An inmate missing from the Willow Cree Healing Lodge was caught just hours after staff noticed he was missing.

During the 10:30 p.m. count on September 2 staff members at the minimum-security federal institution discovered that Lucas Paintednose was not accounted for.

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) immediately contacted the Rosthern Detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a warrant for his arrest was issued.

At approximately 12:10 a.m. September 3, 2021, Lucas Paintednose was apprehended by police. CSC is conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

When new Melfort resident Joseph McCrea got the opportunity to run for federal politics and possibly represent the Prince Albert constituency for the People’s Party of Canada, he took it.

“I’ve always been for freedom and people’s rights and freedoms and values. This past couple years, since 2019, I’ve noticed that our rights and freedoms have been taken from us,” he said in a telephone interview on Aug. 25.

He recently moved from Saskatoon to Melfort with his wife and three children.

McCrea likes the platform put forward by the PPC.

“Why I picked the People’s Party is because they’re different than the rest of the parties. The other political parties, like the Conservatives, or the Liberal Party or the NDP, they are all the same party. They are focusing on climate change, the lockdowns and vaccine passports.

So we are the only political platform party that’s based on principles, and doing politics differently,” he said.

For McCrea, issues facing Canadians during the pandemic are being caused by government messaging regarding the COVID-19 virus.

If the party is elected one of the first things they would do is change rules regarding vaccines.

“We would basically get rid of the vaccine passports. We know that people are afraid of the virus and that has a lot to do with the propaganda from the government. It’s not about being vaccinated or not vaccinated, the question is do you want to live in a police state?” he said.

A second priority for the PPC is addressing the national debt.

“We are over $70B into the debt right now, and the Liberals plan to add another $94B over the next four years,” said McCrea. “We want to cut taxes, cut spending and balance a budget so that in the next four years, when we’re elected, we can have this country out of debt.”

“The PPC will not be buying votes with borrowed money but will balance budgets as quickly as possible, lowering taxes,” he stated.

A third priority has been in the spotlight recently because of COVID-19.

“We also are looking at religious freedoms and freedom of expression. Right now in Canada, religious leaders are getting arrested for freedom of religion or going to church when there’s restrictions. We want to scrap all those bills that take away our freedom of expression or freedom of speech,” he said.

As to why he would be the right person to represent Prince Albert in Ottawa, McCrea said that he will be a voice for change.

“I am very hardworking and I have a passion for Canada and I want to see change in this country. So what I would like to do if people voted for the PPC is, I’m not just going to be a politician, I’m going to fight for our country, say no to a lot of corrupt bills that are going to be passed in the house and stand up for people’s rights.”

“I’m a property manager by day and voice for freedom outside of work hours by night.”

North Central has had an additional 40 cases of COVID-19 added to the totals and one more person has died after contracting the virus, the SHA reported today.

That means as of August 31, 69 people have died in the region and there have been 5,166 cases of the virus reported.

There are 318 active cases currently, an increase of 28 from the day before after some people recovered.

Another nine people are in the hospital, which means there are now 34 and the seven-day average of new cases has climbed to 34 while 4,779 people have recovered.

Provincially, as of August 31, there are 274 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 54,367 reported cases

The new cases are located in the Far North West (8), Far North East (45), North West (36), North Central (40), North East (12), Saskatoon (72), Central West (7), Central East (12), Regina (10), South West (7), South Central (2) and South East (3) zones and 20 new cases have pending residence information

For pending locations, 12 cases were assigned to the Far North East (from August 28 (1)), North Central (August 27 (2), August 29 (6)), Central East (August 29 (1)) and South West (August 29 (2)) zone.

The province says 18 cases were residents tested out of province and added to cases totals for Far North West (from August 13 (1), August 16 (1)), North West (August 13 (1), August 15 (1)), North Central (August 10 (1)), North East (August 9 (2)), Saskatoon (August 11 (1), August 15 (1), August 25 (2), August 29 (1)), Central West (August 10 (1)), Central East (August 9 (1)), Regina (August 6 (1)), South West ( August 7 (1)), and two (2) cases still have pending resident information (August 5 (1), August 13 (1))

At the moment, 2,204 cases are considered active and 51,560 cases are considered recovered

About two-fifths (39.4 per cent) of new cases are in the 20 to 39 years age category and one in six (17.9 per cent) new cases was fully vaccinated.

