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All you need to know. Mayoral and councillor candidates get a chance to speak on how they see the future for Estevan. PAGE A2
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2024
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People in Estevan come together to honour veterans at Remembrance Day service By David Willberg
Christmas for everyone. Estevan Community Hamper Association and Angle Tree are gearing up for the holiday season. PAGE A3
Latest from the court. Find the recent updates on local resonating cases. PAGE A7
Celebrating the talent. Local umpire is recognized at provincial level for her skills in softball. PAGE A9
It’s a lot of history. Estevan Market Mall celebrates 50th anniversary along with the community, completes major renos. PAGE A12
Hundreds of people came together at the Estevan Comprehensive School’s gymnasium on Nov. 11 for Estevan’s annual Remembrance Day service. The Estevan branch of the Royal Canadian Legion once again organized the ceremony, giving people the chance to honour Canada’s veterans. The event featured various songs, prayers and tributes, including the playing of the Last Post, followed by two minutes of silence and then Rouse. Estevan legion president Jim (Frosty) Forrest read the roll of honour – the list of people from the Estevan area who died while serving their country during the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War and the Afghanistan War. Forrest and his son Willie then placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The poem In Flanders Field was read. Capt. Craig Bird, a local military historian, gave a video presentation on a trip that he and his wife Tina took to France in June for ceremonies that marked the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in France. The Birds arrived in Paris
Wreaths were placed in front of the makeshift cenotaph at the Estevan Comprehensive School. on June 4 and then boarded a train to go to the Normandy coast. “Some of the views from the windows of the train were spectacular, seeing poppies growing along the train tracks, looking out into the countryside and seeing the fields of crops, just like you see here,” said Bird in his presentation. While in Caen, they looked around and saw some of the old architecture
and cathedrals in the city, as well as monuments that paid tribute to Canadians for the liberation of the city. Then they ventured to Bretteville, where a ceremony took place to commemorate the liberation of the town. Bird noted the town centre has a central area called the Place du Canadiens, where the town’s cenotaph is located. Plaques commemorate the war dead and a statue is dedicated to
the Regina Rifles Regiment. “Walking around the town prior to the ceremony, you could see the welcoming attitude of the people visiting and the Canadian flags all over,” said Bird. A Canadian flag flies proudly at the monument, Bird said. “The plaque on the left reads ‘Free men from all nations remember that in June 1944, brave soldiers from the Regina Rifles Canadian reg-
iment died for your freedom in this village.’ The other side is the same, but in French.” People from around the world attended, including Second World War veterans. Among them was Estevan’s Jim Spenst, who is one of Estevan’s last surviving veterans from the war. Spenst’s son Daryl, a former Estevan resident who served in the Canadian Armed Forces, also attended the ceremony. A2 » WREATHS
Lori Carr’s latest ministerial role involves rural health and other responsibilities By David Willberg Lori Carr’s latest role in the provincial cabinet is a diverse one that will see her keep close tabs on a couple of high-profile projects in the Estevan area. Premier Scott Moe announced Thursday the MLAs who will be in cabinet posts to start the new four-year term, and Carr, the MLA for Estevan-Big Muddy, was named the minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Seniors, and Rural and Remote Health. Carr, who has been a cabinet minister since 2018, said she wasn’t surprised that she was shuffled to a new cabinet post, and there were a number of different spots she thought she could have been moved to. She believes her new role is “ap-
Estevan-Big Muddy MLA Lori Carr propriate” for the region. “I never expect I’m going to stay there [in cabinet], because obviously other people do get the opportunity to come in, but just with the nature of seniority and all of the new members coming in, I was
very hopeful that I would get the opportunity to stay,” said Carr in an interview with the Mercury and SaskToday. “I’ve worked hard in the portfolios I’ve been in, and I think I’ve had success in there.” Moe didn’t talk to Carr about her latest appointment before the announcement. Carr recalls that at one time, he had consulted with her to find out her cabinet interests. Carr has some familiarity with the various components of her new role. She believes mental health and addictions likely impact every person in the province, either directly or indirectly. “We all probably have a loved one, whether it be a family member or a friend, that is touched by mental health and/or addictions,
so I think, really, no matter who you put in that portfolio, you can understand the needs that will be there,” said Carr. Estevan is already “fully immersed” with the addictions field, she said, thanks to the treatment and recovery centre that returned to St. Joseph’s Hospital four years ago and has patients from across the province. She said she has had the opportunity to visit with some of the people who work there, and she expects to build on those relationships. In terms of rural and remote health, she said it’s important to build on what is already in place in rural communities and small cities. Carr cited the MRI scanner that will be coming to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Estevan “within the next
year or two”, which is expected to reduce wait times not only in the southeast but elsewhere. “How can rural Saskatchewan help alleviate some of those pressures in the cities, and make it a better patient experience for everybody?” she asked. The other big project happening in the area that falls within her new portfolio is the construction of a new Estevan regional nursing home. A ground-breaking ceremony was held in September, just before the provincial election was called. Her appointment to a new cabinet post won’t impact the efforts to bring the MRI scanner to St. Joseph’s or to bring a new nursing home to Estevan, she said. A2 » CARR