Yorkton This Week 20201202

Page 1

RE/MAX Blue Chip Realty CHRISTMAS TWINKLE TOUR

Send in a photo of your home or the neighbour’s home or the whole neighbourhood via Facebook message to The ROCK 98.5 FM. Every entry will receive a $10 Mcdonald’s gift card (one per household) and be entered to win a January 8th draw for $250 in Christmas decorations.

)BNJMUPO 3PBE :PSLUPO 4, t 306-783-6666 t www.remax-bluechip-yorkton-sk.ca Volume 47, Issue 15 Price - $1.52 plus GST

Your Community Connection

Return undeliverable items to: Yorkton This Week 20 Third Ave. N., Yorkton, SK S3N 2X3

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Santa visits

Staff Photo by Calvin Daniels

Santa Claus was maintaining COVID-19 protocols, but still bringing smiles at Harvest Meats in Yorkton Saturday. The Harvest Meats Staff Association typically holds a Christmas Party at this time of year, with Ole’ St. Nick making an appearance to hand out some gifts to the children. This year the party was off but

there were gifts to be delivered. So staff drove in for a quick hello and a gift from Santa. Between each vehicle, about 50 with 80 children smiling inside, Santa sanitized his hands, and his local elves were of course wearing masks to help keep everyone safe.

Football duo make national roster By Devin Wilger Staff Writer The top prospects in Canadian football have been named, and two Yorkton players are on the roster. The Canadafootballchat.com prospect game can’t take

place due to COVID-19, but the selection camps were held, and the rosters released to celebrate the efforts of the players named. Running back Garrett Ellis and defensive tackle Reece McCormick have both been named to

the roster. The grade 12 students were both thrilled to be part of the roster. “It’s pretty mind-blowing. It sucks that COVID isn’t letting the game happen, but it’s still good to be noticed as one of the top prospects in

Canada. I’m still pretty shocked about it,” said McCormick. “I’ve been putting in the work, and it’s good to know it’s paying off and I’m getting noticed,” said Ellis. McCormick said that one of the most important

things about being named on the roster is that prospective coaches will see it, and they’re a big part of a player’s future in the sport. Had the game taken place, the two would have been on opposing teams, and they view it as

a missed opportunity. Because McCormick had a knee injury, they weren’t really ever on the field together, not even in practice. “If the game was going on, it would have been

Continued on Page A20

Election promises center of Throne Speech By Devin Wilger Staff Writer This year the Saskatchewan government’s throne speech was easy to predict, a continuation of the campaign promises made during

the election in October. Yorkton MLA Greg Ottenbreit said that was the goal, to immediately start doing what they said they were going to do. “That mentality goes back to Premier Brad Wall, his ideas for the

See related stories Page A2 & A20 next 100 years. If people remember back in ‘07 when we formed government, it was a very

focused approach to fulfilling those commitments. This is another example where Premier

[Scott] Moe wants to continue with that momentum, that philosophy of the Saskatchewan Party, and fulfill those commitments.” The throne speech was focused on provincial impact, said

Ottenbreit. He noted that some highlights were the home renovation tax credit, a ten per cent reduction to SaskPower bills, reduced ambulance charges for seniors and reintroducing the

Continued on Page A2

Evan Ortynsky Business Leader of Year By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer Last Wednesday the Yorkton Chamber announced the recipients of the awards that were presented at its 14th Celebrate Success Business Awards event. Thirty seven businesses were finalists in nine business

categories; and six organizations were finalists in the ‘community merit’ category. The Business Leader of the Year recipient; Evan Ortynsky was also selected by the judging panel from a slate of candidates put forth by a panel of former Chamber presidents. Ortynsky admitted that upon first hearing he was the

See related stories Page A9 recipient he wondered why he had been chosen citing “there are so many other good people, why me? There are so many successful business people you

wonder why.” And, then there is the second reaction, one of acceptance where Ortynsky said he was simply “so honoured to be chosen.” Making the award more meaningful for Ortynsky is the organization behind it. “I’ve always worn the Chamber of Commerce on my

sleeve,” he said. “To me it’s just a very, very special organization. That makes this more important as I see it.” Ortynsky is owner and president of Key Auto Group. Ortynsky purchased his first dealership, Key Chevrolet Oldsmobile Cadillac in 1990.

Continued on Page A2

Hear it. Live it. Protect the sounds that matter most. BOOK AN APPOINTMENT TODAY! NO REFERRAL NECESSARY.

275 Bradbrooke Dr Yorkton, SK S3N 3L3

306.782.1881 premiercarehearing.ca

Coralee Schoenrock

M.A, Aud(C) Audiologist/Owner Registered Sk


A2

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Yorkton This Week

PROMISES Continued from Page A1 community rink affordability program. There are also new supports for people with diabetes, those on the autism spectrum, and deaf-blind individuals. There is also a continuing care aid increase to add supports through long term care. There will be efforts to reduce tuition by increasing

the Saskatchewan Advantage scholarship, and increased funding for legions as they are hit hard by COVID-19. “It’s all supports for people, whether responding to COVID or just making life more affordable.” COVID-19 is at the top of people’s minds, and Ottenbreit said that while different people have different ideas, their

response was meant to be a balanced response, trying to make life more affordable while also providing more medical support. The home renovation tax credit is meant to spur investment, and Ottenbreit said that it’s part of an overall trend for people to start spending more money at home, whether it’s on recreation products or home

improvements. “I think it’s going to be something that is quite well utilized.” Another commitment made is a small business tax break. The rate will be set at zero, and slowly return to normal over the next two years. The goal is to help the businesses hit hard by COVID-19. “Any way we can help, we’re

definitely going to try to do that.” Ottenbreit said they’re still working towards a balanced budget, though naturally COVID-19 through a wrench into a planned balanced budget this year, and he said they’re proud of still having a low debt-to-GDP ratio and a great rating from Standard and Poor’s.

COVID-19 response tops government’s agenda Brian Zinchuk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter (Estevan Mercury) Regina– The Nov. 30 Saskatchewan Speech from the Throne reads like a checklist, ticking off the boxes of the reelected Saskatchewan Party’s campaign platform in addition to dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. The 17-page Throne Speech was read by Lieutenant Governor Russ Mirasty after the election earlier in the morning of Biggar-Sask. Valley MLA Randy Weekes as speaker. Premier Scott Moe said in a release, “Our first two bills will be to create a new Home Renovation Tax Credit and reduce small business taxes, as promised in the recent election campaign.” “We will also be moving quickly to cut everyone’s power bill by 10 per cent starting tomorrow, reduce ambulance charges for seniors and reinstate the Community Rink Affordability grant, as promised in the election campaign.” The speech comes at a time when daily government press releases detail the continuing spread of COVID-19. Just minutes before the speech began, 325 new cases, 49 recoveries, and two deaths were announced for Nov. 30. The speech noted, “Today, Saskatchewan is facing the most difficult moment of the pandemic to date.” “My government’s top priority during this session and in the coming weeks will continue to be working to reduce the spread of COVID-19. In recent days, new public health orders have come into effect, and more will be added if required. But throughout the pandemic,

our best defense has been the selflessness and the vigilance of Saskatchewan people in following the good practices that protect themselves and others. “I am confident that will continue in the weeks ahead as we all work together to reduce the spread of COVID-19. At the same time as we are working to protect lives, my government is also taking steps to protect livelihoods. “We can, and will, do both.” It spoke of distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine in early 2021 and the Saskatchewan Temporary Wage Supplement Program to top-up the wages of workers in long-term care facilities, personal care homes, integrated health care facilities and to home care workers.

SaskPower rebate Key among the commitments is the promised 10 per cent SaskPower rebate. Beginning Dec. 1, SaskPower will reduce electricity charges by 10 per cent for one year. The speech said, “Everyone will benefit, including residential customers, farms, industry and businesses, and institutions such as schools, hospitals and universities. The rebate will save the people of Saskatchewan $260 million – money that can be reinvested into the economy to help drive the recovery. “The government, not SaskPower, will bear the cost of the program.” The new Saskatchewan Home Renovation Tax Credit will see homeowners able to claim a 10.5 per cent tax credit on up to $20,000 of eligible home renovation expenses incurred between Oct. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2022. Homeowners will save up to $2,100 on the cost of their home improve-

ments. “This new tax credit will save Saskatchewan homeowners about $124 million and provide a significant boost to the province’s construction sector,” the speech said. The largest change within government announced in this Throne Speech is the creation of a new Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement, which will be charged “to manage infrastructure projects and assets more effectively.” “The new ministry will oversee the development and implementation of standardized government procurement processes and information technology infrastructure, ensuring that Saskatchewan tax dollars go further in providing the best possible value for the lowest possible cost,” it said. The government will temporarily reduce the small business tax rate from two per cent to zero. The change will be retroactive to Oct. 1, 2020. By July 2023, the small business tax rate will be restored to two per cent. The reduction means the government will forego $189 million in revenue that would have otherwise been collected from the tax. The idea is that small business will invest that money back into the economy “to further drive a strong recovery.” The province has spent $6 million in marketing campaigns to encourage Saskatchewan residents to shop local, including a $1 million “Together We Stand Saskatchewan” campaign sponsored by local chambers of commerce and other business organizations.

Other campaign promises The Throne Speech spoke

of increased support for persons living with diabetes by covering the cost of insulin pumps and covering the cost of Continuing Glucose Monitoring up to age 18. The government will extend individualized funding for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder up to age 12, doubling the number of children who are funded from the roughly 500 that receive support now. Children under 12 diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder will receive $6,000 a year to cover the cost of individualized therapeutic supports. Deafblind individuals will receive increased supports, with close to 150 people benefitting from enhanced services. The government is hiring 300 new continuing care aides to work in long-term care homes and home care, of which 180 will work in long-term care homes, 63 will go to existing home care services, and 57 will support expanded home care services in rural and remote areas. Saskatchewan Advantage Scholarship from $500 to $750 a year, reducing tuition costs for those who qualify. The government will increase funding to the Saskatchewan Veterans Service Club Support Program to $1.5 million a year. It will add 750 new childcare spaces over the next four years. The government will also restart the Active Families Benefit to help families with incomes under $60,00 per year with the cost of children’s sports and cultural activities. Qualifying seniors will benefit from increases to the Seniors Income Plan benefit to $360 a year over the next three years. The maximum ambu-

lance charge for seniors will be reduced from $275 per call to $135. On the legislative agenda, the government also committed to make amendments to The Residential Tenancies Act. Those amendments will allow those who have been sexually assaulted in their rental accommodation to unilaterally break a long-term lease. The Protection From Human Trafficking Act will enable victims to obtain expedited protection orders, allow for the tough enforcement of those orders, and provide civil remedies including the seizure of property and bank accounts and the suspension of driver’s licenses. The speech emphasizes the Saskatchewan Growth Plan which targets by 2030 growing the population to 1.4 million, creating 100,000 new jobs, increasing exports by 50 per cent and investing $350 billion in infrastructure. “This month, the Premier appointed a Legislative Secretary with the job of examining how Saskatchewan can exercise and strengthen its autonomy within the federation,” the speech noted. It highlighted the court case against the federal carbon tax, the appointment of Saskatchewan’s own chief firearms officer, and the future opening of new trade offices in Japan, India and Singapore. Saskatchewan would also discuss “the possibility of assuming greater control over immigration in Saskatchewan,” it said. The fall sitting is expected to last two weeks. There will be a longer legislative sitting in the spring, when the government will present the 2021-22 provincial budget.

ORTYNSKY Continued from Page A1 The dealership is now known as Key Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC. In the last 15 years, the dealership group has seen major expansions with the opening of Autohire Rent-a-Car; establishing Yorkton Toyota (2006); purchase and opening of a stateof-the art Key Paint and Collision Center (2011); purchase and renovation of Swan River’s Key Chevrolet (2014); purchase of Yorkton KIA (2015); opening of Cap-It Truck Accessories (2016); and a new auto detailing centre in 2016. Ortynsky has been involved in numerous national and regional auto dealer councils including General Motors Dealers Fixed Operations Board; Toyota Canada Dealer

Communication Team; and Regional Dealers Marketing Committee. Additionally, Evan has been nominated to the Canadian Automotive Dealers Association Laureate Ambassadorship which twice recognized individual dealer contributions to their community. He is proud that Key Chevrolet has won the National General Motors President’s Club Award four times with Swan River’s Key Chevrolet winning it in their second year. Yorkton Toyota has won the President’s Pride Award three times. Outside of work, Ortynsky has served on boards and councils including the Yorkton and Saskatchewan Chambers of Commerce; Regional Health

Evan Ortynsky Foundation Board; Access Communications; Parkland College Capital Campaign; and the city’s Economic Development

committee, notes the Chamber citation. The Large Business of the Year award was presented to Yorkton

Hyundai while Modern Mattress was the recipient of the Small Business of the Year award. (See related stories this issue). The Small and Large Businesses of the Year recipients were selected by the independent judging panel from all the completed application packages. Other award recipients were: Award of Excellence: - Painted Hand Casino, Parrish & Heimbecker, Yorkton Tribal Council Business Growth & Expansion – RH Electric C o m m u n i t y Involvement – CORE Real Estate Customer Service – Bailliee Boys Towing Marketing – Yorkton Business Improvement District (YBID) New Business Venture – Credence Construction Property Restoration –

Yorkton Dental Safety – Fedorowich Construction Young Entrepreneur – Jessica Richards, The Scrub Hub Boutique The Community Merit Award was presented to Big Brothers Big Sisters Yorkton; Royal Canadian Legion Branch #77; Parkland Search & Rescue. The Peoples’ Choice Award, selected from all the finalists by the community, was awarded to Cross Fit Function. The Celebrate Success Business Awards are held every two years and are designed to recognize businesses for their achievements and contributions to the community. The Yorkton Chamber of Commerce is “the voice of business in Yorkton” and represents over 455 members.

Flower & Gift Boutique Fresh Wintergreen Centrepieces, Dish Gardens & Christmas Cactus. Endless ideas for decorating & gift giving! Plus Massage Therapy Gift Certificates

Our Christmas ornament sale continues 113 Smith St. E., Yorkton, Sask

306-786-7673

welcomehomeflowerboutique.com


Up Front The joy of a Santa parade Not even COVID-19 could keep Santa Claus from visiting Yorkton Saturday evening as the special guest at the 23rd annual Santa Parade. That said the pandemic did mean some changes to the annual Yorkton Business Improvement District organized event. The decision was made to go forward, but in different fashion, this year it was what is termed a ‘reverse parade’ where the floats are stationary, with people driving by to look at them. A long line-up of cars were on hand to drive through the Gallagher Centre parking lot looking at the festive floats. Staff Photos by Calvin Daniels

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 www.yorktonthisweek.com

A3


Perspective Big COVID numbers require better understanding

www.yorktonthisweek.com

A4

Owned and operated by: The Prairie Newspaper Group LP, a division of GVIC Communications Corp. Publisher/ Advertising Manager: John Bauman Editor: Calvin Daniels Reporter: Devin Wilger

MURRAY MANDRYK

Production Manager: Debbie Barr Advertising Sales: Sandy Kerr Dougal Todd

Murray Mandryk is a political columnist with the Leader Post

Politics Premier Scott Moe had to self-isolate the week before the beginning of the new session. He did so because he came into contact with someone at a restaurant in Prince Albert after a family funeral. Essentially, Moe was simply staying home and self-monitoring — really, no different than the reality for thousands of others in this province who have faced the increasingly growing prospects of encountering someone with COVID-19 that is now everywhere in the province. For his political enemies, it became an opportunity to take a few cheap shots. This is one of the big problems in the COVID-19 fight. It’s been far too politicized by fear, exaggerations and misinformation that have become the favour weapon of both sides. The only way to defeat this virus is with facts, fair-mindedness and reason. And that fight needs to begin with the stated and collective goal of reducing new and active cases by all of us doing what’s reasonable to reduce the spread. The challenge, however, is that to accomplish this requires a buy-in from everyone without the distractions of political references about things like rights and freedoms. That shouldn’t be much different than following the rules of the road, but even traffic laws need to be enforced by fines. This is where it’s up to Moe’s government to impose stricter rules of the road and make sure through enforcement that people are following those rules. We need to do this because where we are at right now suggests that will soon be in trouble if we don’t get a handle on the spread. Sure, we have so far managed to avoid the death toll we’ve seen in Alberta or even Manitoba because we aren’t seeing as many deaths in care homes as elsewhere. The problem, however, is Saskatchewan cases are on the rise because of the recent more rapid virus spread. In fact, Saskatchewan had just surpassed Quebec for the second-most per capita COVID19 hospitalizations in the country. This is why medical professionals are ringing alarm bells. While the dispute is one that’s been frequently categorized as one between the doctors and the business community, this really doesn’t really reflect the core concerns on either side. One can understand why businesses — especially small businesses that have been barely hanging on for the past nine months — are frustrated by the prospects of shutdowns. Coming at the business crisis season for retail, this is a particularly frightening prospect. But what cannot be lost is the concern of the doctors, nurses and others in the medical community of the health system being overrun with COVID-19 cases. The prospects of hospitals — specifically, ICU beds — being overrun by COVID-19 patients is as frightening to medical professions as temporary shutdowns are to business people. And their fear isn’t just their patients. The fear for many medical professionals is the health of themselves, their own families and their staff as the people most likely to be exposed to COVID-19. It is more important than every for everyone to understand what hundreds of new cases each day might really means. With only around 100 ICU beds in the province, that means no beds available for those in serious car accidents or those suffering heart attacks if these beds are already occupied by COVID-19 patients. We need to under how this virus spreads and have rules in place like the recent limits on household gatherings. Recent information from government shows close contacts in houseshold is the top spreader of the virus. However, the information also showed 25 per cent of infections come from recreational facilities like rinks, bingo halls, bowling alleys and casinos. We need set aside our personal and political views and look objectively at what needs to be done. We can win this battle thorough knowledge, understanding and co-operation. Murray Mandryk has been covering provincial politics since 1983.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Classified Sales: Deanna Brown

Phone: Fax:

306-782-2465 306-786-1898

e-mail:

◆Editorial◆

Santa parade shows importance of supporting local business T he 23rd annual Santa Parade was held Saturday, and while the current pandemic forced changes upon the event, it proved as popular as ever. With a need to ensure social distancing to protect the general public in the community having viewers packed along Broadway Street to watch the parade simply was not viable. So parade organizers found out about the idea of a ‘reverse parade’ and they ran with it. The floats stayed stationary, lined up through the Gallagher Centre parking lot and people wanting to enjoy the festive spirit portrayed by the floats drive by. It was a two-hour crawl from Broadway to the float area for many of the viewers, which is testament to the interest in the parade from the residents of the city. The parade was once again organized by the Yorkton Business Improvement District, and of course the floats that people lined up to enjoy were provided largely by local businesses. The event illustrates once again the value of local bricks and mortar business. They are the ones that are ready to be part of the community beyond the transaction at the cash register. They are the ones supporting the purchase of hockey sweaters for youth, disc baskets for a local course expansion, and

of course taking the time to create a float to bring some seasonal cheer even in a time of a worldwide pandemic. So, at this time of year, the month many businesses do their best because it is the gift giving season, it is important to consider your purchases be locally sourced. That does not mean one should not expect local businesses to compete for your hard-earned dollars. They should be able to provide better service than some cyber-store in an unknown locale, and they do need to reasonably close on price too, but as customers we need to give our local business a chance. Of course COVID-19 has changed the consumer mindset too, and local businesses need to adapt. There is health security in a purchase made online and delivered to your door. But a local business can offer that same option, and given the pandemic, should be where possible. It is the new reality and business must always be ready to adapt and evolve to be successful. But the benefits of buying local are real, from floats and sweaters to jobs and municipal taxes, all of which are important, and the cyber-options will never be doing any of those things in our city. With the parade fresh in our minds it is something to think about as we go about our holiday shopping.