As of August 31, a total of 130 individuals are hospitalized, including 100 inpatient hospitalizations and 30 ICU hospitalizations. Of the 130 patients, 97 (74.6 per cent) were not fully vaccinated.

Two (2) new deaths reported today. 603 Saskatchewan residents with COVID-19 have died, with a case fatality rate of 1.1 per cent

To date, 1,024,988 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province. As of August 29, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers are available from PHAC, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 863,032 tests performed per million. The national rate was 1,065,016 tests performed per million.

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 case numbers was 248 (20.6 new cases per 100,000)

Back to school

With children returning to school shortly, a pilot program will be launched in a small selection of schools to provide COVID-19 self-testing rapid antigen kits to families with students under age 12.  This age group is currently not eligible to be vaccinated.

The 24 schools included in the pilot program will be determined in consultation with the school divisions and Medical Health Officers (MHOs) based on a variety of factors such as vaccination coverage, active cases, hospitalizations and school outbreaks.  More schools will participate as the program evolves.

With the resumption of in-class learning, parents with eligible children in participating schools will receive notification from those schools on receiving testing kits. 

Self-testing is safe, easy to use, and provides fast results within 15 minutes.  These tests are effective in screening people who may be COVID-positive but have no symptoms.  A positive antigen test should always be validated with a lab-based PCR test.

Vaccine summary for August 31

From August 25 – 31, 13,994 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 1,476,374.

As of August 31, 77 per cent of those 12+ have received their first dose and 68 per cent of those 12+ are fully vaccinated.

A map of participating pharmacies across the province is available at www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-pharmacies. 

Pop-up and walk-in vaccination clinics are being held throughout the province, targeting under- and unvaccinated communities.  Details on clinic locations and times are listed on the SHA website but are subject to change based on demand and weather.  Any changes to clinic hours and location will be updated online.

Living With COVID-19

For guidance on Living with COVID-19, including the requirements for self-isolation if you have a positive COVID-19 test, expectations around masking, information for businesses and workplaces and the visitation requirements for acute care as well as long term care and personal care homes, go to https://www.saskatchewan.ca/living-with-covid

A man in Meadow Lake is alive thanks to an RCMP officer that recognized an opioid overdose and gave him naloxone.

Police say that on August 30, 2021 at approximately 12:45 p.m an officer from the Meadow Lake RCMP detachment responded to the call of an unconscious, non-breathing male in a community in their detachment area.

Upon arrival, the officer found a man showing signs of opioid overdose.

The officer administered his RCMP-issued Naloxone and began CPR on the male, who regained consciousness shortly after. The officer continued first aid until EMS arrived.

“This is a great example of what can happen when someone recognizes the symptoms of an overdose and calls for emergency assistance. Emergency responders, including the RCMP, are trained to provide immediate care when they arrive at the scene of an overdose emergency,” says S/Sgt. Ryan How from the Meadow Lake RCMP Detachment.

The male is expected to recover.

 August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day, a global campaign to end overdose while remembering, without stigma, its victims.

Part of those efforts is sharing the fact that Naloxone saves lives. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, quickly counters the effects of an opioid overdose.

Saskatchewan RCMP officers carry Naloxone as part of their standard kit and are trained to administer it.

Members of the public who may be at risk or know of someone who might be can buy the kit at a pharmacy or call the provincial Take Home Naloxone Program and get the kit and the training in how to use it.

Details are available here: https://www.saskatchewan.ca/residents/health/accessing-health-care-services/mental-health-and-addictions-support-services/alcohol-and-drug-support/opioids/take-home-naloxone-program-sites.

Overdoses are an emergency. Symptoms include dizziness, confusion, weak or no breathing, blue lips and nails, or choking/gurgling sounds. If you suspect someone is overdosing, call 911.

The Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act provides some legal protection for individuals who seek emergency help during an overdose, including the person overdosing.

A 34-year-old man and 34-year-old woman are dead in what RCMP consider a murder-suicide at Lions Park campground in Meadow Lake. 

Police say the incident is domestic in nature. They are not seeking additional suspects, according to a press release, and do not plan to lay charges. An autopsy is scheduled for later this week in Saskatoon. 

Another adult woman known to the couple was also injured during the incident. She was transported to hospital for treatment with minor injuries and has been released. 

Police attended the scene at 2:44 p.m. on Aug. 30 after multiple reports of gunfire at the campground. On arrival, police found the 34-year-old woman from Flying Dust First Nation dead outside a camper trailer. A 34-year-old man from Thunderchild First Nation was found dead inside that camper by apparent suicide. 

