The Cultural School in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division will now be named after a beloved Carlton Comprehensive High School teacher who died from COVID-19 in April 2021.
As of Oct. 2, Won Ska Cultural School is now officially known as Victor Thunderchild Public High School following a re-naming ceremony.
Vi Thunderchild, Victor’s wife, said the renaming was an honour for his family and his home community of Thunderchild First Nation.
“It’s a really big deal for the family because of how hard it’s been for Indigenous people, and for Victor, to get this acknowledgment for all the what he’s gone through,” Vi said. “This is quite the legacy and I’m overwhelmed. It’s an honour (and) it’s sad too because he’s not here, but he earned this.”
Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte urged indigenous leaders to work together on homelessness, housing, infrastructure, and community safety projects after being elected to a third term as head of the Prince Albert Grand Council on Oct. 3
Hardlotte defeated Sturgeon Lake First Nation Chief Greg Ermine 168-100 in a vote held on day two of the PAGC annual assembly in Prince Albert
“As individual fingers, we can easily be broken, but together, as a collective, we make a mighty fist,” Hardlotte told those in attendance. “Together, we make a mighty fist. Those are the words of a mighty warrior, Sitting Bull, and that’s so true.”
Family and friends of Boden Umpherville wanted to keep his story alive.
Protestors gathered in Prince Albert’s Kinsmen Park on Oct. 6before 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.
After 44 years with Canadian Tire, Malcolm Jenkins will officially retire from the business next week.
Jenkins, who is more well known for his philanthropy in Prince Albert, had a Farewell Party at the Prince Albert Wildlife Federation on Sunday, Oct. 1 courtesy of employees at Canadian Tire. He officially retires on Thursday, Oct. 12.
“It’s been a great ride (and) 44 years is just wonderful,” Jenkins said in an interview with the Herald.
“They say that if you if you find a job you love, you never work a day in your life and that’s been true for me because I had a number of jobs before Canadian Tire”
The Saskatchewan Conservation Learning Centre (CLC) hosted their second Fall Family Fun Day on Saturday, Oct. 14.
The event saw extensive growth in the second year as families came out to enjoy the fall activities.
CLC community outreach coordinator Rachael Groat said they wanted to create a day for people to learn about the centre and what its role is.
“The main purpose is to get families out to the Conservation Learning centre, let them know that we’re here, that we exist, (tell them) a little bit about what we do and then just to provide fun fall activities,” Groat explained.
On Oct. 19 the board of police commissioners announced Patrick Nogier will be taking over as head of the Prince Albert Police Service. He’s been interim chief since June, following the former chief’s departure.
“I firmly believe that our future holds immense promise,” said Nogier in a news release.
Accusations of heavy-handed conduct flew fast and furious after the union representing City of Prince Albert inside workers rejected the latest tentative agreement on Oct. 17
Roughly 81 per cent of CUPE 882 members voted to reject the latest proposal, sending both sides back to the bargaining table. CUPE National representative Mira Lewis said the union hopes administration takes the rejection to heart, and returns to negotiations prepared to get a deal done.
“We hope this will send a strong message to city council,” Lewis said in a press release. “Your workers are standing united and demanding respect.”
Protestors lined the pavement outside the Prince Albert Exhibition Centre on Thursday to voice their concerns about a new law that will prevent children under 16 from changing their name or pronouns at school without receiving parental consent.
With Premier Scott Moe in attendance for the 2023 Premier’s Dinner, protestors marched outside and carried signs reading “Protect Trans Kids” and “Hate has no Home here”. There were also chats calling for Moe’s resignation.
In a post on Facebook, protest organizer Troy Parenteau wrote that he was pleased with the turnout.
The Prince Albert Legion launched their annual poppy campaign on Friday, presenting the first poppy to peacekeeper Corporal Michael Daniels of Prince Albert on Oct. 28.
Daniels had the first poppy pinned on him by Legion member and veteran Marie Mathers.
Daniels, who is a rifleman at the Prince Albert Armoury was informed about the honour two weeks ago by last year’s first poppy recipient Ramsey Belisle. He was quick to accept and started getting his uniform ready.
“I’ve definitely filled out since I last wore these though so I had to go up a few measurements,” Daniels said.
Sports
When Bruce Vance and former Raider general manager Don Clark helped start the Prince Albert Raider Wall of Honour in the early 2000s as part of the “Bring Back the Magic” campaign, neither of them thought they’d have their own place on it.
Fast forward to the present day and both will have adjacent plaques when Vance is inducted in the builder category on Oct. 20 before the Raiders game against the Regina Pats.
“When Donnie and I made this, we both laughed and said, ‘There’s no way that we’ll be on this wall any time’.” Vance recalled. “And here we are, I’m pretty honored to go up right beside Don Clark’s plaque. It’s a very special honor for me.”
The next step is in sight for Prince Albert Northern Bears captain Julia Cey.
Cey announced in October that she has committed to the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers women’s hockey program for the fall of 2024.
Northern Bear head coach Steve Young says Cey has always possessed a strong work ethic since she entered the program.
“She’s always had the desire to play and always worked very hard. She’s just gotten better in every year she has played. She’s a mature player in this league and the biggest thing with Julia, she knows what she wants. From day one, she wanted to pursue education and that’s what she got today.”
In head coach Tim Leonard’s return from a five-game suspension to open the season the Prince Albert Mintos lost 2-1 in a shootout to the Swift Current Legionnaires on Oct. 14 at the Art Hauser Centre.
Both Leonard and forward and Teigan Semchyshen have been suspended by the SMAAAHL for five games.
“It’s nice to be back, we have got a good group of kids in there and we are just getting to know each other a little bit,” Leonard said on his return behind the bench.
The St. Mary Marauders are city champs after defeating the Carlton Crusaders in straight sets in Sr. Girls volleyball on Wednesday.
Heidi Regnier led the way for St. Mary with 10 kills, as the Marauders downed the Crusaders 25-13, 25-9, 25-20. Marauders head coach Shaun Hunko said St. Mary excelled at the basics on Oct. 25 and that allowed them to be successful.
“Volleyball can be simplified into two major skills: serving and passing. I thought we did both of those very well tonight, which allowed us to run our offence and terminate the ball,” Hunko said. “I’m just really happy with our performance tonight.”
Arts
For the first time in Prince Albert, the city’s East Indian diaspora hosted a cultural celebration on Oct. 15 night at Plaza 88.
The Diwali Mela Prince Albert brought a large crowd out to celebrate culture with performances by Indian singers Kulwnat Sekhon, Gurpreet Maan and Bunny Johal.
Hargun Singh and Paramveer Singh run Niwaz Entertainment and wanted to celebrate the growing East Indian community with Diwali Mela, the Hindu festival of lights.
“That’s a big Indian festival we’re celebrating here, the first time East Indian Festival is celebrating in Prince Albert,” Hargun said.
“We want our community to be together.”
