Carlton teacher Brown inducted into Women’s Hall of Fame

Michael Oleksyn
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Carlton teacher Brown inducted into Women’s Hall of Fame

It was a High Tea to celebrate a remarkable Prince Albert woman on Sunday at the Coronet Hotel.

Carlton teacher Jennifer Brown became the most recent inductee into the Prince Albert Women’s Hall of Fame. Brown said she was glad to join the remarkable women already inducted since 2004 by the Prince Albert Council of Women.

“It’s very exciting,” she said. “It’s an acknowledgement that my parents raised me right. And that’s the best thing that I could ask.”

Past inductees and local dignitaries were in attendance for Brown’s induction. The list included Malcolm Jenkins and Karen Jenkins representing Melba Jenkins, Linda Nosbush, Delphine Melchert, Nicole Rancourt. Dr. Lalita Malholtra, Jeannette Edolls and Irma Brunsdon.

Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald Several past Prince Albert Women’s Hall of Fame inductees posed with 2024 inductee Jennifer Brown following the ceremony on Saturday at the Coronet Hotel.

Brown and fellow St. Michael’s Parish member Edolls are now both in the Hall of Fame.

“She (Edolls) is a phenomenal lady, (and) it’s kind of overwhelming to be in the same category as somebody like Doctor Malhotra,” Brown said. “I’m a girl from the West Flat. It’s overwhelming.”

Brown was inducted for her work in the Metis community, the arts community and the Catholic Community of Prince Albert.

“It’s definitely unique,” Brown said. “When I was nominated at the Gabriel DuMont Institute for the Gabriel DuMont Bronze Award, it was due to academics. To be acknowledged in not just one category, but overarching for everything that I’ve done, it’s daunting.

“There’s a lot more that I do that nobody mentioned and I don’t do it for recognition. I just do it because it needs to be done. I think the fact that it was all-encompassing is nice because it pays tribute to all aspects of who I am.”

Nominator Janice Henry read the letter she wrote advocating for Brown’s induction. Henry said she witnessed Brown’s growth from a 14-year-old to an adult with a passion for community capacity building. She said Brown is deeply committed to supporting the community.

Henry said that Brown’s family has always been advocates for the West Flat including Parkland Hall.

Brown has worked with the Indian and Metis Friendship Centre and was chairperson of the Metis Youth Advisory Council from 2001 to 2008. Brown graduated with honours from SUNTEP and also has a Master’s Degree from the University of Regina. She is also a past recipient of the Gabriel DuMont Bronze Medal.

“Jennifer’s commitment and dedication to volunteerism has been a lifelong journey,” Henry said.

She volunteers endless hours as chair of the Mann Art Gallery and, St. Michael’s Parish Council member, is a member of the Prince Albert Area Teachers Association (PAATA) and is actively involved with the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary Group.

She also provides art classes in outlying communities for the Metis Nation and is an executive member of the Northern Prairie Indigenous Peoples Collective Incorporated.

“That’s a lot of volunteerism,” Henry said.

Brown is also a well-known artist who has had her work featured in shows across North America and has a large mural located in St. Louis. Her work has also been exhibited in personal collections and at numerous schools in Prince Albert. She also works in Metis beadwork, sewing, writing and illustrations.

“Jennifer has had many achievements that have given her and others joy,” Henry said.

“Jennifer is proud of her roots and more importantly, she is proud to be a citizen of Prince Albert. Her commitment to the People’s Arts Community, academic community and those members of society that are marginalised is apparent by the work she does out there. My friend Jennifer is an authentic, compassionate, dedicated Metis woman in the community and is, and it is my request that you consider her worthy of this award.”

Henry said she nominated Brown not only because she was her friend, but because of the important contributions she made to the community and Saskatchewan.

“Jennifer is well known and continues to be well known throughout the province and from a national scope in terms of the work that she does with her artwork and her art as well as her academic,” Henry said.

Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald Jennifer Brown makes her speech during the 2024 Prince Albert Women’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday at the Coronet Hotel.

Brown said it was an honour to have Henry advocate for her selection.

“It’s a very nice recognition from Janice to be Prince Albert’s Hall of Famer this year,” Brown said. “She’s always supported me. I’m just grateful she chose this opportunity.”

Her nomination letter was 24 pages of testimonials. Brown said it was humbling to hear she’d touched so many lives.

“They would have had to have done two and a half to three pages each, so to know that I’ve touched people in that way that they would take the time to write such substantial letters, it’s overwhelming,” Brown said. “I’m humbled for the opportunities that it has given me.”

When Brown got the news, she assumed it was someone else with the same name being inducted.

“I thought she had gotten it wrong,” Brown said. “There’s a lot of Jennifer Browns. When I was a little girl there were four other Jennifer Browns in the city of Prince Albert, born in 1980, who all saw the same doctor.

“There was a good likelihood it could have been a mistake, and so I was shocked and overjoyed.”

