DAY OF KINDNESS
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Kinettes support community A3
Alumni team entertains A9
Issue 44
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
www.estevanmercury.ca
Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
Over 300 cows were seized from a farmer located north of Stoughton
Judge Brass is looking forward to new experience in Estevan
By Ana Bykhovskaia abykhovskaia@estevanmercury.ca
A livestock farm operator located north of Stoughton attracted the attention of the Animal Protection Services of Saskatchewan (APSS). After conducting an investigation on a reported case the APSS, with the assistance of the Fillmore RCMP, seized over 300 cows on Feb. 13-14. “We did execute a search warrant in Stoughton area. We deemed that there were animals in distress on the property or properties, and subsequently removed over 300 cattle from those locations,” said APSS executive director Don Ferguson. The animals, found on different properties, were in a poor condition. Ferguson pointed out that under the Animal Protection Act, an individual cannot allow an animal to be in distress. “In the new Animal Protection Act from September 2018 distress is defined, but is not limited to, being deprived of food or water in sufficient quantity to maintain an animal in good health, that they have reasonable protection from injuries, heat and cold; they also have access to shelter, veterinary care, and they are not kept in conditions that will significantly impair the animal’s health or well-being over time,” said Ferguson. As the investigation is going, the APSS has the possession of the seized cattle. According to the Animal Protection Act, animals taken from the owner have to be delivered either to the local humane society or to a caretaker. Since the humane society is not set up to take in 300 cows or cattle in general, APSS had to find a caretaker. “We take them to a caretaker and that is any location that will be able to provide them with adequate food, water, shelter, easy access to the veterinarian. In a lot of cases we use the auction markets that are set up for the caring and feeding of the livestock,” said Ferguson. No decisions were made yet in relation to the case. The offenders could face charges under the Criminal Code of Canada pertaining to animals, specifically Section 446, 1b and Section 4 of the Animal Protection Act for allowing animals to be in distress. When the investigation is complete the owner will have an option to claim the animals back. Yet, they will have to meet a number of conditions. “They would be required to pay the costs associated with the seizure and then we, as Animal Protection Services, would have to inspect the location where the animals would be taken to, to ensure that they weren’t in distress and the location would have to be able to show that they can provide adequate food, water, shelter, veterinary care, all of those things prior to being released and returned back to the owner,” Ferguson said. The previous experience suggests that usually the costs associated with the seizure are generally prohibitive from people getting their animals back. In most cases, the financial situation or other human-related issues keeps those livestock operators from maintaining the proper conditions to begin with. “So obtaining the funds and correcting the things that would be required just generally don’t happen,” Ferguson said. If the owner doesn’t claim cattle after the period of time that is allowed in the regulations, the APSS can either sell, gift or disposition animals. “In the case of livestock, they are generally checked, ensured that they are able to go through the auction, and they are generally sold then,” Ferguson said. Since the investigation wasn’t finalized at the time of the interview, no names could be released. Ferguson only mentioned that individuals involved with this farm operation were already known to the APSS. Ferguson also noted that due to the extreme cold weather and the limited quantity and quality of feed this year the APSS had an increased amount of reports in January and February throughout Saskatchewan.
Michelle R. Brass has recently moved to the Energy City to serve as a new judge for the Estevan Provincial Court. Photo by Anastasiia Bykhovskaia
By Ana Bykhovskaia abykhovskaia@estevanmercury.ca
Coming from Balcarres, Sask., new Estevan Judge Michelle Brass has been practising law for 20 years. Her career took her from Regina to Ottawa, then back to Regina and now to Estevan. Brass was appointed to Estevan Provincial Court in November 2018, yet she didn’t end up moving to the Energy City until the middle of February. “I actually just moved this past Friday (Feb. 15), but I’ve been out here, I’ve been coming back and forth for the last couple months,” said Brass. So far the transition is going well. Surrounded by a supportive staff, Brass is getting to know the community
and the main issues Estevan has. “It’s going really well, I have really good colleagues and I find the private partners very collegial... It’s nice to have a good working relationship with colleagues and with the people here as well,” Brass said. Brass admitted that never in her life did she think she would live in Estevan, yet she is open to this new experience and is liking the city so far. Here she will focus on the criminal law, which will give her an opportunity to expand her already vast experience. “Because my area of law or my practice has been in such different areas, doing now just strictly criminal law I think it’s a huge opportunity to learn a whole new area of law and legal procedures that
I didn’t know before or didn’t practise before,” Brass said. She underlined that while doing her articles, she did Crown prosecution, so she is familiar with the criminal law. Besides, non-stop practice armed her with knowledge and skills allowing to work in various areas. “My primar y focus throughout my career has been crime law, aboriginal law and environmental law,” Brass said. Brass started her career with the provincial Ministry of Justice, did the articles there and worked in constitutional law for a year. Then she went to Ottawa and worked there for 14 years. After that, Brass came back and worked with the Crown for a year before she opened a private practice, that was operating for about three years.
W hen Brass got appointed to the Saskatchewan Provincial Court, she had to shut down her firm. “It was OK. I was a sole practitioner… and it was only open for three years, (so) I didn’t have too many files. I had some large files, so it took a little while to shut it down,” Brass said. Brass also was trained in mediation and negotiation, and these skills she calls the stronger points in her career. She outlined that having those skills is always beneficial, even though she won’t be applying them directly in Estevan. “It’s not a part of what I will do (in Estevan), but the skills it takes to actually mediate parties that are opposing each other … It’s good to have mediation skills in the process, A2 » BRASS
Equivalency agreement with the feds has been delayed By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
The much-discussed equivalency agreement between the provincial government and their federal counterparts has been delayed, but Dustin Duncan, the minister responsible for SaskPower,
says there’s no reason for residents of southeast Saskatchewan to panic. It was revealed last week that the agreement, which would extend the life of Units 4 and 5 at the Boundary Dam Power Station, would have to go through another 60-day consultation period at the
federal level for procedural reasons. In an interview with the Mercury, Duncan said he has the order in council (OC) from cabinet that allows him to sign the document once it’s ready, assuming there aren’t any major changes that the federal government wants to
make to the agreement. “I think this is more just the technical process part of the federal process,” Duncan told the Mercury. He is confident that once the latest 60-day period is finished, the two sides will be in a place to ratify the equivalency A2 » DUNCAN
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