Tow truck drivers stage rally to remind public of importance of keeping emergency responders sage

Tow truck operators and other emergency services personnel across the province took an hour Wednesday evening to remind motorists to slow down and move over and to honour the life and legacy of Courtney Schaefer, and other drivers killed on the job.

Schaefer was a tow truck driver killed in a four-vehicle crash on Highway 22 about a year ago. His death prompted blue lights to be added on all towing vehicle, making Saskatchewan the first province to have two coloured lights for tow trucks.

According to John Medynski of Lakeland Towing, the rally could become an annual event.

“We just need to get people to start slowing down. We’re still seeing a lot of people going by at high speeds,” he said.

In Saskatchewan, it’s mandatory to slow to 60 km/h and move over into the vacant lane when passing an emergency vehicle, including a tow truck, with its lights activated. Despite a public awareness campaign and signage, tow truck operators say too many are still not heeding the regulation.

“Tonight, it’s a lot of trucks, a lot of lights,” Medynski said as cars slowly passed. But as a rule, they’re still not slowing down to where we’re safe.”

Medynski himself is lucky. He drives a heavy tractor that hauls more heavy towing jobs. Because of his vehicle’s size, people do slow down. But they don’t give the same respect to the smaller tow trucks.

Prince Albert MLA and minister responsible for SGI Joe Hargrave stressed the importance of slowing down to ensure drivers can pass emergency vehicles safely.

“There’s more work to be done,” he said.

‘People have to slow down when they’re passing tow trucks. People have to slow down when they’re passing police. One, its common courtesy, but it’s also the law. They’re out there helping people who have a flat tire, or who are broken down, and they shouldn’t be risking their lives. People should be far more cognizant of that. It takes you ten seconds, then you’re by and can speed up again.”

Medynski agrees that more has to be done to stress the importance of slowing down and moving over.

“If it’s icy, slow to even less than 60 km/h, because anything can happen, if you slide into us. If the driver is beside the truck, that’s not going to be very good.”

Medynski said that the blue lights have helped, especially when visibility isn’t good, such as during fog or a snowstorm. They penetrate into the mist much more than the amber.

Hargrave also touted the lights. While most drivers had them, he noticed some trucks without. He encouraged all tow truck drivers to install the blue lights onto their rigs.

Eleanor George just thought she was attending the annual Seniors’ Advocacy Centre gala.

She listened as Mary-Ann Kirkby talked about what life is like for seniors in Hutterite Colonies. She watched as John Fryters and others gave updates about the Advocacy Centre’s work.

She listened intently as Fryters read out the name of this year’s winner of the 70+ and still going strong award.

“Eleanor George.”

Her jaw dropped. For a moment, George sat in her seat. Eventually she smiled, a big smile, and made her way to the stage, where Fryters, and Mayor Greg Dionne, were waiting.

“This makes me speechless,” she said. “I had no idea this was happening today. Thank you to everyone who made this possible.”

George is the latest winner of the award, which is given out annually to seniors over the age of 70 who are making a difference in the community. Last year’s winner was Bishop Albert Thevenot.

George is actively involved with the Community Services Centre, especially around the area of seniors’ transportation and the Two Miles for Mary campaign. She also volunteers at the Mont St. Joseph home and has served on the library board in the past.

Even when she wintered down south, George was always finding ways to get involved.

“It’s really fun to stay involved. I really recommend everybody to do what you can,” she said.

“You meet so many wonderful people in your travels, from the community services board to all the residents at Mont St. Joseph. They are all my friends. It’s a wonderful feeling you couldn’t buy if you tried.”

In addition to the award, George also received an Award of Merit from the city, presented by Dionne.

He thanked her for her help during his election campaign, but also spoke about the rest of her contributions to the community at large.

“As you can see, she’s very humble. The award was well-deserved. She’s very involved in the community,’” he said.

George wasn’t just surprised by the award. Organizers arranged for her family to be in attendance.

:It’s a great day for her and she deserves everything she got.”

The winner of the award is picked by a committee each year. Fryters explained why George was the perfect choice.

“When you go to seniors’ gatherings, she shows up. She’s a constant in the community,” he said.

‘We started looking at what she was doing, and she’s a very busy lady. That’s what it’s about.”

George said she was “shocked” when her name was called. She doesn’t get involved for the glory.

“I just go and do my daily thing, and don’t worry about awards and things. I just enjoy what I’m doing,” she said.

That’s why, Fryters said, it’s so important to recognize people like Eleanor George.

“I wish we could recognize everyone. Most people have worked all their lives. It’s very important to honour at least some of them.”

The award is for those over 70 still going strong. That definitely describes George.

“I’m 81 and there isn’t going to be anything that stops me until I can’t go anymore,” she said.

The worst of winter may be behind us, but it’s not expected to get particularly warm over the next several weeks, a meteorologist from the Weather Network says.

The network released its spring forecast early last week, and they’re expecting for cooler air to linger in the country’s west.

“It looks like it’s going to be a continuation of slightly cooler conditions heading through spring,” said Nadine Powell.

“Most of that will be Match into April. We’re looking at temperatures coming in slightly below average, but precipitation being slightly more than normal.”

For Prince Albert and area, that translates into March temperatures at or below zero, but nothing near the frigid cold seen this past winter. Early April should hover around the zero mark, with positive temperatures moving in during the latter part of the month.

“We were expecting most of the cold air to spread right across the country, and there was some potential for that air to push more to the east, but there isn’t a lot of arctic air directed into eastern sections,” Powell said.