WEB POLL RESULTS LAST WEEK’S QUESTION

Will the new Business Improvement Incentive Program approved by Yorkton council Monday stimulate new business development?? YES - 33%

NO - 67%

QUICK VOTE Did the provincial Throne Speech provide a good blueprint for Saskatchewan? VISIT YORKTON THIS WEEK ONLINE... WWW.YORKTONTHISWEEK.COM

AND CAST YOUR VOTE!

editorial@yorkton thisweek.com

20 Third Avenue North, Yorkton, S3N 2X3

Member Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association. Audited by Verified Circulation Paid (CMCA)

79% Readership Survey PAP Registration No. 10765 Published by 101007550 Saskatchewan Ltd. at 20 Third Avenue North, Yorkton. S3N 2X3 (ISSN: 1186429X) Publication mail sales agreement #40069240. Member of Canadian Community Newspapers Association and Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association. Fully protected by Canadian copyright laws. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada.

◆◆◆

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: City of Yorkton by carrier or pickup, $50.00 per year. By mail in Canada, $69.55 per year. All subscriptions are payable in advance. Single copy price, $1.60. (The above prices include GST.) Prices subject to change without notice. ◆◆◆

Advertising rates are available upon request and are subject to change without notice. Conditions of editorial and advertising content: Yorkton This Week attempts to be accurate in Editorial and Advertising content; however, no guarantee is given or implied. Yorkton This Week reserves the right to revise or reject any or all editorial and advertising content as the newspaper’s principles see fit. Yorkton This Week will not be responsible for more than one incorrect insertion of an advertisement, and is not responsible for errors in advertisements except for the space occupied by such errors.

Yorkton This Week will not be responsible for manuscripts, photographs, negatives and other related material that may be submitted for possible publication. All of Yorkton This Week’s content is protected by Canadian Copyright laws. Reviews and similar mention of material in this newspaper is granted on the provision that Yorkton This Week receives credit. Otherwise, any reproduction without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Advertisers purchase space and circulation only. Rights to any advertisement produced by Yorkton This Week, including art work, typography, photos, etc., remain the property of this newspaper. Advertisements or parts thereof may not be reproduced or assigned without the consent of the publisher.

Visit Yorkton This Week online... www.yorktonthisweek.com


www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Wednesday, December 2, 2020

A5

Letters to the Editor Stay safe and shop local this season Dear Editor: Re: Letter to Business Community and Residents of Yorkton Businesses know all too well that the pandemic has created great hardship – for business owners, their families and their employees. Lay-offs and revenue losses. “Pivoting” in order to adapt. These are all circumstances few business owners or managers would have imagined a mere 12 months ago. But these have become our reality.

The business community has been strident in working to ensure the guidelines and restrictions put forth by the province’s public health experts are being followed. As we move into the holiday season, it is absolutely critical that businesses and citizens continue to follow the protocols that will ensure our continued safety. Returning to a widespread, large scale lockdown would be catastrophic – for businesses, families and jobs. The Chamber further

implores the citizens of Yorkton and area to shop local this holiday season. Shop in-store or shop on-line – whichever way you choose to make your gift purchases, please shop LOCAL. This is a critical time for many businesses. These are the same business which employ your kids and neighbours and which give so generously to community events and activities. A strong business community translates into a strong community. As “the voice of business in

Local COPP seeking new ‘eyes and ears’ By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer The Yorkton Citizens on Patrol Program is looking for an infusion of new volunteers. Started in the mid1980s, the program is one that benefits the entire community, said COPP chairperson Cliff Trombley. Trombley said it has been a combination of the program doing good work and having good people involved that has kept COPP viable for more than 30-years in the city. “It has been because of some of the people leading it over the years, and just in my own experience the importance of it,” he said. Trombley said simply having “the extra set of eyes and ears” out on the street looking for suspicious activity which is then passed on to the RCMP is important as it helps keeps the community safe. But, they need people to be those eyes and ears. “Right now we’re down to only a handful of volunteers,” said

Saturdays as “that’s usually when stuff is happening,” said Trombley. Overall, COPP involves citizens in the community observing and reporting suspicious incidents to reduce the incidents of crime: i.e.; break and enter, theft, vandalism, auto theft or anything similar. COPP members patrol the streets (132 miles) of Yorkton – business and residential areas – working in conjunction with the RCMP to reduce crime in our community. Volunteers must complete a Criminal Record check at no cost to the volunteer. Anyone interested in learning more about our Yorkton Citizens on Patrol Program can email yorktoncopp@gmail.com

Joe Tomolak 5 years

AVAILABLE DECEMBER 1 TO 31, 2020 AT YORKTON | CHURCHBRIDGE | KAMSACK FOOD STORES & C-STORES Legacy

Wendy Wilson 20 years

Lisa Cadieux de Larios 15 years

Rosemarie Glowa 15 years

Gwen Machnee 15 years

Nathan Penner 15 years

Sharon Rurak 15 years

Pat Prokop 10 years

Jacquie Scheffler 10 years

Lisa Dietrich 5 years

Patricia Ives 5 years

Jeff Just 5 years

Kurt Karcha 5 years

Neil Kerr 5 years

Herb Lacroix 5 years

Robert Nordin 5 years

Destiny Reader 5 years

Eleonora Usenkova 5 years

Cal Wark 5 years

Richard Zurburg 5 years

Pattie Boychuk 3 years

Brenda Danyluk 3 years

Rachel Martinuik 3 years

Amy Poole 3 years

Amanda Reeve 3 years

Mandi Kobylko Venessa Brouillard 7 years 5 years

Sylvie Shields 5 years

DURING THE MONTH OF DECEMBER PURCHASE A $5, $10, OR $20 “GOOD BUY TO HUNGER” FOOD BAG AND ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TOWARDS FEEDING THOSE LESS FORTUNATE IN OUR COMMUNITY.

— COPP chairperson Cliff Trombley.

Elaine Templeton Michelle Kaeding 30 years 20 years

between keeping everyone safe and keeping the economy running. We are grateful for the businesses and citizens who are so diligently following the protocols to protect us all from the pandemic. We are all in this together. On behalf of the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, I ask that you take care of yourselves and that we all be kind to each other. Sincerely, Juanita Polegi, Executive Director

JOIN US IN THE TRADITION OF HELPING THOSE LESS FORTUNATE THIS FESTIVE SEASON AND HELP FEED THE HUNGRY IN OUR LOCAL COMMUNITIES.

“It has been because of some of the people leading it over the years, and just in my own experience the importance of it.”

Trombley. So, they are looking for some new blood. Trombley said the amount of time invested can be as little, or as much as one desires. “It’s up to the individual,” he said, adding it can be once a year, or five, or 12 or whatever a person has time for. And, there is no direct cost either. Volunteers drive one of two COPP cars, and the gas is provided too. Trombley said in his own case he typically heads out between 9 and midnight, patrolling until 1 or 2 a.m., adding it varies on the activity level. “If it’s quiet I might shutdown at 12,” he said. Again, most patrolling is done on Fridays and

Yorkton”, the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce has strived to ensure its member businesses have been kept informed of the programs available so their enterprises remain operational and viable. We will continue to do so. Our world and our community are different than 12 months ago yet we are surviving. We are grateful for the efforts or our health care professionals. We are grateful for the people in our provincial government working to find a balance

ALSO RECOGNIZED: Catherine Degryse

Linda Jansen

Karen Maupin

Sharon Thompson

Gerry Yacishyn

Retiree

Retiree

Retiree

Retiree

Retiree

Shirley Dutka

Dorothy Elliott

Dennis Muzyka

Katherine Fraser-Bailey

Cheryl Linden

Darryl Binkley

15 years

15 years

15 years

10 years

5 years

3 years

2020 Service Award Recipients Each year, Parkland College recognizes its employees for their service and dedication to the organization. Parkland College extends its thanks and congratulations to the 2020 honourees.


A6

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Yorkton This Week

Staff Photos by Devin Wilger

It’s a wonderful recording The Paper Bag Players can’t take to the stage in a traditional way this year, but that doesn’t mean they can’t perform. The theatre group has recorded a radio play instead, which allows them to perform while remaining distant

from each other and maintaining COVID-19 guidelines. Pictured, (left) Vince Theissen performs the lead role of George Bailey, and (right) Kelly Kacsmar records his roles. Register to hear it at paperbagplayersyor.wixsite.com.

Horizontal, hydraulicly-stimulated geothermal well is “remarkable,” says DEEP CEO First power generation test planned for springtime 2021 By Brian Zinchuk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Estevan Mercury Torquay, Saskatoon – Saskatchewan geothermal power pioneer Deep Earth Energy Production Corp. (DEEP) has recently hydraulicly stimulated a horizontal geothermal well south of Torquay, something president and CEO Kirsten Marcia says is a global first. “It’s a remarkably good well,” Marcia said by phone from Saskatoon on Nov. 24. The well, Border-5HZ, was hydraulicly stimulated the first week of November. This fifth well is DEEP’s first horizontal well. It once again sets a record, this time for the deepest horizontal well in Saskatchewan, at 3,450 metres total vertical depth. It has a 2,000metre lateral section, which runs due west from the site where DEEP had drilling four of its five wells to date. That site is also planned to be the location of the eventual power plant. The company is progressing from its exploration phases to final design, further refining its plans. By hydraulicly stimulating the producing wells, they can get more hot saline water out of the rock with fewer wells, and recover that

heat though an Organic Rankine Cycle power generation plant on the surface. The current plan now is to develop the field with five sets of well pairs, with each pair having one well going horizontally west, the other horizontally east. This well, Border-5HZ, is part of the first pair of producers. The next set of wells will be a pair of injectors, in a similar pattern, placed further to the north, with wells going east and west. This pattern will be repeated again, with another pair of producers, then injectors, then finally producers again, for a total of 10 wells – six producers, and four injectors. That pattern is expected to be sufficient to eventually set up a 20-megawatt Organic Rankine Cycle power plant, which will feed electricity into the SaskPower grid. Well Border-5HZ was spudded on Sept. 11 by Horizon Drilling Rig 33, and completed on Oct. 24. “No significant issues were encountered during drilling and the geological, operations and Weatherford directional staff were able to maintain the well trajectory in the reservoir target zone for a significant portion of the lateral length. This demonstrates the viability of horizontal drilling, supports the geophysic-

Seniors, Parents, Children! Earn some extra cash (possibly of up to $400/month depending on route size), get exercise and work only a few hours a week too!

Be a Yorkton This Week Carrier! • No early mornings • No collecting • We pay by direct deposit on the last Friday of every month • Weight bonuses • Sales bonuses • Any age welcome • Only 2 days or less per week

al analysis, and further demonstrates reservoir continuity. The highest temperature measured during open hole logging was 127° Celsius (261° Fahrenheit),” DEEP said in a release. “The well was completed using a 20-stage NCS Multicycle stimulation sleeve system and cemented liner, and subsequently hydraulically stimulated with Element Technical Services as per standard horizontal well completions procedures.” This fifth well will be producing hot salt water, and that water will be injected into wells Border-1 and Border-3. If necessary, they can also inject the produced water into well Border2B. “Now we can do a much larger, robust loop test,” Marcia said. Border-5HZ has a smaller wellbore than the other wells. The idea is that by stimulating a smaller well, you can get more flow out of it. Wider wellbores cost more to drill, especially at the depths DEEP is working at. “If we can get more flow out of a smaller well, without going to a larger well, this can save a lot of money,” she said. DEEP is working with a company called GeothermEx, which Marcia described as “the largest geothermal consulting group in the world.” DEEP asked GeothermEx what do they need to do in order for construction lenders to finance the project? Marcia said, “They’ve given us some flow rates that they would like to see sustained for 30 to 60 days. We’re going to double that in this well, so we’re very confident that we’ve got the lend-

Photo courtesy Deep Earth Energy Production Corp

Deep Earth Energy Production Corp. did a hydraulic stimulation for a horizontal geothermal well in early November. ing confidence to get this project built.” Marcia said they are fully financed until the summer of 2021, with room to complete everything they need to do for bankable feasibility engineering and to be in a position to complete the construction financing. However, Marcia notes they are considering an interim private placement. DEEP also intends on producing its first electricity in the spring, possibly April or May, bringing in a small, one-megawatt Organic Rankine Cycle generator which will generate its power from the hot water from the Border-5HZ well. “We want to test it in the field, on a small unit, in case there’s something we still need to work out,” Marcia said. The power will be used onsite for their own power needs. DEEP is also looking at adding an eight-to-10 megawatt solar power generation and battery

Do you have an

OPINION?

Tell us what’s on your mind. Opinions can be on anything in the newspaper or just your thoughts on any subject.

If you would like a route, please e-mail us at:

circulation@yorktonthisweek.com or telephone circulation at:

306-782-2465

email us at editorial@yorktonthisweek.com

facility to the project. The idea is that all 20 megawatts produced by the geothermal plant will be fed to the SaskPower grid. The parasitic load, the power needed to run the facility, including the pumps in the wells, would come from solar and battery generation. Marcia pointed out this has been done in Nevada at the Ormat Tungsten geothermal facility. DEEP is now progressing from the exploration phase to the development phase. Marcia said, “We’re really advanced the project this year. “This current design will be refined on the results of this horizontal well. And whether that changes the number of wells, or the spacing of the wells, we don’t know that yet. What we do know is that this well could be a game-changer for us.” “Here’s what I love: Here we’ve taken world class drilling expertise and technology, horizontal drilling, hydraulic stimulation, all done on the backs of our oil and gas industry. And we’re doing this for the first time in geothermal. No one has done this before. That’s cool.” She added, “The feasibility engineering needs to wrap up this spring. We have to see the longterm results of this horizontal well. That information gets fed into the subsurface design, which then drives the surface design.” GeothermEx’s sign-off is the final stamp that they can take to lenders, she said. “It really is coming down to finishing the reporting, get the debt

in place, going into construction.” Green energy is getting attention from investors, and Marcia feels they are well-positioned. “I do think the timing is right. If there is to be an energy transition at all, DEEP is a perfect candidate to take advantage of that investor interest.” Marcia said they are building out their team. Tom Kishchuk has been appointed chief operating officer, effective Nov. 25. Kishchuk joined the DEEP team in September 2020 as a special advisor to the management team. “This project is moving ahead. We are moving from previous chapters into larger chapters. We recognize that we need to build a team along the way to make this happen, and having Tom is really going to be a wonderful addition to the team,” she said. DEEP’s release noted, “Using his more than 30 years of technical and business management experience in the energy industry he will provide leadership to the surface operations and engineering teams as the project advances to achieve commercial operation of Canada’s first geothermal power plant. Prior to DEEP, Kishchuk was the president and chief executive officer of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Canada, Ltd., and vice-president operational support for Federated Co-operatives Limited.” Hitachi supplied the turbine for the Boundary Dam 3 Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Project.


Yorkton This Week | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Wednesday, December 2, 2020

December 2, 2020 - December 8, 2020

Next Council Meeting Monday, December 14, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. CITY OF YORKTON PUBLIC NOTICE PROPOSED LIBRARY BOUNDARY CHANGE The City of Yorkton hereby gives public notice pursuant to Section 4.1 of The Public Libraries Act, 1996 of its intention to change the library boundary. Details: On June 22, 2020, City Council approved a motion to establish a municipal library in Yorkton. The current Yorkton Public Library operates under the Parkland Regional Library system even though Yorkton residents pay for all of the operating costs. The objective of this change is to enable the City of Yorkton to directly manage and control the budget, set priorities and establish levels of service delivery for the Yorkton Public Library. In that regard, the City will be applying for a boundary change for the Yorkton Public Library by proposing the boundaries of the new municipal library be those of the existing City limits as outlined in the map below

Information: You can view this notice online at www.yorkton.ca Questions regarding the proposal can be directed to: Lonnie Kaal, City Manager Telephone: 306-786-1703 Email: citymanager@yorkton.ca Public hearing: Prior to applying for a boundary change and in accordance with Section 4 of The Public Libraries Act, 1996, City Council will hear all persons who are present and wish to speak to the proposal and all written submissions will be read verbatim unless the submitter is in attendance to speak on the submission on December 14, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers, Yorkton, SK. If you wish to provide written comments for Council’s consideration, they must be submitted by 9:00 a.m. on November 18, 2020. Written submissions must be directed to: Jessica Matsalla, Director of Legislation and Procedures (City Clerk) In Person: 2nd Floor, 37 Third Avenue North, Yorkton, SK Via Mail: P.O. Box 400, Yorkton, SK S3N 2W3 Via Email: cityclerk@yorkton.ca

Dated this 8th Day of October, 2020 Jessica Matsalla, City Clerk

GENERAL INQUIRIES: 306-786-1700 Mayor’s Office ........306-786-1701 After Hours Emergency .............306-786-1760 Building Services ....306-786-1710 Bylaw Control .........306-786-1725 City Clerk ................306-786-1717 City Manager ..........306-786-1703 City Parks & Green Spaces .........306-786-1780 City RCMP ..............306-786-2400 Communications .....306-828-2424 Community Development, Parks & Recreation .......306-786-1750 Economic Development ..........306-786-1747 Engineering Department ............306-786-1710 Farrell Agencies Arena Booking ........306-786-1740 Fire Hall ..................306-786-1795

Gallagher Centre Water Park & Meeting Rooms/Convention Centre Booking....306-786-1740 Gloria Hayden Community Centre .................306-786-1776 Godfrey Dean Meeting Rooms Booking ...............306-786-1780 Kinsmen Arena & Blue Room Booking .....306-786-1780 Library Rooms Booking ...............306-786-1780 Property Sales ........306-786-1747 Public Works ..........306-786-1760 Sports Fields & City Centre Park Bookings .............306-786-1780 Tax Department .....306-786-1736 Water Billing Department .........306-786-1726

Did you know.....all City News is also accessible on the City of Yorkton website. Just go to our website at www.yorkton.ca and scroll down to view the “City News” links.

