A shipping container at Little Red River Park has taken on a new purpose as the City’s newest year-round public washroom.
The City of Prince Albert opened the facility on Aug. 26. The two washrooms are heated and air-conditioned and are intended to provide an accessible option for people using the park throughout the year.
The project dates back to 2023, when city council approved a contract with Container Guy Ltd. to supply, construct and install the facility for $125,263.17 plus applicable taxes. City documents from the time described the project as a 40-foot shipping container converted to include two washrooms, a utility and mechanical room, water and wastewater tanks and a storage area.
The plans also called for heating and air conditioning, high-security locks, exterior lighting and structural engineer approval. The container was to be wrapped with imagery designed to help it blend into the park.
Before opening this summer, the City said work included meeting permit and building code requirements, installing accessible decking, testing electrical systems and making sure the facility was ready for use.
“This new facility is an important addition to Little Red River Park and will provide visitors with a modern, accessible amenity they can enjoy throughout the year,” Parks and Open Spaces Manager Timothy Yeaman said in a City release.
The opening comes months after Prince Albert city council had a separate discussion about the use of sea cans elsewhere in the city.
In January, council requested a report reviewing restrictions on sea cans used for permanent storage. Coun. Blake Edwards brought forward the motion after raising concerns about break-ins and attempts to start fires at storage areas used by organizations such as minor baseball.
Edwards told council seas cans could offer a more secure option for nonprofit organizations and businesses.
During that discussion, then acting Community Develpment Director Micheal Nelson explained that sea cans used for permanant storage are considered buildings and must comply with zoning requirements. Depending on the circumstances, National Building Code requirements can also apply.
Nelson also said shipping containers were already permitted in several areas of the city, while most residential zones and the C1 and C2 downtown commercial districts did not permit them. Council did not change the rules at that meeting and instead asked administration to examine the issue.
The Little Red River Park facility serves a different purpose than the storage containers discussed by council. City records show the container was specifically converted and engineered for use as a public washroom.
The washrooms are currently operating on a trial basis from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, until Oct. 31. The City will use the trial to evaluate electrical systems, water and septic servicing and other operational requirements.
The water in the facility is non-potable and is intended only for handwashing and washroom operations. Existing outhouses and facilities at Cosmo Lodge will remain available during the trial period.
Prince Albert is taking a closer look at how artificial intelligence could be used in municipal government after councillors heard a proposal Monday aimed at connecting information across City departments and finding potential savings and funding opportunities.
Kevin B. Lall, founder of InSight-OS, presented his Municipal Intelligence Initiative to Executive Committee. He said the idea is not to replace municipal staff, but to use AI alongside existing expertise to identify information and opportunities that may be missed when departments operate separately.
Lall said he has been examining municipalities across North America using publicly available municipal, provincial, state and federal information along with multiple AI platforms.
“Could valuable information already exist but remain disconnected?” Lall said. “Financial statements, budgets, infrastructure plans, land information, procurement, demographics and council decisions each serve different purposes.”
He said connecting those sources could reveal what his report calls “recoverable resources,” including outside funding opportunities, underused capacity, duplicated work and other efficiencies.
The report estimates more than $9 million annually in potential recoverable value. However, the document describes that figure as a directional estimate, not a forecast, and says the numbers would need to be reviewed by City financial, administrative, operational and legal staff before being relied on.
Mayor Bill Powalinsky questioned Lall about what results he has already produced and whether there were completed projects council could use to judge the proposal.
Lall pointed to a pilot project he said is underway in Shelburne, Ont., involving three agencies with combined budgets of about $3.8 million. He said the work has identified the potential for between $300,000 and $400,000 in annual savings through better coordination.
That project is expected to conclude at the end of December.
Powalinsky also questioned how Lall had been hired in Shelburne and whether there had been a competitive process.
Lall said he had a professional relationship with the municipality’s deputy mayor and was engaged directly. Powalinsky said Prince Albert would have to follow its procurement procedures if the City decided to pursue the work.
Coun. Tony Head said he was interested in the potential funding opportunities identified through the system, but acknowledged concerns about the technology.
“I am a little nervous about the AI component of it,” Head said.
Head later said one of his concerns was whether information produced by AI would be accurate.
Coun. Bryce Laewetz said he already uses AI regularly and has found it saves him time, but questioned how much control users would have over AI assistants and the system’s governing instructions.
Lall said his system uses a lengthy “governance master prompt” to establish parameters for how AI should operate. He also said InSight-OS can draw from more than 20 AI platforms rather than relying on a single system.
Laewetz asked whether people with access to the system could change those governing prompts. Lall said they could.
“That’s my concern, is that everyone gets access to this program, and then someone can go in and adjust the prompts, and this thing goes wild or whatever,” Laewetz said.
He added that he was pleased the discussion was happening and would like to see it move forward.
