Patrick Nogier says he’s ready for a challenge.

After serving Prince Albert as interim police chief for over four months, Nogier decided to stay on permanently – part of that decision, he said, was the drive to improve safety in a community with “big city issues,” but limited policing resources.

“It has homelessness, addictions, transiency, criminal activity, and you may not have all of the same type of support mechanisms from a policing perspective,” he said.

Previously, Nogier worked at the Saskatoon Police Service as the superintendent in charge of the Criminal Investigations Division. His career there spanned three decades in a variety of roles.

He said Saskatoon has resources such as an air support unit for patrol – which it says reduces the city’s crime rate by at least 10 per cent – and dedicated units for tactical support and sex crimes.

“The men and women that are responding on the day-to-day activity in Prince Albert are responding to and responsible for much more than their counterparts in larger cities,” said Nogier.

The answer isn’t always more officers on the ground. While statistics show an adequate number of police officers for the city’s population, the amount of people in the city fluctuates because of its transiency.

“It’s not always about bullets and handguns and batons. Sometimes it’s about engagement; sometimes it’s about re-thinking how you approach a situation and what your response is going to be. There are a lot of good initiatives that we can work on moving forward.”

While acknowledging that the police service has a long way to go, Nogier said it’s made “remarkable improvements” in the last few months. This includes engaging with both internal members and the public and more efficiently responding to calls.

Nogier highlighted an alternative call response system, where officers respond to calls based on priority. He added that discussions of an updated strategic plan included community consultation.

He also said, often, sometimes a work environment is in need of a new sets of eyes.

“Bringing somebody new in doesn’t necessarily solve all of those problems, but what it does do is just allows an organization to sit back, reflect, and just get back to the table and talk,” he said.

“All it takes is a renewed interest to discuss and re-engage.”

Nogier was appointed to the interim position in June following former Chief Jon Bergen’s resignation. The Board of Police Commissioners announced on Thursday that Nogier would be taking over permanently.

In July, the Saskatchewan government released 45 recommendations to the police service stemming from an independent review. The full report was not released.

Rod Knecht, former chief of the Edmonton Police Service, “strongly recommended” that the board look towards external candidates for the next chief in Prince Albert.

The inquiry followed Public Complaints Commission investigations into three in-custody deaths in late 2021 and the death of 13-month old Tanner Brass in early 2022.

Bergen left the force after the report on Brass was released in May, saying he and his family were receiving harassment internally and externally. At the time, he said he didn’t want his decisions involving members to be seen as biased.

“There’s a distinct difference in what I’ve experienced in the past three decades of policing in Saskatoon and what I’ve experienced in a short time in Prince Albert,” said Nogier.

“Coming from a larger centre, I can say that there is an instilled sense of community bonding and community collaboration when it comes to getting together to move things in the right direction.”

Nogier said that many of the areas that required improvement were already being worked on prior to his arrival.

“We hear the community when they’re concerned about what’s going on and the challenges that they face when they’re going through a drive-thru, when their garage gets broken into, when they’re scared to walk through a park at nine o’clock at night for fear of retaliation and gang activity,” he said.

Nogier assured the public that the officers on the ground are in uniform for the right reasons – and that he, too, is dedicated to improving community well-being.

“I will do everything that I can to earn the trust of the public,” he said.

“I do not demand trust…trust is earned. It’s not something that can be taken for granted, and it can be fragile.”

The Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) says it’s in need of long-term funding to tackle root causes of crime.

PBCN declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after the alleged murder of a 17-year-old boy in Deschambault Lake.

One of the accused is also a youth. She cannot be identified due to her age and Deschambault’s small population of about 1,500.

“It’s just not right to be losing our young people this way. There’s a better life,” said Chief Karen Bird.

“We’ve had enough. We need to make a big deal of this now. It needs to be heard what we’re going through.”

Bird said PBCN has been holding daily meetings since the homicide on Oct. 1.