Brown had just returned from the PAATA Strike Day in Shellbrook when she got the news.

Council President Chrissy Halliday emceed the event. Mayor Greg Dionne brought greetings from the City of Prince Albert and Prince Albert Northcote MLA Alana Ross brought greetings from the province.

Speaking on behalf of Brown’s family was niece Olivia Ferchuk, who co-presented that portion with Brown’s friend Father Travis Myrheim.

Colleagues who spoke of Brown’s impact were fellow Carlton teacher Mel Mirasty and Tricia Lucyshyn.

Past President of the Prince Albert Council of Women and National Council of Women, Patricia Leson presented Brown her portrait on behalf of Dionne who had something planned following his greetings.

At the end of the ceremony, 2024’s newest inductee was presented with a framed print entitled Onward and Upward created by Canadian female artist Larisa Sembaliuk that is part of the “Celebrating Women” collection.

Brown’s photo along with a quote of her choosing will now be placed on the wall outside the City Manager’s office in recognition of her lifetime of accomplishments, surrounded by the other hardworking and influential Prince Albert women who have been honoured through the years.

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

PAMC celebrates first batch of Youth Ambassadors with Gala Night

Michael Oleksyn
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PAMC celebrates first batch of Youth Ambassadors with Gala Night

On Friday, the Prince Albert Multicultural Council (PAMC) hosted its inaugural Youth Ambassador Gala Night to recognized the organization’s first set of Youth Ambassadors.

Raghav Kapur is the Chair of the PAMC Youth Ambassadors Council. Kapur was chosen because he is also involved with the Optimist Club and picked up skills from them. He said it’s exciting to be named a youth ambassador.

“It is very new,” he said. “This is the first time in PA we have our Youth Council. What I’ve seen is my other members, they are reaching out to youth (saying) if they need any help, they come to us. I have my cards printed out and I’m just telling people if they need any help, they (can) come to me.”

Kapur said that the whole concept was successful because it helped each of the Ambassador’s

Kapur came to Canada from Punjab, India two years ago and said the PAMC helped him adjust to his new life studying Hospitality and Tourism at Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

“I came here and it was very difficult for me to get settled, to get a job and to just start rolling, so I was looking for the opportunity,” he said.

“I saw the opportunity and saw in this way I can help the youth out there. I just took the opportunity, and right now I’m here.”

Prince Albert Multicultural Council (PAMC) Executive Director Michelle Hassler explained that the Youth Ambassador program is funded solely by the Government of Canada. The program is open to people from ages 15 to 30.

The nine Youth Ambassadors were invited to present on their project however all of them could not make the evening. Each ambassador received up to $5,000 in financial assistance for their initiative or project

Kapur’s project was a Diwali event at the Ches Leach Lounge in November 2023.

Fabiola Niyinkiza is from Burundi and has been in Prince Albert for four years and two months. Her project was about bridging cultural gaps through music from Burundi. Niyinkiza created and recorded an original and traditional music video.

Nitinkiza said that making music was her dream and being able to work in a studio to make music would be something she could not normally afford.

“It was really hard,” she said. “I’m proud of this part because it was my dream before.”

Nitinkizae composed the song and recorded it in the studio with the money from the program.

She was also able to pay the production costs for the video.

“My song is about how a farmer can’t go in the garden without a plough, so you can’t go without those instruments because you can’t plant your seed, (and) you can’t prepare your land,” she explained. “You can prepare your garden and you can plant the seed.”

She said it was great to see YouTube impressions on her video because the goal of the music was to spread her culture to people in Canada

“Maybe some youth that are as shy as me (and) they have lots of stuff to do, so I am there in front of them to show them that everything is possible,” she said.

Niyinkiza said the whole experience in the program was beneficial. She was especially proud that her father, who is a Pastor in Edmonton (and) came to see her perform at Tapestrama. The family came together in 2019 and she wound up in Prince Albert. PAMC paid to get the family to Prince Albert for Tapestrama.

She said that she appreciated the funding from the Government of Canada.

“We’re using it and then we receive a result,” she said. “Now I have so many places that call me (after) this video uploaded. They call me and then (I) go there and then I sing, (and) I perform…. It’s really nice to me.”

The program was initially launched in May 2023. According to PAMC, this initiative aims to foster youth engagement and participation within the community. Nine dynamic Youth Ambassadors were chosen, given the unique opportunity to propose and implement youth-led initiatives centred around reconciliation, anti-racism, diversity, inclusion, and democratic engagement.

The ambassadors have not only worked on their respective community projects but have also taken on roles in the newly formed PAMC Youth Council.

PAMC Executive Director Michelle Hassler gave a brief overview of the program to open the evening. Hassler said that she had been searching for funding for a program for youth for many years. Hassler has applied for another round of funding that would be for three years.

