Three people were rescued from the river by the Prince Albert Fire Department over the weekend, sparking the city to issue a notice to stay off the fragile river ice.

The first incident took place at 2:15 p.m. Saturday. An adult was found on the ice in distress. Hypothermia caused his/her legs to be immobile.

Firefighters conducted an ice rescue. The person was treated by paramedics and transferred to the Victoria Hospital.

Fire crews were called back to the ice near the Diefenbaker Bridge Sunday at 9:30 p.m. for a report of a person falling through the ice.

When crews arrived, they found two people on the river. Both were wet and could not get out of the water on their own.

Monday, CTV Saskatoon reported that the Saskatoon Fire Department was searching the river after a report of a man in the river.

Unfortunately, this time of year, these incidents are common.

“(People) go out there for whatever reason, and then passerby see them and phone us, so we go and get them,” said Prince Albert Fire Department deputy chief Corey Rodgers.

“I think the snow is starting to melt, and they’re curious. It’s really not a good thing to be doing, because the ice is starting to become very rotten in areas, and we should be expecting it to break up soon. But people still go out there, whether they’re curious or for other reasons. We hope that adults would be smarter than that, and of course, we don’t want to see children on the ice.”

On Monday, at noon, the city issued a press release warning residents to stay clear of ice surfaces, especially around the river and drainage channels.

“The river, storm ponds or drainage channels may look like they are safe, but a moving body of water is never completely frozen,” said Jason Everitt, Fire Chief for the Prince Albert Fire Department in the press release.

“As temperatures rise due to seasonal changes, ice surfaces deteriorate and become highly unstable and unpredictable. To venture out onto rotten ice surfaces is a recipe for disaster and could result in loss of life. If you break through the ice surface, you could succumb to hypothermia or be pulled under the ice sheet.”

If someone falls into the ice, the rapid onset of hypothermia could prevent them from rescuing themselves. That may result in drowning.

NDP leader Ryan Meili questioned the Saskatchewan Party’s commitment to reducing the impacts of climate change during a stop in Prince Albert Friday.

Meili visited the Prince Albert Daily Herald office during a day of meetings in the city.

He responded to how this year’s provincial budget reduced the climate change budget by about 14 per cent.

“Cutting back on that entirely shows a lack of understanding,” he said.

Explanations given to reporters on budget day ranged from a reduction in administrative costs to a revised estimate of what current programs are costing the government.

Finance Minister Donna Harpauer, in a pre-budget media briefing, emphasized that no programs were affected by the funding cut.

Speaking to reporters post-budget, Environment Minister Dustin Duncan explained the change was because the department came in under budget last year.

“In the past number of years we’ve come under budget when it comes to the Climate Change branch. This year’s budget more accurately reflects the dollars we’ve spent in the last couple of years, and I would also say we’ve reduced some contracts within the ministry that we’ve had in the past,” Duncan said.

The funding had been allocated to Climate Change and Adaptation, an area of the budget used to develop policy and regulatory frameworks to mitigate the effects of climate change. That includes regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. The province is currently developing its climate change plan.

“We know the work plan and the consultations and the amount of work it’s going to take to develop the Prairie Resilience Plan this year,” Duncan said. “We just had a better idea of the dollar amount we’re going to need.”

The province also committed to not implementing a carbon tax. Such a policy would hurt the economy, including the livelihoods of farmers. Farms and forested areas act as a carbon sink, sequestering polluters’’ outputs, the government says.

Unlike other sections of the budget, there was no press release or background explainer for the province’s environmental funding and policies. However, going through the estimated spending allocations line-by-line, it becomes clear where the funding is, and isn’t heading.

According to the Daily Herald’s look at the environment budget, funding reductions come from executive management and central services in the Ministry of Environment in general.

Under the climate change envelope, funding was reduced under the “cumulative impacts and science” line. Funding is also estimated to be down in the Fish, Wildlife and Lands program, mostly due to a reduction in salary. Less money is also being directed to forest programs, as well as the reforestation fund.

But as Minister Duncan explained, the money cut from the reforestation fund is actually a good sign.

Beginning in the late 1980’s it was basically the taxpayers that paid when a tree was harvested. We paid to plant a new one,” Duncan explained to Global News.

“Over the course of the last 20 years, the government has been slowly removing our obligation where last year was the last of the trees that we would need to plant.”

Instead, companies working in the forestry industry are responsible for replanting as trees are harvested. One tree must be planted for each tree cut down.

The budget did include more funding for parks, although it’s not clear whether more efforts will be undertaken to protect provincial land or conserve endangered species, such as the boreal caribou. Advocacy groups such as the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society Saskatchewan have been advocating for a greater percentage of protected land in the province.

For the NDP the reduction in the budget for the Ministry of Environment is a sign the province isn’t taking climate change seriously.

“The challenge of climate change is something that everybody is starting to recognize as real, farmers, farming communities and northern communities,” Meili said.

“This is affecting people. This is a time where we should be looking at where we can invest to slow down emissions and help people be ready to adapt and mitigate the changes that come with climate change.”

— With files from D.C. Fraser, Regina Leader-Post

The provincial government isn’t doing enough to support northern Saskatchewan or the Indigenous population, the NDP says.