The declaration allows PBCN to establish an emergency operations centre, consisting of health care staff and external partners. Bird said leadership is meeting with Indigenous Services Canada “in the coming days” to discuss the need for additional public safety personnel and infrastructure.

Bird said PBCN receives funding as if it’s one community, rather than eight separate communities: Deschambault Lake, Southend, Sturgeon Landing, Prince Albert, Amisk Lake, Kinoosao, Pelican Narrows and Sandy Bay.

Bird said that leaves PBCN underfunded. Not only because resources are being split between eight communities, but because the issues present in one area are different than the next.

“Our plan is to increase the presence of law enforcement, community outreach programs and collaboration with external partners, agencies to address the root causes of violence,” she said.

One of those issues is housing.

For all of PBCN, Bird explained, there’s only 907 homes for 12,300 people. Aside from having nowhere to call home, she said there’s a lack of employment, education and recreation opportunities.

“It’s getting to the point where people are living with anxiety 24/7 now and it’s not a safe environment,” she said, adding that the RCMP are a crucial part of improvement.

“We do have challenges where officials or RCMP come to our communities and they leave in two years. We need a better relationship with them.”

Brian Hardlotte, grand chief of the Prince Albert Grand Council, echoed the need for better relationships between chief and council, inter-agencies, police and the provincial and federal governments.

“We can’t achieve anything unless we break that communication gap,” he said.

Vice-Chief Christopher Jobb said the PAGC is working towards preventative solutions to crime, opposed to reactive. This especially applies in communities that don’t have municipalities close by.

“We need to pass by these hurdles in order to move forward because every life matters in our communities,” said Jobb.

Bird said the state of emergency will remain in place until chief and council is “confident that safety benchmarks have been met.”

This is the third state of emergency in PBCN in less than a year. In response, leadership has developed a wellness group that’s currently focusing on the most extreme needs.

The union representing inside workers at the City of Prince Albert has voted to reject a tentative agreement.

According to a news release, 81 per cent of CUPE 882 members voted to reject the city’s offer and continue on with the strike.

“We hope this will send a strong message to city council,” said Mira Lewis, CUPE national representative.

The tentative agreement includes an 11 per cent general wage increase, including adjustments to bring the lowest paid employees above minimum wage, vision coverage for all employees and expanded EFAP coverage to include non-permanent employees.

CUPE 882 members, who work at City Hall and recreation facilities, sat in on a city council meeting on Monday evening.

At the meeting, Ward 2 Coun. Terra Lennox-Zepp was unsuccessful in having council set a bargaining date. She required unanimous support for leave to have her motion discussed on Monday rather than at the next meeting.

“We can’t wait one month to hear this and to hear council out on this particular issue,” she said.

Mayor Greg Dionne was one of four who voted against it, saying that the union needed to vote on the tentative agreement.

“I won’t be giving you leave strictly because they haven’t even voted on our last proposal,” argued Dionne.

“It’s not in our park. They have to vote, and then if they accept, they’re back to work. If they deny, then we’re back to negotiations.”

Lewis said the union wanted to let members “decide our path forward” since it didn’t see the city taking action. She’s hoping Dionne’s comment means they’ll get back to the table.

“We hope that administration takes this to heart and immediately returns to the bargaining table prepared to offer a meaningful deal,” she said.

CUPE 882 said it will be reaching out to the city and mediator Kristin Anderson to set bargaining dates.

The union has been taking job action since Aug. 10. A full withdrawal of services began on Sept. 11, impacting City Hall, the EA Rawlinson Centre, Frank Dunn Pool, Alfred Jenkins Field House and the Arts Centre.

The two parties reached the tentative agreement at the end of September. The union decided to stall the vote after learning that the city planned to continue with a call centre established at the beginning of the strike.

The vote was held on Tuesday.

CUPE 882 members are voting on a tentative agreement reached a couple of weeks ago with the City of Prince Albert.

It said results will be shared on Wednesday morning.

The union initially stalled the vote after learning that the city planned on continuing with a call centre system that had been established during the strike.