There were monthly check-ins, and the Ambassadors were involved in any PAMC events. They also travelled to Saskatoon and met the Youth Ambassadors from that city.

Flo Frank from Common Ground Consulting had a video call in to speak to the Ambassadors.

There was then a summary of each project, with Hassler and Melanie Carcillar assisting those who were not in attendance.

To conclude the evening, Hassler presented each Ambassadors with their certifications.

Emmanuel Adams, who could not make the evening developed an app called Social to connect people of many cultures. This app will be officially launched at a later date by the PAMC. Laeticia Mwayuma, who could not attend, hosted a multicultural World Fashion Show that took place during Tapestrama. Izabelle Bignell, who could not attend, created a documentary about people of many cultures who live in Prince Albert.

Kapur put on a Diwali Celebration at the Ches Leach in November. Fabiola Niyinkiza created and recorded an original and traditional music video

Abelle Kizinga, who also could not attend, hosted an African Hair Braiding workshop. Taylor Vandale-Cole hosted a Ribbon Skirt making workshop. Thomas Iradi hosted a Bannock and Metis cart-making workshop and Leevance Rakesh Macwan organized a trip to Wanuskewin Heritage Park to explore Indigenous culture.

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

Ecole St. Mary Open House gives students a look at possible future school

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Ecole St. Mary Open House gives students a look at possible future school

The next generation of St. Mary High School students had a chance to look at their future school on Thursday night when the school hosted a one-day open house.

Plans to have future students visit on Wednesday as well were scrapped due to the STF’s extracurricular withdrawal of services. Ecole St Mary Principal Dwayne Gareau said they were happy to host future students.

“This is an exciting time of year for families and staff and the school,” Gareau said. “It’s just always refreshing to see all these excited faces coming in and into their transition into the school. I never lose sight of that, that this is an exciting time for them.”

An open house fits under the criteria of an extracurricular activity, so St. Mary had to cancel. Gareau said that because of the cancellation, Thursday turned into a much busier night.

Gareau said the biggest change for students will be the size of the school. St. Mary is a lot bigger than any elementary school in the city. The St. Mary principal said that alone can take some time to adjust to.

Gareau and vice principals Jason Bourdon and Lydia McLeod explained different parts of the school and the school culture. Then they took students on a tour of the whole building, showing off classrooms and different programs available for students.

Gareau said they want to create an atmosphere where students can picture themselves taking those classes.

“We like them to see the whole building because we always say this—even to the students when they are touring—they don’t know what their interest may be until they see it,” Gareau said.

Throughout the tour, future students and their parents made stops in Learning Leader classrooms for Science and other courses. Gareau said that they wanted to give students as much of a sense of the building as they could.

Students who couldn’t make the evening tour had the opportunity to do a shorter tour during the school day.

“I have already taken a couple because they can’t make the one night that they like to still come for a tour, so they’re taking some small group tours,” Gareau said.

“(There are lots) of compliments we get on the building, the cleanliness, how well taken care of it is,” he added. “It’s a really unique building. I travel around to many high schools in this province and we, in terms of what we have here at the school, would rate as well as anyone in the province.”

The tours are open to those enrolled in the Catholic Division, out of town or in other school divisions. Gareau said that with so many great high schools in the city, there is a lot of choice, and that competition makes all schools stronger.

“We want parents, families, and students to have choice,” he said. “We want to show them what we have to offer here. We always say we don’t want every student in the city to come to this building, we want the ones who want to be here.”

Gareau is a St. Mary alumnus as well as a teacher and said it was a culture that has been built through both his predecessor Mark Phaneuf and himself.

“I graduated here in 1998 myself,” he said. “I went to school here and it’s something we always continuously work on and we reflect. We reflect on what we’re doing well, and what we need to do. We don’t just settle, on what do we need to do better. How can we adjust because if you get complacent sometimes, then the more complacent you are, the less you’re looking to be innovative and stuff.”

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

Province announces funding agreement with SSBA

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Province announces funding agreement with SSBA

The provincial government and Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) have announced a multi-year funding agreement with the support of Saskatchewan’s locally elected boards of education.

The move drew the ire of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF), who said this is outside of the ongoing collective bargaining process with teachers. On Friday, STF president Samantha Becotte said they are prepared to return to the table and cease sanctions immediately if government is willing to provide assurances that boards of education cannot use these new funds for anything other than student supports.

“This is what we consider (to be) restricted funds,” Samantha Becotte told reporters during a virtual press conference on Friday afternoon.

“We’re disappointed that the minister continues to search for ways to delay the dispute and avoid making meaningful commitments with teachers to ensure that students are well supported in classrooms across the province.”

Becotte accused the province of only giving trustees a 24-hour window to support with the funding agreement. She said the STF became aware of the 24-hour deadline because of information shared by anonymous local trustees. Neither the SSBA or provincial government confirmed the allegation.