A7


A8

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Yorkton This Week

Mid-year financial report shows Saskatchewan fared better than expected By Brian Zinchuk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Estevan Mercury Regina – The financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has not been as hard on Saskatchewan’s finances as the spring budget had initially forecast, when this province was one of the first to release a budget in the wake of the pandemic. That budget, like all others across the country, essentially forecast the sky was falling. But halfway through the fiscal year, the sky has not fallen as far as expected. Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said, “I long for the days where I’m just worried about crop insurance claims and potential floods. There is no model that we can compare this to. It’s just a very unknown time. But the officials, I think, have done a great job in gathering the data that we have available to us.” The 2020-21 Mid-Year Report was released in the Legislature in Regina on Nov. 27. It forecasts a deficit more than $380 million lower than budgeted, and an improving economy. It also adds a new $100 million “revenue forecast risk allowance,” essentially additional contingency fund to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. There had been a $200 million COVID-19 contingency fund in the budget, but $40 million was used for the back to school plan in the fall, so there is now $160 million remaining. As a result, there are now $260 million in contingency, when the two funds are combined. “As reflected in these latest forecasts, our government is managing the province’s finances carefully through the pandemic,” Harpauer said. “The mid-year update also includes $260 mil-

lion of contingencies to cushion against potential pandemic-related revenue and spending shocks over the remainder of the fiscal year.” If these continencies are not spent, the result will be a further reduction in the deficit. A deficit of $2.0 billion is now forecast–an improvement of $381.5 million from budget. That’s also an improvement of $85 million from the first-quarter forecast. Revenue is projected at $14.2 billion, a $503.5 million (3.7 per cent) increase from budget. The increase from budget is due to higher federal transfers ($442.7 million), higher Government Business Enterprise net income ($145.6 million) and higher non-renewable resource revenue ($56.4 million). Tax and other own-source revenue forecasts are unchanged from budget, but the midyear update includes a $41.2 million decrease in tax revenue as a result of the reduction in the small business tax rate. Expense is forecast to be $16.2 billion, an increase of $122.0 million (0.8 per cent) from budget. This includes increases for the health, education, municipal and tourism sectors, partly offset by lowerthan-budgeted pension expense and crop insurance claims expense. The mid-year forecast includes the impact of government’s election commitments totalling $91.7 million, including $87.2 million for SaskPower utility bill rebates. A $160 million expense contingency remains in place at midyear. Public debt and net debt are both down compared to the budget forecast. The budgeted debt was $24.369 billion, while the mid-year projection is now $23.828 billion, a decrease of $541 million. Saskatchewan’s net debt-

to-GDP ratio at March 31, 2021, is now estimated at 19.6 per cent and is expected to be one of the lowest among Canadian provinces this year, according to the Ministry of Finance, which added Saskatchewan also has the second-highest credit rating in Canada, when ratings from the three major rating agencies are combined. The pandemic-related recession is also now not expected to be as bad as initially expected in the spring budget. “ S a s k a t c h e w a n ’s economy has performed better than originally anticipated in the June 2020 budget,” Harpauer said. “Real GDP is forecast to decline 5.0 per cent, compared to a decline of 6.3 per cent forecast at budget. Saskatchewan’s unemployment rate was the lowest in Canada in October and total employment, on an unadjusted basis, is nearing pre-pandemic levels. As a result, our planned path to balance in 2024-25 is unchanged.” Harpauer said, “I’m very pleased to see that the economic indicators are stronger in Saskatchewan than what we anticipated.” “Our recovery has been relatively strong. I’m very concerned, still, going forward, because we’re reliant on two things; largely consumer confidence, and as COVID numbers rise, the consumer confidence is going to fall. The other thing that we’re very reliant on, because we’re a trade-dependent province, is what is happening in other jurisdictions across the country, but as well as globally. So, you know, I will always have a nervousness for those two factors because they will affect this budget, in a big way.” Many of the Economic indicators in the report, such as average weekly earnings, retail sales, wholesale trade and

sales in foods services and drinking places are from August, when Saskatchewan had as few as 29 active COVID19 cases in the province at one time. But on Nov. 26, Saskatchewan had 299 new cases to report, and 3,146 total active cases. And on that day, the Ministry of Health released its updated plans to “escalate response to COVID case surge.” To that end, Harpauer said, “We has pre-bought the ventilators. There’s a number of costs that we have now spent that was built in the budget, prior, to deal with higher numbers than what we were actually experiencing. So, although there may be a further deterioration of the economy, and an increase in health, we have contingencies

on both sides, of lesser revenue, of increased costs. But it won’t be in the same manner that it was in the very beginning, when we were buying a lot of health supplies that we didn’t have. We have them and we’re now prepared for the larger numbers. Asked if the $260 million is enough to cover additional wages for things like nurses’ overtime, which can exceed $1,000 per nurse, per overtime shift paid at double time, Harpauer said, “We’re going be there for a health system, for whatever it takes, and there is no way to say what the magic numbers will be. You are correct in identifying that compensation salaries is going to be a big factor in that. And that is something that we couldn’t

pre-build or pre-pay. But at $160 million, that will deal with quite a bit of that pressure for the next few months.” Over the past week the province has reached tentative agreements with both SEIU-West and the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses, two health services unions whose contracts had long expired. Asked how important it was to have labour peace with regards to dealing with the finances and this pandemic, Harpauer said, “It is quite important. Now the majority of the public service had settled,” she said, noting these were among the last remaining agreements. “With each and every agreement that we have, it becomes hard numbers rather than soft numbers that we build into your budget.”

December 2, 2020 - December 8, 2020

Next Council Meeting Monday, December 14, 2020 at 5:00 p.m.

Thank You Election Workers! On behalf of the City of Yorkton, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to all those who made the Municipal Elections of 2020 a success. We saw many returning workers, and many new ones so willing to learn. How heartwarming it was, especially in this very challenging year of 2020, to see people of all ages, backgrounds, and experience levels teach, learn and work together on this very important day for Yorkton! We could not have done it without all the dedicated workers from the community; please know that this is truly a wonderful way to serve Yorkton and its residents. Thank-you for a job well done! Jessica Matsalla, City Clerk and Municipal Elections Returning Officer 2020.

Did you know.....all City News is also accessible on the City of Yorkton website. Just go to our website at www.yorkton.ca and scroll down to view the “City News” links.


Yorkton This Week | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Wednesday, December 2, 2020

A9

Modern Mattress Small Business of Year By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer When the final awards were handed out at the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce’s 14th Celebrate Success Business Awards Wednesday Modern Mattress found out they were recipients of the Small Business of the Year award. Jordan Schenher, co-owner of the business said the award was a gratifying one.

“Definitely to hear we were chosen was great. It definitely wasn’t expected from us,” he said, adding “we’re just happy to get the recognition, and happy people recognize what we’ve done in the community.” The award comes as sort of an anniversary present as the business marked its sixth year in the city only six days ago. So what has been Modern Mattress’ secret to success the past half dozen

years? “The big secret is treating people right, doing for your clients what you tell them you will do,” said Schenher, adding it is important to “do everything you can to meet customer needs.” Going hand-in-hand with keeping customers happy is a focus on keeping employees engaged “so they grow with us as a team,” said Schenher. So will the award help in terms of business?

Well, it can’t hurt, offered Schenher. “It’s food for networking, and to get a little bit more recognition for us,” he said, adding if “people are talking about us,” it’s typically a good thing. As for the future, Schenher said they have a simple plan, stay on course but be ready to change when required to do so. “We’ll continue to do what we do in Yorkton,” he said, adding that change is part of that. “We try to keep evolving.”

Large Business of Year Yorkton Hyundai By Devin Wilger Staff Writer Ron Kaban, Dealer Principal at Yorkton Hyundai was surprised that his business won Large Business of the Year. “I didn’t think I was that large!” joked Kaban. Kaban said that for

him, it’s about his team, and he believes that they’re the difference that helped the dealership win the award. “I’m thankful for my staff with their hard work and dedication. In a larger business like this, you have to have everybody working together, and that is one thing I

have established here is a good team. Teambuilding is everything to me, and as long as I have a good team I will succeed.” This has been a major year for the dealership, as it’s at the end of a major renovation. While challenging, Kaban said that it has been surpris-

ingly painless as renovations go, and credits NL Construction with making it go smoothly. “It turned out absolutely beautiful.” Like all businesses, Yorkton Hyundai was affected by the COVID19 pandemic, and had to go down to half-staff in March. But by April they

were back to full staff, and Kaban said it didn’t really slow down much. “I’m thankful that we are here.” The Celebrate Success Awards, and Yorkton Chamber of Commerce, are important, said Kaban, because people and businesses in the city deserve recogni-

tion for their hard work. “I think it’s giving recognition to people that are working hard. Working hard not only for their business, but for the community. It gives you more of a feeling of community involvement… We need the Chamber to succeed as a city.”

Grant is first step for plan to address homelessness in Yorkton The Society for the Involvement of Good Neighbours (SIGN), on behalf of the Yorkton Social Housing Committee, has received a grant of $49,999 to develop a comprehensive housing needs assessment for Yorkton. The funding is provided by the Community Housing Transformation Centre (the Centre), a Canada-wide non-profit and non-government organization founded in 2018 and supported by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) through Canada’s National Housing Strategy. The Centre believes everyone deserves a safe, affordable place to call home. It works toward a more entrepreneurial and economically viable model of community housing. This funding allows SIGN and the Social Housing Committee to address and mitigate the growing homelessness in Yorkton through a comprehensive needs assessment. After completion

of the project, SIGN and its partners will be able develop a plan to increase safe, permanent and affordable housing in Yorkton, and take steps to develop homes and support for hardto-house or homeless individuals and families based on the needs identified. The needs assessment is expected to be completed by May 31, 2021. The Social Housing Committee is made up of 14 agencies in Yorkton who have been working to reduce barriers for individuals and families accessing affordable housing. Represented are Yorkton Housing Corporation, Good Spirit Housing Authority, Regional Housing Operations, Yorkton Parkland Housing, Yorkton Transitional Homes for Youth, Shelwin House, Saskatchewan Health Authority, SaskAbilities, City of Yorkton, Yorkton Fire Protective Services, Parkland College, Yail Harbour, Habitat for

Humanity and SIGN and SIGN Housing Support. Each member agency will provide information that is required to conduct an accurate needs assessment, will be involved in the stakeholder interviews, will assist in the development of the research and help determining what the committee’s next steps will be to develop housing units. The study will allow the committee to better assess the types of housing needed in the city for vulnerable and at-risk people, and to consider options for secure funding to developing housing that is sustainable and secure in efforts to end homelessness and hidden homelessness in the city. With no emergency shelter in Yorkton and no public transportation to get to one two hours away, individuals are often forced into hidden homelessness. They are forced to couch surf, live in crowded or unsafe environments, seek shel-

Our online shopping is fast: you’ll spend more time doing the things you love. It’s easy: you can shop whenever and wherever works for you. And it’s fresh: your personal shopper has the highest quality in mind as they handpick your order.

Receive

$10

P PICK U

Gift Card on Your First Online Order

same day pick up

SaveOnFoods.com Save-On-Foods Yorkton 277 Broadway Street East Yorkton, Sk. *Available at select Save-On-Foods locations only. Valid for new customers only. Minimum order $40 excluding applicable taxes and fees. One offer per customer. *Offer Valid Until Dec. 31/20

ter in business lobbies or the emergency rooms. “With the information provided by the needs assessment, SIGN and the Social Housing Committee can advocate for the homeless and seek the funding that is required to obtain affordable, safe, secure housing,” SIGN Executive Director Andrew Sedley stated. “This needs assessment to gather the important data is the first step to move towards reducing homelessness

in our city. “Saskatchewan has reported the highest rates of homelessness across Canada. Yorkton is no exception. Prior to Covid-19 Yorkton had already begun to experience a shift where affordable housing became more difficult to secure. Various theories exist why there is a lack of affordable housing and an inability for many households to be able to afford certain locations, but no concrete evi-

dence exists to validate these claims,” Mr. Sedley added. Similar assessments have been done, the latest in 2014, “But SIGN and the Social Housing Committee found that while these studies provided extensive data, they were short on practical recommendations toward easing the housing situation. An updated study is required to allow the community stakeholders to take the necessary course of action.”


A10

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Yorkton This Week

Photo show focuses on area cemetery By Calvin Daniels Staff Writer Local Yorkton photographers Keith & Debbie Hayward have a new exhibit at the Community pARTners Gallery online at yorktonarts.ca (instead of at the Yorkton Public Library). ‘A Light Beyond: The Beauty of Jaroslaw’ is a collection of photographs preserving images of the cemetery site and ruins of Jaroslaw Church that once stood west of Yorkton. “To begin with we didn’t set out with anything particular in mind,” offered Keith Hayward in an interview with Yorkton This Week. “We often go on weekend photo excursions and realized that we had never visited the Jaroslaw cemetery, even though it was close to town. “Once we were there we realized we had found a special place that we wanted to capture in pictures.” Debbie Hayward said it was just natural to begin snapping pictures as it was part of their varied interests. “We’ve always been interested in taking photos, and in genealogy,” she said. “Sometimes the two interests merged if we were doing research. “A third thread began to emerge on our photo

travels as we saw various country cemeteries. We take our cameras, go for a drive, and stop at various cemeteries. Some are kept nice and neat, but some are in heartbreaking condition. “A running conversation always followed that it would be nice to make people aware of the importance of keeping these cemeteries up, not only out of respect for those buried there, but also as historical places. “We both had the fine examples in our lives of families who cared for cemeteries: my aunts, uncles and cousins were regular, devoted custodians of the cemetery near their homes, while Keith’s aunt and greatuncle planted seedlings around the perimeter of their local cemetery, and now those seedlings have grown into fine, strong trees that shelter those at rest there.” So while the couple have visited multiple area cemeteries, why a show on a particular one? “Continuing from the previous question, we hadn’t set out that day with a plan for a special photo shoot,” offered Keith. “However, once we were there we realized we had arrived at a special place. The conditions that day were ideal as well with full sun that led us to the theme of

Debbie Hayward “the light beyond”. “To me, it was a perfect example of what you hope would happen to every little cemetery: that it is not forgotten or neglected,” added Debbie. “It is obviously loved and cared for. “People haven’t forgotten about how important it was for those early faithful pioneers, or how important is it is now in a historical way. We can only imagine the sacrifice and hard work that it took to get the church built. If you stand there

and think about it, it is truly amazing, as it is for any little country church. “At Jaroslaw, even though the church is gone, the sacredness of the site is still evident. The people who do the upkeep should be commended. It is beautiful.” For the Yorkton couple snapping photos has been a long time interest. “Going back to Grade 9 we had a photography module as part of one class,” said Keith Hayward. “This included

having a chance to develop our own photos in the school’s darkroom. That sparked my interest in the subject and I have been clicking shutters ever since.” It was an interest shared from the outset. “I’ve always loved to take pictures, and my

parents’ beautiful garden was my main subject for many years,” said Debbie Hayward. “I also love taking pictures of the countryside and again, gardens and plants.” That said they are not formally trained. Continued on page A11

Yorkton's

CATALOGUE 2020 Shop at these local businesses for your chance to

Win A $200 Gift &HUWLÀFDWH

DR Auto Extras Thorsness Appliance Fuzztone Music Under The Covers Parkland CPAP Services Inc. McMunn & Yates Building Supplies Kahkewistahaw Gas & Convenience Draw Date: Friday, December 11, 2020

Submitted Photos

Newsletter Legacy

Fall 2020

Celebrating 80 Years

In 1940, a small group of Yorkton residents incorporated the Yorkton Co-operative Association Limited, for the purpose of livestock marketing. Those early members soon realized that they could get greater purchasing power by buying as a group.

Message from the President of the Board - Clark Anderson 2020 has been a year of change! Certainly what is going on in the world has changed the way we move around, interact with others and conduct business. New cleaning and sanitizing protocols, directional shopping and limited shoppers along with a new term called “social distancing” has made a significant impact on business. It’s a new way of life that everyone will have to get used to. There is a challenge within Legacy Co-op as well. As a Board, it is our responsibility to seek out opportunities to grow our business. In this ever competing world of corporate entities, Legacy Co-op has thrived to become one of the Top 100 Businesses in Saskatchewan. We have been included in this list for many years now and we have been climbing closer to the top of the list. The amalgamation with Churchbridge Co-op in February of 2019 has gone well, with Legacy Co-op seeing many benefits identified in the study prior to the amalgamation. You will read later in this edition about the upgrades planned for the Churchbridge Food Store. Gene Krepakevich, who is celebrating more than 40 years on the Board of Directors has stepped into a mentorship role in 2020. His leadership skills as Board President for more than 25 years will be shared with me and I look forward to leading Legacy Co-op into the next phase of the business.

We Are: Legacy Co-op

By the end of the first fiscal year, the Co-op was delivering fuel in drums to 70 members, and had accumulated $347 in capital. The net profit in that first year was $101. Over the years, the Co-op has expanded into other commodities and a wider trading area through a series of amalgamations with other retail co-ops. From this humble beginning, Legacy Co-op has grown into one of the largest and most successful businesses in east central Saskatchewan. Its annual sales volume has placed it on the list of Saskatchewan's top 100 companies for many years. Member-owners have ensured the continuation and growth of the Legacy Co-op by patronizing its services and participating in its activities. Today, the Co-op boasts annual sales over $90 million, and 15,000 members.

Meet Our Directors General Manager’s Report: Bruce Thurston

2

020 has brought it’s share of challenges to Legacy Co-op, but our management and staff have risen to the occasion. As essential services, all of our locations remained open during the pandemic. We have certainly taken every precaution we could during these difficult times. Hand sanitizer by the gallons, gloves, shields and other personal protective equipment to help keep our staff, our customers an our community safe. All of these precautions impact our business as we are limiting the number of people coming into our locations, and increasing the staff complement to keep up with the cleaning and sanitizing. Major suppliers are limiting the production of many of their items to their “best sellers” to keep up with the demand from folks staying home and making meals rather than being able to have a meal at their favourite restaurant. All of these things, and many others, have a negative impact on business and we anticipate that our year financially will be a tough one. After celebrating a record year last year for savings, 2020 will be much different. We still have a very strong balance sheet and we will get through this pandemic and come out fine in the end. We are still forging ahead with many of the projects that were planned prior to Covid-19, and these projects will enhance the offerings that Legacy Co-op has as well provide further financial strength and diversity. I look forward to sharing our successes in the future when we have the opportunity to gather again.