The discussion comes as questions about the risks of increasingly capable AI systems are growing beyond municipal government. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates recently warned that AI is making cyberattacks easier to carry out and identified hospitals, financial institutions, water systems, power grids and government benefit systems among infrastructure that could become vulnerable. Gates said the technology was crossing danger thresholds that the industry had previously identified as reasons for caution.
Those risks are no longer entirely theoretical. Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs said in August that overseas hackers used AI agents during July attacks against government agencies. The ministry said the technology allowed attackers to combine different attack methods quickly and use secondary systems as entry points, making attacks faster, cheaper and easier to scale.
However, AI has also shown measurable benefits in government when used for specific tasks. Service Canada has reported using AI to help process large numbers of comments attached to Records of Employment, reducing thousands of manual work items each month while maintaining a reported accuracy rate of 99.9 per cent and producing annual savings. The federal Translation Bureau has also used AI-assisted translation to handle large volumes of material while keeping professional translators involved in reviewing the work.
AI infrastructure is also attracting scrutiny closer to home. A proposed 300-megawatt Bell AI data centre in the RM of Sherwood has prompted questions about water use, noise and environmental impacts. Saskatchewan released a provincial data-centre framework Aug. 27, with the province emphasizing issues including Canadian ownership and data sovereignty.
The technology is also being viewed as an economic opportunity. During an Aug. 26 press conference in Prince Albert, Premier Scott Moe pointed to Bell Canada’s data centre development outside Regina, saying thousands of people were working on its construction and more than 800 long-term jobs were expected in areas including security, logistics, maintenance and hospitality. Moe said the investment would be “good for our province,” creating jobs and providing greater economic security for Saskatchewan families. He also said the province was developing guidelines for future data-centre projects, with Canadian ownership among the government’s priorities.
A separate item on Monday’s agenda showed those questions are also being discussed more broadly by Saskatchewan municipalities. A SUMA Cities Caucus update said artificial intelligence and data-centre development had emerged as significant topics, including concerns about consultation around data centres and the need for greater understanding of AI policy and governance. The caucus also discussed looking at approaches used by other municipal organizations for possible best practices.
The public report also includes longer-term ideas beyond the immediate municipal AI proposal. One ranks a possible AI and data infrastructure campus as the second-highest future investment opportunity identified by the analysis. The report suggests Prince Albert could potentially support a facility beginning at five to 10 megawatts and growing larger over time.
The document makes clear that the idea is a long-range possibility only and is not a recommendation, funded project or council decision.
The discussion Monday did not result in approval of an AI program, pilot project or spending commitment.
Coun. Dawn Kilmer moved that the correspondence be received and referred to Corporate Services for further review.
Lall also told council that when he updated his workshop system, he deliberately incorporated Indigenous content. His Municipal Intelligence Initiative says its methodology operates within the parameters of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Treaty 6.
Head also noted that the Corporate Services seat was empty during the discussion. He said the City’s previous review of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action should be shared with Lall as the proposal moves to the department.
City Manager Craig Guidinger said Truth and Reconciliation is a corporate responsibility and is incorporated into the City’s strategic planning, consulting work and internal decision-making.
Saskatchewan NDP Education Shadow Minister Matt Love is calling for more information about the condition of Saskatchewan schools after the opposition received 160 fully redacted pages in response to a Freedom of Information request.
Love said the NDP requested government facility reports for schools that had been rated in poor or critical condition.
“These are reports that we know the government has, but when we tried to access them through freedom of information, we were given 160 blank pages,” Love said in an interview with the Daily Herald.
The Ministry of Education said the request was handled in accordance with The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
“Redactions within the records were made under provisions of the legislation,” the ministry said in a statement to the Daily Herald. “The applicant was provided with information identifying the applicable sections of the legislation relied upon for the redactions.”
The ministry said it is committed to meeting its obligations under FOI legislation while protecting information exempt from disclosure under the Act.
Love said the opposition had previously received ratings for individual schools ranging from critical to good. The latest request sought the underlying reports for schools rated poor or critical.
The issue has a Prince Albert connection. Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division has identified a replacement for École Arthur Pechey and major renovation and renewal work at Carlton Comprehensive High School among its capital priorities.
Love said he does not have information suggesting either school is unsafe.
“I have no concern that those buildings are unsafe,” Love said. “I know that the local school division works really hard to keep up their facilities, and they do great work.”
The Ministry of Education did not provide the Daily Herald with current condition ratings for Carlton or École Arthur Pechey. It said school divisions are in the best position to provide current information about the condition of their schools.
Love said his concern is instead with how the province decides which capital projects move forward.
The province has identified factors such as health and safety, enrolment, capacity and building condition when considering capital projects. Love said the government has not explained how those factors are weighted
“I think that they’ve given us some categories, but they haven’t produced any information or any process on how those categories are weighted or determine where projects are awarded,” Love said.
