Saskatoon News

Saskatoon firefighters say a blaze significantly damaged a wooden pedestrian walkway in Gabriel Dumont Park on Thursday morning.

A pedestrian walkway in Saskatoon’s Gabriel Dumont Park has been closed after a fire Thursday morning. The Saskatoon Fire Department said it responded to a report of a fire in the park just after 8:30 a.m. When firefighters arrived, they found a wooden walkway on fire. READ MORE:

• No injuries or structures damaged after large grass fire southeast of Saskatoon
• Apartment complex on 33rd Street W. evacuated after fire, one injured
• SFD says malfunction of electrical component caused Wildwood blaze

The crew extinguished the fire and a fire investigator was called in. “Upon investigation, the fire investigator concluded the cause of the fire to be undetermined,” the fire department said in a release. “Signs of an abandoned encampment were present in the immediate area.” According to the release, the walkway sustained “severe structural damage” and will be closed until repairs can be completed. Pedestrians are being asked to avoid the area and to use an alternate route until the walkway reopens.

EDMONTON — Alberta's advanced education minister is rejecting concerns her government's proposed gatekeeping law would lead to political interference and jeopardize $500 million of federal funding for academic research in the province. A bill introduced this week by Premier Danielle Smith, if passed, would give her government veto power over future deals between Ottawa and any entity regulated by the province, including municipalities and post-secondary schools. "The desire is not to impede academic freedom,” Advanced Education Minister Rajan Sawhney told reporters Thursday. "We want to make sure that this funding does align with provincial priorities,” Sawhney said. But she added, “I can't think of a single grant stream that's going to the post-secondaries that would be problematic.” Smith has said the bill is necessary because Alberta won't stand idly by as the federal government reaches past it to deliver funds to provincial entities pursuing and promoting projects — such as safe drug supply, federal green power mandates and net-zero housing rules — that are offside with Alberta priorities. Pointing to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the premier said she’s worried Ottawa is funding ideologically driven research projects. The council is the federal research funding agency that promotes and supports research and training in the humanities and social sciences. Council president Ted Hewitt said in a statement that grants and scholarships are awarded through a competitive process and an external review by committees of academic experts from across Canada and around the world.  Three of the province's large comprehensive academic and research institutions — the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary and the University of Lethbridge — all said in statements Thursday that they are seeking more details from the province about how the proposed law would will be implemented.  For the University of Alberta and University of Calgary, federal dollars add up to more than a third of total research funding. Political scientist Lisa Young said she was surprised to see post-secondary schools swept up in the bill, because Smith had signalled before that it would only affect municipalities. “This offhand comment about ideology was really worrisome," Young, with the University of Calgary, said in an interview. "It also raises the question of whether there is a desire to interfere with the independence of the research-funding agencies,” she said, adding that for researchers who rely on federal funding to conduct their work, any interference would be "devastating." Eric Adams, a constitutional scholar at the University of Alberta, said the bill is likely constitutional because the specified agencies fall under provincial jurisdiction. But Adams said if the province does interfere in the flow of research dollars to universities, it would raise huge concerns around institutional integrity, academic freedom and the day-to-day function of the schools. “A free society is one in which we imagine that people are able to speak out freely and research freely areas that the government doesn't agree with,” he said. “I don't imagine that (impairing academic freedom) is what is being contemplated, but the fact that it is today an open question is concerning." Opposition NDP critic Rhiannon Hoyle said the bill will spark a massive brain drain. Smith’s government has yet to outline the details of the new approval process under the bill. It plans to consult stakeholders before writing the specific rules or exemptions. If passed, the law is expected to take effect in early 2025, and the government said it would not be retroactive. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2024. Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press

Saskatchewan RCMP have charged a man with attempted murder after he allegedly shot at officers attempting to enforce warrants. Read More

The Fire Investigator said the walkway was severely damaged and will be closed for repairs. The scene was turned over to the city's facilities department. 