T

he Board of Directors oversees governance of your local Co-op - it represents all members and guides management. Directors are democratically elected at the annual meeting and are selected according to our bylaws. Clark Anderson President Gene Krepakevich Vice-President Wade Karcha Secretary Doug Barber Director Kenneth Chyz Director Bruce Hansen Director Debbie Jones Director Bill Prybylski Director Cordell Schaan Director

www.legacyco-op.crs | office@yorktoncoop.com | 306.783.3601

2


Yorkton This Week | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Wednesday, September 2, 2020

A11

PHOTO SHOW

Keith Hayward

‘A Light Beyond: The Beauty of Jaroslaw’ is a collection of photographs preserving images of the cemetery

Continued from page A10 When asked Keith noted he had no formal courses, adding “I have taken a few short courses offered at the Godfrey Dean in recent years. Don Stein was very helpful when I was making the transition from film to digital photography.” Again it was similar for Debbie. “None at all,” she said. “But during my work career, I was fortunate to work with a photographer who took countless pictures of local places and events. His advice was always to take more pictures than you think you need, and it was and still is great advice. “Sometimes you think you’ve got ‘The One’ you want, but upon studying it, you realize it’s a bit off

or a bit fuzzy…so his great guidance is still so practical! “Keith has a very artistic slant to his work that comes naturally, it`s very unique. My slant is more sentimental.” So, how as a couple do they decide what to shoot? “We work individually as a team,” said Keith. “We each see different aspects to capture when we go out on a shoot but after we’ve taken our individual shots we’ll look at each other’s pictures and see what shots were similar and which were completely different.” “We each have our own camera and take our own pictures; it’s interesting how we are quite often taking shots of the

same things, but they look different when seen through two different pairs of eyes,” added Debbie. “Certain things just catch your eye; the way the light hits a certain object, or an interesting angle that makes an ordinary thing look unusual. “Then when we get home, we have `show and tell` of what we shot that day. “It might be the same locale, but it can look quite different from our two perspectives!” Of course for a show the two perspectives have to come together in terms of selecting which photos to include. “Taking the pictures was the easy part,” said Keith. “There were lots of scenes that we wanted to

capture and we took lots of shots. “The more difficult part came in selecting the photos that best represented the theme for the show. We tried to be representative of different aspects of the cemetery when we made our final selections.” Picking up on the thought, “we wanted to show various historical aspects of the cemetery, such as the remains of the bell tower,” said Debbie. “We felt it was important to show the various styles of markers as a reflection of the time. “And certain shots, like the one of the marker where the cross was broken, but carefully set on top of the rest of the stone, spoke to me of the compassion and respect

of those who take care of Jaroslaw. “And though it is difficult to capture, we wanted to show the ‘peace’ of the site.” So how did the couple feel about being asked to do a virtual show? “First we were glad that the Yorkton Arts Council was interested in hosting the show,” said Keith. “Then came the issue of how to mount an exhibition in the COVIDera. “However, we were very pleased with the end result.” “We were really pleased that the Arts Council was on board with the idea,” echoed Debbie. “They have always been so open and creative in terms of content at the gallery, and we

were honored that they gave us the opportunity to share our photos and their message. We thank them for the great work they do.” In the end they are proud of the online show. “It’s wonderful: it gives us the chance to give our thanks and appreciation for all those amazing people who take the time and effort to maintain all small or country cemeteries,” said Debbie. “And we hope that it might encourage others to do so as well.” “We were happy that the final version reflected the essence of what we captured that day. We thank the Yorkton Arts Council for the visual quality of the online show, added Keith.

City to light up with Let Yorkton Shine By Devin Wilger Staff Writer The skies might be darkest in December, but the streets of Yorkton will light up. The Let Yorkton Shine Holiday Contest is in its first year, with the City of Yorkton, the Yorkton Business Improvement District and the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce coming together to encourage residents to light up their homes, and give the city some holiday cheer. Samuel Twumasi, Economic Development Officer for the City of Yorkton, said that the idea began as a way to unite the city in the midst of a pandemic. Both decorating homes and touring them are things that can be done while remaining distant from each other. “What we wanted to do was we want-

ed to create something that brings the community together while still making sure that we’re still physically distant, that we’re all healthy and that we are putting a little spotlight on Yorkton.” When there are more submissions, the addresses will be on a map that allows residents to tour the city and see the different nominated houses. While it’s starting due to a pandemic, Twumasi said they want it to continue well into the future. “I think that this is a fantastic contest and event. It brings the holiday shine, it’s something that everybody and anybody can participate in, and it brings something to the community.” The City of Yorkton contacted the Yorkton Business Improvement District and the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce because they didn’t want to go about it alone, and they wanted to have local

Legacy Co-op Donations

businesses involved. “We wanted to have a collaboration with these groups… They both latched onto it to say that this is a fantastic idea and they cannot wait to support it with their membership, and they cannot wait to support it with advertising.” Local businesses have donated prizes for the contest. Twumasi also encourages entrants to shop local for the decorations, and said it will be an opportunity for people to go shopping as they tour the lights in the city. Of course, people have been lighting their houses before the contest, and Twumasi encourages them to enter and become part of the contest. “As I drive around, I see a lot of people put in so much effort to decorate their houses, and I think they should let all of Yorkton see.” There will be prizes for Most Creative

Facility Upgrades

L

egacy Co-op is very pleased to partner with the Yorkton Exhibition Association to secure the naming rights of the grandstand located on the exhibition grounds. The grandstand was built in 1914 and through the years has seen hundreds of thousands of people utilize it for various events. Legacy Co-op has donated $50,000 to the Yorkton Exhibition Association which will allow the naming rights for the grandstands for a period of 5 years, starting in 2021 when the renovations should be completed.

The Yorkton Food Centre is getting bigger! An additional 3,800 square feet are being added to the food store for the new Beer, Spirits and Wine Store and additional office space. The new liquor store will carry a full line of the most popular beers and wines from around the world, spirits, and ancillary products. Complete with a growler bar and a tasting station, this facility will provide you with ample parking and the convenience of one stop shopping. This new facility is anticipated to be open before the end of the year.

Access the Flyer Online

Congratulations to "WIN YOUR FILL” contest winners Malcolm Berrecloth and Denise Lucas from Yorkton and Greg Koenig from Churchbridge. Each winner received $2,000 in Gas Gift Cards. Congratulations to Lisa Neill, winner of a BBQ in our "Win It, Fill It, Grill It" Contest.

Debbie Jones Debbie is the owner and operator of local Yorkton boutique store, The Plum Tree. Since 2013, Debbie and her team have focused on being, “Your special store of Gifts & Decor”, with customer service of the utmost importance, something The Plum Tree is well-known for, bringing customers from across Canada every year.

Use of Lights, Best Animated Yard and a People’s Choice Award, voted on through Facebook from Dec. 18 to 21, 2020. There will also be a random draw from all of the participants. To sign up for Let Yorkton Shine, visit yorkton.ca/holidays and use the linked entry form. Participants must follow Saskatchewan’s physical distancing recommendations while decorating their home, only homes within Yorkton city limits are eligible, only one entry per household, all entries must be made with the property owner’s permission, only exterior lights visible from the roadway will be considered. Entry is free. The entry deadline is Dec. 17. “We appreciate all of our partners, we appreciate all of the people that are going to submit their houses, and we cannot wait to make this an annual event.”

Thank you for your patience!

Do you want quick and easy access to our flyer? There are 3 easy ways to view our flyers. Our app also has coupons to save you even more. Check it out today!

Co-op is a different kind of business – we’re truly local. Your local Co-op was built by you and built for you. Each Co-op in Western Canada is independent, so it offers the products and services needed by the communities it serves.

By shopping at Legacy Co-op, you build your equity in Legacy Co-op. You are an owner and share in the profits of the Co-op. The more you spend, the more you earn. Every year the Board of Directors makes an allocation from the earnings of the Co-op, and makes a cash payment, in April/May after the audited statement is complete. Visit any one of our locations in Theodore, Kamsack, Churchbridge, Ebenezer or Yorkton for more information.

For more information, please contact: Box 5025 Yorkton, SK S3N 3Z4 PHONE: (306) 783-3601 FAX: (306) 786-6090 EMAIL: office@yorktoncoop.com

Debbie brings her passion for customer service to the board along with a wealth of experience and knowledge in the local marketplace and business.

Doug Barber With over 35 years experience in private business Doug brings unique knowledge as GM of a company with interests in the manufacturing and retail sectors, building sustainable enterprises in some of the most remote and demanding locations in Canada. After many years of expanding business interests, Yorkton became home and the ideal place to not just do business but also retire. Doug hopes to bring a constructive prospective to the Legacy Co-op board as it endeavours to flourish and grow in an ever changing and challenging business environment.

3

The Churchbridge Food Store will be going through a major upgrade over the next several months. The upgrade will include some new refrigeration, updated interior and exterior décor, new flooring, new bakery and produce fixtures, new lighting and a new compressor rack. This upgrade will be completed by Timco Construction, the same company that built the food store in 1994. We look forward to being able to provide a new shopping experience for our members in the Churchbridge area.

www.legacyco-op.crs | office@yorktoncoop.com | 306.783.3601

Legacy Co-operative Association Limited 30 Argyle Street, Yorkton Saskatchewan Let's Get Social:

www.legacyco-op.crs | office@yorktoncoop.com | 306.783.3601

4


A12

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Yorkton This Week

Team sports dramatically curtailed, more masking in latest COVID-19 restrictions By Brian Zinchuk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Estevan Mercury Regina, Shellbrook – Sports have not been shut down entirely, but games have, and practices are now reduced to eight people. All but the youngest of children are now expected to wear masks when appropriate. Those were some of the latest restrictions the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health announced another round of new restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19. Those restrictions in many ways do not go as far as some of what has been implemented in Alberta and Manitoba in recent days and weeks. Saskatchewan’s new cases on Nov. 25 came in at 164, but the 7-day average is now 214.3, a relatively levelling off over the last four days. While Manitoba has entered another lockdown, on Nov. 24, Alberta announced that it would soon be closing junior high and high schools, reverting to online learning as of next week, and extending the winter break for all students until Jan. 11. Saskatchewan will be doing neither, as it stands. Premier Scott Moe, who is personally selfisolating after a possible exposure to COVID-19 at a Prince Albert restaurant 10 days earlier, made the announcement via videoconference on Nov. 25. He was joined by Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab, who was in the Legislature in Regina. The new Saskatchewan measures come into effect at 12:01 a.m., Friday, Nov. 27. Moe said, “Our goal is to find the right balance, on behalf of the people in this province to protect Saskatchewan people from the spread of COVID-19, while at the

same time, protecting the Saskatchewan people’s jobs and their livelihoods. Our goal is to not shut down businesses, services and activities that ultimately put people out of work, and at times, may threaten their mental health. Our goal is to find ways for those things to operate and to do so safely, so that people can continue to participate in athletics and continue to work, while at the same time, continue to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.”

Public gatherings Moe said, “All indoor public gatherings will be limited to 30 people. This includes all types of social gatherings, including weddings, funerals, as well as worship services. No food or drink maybe present or served at these events, and capacity will also be restricted to 30 people at all casinos bingo halls, arenas live performance venues and movie theatres, as well as any other facilities that currently have the capacity of up to 150 people.” He noted that private gatherings in your home are still limited to five people. Restaurants, bars and night clubs will not be shut down, but they will have to space out indoor clientele even more, with limits of four people per table, and three metres between tables unless they have barriers installed, in which case two metres is sufficient.

Sports All team/group sports, activities, games, competitions, recitals, practices, etc. are suspended, according to the release on Nov. 25. This includes amateur and recreational leagues for all age groups. Examples include hockey, curling, racquet sports, cheerleading, dance practices in group setting, etc.

“All team sports are going to be paused until Dec. 17,” Moe said. “However, athletes under the age of 18 may continue practicing or training in groups of eight or fewer.”

Masks strengthened Mask use is now required for all indoor fitness activities, except for swimming. Individual and group fitness activities can continue, but with three metre spacings and limits of eight people in a group. “All students, employees and visitors in schools and daycares are now required to wear a mask, except when they need to eat or drink. And mask use is now required in all common areas of businesses and workplaces,” Moe said. Children ages zero to two years-old are exempt from wearing masks. Children ages 3-12 should wear a mask if they are able to. All employees and visitors in all common areas in businesses and workplaces, even in those areas which the public does not have access (e.g. construction sites, manufacturing facilities). “Large retail stores, must limit their capacity to 50 per cent or four square meters per person, whichever is less,” Moe said.

Sports led to school, work infections Shahab explained the reasoning behind the sports restrictions, saying that the nature of play always has a risk of transmission, even if you follow all the guidelines. “But over the last two to three weeks, they were becoming so frequent, and many cases, they were resulting in, for example, in children’s sports, multiple cases then being imported into schools. For adult sports, multiple cases and became imported into workplaces. So, it was really important to

GIVE G IVE THE THE GIFT GIFT OF OF

SPARKLE! TOUCHLESS T OUCHLESS C CAR AR W WASH ASH 5 P PACKS ACKS 3 PACKS PACK PACK PA CKS TO OC CHOOSE HO H OO OS SE FROM FR ROM M

REGULAR RE R EGU ULAR LA AR

PREMIUM P PR RE EM MIUM IU UM

$44.95 $ 44.95

EXTREME E EX XT TR REM EME

$49.95 $ 49.95

$57.45 $ 57.45

ADD THE GIFT OF SPARKLING CLEAN TO YOUR STOCKING STUFFERS, CHRISTMAS GIFTS OR TREAT YOURSELF!

AVAILABLE AV VA AIILA L BL B E UNTIL UNTI UN TIL DECEMBER DEECE D EC CEEMB EMB MBER 31, 31, 2020 202 020 0 AT AT

LLEGACY EGACY C CO-OP O-OP C-STORES C-STORES 1110 10 0 PA PALLISER ALLLI LLIISER ER WAY WA W AY

YORKTON Y YO OR RK KTO TON

305 3 05 BR B BROAD BROADWAY ROAD ADWAY AD WAY A WE WEST W EST ST T 695 95 5 NY N NYKOLAISHEN YK YKOL KO KOL OLA O AIIIS AIS SHE HEN E DR. DR. DR

YORKTON YO Y OR ORK RK KTO ON

KAMSACK KA K AMS MSAC CK

Screen capture from Government of Saskatchewan Facebook page

Premier Scott Moe, left, appeared by video from his home in Shellbrook, 10 days into a 14-day self-isolation after possible exposure to COVID-19 at a Prince Albert restaurant. Dr. Saqib Shahab was on the right. have that pause for three weeks to slow down transmission in that setting.” Once cases come down, Shahab said the guidelines may be adjusted again. Moe explained how these particular restrictions were chosen, saying, “It would be great if we could just pinpoint or two venues or one or two activities where this spread is occurring, and just restrict those zones. But the reality is, it’s COVID, it’s in our communities, and it has been spreading in a number of different places, both inside and outside of our homes, and that’s why we need to enact a number of different measures to get our numbers under control.” As for why the restrictions didn’t go further, such as a complete shutdown, lockdown or circuit breaker, similar to what was done in the spring, Moe said, “We do understand this virus better than we did back in the spring. We do know more about how it is spread. And we know what we need to do to reduce the spread of this virus, to keep ourselves and keep others safe. We need to just slow down a little bit.

“The overwhelming majority of Saskatchewan businesses and their employees in this province are operating safely, day to day. So, it would be terribly unfair, and it would have a huge negative impact, to close down all those businesses and put thousands of Saskatchewan people out of work. Yes, that is what we did, temporarily, this past spring. We took a very sweeping, broad brush approach to shutting down businesses, services and activities in our communities,” he said, adding, “But we don’t believe the solution is another wide-scale lockdown. Moe said, “Putting thousands of Saskatchewan people out of work, devastating small businesses and families, ending their livelihoods in many cases; a much better approach for us is to find the right balance; to find ways for us to operate and to do so even more safely than we have. By ensuring, yes, we are following all the existing guidelines that are in place. And by implementing some additional protocols so businesses and services can remain open and can do so safely.” Moe said, “We’re not

prepared to look at a shutdown of our economy, in our communities, at this point in time, and we don’t believe it’s imminent that we will have to do a shutdown, here in the province. But, in saying that, if we’re not able to bend the growth and rate of transmission of this disease, obviously, that is a conversation that may come in the weeks and months ahead.” He said the actions taken thus far, and those added today, will hopefully not only flatten the rate of increase of infections, but bend that curve back down. He thanked the business, athletic and worship organizations that took part in recent consultations with regards to these measures. Both Moe and Shahab held out some hope that some restrictions might be lifted in time for the upcoming holidays. One possibility might be some allowable visits to longterm care homes, with multiple levels of personal protective equipment, but we’re not at that point in time, yet. The Ministry of Health is now posting a listing of outbreaks in long-term care homes on the Government of Saskatchewan website.

USask researchers lead national project to eliminate cervical cancer in Canada By USask Research Profile and Impact S A S K AT O O N – University of Saskatchewan (USask) researchers will play a lead role in a $1.6-million Urban Public Health Network (UPHN)-led national research project to help eliminate cervical cancer in Canada by 2040. Almost all cervical cancer is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), a viral infection that is the most common sexually transmitted infection. While HPV vaccination programs in schools can help prevent cervical cancer, vaccination rates across Canada vary widely—from 60 to 90 per cent. “To eliminate cervical cancer, we need to aim for at least 90 per cent immunization rates right across the country,” said USask researcher Dr. Cory Neudorf, who is president of UPHN, which comprises the medical health officers of Canada’s largest urban centres. With funding from the

Dr. Cory Neudorf Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) and in partnership with the Public Health Physicians of Canada and the Rural Remote and Northern Public Health Network, UPHN has been commissioned to collect data on vaccination rates across Canada and to assess barriers to vaccination in local regions of the provinces. “This new national partnership will help move Canada closer towards the HPV immunization targets laid out in Canada’s action plan

to eliminate cervical cancer,” said Neudorf, a faculty member in community health and epidemiology at the USask College of Medicine who is also a consulting medical health officer with the Saskatchewan Health Authority. This week, USask signed a collaboration agreement to formally host UPHN projects, starting with the CPAC cervical cancer project which draws Health Canada funds. “We aim to determine the various reasons people have for not being immunized against the virus, particularly among lower income groups, new immigrants, Indigenous populations or those living in remote areas where vaccination rates seem to be lower,” said Neudorf. “We know there are challenges around access to vaccination, such as accessibility of clinics or school-based delivery and staff shortages, as well as misconceptions about vaccine safety, vaccine refusal, cultural Continued on page A15


Yorkton This Week | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Wednesday, December 2, 2020

A13

Amazon is useless due to rampant knockoffs I am going to trash talk Amazon for a bit. One of the great things about brick and mortar is that you can go in and see, in person, the items you want to buy. One of the worst things about online shopping is when someone’s clearly trying to sell you something that looks very similar to what you want to buy, but is a knockoff. The knockoffs are often cheaper - but inexplicably not always cheaper and are always of incredibly poor quality. Amazon’s marketplace is at the forefront of these cheap, useless knockoffs. This is a problem for consumers. People are shopping online a lot lately because they don’t particularly want

to either contract or spread COVID-19 - a parking lot full of unfamiliar plates might give you pause and make you retreat to the nearest computer this year - so there’s a tendency to just go online instead of going out. While there are plenty of local businesses who have an online option right now - and I’m growing to love curbside pickup as a result - people will naturally navigate towards the big monolith in order to pick up their non-essentials. And they will get garbage. It’s irritating even if you just use the site for research. Reviews on products that look like what you actually want are mostly talking about how they’re knockoffs and the traditional fail-

DEVIN WILGER

Thinking I do with words... ings of knockoffs - poor quality control, misleading marketing and so on. Not particularly useful if you want to know if the product does what it says it does on the box. You don’t get any clue about the general price range, because the manufacturer isn’t actually suggesting the retail price here. For people who tend to plan Christmas shopping at 1:00 a.m. - it’s when I get

my best ideas and you have to be efficient in real life in 2020 - this tends to be less than helpful. This is also a problem for legitimate businesses. Let’s say I find a set of utensils for a suspiciously cheap price on Amazon. Sure, spoons will all bend in a week and the knives won’t cut butter, but they’re cheap. Then a store selling quality utensils has

a problem, because there’s a perception that what they’re selling should be much cheaper. The brands getting knocked off gain the perception that their products use low-quality materials and are poorly made, when they’re actually not. You quickly realize how important it is for a business to curate their stock when you encounter one that functions on the idea that this curation doesn’t matter. You see a pile of products that are superficially what you want or need, but in reality not something that you would ever actually want in your home. It shouldn’t take an in depth look at reviews and 20 minutes of research just to hopefully buy a shower cur-

tain that isn’t made mostly of lies. I don’t want to think about a shower curtain, I especially don’t want to do in-depth research on a shower curtain. I suggest just avoiding Amazon. Nothing they sell can’t be purchased elsewhere, and most of the time other stores will have the actual product you want. If it’s a local place, you’re actually paying the wage of someone you know who is putting in a lot of effort to succeed, instead of a con artist who is trying to make a quick buck dropshipping poorly made shower curtains or something. Shop local campaigns are really missing that vital information - it’s way harder to get ripped off.