The Ministry of Education said requests are prioritized using a consistent process, with health and safety receiving the highest priority.
The ministry also publishes a list of its top 10 major capital priorities each year. It said the list represents projects that could feasibly be approved within a five-year period and is revised annually as new requests are received.
The capital process drew political attention earlier this year after the province approved a new consolidated K-12 school in Shellbrook.
The NDP questioned why the Shellbrook project moved forward when previous government condition information showed other Saskatchewan schools in worse condition. Saskatchewan Rivers said the project had been its top capital request for more than a decade, while Premier Scott Moe later defended the decision during a Prince Albert Chamber luncheon.
Love said the latest FOI request was connected in part to questions raised by those earlier records.
“We had a number of schools in that previous FOI that we received that were, by the government’s own data, indicated to be in worse shape than the Shellbrook school,” Love said.
When asked how the province should balance a school division’s own priorities against condition data from schools elsewhere, Love said local priorities should remain part of the process, but the province should provide more information about how final decisions are made.
“They can show to the public why one school or one community was awarded a new project and what criteria they use to determine the need,” he said.
Prince Albert is also receiving additional relocatable classrooms for the 2026-27 school year as some schools deal with enrolment and space pressures.
Love said the province has become too dependent on portable classrooms.
“I think the portables have become a temporary solution that have created a permanent problem,” he said. “Most portables, after they’re delivered, they very rarely get moved.”
Love also raised concerns about preventative maintenance and renewal funding, saying divisions currently receive funding equal to about 0.5 per cent of asset value while they have sought funding closer to two per cent.
The Ministry of Education said its Preventative Maintenance and Renewal program will provide $65 million to school divisions in 2026-27. That amount was maintained after a $15 million increase in 2025-26.
The ministry said school divisions use that funding to maintain their facilities. Projects involving renovations or repairs costing more than $1 million can also be submitted through major capital and minor capital renewal programs.
Despite highlighting Carlton and École Arthur Pechey, Love said he is not specifically calling for either project to be funded in the next provincial budget.
“We’re calling for a process that’s transparent, so that people can trust that when this government makes a decision, that they’re being honest with the people of Saskatchewan about where their highest needs are,” he said.
Love is also calling on Prince Albert’s Sask. Party MLAs to raise the issue with the Education Minister. He said he has not spoken directly with either local MLA about the matter.
Asked what he would tell parents concerned about the safety of their child’s school, Love said he believes local schools are safe and credited school divisions with maintaining their buildings.
The ministry similarly said the health and safety of students and staff is the government’s highest priority.
Prince Albert’s long-running plans for additional fire stations took another step forward Monday as Executive Committee backed a $20,000 feasibility study for consideration during the City’s 2027 budget deliberations.
The Phase 1 pre-design study would examine operational needs, potential station locations, response coverage, future growth, preliminary building layouts, costs, timelines and possible procurement options.
Fire Chief Kris Olsen told councillors the City should complete that work before deciding whether to purchase or adapt an existing prototype fire station design.
“Before considering any design purchase, we need to confirm fundamental questions such as where future stations should be located, what operational requirements must be met, how they support current and future service demands, and what levels of investment will be required,” Olsen said.
Council had directed administration in May to investigate whether purchasing a prototype design, including adaptation and reuse rights, could reduce the cost and time required to eventually build new stations. Administration came back recommending the feasibility work first.
The study is expected to take about 10 to 12 weeks once authorized.
Coun. Bryce Laewetz said he supports expanding fire services, but questioned how long the study would remain useful if construction is still several years away. Olsen said factors such as future development and changes in the City’s growth pattern could affect that.
Coun. Tony Head questioned spending $20,000 on an outside consultant, arguing that much of the necessary expertise already exists within the Fire Department and City administration.
“I think we have the capacity internally and the expertise of yourself and others within the fire department to come up with what’s best laid plans,” Head told Olsen.
Arjun Pillai/Daily Herald Coun. Dawn Kilmer speaks during Monday’s Executive Committee meeting at Prince Albert City Hall, where she supported moving ahead with the proposed fire station feasibility study.
Olsen said some of the work, including previous GIS analysis identifying suitable station locations, has already been completed. However, he said a Phase 1 study also covers matters such as utilities, geotechnical conditions, grading, traffic and emergency-response requirements that are standard parts of preparing a building project.
Acting Community Development Director Michael Nelson told council that a later Phase 2 would involve detailed architectural, structural, mechanical and electrical drawings. He estimated that process could take 12 to 18 months, followed by roughly 18 months of construction if funding was in place.
Mayor Bill Powalinsky initially questioned whether the study was being undertaken too soon, noting that construction could still be years away and cost estimates could change significantly.
He later said he was prepared to support the motion, particularly because the study would provide information about site suitability, utilities, access and other physical requirements.