According to the province, the agreement guarantees a base amount of long-term funding to school divisions and signifies a shared commitment to enhancing educational outcomes and providing additional classroom supports across the province.

It provides a minimum of $356.6 million per year for four years of classroom supports as well as increased investment into youth mental health resources as part of a budget that marks the largest increase of $180 million to school operating funding ever.

“This agreement provides a written guarantee, signed by the government, for long-term funding for classroom supports – funding that will address important issues like classroom size and complexity,” Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said in a press release.

“Now that our government has made this unprecedented commitment in a signed agreement, it’s time for the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation to end their job action and return to the bargaining table, so that students and teachers can return to the classroom.”

“This agreement represents the willingness of both the Ministry of Education and school boards to work collaboratively toward solutions with some predictable and sustainable funding to back it up,” SSBA President and Saskatchewan Rivers School Division trustee Jaimie Smith-Windsor said.

“These issues are best addressed at the local level, working with teachers, staff, students, parents, and families.”

The province argued that the partnership signals a commitment to ongoing collaboration between government and school boards in supporting students and establishing a new pathway to long-term funding sustainability. They also said the agreement underscores a mutual recognition of the importance of local decision-making, the diversity of Saskatchewan’s communities and signals strengthening relationships by providing direct investment for classrooms.

Becotte said the province has already shown they can take decisions out of the hands of local school boards. She pointed to the provincial decision to stop school boards from implementing their own levy as one example.

“We’ve also seen the consequences to local school divisions and their funding following local trustees speaking out publicly about the decisions of this government,” Becotte said.

The STF also wants to tie funding to increases in enrolment and inflation, rather than remaining flat, include a reporting mechanism on the use of these funds within school divisions to ensure transparency, ensure funding is not subject to appropriation.

The STF called on government and SSBA provincial leadership to commit to this new funding within the language of a provincial collective agreement.

“Just because there’s an agreement that is between the Ministry of Education and the SSBA doesn’t prevent an agreement to happen within the collective bargaining process,” Becotte said.

Prince Albert schools to be part of job action next week

Also on Friday the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation (STF) gave notice of a three-day, province wide withdrawal of extracurricular activities on March 11-13 and a one-day, rotating withdrawal of noon-hour supervision on March 11.

The noon-hour withdrawal includes PAATA members in the Prince Albert Catholic School Division and Saskatchewan Rivers School Division.

“While this week’s funding announcement is welcome, it does not guarantee ongoing, predictable and sustainable funding for education,” Becotte said in a news release.

By law, 48 hours’ notice is required for job action; however, Becotte said the STF is providing extra time to allow families to plan and the government to change course.

Along with Prince Albert schools, all schools in Creighton School Division, Holy Trinity Catholic School Division, Horizon School Division, Lloydminster Public and Lloydminster Catholic school divisions, Northwest School Division, Prairie Spirit School Division, Prairie South School Division and Prairie Valley School Division and Sun West School Division will be affected.

Job action already taken this week included a rotating strike on Monday when STF members and their supporters congregated at the Saskatchewan Legislative Building, as MLAs made their way in for the first day of the fourth session of the 29th legislature.

A rotating withdrawal of noon hour supervision for select schools division took place on Tuesday, as well as a provincewide withdrawal of extracurricular activities on Tuesday and Wednesday. A rotating withdrawal of noon-hour supervision was also scheduled for Friday.

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

Shellbrook school project remains top priority for Sask Rivers

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Shellbrook school project remains top priority for Sask Rivers

The top major capital priority for the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division is the construction of a new K to 12 school to replace W.P. Sandin High School and Shellbrook Elementary School.

The board of education approved the major and minor capital recommendations to be sent to the Ministry of Education at their meeting on Feb. 12. The Ministry of Education Infrastructure Branch invites all school divisions to submit their top three major capital and top two minor capital funding requests by March 8.

According to Mike Hurd, Superintendent of Facilities for Sask Rivers, the project has been kicking around for around a decade.

“I believe it was 2014 we had meetings with the School Community Council, with the community itself, the town of Shellbrook, as well as the MLA (Scott Moe) who is the Premier,” Hurd explained.

“We did a feasibility study and applied for the school back in 2014 and then we revisited the feasibility study in 2019. We had it completely redone again, just to make sure that nothing had changed. They did a complete review of that, and we resubmitted that again, so we have been submitting probably now for 10 years.”

Sask Rivers image The possible floor plan for the new Shellbrook consolidated school as appears in an internal memo from the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division.

Hurd said that Moe was not the Premier at the time but did support the idea.

Though the project has been submitted for many years it has never made the province’s list for construction at budget time. The project has always been in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division’s top three list submitted to the province and this year was listed as the top priority.

“Since the board decided to apply for (replacement of W.P) Sandin, it’s been it’s been our number one choice all along,” Hurd said.