Many students across Saskatchewan are experiencing shorter school hours. That’s happening in light of measures taken by various school divisions following the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation announcing that its members would be working to rule until a deal with the provincial government gets struck. That means that teachers will continue to do their jobs, but won’t perform any additional volunteer services which includes lunch-time and extracurricular supervision. Earlier this week, Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said a loss of classroom hours was “absolutely” a concern. “I think everybody is concerned about the quality of education. We want to make sure that kids are receiving that quality education in Saskatchewan but part of that is actually being in school,” Cockrill told reporters at the Legislature. “We don’t want to get to a situation where we have to look at the school year being extended because of job sanctions but that’s certainly a discussion we may need to have very shortly here.” STF president Samantha Becotte disagreed. “I don’t have concerns about that. I mean, we have a pretty big precedent where we had COVID where school was shut down on March 13 and the rest of the school year was optional,” she told 980 CJME. “We want to get to a deal and we want to make sure that it’s not detrimental to any learning that happens within the classroom.” In an emailed statement to 980 CJME, Regina Public Schools (RPS) said it was aware of a “number” of parents who have requested a refund of lunchtime supervision fees. But the school division said it will respond to parents once a plan is in place and it has a better understanding of how many days without supervision there “will or have been.” The division also said that whether or not the school year is extended depends on the Ministry of Education. “It is completely unwarranted and premature for Regina Public to speculate on what will occur in the coming weeks and months, or on what direction we will receive on this issue,” the email read. The division said morning pick-up times for schools with double bus runs will be rescheduled to 15 to 20 minutes later than usual. Talking on Thursday’s Evan Bray Show, Twylla West of the Regina Catholic School Division said it’s important for each school division to have its own approaches to dealing with the disruptions instead of being given a top-down approach from the Saskatchewan School Boards Association. “We’re just looking for the best we can do with what we have,” West said. “We started with three goals. The first was to maintain safety of students and staff in our communities, the second was to be able to maximize instructional time and the third was to minimize disruption to families as well as we could and we know that we are not doing a great job on the third. We we hope that we’re still minimizing it as much as possible.” The Regina Catholic School Division told parents that starting Wednesday, families would be responsible for transportation to and from school in the afternoon. It also said that all students will be bused home during lunch. The division is also providing a virtual option for students. Beginning Wednesday, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools closed schools over the lunch hour and special education buses and taxis were only available in the morning and at noon. That division said it will communicate a plan to compensate parents after reviewing the number of missed supervision days. For Saskatoon Public Schools students, there won’t be any bus or cab service at the end of their school day, but they said before- and after-school programs in the schools will continue to operate until further notice. Saskatoon Public Schools gave students the choice to either return to school after lunch or to stay home in the afternoon. Students who stay home will be given take-home learning materials. — With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick

Saskatoon police are looking for tips about a recent theft of veterinary drugs.

Saskatchewan RCMP say two men were arrested following a shooting incident on Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation— located about 154 kilometres north of Saskatoon.

Two Saskatchewan communities at the centre of one of the worst mass killings in Canadian history will come together to honour one of the people lost in the tragedy. Read More

According to a release from the Saskatoon Police Service, six different types of veterinary drugs were stolen on April 1 from a trailer parked on Aerogreen Green Crescent. 

Saskatoon police are alerting the public after veterinary drugs were stolen from a parked trailer last week. Police said in a release Thursday that the theft happened sometime between 9 p.m. on April 1 and 5 a.m. on April 2. A veterinary trailer that had been parked in the 300 block of Aerogreen Crescent near the Saskatoon airport was broken into and the drugs were stolen. The drugs named in the police release deal with issues ranging from the stimulation of reproduction in cattle and pigs to endometritis in cattle. “All were labeled and in glass vials when they were stolen,” police said in their release. “The drugs are not intended for human consumption.” Anyone with information about the theft or the whereabouts of the stolen drugs was asked to call the Saskatoon Police Service at 306-975-8300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. “While the Saskatoon Police Service does respond to some reports of overdoses, including those that are fatal, we do not respond to all overdoses that occur,” the release said. “Only the Saskatchewan Coroners Service can confirm that an overdose caused a death and which drugs may have contributed to it. Any drug that is not prescribed by a doctor and dispensed by a pharmacist can result in serious injury or death.”