Hort. Society AGM was Zoom affair At this time, there are no Yorkton and District Horticultural Society meetings scheduled yet, but visit us at www. yorktonhort.ca to keep up with what’s happening! We recently had our AGM on Zoom; now that is a historical “first” for the group! That’s quite a journey from the first flower show in 1907, to giving prizes of flour and sugar to winning flower show entries in the 1940’s, to having our Flower Show online, and now having our AGM online as well! As GreatGrammie always said, you never stop learning, and our group is certainly doing its best to learn and change with the times! Thank you to John, our great webmaster, who set everything up for the AGM and guided us, and to everyone who bravely took part, even if we weren’t sure how to do so! You’re all great sports and fearless gardeners! At this time of year, we are always eager to

try growing bulbs in the house, to bring a burst of blooms in the coming darkest part of winter. You may have seen “paperwhite” bulbs in the stores. Paperwhites are actually narcissus papyraceus, a beautiful and fragrant flower that originally called the Mediterranean home. Narcissus got their name from Greek mythology. Once upon a time, there was an amazingly handsome young man named Narcissus. Though he had no trouble with the girls falling in love with him, he never fell in love with anyone in return until one fateful day. He was dazzled and swept off his feet… when he saw his own reflection in a pool of water! No doubt he knelt there, turning his head this way and that, admiring himself. But he was so smitten with his reflection that he stayed there, gazing at himself, not eating or drinking, until he finally died. Legend has it that his beautiful dead body

DEBBIE HAYWARD YORKTON AND DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY

Gardener’s Notebook turned into the flowers we know as narcissus. Cousins of daffodils, narcissus is easy to grow indoors from bulbs. They do not have to be chilled ahead of time, we just have to plant them in the container provided, and in about four weeks we’ll have the beautiful delicate paperwhite flowers gracing our homes. If we keep them out of direct sunlight, with more filtered light, the blooms will last longer. They grow fairly tall (to about eighteen inches), with clusters of white flowers at the top of each stem, and long, narrow leaves. If we want to be sure that they don’t start flopping

double or triple dose of fragrance. I remember an event that we attended once, and there were bouquets of star-gazer lilies on display. They were breathtaking to look at but my goodness, the scent was absolutely overpowering, and not in a good way! So you can decide about paperwhites, but you certainly won’t be disappointed by the floral show they present! Thank you to our friends at Yorkton This Week for their wonderful work. Let’s pray for health for all and brighter times ahead. Have a great week!

CLARENCE CAMPEAU DEVELOPMENT FUND Financing Métis Entrepreneurs. Investing in Saskatchewan.

SNOW SNOW BLOW BLOW GO GO

Scan here

over we can add a slim bamboo stake at the edge of the pot and tie them gently. They don’t mind cooler temperatures, but we should keep them away from drafts. They would make a very pretty and elegant tabletop vignette with the

container set in the middle of sprays of spruce branches and pinecones and silver Christmas balls. The only thing to remember is that they are very fragrant. Very fragrant! If your nose is sensitive to too much fragrance, you might want to choose another kind of bulb, unless you can put them in a far corner where you can still see them but only get wafts of them from a distance. You may find them too much of a good thing. It’s amazing how some beautiful flowers like certain lilies, hyacinths, and paperwhites have a

Y A W A E GIV

Enter to win a

26 SNOW BLOWER Or Go to: https://bit.ly/LegacySnowBlowGo

TOTAL Retail Value $1399.99 Giveaway Ends December 9, 2020 at 11:59 PM Yorkton | Churchbridge | Theodore

Legacy

clarencecampeau.com | Toll-Free 1-888-657-4870


Kaleidoscope

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 www.yorktonthisweek.com

A14

ART • ENTERTAINMENT • COMMUNITY

From The Ashes finds hope through education By Devin Wilger Staff Writer Author Jesse Thistle’s life has been difficult, but he wants to use it to show problems that go beyond himself. His book From The Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless and Finding My Way, recounts his life, from a difficult childhood and abuse, through drug addiction and homelessness, into the present, where he is a Trudeau Scholar, researcher, Assistant Professor in Métis Studies at York University in Toronto and the National Representative for Indigenous Homelessness for the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. He spoke via Zoom at the Yorkton Public Library’s recent Book Talk. The book recounts Thistle’s life and experience, but he said it’s about more than that. “I really wanted it to be a testimonial to what institutions do to Indigenous people. Institutions like [Children’s Aid Society], courts, the justice systems, our homeless sector. All of these, and more, I came in contact with. I didn’t really come out of it unscathed. They didn’t really work the same for me as they did the rest of the population, so I wanted to show that. To show that I needed to be frank and honest, not pull punches and show what it’s like,” said Thistle. The goal is not only to recount his life, but to educate people on what different institutions can do to people like him, people who are from an Indigenous background. “They will say “it’s the different institutions and apparati of colonialism that have suppressed our Indigenous people” but they don’t actually give you anything specific. I did the exact opposite. I showed you specific moments of racism, of state care not working, of the courts suspecting me as a murder suspect when I did the right thing as a young Native man, and how they just don’t work for us, they don’t work in the same way. On top of that, I showed how colonialism, and the various arms of it, feel. What it feels like to go through CAS as a kid who is scooped from their home, and end up in a different city where there’s no explanation as to why we are where we are, why my mom and dad aren’t around. I tried to show that, I think it’s more impactful than me trying to lecture on the issue of colonialism and different things that impact us. I’m just going to show you my journey.” An example of this is what happened after he was scooped from his dad’s care. He ended up being raised by his white grandparents, instead of by his Métis mother in Saskatoon. While the book doesn’t explain this, he wants the reader to wonder why they didn’t send him to his mother. “They made the decision that I would be safer far off in a different province, far from my family, rather than living with my mom.” A major part of the book deals with identity, specifically Thistle’s identity as a Métis man from the road allowance communities near Prince Albert. He said it took him until his mid-30s to understand and become proud of his history, but that it was that which helped him overcome his addictions and helped him build his career. “We’re actually Michif resistance fighters who stood up what they believed in, and fought right to the end. I’m damn proud of that, I’m damn proud of families who stood up for what they believed in and fought for their land and territory… Me connecting with my heritage was actually going back and really unearthing what happened to my ancestors as well as deconstructing

Jesse Thistle the myths that are in Canadian public history about the Métis and the Cree. Through that process I became very proud of who I am,” Thistle said. “All of the imagery that’s given to us about Indigeneity or Indigenous men or women is all negative. They’re all stereotypical caricatures of what an Indigenous person is. Either we’re drunk or criminal, we’re thieves, all of these things. Because I didn’t have any positive person there to show me what being Indigenous was, I absorbed all of these negative stereotypes that were around me. I picked them up, almost like pieces, and built myself an identity that was almost framed around a toxic warrior identity. It was like a bricolage, a Frankenstein identity… It’s no wonder I ended up living out all of these stereotypes in real life, because I had internalized them growing up. So, to get better, I had to undo those stereotypes, and replace them with what I know now about Indigeneity, that I learned through school and research. It was really central to getting better, living a sober life, and contributing in a good way.” A memoir that tracks both Thistle’s childhood and his life through addictions, he had to research himself, looking through old records and talking to family to help reconstruct his life. “I had to go back and look at my full RCMP record, court records, I had to go back and talk to my probation officer. I didn’t like the person that I saw, I’ll tell you that. So much time and distance had passed from my old life… A lot of it was different from how I remembered it, especially around the police records, they had written things in a way that was different from how I

remembered it, and when I went around and talked to other people about that, I was informed that police write down what gets a conviction, they don’t write down the truth. They’re going to write down what gets an arrest, so that’s why some of my memories differed. It was a different season in my life I guess, I don’t see myself as that person anymore. A lot of coming to terms with who I actually was, and where I am now. It gave me a really good perspective on why I’m sober, why I’m in a loving relationship with my wife, so in that way it gave me clarity.” But addictions

aren’t kind to memory, and Thistle said there were gaps, especially surrounding the robbery which landed him in prison. “There was like a year or two missing from my memory, just because of the nature of addiction. I wish I could remember more, but I wrote down what I could.” Now his job is a historian, and he’s researching Métis history. He admits that while he’s supposed to be objective as a historian, he said that he threw

out objectivity and focused on his family history, who his people are and how they fit into the narrative of Canada. “With that real subjective type of research came a closeness and a real fire or drive to study more. I’m not reading about some historical figure, I’m reading about my kokum or mooshum, or my three-times great-grandfather signing a treaty, or the battle of Batoche and all my ancestors who fought there. It added a colour and a life to the history that actually gave me the edge over everyone else. They had that objectivity but they didn’t have that passion, where for me it’s all driven by that passion.” One of the things Thistle discovered was that he spoke Michif as a small child, but is unable to anymore, and he said it’s not just a loss for him personally. “It’s excruciating because there aren’t too many Michif speakers anymore. It was a very special time period and people in Canada’s history, and there is a part of me that hasn’t grieved that, and part of me will never fully grieve, because we were just choked out, and made extinct by the state. That was a conscious thing that they did to us. To be the last of your people, in a way, to be able to hold that cultural knowledge and then it’s gone, it’s fleeting, I don’t even have words to describe that. It would be like the last Canadian playing the last game of hockey and then forgetting how to play hockey. How do you put that into words? It’s just so sad and pitiful. What makes it even sadder is that in our area of Saskatchewan around P.A., we had our own specific dialect, and that’s virtually gone now. There are other Michif speakers, from around Yorkton there used to be a community around

Winnipeg, but they’re not our Michif. To know that I spoke that breaks my heart.” There have been mixed reactions from Thistle’s family. His mother points to it when she comes across the book in a store, proudly telling people it was written by her son. His brother Josh has used it to help as he went through therapy, by showing his therapist to help with issues he hasn’t been able to vocalize, to help him heal from his own PTSD and addictions. “To help contribute to my brother’s health like that, it’s the greatest gift I could have.” His 13 year-old niece has told him that he’s inspired her to write stories herself. “What’s kind of remarkable is that she believes she can be a writer because I’m a writer. As you know from my story, I couldn’t really read properly until I was in my 30’s, and I definitely wasn’t proud of being Indigenous at her age. For her to have both of those things, it made the whole process worth it.” On the other hand, his brother Jerry, who Thistle said might be the hero of the book, doesn’t like that it’s out in the world and that his family history is there for people to see. “Really, I think it’s sibling rivalry… But that happens with families, right? Whenever you write a memoir, if you’re going to write one, know that it’s like throwing a bomb into your family living room on Christmas.” Now that the book is out there, Thistle admits that it’s strange to have it out in the world, and he hopes that people who read the book can understand what he wanted to say. “That’s a weird feeling, to trust people, to go through the emotions of your life. But it’s out there now, and I look at it like a piece of art, it doesn’t belong to me anymore. I’m not saying my work is like the Mona Lisa, but it’s like the Mona Lisa, Leonardo Da Vinci couldn’t come back and fix it, everybody would be ‘hey, don’t fix that, this is ours now!’ That’s kind of what the story is taking on. I’m trusting you to digest the story and how I intended it to land,” said Thistle. He said that when he wrote the book, he didn’t think anyone would read it, because it is about a guy doing drugs on the streets. But since it has hope, and that it is also about that same guy finding love and trust, and salvation through education, he can understand why people want to read it. He also said that he’s surprised by how it has changed his life, and more importantly, dramatically changed how people perceive him. “I think it’s strange, the same people who buy my book, some of them are the same people I would try to bum change off of in Ottawa, and they’d walk over top of me. Now they’re all crowding to hear my story. Literally, I had politicians I knew then step over me, and these are the same politicians that I go keynote speeches to and educate about Indigenous homelessness. If that’s not the Creator at work, I don’t know what is. Totally inverted the power there.” Thistle is writing his next book now, writing about his great uncle Ron, who was a professional bank robber in Toronto in the 1970’s. He said that his life story is way more adventurous, but it’ll be a fictionalized version of it. “He was involved with some pretty heavy dudes and I don’t want to get in trouble with those guys!” They’re also currently in the process of making a miniseries based on From the Ashes, though he notes that they’re very early so it will be a long way away from filming.


Yorkton This Week | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Shine your Christmas light The lights of Christmas feel especially needed this very dark year; this COVID-19 year most people say they can’t wait to leave behind. But take hope: we will surely leave it behind, for every year in the history of the world has ended. So has every pandemic. I like the blue Christmas lights best. They speak to me of stars in a black velvet sky, or the merry twinkle in my daughter’s eyes when she laughs. But I only had one string of blue ones and they’re hard to match, should I try to find more. My son-in-law seemed happy to give the lights a home on the fence beside the chicken

coop. Instead of blue, we outlined the front porch with several strings of bright white twinklers, nestled among a scraggly pine garland. Not grand, compared to some other homes, but even a candle pokes a hole in darkness. Sheepdog Cash and I meandered down Eighth Avenue last evening. As we walked, I delighted in the lights at those other houses—multiple strings, icicles, angels, reindeer and gloriously lit archways. Then a thought stopped me mid-stride, right near the weeping birch with tiny shooting stars clear to the top. I wonder, came the thought, clear as a

KATHLEEN GIBSON Sunny Side Up has inspired readers of faith since 2001. Read more at www.kathleengibson.ca or reach Kathleen at sunnysideup.press@gmail.com

Sunny Side Up Christmas bell...I wonder if those people, or those or those or those.... any of those displaying the lights that cheer me so...I wonder if they know why we hang lights at Christmas. If they know the true Light of Christmas; Jesus, Light of the World.

During the decade we lived in Ebenezer, our family participated in the annual Christmas Eve service at the local Baptist church. Greeters welcomed guests warmly and handed each person a small unlit candle. Some of us came just for the tradition of those

candles. After the carols and readings, the sanctuary lights dimmed to almost complete darkness— though not darkness for long. As the congregation sang Silent Night, ushers walked down the aisles lighting the candles held by the people at the end of the pews. That person passed the flame to the next, and the next and the next, until the sanctuary glowed, a pincushion of light points cradled on velvet. “Silent night, holy night,� we sang, recalling the night of Christ’s birth, when the creator of Light, God himself, robed as an infant human, slipped into our cosmos, black

A15

with sin and sadness. “The people living in darkness have seen a great light, “ Luke wrote (4:16) quoting Old Testament prophet Isaiah. “On those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.� As never before in most of our lives, during this pandemic period, Christ-followers must cling to the Light of the World. But let’s also find creative ways to share his life, light and love with those who find their way sad and lonely. Let’s remind each other that the darkness that surrounds us now can’t destroy God’s light. All it does is make it easier to see.

Get your animal tested for chronic wasting disease With hunting season winding down, hunters are reminded to get their animals tested for chronic wasting disease (CWD). Eighty-four cases of CWD have already been identified in the province this year. CWD is a fatal, infectious central nervous system disease in cervids (deer, elk, moose and caribou) that has no

known cure. The information collected through head submission by hunters is vital to understanding how the disease is impacting wildlife populations in Saskatchewan. “Despite the challenges and changes we’ve all had to face in 2020, more than 1,300 heads have already been sub-

mitted as part of the ministry’s voluntary CWD surveillance program,� Environment Minister Warren Kaeding said. “Identifying the presence and spread of CWD in the province will help guide the development of disease management plans.� Hunters in wildlife management zones

(WMZs) 2W, 9, 10, 35 and 37 are asked to submit mule deer and whitetailed deer heads for testing. However, free testing is available for all cervid species harvested in any WMZ in the province. Research suggests that CWD impacts in some parts of North America are resulting in

decreased survival rates, and population decline in mule deer. Although no human case of CWD has ever been identified, the province recommends that hunters avoid eating the meat until they receive their test results. In addition, hunters are strongly urged not to eat, or distribute for human

consumption, the meat or other parts from animals that are found to be CWDpositive. The last day to drop off animal heads for testing is January 21, 2021. For a complete list of drop-off sites and information on how to submit a sample for testing, visit www.saskatchewan.ca/ CWD.

USask post-doctoral fellow at the JohnsonShoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, will work with graduate students on the UPHNled project. Computer scientist Nate Osgoode and a graduate student will analyze relevant social media. Nine staff will be hired to work on data analysis and collection in local health departments across Canada. “USask is excited to host the UPHN network and research projects,� said USask Associate Vice-President Research Darcy Marciniuk. “This

gives the university primary access to the UPHN network of public health practitioners for population health research, including student placements with UPHN member sites at public health units in major cities across Canada.� UPHN (www.uphn. ca), a registered nonprofit with an office in the College of Medicine, is currently applying for funding to set up a “national public health observatory� at USask where urban public health data can be accessed by researchers across the country.