Coun. Dawn Kilmer said completing the study now would give council better information when deciding how and when to finance a future station.
“If we put it on the back burner, don’t work from a place of knowing, we will be in 10 years talking about the same thing,” Kilmer said.
The issue has been studied for decades. City reports dating back to 1985 have called for additional stations, while a 2008 master plan recommended one additional station within five years and a third within 10 years. City-owned land has since been identified on 15th Avenue East and 28th Street West for potential future stations.
Executive Committee’s recommendation will go forward as part of the 2027 budget process. The $20,000 would come from the Protective Services New Facility Reserve.
Concerns about rising property taxes returned to Prince Albert City Hall Monday after a homeowner told council his annual bill has climbed from about $2,400 to $4,700 over several years.
Yohannes Zerai raised the concern in an Aug. 5 letter to council. Zerai said his home was purchased through Habitat for Humanity and that rising property taxes were making it more difficult to maintain the affordable homeownership the program was intended to provide.
He asked council to consider the effect rising taxes are having on families and whether programs, relief options or other policies could help homeowners facing similar pressures.
Coun. Bryce Laewetz pulled the property-tax concern from Monday’s Executive Committee consent agenda for discussion.
“I’m assuming all of us have had many, many people reach out in regards to the increase in property tax,” Laewetz said.
Laewetz pointed to his own experience, saying his property taxes were about $2,700 a year when he bought his house four years ago and are now about $4,500.
“It’s significant and it makes a difference,” he said.
Laewetz said receiving a formal letter from a resident was a good indication that others in Prince Albert are dealing with the same concern. “I know that it’ll be taking extra, extra effort in this year’s budget to make sure that we keep this as down as we can,” he said.
There was no extended debate on the issue. Executive Committee voted to receive Zerai’s correspondence and refer it to the City’s Financial Services Department.
The concern comes months after council approved its 2026 property-tax plan. The plan required an additional $3.49 million in taxation revenue to balance the City’s approved operating and capital budgets and reserve allocations.
The tax pressure comes as the City faces higher costs for goods and services, along with aging infrastructure, capital needs and demands for municipal services. Those pressures come during a period of sustained inflation that has also increased costs for households.
For residential properties used as examples in the City’s report, total 2026 tax increases ranged from 3.39 per cent to 3.85 per cent depending on assessed value. A home assessed at $250,000, for example, was projected to see taxes rise from $3,984 in 2025 to $4,131 in 2026, an increase of $147.
The 2026 package also increased the residential base tax from $365 to $400, the residential roadway special tax from $204 to $215 and the snow-management special tax from $75 to $76. The City’s $35 police special tax was eliminated.
Property taxation was the subject of lengthy debate at council in April. Councillors questioned the City’s use of base taxes, special levies and different tax structures before ultimately approving the 2026 bylaws. Council also directed administration to return before the 2027 budget deliberations with a review of the City’s taxation model, including tax classes, mill-rate strategies and base-tax structures.
The City’s draft Housing Strategy identifies a broader challenge behind that pressure. It says Prince Albert property-tax revenue climbed 22 percent over five years, from $40.7 million in 2020 to $49.7 million in 2024 while growth in the number of taxable properties failed to keep pace. The report also notes that hospitals, schools, churches, correctional facilities and government properties make up a significant tax-exempt portion of the city.
The taxation-model review is expected to come back to council ahead of deliberations on the 2027 budget.
Prince Albert’s Executive Committee has backed a recommendation to deny a one-time demolition incentive extension for the owners of a River Street West property, even as administration acknowledged the City gave inconsistent information after the program expired.
The request came from Brian and Louella Martin, owners of 1025 River Street West, who asked the City to extend the Derelict Property Demolition Incentive Program to help cover demolition and cleanup costs.
Community Safety and Well-Being Manager Anna Dinsdale told committee Monday the program expired at the end of 2025, but that information was not communicated consistently across City departments during the first six months of this year. The application also remained accessible through the City’s website after the program ended, and a required review was delayed.
Dinsdale said those problems were acknowledged, but the Martins’ property still would have been unlikely to qualify even if the program had remained open.
She said the City had already spent significant resources trying to secure compliance at the property and eventually went to court.
“I think the analysis is that if the application process was still active, it would be very unlikely to have been approved,” Dinsdale said.
Mayor Bill Powalinsky said mistakes in communication may warrant an apology, but receiving an application did not guarantee approval.
“Mistakes would result in an apology, but not in a revision of the program to meet the circumstances of one particular individual,” Powalinsky said.
In a letter to council, the Martins said the rental property had been damaged by fire and later broken into, with additional fires following. They said they eventually decided demolition was the best option and believed they were still able to apply for the incentive after speaking with City staff and obtaining an application form.
