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Issue 20
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
ESTEVAN’S
SOURCE FOR LOCAL & REGIONAL NEWS
Estevan Chamber puts MLA’s feet to the coal-fired flame By Brian Zinchuk brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net
Estevan MLA and Minister of Government Relations and Northern Affairs Lori Carr stood before what was likely the most hostile crowd a small-C conservative politician has faced in Estevan in at least a decade, when she spoke to the Estevan Chamber of Commerce coffee talk on Sept. 4. While there were no raised voices, there was a palpable feeling of consternation and concern among the approximately 60 chamber members in attendance, nearly filling the Days Inn’s Taylorton Room. The principle issue at hand is the future of coal-fired power generation at Estevan. Several chamber members felt that Carr has not done enough, or at least had not been visible in fighting for coal’s future in the Energy City. Several criticisms to that effect have been floating around on social media in recent weeks, as well as a
Estevan MLA Lori Carr spoke to a near-capacity crowd at a Coffee Talk session hosted by the Estevan Chamber of Commerce last week. letter-writing campaign by the chamber advocating for coal. This led Carr to address those concerns in her 15-minute opening statement. She thanked them for
their passion fighting for the community. She said there had been a misrepresentation in one aspect, namely that supposedly there had been no response to some letters.
“Of all the letters that I had received, a couple had no telephone number and no address, and I didn’t recognize the name, so I didn’t respond to those people. All of the
responses came out of the premier’s office,” she said, but noted one had been missed. She accepted responsibility for that and called that person. “I can assure you I stand
with our coal workers and SaskPower workers, and their families. These people are what I believe helps make our community what it is today,” she said, pointing out that the Saskatchewan Party government had spent $1.4 billion on carbon capture and storage (CCS), the largest per capita investment in North America. “SaskPower’s decision not to retrofit Boundary Dam (Units) 4 and 5 with CCS was due to the age of these facilities, the size of these facilities, and the low cost of natural gas. Estevan has strong potential as a location for future energy generation,” Carr said, pointing to the existing transmission line infrastructure and skilled workforce. The June equivalency agreement on Boundary Dam Units 4 and 5 extended their lives beyond 2019, she noted, and added that both she and the premier wanted to be clear, “Coal will continue to be a valuable part of power generation in this province for the foreseeable future.” A7 » ESTEVAN
Sernicks had a big role at hospital grand opening By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
Saskatchewan families have been waiting years for this province to have a children’s hospital of its own. And while there are a couple of more weeks remaining until the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan officially opens to the public, another milestone was reached last Thursday during the grand opening celebration. It was a day to remember for many, particularly for the Sernick family of Estevan. Payton Sernick, an 11-year-old Estevan resident who is a two-time survivor of Stage 4 acute lymphoblastic leukemia, was invited to the festivities because she was the hospital’s 2018 champion child. She was joined by her family – mother Andrea, father Cheyenne and brother Beckham. They attended the ribbon-cutting and the speeches that were part of the event. Then they were shuttled to the TCU Place for a luncheon that had more than 525 people in attendance. Payton spoke to the crowd at the event, giving the address to the children. Pattison, the famed Saskatchewanborn business leader and philanthropist, spoke just before Payton. Finally, they returned to the hospital for a private tour. In her speech, Payton drew on the hospital’s theme of hope. She said she
and her brother have been waiting for the hospital to open, and then she asked the audience what they were doing on that day five years earlier. “Well, for me, I wasn’t in … school, I was in an Estevan emergency room, and in constant pain,” said Payton. “Many of you know I spent a lot of time in hospital, but through all the pain and procedures, scans, needles, drug reactions, losing my hair and feeling like garbage for months on end, there is one word that I grabbed onto and held tight: hope.” For all of the babies and children going through their own medical journey, this new hospital will give them hope, she said. It will also provide the best medical care and research projects, as well as the space to be with family and friends, and a home to so many people, so they can get back to the business of being a kid. “We are forever grateful, and when we are adults, we will keep the support going to our kids, because it’s the right thing to do,” she said. Now that she has been there and she has seen the facility, Payton believes it was worth the effort to raise all of the money through the Cancer Sucks project that she and Beckham ran. It raised nearly $40,000 for the children’s hospital’s foundation, and thanks to their efforts, the Sernick Family is on the new hospital’s donor wall. When Jesse Beyer, the MC for the luncheon, told the crowd at the luncheon A2 » “A GORGEOUS
Payton Sernick, left, and Beckham Sernick were excited to meet Marcus Wellbear at the grand opening of the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan. Photo submitted
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