“We do not see the city moving forward with this issue, so we are letting our members decide our path forward by voting on the tentative agreement,” said CUPE national representative Mira Lewis.

“The union still has grave concerns about the proposed call centre, and structural changes the city wants to implement without negotiating with the union or receiving feedback from the impacted workers.”

The announcement comes after city council opted out of setting a bargaining date at its meeting on Monday evening.

Ward 2 Coun. Terra Lennox-Zepp required unanimous support to have the motion discussed on Monday rather than in a month at the next meeting.

“We see people in the gallery. This affects their lives and it affects governance as well of our city. It’s a pressing, urgent issue,” she said.

The motion was denied 5-4.

Mayor Greg Dionne voted against it because the union hadn’t voted on the city’s final offer.

The tentative agreement includes an 11 per cent general wage increase, including adjustments to bring the lowest paid employees above minimum wage, vision coverage for all employees and expanded EFAP coverage to include non-permanent employees.

The city says the call centre does not impact terms and conditions of employment, only that employees who answer calls would be moved to a shared room. The union, however, says it impacts work flow for at least nine secretary positions.

CUPE 882 began a full strike on Sept. 11, but have been taking job action since Aug. 10.

Council votes in favour of cost-savings report

Prince Albert city council has voted in favour of administration compiling a cost-savings report on the CUPE 882 strike.

Ward 3 Coun. Tony Head, who brought forward the motion, said the information is important ahead of budget deliberations.

“It’s very timely coming into budget – what are we not spending; what are we currently spending? I know I see heightened security, I see lack of staff,” said Head.

Lennox-Zepp supported the motion. She said council needs facts in order to make governing decisions, no different than receiving ongoing financial reports throughout the pandemic.

“It seems an absurdity to me to not receive this information on a periodic basis throughout this strike,” she said.

Dionne voted against the motion. With City Hall being short staffed, he said he didn’t want to take workers away from customers to compile a report when he knows the city has “big savings.”

He said he would, however, support a report once the strike is over.

Dionne said it would take administration three months to prepare the cost-savings report. Budget deliberations are set to begin in mid-November.

Head’s motion included an up-to-date cost-savings from the strike so far, as well as an overall cost-savings once CUPE 882 members return to work.

Ward 4 Coun. Don Cody was the only other councillor to vote against the motion.

The Saskatchewan government has tabled a policy requiring parental consent for children to change their gender identification or be involved in sex education in schools.

The province invoked the notwithstanding clause to introduce the Parents’ Bill of Rights on Thursday.

The bill outlines a number of parents’ rights in their children’s education. If the student is under the age of 16, parental consent is required for teachers and other employees to use a change of name or pronouns related to preferred gender identities.

It also allows parents to withdraw their children from sexual health presentations. The bill outlines that parents must be informed of the content and dates in which sex education will be presented to students at least two weeks prior.

“It brings parents into the lives of children. That’s who’s best able to support children through difficult conversations and difficult decisions,” said Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill during Thursday’s question period.

The policy, which was announced in August, has received criticism from Prince Albert Pride. In a statement, the organization said it “strongly opposes the use of the notwithstanding clause to implement policies that harm trans students and limit comprehensive education.”

“We believe in inclusive, safe environments for all students that respect their dignity and rights,” it said.

The statement pointed to comments made by the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour that the policy is “dangerous and desperate” and “a threat to all worker rights and all Charter rights.”

“Using the notwithstanding clause tells transphobic people that they don’t have to be scared to be transphobic. Many in our community have been experiencing this rise in hate in the past month and a half. This hate will continue to grow and lead to dire consequences,” said Prince Albert Pride.

Just two weeks ago, a Regina judge granted an injunction that halted the policy until it was further argued in court. In his written decision, Justice Michael Megaw said the injunction was necessary to prevent any “irreparable harm.”

In response, Premier Scott Moe recalled the legislature early to invoke the notwithstanding clause.

The notwithstanding clause allows governments to override certain sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, shielding the law from “judicial invalidation.” The clause cannot be used on the grounds that it violates democratic rights, mobility rights, or minority language rights.

