The Review, Weyburn, Saskatchewan, September 7, 2016 - 5
Playing rock-paper-scissors at Comp orientation
Review Photo 11762 — Greg Nikkel
Grade 10 students Julie Clarke and Axel Lund go head-to-head as finalists in a game of rock-paper-scissors during an ice-breaker session for the class held by members of the Student Representative Council (SRC) on Thursday morning in the Comp Eagle gym. The games also included having students mix and meet other students, to learn something about other students on the first day of school.
City councillor re-elected president of Canadian Association of Police Governance By Greg Nikkel Issues ranging from the legalization of marijuana to the effects of traumatic situations on first responders are being wrestled with by the Canadian Association of Police Governance (CAPG), the national body for police commissions. Weyburn Coun. Rob Stephanson was re-elected for his second term as president at their national conference in Ottawa in mid-August. This is his fifth or sixth year on the national association as one of two representatives for Saskatchewan. The Police Governance association works closely with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), said Stephanson. He noted the newly-announced research project by the University of Regina into the help needed for first responders suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) as a prime example of the cooperative efforts they are a part of. “The U of R released a blue paper. They’re leading an evidence-based study into OSI (operational stress injury) and PTSD involving first responders, and our organization is involved,” said Stephanson. He noted the researchers will be doing a survey starting in September of emergency first responders to find out exactly to what extent police and other emergency workers suffer from PTSD and other traumas, and what help they are getting for it, if any. One troubling sign, he said, is that last year 40 first responders took their lives, and so far this year, 26 first responders have committed suicide.
According to information from the U of R, the blue paper “evaluates the peer support and psychological intervention programs already being offered to help those who often confront death, violence and threats to their own lives at work, sometimes on a daily basis.” On the legalization of marijuana, Stephanson noted they first went in early May to lobby MPs in Ottawa on a number of issues, and told government officials initially they had no position on the legalization of marijuana. “We were told basically it’s going to happen,” said Stephanson, adding the police governance association has a lot of questions that there are no answers to yet, such as what the cost to enforce the new laws will be, what training will be available to police, and who will pay for it along with the equipment that will be needed. In regard to training, for example, there are currently only two courses available to police to train them how to assess if a person is impaired by marijuana, one in Arizona and the other in Florida, both of them very expensive. Most police forces in Canada have not had anyone trained in this yet, but were told that officers from the Peel Regional Police took the training, “and they’re not convinced the training works.” For the police forces the association works with, said Stephanson, “there are no roadside testing devices for marijuana, but are coming soon. So who pays for them, how many do you need, and will they be the same as breathalyzers. There are answers needed, like who’s picking up all these costs?” One MP told the association that the money saved by not prosecuting people for possession of marijuana should
“more than pay” for the costs to enforce the new laws. “That’s not even close to being realistic. That has to be proven,” said Stephanson, adding that other questions include what is the cutoff age limit to use marijuana. “It would be nice if all the criminal elements went away after it’s legalized, but that’s not realistic,” said Stephanson, pointing out in regard to cigarettes, where smuggling has become big business in criminal circles. As the president of a national body that oversees police forces, Stephanson said while Weyburn is on the smaller side compared to West Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, the difference on the governance side is one of scale. “We represent 70 per cent of the oversight boards of police in the country. When it comes to issues, Weyburn’s smaller, so the size of the issues are smaller. It’s just the scale you’re addressing it on,” said Stephanson, giving as an example how police officers are sometimes tied up dealing with mental health issues. In Weyburn, on a given busy night, there might be one or two officers tied up for a number of hours with the issue, which is half of the force on the street during a shift. “In Toronto, you can have 24 to 30 officers tied up in a day. It’s just on a larger scale,” he said. The only province not represented in their association is Quebec, said Stephanson, because they do not have oversight boards for their police forces. The board representatives are very widespread, but try to meet face-to-face at least three times a year, and to kick off this new year, there will be an orientation for the board in Ottawa in the last week of September, coinciding with the national police memorial event held in Ottawa.
Terry Fox flag-raising set for Sept. 12 at Weyburn City Hall Weyburn residents are invited to be a part of the Terry Fox flag-raising event on Monday, Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. in front of City Hall. The flag raising will shine a spotlight on the tremendous work the Terry Fox Foundation does in Canada, and the local Terry Fox Run committee hopes to promote the upcoming Terry Fox Run in Weyburn which will take place on Sunday, Sept. 18 at River Park. “We are very excited to hold this flag raising in honor of Terry Fox’s legacy, for the memory of loved ones that fought cancer and for the many brave patients and survivors of cancer in our local community. We hope to see a lot of people out on Monday, Sept. 12, for the flag raising, and then again on Sunday, Sept. 18 at River Park for the Terry Fox Run,” said Verna O’Neill, a member of the Run Organizing committee. This year marks the 36th anniversary for the Terry Fox Run in Canada, and the local Terry Fox Run committee has a great event planned for Weyburn.
“We hope to have runners, walkers and rollers participate in this year’s Terry Fox Run. The Run will take place at River Park. Registration starts at 12 p.m. and the Run itself will get underway at 1 p.m. We’ve planned some fun entertainment along the Run route. We’ll have some Terry Fox information posted under the gazebo at River Park and a nutrition break set up for participants after the Run is complete. It will be an enjoyable and rewarding afternoon for all who participate,” said O’Neill. Cancer survivors are encouraged to get involved early and become part of ‘Terry’s Team’. Every cancer survivor that contacts the Regina Terry Fox office and participates in the Weyburn Run will receive a red Terry’s Team shirt. These red shirts can be
worn on Sept. 18 to show their brave battle with cancer. “The Terry Fox Foundation will provide a free Terry’s Team t-shirt to cancer survivors so they can wear them on the Run day. It would be great to see red t-shirts on the Run route that day!” said O’Neill. Participants can run or walk a 3km, 6km or 10km distance. The event will be held rain or shine. To get involved, O’Neill encourages people to visit the Run website at www.terryfoxrun.org . Once on the website, it’s a simple click to register for the Weyburn event, download a pledge sheet and start collecting donations. Alternatively, people can pick up pledge sheets at the Weyburn Swimming Pool, Weyburn Library or by contacting the Run committee at 306-861-1666.
Councillors set to run in fall civic election
Continued from front page She learned a lot over the first three years of her first term, and it took her that long to find her voice and to feel confident in putting her views forward in discussions with the other members of council. The veteran members of council and administration have been very helpful to her as well, she added. As one of three women on council, and as a young mother, Coun. Morrissette feels she is able to bring a perspective to council that the others don’t have. Veteran councillor Dick Michel will be running for his fifth term, and is looking forward to continuing to learn more about serving the city. “I’ve been doing it for 16 years. It’s in my blood, and I enjoy it. I’m still learning, and I still have a passion for the City of Weyburn,” said Coun. Michel. He feels the city has made some good strides in working with developers, and said he wants to make sure that
sites are clean of weeds and refuse when developers are looking for a new place to build. Noting Weyburn’s new second spray park, he said he’s received many grateful calls from South Hill residents for having the park built and opened for this summer, enabling children to use it without crossing the highway and the tracks to go to the other one. “It was good vision by the city to build it,” he said, adding, “I’m open-minded. Am I always right? No, but I try my best for the residents of Weyburn.” The other members of council, Winston Bailey, Rob Stephanson and Mel Van Betuw, have not made a final decision about running for council for this next term. For Coun. Stephanson, he was just re-elected as the president of the Canadian Association of Police Governance, plus he has some work commitments to consider as he decides whether to throw his hat into the ring.