hurt a lot if it just ends,” Sayese said.
He explained that he and three other seniors who play on the team are disappointed that their season may not continue.
“I came today to hopefully share my voice, share my opinion and hopefully to get the government and teacher bargaining teams to come to an agreement,” he said.
As well, all six Grade 12 players from the Carlton Crusaders senior girls’ basketball team attended the rally. When speaking after the rally Bria Howden became emotional because of the impending cancellation.
“This is our last season for six of us and we are doing really good and it kind of sucks that this is done for us for many of us this is the last time we will play basketball and it is just like dumb. It just sucks that this is how we have to end. We were expecting better,” Howden said.
Fellow Grade 12 player Alex Soyko, who has already secured a basketball scholarship, figures that other students will have opportunities to advance in the sport taken away.
Students from around Prince Albert rallied in front of Prince Albert-Carlton MLA Joe Hargrave’s office on Wednesday, March 11.
“I know some of the students are looking forward to having coaches from other colleges come watch them play in this during Hoopla and during our regionals because it’s a really big deal and they are all livestreamed. So some of those opportunites can be taken away from students because they won’t get the chance to show what they can prove. It’s towards the end of their season and they worked really hard and they put all their work to show what you have worked towards and that is what’s getting cut off,” Soyko said.
Taryn Izsak agreed with her teammates explained that she loves the sport and has built many friendships on the team and put in many hours of work on the court.
“It is so hard to understand that it is just over because of something like this,” she said.
The rally included speeches by a number of students and after it concluded signs from the rally were taped to Hargrave’s office and left in the snow out front.
Students were there to use their voices and Young encouraged them to do so.
“Every student should know that they have a voice and that it is not hard for them to speak up, get in contact with anyone who has authority, get in contact with the Minister of Education, your MLA, anyone in the government that you can. You have a voice and you are free to use it,” Young said.
With around 40 students in attendance the turnout was seen as positive.
“I wish that there would have been more but this was a really great turnout,” Young added.
The board of the Prince Albert Catholic School Division got some positive news during their regular meeting on Monday, March 3. The division’s pilot program for early learning will be expanding and enrolment remains steady in the division.
The ELIS or Early Learning intensive Support Pilot Program will be expanding from eight spaces to 12 spaces.
“What that means is we are supported for pre-Kindergarten children ages three and four who require intensive supports for their individualized need. So we are excited about that,” director of education Lorel Trumier said.
The pilot began in 2019 and in February, 2020 the division received notice of the expansion. The 2019-2020 expansion funding totals $50,000. The expansion allows for an additional Education Assistant as well as additional funds for additional supports.
“As we move through this, we are seeing some success and we are lucky that we have continued support. It is a bilateral agreement between federal and provincial dollars that support that kind of work,” she explained.
“It helps our children who require our support and allows us to have specialized support in place.”
The additional supports include occupational therapy and other intensive supports, Trumier said.
Another memo noted changes in requirements for learner drivers. Effective January, 2020 SGI changed the way novice drivers acquire learner’s licenses as soon as they enroll in a High School Driver Education Program.
“It means that students will not have to wait to start the process but obviously they will still have to take the course,” she said.
The division also provides enrollment updates the board on a monthly basis.
“We keep track of our student population and what is happening within it so we always present that to the board,” Trumier said.
The initial report after September 30 is the significant report as it is part of the formula on which funding is based.
“We always use those to make plans for the future and it informs the board of where things are heading. A large number of our students are in French Immersion and they sustain the French Immersion program so we are pleased about that,” she said.
Numbers remain consistent in the division. In February, 2020 there are 3,001 students enrolled across both English and French. In February, 2019 there were 2,971 students in the division.
The division also recently received notice that a new daycare will be opening in St. Catherine Catholic School by the end of March.
“That will be operational probably within the next month or month and a half. We are waiting for substantial approval of that so we are really excited about that occurring here in the next four to six weeks,” Trumier said.
With the threat of coronavirus or the novel virus of COVID-19 shutting down events and communities around the world both the Prince Albert Roman Catholic and Saskatchewan Rivers School Division are making plans in case the epidemic reaches Saskatchewan. The divisions are both communicating with the Ministry of Education and other authorities.
Both divisions held their regular meetings on Monday, March 9 and the boards each received updates on preparedness in the divisions. The Saskatchewan Rivers Division has already begun the work.
“We have already essentially got our plans in place and we roll them out as we need to. We rely lots on the Ministry who gets their information from Sask Health. We will help out by sharing communication a bit — we don’t want to be the source or seen as the expert,” Saskatchewan Rivers director of education Robert Bratvold said.