The provincial budget, tabled on April 10, included a 1.5 per cent decrease for targeted First Nations and Métis funding. According to a backgrounder document attached to the press release, $400,000 of that reduction came from a decrease in funding targeted to First Nations and Métis Initiatives and Institutions. The other decrease came in gaming agreements.

The budget also included new incentives for budding technology companies and value-added agriculture through tax credits, industries typically more prevalent in the southern part of the province.

The budget did include $750,000 for a new four-year mineral exploration incentive.

“If the government truly wanted to partner with First Nations, Métis and northern people, they could come up with more dollars for training programs and partnerships with First Nations and Métis citizens in the province,” said Doyle Vermette, the MLA for Cumberland, critic for northern Saskatchewan and associate critic for First nations and Métis Relations.

“The numbers of unemployment are so high when it comes to on reserve First Nations, off reserve First Nations and Métis clients. We’ve seen the government again not committing to supporting First Nations, Métis and the Indigenous population in the north but also in the rest of the province.”

According to Statistics Canada numbers from 2017, the area referred to as Prince Albert and Northern Saskatchewan had the highest unemployment rate and the lowest employment rate. Data gleaned from the 2016 census showed unemployment rates for Indigenous people, especially First Nations, significantly higher than the non-Indigenous population across the board, regardless of education level achieved.

Finance Minister Donna Harpauer acknowledged no new finding initiatives specific to First Nations were included in this budget. She did, however, point out other projects the Saskatchewan Party government has put forward.

She touted the education task force put forward, as well as heavy investment in education specific for First Nations people. She also spoke to economic growth overall.

“We feel this budget will support a growing economy, and the economy is extremely important,” she said.

“The infrastructure dollars have in the past, and are going to continue in this budget … supporting our economy and providing jobs for all people in Saskatchewan.”

A follow-up email sent by the government to the Daily Herald highlighted all initiatives taken by the Sask. Party to improve outcomes in First Nations and in northern communities.

The email touted $5.1 million in funding for programs and services connected to the Joint Task Force on improving education and employment outcomes for First nations and Métis people. It also referenced increased SaskTel services into the province’s north, as well as increased funding envelopes for health and social services. There is also $500,000 to continue to expand the use of medical robotic technology in northern communities.

In the health care sector, the government increased funding for community mental health and addictions supports, HIV supports and addictions funding in Prince Albert and Northern Saskatchewan.

The other initiatives highlighted in the email were not new programs. Instead, the email highlighted increases in funding over time between fiscal years 2007-08 and 2018-19.

While NDP leader Ryan Meili did praise the increase to HIV supports, they argued not enough is being done on the ground floor to improve education outcomes for postsecondary students.

“When we see the numbers on unemployment, why would a government not invest in postsecondary education within First Nations and Métis organizations?” Vermette asked.

“Let’s support the institutes that work with First nations and partner with them, and those Aboriginal organizations that do the great work of trying to get our young people educated and get training and into jobs. It’s very successful if you have a commitment of a government. We don’t see that happening.”

Vermette also suggested the provincial government do more advocacy with the federal government to close the funding gap between the provincial and federal K-12 systems. The Federal government pays for K-12 education for status Indians under its constitutional requirements. That funding is far less than what is provided by the province for the non-Indigenous population.

“This government doesn’t mind picking fights with the Federal Government on many other issues, why aren’t they … picking a fight with the feds over that? I think in the north, we would benefit, especially our First Nations on reserve.”

The government should be doing more to improve education and economic development, instead of boasting how much it is spending on health and social services, NDP leader Ryan Meili says.

Meili and other members of the provincial NDP caucus were in Prince Albert Friday to attend meetings and to honour former MLA Don Cody at an evening gala. Meili stopped by the Daily Herald office to give his take on some of the Sask. Party’s budget initiatives.

He took issue with the increased spending on health and social services touted in the provincial budget.

“If somebody is thinking they’re not investing in getting people employment and training in the north, but it’s ok because they’re putting money into social services – that’s a very good description of where this budget is going glaringly wrong,” he said.

“One of the things that really struck me was last year, and again this year, they boasted that it was the highest budget for social services ever. That sounds like they’re being generous to people in poverty; what they don’t point out is that the rates have been frozen for years. Nobody is getting any more money.”

Meili argued the funding increase, instead, is to cover an increase in the number of people accessing social services. That means, in his eyes, that the people of the province are getting poorer.

“That’s not a way to run your province,” Meili said. “That’s not something to boast about. It’s an embarrassment.”

Instead, the NDP leader said, the province should be investing to make sure those who are now living in poverty get a chance to get out, and those not living in poverty have the education, training and opportunities they need to avoid resorting to social services.

The Cumberland MLA and NDP critic for northern Saskatchewan, Doyle Vermette, agreed.

“It’s not like those families who were on assistance are getting an increase in their allocations to pay rent or pay utilities or buy nutritious food,” he said.

“I can’t see how the government wants to be proud of spending more dollars on social services when it’s not going to improve clients already on it. It’s because we’re getting more people going on social services because they’re EI is running out or there are no jobs for them. This is not something I would want to think is something I’d be proud of.”