ALICE COOPER
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
Music legend excited to perform in Estevan
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Winners crowned at Woodlawn
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
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Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
Issue 17
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
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Estevan MLA appointed to cabinet post By Brady Bateman bbateman@estevanmercury.ca
It was announced last week that Estevan would be receiving the city’s first cabinet minister in more than 25 years. Premier Scott Moe announced a cabinet shuffle on Aug. 15, and Estevan MLA Lori Carr, who has been the MLA for more than two years, was elevated to cabinet, given the position of minister of Highways and Infrastructure. “It truly is a great honour to have the confidence of Premier Scott Moe to be able to do this job,” said Carr. “I really want to send a special thank you out to all the constituents in the Estevan area, the people who voted me in to have the opportunity to be their MLA and now their minister.” Carr’s predecessor, Doreen Eagles, was never a minister in her 16 years as MLA, about half of which were in government. “I believe it was 1991 the last time we had a minister,” said Carr. “The minister at the time was Grant Devine, was actually the premier at the time. So it does mean a lot to me to have this position; it’s going to be a big job but I think I’m up for it.” There are numerous highways in southeast Saskatchewan that are in need of improvement, including Highway 47 south of Estevan and north of Stoughton, Highway 350 south of Torquay, Highway 361 and 318 in the Alida area and Highway 18 in the Oungre area, all of which Carr says are concerns, and issues that she has been, and will continue fighting for. “I don’t think we’re going to necessarily see a direct impact within the city of Estevan with this new position,” said Carr. “But with that said, when you have the opportunity to sit at the cabinet seat and be right in the mix with all of the decision makers, I think your voice is heard maybe more than others. “So I’ll have the opportunity to be in everybody’s ear a little bit more about things that are needed in the Estevan area. Since I was elected in 2016 I’ve been fighting for the different
A new friend Lori Carr areas of roads that people have concerns about. As with anything else, in whatever ministry, there are priorities, and there are reasons there are those priorities. It won’t stop me from fighting for the roads in the Estevan constituency but there is an entire province to take care of.” Ac c o rd i n g t o C a r r, safety will be the highest priority when it comes to highways and motor vehicle traffic, saying she believes that safety should come first on the roads above all else. Carr was previously awarded another title, that of caucus chair, a position that was short lived. “I think that I’ ll go down in history as the shortest caucus chair,” said Carr. “Last week I ran for caucus chair and my peers voted me in so I became chair. So when I went and saw the premier on Aug. 14, I just assumed he was going to be talking to me about that role. But when I sat down he said to me ‘you’ve chaired your first and last caucus meeting’ and I thought ‘oh no what have I done wrong.’ He then proceeded to tell me he wanted to offer me the minister position, so my disappointment was very short lived in that.” Carr said she didn’t expect to receive an opportunity like this for several more years but that she is extremely excited for the opportunity. “Right now I’m not nervous, I’ve had the opportunity to sit in the office and meet my first stakeholders so I guess we’ll just see what comes along and go from there,” said Carr.
Syena Murphy made a new rabbit friend in the petting zoo that was offered during the Pioneer Fun Day at the Souris Valley Museum on Saturday. Many families turned out to enjoy the activities that were offered. Other attractions included a scavenger hunt, crafts, butter-making lessons and tours of the museum. Photo by David Willberg.
Council supports date change for the next election By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
Estevan city council has voiced their support for a change in dates for the next civic election. The provincial government has approached Saskatchewan’s urban and rural municipalities and school boards to see if they support having the next civic election in 2021 instead of the initially scheduled date of 2020. It means the current term for council would be five years instead of four. This would be the only time that would happen. Council would then return to having four-year terms, with an election taking place in 2025. Estevan Mayor Roy Ludwig said council was unanimous in their support of five years for the current term. “ We e-mailed all of council, and got responses back, and council was all right with the one-year extension, with the understanding that would go back to four years after that,” Ludwig told the Mercury. The current schedule calls for the next civic election to occur on Oct. 28, 2020. The next provincial election is slated for five days later on Nov. 2. The province asked
Members of Estevan city council support the provincial government’s notion to extend the current city council term to 2021.File photo for the municipal and school board date to be pushed back because of the quick turnaround. Ludwig said he would rather see the province and the municipalities work together to find a new date for the provincial election, and not change the civic election dates. But he ultimately understands the situation, and the need not to have two elections within a week of each other. “As long as there’s no
great outcry, it would appear that’s the way they’re heading,” said Ludwig. Most of the municipal councils he has talked to have said they’re in favour of delaying the next election to 2021. There was some discussion of having a provincial election in the spring of 2020 or 2021, but Ludwig said that from the province’s point of view, they thought it would be more advantageous to have their vote in the fall,
even though the last provincial election was held in the spring of 2016. The mayor doesn’t expect there will be any issues for the current council members if the current term is extended from four years to five. He also stressed that this is based on a recommendation that came from the provincial government, and that it wasn’t the municipalities who approached the government about the need to change dates.
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