Police say they were on their way to conduct a wellness check on the 34-year-old woman when they heard reports of gunfire at the campground. 

Susan McNeil 

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

Prince Albert Daily Herald 

Tests on Prince Albert’s wastewater show a sharp increase in viral load of COVID-19 that could predict an increase in cases in the city.  

In the first reporting period that started on August 16 and ended on Aug. 23, they found a 413 per cent increase in viral RNA load in local wastewater. At the beginning numbers were low but that has now changed.  

“For about three weeks it was quite well, but it was low everywhere at that point,” said Kerry McPhedran, assistant professor with the College of Engineering, Environmental Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan.  

McPhedran and several other researchers from multiple departments have been studying Saskatoon’s wastewater since last year. They added Prince Albert and North Battleford to the list in June 2021. 

August 31 marked the first reporting periods for the two added cities.  

“It was the end of July when we saw the numbers going up and this is where we’re seeing them go up again,” McPhedran said.  

The province lifted all public health orders as of July 11 and so the growth was not that much of a surprise to the research team.  

“We don’t do too much prediction, but there have been three waves and we’ve seen in the media that the fourth wave was coming. We do connect with wastewater monitoring across Canada and the same in Ontario and Quebec, the numbers were low and are going up again,” said McPhedran.  

When people are first infected with the COVID virus, they don’t have symptoms but they contribute to the wastewater.  

Researchers collect samples and monitor to see if the actual case numbers follow what they see in the wastewater.  

“Worldwide, that’s what we’ve been seeing. It takes three or four days for you to start showing symptoms and that’s when you would go get tested,” McPhedran explained. “That is a good way to model. It’s working everywhere else and so theoretically it should work in Prince Albert as well.”  

While the funding they received is federal, the information is being shared with provincial health officials to allow them to predict increase and plan resource allocation accordingly.  

In order to get the sample, kits are sent to the participating municipalities who have a staff member take the sample twice per week and return it to the University.  

“In the future we want to set this up so if another pandemic does happen again, we’ll be more ready to respond to it,” McPhedran said.  

“As far as for the current pandemic, there’s not much use except to see if the numbers are going up or down but this gives Public Health the means to respond faster,” he said.  

Data gathered earlier in the pandemic allowed the province to allocate vaccine rollout to target hotspots.  

The current funding goes until the end of March 2022. All data has been shared with Saskatchewan health authorities. 

Residents of Nipawin are being warned of increased COVD exposure at four locations, including Pioneer House, a senior living facility.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority said on August 30 that a person was infectious at the following locations and times:

Little Gieni’s Restaurant, 101 1st St. W.

        Aug 19 5pm to 10:30 pm

        Aug 20 12pm to 2pm and 4 pm to 10:30 pm

        Aug 21 5 pm to 10 pm

Western Financial Group Inc., 116 1 Ave E

        Aug 23- 27 8:30am to 5pm

Chicken Delight, 101 Centre St.

        Aug 16, 18,19,20, 21 & 22 8 am to 9 pm

Pioneer House –Senior Housing, 119 3 Ave E

        Anyone visiting this senior housing facility August 9 until August 29.

As per Disease Control Regulations:

– all individuals in attendance during these date and time should:

• Immediately self-isolate and remain on isolation until 14 days after exposure date (example: exposure was Aug 23, isolate until Sept. 6)

 –   Seek testing for COVID-19 immediately, and again 10 days after exposure date

There is an exemption if you have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and the second dose was received 14 days prior to the exposure date.  (example: exposure was on Aug 16, first COVID vaccine was May 23 and second dose was July 15), you do not need to self-isolate but:

    Self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 for symptoms for 14 days after exposure date

    If symptoms develop, start self-isolating immediately and seek testing

Self-isolation means you need to stay home, avoid contact with anyone who is not fully vaccinated (individuals who are considered fully vaccinated have received two doses of vaccine and are at least two weeks past their second dose), and stay away from work, school, stores, social events and any other public setting.

Call HealthLine 811, your physician or nurse practitioner if you develop symptoms; you may develop symptoms from two to 14 days following exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19.

The North East 1 health reporting zone, which includes Nipawin, Carrot River and surrounding communities had 85 active cases of COVID on August 30, with 10 having been added in the previous 24 hours.