Hurd said the new school would consolidate the Kindergarten to Grade 5 Shellbrook Elementary School and the Grade 6 to 12 W.P. Sandin School into one building. Hurd said that the new school would give them another 50 years of life for the facility if not more.

“It would be a great facility for a town that seems to have some growth.” he said.

Both current director Neil Finch and former director Robert Bratvold have praised Hurd and his facilities team for their work getting the proposal ready.

“The board does have a commitment to maintaining their buildings, no matter how old they are, and I just work for the board,” Hurd said.

Hurd said the current concept building is in the 5,000 square metre range for size, which will make it smaller than the combined size of the two current schools. The new school will be built on the track next to the current high school, which will be demolished.

The original Shellbrook High School was built in 1961, with additions in 1964, 1966, 1968 and 1985 when the wing on the east side of the school was built.

According to an internal memo provided to the Daily Herald the option the Division selected proposes that the two schools be combined. The memo states that this option has shown success in places like Hudson Bay and Langenberg and often attracts corporate partners and other funding partners in the community to help cover additional amenities not funded by the Ministry of Education.

It also stated that the combined enrolment numbers of the two schools would allow benefits and program models that would not be available in two separate schools. It would also decrease redundancies such as having two Resource Centres (libraries).

“We are ready to go,” Hurd said. “We’ve got the study done. We’ve met all the guidelines for the Ministry as far as the SA1’s for enrolment, space guidelines have been done.”

SA1 is a government form to project enrolment by grade five years ahead.

The division set up three different options in the program plan, according to Hurd. One was to renovate the high school, leave the elementary students where they were. Another was to renovate the high school and incorporate the elementary students within it, and a third was to build a brand new K to 12 high school.

“We have done a lot of work, and studies aren’t cheap either,” Hurd said.

“We typically have to do a five-year prediction. They want to see your enrolment out five years to see where you’re going to be at when you submit that.”

The Ministry has changed the way capital submissions are dealt with. They broke the capital submissions into two categories with some being higher priority handled through capital allocation such as school replacement. Other necessary items did not rank high enough and the Ministry made the decision to split them off.

“Now these are only feasibility studies, so by the time you build the school, the layout might be different,” Hurd said.

Second on the list of major capital priorities is renovation and renewal for Carlton Comprehensive High School and third is construction of a new school to replace Ecole Arthur Pechey School.

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

Nominees announced for Mel-Bex Awards

Michael Oleksyn
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Nominees announced for Mel-Bex Awards

The votes are in and the finalists have been announced for the 2024 Mel-Bex Award Gala.

The Awards will be handed out during a celebration of the Melfort Business Community on March 23 in CJVR Performing Arts Theatre.

MTACC executive director Cal Gratton said it’s exciting to see a mix of old and new businesses represented in the nominees.

“It’s great that we have five in each category. I think that’s great,” MTACC executive director Cal Gratton said.

“The Heritage category there is quite substantial. We’ve got some new businesses as well and we have a lot of nonprofits too for the Community Involvement nonprofit category.”

Gratton said that the return of the Mel-Bex Awards will make for a great evening.

“Tickets are going quick too, which is really nice to see,” he said. “The business community has really embraced this event for sure.”

Heritage Award nominees include George Home Hardware, North East Outreach and Support Services (NEOSS), Nutters Everyday Naturals, Catz N’ Jammers for Kids and Fedorychka Insurance and Financial Services Inc.

Community Involvement – Business/Corporate nominees include Melody Motors, Realty Executives Gateway Realty, G3 Melfort, Gateway Veterinary Services and Canalta Melfort.

Community Involvement – Non Profit nominees include the Melfort Kinette Club, Melfort Public Library, Melfort Youth Evolution, Melfort and District Museum and Melfort Arts Council.

Property Appearance nominees include Liliidae Home and Design, Spafit by Linda, Dress Well with Gisele, Backstage and Northeast Dental.

Customer Service nominees include RJ’s Urban Garden Café, Edward Jones – Financial Advisor: Bobbi Lyn L. Weiman, Dress Well with Gisele, Daisies Dreams and Décor and TJ’s Pizza.

Business of the Year (15 and under Employees) nominees include Daisies Dreams and Décor, Nutters Everyday Naturals, Golden Grain Bakery, Northern Lights Gallery, and Darn Computers.

Business of the Year (16 and Over Employees) nominees include Canalta Melfort, Melody Motors, TJ’s Pizza, Shoppers Drug Mart #442 and Prairie North Co-op.

The Mel-Bex Awards are on March 23 in the CJVR Performing Arts Theatre at the Kerry Vickar Centre. The Awards will be handed out during the celebration of the Melfort Business Community.

The Citizen and Junior Citizen of the Year Awards will be presented that night as well.

The ticket deadline is March 15.

“We do need a headcount for the caterer,” Gratton said. “Tickets are still available but that deadline is on March 15 and tickets are going fast.”