Their correspondence was first before Executive Committee on Aug. 10, when it was referred to Community Development for review and report.
Coun. Bryce Laewetz said the property had generated more than 40 police calls between late 2021 and May 2026 and five Fire Department responses. He supported denying the extension, but questioned whether the program was doing enough to identify serious nuisance properties earlier.
“That should have been one of the first ones that was flagged,” Laewetz said.
Coun. Tony Head also questioned the structure of the 18-month program. Dinsdale said seven applications were approved in 2024 and three in 2025, while five were denied overall.
Acting Community Development Director Michael Nelson said the City’s other housing incentive programs do not generally have fixed end dates, but are reviewed after about a year.
The demolition incentive was created in 2024 to encourage property owners to act early and reduce the amount of enforcement work required from the City.
A broader review is expected to return to Executive Committee in September. The motion to deny the Martins’ extension request carried, with Coun. Daniel Brown opposed.
A pedestrian safety review near Victoria Hospital has led Prince Albert’s Executive Committee toward new parking restrictions rather than an immediate relocation of the existing crosswalk.
Committee members backed a two-hour parking zone on 25th Street West from 10th Avenue West to about 210 metres east of the intersection, along with a four-hour parking limit at the Alfred Jenkins Field House from Monday to Friday.
Capital Projects Manager Evan Hastings said the review found about 50 vehicles, and sometimes more, routinely parked along 25th Street West, primarily by people working at the hospital or on the hospital expansion.
The volume of parked vehicles has at times reduced the road to a single lane and created concerns about visibility and traffic movement.
Hastings said one nearby resident reported having to back down the street because there was not enough room for two vehicles to pass.
“One major thing that was noticed, though, when we were on site, was typically 50 vehicles, and sometimes even more, were parked on 25th Street West,” Hastings said.
The review stems from a motion brought forward by Coun. Darren Solomon in April. Solomon had raised concerns about pedestrian safety at 10th Avenue West and 25th Street after hearing from residents and nurses at Victoria Hospital who told him they had nearly been hit while crossing. Council unanimously directed administration to examine the location and operation of the pedestrian crossing.
Hastings said the existing Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon, installed on the north side of the intersection in 2022, is considered safe and meets appropriate standards.
However, development since then has changed how pedestrians move through the area. Sidewalk construction on the south side of 25th Street means some pedestrians travelling toward the hospital must cross to the north side to use the beacon before crossing back south.
Hastings said relocating the crossing would provide a more direct route, but SaskPower, SaskEnergy and water infrastructure, along with property-line constraints, would make the work difficult and potentially costly.
Arjun Pillai/Daily Herald Capital Projects Manager Evan Hastings speaks to Prince Albert’s Executive Committee Monday about parking and pedestrian safety concerns near 25th Street West and Victoria Hospital.
Instead, administration recommended addressing the parking situation first.
Hastings said pedestrian traffic at the crossing has increased from roughly 30 people five years ago to close to 200, with much of the increase linked to people parking on 25th Street and walking to the hospital.
The two-hour limit is intended to discourage people from leaving vehicles there throughout the workday while continuing to allow short-term parking.
A similar issue has developed at the Alfred Jenkins Field House.
Hastings said about 20 to 25 vehicles are regularly parked there by people who then walk to the hospital rather than use paid hospital parking. He said the lot is approaching capacity during some events.
The original recommendation called for a four-hour limit at the Field House. Solomon later amended it to apply Monday to Friday after councillors raised concerns about tournaments and other events where legitimate facility users could be parked for longer periods.
Hastings said four hours was selected to give people enough time to attend recreation programs or several games without interfering with normal use of the facility.
“The goal of the four-hour timeline is to not punish regular users of the facility,” he said.
Bylaw officers are expected to begin with warnings and education rather than immediately issuing tickets. Hastings said officers could chalk tires and identify vehicles routinely left at the locations for the entire day.
Mayor Bill Powalinsky and Coun. Tony Head also questioned whether more discussion should take place with the Saskatchewan Health Authority about the underlying hospital parking issue. Hastings said the City had not held a parking-specific discussion with SHA, although hospital-related traffic had been considered through other planning work.
Hastings said the new signs are expected to be installed before snowfall, depending on the timing of utility locates.
The City plans to continue monitoring the area as the Victoria Hospital expansion moves toward completion. Once the hospital’s primary public access shifts to the north side, traffic, parking and pedestrian patterns are expected to change again, and administration plans to reassess whether further changes are needed.
Among the photographs Najib Sorosh kept from Afghanistan are images of classrooms filled with children.
For Sorosh, now living in Prince Albert, they are reminders of a time when he believed education could give Afghanistan something decades of war had failed to provide: lasting change.
“The best way to make a change in a country is the way of education,” Sorosh said. “If you educate the people, then the society easily will be changed in the future.”
