review
weyburn Vol.112 No. 52 - Weyburn, Saskatchewan Wednesday, December 29, 2021 - 12 Pages
Highlights from 2021
Don’t drink and drive
Singer Tenille Arts’ third time at the Grand Ole Opry was a highlight from 2021 Page 7
Const. Melinda Mintenko of the Weyburn police extends a message about not driving impaired this season. Page 12
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Sledding on a holiday
Review Photo 2116 – Greg Nikkel
A family group, plus a friend, had a good time tobagganing on the sledding hill on Confederation Drive, next to River Park, on Thursday afternoon. The group include, at left, Tara Kurtz and Sophie Walkeden, and at right, Lauren, Marin and Norah Kurtz. They wanted to get in sledding fun before the weather turned too cold, like it has this week.
Hospital site, round-about highlights for Mayor Roy By Greg Nikkel Mayor Marcel Roy is excited for coming developments in the City of Weyburn, including the new hospital and a round-about traffic circle, which were both announced by the province this past year. In a year-end interview, the mayor also made note of the city’s new elementary school, Legacy Park, and the
new recreation-culture centre, the Credit Union Spark Centre, as major highlights of 2021. “There was the announcement last year for the new hospital, but we’re seeing some things moving forward. They’re processing the land and getting things ready, it’s moving forward. Over by Saskatchewan Drive, they’re doing that trenching to make
sure we have proper drainage,” said Mayor Roy. He added some people are not happy about the location, set on Fifth Avenue North, “but that was all the Saskatchewan government.” The mayor also noted the government announcement for a round-about at the intersection of Highways 13 and 39, and “that will be in the development stage for 2022.”
With other large capital projects announced in the province, Mayor Roy feels Weyburn and area will see spinoff benefits even though the developments won’t be happening right here. He pointed to the construction for the proposed canola crush plants as an example, plus a large new hog barn slated for the Carlyle area, both which can mean jobs for local resi-
dents. There have been some issues rise up for the City, said Mayor Roy, such as the proposed location for the Liquor Spot in a building on First Avenue next door to two churches and a residential neighbourhood. “That will be worked out,” he noted. “We didn’t see massive gains with businesses, but we didn’t lose as badly as some
places did,” said Mayor Roy. “We’ve got through all this COVID stuff and are starting to move forward. I’m looking forward to 2022.” The mayor noted he’s been in seminars where the concept of small nuclear plants has been explained, and pointed out, “Oil is here to stay for another 10-20 years. Where are we going Continued on page 2
New school opening, COVID biggest stories for MLA in 2021 By Greg Nikkel The highlight of the year for Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA Dustin Duncan was the opening of Weyburn’s stateof-the-art school, Legacy
Park Elementary, while the biggest challenge of the year was dealing with COVID issues in 2021. In a year-end interview, the Education Minister pin-
pointed the grand opening of the new school as easily the best part of his year, as Legacy Park opened alongside the City of Weyburn’s new Credit Union Spark Centre in
Sundogs in the air
September. Duncan noted the opening of Legacy Park was the end of the school upgrades planned over a number of years by Southeast Corner-
Review Photo 5034 – Greg Nikkel
Strong wings, cold air and ice crystals combined to create the sundog effect on Friday, as seen in this view looking south from Weyburn’s boardwalk. More cold air moved into the southeast region for this week, with warnings issued for extremely low temperatures.
REMINDER: Weyburn Review/Weyburn This Week Holiday Hours: There will be OUR OFFICE IS CURRENTLY CLOSED. NO WEYBURN We will reopen at 8:00 a.m. on January 3, 2022. REVIEW on weyburn review SEE YOU IN THE NEW YEAR! this week January 5, 2022.
stone that included the renovations and new construction at the Weyburn Comprehensive School. The building of this school led to the closure of three schools, Haig, Souris and Queen Elizabeth, with the latter torn down this year, and the staff and students of these schools are now all under one roof at Legacy Park. “It’s a culmination of a lot of effort and planning over a number of years. That would be the highlight of the year for me,” he said. The MLA also pointed out that for the province, there was about $10 billion of new capital spending announced by the private sector, including canola crush plants and a new potash mine, which will end up as the largest potash mine in the world once it’s completed. There has also been an increase in work in the oil sector, and exploration for helium and lithium has also been taking place around the province. Asked about Weyburn’s new hospital, he said, “The plan is still to get the tenders out in 2022, which will be awarded to a construction firm. I think we’ll be seeing the progress, including shovels in the ground.” The plans for the services and layout of the hospital are being worked on, and once those are approved by cabinet, including the budget for the facility, then the tender documents will be drawn up. In regard to COVID, he said, “I think this has been one of the most challenging years to be in government, to be at the table to make decisions. It’s been a challenging
year as we try to navigate a global pandemic.” Even at his constituency office, this has been difficult for him, as people on both sides of COVID issues have called him or emailed him their comments and criticisms, as his government either needs to do more, or to do much less. Duncan added there have some very difficult long conversations by phone with people, often an hour or more, as they argue their positions. “It’s a heightened time in terms of emotions. Everyone is right or wrong. They can be pretty heated conversations and pretty emotional on all sides of it,” said Duncan. “It’s like everything else – you don’t always have all the answers.” In his portfolio as Education minister, he’s also been dealing with issues around COVID and schools. “It’s been a challenging year, and I’m not a health care worker. I don’t own a restaurant, so I’m not being hit by decisions,” he said. Duncan noted that the vaccination numbers are going in the right direction, “and at some point, the pandemic is going to end, however or what ever that looks like. I have to think we’ve been through the worst of this, all things considered.” Overall, the MLA said of the coming year, “There’s a lot to be optimistic about, whether you look at commodity prices or export numbers. We’ve recovered most of the jobs we lost due to the pandemic, and capital projects have been announced. I think there’s a lot to look forward to in 2022.”