Kinsmen Park was sea of red on July 1as Prince Albert residents filled the area to celebrate Canada Day.
The event officially opened at noon with the colour party marching in, followed by remarks from guests and dignitaries.
Prince Albert Northcote MLA Alana Ross was among the guest speakers. She said Canada Day was a great occasion to not only celebrate, but reflect on the freedoms that Canadians have.
“(Those) freedoms were fought for and preserved by people who have worn our nation’s uniform,” Ross told those in attendance. “We are all proud to be Canadian.”
Prince Albert residents gathered at the river bank on July 4 for the annual PAGC walk for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), but for the first time in its history, Shirley Henderson wasn’t a part of it.
Henderson, the longtime PAGC women’s commission chair, passed away on Dec. 29, 2023. On Wednesday, the remaining women’s commission members held a short ceremony in Henderson’s honour before attendees began the walk to Kinsmen Park.
New PAGC women’s commission chair Anita Parenteau said the sorrow over Henderson’s death is still fresh.
“There’s still a lot emotions,” Parenteau explained. “Everyone felt like they were looking for her. She was always there.”
Prince Albert’s elected officials urged residents to contact their MLAs if they have concerns about crime because the causes are out of the City’s hands.
Several city councillors made the comments while debating a letter sent to council by a resident on Riverside Drive who was concerned about public safety.
Coun. Blake Edwards was the most vocal speaker at the July 8 meeting. He said residents are tired of seeing offenders get arrested, then released back into the community on conditions.
“I think they are, on the police side of things, being caught often and being charged often, but it’s catch and release,” Edwards said during the meeting. “Out they go, and that’s a problem. It’s time our residents wrote about that.”
Two groups of pro-Palestinian activists were at Prime Minister’s Park on July 13 protesting Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The protest took place during the Group B qualifying game between Canada and Israel. There were two main groups with megaphones chanting the whole game while flying Palestine flags. This included one in centre field and one along the third base line near the Israel dugout.
Layla, one of the protestors who would only give a first name, said the protestors came because of images posted by the Israeli softball team on Facebook and Instagram showing images of softballs and cannons being launched into Gaza.
“Some people say, ‘don’t bring politics into this.’ (It’s) not us who are doing it. It is the team who are contemplating sports with the war and with the genocide that’s happening in Gaza,” she said.
During the interview by the Herald, Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne took umbrage with the interview.
“Why are you giving them attention? This is a sports thing. It’s not news for us. We have a beautiful city here celebrating sports,” Dionne said.
A walk to raise awareness about the death of Boden Umpherville required a new starting point on July 20 after organizers were told they could no longer start a protest walk at the Prince Albert Royal Canadian Legion Hall.
The walk was part of a project organized by researchers from the University of Saskatchewan and Umpherville’s family. The focus was “over-protection” and “under-protection” by police. The walk began at the Gateway Mall instead.
Legion President Rick Hodgson said there was some miscommunication as to what would conclude the project. He said he was aware this was part of a research project, but did not know there would be a walk or what the topic was.
“From our side, we had rented the hall to the university thing assuming that they were teaching a course down there,” Hodgson said.
The Prince Albert Police are looking to identify individuals who vandalized a Pride flag on a downtown business on July 19.
A pair of individuals were captured on video surveillance at a local business in the downtown area on July 19, around 8 p.m.
Alexa Zahara, the Chair of Prince Albert Pride said that he is not really surprised to see this kind of vandalism.
“I think these are sort of the actions and attitudes that have become a lot more commonplace. I think a lot of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has definitely increased in the last year or so,” Zahara said.
In July incumbent councillors Dawn Kilmer, Blake Edwards and Tony Head all announced their intention to run for another term in Nov. 2024.
Arts
On July 9 one month after the installation of two murals in the 14th Street Gateway Mall Courtyard, Prince Albert artist Earl McKay unveiled his contribution to the collection. The previous works are by Colby Lavigne and Rebecca Perry.
Rhonda Trusty, executive director for the Prince Albert Downtown Business Improvement District (PADBID), launched the murals project with the idea adding interactive art and “a punch of colour and brightness” to the downtown area.