Sorosh spent more than 20 years working in education in Afghanistan and helped establish Marefat High School and Pegah High School, where girls made up close to half of the student population. Some of the students went on to universities outside Afghanistan, including in Bangladesh, the United States, Europe and Japan.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada later featured his story as part of its coverage of Afghan newcomers rebuilding their lives in Canada.
After arriving in Saskatchewan in September 2021, Sorosh first worked as an interpreter with Global Gathering Place in Saskatoon before moving into settlement work in Prince Albert. IRCC identified him as a settlement counsellor with YWCA Prince Albert, helping refugees and immigrants adjust to life in Canada.
Sorosh believed Afghanistan’s history had already demonstrated the limits of trying to transform the country through force.
“Different military groups, or even sometimes social groups, they try to make changes to our country, but not through education,” he said. “They try to make these changes through the military ways, but it didn’t work in all our history.”
His belief was that educating a new generation would be slower, but the change would last.
Photo courtesy of Najib Sorosh/Facebook Students are pictured in an examination hall in Afghanistan before the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Former educator Najib Sorosh said he believed education could create lasting change in Afghanistan after decades of war.
Sunday marked five years since the final U.S. military forces left Afghanistan on Aug. 30, 2021, ending nearly 20 years of American military involvement that began following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The final weeks of the withdrawal were marked by scenes of desperation at Kabul’s airport as thousands of Afghans tried to get onto evacuation flights after the Taliban seized the capital. On Aug. 16, 2021, video showed people clinging to a U.S. military C-17 as it took off, with people later seen falling from the aircraft. The images became some of the most haunting symbols of the collapse and the rush to escape Afghanistan. More than 130,000 civilians were ultimately evacuated during the U.S.-led airlift.
By the time the final American aircraft left Kabul, Sorosh had already fled the country.
He was in Kabul when the Taliban entered the capital on Aug. 15, 2021.
Sorosh said he and several family members had gone to a passport office after watching the security situation deteriorate in the days before the takeover. They were waiting to complete the process when his wife called.
“She said that Taliban has taken over the capital,” Sorosh recalled.
Soon afterward, an employee announced that the passport office was closing and told everyone to leave.
Sorosh returned home, collected his wife and children and went into hiding. For about a week, he said, the family moved between different locations while trying to find a way out of the country.
They eventually left Afghanistan on Aug. 27, three days before the American withdrawal was completed.
Sorosh said his involvement in educating girls was one of the reasons he feared remaining under Taliban rule. With girls and women making up a large part of the schools’ students and staff, Sorosh worried that he, his relatives and colleagues could become targets.
Five years later, some of the students he remembers most clearly are the girls who never received the opportunity to finish what they started.
Sorosh said he had exceptionally talented female students whom he believed could have gone on to significant careers. A small number managed to leave Afghanistan and continue their education elsewhere, he said, but most remained behind.
Under Taliban rule, girls are prevented from continuing regular schooling beyond Grade 6, while women have also faced restrictions on higher education, employment and public life.
Sorosh worries the consequences will extend well beyond the students currently being kept from classrooms.
He said today’s girls will become mothers and members of the next generation of Afghan families, meaning the loss of education now could continue affecting the country for decades.
Photo courtesy of Najib Sorosh/Facebook Students gather in a school hall in Afghanistan in a photograph shared by Najib Sorosh on Facebook.
His own sister and her family remain in Afghanistan, along with former students, colleagues and friends.
Sorosh said hundreds of families connected with his educational community were able to reach Canada with outside assistance following the Taliban takeover, but many others remain in Afghanistan.
He does not describe the Afghanistan before August 2021 as peaceful. There was war, insecurity and political corruption. Taliban attacks were part of that conflict, while Afghan government forces and international militaries were also fighting across the country.
The large-scale war that defined much of the previous two decades has since largely ended, something Sorosh acknowledges. But he does not believe the absence of open warfare has given Afghans genuine peace.
He compared the situation to a forest where smaller or weaker animals hide when dangerous animals arrive.
“It’s not a real peace that people can enjoy,” Sorosh said.
He said Afghans may no longer face the same level of fighting, but many live with fear of authorities, poverty and an uncertain future.
Sorosh also believes the Taliban has changed in some ways since its previous period in power.
“I think they changed a little bit compared to their previous time,” he said.
He pointed to television and some educational and cultural activities that are tolerated today compared with Taliban rule in the 1990s.
However, Sorosh believes at least some of that change is practical. He said Taliban leaders understand they must maintain power and deal with foreign governments, something that requires them to behave differently in certain areas.
For Sorosh, the problem goes beyond individual Taliban policies. He believes religion and ideology should be separated from the way a government exercises power.
Photo courtesy of Najib Sorosh/Facebook Girls and boys take part in a school activity on stage in Afghanistan in a photograph shared by Najib Sorosh on Facebook.