According to Roman Catholic director of education Lorel Trumier, the board received an update on what planning is under way
“I think that we want to make sure that the board is aware that those things are occurring we are managing it in the best way that we can,” Trumier said.
She explained that they are monitoring the Canadian Government website and working with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and Ministry of Education. The Saskatchewan Rivers Division is taking similar steps according to Bratvold’s report to the board on Monday.
“We are trying to be as proactive as possible on that matter,” Trumier said.
The Roman Catholic Division was also informed that Global Partners would not be sending Japanese students to Prince Albert high schools this month. Trumier said that they would have been in contact about it and decided to cancel.
“I think that is in the best interest of their students in the decision they are making and ultimately we respect that and it was probably in the best interest of ours,” she explained.
There are currently no cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan but both divisions are prepared if the situation arises.
Both school divisions are getting ready Thursday when Saskatchewan’s teachers will cease to operate extracurricular activities and before and after school supervision.
The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) has been in contract negotiations with the province for ten months. In February, theachers voted 90.2 per cent in favour of taking job action.
Both the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division and Prince Albert Roman Catholic School Division are preparing.
“It’s provincial sanctions affecting all schools and it will impact primarily extracurricular activities. So anything that is after school that the teachers are involved in will be canceled like basketball and drama,” Saskatchewan Rivers director of education Robert Bratvold said.
Saskatchewan Rivers and the Roman Catholic Division will see extracurricular activities that require teacher supervision outside the school day cancelled starting Thursday and until further notice.
One sport directly affected will be basketball.
“Our expectation is that there is a Sask Rivers School Division staff member affiliated with the sports team,” Bratvold explained.
“All extracurricular activities will not be occurring. Which can include things like tutoring, canteen operations, anything that they would have been supporting as a student group with to run or to support. Extracurricular activities are not being supported at this time,” Roman Catholic Division director of education Lorel Trumier said.
According to Sask. River the upcoming Parent-Teacher Interviews will proceed as scheduled. School schedules of events, activities, classes, recesses, and noon-hours will continue as usual. School supervision for the time immediately before and after school will continue mostly as usual, but some schools may have necessary changes communicated by the Principal.
“In some schools there will be a message from the Principal saying that the school will remain locked until this time and it varies with school start times changes and it varies,” Bratvold explained.
“Therefore I think the biggest significance is that parents are really going to have to support our schools in that they are not at the school site prior to that time but after that,” Trumier said.
The Saskatchewan High School Athletics Association (SHSAA) is dealing with the issue around basketball playoffs and Hoopla. After a meeting on Monday evening the Executive Council of the SHSAA decided to have playoffs remain scheduled in hopes that the two sides can reach an agreement before on March 11 before 3:30 p.m.. However, if this does not occur ,the remaining basketball playoffs will be canceled due to lack of teacher involvement in the events, the loss of the qualification process and the constraints for schools’ preparations to act as host site.
A dispute between a land owner and the RM of Big River is slated to appear before a judge.
Dana Pettigrew, who owns property at Michel’s Beach on Delaronde Lake, was looking for a permit to build a garage in May 2019. Pettigrew’s project requires two permits. Both were rejected by the R.M. The Saskatchewan Municipal Board ruled in Pettigrew’s favour, and now the matter is headed before a judge in Saskatoon on Monday, March 2.
“The RM is turning it into a very major thing and really they shouldn’t have,” Pettigrew said.
“The RM of Big River is asking for a leave to appeal with a court appearance in Saskatoon. I am down in the States and now I have to come back to Canada so I can go to court to defend my position.”
The leave to appeal was filed by the R.M. On January 15, 2020. The R.M. is looking to overturn a decision made by the Saskatchewan Municipal Board Assessment Committee. The Monday hearing will determine if there is grounds for an appeal.
Pettigrew is a retired Alberta provincial certified professional technical engineer and understood what was needed to construct above a flood plain.
He made an application on May 7, 2019 for the garage adjacent, approved initially on the foundation for the garage on May 27 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.
The Development Officer for the RM issued an order on July 10 claiming 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 flood-proofing.
“His first comment was I can do that for you but what has the RM got against you? I mean people just build garages six inches above the elevation and let it flood down and it is never an issue. And I said the RM is making it an issue. They want it on a five foot pedestal and that’s unreasonable” Pettigrew said.
Later he took the letter to the RM from Kiffiak that stated the construction was fine. He said the RM 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 before the Saskatchewan Municipal Board Assessment Committee was heard on November 22, 2019.
The Committee found that the RM’s 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.
“Really, I can’t see anything but egg on the face of the RM,” Pettigrew said.
The RM of Big River declined to comment because the matter is before the courts.