The Saskatoon Blades appear ready for their second-round playoff rematch against the Red Deer Rebels. The Blades made history last year by overcoming a 3-0 series deficit in their second-round series against the Rebels, winning the best-of-seven series 4-3. It was only the third time in the history of the WHL the feat had been accomplished. Blades captain Trevor Wong said his team learned some lessons from last year’s crazy series against Red Deer, including the obvious one. “The first one is, don’t go down 3-0,” Wong chuckled. “But I think (we learned about) managing the momentum swings. It’s the first to four, and last year we stuck with it. This year is going to be different. It’s a new team over there and a new team for us. “I think we’ve done a good job of managing momentum so far. We’ve kind of learned from the first game against Prince Albert. (Our) group is good at learning lessons, so I think we’ll take that into the series.” Wong said he expects the Rebels to be roaring and ready to go after they essentially threw away their spot in the Eastern Conference final last year. “Probably for them, they hate us even more now, and for us it’s, ‘Let’s not get behind the 8-ball early,’ ” Wong stated. “We’re just focused on one game at a time, and Game 1 for us is huge.” READ MORE:

• Ticket punched as Blades defeat Raiders to advance to Round 2
• Blades’ Sidorov excited to sign deal with Anaheim Ducks
• Blades busy, Pats quiet at WHL trade deadline

The Blades wouldn’t divulge much about their game plan, but they did acknowledge things could get chippy. “They’re a scrappy team and like to push you around,” said defenceman Tanner Molendyk. “They’re going to try and get in your head. We just can’t let them get to us.” “We’re two different teams and we don’t want to get into the muck and grind as much,” Wong said. “We’ve adjusted our game plan a bit for them and we’ve been practising it. We’ll be ready.” Wong suggested the Blades just have to focus on themselves, but added that he feels the series against the Prince Albert Raiders prepared them well for the challenge that awaits. Wong said Prince Albert tends to be a more physical team, and of course there’s a rivalry element as well. “It did prepare us well, I think, for Red Deer here, because they’re kind of both meat-and-potatoes teams, and I think we’ve really learned from last year what they really are in the playoffs,” Wong said. Head coach Brennan Sonne echoed the comments from Wong. “They pose their challenges and we’ve prepared the guys for them,” Sonne said. “We’re excited to meet the challenges we’ll face on this playoff run.” Heading into Game 1 on Friday, there’s one major question surrounding the Blades: Who will get the start in the net? Austin Elliott was given the start in the Game 1 loss to Prince Albert, but didn’t start again until Game 5 after rookie goaltender Evan Gardner was able to pull off three consecutive wins. Gardner got the start in Game 5, but was replaced by Elliott after the first period when he left with an injury. Sonne wouldn’t reveal which way he’s leaning or comment on Gardner’s status after the injury. “I feel extremely uncomfortable talking about medical issues of other people – just the medical side in general I feel very strange talking about it,” he said. “He’s a young man and it’s not my medical issues, and it’s the medical status of other players. I think the NHL has a rule where you have to give updates of upper and lower body (injuries), but that’s not one here. Since I’m very uncomfortable talking about other people’s medical status, I choose not to.” Familiar face behind Red Deer bench The Rebels will be looking to get some sweet redemption against the Blades after last year’s collapse, and also win what will be an important series for their interim head coach, David Struch. In late March, the Rebels shocked the junior hockey world by firing head coach Derrick Walser less than a month before the start of the playoffs. Struch was then hired as Walser’s replacement. He was coaching at Notre Dame in Wilcox when he got the call from general manager Brent Sutter. Struch played four seasons with the Blades from 1988 to ’92. He spent over a decade playing professional hockey around the world before landing as an assistant coach with the Rebels in 2006. He was their assistant coach from 2006 to 2013 and was given the head-coaching reins in 2014 before moving to the Regina Pats in 2015. Speaking on The Green Zone on Thursday, Struch said it’s been a crazy six weeks since he took over in Red Deer. “It’s been a whirlwind. It’s been an emotional time and I’ve been running on adrenaline,” he said. Struch said it wasn’t easy making the transition, but he credited the leadership group for welcoming him in. “The Rebels’ identity for years has been similar to the way I coach, so I think the players were looking for that type of leadership,” Struch said. “I was nervous, but the players and ownership group here were very welcoming and supported me.” Given his history with the Blades, Struch admitted it’s going to be a special series for him. “It’s obviously close to my heart. My family still lives (in Saskatoon) and it’s very special to come there because of my connection, but more so to play against a really good team in the Blades,” he explained. “They’ve built a really good strong team, and you can see it in the standings. We’re in one for sure, and hopefully we can give them a good challenge.” After some of the tweaks he’s made, Struch thinks the Rebels have become a team that’s hard to play against and a team that can skate hard and play hard for the full game. Game 1 between the Blades and Rebels is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday at SaskTel Centre.

