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OCTOBER IS NCER BREAST CA S AWARENES MONTH
Wed., Oct. 21, 2015
www.estevanmercury.ca
Issue 23
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY FOR 113 YEARS
Mailing No. 10769
Robert Kitchen, middle, celebrates with, from left, son Stephen, wife Donna, daughter Kathryn Gilliss and son-in-law Dylan Gilliss after Robert Kitchen’s victory in Monday’s federal election.
Kitchen keeps Souris-Moose Mountain in Tory hands By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
Souris-Moose Mountain will remain a Conservative riding for at least the next four years. Conservative candidate Robert Kitchen was elected as the new member of Parliament for Souris-Moose Mountain during Monday night’s federal election. The Estevan chiropractor captured 26,315 of the 37,516 votes cast in the riding during the election, or 70.1 per cent of the popular vote, to easily defeat the other three candidates. Vicky O’Dell of the New Democratic Party finished second with 5,131 votes, or 13.7 per cent. Steven Bebbington of the Liberals was third with 5,076 votes (13.5 per cent), and Bob Deptuck of the Green Party was fourth with 994 votes (2.6 per cent). Approximately 72 per cent of the 52,093 eligible voters in Souris-Moose Mountain voted in the election. “I’m just living on Cloud 9 right now,” Kitchen told the media shortly after he was elected. “It’s just been so much fun. We’ve worked hard at this … it’s been 2 1/2 years to get to this stage.” But he won’t be part of the governing party. The Tories were defeated by the
Liberals, ending nearly a decade of Conservative rule under Stephen Harper. Harper resigned after the Tories were defeated on election night. The Liberals captured 184 seats to form a majority government. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau will be the next prime minister. The Tories were next with 100 seats to become the official opposition. The New Democratic Party will have 43 seats, the Bloc Quebecois 10 and the Green Party one. “I’ve been focused mainly on here. That’s most of what I’ve done,” said Kitchen. “I was hoping to see a slightly different turnout, but we have good responses in the west, and we will build from that.” Kitchen said the Tories still have some good people in their caucus, and he hopes that will help in going forward. But he recognizes it will be a challenge to bring forward the concerns of the constituency when his party is in opposition. People he spoke to during the campaign were chiefly concerned about the economy. They wanted to talk about creating jobs, and keeping money in their pockets. “Pipelines in the Moosomin area are definitely a concern, and we’ve expressed that a number of times,” said Kitchen. In his victory speech, Kitchen said he
would be a proponent of pipelines, including Energy East. “This is the safest and most economical way to transport oil,” said Kitchen. “It opens up new marketplaces for exports, and it creates jobs for our communities.” He also said he would support ongoing free trade agreements, including the recently-signed Trans-Pacific Partnership, which he believes will boost prosperity and
create economic growth. He also wants to bring forward concerns about water and sewage treatment centres that he heard during the campaign. Kitchen paid tribute to his volunteers and his family for their contributions and sacrifices over the last two years. “There is an old saying that volunteers don’t necessarily take the time, but they Kitchen ⇢ A2
Fourth Avenue collision leaves one dead By Sam Macdonald smacdonald@estevanmercury.ca
Adding to a string of two previous serious accidents, all in the same week, a single motor vehicle collision has left one person dead and another in hospital, in Regina. A vehicle was travelling down Fourth Avenue on the evening of Oct. 14, on its way into the city, when it left
the roadway, colliding with a tree in an adjacent field. As a result of the collision, one passenger, David Price, was immediately transported to hospital in Regina, where he was later pronounced dead. A second passenger was later transported to a hospital in Regina with serious injuries. Alcohol was a factor in the incident, and the
driver of the vehicle, Karry Biette, has been arrested. Biette has been charged with impaired driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous operation causing death, dangerous operation causing bodily harm and criminal negligence causing death. “The biggest thing to emphasize is that in two Single ⇢ A2
Senchuk Ford Sales Ltd.
118 Souris Ave. N., Estevan 306-634-3696 www.senchukford.ca