It was an idea he said he tried to teach his students while working in Afghanistan.
Sorosh said religion should remain a personal matter, with people free to follow their own beliefs. Problems arise, he said, when political leaders use a particular religion or ideology to govern everyone and force others to live according to it.
“If it’s different, then they will be punished,” Sorosh said.
He pointed to Afghanistan and Iran as examples of what can happen when religious ideology becomes closely tied to government power.
“This is the problem with our community, with our country, and some other countries like that,” Sorosh said. “If you see nowadays what is happening in Iran and some other countries and in Afghanistan, this is the main problem.”
Sorosh stressed that his argument was broader than religion alone. He said any ideology can become harmful when a government imposes it on people rather than allowing individuals to make their own choices.
“Any kind of ideology should be separated from politics and from the governing of the people,” he said.
Afghanistan has also been promoted as a destination for foreign tourists in recent years, with visitors drawn to its mountains, history and culture.
Sorosh said there is no question his homeland has beautiful places worth seeing.
SUBMITTED PHOTO/NAJIB SOROSH Najib Sorosh fled the country following the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
But he cautioned that a visitor’s experience may be very different from the lives of Afghans living under Taliban rule.
He said foreign visitors can be treated well and shown safe and attractive areas because their photographs and videos will eventually be seen outside Afghanistan.
“They are showing the good part of the country, but in the real life, it’s not like that,” Sorosh said.
For Sorosh, one of the greatest changes in Afghanistan cannot easily be measured in statistics.
It is the loss of hope.
“Hope is like a candle in your life, in the middle of a darkness,” he said.
That candle, he explained, gives someone a path to follow. It provides a reason to work, learn and believe that effort can produce something better.
Sorosh said many people he knows in Afghanistan have lost that feeling.
“They are just trying to exist,” he said.
Still, he has not abandoned Afghanistan.
Sorosh said he would not return while the current government remains in power, both because of security concerns and because he does not believe he would be able to continue the work that once defined his life.
But if Afghanistan changes, he already knows what he wants to do.
He wants to open a school again.
“My best goal is still opening again school and start again teaching the new generation,” Sorosh said.
Five years after leaving Afghanistan, the classrooms in his photographs remain more than memories.
They represent the way Sorosh still believes his country can move forward.
Prince Albert is looking to determine what its water treatment plant could handle if an unexpected contaminant entered the North Saskatchewan River.
Executive Committee backed a $44,185 contamination removal study Monday that will examine what the plant can effectively remove, what it can only partially remove and what its existing treatment system may not be able to handle. KGS Group is recommended to carry out the work.
Acting Public Works Director Tim Earing said the study is intended as a planning and risk mitigation tool, particularly in the event of an upstream spill or another unexpected contaminant entering the City’s source water.
“The final report will categorize contaminants that are effectively removed, partially removed, or that we can’t remove,” Earing told council. “So it’s a risk mitigation tool for us.”
The study arrives while Prince Albert continues to deal with complaints about discoloured water and changes in taste and odour, but it is not intended to resolve those concerns.
The City’s report says the study is focused on contaminants outside the range normally handled by the plant, including emerging contaminants and those that could enter the North Saskatchewan River during an upstream spill or other source-water contamination event.
The City’s existing treatment process includes powdered activated carbon for taste and odour control. Earing told council at its Aug. 24 meeting that the City has been using carbon and spending more on the treatment material than in a normal year, but said the plant has not been able to completely remove the smell under this year’s conditions.
Arjun Pillai/Daily Herald Acting Public Works Director Tim Earing speaks during Monday’s Executive Committee meeting about a proposed study of the Water Treatment Plant’s ability to handle unexpected contaminants.
The City has also increased testing, met with the Water Security Agency and is working through five additional precautionary measures requested by the agency. At the Aug. 24 meeting, Earing said turbidity in the river had been running roughly five to 10 times normal levels.
Coun. Darren Solomon raised the timing of the new study Monday and questioned when the request for proposals had gone out.
After checking with Water Treatment Plant Manager Rinkesh Patil, who was at the meeting to assist with technical questions, Earing said the tender was issued early in the spring.
Solomon said that meant the study was not launched in response to the current water situation.
“You’re absolutely correct,” Earing said. “This was something that was planned far in advance of current situation today.”
The 2016 Husky oil spill remains an example of the type of event the City wants to be better prepared for.
The Water Security Agency ordered Prince Albert’s raw water intake shut down following the spill, forcing the City to secure alternate water sources and construct temporary infrastructure. According to the City’s report, the response generated more than $10 million in direct costs, although those costs were covered by the owner of the upstream pipeline.
Earing said the new assessment is intended to establish what options the City would have if something similar happened again.
“If we ever had a spill in the North Saskatchewan River again, like the Husky spill, would we be able to treat that water?” he said. “Would we have the ability to treat something that was more of a disaster type thing, or something that we don’t know today that contaminated the water?”