Moe said the Parents’ Bill of Rights reaffirms what is already happening in many school divisions.

“That’s the belief of this government, is that we are going to provide every opportunity to include parents in their child’s school, in their child’s classroom, in their child’s education,” he said.

Cockrill pointed to comments from Stacy Lair, the North East School Division’s director of education based in Melfort.

“Our administrative policy to consult with parents regarding family life and human sexuality is in line with the minister’s request,” said Lair, which Cockrill read in the legislature.

“Regarding the consent of name changes, we believe trusting relationships with students do not come at the cost of infringing on the trust of parents.”

The bill also includes parents in other school practices, such as being informed of disciplinary action, making decisions on which courses their children are enrolled in, and having access to their school files.

Neil Finch, the director of education for the Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division, said he needed time to review the details of the new legislation.

“I haven’t had time to digest what’s all in there, and we’ll need time to see what it means for us on the operational side of things and how we communicate with parents,” he said.

The Herald has reached out to the Prince Albert Catholic School Division for comment.

A protest against the use of the notwithstanding clause is set to take place next week at the Prince Albert exhibition grounds, where the local Premier’s Dinner is being held.

Sask. Party using controversial policy to avoid accountability, says NDP

The Opposition NDP called the Parents’ Bill of Rights a “smokescreen” to avoid accountability for crises such as the lack of mental health resources.

Leader Carla Beck called for the same urgency to these issues as the pronoun policy.

“Too many people in this province are falling through the gaps because the government doesn’t care about the issues that matter most. The supports aren’t there. These are the real emergencies we should be debating,” she said.

A news release included statistics from the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years, which suggest that counsellors have increased by .7 positions, but psychologists have decreased by 1.9 positions.

For the same time period, teachers have decreased by 66.1 positions, while Kindergarten to Grade 12 enrolment has increased by 3,840 students.

Sarah McKenzie lost her 14-year-old child, Bee, to suicide. Bee changed their name after coming out as non-binary in 2021, according to the release.

“This is not just a crisis – it’s an epidemic. There is a system failure and instead of talking about that, the government is trying to divide us with smokescreens to avoid taking accountability and action,” said McKenzie.

“What happened to my child and so many others should not be happening.”

– with files from Nicole Goldsworthy, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter/SaskToday

A year-long project to replace three stories of windows at Prince Albert’s Court of King’s Bench is receiving municipal recognition.

The City of Prince Albert presented SEPW Architecture and the provincial government, which owns the property, with its 2022 Municipal Heritage Award on Wednesday. The project was recognized under the rehabilitation category for efforts to restore the windows while maintaining the building’s historical significance.

Justin Wotherspoon, the company’s principal architect, said preserving the court’s heritage was important.

“Behind the scenes, although this just appeared to be a window replacement, there was a dedicated group of individuals that were really working hard to finding technical solutions to replacing windows in an old building, but then we had to take it beyond that to look at sensitive and appropriate solutions to support the character-defining elements,” he said.

For example, Wotherspoon said, the team conducted research into the building’s original windows, since the the windows they were replacing were not original.

They found that white oak would best match the windows from when the court house was first built in 1927.

“It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort and a lot of research,” said Wotherspoon. 

“We’d just like to thank you for recongizing that effort here today.”

Court of King’s Bench in Prince Albert brings back memories for Chief Justice of Saskatchewan Martel Popescul.

“It was here, over 43 years ago, that I conducted my first cases in this very court house. My first jury trial was here; my first chambers appearance was here, and my first pre-trial conference was held in this extraordinary structure. As a lawyer, I spent a lot of time at and conducted many trials in this court house,” he said.

During those many years, Popescul said the building made an impression on him. He continues to be amazed at how the original architect, Maurice Sharon, was able to “convey an idea, a feeling, a presence, the physical embodiment of justice and the rule of law.”

