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FINANCIAL
Ron Areshenkoff Mutual Fund Advisor Life Insurance Representative 403B 9TH AVENUE, ESTEVAN, SK S4A 2V4 PH: (306)634-7979 · TOLL FREE: (877)779-0948 INFO@SPECTRAFINANCIAL.CA
Wed., December 28, 2016
Issue 34
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY FOR 113 YEARS
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At It Again Not content with the havoc she wreaked two weeks ago, Mother Nature went on a mini-rampage again on Dec. 24-26, dumping over 40 cms. of snow on Estevan and sending city work crews and local contractors out onto the streets at all hours for rapid grading and snow removal work. Photo by Norm Park.
Crime reduction team in Estevan By Norm Park normpark@estevanmercury.ca
A seven-member committee consisting of Sask. Party members of the Legislative Assembly, paid a visit to Estevan last week as part of their fact-finding mandate. The Premier’s Caucus Committee on Crime Reduction was just getting nicely underway said the group’s chairman Herb Cox, MLA for The Battlefords. “We met yesterday in Regina,” said Cox, “most of the input was urban-based issues, but we heard a few presentations regarding rural crime issues too.” Estevan MLA Lori Carr is a member of the committee that was starting out on their eight- community schedule. After Estevan, the committee was to make an appearance in Yorkton for a full day session then taking a Christmas break before resuming their tour early in the new year. Other members on the committee besides Cox and Carr are Saskatoon-Fairview MLA Jennifer Campeau, who is vice-chair, along with Canora-Pelly’s Terry Dennis; Regina Coronation
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Park’s, Mark Docherty; Cut Knife-Turtleford‘s Larry Doke and Cypress Hills’ Doug Steele. Premier Brad Wall said, “one of the main concerns I hear as I travel around Saskatchewan is crime. I have asked this new committee to focus on causes and make recommendations on what the province and our partners, like municipalities and police forces, can do to reduce crime.” “We heard eight presentations in Regina and we’re fielding quite a few here in Estevan, including a good session with the Estevan Police Service and your police chief (Paul Ladouceur)” Cox said. Carr added the committee is charged with the duty of filing a report by the end of February. “It’s too early in the process yet to see if there are a lot of common threads among the concerns,” said Cox who added that committee members expect to hear a variety of concerns as they shift their geographic locations. He suggested that some problem crimes in the north and far north are probably different from problem crimes in southeast Saskatchewan.
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But when it comes to such crimes involving drugs, there will probably be some common ground found, but, Cox warned, there were no pre-conceived notions among the committee members that would taint their findings. Although it was far too early to discuss where their recommendations might lead, Cox said education is already something they have established as a tool to help combat crime, both urban and rural and that was a similar message heard from a variety of presenters such as police, rural municipality administrations, city and town councils as well as businesses and individuals. The two committee members, said they could expect to gather in as many as 50 to 60 submissions that will be folded into their final recommendations. “So far no surprises,” said Cox. “We heard some interesting facts from the Estevan Police Service, the chief and the drug enforcement members, city councilors and from some nearby towns and RMs.” Cox said there were no directions given to the committee regarding the potential for extra funds to
combat crime. “It’s not always a matter of money. Things can be done without adding to the bill. But there is no specific direction given to us regarding money for crime fighting, or our own budget,” said Cox. Carr and Cox said they
and Alberta for fact-finding models and their mandate allowed for that. Not only is the committee striking out on a tour with geographic balance, but the committee members themselves represent the vastness of the province and the geographic disparities,
Areas that will continue to rise, Carr said, would be such things as property crime in rural areas, police presence in a timely manner in the rural regions, increases in guns and gang activity and the rise of highly addictive and more dangerous drugs such as fentanyl,
The Premier’s Caucus Committee on Crime Reductions was in Estevan on Dec.20 gathering information and hearing from individuals and organizations who are concerned with the escalation of crime in both rural and urban areas of Saskatchewan. Herb Cox, MLA for The Battlefords is chairman of the committee that includes Estevan MLA Lori Carr. Photo by Norm Park. had mined information from other sectors and had received a submission from New Brunswick and had looked at British Columbia
which will serve them well as they set about the task of formulating the final report and recommendations, Cox suggested.
in the urban area. The recommendations will be sent to the Minister of Justice, cabinet and government caucus.
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