“However, because of the pattern that’s set up, a lot of the cool air will settle in and bottle up across the prairie provinces.”

While it’s still a ways into the future, Powell expects the weather will return to near or above normal heading into late spring and early summer.

“Prince Albert is right on the edge as we head into summer,” she said.

“We could see temperatures either slightly above or around normal, so there is some indication temperatures will recover nicely heading out from spring.”

One of the factors driving temperatures are complex weather patterns called El Nino and La Nina that typically last nine to 12 months. They take place in a cycle, and are fluctuations in temperature between the ocean and the atmosphere in the east-central Equatorial Pacific. Still, thousands of kilometres away, they can have an effect on the climate of Saskatchewan.

This winter, the area was in a La Nina event, this represents below-average sea surface temperatures, making winter temperatures warmer than normal in the southeast and cooler in the northwest.

When an El Nino event occurs, warmer-than-average temperatures come to western and central Canada.

“Typically, when we have a La Nina situation, which we have right now, although it is weakening, we would see the jet stream pattern split further to the west and get a lot of snowy weather in B.C. A lot of those storms track down through the central prairies, and we’ve seen that over the last little while,” Powell said.

But it doesn’t look like that La Nina will shift to an El Nino. Instead, indications are we will head into a neutral period.

That means precipitation won’t be excessive.

“Most of the region will remain seasonal in terms of precipitation values, Powell said. “There will be storms tracking further to the south over the next few months, so that may alleviate some of the dry weather they’ve been experiencing further to the south.”

That’s good news for some of the province’s southern farmers, who dealt with an extended drought last growing season. Hopefully runoff from recent storms and other precipitation heading that direction might provide some much-needed moisture.

With the dry conditions at freeze-up, the Water Security Agency is expecting a lower than average runoff in the spring, according to its initial forecast released in February.

Ruling says Whitney Carswell ‘caught up in,’ but not involved with, drug trade

A woman has been handed the mandatory minimum two years behind bars for delivering a bag of MDMA to a location on the grounds of the Saskatchewan Penitentiary.

Whitney Carswell was sentenced in February for the offence, which occurred on June 11, 2014.

According to the written decision by Justice Currie, Carswell delivered the bag containing the drugs to a location on the prison grounds with the intent it would be picked up by an inmate and taken into the penitentiary.

Because the location of the drugs was at the penitentiary, it triggered a mandatory minimum sentence of two years behind bars.

Carswell’s lawyer, Patrick McDougall, argued the mandatory minimum sentence violates her Charter rights to not be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment or treatment under Section 12 .

According to Currie, Carswell was not involved with the drug trade at the time, and was not looking for an opportunity to get involved in the drug trade, nor was she looking for a way to make money.

Scott Simpson, a penitentiary inmate and father of Carswell’s child, made several phone calls begging for her help in delivering the drugs. She declined initially, eventually agreeing to the scheme.

Without her permission of knowledge, Simpson arranged for a package containing 100 MDMA pills and other items, to be delivered to her home. While initially reluctant to make the delivery, in two phone calls with Simpson, Carswell raised the topic of being compensated. At one point, she proposed that she should keep 20 of the pills. Simpson disagreed, saying she should be paid instead.

After making the delivery, Carswell spoke with Simpson again. She said the delivery was worth more than a couple of hundred dollars.

“It must be said, though, that even in the face of … comments to Simpson about compensation for making the delivery, it does not appear that she made the delivery for financial gain,” Currie ruled.

“It is more likely that, even when she asked Simpson about payment … that question was less about money and more about making the point that he had put her at risk.”

Currie wrote that evidence did not show why Carswell ultimately decided to get involved. She was not under duress and Simpson did not threaten her, the written decision said. He did not exercise any power or authority over her.

“It may be that her eventual decision to make the delivery stemmed from Simpson being the father of her child,” Currie wrote. “She might have decided to make the delivery for old times’ sake. She might have done it because her boyfriend at the time wanted to, and she jut went along with him. For whatever reason, Carswell eventually formed the intention to deliver the MDMA to the penitentiary grounds, expecting that it would be taken inside and made available to the prison population, and she acted on that intention.”

The offence has been identified by parliament as a serious one, Currie found in his ruling, compounded by its commission on the grounds of the penitentiary. He also wrote that Carswell’s culpability is high because she planned for and deliberately delivered drugs for distribution to inmates in the penitentiary.

A security intelligence officer at the penitentiary described the harm caused by the availability of drugs, including violence, sometimes with weapons, from unpaid debts. It also includes requests for segregation from those who fear violence, and eventual transfers out of prison. There are also concerns around the spread of communicable disease and overdoses from drugs consumed behind bars.

“In Carswell’s favour is the fact that, rather than being involved in the drug trade, she got caught up in it,” Currie wrote.

“Carswell told me these events occurred at a rough time in her life. She had lost her mother, and was in a kind of depression. She was not in a good frame of mind to make proper decisions.”

Carswell has no criminal record, has family support and has separated herself from the bad influences in her life, in part by moving to a different city and starting her own business.

“She had created what she describes as a safe and stable environment for her child,” Currie wrote. “I do not doubt that, if she is separated from her child by having to serve time in prison, both Carswell and her child will suffer the effects of that separation.”

Despite her circumstances, Currie found that the mandatory minimum sentence was “not grossly disproportionate” in this case, and thus did not infringe upon Carswell’s Charter rights.

In ruling that Carswell serve two years, Currie found that it appropriately addresses the need for deterrence and denunciation of the crime.