review
weyburn Vol.111 No. 49 - Weyburn, Saskatchewan Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020 - 12 Pages
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Christmas tree lot open
Kettle campaign starts Thursday
The Young Fellows are busy selling Christmas trees at their lot on Second Street. Page 3
The Salvation Army will have counter kettles in six locations this year for their kettle campaign, starting on Dec. 3. Page 11
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Live Nativity featured at River Park Sparkles event
Review Photo 3212 — Greg Nikkel
Live animals and people dressed in character formed part of the live Nativity scene put on at River Park Sparkles’ opening night on Monday.This display was put together by the churches of the Weyburn Ministerial Association. River Park is filled with colourful Christmas displays, and was open for walking only on Monday and Tuesday, and will be open for driving tours only from Dec. 2 through to Jan. 2, 2021.
James Hill shares stories from his career
Diplomat promotes Weyburn on international stage By Greg Nikkel A Weyburn-born diplomat with a long career in foreign affairs has not forgotten his roots in promoting his hometown in far-flung corners of the world, members of the Rotary Club and guests heard in a Zoom presentation on Thursday. James Hill, who is currently Canada’s ambassador to Costa Rica, has had a career of over a quartercentury serving with Foreign Affairs in a variety of postings around the world, and he shared some stories of his life, including encountering a Weyburn connection in Kuwait City. “You would be surprised how often Weyburn, and Saskatchewan, come up in my conversation or as an aspect of my work. Weyburn has an inordinate amount of play in the news, and I think it’s a combination of its exotic location,” said Hill, sharing a particular story where his hometown came up. He has served in a variety of postings, including in Kabul, Afghanistan, and just after leaving that area in 2014, he had a temporary assignment in Kuwait City for four months before being posted to Seattle, Wash. During this brief stay, he received a request from a Canadian-Lebanese businessman who had an extensive Canadian stamp collection, and he asked the embassy for help in putting on a show of these stamps. The show was easy to set up, and while on a tour of the show with the Canadian Minister of Culture and Tourism and a number of other people, they came
upon a set of stamps showing Prairie landscapes, and he said it reminded him of his home. “I heard a voice behind me say, ‘it looks like it could be Weyburn.’ How would anyone in Kuwait know what Weyburn looks like, other than myself?” he asked, chuckling, and turned around to see who said this. He asked the man if he had ever been to Weyburn, “and he said he had been, back in 1937.” As it turned out, he was the son of Sarah (Powell) Jamali, Usameh Jamali, who now lives in Kuwait. “This is where I really value my education in Weyburn. In Grade 8, Jim Nedelcov taught the history of Weyburn, and it was full of facts and figures about Weyburn. Part of it, I remembered the Powell family, and how Sarah had married a Dr. Jamali of Iraq,” he said, noting Dr. Jamali was a foreign minister and later prime minister of Iraq for a time. Sarah and her husband had three sons, and one of them was Usameh, “and he was behind me and happened to make a comment about Weyburn in the middle of nowhere.” Hill later met him for dinner, and he explained the story of his family and his mother. “It just confirmed to me you can go anywhere in the world and still be tied to your hometown, so I was proud of that. It was such an interesting evening, talking with this man who hadn’t been to Weyburn in about 70 years, but still had the memory of it, and a mem-
ory of his mother who grew up there.” Sarah Powell and the Jamali family were also the subject of a recentlyreleased book by Weyburn author Jan Keating, entitled “A Prairie Girl: Living in Baghdad”, and she was able to present a signed copy of her book to Hill on Monday. Hill graduated from the Weyburn Comp in 1978, and then attended the University of Saskatchewan with a bachelor of history, and he later took International Studies at a university in Rio de Janeiro.
Over the span of his career, Hill has worked for Foreign Affairs since 1989, with postings as the High Commissioner in Mozambique; a consulgeneral in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; consul-general in Seattle, Wash.; charges d’affaires in Kuwait; mission head in Kabul, Afghanistan; charges d’affaires in Tripoli; head of a diplomatic mission to Kosovo, former Yugoslavia; second secretary at the embassy in Iran; and currently is Canada’s ambassador to Costa Rica, with multiple accreditation for
Honduras and Nicaragua. He has been home in Weyburn for the last while as his father, Ken Hill, recently passed away. His position involves representing Canada’s interests in other countries, and the details of what his job entails depends entirely on where he is and what the needs are, whether to promote development, protect and promote Canadian interests, or represent political relations. To illustrate how his position can arise, he noted when COVID lockdowns began in March, and the
prime minister put out the word that Canadians should be coming home while the lockdowns were in place, there were roughly 8,000 Canadians in Costa Rica, many of whom at first thought they could ride it out in that country. When it became apparent this wouldn’t be realistic or possible, the embassy worked in partnership with the Foreign Affairs office in Ottawa and with Air Canada and Westjet, and arrangements were made to repatriate Canadians back home again. Continued on Page 2
Deputy police chief Stafford proud of the department as he retires By Greg Nikkel Rod Stafford will work his final day as the deputy police chief for the Weyburn Police Service on Monday, Dec. 7, and as he retires he will be leaving with a sense of pride in the strong police department he has helped to build in his career here. Stafford is ending a career in law enforcement that has spanned 35 and a half years, with the last 28 and a half years spent as a member of the Weyburn department. He had always wanted to be a police officer, and made that dream a reality in 1985 when he joined the Saskatchewan Highway Patrol, then known as the Saskatchewan Traffic Board, with whom he was stationed in Lloydminster and Regina. “I can remember be-
ing a kid four or five years old, wanting to be a policeman,” he recalled. “In the early 80s, recruiting was very restrictive in all police services. It seemed at that time if you didn’t have a university degree, getting in was very difficult.” Stafford went to university for a time and then was able to get on with the highway patrol until a position opened up in Churchbridge on the municipal police force in October of 1989. His opportunity to apply for a position in Weyburn arose in June of 1992, and he was accepted. The Weyburn police force has provided a wide range of experiences and responsibilities for Stafford as he rose through the ranks, including a period of time when he was the liaison officer with the Weyburn Com-
prehensive School. “It was the first time we made a concerted effort to go into the high school. I can recall sitting in the cafeteria having lunch, at first sitting alone, but pretty soon the table had a lot of kids sitting with me, and we’d talk about many things,” he said, noting the students were then able to put a name to the face when they saw him out and about on patrol. “It was a really good experience,” he added, noting as he went on in his career, he’s always seen a lot of support in the department’s community involvement, and positive feedback in how the officers are seen in the community. Other positive aspects of his career has included being a part of the hiring process in the last 12-13 years, and in helping de-
velop the department’s use of technology in the last six years. Stafford pointed out that a hiring committee are the ones who make the hiring decisions, but he was happy to have been a part of that process, and then in helping to train up the young recruits as they’ve come on to the force. He believes that it has been proven on many occasions the department has been hiring the highest quality of people possible, and can be seen in the careers of those officers as they have worked on the force. “If I can claim a bit of pride, it’s having been an integral part in building those women and men in the department,” he said, adding he is also proud of the community involvement of the WPS. Continued on Page 3