Tickets can be picked up at the MTCC office, by calling (306) 921-3273 or emailing trademelfort@melfort.ca.

PAMC to honour first Youth Ambassadors with Gala Night

Michael Oleksyn
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PAMC to honour first Youth Ambassadors with Gala Night

On Friday, the Prince Albert Multicultural Council (PAMC) will host its inaugural Youth Ambassador Gala Night to recognize the first set of Youth Ambassadors for the PAMC.

The Youth Ambassador program is funded by the Government of Canada, and PAMC Executive Director Michelle Hassler said it’s exciting to have a few in Prince Albert.

“We have nine youth ambassadors right now, (and) we are very happy,” Hassler said. “We have maxed out our number of participants that the program needs, so we’re very thankful for that.”

The ambassadors will propose and implement youth-led initiatives centred around reconciliation, anti-racism, diversity, inclusion, and democratic engagement. Each ambassador received up to $5,000 in financial assistance for their initiative or project.

The program launched in May 2023 with the aim of fostering youth engagement and participation within the community.

The ambassadors have not only worked tirelessly on their respective community projects but have also taken on roles in the newly formed PAMC Youth Council.

Hassler said the organization is happy to have filled all the spots for the first year of the program.

“The PA Multicultural Council have organised a lot of events and activities, multicultural diversity, anti-racism, events and activities all year long in the community, but our programming is mostly for adults,” Hassler explained. “Although our community events are open to everybody—to the general public—we don’t really have a specific program that is focused on youth.

“Having the Youth Ambassador program was really a proud moment for PAMC because it is our very first youth-led program.”

Hassler said that they anticipate the Gala will be a small gathering, but a typical gala with formal wear and an excellent meal. Hassler said that each Youth Ambassador would do a short PowerPoint presentation and a brief overview of the program, and the ambassadors will be receiving certifications.

“It can help with their resume building and for work in the future or for further study credits and stuff like that,” Hassler said.

The event, which is at the PAMC office, will also have a different kind of format with the youth presentations before the supper. The doors open at 5 p.m. and the presentations are expected to start at 5:30 p.m. with supper served around 7 p.m. and socializing to follow.

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

Resident calls for more proactive policing after more than 20 vehicles vandalized on River Street East

Michael Oleksyn
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Resident calls for more proactive policing after more than 20 vehicles vandalized on River Street East

At least one resident is calling for more proactive policing after a string of vehicles were broken into on River Street East sometime between Monday evening and Tuesday morning.

Several vehicles were damaged on the 700 block of River Street, including cars at two seniors housing complexes in Mitchell Place and River Breeze. Around 2 p.m. the Prince Albert Police Service advised the public of increased police presence in the east flat area, between 600 block to 1500 block, from River Street to Third Street East.

James Slowenko lives near one of the care homes and had his car broken into. He learned about the damage at around 7:30 a.m. from his grandmother who was visiting.

“I was like, ‘well, what does she mean.’ Then I go outside and I look and I go out in the driveway and the two windows in the back of the of the of the front in the back of the SUV are smashed,” Solowenko said.

“Then I look across the block in the nursing home across the street and the nursing home down the street and then … a few other cars along the block—there were quite a few—all had their windows smashed in.”

Solowenko said he was lucky he did not have any valuables in the vehicle, but he’s worried about other residents who had their vehicles damaged.

“Me personally, I didn’t have anything stolen from the vehicle,” Solowenko said. “(I) didn’t have anything really valuable in there. I’m not sure if that’s the same for other people.”

The Prince Albert Police Service responded to 25 wilful damage complaints on Tuesday morning. Slowenko confirmed what police reported from his own view.

“I could see it all the way up and down the street,” he said.

Slowenko called the police after discovering the damage. He said it was a frustrating wait getting an officer on scene. He said that it was not overall response but rather response time that disappointed him.

“I don’t want to speak badly about the police, but they didn’t really do much when we first called them,” Slowenko said. “It wasn’t until about three hours after phoning them that someone actually showed up to start looking around and asking questions.

“I think that’s a little bit ridiculous for how large of an incident that is,” Slowenko added. “It isn’t just a few isolated break-ins.”

There was a similar incident in mid-February when the Police informed the public about a recent string of wilful damage to motor vehicles reported between Feb. 9 and Feb. 12, 2024.

There were 41 reported occurrences of damage to vehicles throughout the city including the East Hill, West Hill, East Flat, West Flat and Midtown areas.

“I do remember a couple weeks ago my friend got hit, (and) a friend of my girlfriend’s, he got hit when he was at work. Then last summer too, there was that break in were like 40 vehicles got hit too,” Slowenko said. “I would like to see more action being done about it.”

Slowenko wants to see local law enforcement be more proactive about vandalism and break-ins.

“I do want to voice my concern,” he said. “It’s a little bit embarrassing for the Police Department that they weren’t able to protect the whole neighbourhood.”