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A ground and aerial search for a brother and sister on the Muskoday First Nation is in need of some volunteers.

The search for Alex McGillivary, age 20 and Kathryn Cusveller, age 24, who have not been seen since August 20, started in the village but has now expanded to the river and wilder areas further from the community.

“The two individuals that we’ve been looking for since yesterday have not been heard from by family members for a few days,” said Chief Ava Bear. “The last time Alex made a post on Facebook was August 20.”

The pair left the house they were staying at when no one else was home so searchers can’t say for sure exactly when they left.

“Family became very concerned when they posted ‘contact us please’ and weren’t getting a response. We thought we would offer some assistance to them,” Bear explained.

Bear called upon the skills and knowledge available via the Prince Albert Grand Council’s Search Rescue and Recovery team, headed by Michelle Vandevord.

“Yesterday we conducted a search of the community villages where the main residences are. We cleared the village area and now we’re concentrating on the other side of the river near the store and the Pow Wow grounds. We’ve been flying drones all morning looking for signs of Alex and Kathryn. This afternoon we will be on both foot and quads,” Vandevord said on August 30.

People wanting to help need to register at the fire hall before heading out.

“We’ve had a number of volunteers, but today the numbers are somewhat lower” Bear said. “We certainly need some more people. I understand the weather is going to turn colder, probably tomorrow evening and it would be good to find these two before that time.”

Band staff that could leave their jobs and help out are being allowed to do so without jeopardizing their pay.

“We’re really thankful for all the help and assistance that we’ve gotten so far,” Bear said. “There’s been donations of food that’s come into the fire hall, water and coffee and that sort of thing. It’s been very, very helpful for the searchers.”

There is some evidence that McGillivary and Cusveller have some survival gear with them and may be trying to live off the land, but the community is still worried for several other reasons.

The rain and other concerns like a low berry yield this year are added to the fact that McGillivary does not have his medication with him.

“There’s all sorts of things that could happen and I think time is of the essence,” Bear said.

“Alex has always talked about living off the land and how he could live in the bush. He grew up in Muskoday and he knows the land so it’s where he would be most familiar to be able to do something like that,” Vandevord explained.  

They did not take their cell phones with them.

They would like more people out looking with ATVs and horses, as they can go where all-terrain vehicles cannot.

A poster has been made up that Vandevord hopes businesses in Prince Albert will hang up in case they decide to go to the city for supplies but they are still focused on the search of the actual community. Copies of the poster are available at the Fire Hall and can be brought into Prince Albert for businesses that want to help.

“A lot of it is heavily treed areas, we have a lot of work ahead of us and a lot of land to cover and that’s why we were making a request for more searchers and more people to help.,” said Zandevord.

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Daily Herald

Having been part of starting a new political movement with the Reform Party in the 1980s, Jay Hill is no stranger to the work it takes to get a new political party up and running.

This fall marks 11 months of existence for the Maverick Party, born in the seeds of frustration sewn by the Wexit movement two years ago. They have 30 candidates running, and all of them are in Conservative strongholds.

“We’re only running in strong conservative ridings,” Hill said. Asked if they are targeting the United Conservatives first, Hill did not answer specifically but said “all of us want to see the end of Trudeau. We want to see him going down the road.”

Hill came out of retirement after years in politics to start the Maverick Party. He said they have been working seven days a week to get some momentum in an election he sees as pointless.

“We are working eight or nine hours a day now and we weren’t working much less before the campaign because we saw this coming,” he said at a campaign event hosted by Prince Albert riding candidate Heather Schmitt on Sunday, August 29.

Hill has little intention of staying at the helm of the fledgling political party.

“My hope is that after we get through the campaign, a number of these younger candidates are going to come to the forefront – as they should. It’s their names that are going to be on the ballot, not mine,” Hill said. “My anticipation is shortly after the election campaign, I’ll step aside as interim leader and we’ll have a leadership race.”

Hill is hopeful three or four candidate will step up for permanent leadership of the party.

Working on the creation of a new party is a step back in time for Hill to his days getting the Reform Party going. For him, the biggest issue then and the biggest issue now is the level of federal debt.

“It’s like déjà vu, really, all over again,” he said. “The personal irony for me is that I left the family farm in the mid 1980s as a Reform member and I was doing it largely out of concern for my three young children. Now, I’ve come out of retirement and launched Maverick out of concern for my three young grandchildren.”