A Saskatoon family is concerned about the health of their son nearly a year after Saskatchewan’s only pediatric gastroenterologist (GI) left the province.

Scott Moe is amongst some of the premiers that are calling for an emergency televised meeting over the carbon tax with the prime minister.

Now that the snow has disappeared, the operators of ski and snowboard hills in Saskatchewan can reflect on a very unique year. Saskatoon’s Optimist Hill was the first place with snow this year — because its operators made it themselves. “Once it actually snowed in January, it was great overall,” said Maxine Tebbe, the facility’s general manager. In a part of the world where the winters are long and cold, people look forward to spring so they can enjoy the outdoors. But Optimist Hill gave many residents the opportunity to enjoy the winter weather. Despite the delayed start to the season, business was good the entire way. “The overall year was actually pretty good,” said Tebbe. The hill closed March 24 after a Slush Cup event and Tebbe said that was right on schedule. “This was actually very normal for us to be ending,” said Tebbe. “Last year, we were open a little bit later; we closed Easter weekend.” The warmer weather near the end of the season was actually a benefit for the hill. “I think we were closed for five days in March in total,” said Tebbe. “Only being closed for a total of five days in March was monumental.” The hill was only closed for seven days the month before, too. “This was the first February break that we were actually open for the entire break,” said Tebbe. A major snowfall in March helped Optimist Hill extend its season well into that month. “We had been losing some snow at that time and we probably wouldn’t have been able to stay open,” said Tebbe. The hill did have a weekend event that saw the final day get cancelled. Table Mountain west of the Battlefords also had to close that weekend due to the snow. “It closed us down for the Sunday,” said Lawrence Blouin, Table Mountain’s general manager. “We lost one day out of it.” The snow made people think of snowboarding and skiing, so Blouin believes it helped the facility attract more customers in the long run. The overall year for Table Mountain was a success despite the late start. “We didn’t get open until the middle of January and we shut down a week earlier than we normally would,” said Blouin. “The attendance I thought was really good for the season, so actually the season ended up not too bad at all.” Table Mountain’s last day was also March 24. Blouin says the weather had a major impact on the facility this year. “In all the years that I’ve been here, this is the first year where we were not open for Christmas,” he said.