USASK RESEARCHERS Continued from page A12 beliefs, and health literacy. But we need to determine to what extent these factors are playing out across the country and also determine how certain regions have achieved better coverage than others so that we can learn from different approaches.� At the end of the twoyear project, the group will make specific recommendations to guide government funding and changes to program delivery. The World Health Organization has set the goal of eliminating cer-

vical cancer worldwide this century. Canada’s Minister of Health Patty Hadju has committed the country to doing its part through a national strategy led by CPAC. Priorities of the action plan include vaccination of boys and girls against HPV, a shift to primary HPV screening in cervical screening programs (rather than Pap smears), and ensuring appropriate follow-up when abnormalities are identified. New technology to enable convenient HPV self-testing at home is also being explored. First Nations, Inuit and

MĂŠtis peoples are collaborating to develop priorities and actions for their groups. “A combination of higher vaccination rates and greater screening for HPV will get us to the target and help save lives,â€? said Neudorf. Amanda Niebergall, a 32-year-old pre-school teacher, is a Regina cervical cancer survivor who underwent chemotherapy, radiation and brachytherapy (an internal form of radiation therapy) in 2018, and radiation and chemotherapy again in 2020. She now provides advice

to CPAC as a member of the organization’s elimination of cervical cancer implementation group. “The action plan focuses on HPV immunization, early screening and detection, and making sure you get your cervical screening tests,� she said. “If you feel something is wrong, push and get those tests. If you need a second opinion, get a second opinion.� Thilina Bandara, a USask adjunct professor of community health and epidemiology and UPHN research scientist, and Charles Plante,

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL CHURCH TO CONFIRM EVENTS DUE TO COVID - 19 PRAIRIE HARVEST CHRISTIAN LIFE CENTRE

Destiny International Christian Assembly

.FMSPTF "WFOVF r 1)0/& Senior Pastors Des & Cheryl Klingspon &NQMPZNFOU 1SPHSBN

Establishing Ministries and Releasing Destinies

Online Sunday Worship Service 10:30 a.m will be on our Facebook page

&WFSZ 4VOEBZ 8PSTIJQ 4FSWJDF BU B N &WFSZ 8FEOFTEBZ #JCMF 4UVEZ BU Q N -BTU 'SJEBZ PG FBDI NPOUI 1SBZFS .FFUJOH BU Q N 'PS NPSF JOGPSNBUJPO QMFBTF QIPOF

t $POUFNQPSBSZ 8PSTIJQ t $IJMESFO T .JOJTUSZ t :PVUI .JOJTUSZ phclc.org “Changing our world with the love of God.�

)PMZ 5SBOTGJHVSBUJPO 6LSBJOJBO 0SUIPEPY $IVSDI #SBECSPPLF %SJWF :PSLUPO 4, 4 / : 'BUIFS .JDIBFM 'BSZOB

8F IBWF SFTVNFE $IVSDI 4FSWJDFT 4VOEBZ %FDFNCFS UI %JWJOF -JUVSHZ 10:00am

Free Pentecostal Church #3"%#300,& "7& Pastor E. Richardson

Services: r 4VOEBZ B N Q N r 8FEOFTEBZ Q N Listen to CJGX Radio every Sunday at 8:45 a.m.

109 Maple Avenue, Yorkton Senior Pastors Dag & Bukky Lawale

“A Place of New Beginnings�

4U .BSL 5IF &WBOHFMJTU 0SUIPEPY $IVSDI 160 Betts Ave, Yorkton, Sask “Services In English� www.stmarkyorkton.ca

Saturday Dec 5th - Vespers 6:00 PM Sunday December 6th Divine Liturgy 10:00 AM Limited space due to Covid-19, call to confirm attendance

8FTUWJFX 6OJUFE $IVSDI #SBECSPPLF %SJWF XXX XFTUWJFX DB r

Please call by Thursday noon to sign up for worship. 8F MM TBWF B TFBU GPS ZPV

/08 01&/ 4FSNPO 3FW %FCPSBI 4NJUI

4U .BSZ T 6LSBJOJBO $BUIPMJD $IVSDI $"5)&3*/& 453&&5 $POEVDUFE CZ 6LSBJOJBO 3FEFNQUPSJTU 'BUIFST 1IPOF PS

Saturday Q N &OHMJTI Sunday B N 6LSBJOJBO B N &OHMJTI

Priest: Rodion Luciuk Phone: 306-786-6216 Cell: 306-621-5341

SICK CALLS ANYTIME—BAPTISM AND MARRIAGE BY APPOINTMENT

St. Andrew’s United Church

Church of God in Christ

4&$0/% "7&/6& "/% 4.*5) 453&&5 0''*$& MINISTER REV. JEN DRESSER

8FCTJUF IUUQ XXX TUBOESFXTZPSLUPO DB 'BDFCPPL 4U "OESFX T 6OJUFE $IVSDI

.&//0/*5& "5 4"-5$0"54 1BTUPS -BVSFM 8JFCF ‡ 1BTUPS 5JN 8BSLFOUJO ‡

Sunday Services are being held on Zoom (landline/cell phone or online), 'BDFCPPL BOE :PV5VCF "MM TFSWJDFT DBO BMTP CF WJFXFE UISPVHI 'BDFCPPL BOE :PV5VCF BU B MBUFS EBUF BT XFMM 1MFBTF DIFDL PVU PVS XFCTJUF TUBOESFXTZPSLUPO DB GPS GVSUIFS JOGPSNBUJPO PS DBMM UIF DIVSDI PGGJDF BU $ISJTUNBT &WF 4FSWJDF %FDFNCFS XJMM CF IFME BU Q N UISPVHI ;PPN 'BDFCPPL BOE :PV5VCF /P XPSTIJQ TFSWJDF PO %FDFNCFS BOE +BOVBSZ

"MM TFSWJDFT BOE BDUJWJUJFT BSF DBODFMMFE VOUJM GVSUIFS OPUJDF 1MFBTF DPOUBDU 1BTUPS -BVSFM PS 1BTUPS 5JN GPS GVSUIFS JORVJSJFT

.BZ UIF KPZ BOE QFBDF PG $ISJTUNBT CF XJUI ZPV BMM UISPVHI UIF :FBS 8JTIJOH ZPV B TFBTPO PG CMFTTJOHT GSPN )FBWFO BCPWF )BQQZ $ISJTUNBT

EVERYONE WELCOME

Vulnerability “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.� --Psalm 32:5


Sports

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 www.yorktonthisweek.com

A16

Hockey pioneer Fred Sasakamoose passes away at age 86 from COVID-19 Sam Laskaris Local Journalism Initiative Reporter (Windspeaker.com) Indigenous hockey pioneer Fred Sasakamoose died Tuesday afternoon. Sasakamoose was long considered the first Indigenous player to suit up for a National Hockey League squad. Sasakamoose, from Ahtakakoop Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, played 11 games for the Chicago Blackhawks during the 1953-54 season. In recent years, information surfaced that several other players, whose Indigenous ancestry was previously not reported, had played in the NHL before Sasakamoose. Since then Sasakamoose had been listed as the NHL’s first First Nations player from Canada that had treaty status. Sasakamoose was admitted to a Prince Albert hospital late last week. His son Neil confirmed via a Facebook post that his father, who was 86, was wheezing and feeling shortness of breath. He was presumed to have COVID-19, which was later confirmed by a

positive test. Neil Sasakamoose also announced his father’s death via a live Facebook stream on Tuesday. “Fred passed away at 3 o’clock Saskatchewan time,” Neil Sasakamoose said. “I just want to thank everyone for everything you’ve done.” The elder Sasakamoose was sent hundreds and hundreds of messages and videos of support from members of the public while he was in hospital. Sasakamoose spent the past five days in hospital. “The COVID virus did so much damage into his lungs,” his son said. “He just couldn’t keep responding. His body just couldn’t keep up.” The younger Sasakamoose said his father was talkative and told him two hours before his death that he thought he was feeling great but that he was also tired. At that point Neil Sasakamoose sensed his father’s death was near and offered his own advice. “If you’re getting tired and you’re getting beat up and your body is fighting you, go ahead and you

go,” he said. Neil Sasakamoose again thanked those who sent inspirational messages to his father. “He wanted to thank everyone for what they did,” he said. “He was able to see most of the videos that people sent in.” Neil Sasakamoose said his mother is currently in isolation and his sisters are in lockdown. He offered his thoughts on what others should be doing. “We’re two months away from a vaccine,” he said. “Everyone just bear down. Listen to your chiefs. Let them do what they have to do. Listen to your mayors. Listen to your premiers. Listen to the prime minister. Listen to the other party. Just listen and comply for awhile. We’re going to get a vaccine soon and we’re going to get back to normal.” Neil Sasakamoose was visibly upset with the news he was sharing. “I don’t get that chance anymore,” he said. “My father is going to miss it by two months.” Sasakamoose also voiced his displeasure with those who are not

I have to say one of the most pleasing things in life is picking up a book, reading it, and finding that it delivered a better story than anticipated. That was certainly my experience with One Game At a Time from Harnarayan Singh. Harnarayan might not be a household name but if you are a hockey fan in Canada, you are

likely aware of him as the voice of Hockey Night in Punjabi which broadcasts games in the Punjabi language. To start I have to say that just having National Hockey League games broadcast in a language other than English, or French seems to me a very Canadian thing to do, or at least it shows a better side of this coun-

try, a Canada that is at its best as an open and accepting community. So delving into a book, which looks at the birth and growth of the broadcast through the eyes of someone who has been at centre stage as play-byplay announcer for most of the years, is pretty interesting on the merits of the significance of the broadcast.

Fred Sasakamoose when he visited the Yorkton Hyundai Terriers. taking the virus seriously. “If you have any sincerity about other people, just keep quiet about the way you talk about anti-masking and all that,” he said. “I lost a father now. We lose a grandparent and a parent just because of stubbornness and silliness and selfishness.” Sasakamoose said another Indigenous hockey legend from

Saskatchewan, Bryan Trottier, a seven-time Stanley Cup champion, called him about an hour before his father’s death looking for him to connect him to the elder Sasakamoose. Besides being an Indigenous hockey role model, Fred Sasakamoose was also perhaps more importantly an even better person. “He never believed

in racism,” he said. “He never believed in hate. He believed in listening to what professionals have to say. He had some good, good strengths that old guy. He believed in his culture, his language, his people. He believed in us getting along with non-Native people, races around the world. He believed in a lot of good qualities in what we should be striving for.”

Book provides insights beyond hockey

Letters - TO -

Santa

Are you a Legacy Co-op Kids Club member? Would you like to know what o get Santa and his elves have been doing to ready for Christmas? We invite all Kid’s Club Members to write a letter to Santa, and drop it off in one ne of dge, our special mail boxes in our Churchbridge, Kamsack or Yorkton food stores and wee will ensure Santa gets them and writes you u back. Since Santa is so busy, he will need to have the letters sent to him by December er 5, 2020.

Legacy

CALVIN DANIELS

Sports Anything that grows the sport of hockey and contributes to making the game and the country more inclusive is a positive. But the book is also a memoir for Harnarayan and he is more than the TV play-by-play guy who happens to call games in Punjabi. Now I will admit this guy has been hockey crazy most of his life, as info on his book notes. “Growing up in small-town Alberta, Harnarayan was like many other kids who dreamed about a life within the sanctum of the game they idolized. There was only one small difference -- he didn’t look like any of the other kids. And when he sat down on Saturday nights to tune in to Hockey Night in Canada with the rest of the nation, he couldn’t ignore the fact that the broadcasters or analysts didn’t look like him either. Undeterred, Harnarayan worked his way from calling imaginary hockey games with his plastic toy microphone as a child, to funding secret flights from Calgary to Toronto every weekend in the early days of Hockey Night in Punjabi, to making history as the first Sikh to broadcast an NHL game in English.” I asked Harnarayan if the move to broadcast

sports in non-French and English languages might grow. “I think it’s on a sportby-sport basis,” he said, but added there would seem to be opportunities out there if basketball, baseball and others sports want to pursue them.

Harnarayan Singh While noting than Punjabi is the third most spoken language in Canada, he reminded Hockey Night In Canada has broadcast games in Italian, Manadarin and others over the years. In Los Angeles and Las Vegas there are Spanish broadcasts of NHL games. But, for sports that do take the leap, it is “a way to grow the game,” offered Harnarayan. It comes down to having the demographics to support the initiative, and of course the will to go down that path, sug-

gested Harnarayan. But there is more to Harnarayan than hockey, including a close connection to his faith as a Sikh. I will be the first to admit I knew only the most basic of information about Sikhism, and while Harnarayan never veers into becoming preachy about his faith, including tidbits on why they do not cut their hair, the significance of the turban and how volunteerism is a huge concept in their community was really what made this book stand out for me. In a chat with Harnarayan he said his faith has always been a huge influence, but not one he had shared widely, but when it came to writing a memoir “you want to tell completely who you are.” So in the book his faith and hockey naturally came out together. “It was an opportunity to talk about both of these aspects of my life,” he said. Now that the book is out Harnarayan said he is “very happy” to have received “some very positive feedback” and his inclusion of his life outside hockey. “... It’s been received very positively.” There is a message for understanding and acceptance too. For example, in including stories of his turban Harnarayan said he hopes it “normalizes it” for people. Overall, this book is a quick read, it covers a short period Harnarayan is only in his 30s, but it does look at our sport of hockey, and even at what it means to be Canadian through fresh eyes, making it a compelling book to read.


Agriculture

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 www.yorktonthisweek.com

A17

Alternative energy a developing ag option On a recent visit to www.producer.com I was interested to read a story on an Etheltonarea grain farm where a rather extensive array of solar panels had been installed. “The family say two lines of solar panels have reduced their quarterly electricity bill to $40 from $1,200,” begins the story. That is a rather significant drop in ongoing costs to be sure. And yes, for the immediate naysayers reading this, there are the initial installation costs to factor in, and maintenance, and probably some insurance since hail and high winds are a summer

threat in Saskatchewan, but the lower regular costs still make the project something to think about. There are costs to farming, and most costs the farmer has zero ability to do anything about. You might haggle on the value of a tradein when buying a new tractor, and you can buy fertilizer early to get a deal, but the ‘deal’ is still determined by the seller. That is not to suggest farming is unique in having limited ways to affect their costs, but of course they have a corresponding limitation on determining the price of what they sell too. It can be a squeeze

Agriculture THIS WEEK

Calvin Daniels for sure. But, moving forward, perhaps even today, farmers can take some control of their energy costs. There are now several technologies available that can generate on-farm energy and help disconnect at least somewhat from the grid. It might be as simple

as a grain burner to heat the shop in the winter, consuming that low grade or damaged grain as an energy resource. There may even be value in growing a high yield, low valued grain just for the burner if the numbers are crunched the right way. Then there are the bigger projects, solar

panels, wind mills and geothermal that all hold possibilities. On the Ethelton farm the solar panels obviously have had benefit. At the same time there have been smaller windmills installed that sit unused too, testament to them not being particularly successful. Yet, in terms of technologies, the landscape changes literally overnight. There is no doubt a windmill or a solar panel is more efficient and more likely to do what it is supposed to today, than even a half dozen years ago, and the tech will continue to evolve.

Certainly through the current pandemic energy prices have been held more, or less in check, and so there is perhaps less focus on options. But, one might imagine when the pandemic ends and the world economy fully ramps up again, energy prices might well jump with the renewed demand. So keeping an eye on alternatives, penciling out the returns versus the costs, might be a good use of time this winter for at least some producers. Calvin Daniels is Editor with Yorkton This Week.

Landmark study generates first genomic atlas for global wheat improvement Editor’s note: Curtis Pozniak was born in Rama and attended school in Invermay.

By USask Research Profile and Impact SASKATOON – In a landmark discovery for global wheat production, a University of Saskatchewan (USask)led international team has sequenced the genomes for 15 wheat varieties representing breeding programs around the world, enabling scientists and breeders to much more quickly identify influential genes for improved yield, pest resistance and other important crop traits. The research results, just published in Nature, provide the most comprehensive atlas of wheat genome sequences ever reported. The 10+ Genome Project collaboration involved more than 95 scientists from universities and institutes in Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, the U.K., Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Israel, Australia, and the U.S. “It’s like finding the missing pieces for your favourite puzzle that you have been working on for decades,” said project leader Curtis Pozniak, wheat breeder and director of the USask Crop Development Centre (CDC). “By having many complete gene assemblies available, we can now help solve the huge puzzle that is the massive wheat pan-genome and usher in a new era for wheat discovery and breeding.” Scientific groups across the global wheat community are expected to use the new resource to identify genes linked to in-demand traits, which will accelerate breeding efficiency. “This resource enables us to more precisely control breeding to increase the rate

of wheat improvement for the benefit of farmers and consumers, and meet future food demands,” Pozniak said. One of the world’s most cultivated cereal crops, wheat plays an important role in global food security, providing about 20 per cent of human caloric intake globally. It’s estimated wheat production must increase by more than 50 per cent by 2050 to meet increasing global demand. In 2018 as part of another international consortium, USask researchers played a key role in decoding the genome for the bread wheat variety Chinese Spring, the first complete wheat genome reference and a significant technical milestone. The findings were published in the journal Science. “Now we have increased the number of wheat genome sequences more than 10-fold, enabling us to identify genetic differences between wheat lines that are important for breeding,” Pozniak said. “We can now compare and contrast the full complement of the genetic differences that make each variety unique.” Nils Stein of the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) and project co-leader from Germany said, “Given the significant impact of the Chinese Spring reference genome on research and application, it is a major achievement that just two years later we are providing additional sequence resources that are relevant to wheat improvement programs in many different parts of the world.” The 10+ Genome study represents the start of a larger effort to generate thousands of genome sequences of wheat, including genetic material brought in from wheat’s wild

(Credit: Christina Weese)

Curtis Pozniak, wheat breeder and director of the USask Crop Development Centre. relatives. The research team was able to track the unique DNA signatures of genetic material incorporated into modern cultivars from several of wheat’s undomesticated relatives by breeders over the century. “These wheat relatives have been used by breeders to improve disease resistance and stress resistance of wheat,” said Pozniak. “One of these relatives contributed a DNA segment to modern wheat that contains disease-resistant genes and provides protection against a number of fungal diseases. Our collaborators from Kansas State University and CIMMYT (Mexico) showed that this segment can improve yields by as much as 10 per cent. Since breeding is a continual improvement process, we can continue to cross plants to select for this valuable trait.” Pozniak’s team, in collaboration with scientists from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and National Research Council of Canada, also used the genome sequences to isolate an insect-resistant gene (called Sm1) that enables wheat plants to withstand the orange wheat blossom midge, a pest which can cause more than