All three murals are designed to be interactive. People can become a part of each work by standing in front of it and interacting with the elements. With McKay’s piece, people might pose below the wings of an eagle, smoke a ceremonial pipe, or go through the motions of smudging with the smoke of burning sage and sweetgrass.
McKay expressed hope that people will admire the Indigenous themes in his work without stereotyping him.
“I want to be ‘an artist’, not ‘a native artist’.”
Wherever he travels, Rob Froese is always happy to be back at the Mann Art Gallery.
The internationally celebrated ceramics artist officially opened ‘Tone Poems’, his third show at the Prince Albert gallery, on July 11. Froese said Prince Albert is fortunate to have such a great space for artists to come together.
“It’s quite a remarkable place and it’s shown some really good work,” Froese said. “It’s a really important venue here and I just hope people support it…. We need art in life. We don’t exist without it. Our lives are full of design, and design usually comes from innovations in art, so it’s important to have a good gallery.”
The Year is 1957 and the Prime Minister is wrapped up in a murder mystery.
Off the Cuff Improv and Interactive brought this mystery to life at Shananigan’s on July 26 and 27, when they present ‘Murder First Class: An Interactive Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre’.
Adrianna Boucher of Off the Cuff said the Prime Ministerial visit is based on a historical fact.
“It is set in 1957, which, fun fact, Prime Minister Diefenbaker was in Prince Albert. He was like doing a provincial visit and he stopped in PA and did an address outside of City Hall,” Boucher explained. “The play takes place the night before his address at City Hall.”
An actor playing Diefenbaker will be in attendance at the show. The play focuses on an evening where Diefenbaker is invited to a dinner and someone ends up murdered.
Sports
The Prince Albert Predators repeated as Prairie Gold Lacrosse League (PGLL) champions with a 16-5 win over the Swift Current Wolverines on July 27.
Head coach Lucas Wells says he believes that the 2024 edition of the Predators will be remembered as one of the best to ever play in the league.
“I think this is the best PGLL team we’ve ever had, to be honest with you. I think it’s the best PGLL team the province has ever had. I think that this is a top notch team and I would put them up against any team in the province. We did go against any team in the province and I could be happier for the guys. It’s incredible, especially to win at home.”
The Prince Albert Raiders swung an important trade on July 24, acquiring 19-year-old defenceman Lukas Dragicevic from the Tri-City Americans.
The package heading back to Tri-City included Terrell Goldsmith, Grady Martin, Nathan Preston and a third round pick in 2025.
“We were a team that finished 16th in league scoring,” Raider general manager Curtis Hunt said in an interview shortly after the deal. “If I look at the four teams that played in the final, they were littered with skating, puck-moving defenceman. You almost argue (Denton) Mateychuk dragged Moose Jaw through the playoffs and into the Memorial Cup. I think when you have an opportunity to get a guy who can run your powerplay—he was a 60-point guy last year, which was an off-year for him—you have to.”
New Zealand booked a return ticket to Prince Albert with a 4-1 win over Canada in the repechage game in the WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup Group B qualifier.
The game bled into the wee hours of the morning after weather delayed games earlier in the day pushing first pitch back to after 10 p.m. New Zealand lost earlier in the day to Argentina.
“Today was a very long day.” New Zealand head coach Thomas Makea said in a post game interview. “I was hoping we were going to get that one in but you know delays happen and that’s part of the sport that we play but really proud of the group to really stay involved in the game. Two tough games there, two tough battles against two great teams so to stay in the fight right to the last inning, last out, amazing for these guys.”
The newest voice of the Prince Albert Raiders was also introduced in July when it was announced that Nick Nielsen would be taking over the broadcast booth after several seasons in the SJHL with the Weyburn Red Wings and Kindersley Klippers.
Raider business manager Michael Scissons spoke highly of Nielsen after meeting him that month.
“Nick is one of those guys who has a trajectory to potentially be a name we remember for a long time. I think he’s going to call Raider hockey for a long time. I think we’ll be lucky to have him for a long time because he’s a natural talent behind the mic.”