“The similarities are stark. My primary concern is this explosive growth of debt and the ongoing deficits and the fact that people east of Manitoba don’t seem to care. They think we can just keep printing money. That’s not true in the Prairie West.”

The Prairie West he refers to is Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and his home territory in northern British Columbia, Fort St. John.

“Most people there tend to be fiscal conservatives. No matter how much they are on the progressive side on social issues, fiscally they believe that you spend what you make and you live within your means,” said Hill.

He credits the Jean Chretien and Paul Martin Liberal governments of the day for balancing spending and running budget surpluses while also paying down debt but has serious concern over the current incarnation of the Liberal Party.

“My concern now is we’ve got the second Trudeau who is blowing hundreds of billions of dollars. We’re now in excess of a trillion dollars in debt. So I have those identical concerns about those levels of debt and what it will mean for my grandchildren,” Hill said.

Along with higher taxes, he thinks his grandchildren will also see lower standard of living, higher inflation and higher interest rates.

“They’re not going to have the same opportunities as you and I have had in our adult lifetime. You can see that happening. And that’s why most people are saying enough,” stated Hill. “We’ve got to start looking after Western Canada.”

With no chance of becoming a government with only 30 candidates, Hill said they would consider the election a success with a handful of candidates being seated in the House of Commons after Sept. 20.

“Maverick’s only been around for 11 months. If we could elect any candidate, it would be phenomenal,” he said.

With limited candidates, the party had to be very specific in which ridings it targeted to run in, a move seen in Saskatchewan in the last provincial election with the Buffalo Party.

They don’t want to split votes in ridings that could end up with an NDP candidate winning as a result, Hill said.

susan.mcneil@paherald.sk.ca

Photo Susan McNeil

Jay Hill, interim leader of the Maverick Party spoke at barrel racing event hosted by riding candidate Heather Schmitt in Prince Albert on Aug. 29.

There were 23 new cases of COVID-19 in the North Central zone on Sunday, August 29 a reduction from the 65 announced the day before.

The new cases brought the active load up to 297 cases but hospitalizations reduced by five to 28 people.

There were 4,732 recoveries since the pandemic started.

No new deaths were reported.

Another 222 doses of vaccine were given out with 127 of those second doses which means 95 people received their first does.

So far, 45,862 people have been fully vaccinated against the virus.

Provincially,  one new death was reported, bringing the total deaths to 598, which means Saskatchewan has a case fatality rate of 1.1 per cent.

Today, another 257 cases were added to the provincial total.

The new cases are located in the Far North West (6), Far North Central (2), Far North East (5), North West (38), North Central (23), North East (10), Saskatoon (97), Central West (8), Central East (9), Regina (17), South West (5), South Central (6) and South East (3) zones and three (28) new cases have pending residence information.

Fourteen cases with pending residence information were assigned to the Far North West (from August 26 (one) and August 27(one)), North West (from Aug 27(one)), North Central (from August 26 (one) and August 27(one)), Saskatoon(from August 26 (one) and August 27(two)), and Central West (from August 16(one)) zones.

One resident confirmed positive tested out-of-province was added to the case counts in South East zone (from August 27 (one).

To date, 53,875 cases are confirmed with 12,840 cases are from the Saskatoon area, 12,442 cases are from the Regina area, 12,060 cases are from the North area (5,095 North West, 5,095 North Central, 1,870 North East), 6,477 cases are from the Far North area (3,176 Far North West, 479 Far North Central, 2,822 Far North East), 6,311 cases are from the South area (1,265 South West, 2,039 South Central, 3,007 South East), 3,511 cases are from the Central area (928 Central West, 2,583 Central East).

Also, 234 cases have pending residence information and 2,065 cases are considered active and 51,212 cases are considered recovered.

Almost two-fifths (38.1 per cent) of new cases are in the 20 to 39 years age category.

As of August 29th, a total of 108 individuals are hospitalized; including 83 inpatient hospitalizations and 25 ICU hospitalizations. Of the 108 patients, 77 (71.3 per cent) are not fully vaccinated.

So far, 1,020,033 COVID-19 tests have been performed in the province.

As of August 26, 2021, when other provincial and national numbers are available from PHAC, Saskatchewan’s per capita rate was 855,986 tests performed per million. The national rate was 1,058,684 tests performed per million.

The 7-day average of new COVID-19 case numbers was 225 (18.7 new cases per 100,000).