A ban on nearly all abortions in Arizona doesn’t sit well with the Republican former governor whose expansion of the state Supreme Court allowed him to appoint the four conservative justices whose ruling cleared the way for it. Doug Ducey is among Republicans in several states who are wrestling with the consequences of their opposition to abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. He expanded the state court in 2016, but thinks its ruling this week went too far. After the Arizona court ruled 4-2 on Monday to revive an 1864 law that criminalizes abortion throughout pregnancy unless a woman’s life is at risk, Ducey posted on the platform X that it was “not the outcome I would have preferred." He said a law he signed in 2022 banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy was more in line with what voters want. In Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio, where an abortion ban signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine got overturned in a referendum that enshrined the right to an abortion in the state constitution, the issue has helped Democrats win races and in some cases begin to reverse Republican-led bans. More may be in store. In Florida, the state's high court cleared the way for a six-week ban that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed while also allowing an abortion-rights referendum go before the state’s voters this November. Abortion also is a major feature in the presidential race, potentially boosting turnout for Democrats and putting down-ballot Republicans on a back foot. Polls show most U.S. adults don’t support tough restrictions. Donald Trump, who recently opined that abortion's legality should be left to individual states, has called DeSantis’ approval of Florida's ban a “terrible mistake. " The former president who appointed three of the U.S. Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade also said the Arizona Supreme Court ruling went too far. Ducey said in his post on X that the ban he signed was “thoughtful conservative policy, and an approach to this very sensitive issue that Arizonans can actually agree on." His comment followed the better part of two years of legal wrangling over the 1864 Arizona law. The Supreme Court ruling took a fair amount of time, four months after arguments before the court and longer than some expected, said Barbara Atwood, professor emerita at the University of Arizona law school. “Frankly, I think they struggled,” she said of the justices. Besides Ducey's five appointees, one of whom abstained from the ruling, two are appointees of Jan Brewer, Arizona's Republican governor from 2009-2015. Ducey had defended his expansion of the court from five to seven justices. He said the state had outgrown the smaller court and an expansion was long expected. The justices at the time said their workload was manageable and opposed the move. The crux of the abortion case was whether Arizona’s 2022 or 1864 ban applied after Roe v. Wade was overturned. In late 2022, an appeals court rejected the argument of the state’s elected Republican attorney general, Mark Brnovich, that the 1864 law held sway. Days later, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes took office, but the case remained alive through the efforts of an anti-abortion intervener. The legal uncertainty was written into the law outlawing abortion after 15 weeks. It stated that the state’s much stricter 1864 law was not being repealed “by implication or otherwise.” But even Republicans disagreed over which law would take precedent. In their ruling, the majority justices noted Ducey thought the ban he signed should take effect. “It’s just interesting that justices who he appointed have reached a point that is at odds with his own understanding,” said Atwood. “It contributed to the general uncertainty about this whole topic.” ___ Gruver reported from Cheyenne, Wyoming. J.J. Cooper and Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix contributed to this report. Mead Gruver, The Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers passed a bill Thursday to restore the voting rights of those convicted of felonies upon the completion of their sentences, including prison and parole time. The bill, introduced for years by Omaha state Sen. Justin Wayne, passed by a wide margin in the last year of Wayne's second term. He is barred by term limits from running this year for a third term. Currently, a person who has been convicted of a felony must wait two years after completing all the terms of their conviction before regaining voting rights. Wayne's measure eliminates that waiting period, established in 2005 by the Legislature. Prior to the waiting period, a person convicted of a felony lost their right to vote indefinitely. The passage of the bill “means everything for the thousands of people who have not been full participants in society," said TJ King, a Lincoln, Nebraska-based outreach specialist with the Nebraska AIDS Project who was unable to vote in the 2022 general election after coming off probation for drug and theft convictions three months earlier. King said the bill's passage is the final layer in his ability to be civically engaged and “have a full voice and complete connection to the community." For years, Wayne's effort to restore voting rights for felons faced opposition from several Republicans in the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature. Opponents maintained that a two-year waiting period is reasonable and served as a deterrent to committing crime in the first place. Until this year, Wayne's closest brush with success came in 2017, when his bill was passed by the Legislature but vetoed by then-Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts. He prevailed by appealing to the practical sensibilities of law-and-order lawmakers. “Studies have shown that if you allow people to engage in their community upon being released, the recidivism rate drops,” Wayne said during a public hearing for the bill last year. "We spend on average $42,000 a year on prisoners, of which we have around a 30 percent recidivism rate. “One year, I brought in a little chart that says if we just cut it by 10 percent, we’re saving around $5 million a year.” Republican Gov. Jim Pillen's office did not immediately respond to messages Thursday by The Associated Press asking whether he would sign the bill into law. Restoring the voting rights of former felons has drawn national attention in recent years. In Florida, lawmakers weakened a 2018 voter-approved constitutional amendment to restore the voting rights of most convicted felons. Following that, an election police unit championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis arrested 20 former felons. Several of them said they were confused by the arrests because they had been allowed to register to vote. In Tennessee, lawmakers on Wednesday killed a bipartisan bill for the year that would have let residents convicted of felonies apply to vote again without also restoring their gun rights. As of October 2023, 26 states and the District of Columbia had expanded voting rights to people living with felony convictions, according to The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit sentencing advocacy group that studies criminal justice policy. As a result, voting rights have been restored to over 2 million people, said Nicole Porter, senior director of advocacy at The Sentencing Project. —— Associated Press writer Gary Fields contributed to this report from Washington, D.C. Margery A. Beck, The Associated Press

