Times
Last Mountain
Volume 104, No 4
Serving The Last Mountain Area Since 1908
Publishers Lance and Vicki Cornwell Box 340, Nokomis, SK. S0G 3R0 Single copy price: $1.00
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Community meets to discuss school options
More than 75 Nokomis and area residents met at the Nokomis School Gymnasium on Wednesday night, November 17 to again hear the local School Review Committee explain the process they must follow in order to justify keeping the school in operation. This is the third time in only five years that the community of Nokomis has been through this process: the first time in 2006, and the second time in 2008. It would be fair to say there was a feeling of “resigned pessimism” in the air, as Committee Chair Dale Knouse walked the meeting attendees through a formal explanation as to why the Horizon School Division has again selected Nokomis
School for review. Knouse ful fight to retain their school cess is regulated under the Ministry of Education. Those noted that Nokomis School is in 2006. the only school in the Horizon While explaining the re- regulations state that schools School Division that is under view process, Knouse em- with declining enrolments may be reviewed review, and the only ...the community should not as set out in the school under review in the entire province buy into the pessimistic view provincial legislation. The of Saskatchewan. that because Nokomis School set point is 88 Chris Weiss, the Horizon’s Subdiviis under review for a third students. Each sion 9 elected trustee school board time, it is automatically a lost across the provspoke briefly, offering his support to ince has been cause.... the committee. He given autonomy noted that the work of a local phasized that the process to conduct their own school School Review Committee is should not necessarily be reviews, and they are not a thankless task. He said he an adversarial process, and given direction by the Minis in favour of keeping the that the community should istry of Education other than small schools open, but he is not buy into the pessimistic through the guidelines set out only one vote on the fourteen view that because Nokomis in legislation and regulation. member Horizon School Di- School is under review for a The boards can ‘massage’ vision board. Before being third time, it is automatically those guidelines if they so elected trustee, Weiss was a lost cause. choose. The role of the local involved in Drake’s success- “The school review pro- Review Committee is to act
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Potash update On Monday, November 15 BHP Billiton surprised all observers by announcing that it has withdrawn its offer to buy out the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. The company said it has determined that its offer cannot satisfy the ‘net benefit’ requirements under the Investment Canada Act and accordingly has withdrawn its offer. The company said it has spent approximately $350 million USD in its attempt to buy PotashCorp. BHP Billiton says it continues to believe its offer would have resulted in a significant net benefit to Canada, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick (where PotashCorp has other operations). The company had offered to commit to legally-binding undertakings that would have, among other things, increased employment, guaranteed investment and established the company’s global potash headquarters in Saskatoon. The investment commit-
ment included US$450 million on exploration and development over the next five years over and above commitments to spending on the Jansen project. An additional US$370 million would have been spent on infrastructure funds in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. BHP Billiton would also have applied for a listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In addition, BHP Billiton said it was prepared to make a unique commitment to forego tax benefits to which it was legally entitled and, as a condition of the federal government’s approval, BHP Billiton was prepared to remain a member of Canpotex for five years. Both of these undertakings were intended to allay any concerns the Province of Saskatchewan may have had regarding potential losses in revenues. During the investment review process, BHP Billiton engaged extensively with officials from the Investment Review Divi-
sion of Industry Canada. “In view of the reasons underlying the Minister’s interim decision of November 3, the company believes that the Minister of Industry would have required additional undertakings beyond those BHP Billiton had already offered which would have conflicted with BHP Billiton’s business strategy and been counter to creating shareholder value. I am disappointed at the outcome, however I emphasis our company’s commitment to Canada and our disciplined approach to shareholder value,” BHP Billiton Chief Executive Officer Marius Kloppers said. “We remain committed to Canada and we plan to develop a significant presence in the potash industry in Saskatchewan. As part of those plans we will continue to progress our Jansen Project and other development opportunities.” Story continued on page 14.
as a liaison between the community and the School Board. The real goal and purpose of our process is to make a recommendation to the Board that reflects what the community feels needs to happen,” Knouse said. “The criteria used by the Board when they decide to place a school under review are quite specific,” Knouse said. “Is a school able to provide a suitable group of programs to students? What are the grade configurations … are there more than one, two or three grades in one classroom? Is there an appropriate number of teaching staff? The reality of the situation is that as enrolment declines, the Board uses a simple calculation to determine how many
teachers a school needs. For K to 8 schools, for every 18 students, the board will fund one teacher, and for nine to 12 schools, they will fund one teacher for every 14 students. Where our problem is here in Nokomis, is that we don’t meet those criteria.” In making his presentation, Knouse noted that the committee intends to place a significant emphasis on the economic growth potential of Nokomis and area, especially with the development plans of BHP Billiton’s potash project at Jansen, and in other local areas, as well as the ongoing economic benefits offered by existing PotashCorp operations in the area. Continued on page 16.
Bulyea Elementary School hosts Remembrance Day program
On Wednesday, November 10, Bulyea Elementary School hosted their annual Remembrance Day program in the gymnasium. A large crowd of community members and family attended the service and enjoyed the students’ poems, essays and songs. A special presentation was also given (pictured above) by Linda Glass who presented Joe Martin with his ‘65 year pin’ for his service as a Legion member. Story and more photos on page 9. Photo courtesy of Corri Gorrill