Prince Albert has been working with Saskatoon and the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant, both of which have completed similar contaminant removal assessments. Once Prince Albert’s work is complete, the group plans to engage provincial regulators on emergency response planning and the treatment capabilities of each facility.
The cost of the Prince Albert study came in substantially higher than first expected.
The City had originally budgeted $13,000 based on information from Saskatoon and Buffalo Pound. Earing said the competitive process produced an actual market price of about $39,000.
“This did take us a little off guard,” he said.
Earing said Prince Albert’s circumstances are not identical to those of the other plants and some costs quoted by regional partners may have been included as part of other engineering work.
KGS Group’s contract is valued at $39,185.11, with another $5,000 set aside for possible additional technical work or clarification. The additional cost can be covered within the existing Utilities operating budget, with no new funding source required.
Coun. Tony Head questioned why an assessment of that kind had not already been completed following the Husky spill or construction of the City’s raw water intake.
He also raised the ongoing taste, odour and discolouration concerns and questioned language in the report stating that the plant is designed to treat seasonal changes in source-water quality.
Earing said the study is meant to prepare the City for contaminants outside the situations it already deals with through its existing treatment process.
Head also asked when council would receive answers to a series of water-related inquiries raised at the previous meeting.
City Manager Craig Guidinger said administration already has much of the requested information and expects to provide it soon.
“I feel like we can get you that information in a timely fashion,” Guidinger said.
Head moved the recommendation, which carried.
Meanwhile, the City continues to deal with complaints about the taste and odour of tap water. The City has attributed the problem to unusual conditions in the North Saskatchewan River, with Earing saying turbidity has been running roughly five to 10 times normal levels. He said the plant is using carbon to help control the smell, but has not been able to remove it completely under the current conditions. The City says the water continues to meet regulatory requirements and has increased testing while working through five additional precautionary measures requested by the Water Security Agency.
Prince Albert Public Works Director Jeff da Silva has resigned from the City, with Tim Earing taking over the department on an interim basis.
City Manager Craig Guidinger confirmed Friday that da Silva tendered his resignation within the past few days and has left the City rather than transferring to another department.
Earing has filled the acting director role at different times in the past and will serve in the position while the City considers its next steps.
Da Silva’s departure comes during a busy period for Public Works, including the City’s response to drinking water taste, odour and discolouration concerns this summer.
The recent water concerns were also raised in relation to the leadership change, but Guidinger said he would not speculate about da Silva’s reasons for leaving.
“I respect Jeff too much to speculate the reasons for his resignation,” Guidinger said. “He’s been a valued member of the Public Works team for a number of years, and he’s made lots of really positive contributions for the city.”
Da Silva oversaw a broad department that includes roadways, engineering, fleet operations, sanitation, the airport, water treatment and sewer and wastewater services.
During his tenure, Public Works moved ahead with infrastructure and planning work across the city.
One example was Marquis Road, where roadway improvements were coordinated with underground utility work. Da Silva told council the two programs were able to work “in tandem,” allowing the City to get important work done together rather than treating the projects separately.
Da Silva also told council Public Works was moving toward a more systematic approach to capital planning, looking at infrastructure risk, expected asset life and renewal needs when deciding which projects should be given priority.
That approach was also reflected in the City’s 2026 sanitary and storm sewer rehabilitation program. Public Works reviewed more than 20 kilometres of sewer inspection footage to identify deteriorating sections and direct funding toward higher-risk infrastructure. The program targeted approximately 1.5 kilometres of sanitary and storm sewer mains along with 17 localized repairs using trenchless rehabilitation methods.
Public Works was also involved in planning for future growth in West Hill. When council awarded detailed design work for the West Hill Master Plan in 2025, da Silva said the work would establish more detail on roads, services, drainage and grades so new development could properly connect with existing City infrastructure.
Guidinger credited da Silva for his strong handling of a number of challenges during his time with the City.
“He’s had a lot of difficult files over the years as well,” Guidinger said. “He’s been a really good employee. Again, wishing him nothing but the best, and I really value his contributions.”
Guidinger said he does not expect da Silva’s departure to interrupt the City’s response to the current water concerns or delay other major Public Works projects.
“We have a lot of really good leaders and managers in Public Works, so I’m very confident in their abilities to continue to move those files forward,” he said.
Guidinger described Earing as a “steadfast expert” in managing the water situation and said he does not expect any short-term impact on services.
The City has not yet outlined how the permanent Public Works director position will be filled.
Guidinger said his immediate focus is maintaining continuity within the department while considering its longer-term leadership.
“With any new city manager, there’s always value in taking a step back and making sure that we’re providing the best value to our citizens as possible,” he said. “So I’m not going to rush into any decisions.”
