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Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Issue 21
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
www.estevanmercury.ca
Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
Location shift draws positive feedback for Showcase By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
It appears the shift in location for the Estevan Showcase Business Expo will be a permanent one. This year’s edition of Showcase was held from Friday to Sunday at the Power Dodge Ice Centre (PDIC). It marked the first time since 2010 that Showcase was in the PDIC, as the previous six editions of the event were in Affinity Place. Concerns from exhibitors and the public about the temporary arena floor that covers Affinity Place for special events like Showcase during the ice sports season forced a return to the PDIC. Affinity Place would be very cold at ice level during Showcase, and condensation from the ice made the floor slippery and soaked the exhibitors’ products. Jackie Wall, the executive director with the Estevan Chamber of Commerce, said the Showcase organizers – the chamber, the Rotary Club of Estevan and the Estevan Lions Club – have received positive feedback about the location change.
The Estevan Showcase Business Expo was held in the Power Dodge Ice Centre for the first time since 2010. The change generated positive feedback from vendors. “The change of venue was a great choice,” said Wall. “We’ve had a lot of great feedback from the vendors, saying they like the new location.” O ff i c i a l f e e d b a c k forms have been distributed to the vendors, and Wall said the Showcase committee will wait for that feedback before making any final decisions. But she expects Showcase will now be held at the PDIC moving forward.
“Just going around on Thursday night and Friday, when the exhibitors were setting up, they were happy,” said Wall. She hasn’t had a chance to talk to the exhibitors about their sales, but most seemed to be happy. “I noticed, though, that a lot of the vendors who have retail stuff have a lot less than when they were setting up,” said Wall. Wall believes the vendors who are part of the
trade show circuit and come back to Estevan each year are a reflection of the event offered in Estevan. A total of 61 booths were booked for Showcase this year. Sixty of them were inside the PDIC. The other was outdoors in the Estevan Leisure Centre’s parking lot. The number of booths was actually down from last year. “I have a feeling that Showcase will expand next
Police release findings into sexual assaults review By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
The Estevan Police Service (EPS) has released the findings of an internal review into sexual assault complaints in the community. In an interview with the Mercury, police Chief Paul Ladouceur said the EPS reviewed all cases that were filed from 2010 to 2016 as sexual assaults, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, child luring and incest. The internal review was conducted by an investigator with the EPS who was not in that role during the years affected, and then Ladouceur went over the findings. Of the 153 offences that occurred in one of those five categories, sexual assaults were by far the most common complaint. Twenty-four per cent of the sexual
assaults were listed as unfounded. “Some of the sexual assault investigations ... should have reflected a clearance status other than unfounded,” said Ladouceur. “When we were doing the review, what we really found is what I had thought and talked about earlier, which was the fact that we felt it was more a miscoding by members than any lack of investigation, or officers trying to neglect an investigation or something of that nature.” Twenty-four investigations from 2010 to 2016 were accurately cleared as unfounded, based on the information and evidence available to the investigators at the time. Seven investigations would have been better reflected with a clearance status of unsubstantiated. One investigation should have been classified as complete unsolved, four should
have been assist another agency and two investigations should have been beyond control of police department. “When we conducted the investigation, what we did find is that there was nothing that led us to believe that any of the investigations were neglected by investigators,” said Ladouceur. Ladouceur noted an unsubstantiated incident is defined as one where it cannot be determined whether a violation of the Criminal Code, or other federal statute, took place at the time or location. Unfounded, meanwhile, is one in which a police investigation determined the offence reported did not occur, nor was one attempted. “An unfounded incident may be a third-party caller, saying ‘I believe someone is being sexually A2 » CODING
year, because of the feedback I got from the vendors,” said Wall. “When you have vendors saying ‘This is so much better than last year,’ just because it’s not so cold, and they don’t have to worry about their product getting that condensation and that humidity, that word travels fast to other vendors.” A total of 1,744 people attended the event. There were 605 on Friday, 902 on Saturday and 244
on Sunday. The cool and often wet weather was conducive to people attending Showcase, she said. Showcase also had a number of local exhibitors. One of them was Whistle Stop Toys, who participated in Showcase for the first time in many years. The store was sold last year, and the new owners wanted to be at Showcase this year. Barry Harris, who was A2 » VENDORS
Council approves sponsorship policy Estevan city council has approved a new policy that will govern the way in which the city doles out sponsorships and community grants. Council approved the document at Monday night’s council meeting. The policy allows for the city to provide support to large events, special events and sponsorships for cultural, social development and sports and recreation events that council believes will benefit the community. Large events, such as the 2016 Western Canada Cup junior A hockey tournament, the 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games, and the 2018 SaskTel Tankard men’s curling championships, can apply for up to $100,000 in support. Special events can apply for up to $10,000 in support. These are classified as one-time and
* ENDS OCTOBER 2
first-time events that celebrate, preserve and enhance Estevan’s identity by commemorating notable people, places, events, symbols and anniversaries. Recurring local events on nationally-recognized days are also eligible. Sponsorships provide up to $5,000 in funding for organizations for new or unique onetime events, which contribute to building community pride and encouraging community interaction and spirit. “Our present council feels it’s very important to promote events from time to time that benefit the community,” said Mayor Roy Ludwig. The Western Canada Cup and the Saskatchewan Summer Games were not only great events that brought people to the community, but Ludwig said A2 » MATCHING
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