VICTORIA — The British Columbia government tabled legislation Thursday that's designed to hold public bodies accountable for addressing systemic racism in policy and programs, the province's attorney general said. Niki Sharma said the proposed law would cover provincial ministries, agencies, health-care and social service providers, and require the development of a public action plan using data the government has collected on systemic racism. She said it would give her ministry the power to issue compliance orders if it finds a lack of response to the action items in the plan. Before tabling the bill, Sharma said she sometimes thinks of the politicians who have come before her in the legislature, who passed laws designed to hurt people based on the colour of their skin. "The power that was wielded in that place, that was directed toward racialized people in this province, you just can't even imagine the generations of pain and trauma and impact that that's had," she said. "The government can change that."  Sharma said the province will establish an anti-racism committee to help guide the development of the action plan by June 1, 2026, and develop standards and targets. The legislation also requires public bodies to develop and implement a training curriculum on Indigenous history, set targets for the recruitment and retention of Indigenous and racialized people, and regularly assess their policies and programs. Years of breaking people's trust can make them afraid to engage with the government because of the colour of their skin, Sharma said. That could mean fear of reporting a crime to the police, going to an emergency room, or speaking up in a classroom. "Government is here to represent the people of this province and it's our job to ensure that everybody in British Columbia has the support that they need, not just to live, but to thrive," she said. B.C.'s Anti Racism Data Act came into effect in 2022, allowing for the collection and use of personal information for the purposes of identifying and eliminating systemic racism. It requires the province to release statistics annually. Sharma said the first data would be released soon, giving the ministries and other provincial agencies a baseline to start from. "What this act requires is government to take action on that (data)," she said. "So, to receive the data, come up with clear action plans that are public for how they're going to address what they're seeing in the data, and then we have external structures to keep government to account moving forward." B.C.'s Human Rights Commissioner, Kasari Govender, said she welcomes the new legislation and sees it as a significant stride toward addressing systemic racism. However, she said "much remains to be seen" about how it will be implemented and whether it will be effective in addressing significant racial inequalities and discrimination in the province. "I will be watching closely to ensure systemic racism is properly identified and that the public bodies responsible are tasked with taking meaningful action," Govender said in a statement. "I also look forward to when municipal police forces, school boards, health authorities and other public bodies are brought within the purview of the act." — By Ashley Joannou in Vancouver This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2024. The Canadian Press

The project's planning committee will be hosting a pancake breakfast at the Weldon Auditorium on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. to raise money for the park's construction.

This year's theme for Canada's Farm Show in Regina is agtech, where traditional farming meets technology, and spotlighting the latest advancements in agricultural technology.