$60 million in annual losses to Western Canadian producers. “Understanding a causal gene like this is a game-changer for breeding because you can select for pest resistance more efficiently by using a simple DNA test than by manual field testing,” Pozniak said. The USask team also included the paper’s first author Sean Walkowiak (formerly with Pozniak’s team and now with the Canadian Grain Commission), computer scientist Carl Gutwin, who developed visualization software and a user-friendly database to compare the genome sequences, and Andrew Sharpe, director of genomics and bioinformatics at the USask Global Institute for Food Security, who did sequencing work through the Omics and Precision Agriculture Laboratory (OPAL), a stateof-the-art laboratory that provides genomics, phenomics and bioinformatics services. The 10+ Genome Project was sanctioned as a top priority by the Wheat Initiative, a co-ordinating body of international wheat researchers. “This project is an excellent example of co-ordination across leading research groups around the globe. Essentially

every group working in wheat gene discovery, gene analysis and deployment of molecular breeding technologies will use the resource,” said Wheat Initiative Scientific Co-ordinator Peter Langridge. Canadian funding came from the Canadian Triticum Applied Genomics (CTAG2) research project funded by Genome Canada, Genome Prairie, the Western Grains Research Foundation, Government of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission, Alberta Wheat Commission, Viterra, Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association, and the Canada First Research Excellence Fund through USask’s Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Centre (P2IRC) initiative. “This project is a prime example of how genomics can support increased resilience in food production and strengthen Canada’s export leadership,” said Genome Canada President and CEO Rob Annan. “Deploying genomics to adapt agricultural production to climate change, address food and nutritional insecurity, and improve crop health is good for farmers and consumers, and our economy will see tangible returns from this research. Genome Canada is immensely proud of the exceptional work by the Canadian researchers and their international collaborators, which underscores the potential of genomics to make a positive impact on the lives of Canadians and others around the world.” Israeli company NRGene, which has an office in Saskatoon, constructed the genomic assemblies. A complete list of international funding partners is available here: http://www.10wheatgenomes. com/funders/

Hummus for Cows? SASKATOON – While hummus used to be an exotic spread enjoyed only in the Middle East, it has become a staple in grocery stores throughout the world. Recently, the savory dish has gained popularity amongst a new fan base: herds of cows. As chickpea production increases around the world, those crops not suitable for human consumption are being recycled into cattle feed as a partial replacement for soybean meal and cereal grains, explained Dr. Peiqiang Yu, a professor with the University of Saskatchewan (USask). “However, until now there was limited information about the nutritional values for this newly developed chickpea as ruminant

feed,” he said. In a recent study, Yu and colleagues showed that the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at USask can effectively image the molecular structure of chickpea seeds to determine which varieties have the highest nutritional value and would best serve as a feed for beef and dairy cattle. Yu and colleagues studied CDC Cory, a new chickpea cultivated by the Crop Development Centre at USask, with seed samples provided by breeder Dr. Bunyamin Tar’an. Using the Mid-IR beamline, the researchers imaged the distribution of chemical compounds like protein, lipid and carbohydrates in the chickpea tis-

sue in pixel-sized increments. “This information can be used for selecting superior varieties of chickpea,” said Yu, “and for predicting nutritive values.” He said the CLS beamline offers the particular advantage of being nondestructive. “Unlike the commonly used wet chemistry, this technique preserves the intrinsic microstructure of samples and can detect ultra-structural chemical information within the cellular dimension.” The significance of the research is that it shows how synchrotron techniques can offer insights into which crops will perform best before they are produced on a mass scale. In this case,

the analyses will help to ensure cows can enjoy a hummus that is not only a tasty treat, but also a nutritious one. “Quantifying the inherent molecular structure is vital to understanding the variation in nutrient digestibility and utilization when chickpea is used in animal feed.” In the future, the team plans to investigate how different chickpea processing techniques like dry heating, moist heating and microwave irradiation affect the internal nutrient components. “This information could be a tremendous benefit to chickpea breeders, growers and processing operations, and to the animal feed and export industries in Canada,” said Yu.


A18

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Yorkton This Week

Classifieds 306Íł782Íł2465

WE DELIVER RESULTS

Obituaries

Do you want people outside of Yorkton and area to view your OBITUARIES / MEMORIALS? We can do that for you! dbrown@yorktonthisweek.com 306-782-2465

CLASS INDEX 1100 1200 1400 2000 2020 2086

Notices Employment Education The Market Auctions Garage Sales 3000 Children 3500 Pets 3535 Livestock

4000 5000 6000 6500

Seniors Funeral Services Real Estate Renters Guide 8000 Business Services 9000 Agriculture 9100 On Wheels

20 Third Ave. North, Yorkton Whether you’re buying or selling...

CLASSIFIED ADS GET RESULTS! To place your classified ad by telephone call us

at 306-782-2465

Or fax us at 306-786-1898 Or email classifieds@yorktonthisweek.com Your ad will be seen in Yorkton This Week, Marketplace & online at www.yorktonthisweek.com

BUY THREE WEEKS FOR

$21.35* (Includes G.S.T.)

AND GET NINE WEEKS FREE *Some restrictions apply, call for more details

Value Added Word Ads

Add tremendous visibility to your Yorkton This Week word ads. Bold print, centering, underlining Simply request your Word Ad to appear with greater impact Each feature $0.20 per word per week.

FOR AN EXTRA

5

$ 00

/week

20 words or less

We Will “SUPER SIZE� your ad with bigger type, making it a 2x bigger than a normal ad. GET RESULTS!

Place your classified ad in 84 weekly newspapers throughout Saskatchewan for only $209.00 a week. Or for $86.00 per week, you can focus on one of four zones. (for 25 words)

DEADLINES: Wednesday Edition, 4 p.m. Monday Marketplace, 4 p.m. Tuesday

ALL ADS MUST BE PAID IN ADVANCE USE THIS CONVENIENT ORDER FORM TO PLACE YOUR AD MAIL TO: CLASSIFICATION

1 6 11 16

CLASSIFIED ADS, YORKTON THIS WEEK, P.O. BOX 1300, YORKTON, SASK. S3N 2X3 or classifieds@yorktonthisweek.com

2 7 12 17

3 8 13 18

4 9 14 19

5 10 15 20

Share memories and condolences www.fischersfuneralservices.com

Harry

online

at

EFFA - Wilfred Arthur. May 2, 1934 - November 19, 2020. Wilfred Effa of Calgary, AB, passed away on Thursday, November 19, 2020 at the age of 86 years. Wilfred’s greatest passions were his family and the pursuit of knowledge. His love of religion, history and science particularly physics was evident in his conversations with others and by his large collection of books. He valued education and loved sharing his knowledge with his friends and family. He was a gentle, loving man who lived his life with humility and kindness. We will miss his big heart and big laugh. Wilfred is survived by his children, Heidi (Trent) McCallum, Betty (Bruce) Schroeder, Mervin (Silvia) Effa, Wanda (Brian) Stojke, and Walter (Laurie) Effa; his fourteen grandchildren; and five greatgrandchildren. Wilfred is also survived by his siblings, Ellie Warkentin, Alvin Effa, and Doris Effa and their families. Wilfred was predeceased by his granddaughter Camila Effa, his parents, Alexander and Ottilia Effa; stepmother Ruth Effa, sister-in-law Jodi Effa and brother-in-law John Warkentin. The family would like to thank the staff at AgeCare Seton for their loving care and attention to Wilfred. A graveside Service has been held at Queen’s Park Cemetery. Condolences, memories and photos may be shared and viewed on Wilfred’s obituary at www.McInnisandHolloway.com. In living memory of Wilfred Effa, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McINNIS & HOLLOWAY FUNERAL HOMES, Deerfoot South, 12281 – 40th STREET SE, CALGARY, AB T2Z 4E6, Telephone: 403-203-0525.

WILLIS - Wayne Clark Willis was born on August 19, 1947 in Yorkton, SK to parents Charles and Alice Willis. He passed away peacefully at the Yorkton and District Nursing Home, Yorkton, SK on November 19, 2020 at the age of 73 years. When Wayne was young he attended Silver Willow Country School near Willowbrooke and then moved on to Dr. Brass School (which was a high school at the time) in Yorkton, SK. He worked as a tester at Nortel in Brampton, ON for 31 years. While living in Ontario Barb and Wayne owned a cottage were they enjoyed making many memories swimming, having bonfires at which Wayne would pick up his guitar and entertain everyone; inviting friends and family over for barbeques was very enjoyable Wayne was an accomplished barbecuer, flipper in one hand and a barley sandwich in the other. Wayne ended every bonfire with a burnt hotdog covered in so much mustard that those present would question whether it was a hotdog with mustard or mustard with a hotdog. Wayne enjoyed his music very much, so much that he had a record player installed in his car! Over the years he had many systems 45 records, LP’s, 8 tracks, cassettes and CD’s. He also enjoyed playing many instruments the guitar, organ, key board and accordion. He was a movie buff as well, a hobby that he enjoyed with his daughter. He liked to work outside until his MS diagnosis. Wayne was a very good husband and father; he was a kind and thoughtful person. He enjoyed his many cars and firmly believed that they ran better on a trip if they started out clean. Wayne loved to travel to see what was over the hill and around the next bend. Wayne had many nieces and nephews; he enjoyed playing with them and spoiling them when they were small. Wayne leaves to celebrate his life, his wife of 51 years Barbara, his daughter Amanda and four grandchildren Austyn, Jaxson, Ryker, and Brooklynn; as well as many nieces, nephews and friends. He was predeceased by his parents, his brother Terry and sister Sharon. “We were teenagers when we met; we were married for 51 years. Wayne I loved you in the past, and in the present, and I will continue to love you in the future. Your loving wife.� In lieu of flowers the family would appreciate memorial donations be made in Wayne’s name to the MS Society or to the Canadian Cancer Society as tokens of remembrance.

Name .................................... .............Phone......................................... Addres .................................. ......City/Town.......................................... Mastercard

Card No. ............................... ...................... Expiry Date ...................... Name, address and phone number must accompany any advertisement placed in the Classifieds. Publisher reserves the right to withhold ad from publication if information not complete.

YKTW-ClassifiedsIndexAndInfo_515489_2x250.nil.indd 1

of

52 Windfield Place, Yorkton, Sk 5 Bedrooms, 4 Bathrooms 2 car garage, fenced yard

$

329,000 MLSÂŽ # SK828078 MICHELLE BAILEY 306-621-5032

michelle.bailey@century21.ca

29 - 230 Broadway Street E. Yorkton, Saskatchewan XXX $ BCMF DB t 2011 Century 21 Real Estate LLC, All rights reserved. Century 21ÂŽ is a registered trademark owned by Century 21 Real Estate LLC, An Equal Opportunity Company. Each office is independently owned and operated.

Obituaries

PAGE - The family of Pauline Page (Ellaschuk), formerly of Wroxton SK, sadly announce her passing in Edmonton, AB, on Saturday November 21, 2020 at the age of 89. A private family service will be held on Thursday, December 3, 2020 at from the Chapel of Bailey’s Funeral home with Rev. Jen Dresser from St. Andrews United Church in Yorkton officiating. The interment will follow in the Yorkton City Cemetery. Pauline Ellashuk was born August 15, 1931 on the family farm near Wroxton, SK, the first child of Nicholas George and Helen (nee Wintonyk) Ellaschuk. Pauline was predeceased by brothers Peter Ellaschuk, infant Marislow Ellaschuk, and sister Elizabeth Helen Ellaschuk and husbands Jonathan Day Page and John Perkins. Pauline leaves to mourn her passing, sister Victoria Maguire and her husband Douglas Maguire, daughter Joanne Shaban and husband Jim Sangster, son David Page, grandchildren Dewey Page, wife Becca and their son Greyson, Alexis Page, Robin Shaban and spouse Daniel Jensen, and Jonathan Shaban. She is survived by nieces and nephews Carol Maguire - Morris, Marilyn Maguire, Paul and Heather Maguire, Michael Maguire and Melissa Just, Great nieces and nephews Hugh Buller, Adrienne Buller, Shannon Maguire, Evelyn Maguire - Grizzle, Darby Maguire, Kirby Maguire, Carla Morris, Donnely Morris. Also mourning her loss are cousins Deloris Ellaschuk Brooks and Jim Ellaschuk, Shirley Shore and Edwin Ellaschuk.

HOFFMAN (GUSE) - Doreen Gwendolyn, 90, of Calgary, AB and formerly of the Ebenezer/Canora area, passed away in her sleep on July 14, 2020 – coincidentally on the anniversary of her marriage to Ernie Hoffman. Doreen was born in Yorkton, SK to Elsie Kimmel and Albert Guse on March 29, 1930. She was raised on a farm two miles west of Ebenezer along with her twin brother Dennis and older sister Georgina. Doreen was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Yorkton, and attended West Ebenezer School. As a kid, she fondly remembered bringing cows in from the pasture, skating with neighbours on the sloughs, and riding bike with her best friends, Elfreida and Elsie. On July 14, 1951, she married Ernie Hoffman, and together they farmed beside Goose Lake, three miles NW of Ebenezer. In November of 1967, the pair welcomed their daughter Chellan. As a family, they took many road trips throughout western Canada, and loved spending time with neighbours - snowmobiling, fishing, motorbiking, “chewing the rag�, attending church, and participating in the Yorkton Threshermen’s Club. Doreen was a Jill-of-all-trades who could drive a combine, sew a gown, give a perm, crochet a doily, chop wood, and creatively fix anything that needed fixing. The couple stayed on the farm until Ernie’s passing in 1999. In 2000, Doreen married Alex Weinbender of Canora, SK. Music was their common interest and with accordion, keyboard, and guitar in tow, they sang at seniors’ homes in Norquay, Canora, and Yorkton. Doreen also led the community choir, “The Joy of Singing.� She was embraced by her new family and shared her wisdom, guidance, open heart, and listening ear. In 2010, after major brain surgery, Chellan moved Doreen to Calgary to be closer to her family and to medical specialists. During her ten years in the city, she became a beloved “light� who kept the residents and caregivers entertained with stories and sayings.“Oh prunes!� “Ach mein Himmel!� and “Well, for corn’s sake!� were favourites. For those who knew Doreen, her quick wit was one for the books. No matter the celebration, she always had courage and joy to wear the “silly hat� and make people laugh. When Doreen became granny to Jay (2001) and Andrew (2005), she energetically showed them farm life, made them cards and quilts, read stories, and cheered them on at hockey games and school events. She faithfully attended the concerts and churches where Chellan performed as organist, and Sunday lunch became a favourite family date - sharing a Subway sandwich, sauerkraut and schnitzel at Edelweiss Village, or pancakes at Chellan’s. Doreen was guided her whole life by her Christian faith. She helped neighbours and strangers, taught Sunday School and 4H classes, and always had encouraging words, especially for children who needed that extra pat on the back. Throughout life, her favourite pastime was playing hymns on the organ. She loved watching nature, especially around Goose Lake, and walked with God through the fields hand in hand – something that’s mentioned in one of her favourite hymns – My God and I. The family would like to thank the health care teams in Calgary who treated her like a queen: family physician, Dr. Awan; Alpha Dental Care; Home Instead Caregivers; staff and volunteers at Bethany Care Centre, Chartwell Fountains of Mission Retirement Residence, Chartwell Eau Claire Care Residence. Funeral services were provided by Pierson’s Funeral Home, Calgary, and Kopan’s Funeral Service, Yorkton. Doreen was predeceased by her husband Ernie Hoffman (1999); second husband Alex Weinbender (2011); father Albert (1977), mother Elsie (1998), brother Dennis Guse (1995), sister Georgina (Guse) Reed (2002), niece Charlene (Reed) Schick (2008); dear friends Shirley Shindle (2008) and Millie Helm (2009). Doreen is survived by her only child, Chellan Hoffman (Steve Miller); grandchildren Jay and Andrew Hilsden; sisters-in-law Joyce Guse, Verna Bjorgan, Alice Carruthers, Ivis Hoffman; nieces and nephews Calla (Bob) Effa, Candace (Gord) Franke, Colleen (Rolf) von Albedhyll, Cortland (Jill) Guse, Jessika Guse; Carla Reed, Calvin (Dinys) Reed, Clinton Reed; Blaine Hoffman, Harley (Danette) Hoffman; Meryl (Jim) Stock, Madge (Wes) BjorganBraun; cousin Lorne Lewis; best friend Elfreida (Patzer) Gray; dear friends Elsie (Reimer) Wegner, Barb (Walker) Wegner, Shirley (Demitor) Dreger, Lillian Roe, LaVern and Lorna Fenske; “second daughter� Brenda (Rod Miller) Helm; Shirley Miller family; Bob Hilsden and Jill Hilsden; Weinbender family; and many great-nieces and nephews. Watch Doreen’s July 18, 2020 Memorial Service: https://tinyurl.com/GuseMemorial Donations will go to Yorkton Threshermen’s Club. Contact yorkton@wdm.ca (306)783-8361.

Monuments

Funeral Services

TYMIAK’S MONUMENTS & GRAVE SURFACING CO.

Granite, Bronze, Marble Monuments, Grave Covers, Vases, Artificial Flowers, Cemetery Inscriptions & Cremation Urns.

FULLY GUARANTEED LICENSED AND BONDED 529 Main St. South, Box 476, Ituna, Sask. S0A 1N0

Ph. 306-795-2428 Serving Surrounding Areas Since 1960 IN HOME ESTIMATES AT NO CHARGE

SEE OUR LARGE DISPLAY

2019-04-05 3:41 PM

Able Realty

ÂŽ

Obituaries

KORNAK – Harry William Kornak passed away after a lengthy illness on Nov. 11, 2020 at Hospice House in Kamloops with his family around him. His sense of humor and legendary appetite will be missed by family and friends. He was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan to Steven and Anna Kornak who had immigrated to Canada from the Ukraine. Harry was the youngest of four siblings: sisters Elizabeth Luce and Marty Otchenash and brother Ted. After graduating high-school at St. Joseph`s College, he worked in the bank in Rosetown so he could play hockey for the town team. That was followed by a job surveying for B.B. Torchinsky & Co. putting in sewer and water in small towns and building grid roads. After marrying Pat in 1966 in Saskatoon he went to work for H.M.C. Harrison surveying for the sinking of the shaft for Allen Potash mine. When that was completed he went back to school rather than taking the company's next job which would have been in South America. He graduated with a degree in Pharmacy in 1974. The family, now with three kids, moved to Williams Lake, BC to take a job with Spencer Dickie Drugs. In 1981 he started a drugstore with partner Adeline Hamm. Harry and Pat retired to Chase in 2004 where they continued to enjoy golf, curling, travel, and enjoyed time with many friends old and new. He will be greatly missed by his wife Pat, his sons Scot (Patti) of Calgary, Craig of Vancouver, and daughter Deanna McArthur (Ian) of Coquitlam, and granddaughters Christina and Andrea. Thank you to Dr. Lorenz, Dr. Main and the Oncology nurses, to the doctors and the staff at Royal Inland and to Dr. Baker and all the comforting and caring staff at Marjorie Willowby Snowdon Hospice. A funeral mass was held Nov 14 with limited attendance. A celebration of life will be held on Chase golf course in the summer with a 21 club salute. Donations in his memory can be made to Hospice House.

1st line centered and bold Bold Center Underline PLEASE CHECK OPTION Please insert my ad for ........ weeks. Payment enclosed .....................

Postal Code.......................... ..........Visa

Obituaries

OF HOME THE WEEK

Kopan’s Funeral Service Highway #9 North, Yorkton, SK

306-783-0099

Toll-free 1-866-797-5084 www.kopans.ca Funeral, Cremation, Memorial Services, Monuments, Pre-arrangements, Purple Shield Plans, Notary Public Services Serving ALL with Dignity, Honesty and Integrity Saving Families Thousands Ask a family we’ve served.