Beyond the response time, Slowenko said he’s concerned about the two seniors complexes, with River Breeze and Mitchell Place both affected

River Breeze is a personal care home and Mitchell Place is senior housing owned by the Prince Albert Housing Authority.

The Daily Herald emailed the Prince Albert Police Service asking about the response time. A spokesperson wrote that the call typically would have gone to the Alternate Call Response (ACR) depending on the information given. The ACR is a waiting queue for phone and online calls for service.

“Officers when free would attend the calls and speak with the complainant and investigate each file as they could,” reads the statement. “This takes time. Other Officers attended to deal with the volume of calls to assist in a timely manner as other calls still came in for the rest of the city.”

Police said broken windows accounted for the majority of damage. If your vehicle was been damaged in this area during this time, Police want to be informed.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact police at 306-953-4222 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted anonymously online at https://www.p3tips.com/248

Michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

Dead Bob and TV Casualties to headline PABCO on March 12

Michael Oleksyn
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Dead Bob and TV Casualties to headline PABCO on March 12

The latest project of founder of legendary Canadian punk band Nomeansno will be coming to Prince Albert on Tuesday, March 12.

Threadbare Productions is presenting Dead Bob and TV Casualties live at the Prince Albert Brewing Co. (PABCO). Dead Bob is the latest project of Nomeansno founder John Wright

Wright said the band retired in 2016 because his brother Rob Wright did not want to be on the road all of the time and had a young family.

“We thought we would just fade away, ride into the sunset, but I ended up moving up the West Coast here,” Wright explained. “I live up there right at the very top of the Sunshine Coast and at the end of the road.”

During this time, he reconnected with Colin MacRae who was formerly of the band Pigment Vehicle, who were active from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. He was also busy with the group Compressorhead, a band of robots who play live instruments from Berlin.

“I ended up doing a record with them doing the writing and helping them make the make a punk rock band out of robots,” he said. “It was an amazing project. The album was released in 2017 called Party Machine … and that kind of kept me busy with music for a while.”

He also opened a pub with partners called Wildwood Public House.

“We unfortunately opened just before COVID,” Wright said. “It was really good timing, and it was just a struggle. Finally at the beginning of last year, 2023, we had to shut the doors. We just couldn’t (keep going). We just lost too much money, so it was unfortunate, but that kept me very busy and I wasn’t doing much music.”

Then during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic he went back to some incomplete pieces and gave them another shot. He ended up with 30 to 35 songs from this working piece.

“I ended up doing this just for fun,” Wright said. “I thought for fun I would just do an album of my own—a solo album—and put it out. I put it out on Facebook that I wanted to do this and I got a really great response.

“(I) realised, well, I’m out of a job, so why not try to put a band together and maybe try to play some of this stuff? So that’s what I did,” Wright said.

He began working with Byron Slack, who is from a band called the Invasives, this ended up getting his partner Kristy Lee Audette involved. She was in the band Rong and was a multi-instrumentalist. He also got friend Ford Pier, who he also worked with in the past involved.

MacRae was not involved in the songwriting, but eventually became interested in returning to music. MacRae and Wright are based in Powell River and the rest of the band in based in the Lowe Mainland, which made it harder to rehearse.

“The bar went under (and) he was one of my partners at that pub,” Wright said. “He just wanted to get back in the music. He’s like, ‘I want to play bass’ so he picked up his bass after having not played for about 25 years and off we went.”

The band released their newest album, Life Like, in November 2023. He is lucky to work with what some people would consider an all star cast of musicians.

The stop in Prince Albert is part of the first full tour for Dead Bob, who played several shows in British Columbia in November and December of 2023. Wright said that those shows got some great feedback and the band sold a bunch of merchandise.

“This is phase two saying, ‘OK, let’s head out and go out to the prairies and play some shows,” he said.

“(With) Nomeansno (performing) across the country many times and travelling around the world, I have this legacy also to work on. There’s lots of people who I work with are in the business and other people in the business were fans, so it’s good.”

Wright said that this was the first time any of his bands have performed north of Saskatoon. He does have connections to the region as his father was born in Star City and he visited Tisdale when he was a child.

Clay Cottingham of Threadbare Productions reached out to book the band and Wright was excited to here from him.

“I don’t know how much punk rock you get through Prince Albert, but that’s what it takes,” he said. “There are towns all over the place and they kind of spring to life because there’s some person that decided, well, if I want music, I have to do it myself.”

He said that it takes people bringing shows to towns like Prince Albert that help put them on the map for touring acts.

“Hopefully there are some folks who are excited to see something like us and maybe some old Nomeansno fans that never had the chance or just think it’s pretty funny we’re coming to their town,” Wright said.

They are the first band that Threadbare is putting on at PABCO after doing several shows at The Spice Trail.

He said that the band is excited to come to Prince Albert except for one problem.