“It’s equally amazing to me how today’s architects, such as those at SEPW Architecture, can maintain the original historic vision, the look and feel of a building that’s almost a century old, while modernizing and improving it to reflect today’s standards and expectations,” said Popescul.

The renovations cost about $700,000. The project began in March 2020 and was complete by July 2021.

According to Craig Guidinger, the city’s director of planning and development services, the architects removed the old single hung windows with triple glazed ones, improving the energy efficiency and appearance of the building.

They also replaced an aluminum storm door and the arched window at the main entrance to match the rest of the new windows. The large rose window, which is on the south side, also needed putty and caulking repairs.

This is the first project heritage award given out since 2016, said Guidinger. The city re-worked its policy consideration for the award in 2018 and 2019 before COVID-19 put a pause to it.

Guidinger said the city will put out a call for 2023 nominations in January.

Family and friends of Boden Umpherville want to keep his story alive.

Protestors gathered in Prince Albert’s Kinsmen Park on Friday evening before marching down Central Avenue to the police station, advocating for better treatment of Indigenous peoples.

They held up signs reading ‘stronger together,’ ‘help us, not hurt us,’ and ‘justice for Boden,’ along with a large banner with a photo of Umpherville in hospital.

“There’s been no accountability, no nothing. There’s been no apologies, anything like that, so how do we trust a system that can’t even say sorry?” questioned Chase Sinclair, a close friend of Umpherville who organized the walk.

“We’re not putting up with it anymore – we want compassion, we want care. We can’t send broken people through a broken system and expect them to be fixed.”

Umpherville died of injuries sustained during his arrest on Apr. 1. According to his family, he had broken orbital bones on his face, a laceration above his eye that required 19 stitches, cuts, and multiple burns.

He was taken off of life support three weeks later.

The incident remains under investigation. According to a news release from the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT), Umpherville was one of three people in a vehicle police pulled over. Although the car had been reported stolen, according to police, one of the people inside was the registered owner.

Prince Albert police used stun guns, collapsible batons and pepper spray during the arrest, according to SIRT.

Sinclair met with interim police Chief Patrick Nogier, Deputy Chief Farica Prince and an elder in July, a few weeks after he held a similar demonstration.

Nogier described the meeting as “respectful.”

“We’re going to have differing opinions on how things happened, why they happened and, at times, that’s the (important) part, is trying to get appreciation from both sides of the equation,” he said.

“It was an opportunity to kind of discuss the nature of the protest, a little bit about what do we really hope to accomplish? But at the end of the day, it’s just trying to get a better understanding of different perspectives.”

Since Umpherville’s arrest is still being investigated, Nogier said he couldn’t speak to specific details on why officers used that amount of force.

Since then, Sinclair has been joining forces with other loved ones who have died from police involvement. 

This includes family members of Saul Laliberte, one of three in-custody deaths that occurred within three weeks in 2021, along with John Gardiner, who was killed in January after being shot by police.

Two police officers have recently been charged. Sgt. Tyson Morash is facing charges of criminal negligence causing death and failure to provide the necessities of life in Laliberte’s death. Just last week, the police service announced that another member was charged with three counts of common assault stemming from two incidents in July 2022.

“Since I started this, there was nothing like that. Everybody just took it,” said Sinclair about the charges.

“People didn’t know about the Public Complaints Commission or to go to the FSIN for help or support, so now that we’re making this move, it opens the door for other people to do the same.”

Another protestor, Margaret Mercredi, said she considered Umpherville her son.

“He would never harm another person. If he’d seen another person on the street that needed something, even if he had a sweater on his back, he’d give it to the next person. He was very generous,” she said, adding that the way he died has had lasting impacts on her.

“It left a very big dent in our family, and it’s been hard,” said Mercredi. “That relationship, even just seeing the cops, we don’t feel safe.”

Ultimately, said Sinclair, families want recognition that the actions of police have taken lives.

“Why not take the initiative to change the narrative? Why are you still backing this them vs. us relationship? It’s just as easy as a handshake or sending off flowers to my auntie,” he said.

“That’s human.”