Yorkton This Week | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Wednesday, December 2, 2020 Funeral Services

Your locally owned and operated full-service funeral home. Our promise is simple we are committed to providing the Ànest in funeral services and understanding care to the families we serve with compassion, integrity and professional excellence.

306-783-7552

www.baileysfuneralhome.com

In Memoriam

Adult Personal Messages

Notice to Creditors

Houses For Rent

In Loving Memory of Our Dear Mom, Grandma, Baba and Great-Grandma

39 YEAR OLD MALE Interested in meeting lady who is interested in meeting someone who likes hockey, skating, skiing and going to hockey games. Someone from 30-39. Call 306-534-4726.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

FOR RENT

Jean Sakundiak

Dec. 2, 1917 - Dec. 31, 2012

MALE (46), from Yorkton, looking for female with or without children, for companion. Likes movies and going dancing. Call 306-641-6234 no texts.

Legal/Public Notices

Mom Missing You ....

Your tenderness and loving ways, Still get us through our lonely days. The Picture carries in our minds, With love that stand the test of time. ;QW JGNRGF WU ſPF QWT walking shoes, And taught us lessons we still use. Each time we think of you, we smile, We know we’ll see you After awhile ... Always Loved and Remembered Your daughters, Teresa and Ben Uhryn and family, Marlene and Herman Franzman and family. Announcements BRENDA NAGY Hairdressing 306782-6578 #StaySafe.

Keeping YOU informed each week in our community-Yorkton This Week.

Notices / Nominations Advertisements and statements contained herein are the sole responsibility of the persons or entities that post the advertisement, and the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Association and membership do not make any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness or reliability of such advertisements. For greater information on advertising conditions, please consult the Association’s Blanket Advertising Conditions on our website at www.swna.com.

USE THE CLASSIFIEDS 306-782-2465

PROVINCE-WIDE CLASSIFIEDS. Reach over 550,000 readers weekly. Call this newspaper NOW or 306-649.1405 for details.

Announcements

Announcements

ALL CLAIMS AGAINST THE ABOVE ESTATE, DULY VERIFIED BY STATUTORY DECLARATION AND WITH PARTICULARS AND VALUATION OF SECURITY HELD, IF ANY, MUST BE SENT TO THE UNDERSIGNED BEFORE THE 21st DAY OF OCTOBER, 2020. SHAWN PATENAUDE LEGAL PROF. CORP. 9-259 HAMILTON ROAD YORKTON, SASKATCHEWAN S3N 4C6

At Your Service BUSINESS & SERVICE DIRECTORY Handyperson CARPENTRY & HANDYMAN SERVICES. 25 years experience. Phone 306-621-5715. WHATEVER NEEDS DONE. Carpentry, plumbing, painting, yard work, garbage hauled away. Phone 306-621-7538, leave message.

Liquor Permit Advertising Form Under the provisions of The Alcohol and Gaming Regulations Act, 1997, Notice is hereby given that Spencer Fuches & Kim Klein have applied to the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) for a Tavern permit to sell alcohol in the premises known as 309 Bar & Grill at 4 Main St Rhein SK. Written objections to the granting of the permit may be filed with SLGA not more than two weeks from the date of publication of this notice.

In Memoriam

IN THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM DICKER LATE OF YORKTON SASKATCHEWAN, DECEASED.

Every person filing a written objection with SLGA shall state their name, address, and telephone number in printed form, as well as the grounds for the objection(s). Petitions must name a contact person, state grounds, and be legible. Each signatory to the petition and the contact person must provide an address and telephone number. Frivolous, vexatious or competition based objections within the beverage alcohol industry may not be considered and may be rejected by the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Licensing Commission, who may refuse to hold a hearing. Write to: Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority Box 5054 REGINA SK S4P 3M3

HELP STOP THE SPREAD OF FAKE NEWS! The global COVID-19 pandemic means learning how to SPOT fake news has never been more important. Protect yourself with media literacy in 4 simple steps. Watch the video at SPOTfakenews.ca

Health Services

HIP/KNEE Replacement? Other medical conditions causing TROUBLE WALKING or DRESSING? The Disability Tax Credit allows for $2,500 yearly tax credit and up to $50,000 Lump sum refund. Apply NOW; quickest refund Nationwide!

Expert Help:

1-844-453-5372 Farms for Sale FARMLAND FOR SALE: 4 quarters of hay/pasture land in the RM of Garry #245. Call Ted Cawkwell, Cawkwell Group, RE/MAX Saskatoon at 306-986-7253. 306-986-7253 www.cawkwellgroup.com RM of Churchbridge #211 $995,000.00 FARMLAND FOR SALE: 5 quarters of grain land in the RM of Churchbridge #211. Call Ted Cawkwell, Cawkwell Group, RE/MAX Saskatoon at 306-986-7253 306-986-7253 www.cawkwellgroup.com RM of Good Lake #274 $1,445,000.00 FARMLAND FOR SALE: 5 quarters of grain land in the RM of Good Lake #274. Call Ted Cawkwell, Cawkwell Group, RE/MAX Saskatoon at 306-986-7253. 306-986-7253 www.cawkwellgroup.com

Land for Sale

FARMLAND WANTED I am currenlty PURCHASING single to large blocks of land. NO FEES OR COMMIS:0ONS

BELIEVE IT? Don’t fall victim to sharing fake news about COVID-19 online. Learn the four simple steps that will help you SPOT fake news online. Watch the video at SPOTfakenews.ca

Saskatchewan born and raised, I know land, farming and farmland and can help you every step of the way. Doug Rue, for further information 306-716-2671 saskfarms@shaw.ca www.sellyourfarm land.com Apartments/Condos for Rent

Notice to Creditors Coming Events

Coming Events

Form 16-48 (Rule 16-48)

25 Annual Irrigation Saskatchewan Online Conference Dec. 7,8,9 th

Hosted By Saskatchewan Irrigation Projects Association; and Irrigation Crops DiversiÀcation Corporation Registration at Eventbrite Agenda includes: Provincial irrigation Expansion Plans Discussion on the BeneÀts of Irrigation 2020 Irrigation Research Projects For info: email sbathgate.sipa@sasktel.net or call 306.796.4727 www.irrigationsaskatchewan.com IRRIGATI O N M A K E S S AS K AT C H E WAN G ROW!

NOTICE TO CREDITORS In the estate of Alice Baumgartner, late of Yorkton Saskatchewan, deceased. All claims against the above HVWDWH GXO\ YHULĂ€HG E\ statutory declaration and with particulars and valuation of security held, if any, must be sent to the undersigned before the, 31 day of December, 2020. Executor James Baumgartner PO Box 2504 Humboldt, SK S0K 2A0

2 Bedroom apartment for rent @ 101 Franko Drive, Cedar Ridge Apartments. No Pets, No Smoking Very clean Price $950.00 for more information Call

306-783-3379

Self Contained Half Duplex on Clarewood Cres. Newly renovated, basement developed with bath, Stove, fridge & window fittings are included. Full references required. Immediate Possession. Home for Christmas! Call

306-783-7675 Musical Instruments

120 BASS Accordion, Sonola Special. Mint condition. Asking $700. For further information phone 306896-2721. LIKE NEW Mandolin with case $525. Also older Violin with case and new strings. Different prices. Phone 306-786-4446.

FOR ALL YOUR BAKING SUPPLIES

YOUNG’S PLANT WORLD LTD. /634&3: t ("3%&/ $&/53& t (30$&3: 4503&

Highway #9 North, Yorkton 306-783-8660

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP Published weekly by Boundary Publishers Ltd., a subsidiary of Glacier Ventures International Corp. The Glacier group of companies collects personal information from our customers in the normal course of business transactions. We use that information to provide you with our products and services you request. On occasion we may contact you for purposes of research, surveys and other such matters. To provide you with better service we may share your personal information with our sister companies and also outside, selected third parties who perform work for us as suppliers, agents, service providers and information gatherers. Our subscription list may be provided to other organizations who have products and services that may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to participate in such matters, please contact us at the following address: Yorkton This Week, 20 Third Avenue North, Yorkton, S3N 2X3. For a complete statement of our privacy policy, please go to our website at: www.yorktonthisweek.com or stop by our office and pick up a copy. Yorkton This Week is owned and operated by The Prairie Newspaper Group LP, a division of GVIC Communications Corp. BOSCH Mixers, Ankarsrum Mixers, VITAMIX blenders, LEFSE supplies & more. FREE SHIPPING. Call toll-free 1-888692-6724. Hometech BOSCH Appl 375 Broad St. Regina, SK. www.hometechcanada.ca HOME THEATRE ONKYO TX NR696 Receiver, $450, new, used little, repacked. Small freezer, $175. 306-783-6109.

Auto Miscellaneous Set of 4 aluminum alloy rims 265-17 inches with sensors. Six spoke of GMC truck.306-272-4620 Foam Lake Sk.

Parts & Accessories

LH RECYCLED

LTD.

THE PARTS YOU NEED

FOR SALE: Char X bred heifers. Tan, white and red. Bred for late March and April calving. 306-5484340. Stenen, SK.

General Employment Heavy Duty Mechanics required: Late model, clean CAT, JD equip; winch, dump, gravel trucks, and trailers. Both camp and shop locations; R & B provided Wage negotiable. Clean drivers abstract a must. Send resume and work references to: Bryden Construction )V_ (YIVYĂ„LSK :R : , ( " Fax: 306-769-8844 ,THPS! brydenconstruct@ xplornet.ca www. brydenconstruction andtransport.ca

Seniors, P a re n t s , C h i l d re n !

Earn some extra cash (possibly of up to $400/month depending on route size), get exercise and work only a few hours a week too!

Be a Yorkton This Week Carrier! • No early mornings • No collecting • We pay by direct deposit on the last Friday of every month • Weight bonuses • Sales bonuses • Any age welcome • Only 2 days or less per week

• Computerized Parts Interchange • Computerized Inventory • Parts Locating Service For Those Hard To Find Parts • An Exceptional Line Of New Aftermarket Body Parts

circulation@ yorktonthisweek.com

Monday to Friday 8:00 am - 5:30 pm, Closed Sat. & Sun. 15 YORK ROAD WEST, YORKTON

Trucking & Transport

306-782-4395 OR 1-800-657-4395 Fax 306-786-5414 FOR SALE: 4 steel rims and nearly brand new Nokian Nordman5 winter tires. 205/55R16 94T XL. Fits Honda Civic. $500. Phone 306-783-5286.

IN THE ESTATE OF RYAN MICHAEL GUENETTE, LATE OF YORKTON SASKATCHEWAN, DECEASED.

2 BEDROOM Apartment For Rent. Recently renovated. Phone Garry 306-621-6793.

Feed & Seed

ALL CLAIMS AGAINST THE ABOVE ESTATE, DULY VERIFIED BY STATUTORY DECLARATION AND WITH PARTICULARS AND VALUATION OF SECURITY HELD, IF ANY, MUST BE SENT TO THE UNDERSIGNED BEFORE THE 2ND DAY OF DECEMBER, 2020.

2 BEDROOM Apartment with balcony. Pets Allowed. Available Immediately. Phone Garry 306-621-6793.

RENOVATED 2 Bedroom Apartment on Dalebrooke Drive. Available December. Call Garry 306-621-6793.

FOR SALE: Bred Heifers. Black & Red Angus, Simmental, Gelbvieh classed heifers. Few with Charolais background. Bred to Red & Black Angus bulls. 306-547-7822.

If you would like a route, please e-mail us at:

WANTED: SMALL, OLDER Camper trailer to convert to storage. Call 306-542-7106.

SHAWN PATENAUDE LEGAL PROF. CORP. 9-259 HAMILTON ROAD YORKTON, SASKATCHEWAN S3N 4C6

Livestock

The Price and service you want

RVs/Campers/Trailers

ADULT 45+. Renovated, furnished one bedroom suites for rent in Canora. Must have references. Phone 306-641-2489.

NORTH EAST PRAIRIE GRAIN INC. BUYING: FEED BARLEY, SOYBEANS, DAMAGED CANOLA. On Farm Pickup, Prompt Payment! PH:306-873-3551 WEBSITE: neprairiegrain.com “In Business to Serve Western Producers.�

For Sale - Misc

1 BEDROOM Apartment with balcony Available December. No Pets. Call Garry 306-621-6793.

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

A19

Feed & Seed

or telephone circulation at:

306-782-2465 C & G SHUTTLE 1-306-647-3333 1-306-620-3521 (Cell) Airports, medical or shopping trips, up to 5 people. Auctions QUICK SOLD AUCTION. Online Auction House. Downsizing & Estate Sales. Free Consultations. Certified Personal Property Appraiser. www.quicksoldauction.com 306-728-5552 or 306-730-7310. PL 508277.


Ham it up with new party game A20

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 | www.YorktonThisWeek.com | Yorkton This Week

When you take a game off the shelf with a name like ‘Game of Ham’ you might have an inkling you’re in for something a bit tongue-in-cheek. In this case this is a game very much about hamming things up, and frankly they could have added it with a rather thick slice of cheese added as well. What Game of Ham is, is a party card and board game, although the board aspect is really not required. As a party game it is all about getting laughs through interaction of players, although Game

of Ham is ‘adult-themed’ so it will not be for everyone, so be aware of those at the table. As one description noted “the adult version is meant for people who like their humor the way Scrooge likes his coffee, dark and bitter.� Players basically get some cards with various witty, sometimes adult, answers. Another player poses a question. You lay down an answer, and the question asker selects what they feel is the ‘best’ answer to the given question. The winning answer gets the player who slapped it

THE MEEPLE GUILD (YORKTON) meeple.guild@gmail.com down a point. You play until someone has the pre-determined number of points to win. The is a modicum of skill in the sense you can play cards you think best fit the sense of humour of the asker, but really the

score is not very important here. The Game of Ham is all about the ‘yucks’ with the right group of players. Our first play through had me laughing even as I made card choices, but while I was ready to

play a second game, it was pretty obvious the game has table time limitations. This is a winner on a New Year’s Eve if the

group is right, but even with 800-plus cards for variety, it is an occasional play option. Check it out at gameofham.com

NDP call Throne Speech “missed opportunity� Brian Zinchuk Local Journalism Initiative Reporter (Estevan Mercury) Regina–Official Opposition Leader Ryan Meili expressed disappointment with the Sask. Party government’s Speech from the Throne today, calling it a “missed opportunity� to take the urgent action needed to fight the second wave of COVID-19. “This was a ‘business as usual’ Throne Speech, but we all know that business is anything but usual in Saskatchewan,� said Meili in a release. “Premier Moe spent the election campaign telling people we were out of the woods even though expert advice and pandemic modelling showed otherwise. Now the second wave is hitting us in a big way and the government is not prepared to invest in the immediate actions needed to

Sask. Party’s Throne Speech announced no new supports for businesses that were already struggling before the second wave hit, and that no immediate investments were outlined

to fight the pandemic, according to the release. “Businesses are being told to stay open while their customers are being urged to stay home: it’s a recipe for economic disaster,� said

Meili. “Now the government’s slow and contradictory approach has left our healthcare system in chaos – and things will only get worse if we do not act immediately to flatten the curve of COVID-19.� Meili said the Saskatchewan NDP Caucus is determined to fight for jobs, businesses, schools and health care during the first session of this new Legislative Assembly. “At a time when people are struggling, we should be planning to invest to get through this together, not making life harder for families,� said Meili. “We need clear, consistent messaging and a real plan that helps people – instead of mixed messages and half-measures that won’t get the job done. Our caucus is determined to push for a plan that will support all of Saskatchewan.�

rently waiting to find out what is happening with his knee, and is considering either going to Calgary on a full scholarship or playing Junior

football to “knock the rust off.� Ellis just committed to the University of Toronto a couple days ago. He said it settles the nerves

to know where he’s going and what’s next for his football career. He’s planning to study kinesiology, and eventually study physiotherapy.

NDP leader Ryan Meili flatten the curve.� Minutes before the Throne Speech began, a government press release noted 325 new COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan, with two deaths and 49 recoveries. There were

now 3,879 active cases, while 4,638 people had recovered and 47 had died. Saskatchewan’s 7-day average of new cases is now and average of 268.3 per day. Meili said that the

FOOTBALLERS Continued from Page A1 nice to tackle my buddy,� said McCormick. While COVID-19 has made staying in shape difficult, both are grate-

ful that the gyms are still open and have been spending a great deal of time there keeping in shape. McCormick said he has also purchased a

Rural & City Routes Sale

large amount of gym equipment so he can work out at home as well. McCormick currently doesn’t know what’s going on next year. He’s cur-

Troy-Bilt 26� Two-Stage Snow Thrower

Troy-Bilt 24� Three-Stage Snow Thrower

243 cc gas engine. 21� intake height, Heated handgrips. Six forward, 2 reverse speeds, Two- stage. NoiseGuard technology. 5708 524

272 cc gas engine. Power TUFFSJOH (BT FOHJOF "JSMFTT UJSFT 'PVS ZFBS XBSSBOUZ 5709 837

SAVE OVER $150

SAVE OVER $150

124900

134900

each

Commercial Grade Booster Cables

Black 16-gauge with lit ends. Rated for - 50Âş C.

t "NQ $MBNQT t %VSBCMF )JHI 'MFY $PBUJOH t $PNNFSDJBM (SBEF t $PQQFS $PBUFE "MVNJOVN $BCMF Parrot Style Clamp

SAVE OVER 50%

SAVE OVER 40%

Block Heater Cord

9

97

each

10’ 5173 166

20’ 5173 174 ‌‌‌‌‌1247

Transport Chain Comes assembled with two plated alloy clevis grab hooks. Working load limit of 4700 lb. and ultimate load limit of 18,800 lb. 5/16�x16’. 4531 943 SAVE OVER 20%

4997

2397

each

Prices in effect Thursday, November 26 to Wednesday, December 9, 2020 while quantities last

Create superior traction on icy and snow-covered surfaces. 20 kg. 5031 042

30�, 420 cc 5708 540.

SAVE OVER 25%

00

1749

597

each

Camo Snowmobile Gloves Goatskin palm and back. Shirred elastic wrist with drawstring. Medium (4083 036), Large (4083 028) or X-Large (4083 010). SAVE OVER 20%

BE Booster Cable 'PVS HBVHF 5041 306

Campbell Hausfeld 80-Gallon Air Compressor Oil-lubricated, quad cast iron pump, 5.0 running HP, 240-volt motor, 140 max PSI. 4527 438

3347

each

2� x 30’ Recovery Strap 18,000 lb. maximum vehicle weight. High-tensile nylon with looped ends. 5032 479

SAVE OVER $280

SAVE OVER 45%

each

each

139900

each

each

CO-OPÂŽ Trac Sand

2997

LEGACY CO-OP AGRO CENTRE Store locations: Yorkton 306-782-2451, Theodore 306-647-2241, Churchbridge 306-896-2533 TOLL FREE 1-888-795-9555 www.legacyco-op.crs


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.