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Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Issue 41
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
www.estevanmercury.ca
Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
Veteran city employee charged with theft By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
An experienced employee for the City of Estevan is facing charges of fraud and theft. Richard Winton is facing charges of defrauding a government, in this case the City of Estevan, as well as fraud over $5,000 and theft over $5,000. Winton, who has been employed by the city for 24 years, had been serving as the city’s stores foreman. City manager Jeff Ward could not comment on whether Winton is still employed with the city. The Estevan Police Service announced in a press release last week that they had arrested and charged Winton on Feb. 7, following an internal investigation carried out over a couple of months. “There were concerns raised by city staff, and they brought this to our attention,” police Chief
Paul Ladouceur said in an interview with the Mercury. “We conducted an investigation, and as a result of that investigation, we laid the charges.” Ladouceur said more than $30,000 in kickbacks through purchases was fraudulently taken over the span of a few years through a manipulation of funds. The police chief said he couldn’t get into further details regarding the theft, but he said that information will come out once the case is in court. “In this case, it was a situation where, through a paper trail, they found that there were anomalies in the records, and upon digging in further, we found that employee was defrauding the city,” said Ladouceur. Ladouceur praised the city for how they handled the situation. They noticed a problem, and came forward and reported it right away, which led to the investigation and eventually
the criminal charges. “The city staff have been very co-operative in the investigation,” said Ladouceur. “They realized very quickly that there was something wrong when they were going through the books.” The police believe Winton was acting alone in the matter. The investigation into the alleged theft is ongoing. Ladouceur said the city could seek full or partial restitution if Winton is found guilty. Either the Crown prosecutor could put in that request for the court, or the city could pursue it through a civil lawsuit. “If someone’s a victim of a theft or a fraud and out money, they have the ability to submit their request for restitution,” said Ladouceur. Winton is scheduled to make his first court appearance on April 3.
Elecs Take Flight At McLeod Series Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) Elecs guard Heaven Cabiluna soars toward the basket during the fourth quarter of the Elecs senior boys 79-75 win over the Weyburn Comprehensive School (WCS) Eagles at WCS last Wednesday. The Elecs senior girls fell 71-61 to the Eagles giving WCS a six-point advantage heading into tonight’s second half of the 82nd annual McLeod Series at ECS. For more photos and the story please see B1. Photo by Jamie Harkins.
Census says Estevan’s population is growing By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
The city and the rural municipality of Estevan both saw increases in population, according to the federal census data that was released on Feb. 8. The city’s population grew from 11,054 in 2011 to 11,483 people in 2016, which was an increase of 429 people, or 3.9 per cent, even though the city has been feeling the effects of an economic slowdown due to the sliding price of oil since 2014. Estevan remained the eighthlargest city in the province. The RM, meanwhile, saw its population soar from 1,139 to 1,370 people, which was a 221 or 20.3 per cent increase. The RM of Estevan ranked 21st in population for Saskatchewan RMs. The combined population for the two municipalities was 12,853, which was up from 12,194 in 2011. The census data was recorded last spring. “We have had a couple of
tough years … on the oil sector side, so we were pleasantly surprised with the uptick in numbers,” Mayor Roy Ludwig told the Mercury. “We view that as a positive.” At the same time, so many people came to the city prior to 2014 for work in the southeast oil patch and other projects, and Ludwig believes some of those people have decided to stay and find work outside of the oil sector. “I wasn’t sure what to expect,” said Ludwig. “I guess because of the last couple of years, we definitely did have some trying times in the oil sector. So we thought the numbers might be down.” Estevan city council and others in the community criticized census numbers from 2006 and 2011, since they believe Estevan’s population was higher than what was reported by Statistics Canada. Council put a greater emphasis on the findings of eHealth Saskatchewan’s covered population report, which tracks the number of people in a community holding a
Saskatchewan Health card. Ludwig believes the 2006 and 2011 census numbers failed to account for the number of transient workers and other shortterm residents who had come to Estevan during the oil boom. This time around, though, Ludwig believes the census numbers are closer to reality. “The 2016 census was more in depth, and I think moving forward, we can count on the numbers more seriously,” said Ludwig. Grace Potter, the administrator for the RM of Estevan, said they weren’t surprised with the population data, since they have seen a lot of residential developments in the RM in the last few years. Much of that growth came before the price of oil slumped in 2014. They have particularly noticed an increase in the number of acreages throughout the RM, as people are more willing to embrace a rural lifestyle. “We have some beautiful country, and people like their
space,” said Potter. “We have the valleys.” Construction in the RM has slowed down due to the economic downturn, so she expects the population growth will be stable until the price of oil picks up again. “Last year there wasn’t a significant increase, but the years prior to that, we had several developments every year,” said Potter. The RM still receives calls from people looking to build on an acreage, she said, particularly near the Woodlawn Regional Park. Census numbers are vital for communities, Ludwig said. Many provincial and federal grants are doled out on a per capita basis using the census. “It’s always positive to know that your community is growing,” the mayor said. Rural communities had varying results. Bienfait’s population dropped from 780 to 762 people, Lampman dropped from 713 to 675 people, Midale increased from 562 to 604 people, Macoun grew from 246 to 269 residents,
Torquay increased from 236 to 255, Frobisher slid from 166 to 160, North Portal dropped from 143 to 115 people, and Roche Percee declined from 153 to 110 residents. As for rural municipalities, Cymri grew from 524 to 549 people, Benson dropped from 490 to 472, Browning declined from 399 to 375, Coalfields fell from 382 to 368 residents and Cambria went from 304 to 309 residents. Among the other findings for 2016 were that Souris-Moose Mountain, the federal constituency for Estevan and the rest of southeast Saskatchewan, had 72,635 people, which was a slight jump from the 72,058 who lived in the riding in 2011. Saskatchewan’s population was pegged at 1,098,352, which was an increase of 6.3 per cent from the 1,033,381 who resided in the province five years earlier. And the national population was at more than 35.1 million, which was a five per cent increase from the 33.4 million who lived in Canada five years earlier.
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