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Issue 41
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
www.estevanmercury.ca
Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
Rabies found in skunks in RM of Coalfields The Rural Municipality (RM) of Coalfields believes it took the necessary steps after two skunks were diagnosed with rabies last week. Holley Odgers, who is the administrator for the RM, said the municipality received an email in the evening of Jan. 30, saying that the skunks were diagnosed. An advisory was posted on their website the following day. The RM of Estevan also shared the information on its Facebook page. Odgers said she requested additional information on the cases from Dr. Clarence Bischop, who is the rabies risk assessment veterinarian from the Ministry of Agriculture. The only information she received is that the skunks were located east of Bienfait. “It doesn’t say how close to the town, or how they happened to be made aware of these skunks. I’m thinking somebody must have shot some skunks on their arm and sent them in for testing,” said Odgers. She doesn’t expect to get much more information about the cases. Bischop also provided recommendations, including skunk control, and vaccination of dogs, cats and livestock such as horses. He also reminded people to avoid contact with skunks and any other animals that are acting abnormally, in case the rabies have spread to another species. Also, children should be warned about contact with
these animals. Odgers believes this is a different situation than if rabies were to be found in a dog, which the RM of Estevan encountered last fall. This is because people might be tempted to approach or pet a dog. “For the most part, when you see a skunk you quite promptly go the other way,” said Odgers. This is the first case of rabies that she knows of in the RM, and she doesn’t believe it has spread to other animals in the RM, thanks to the precautions that people are being asked to take. “I’ve only been here with the RM for a little over a year, but I’ve lived in the area for a long time, and this is the first case that I’ve heard,” said Odgers. “The ladies who work in the office here have been around for a while, and they’ve never had a report like that come into the office. I think it’s a pretty rare occurrence, so obviously the province is doing their part in terms of getting the information out there when a case is found.” Since the rabies case was announced, the RM has had a couple of phone calls from ratepayers who are concerned about the issue, and she believes the RM has done what it can to keep ratepayers informed. The RM also received a number of websites for Bischop that it passed on to people so they know how to handle a rabies case, or how to prevent rabies from spreading.
Charges laid for break and enter Four people have been charged following a break and enter in Estevan last month. The Estevan Police Service (EPS) received a complaint of the break and enter at a businesses Jan. 24 at the Wicklow Centre. Several items were stolen during the incident, including golf clubs, a laptop computer, hand-held power tools, vacuums and various construction items. As a result of an investigation conducted by the EPS’s Criminal Investigations Division, a search warrant was executed at a residence in the central area of Estevan, during which time a majority of the stolen property was located.
The EPS announced the arrests on Monday morning. Chief Paul Ladouceur said he doesn’t have a total value for the items that were stolen, but it was in the thousands of dollars. Police are still going through all of the items that were stolen. “It was multiple businesses inside the Wicklow Centre that were broken into,” said Ladouceur. Ladouceur is pleased to see that some of the items were returned to the owners in a lawful manner. The golf clubs, the tools and other items have been recovered, but he doesn’t believe the laptops have been found as of yet. A2 » SUSPECT
Indegenous Music Cree First Nation artist and storyteller Carol Daniels involved Grace Morrison (left), Ilona Ryaboshapko and other kids into her interactive performance explaining to them some cultural features and teaching Cree words during the Winter Heritage Carnival, organized by the Souris Valley Museum and the Southeast Newcomer Services. Photo by Anastasiia Bykhovskaia
City’s population dropped By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
A report that the City of Estevan has used in the past to track its population on an annual basis shows that the number of people in the city dropped once again in 2018. The Covered Population Report, compiled by eHealth Saskatchewan, shows there were 12,612 people in Estevan carrying a Saskatchewan Health card, as of June 30, 2018. That’s down more than 600 people from the 13,222 people classified as city residents by the report in 2017, and 13,307 who lived here in 2016. By comparison, Estevan’s census number for 2016 was 11,258 residents. Mayor Roy L udwig said he wasn’t surprised to see a drop in Estevan’s numbers due to the state of the economy. “A good part of our economic base is related to oil, and our oil economy lately has been suffering for the last while, so it’s no big surprise that our numbers are down,” the mayor said. During the economic boom years, the Covered Population Report became the go-to document for the city when trying to gage its population. The covered population report came out every year, while the census was released once every five
Mayor Roy Ludwig years. And the report was viewed as a more accurate reflection of the number of people in Estevan for medium-term and longterm work-related purposes. Ludwig said the city still pays close attention to the document. “ The health records tend to be a little bit more accurate, a little more on point at any given time, although the census is accurate overall within a given margin error at a time,” said Ludwig. He believes the health card numbers are still a pretty good barometer of where the city’s population is at. Meanwhile, the city is trying to do what it can to keep the population from dropping further. Among
the initiatives is a new transition committee to diversify the economy. It was formed af ter SaskPower announced last year that it would retire Units 4 and 5 at the Boundary Dam Power Station. The committee has representation from SaskPower, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the United Mine Workers of America, the Westmoreland Coal Company, Western Economic Diversification Canada, the city and the Estevan Chamber of Commerce. They have had a few meetings thus far, and they have been going well, Ludwig said. The information in the report is further broken down by age and gender.
For example, as of June 30, 2018, there 71 boys and 74 girls under the age of one in the city, and there were two people at least 100 years of age, both of them female. The largest age number for men in the city was 29, as there were 127 male residents of that age, while the largest age number for women was 123 female residents who were 35. In all, Este van was home to 6,392 males and 6,220 females in Estevan on June 30, 2018. Meanwhile, the report showed there were 699 people in the rural municipality of Estevan, as of June 30, 2018, compared to 679 in 2017 and 658 in 2016. The 2016 census showed there were 1,370 people living in the RM. Traditionally the report has had higher numbers for urban municipalities and lower numbers for rural municipalities when compared with the census. O verall, S askatchewan’s population was at 1,187,629 people. The report points out it is not a census, but it is a count of individuals who were eligible for Saskatchewan health insurance benefits. Coverage for an individual begins on the first day of the third month following A2 » RM’S
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