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Delegations defend downtown benches
“We Honour the Women”
Mayor Bater: No requests made, no decisions pending By John Cairns Staff Reporter
A renaming ceremony took place Tuesday outside Unity, in which the previously known Killsquaw Lakes were changed to Kikiskisitotawânawak Iskwêwak Lakes. The new name is Cree for “we honour the women.” See the story on Page 3. Photo by Josh Greschner
New RCMP inspector arrives
Sports
Warriors to Hilltops Page 21
By John Cairns Staff Reporter
News
Musically inspired Page 2
Feature
Theories of Justice in Saskatchewan Pages 6, 7, 8
The new RCMP inspector for the Battlefords detachment was introduced at a meeting of North Battleford city council Monday. Mayor Ryan Bater welcomed Insp. Tom Beck to the community to fill the role left vacant by the reassignment of former Battlefords RCMP Insp. John Sutherland last year. Beck comes to the detachment from Victoria, B.C., where he ran the Major Crimes Unit there for three years. He also spent
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Insp. Tom Beck at City Hall. Photo by John Cairns
considerable time in other British Columbia detachments including Williams Lake and, later, Prince George, where he ran the Criminal Intelligence Unit there.
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Beck is brand-new to the community, and just settling in. “This is actually my first full-time week that I’ll be here,” he told council in brief remarks Monday.
The issue of downtown benches has made its way to City Hall. Controversy had been swirling in the community about the benches, which were installed as part of the downtown revitalization efforts in recent years. They have come under fire lately from residents who claim the benches attract vagrants, panhandlers and others who harass legitimate customers downtown. The benches were brought up at a recent RCMP town hall meeting, and there was also a news report that some downtown business owners were preparing to send a delegation to City Hall to raise the issue. That has yet to happen. Instead, council heard presentations Monday from two other delegations who supported retaining the benches. One of those was Tracey Reimer of The Lighthouse.
“We all share the downtown, and we all share the benches. It takes relationships to build a healthy community,” Reimer said. “The downtown businesses and owners deserve respect. I don’t question that. But so do those who sit and visit our benches.” She added that “eliminating the benches in order to eliminate a population of people from the downtown business district” reminded her of “the early architects of colonialism.” “The potential is great for healing and moving forward together. What we do with decisions such as the benches has impact on this bigger relationship,” said Reimer. That reference to “decisions” drew a reaction from Mayor Ryan Bater, who pointed out “there is no pending decision on benches.” He said the decision on benches had been made years ago as part of the Downtown Master Plan to include them. Continued on Page 3
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