“It’s going to be fun to come, except that the drive to Prince Albert will be the longest drive of the tour because we play in Winnipeg the night before, so that’s going to be a bit brutal.”

Advance tickets are $20, tickets at the door are $25 (cash only), the show is also 19 plus. Advance tickets are available at Inspired Vapor (cornerstone), Skin Junkies (Central), The Spice Trail and PABCO. Doors open at 8 p.m. and bands start at 9 p.m.

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

Teachers bring pickets to Legislature on first day of session

Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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Teachers bring pickets to Legislature on first day of session

A wave of south Saskatchewan teachers met returning MLAs at the Legislature on Monday in the latest in a series of escalating Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) job actions.

Roughly 3,5000 teachers attended Monday’s rotating strike at the Legislature, according to the STF. Teachers from Regina Public Schools, Regina Catholic Schools, Prairie South School Division, Holy Family Catholic School Division, South East Cornerstone School Division, as well as teachers from Conseil des écoles fransaskoises and the Saskatchewan Distance Learning Centre who work within those boundaries were on the line.

“Students, families and teachers are in this situation because this government simply will not listen,” STF President Samantha Becotte said in a press release. “For years, they have not listened to parents, teachers, trustees and other experts in the education sector who have been raising alarm bells about underfunding. Today, we bring those concerns to their doorstep. Enough is enough.”

Poor weather conditions and heavy snowfall prevented some teachers from travelling to the provincial capital for the strike. Becotte said those who couldn’t make the trip took part in alternative advocacy actions, including calling and emailing government to highlight the concerns of teachers.

“We are very grateful for the number of teachers and supporters who were able to make it to the Legislative Building this morning as MLAs returned for the spring session,” she said.

“I also thank the striking teachers and supporters who are spending the day contacting government officials from other locations, since they couldn’t get to Regina safely after the snowstorm. The level of support we’ve seen is a sign to teachers across the province that Saskatchewan people share our goal of achieving long-term funding commitments that will improve the classroom experience for students. It is a clear signal to government that we are united, we are supported and we are not backing down.”

The STF escalated job action following a breakdown in talks with the provincial government and school board trustee bargaining committee. Monday also marked the final day of a five-day countdown to further escalation.

Becotte said that if government does not provide their bargaining committee a new mandate to bargain on issues such as class size and complexity, teachers will be withdrawing all extracurricular supports on March 5 and 6.

Inside the Legislature, Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill told MLAs the government remains ready to bargain at any time, but argued union leadership is not ready to come to the table.

“We’ve made movement on several of the STF leadership’s demands,” Cockrill told MLAs in the Assembly. “Annualization of class size, complexity funding? We’ve offered that. Managing their own dental plan? We’ve offered that. Annualization of two pilot projects, Mr. Speaker? We’ve offered that, and the same salary deal … that MLAs get that STF asked for? We’ve offered that. Mr. Speaker, it’s time for union leadership to get back to the bargaining table.”

On Saturday, the STF announced a one-day withdrawal of noon-hour supervision that will take place on Tuesday, March 5 at locations throughout the province.

This withdrawal includes PAATA members in the Prince Albert Catholic School Division and Saskatchewan Rivers School Division.

Along with Prince Albert schools, all schools in the Chinook School Division, Horizon School Division, Northern Lights School Division, Northwest School Division, Prairie Spirit School Division, Prairie Valley School Division, and Sun West School Division be affected.

Teachers are also set for a provincewide withdrawal of extracurricular activities on Tuesday and Wednesday. The provincewide withdrawal of extracurricular activities will begin with two full days on Tuesday, March 5 and Wednesday, March 6. This action means the withdrawal of all voluntary services involved in the organization, supervision and facilitation of activities, including athletics, non-curricular arts, clubs, field trips, student travel and graduation preparations.

Monday will mark the fourth day of rotating strikes since January, and the sixth consecutive day of job action since Feb. 26.

As of Friday, teachers have performed two days of provincewide strikes, six withdrawals of noon-hour supervision and two days refusing to facilitate extracurricular activities.

The Daily Herald contacted the Ministry of Education asking for an interview about the latest STF job action on Thursday of last week. In response, the Ministry sent a statement arguing that STF leadership were choosing job action over getting a deal done.

“The Government Trustee Bargaining Committee (GTBC) extended invitations every day last week to the STF to come back to the bargaining table, where negotiators had been waiting and were ready to engage in meaningful discussions,” the statement reads. “The government has moved on a number of items that the STF asked for, including a renewed salary mandate and workplace safety enhancements. The STF has refused to move off their initial proposals, including a 23.4 per cent salary increase.

“Outside of bargaining, government has proposed an agreement with the STF to annualize the $53.1 million in additional funding for class size and complexity. Since October, the STF has been at the bargaining table for a total of 30 minutes. Teachers and students should be in the classroom, and the teachers’ union should be at the bargaining table.”

-With files from Jason Kerr/Daily Herald

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