An 11-year-old girl who was killed in a highway crash near Warman four days before Christmas is remembered as “a beautiful girl with so much zest for life and family.”

Sophie Mae Schnurr died in the collision between two half-ton trucks at the intersection of Highway 11 and Highway 305 around 6:40 p.m. on Dec. 21, according to a GoFundMe page.

Police have said alcohol is believed to have been a factor.

As of Thursday morning, the online fundraiser set up Boxing Day with the aim of raising $10,000 to support Schnurr’s parents and sister had generated more than $17,000 from about 250 donors.

According to an obituary published Thursday, Schnurr was a studious girl who enjoyed baking with her grandmothers, spending time at the lake and watching movies with her family.

“Her sweet, caring, funny, intelligent, kind soul touched so many,” the obituary states.

“Any additional money not needed by the family raised from this page will be donated in Sophie’s name to a good cause,” GoFundMe organizer Dustin Riley wrote in the fundraising campaign description.

According to RCMP, a white pickup truck was on Highway 305 when it was struck by a blue truck. Alcohol is believed to be a factor “in relation to the driver of the blue truck,” RCMP said.

Schnurr was in the white truck, along with two other people who were hospitalized with undetermined injuries. The driver of the blue truck was also taken to hospital, police said.

On Thursday, an RCMP spokesperson said an update on the investigation was not immediately available.

amacpherson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/macphersona

Related

• Girl, 11, dies in collision near Warman
• Langham rallies around family of boys killed in highway crash
• Friends identify victims of fatal crash west of Langham

Imam Ilyas Sidyot looks forward to his full calendar in 2019, readily naming all of the events, which will have an emphasis on interfaith participation.

He leads the largest mosque in Saskatoon; the congregations at the mosque and prayer centres belong to the Islamic Association of Saskatchewan. With each event he describes, from the Prayer for Peace to the Eid Festival outside the Islamic Centre, he says the IAS wants to make it bigger and bring together people of different backgrounds and faiths.

The Association is also introducing an interfaith event, “Let’s Explore Faiths of Saskatoon,” encouraging education about the various religions observed in the city.

This fall, Sidyot visited the Caribbean and was amazed to see people of different faiths living and working together.

“We do have that environment here in Saskatoon as well, but I believe that all these events which we are talking about here, our aim is to make this community such that everyone feels very safe, very comfortable, they feel that we are in a family of Saskatoon here, and there’s nothing to fear and we help each other and reach out to each other in happy and sad events,” he said.

Education is an ongoing theme for the Islamic Association, said its president, Areeb Faruqi. He said they haven’t reached their goal yet and he wants to make sure they’re talking to all of the churches, synagogues and temples in the city.

He said the Association’s other goal is to ensure the doors of the centre are open to everyone.

This past year was marked by two incidents that drew attention to the issue of Islamophobia in Saskatoon.

Muslim elder Abu Sheikh was nearly run down by someone in a pickup truck as he walked home from morning prayers at a mosque, wearing traditional clothes. Sheikh described the truck accelerating toward him before he narrowly escaped and hid in a hedges. His attacker threw a brick through a front window of his home.

In another incident, a University of Saskatchewan student described a man angrily confronting her over her hijab as she was on her way to class.

Sidyot said he and his community feel very safe in Saskatoon. He feels the attack on Sheikh was isolated and noted it didn’t take place in front of the mosque. He questions how someone driving along a street would be able to determine a pedestrian is Muslim.

“I don’t see this as a kind of attack on Muslims or Islam, and we should not even take it negatively and spread it out,” he said.

He attributes the incident on campus to a man lacking education about Islam.

Globally speaking, there is polarization, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, but in Saskatoon, he feels safe, Faruqi said.

“Events happen, but again, the proper investigation and the results need to come forward before anyone can say anything. Until that comes to (the) public, I would say it’s not wise to say anything (as to) what was the purpose behind it.”

He said the Association would like to continue educating more people; its doors are always open.

This year, the Muslim community and others came together for what is widely considered one of the biggest Eid celebrations in the world at Prairieland Park. An estimated 10,000 people attended. That number has grown over the years and continues to do so. Faruqi said he foresees a time when the size of the crowd will outgrow Prairieland.

Preparations for Eid celebrations begin weeks in advance and they are challenging to organize, Faruqi said.

Sidyot noted all of the outreach work done by the Islamic Centre in 2018, with the support of other faith leaders. The interfaith outreach has been ongoing since 2015, he said.

Sidyot said he saw such interfaith unity at the prayer vigil at the Congregation Agudas Israel Synagogue to honour those who died in the Pittsburgh mass shooting.

“That is really the beauty of Saskatoon, that we, along with our faith leaders … come together and stand in solidarity whenever anything happens. That’s the beauty of this community.”

tjames@postmedia.com

Every Thursday, we feature an image from the StarPhoenix archives.

Today, we see an image of people fishing on the South Saskatchewan River, from Dec. 27, 1956. (Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan StarPhoenix Collection S-SP-B4208-2)

The Christmas season usually inspires people to do a little extra: Donate to a favourite charity, adopt a family in need or surprise loved ones with gifts.

For some, like Francis Schenstead, the spirit of giving doesn’t have a December time clock.

During the last two decades, he has opened his home to more than 200 at-risk young men, providing employment, counselling and a place to pursue creativity.

Schenstead and his business partner Richard Wykiw built La Casa Nella Foresta at Turtle Lake as a retreat from their Vancouver careers (they worked in the financial industry). Italian for ‘the house in the forest,’ it quickly became their home, providing a refuge for struggling youth and an artisanal Utopian existence.

Over the years, La Casa Nella Foresta has housed a myriad of creative pursuits: Glass-blowing, leather making, carpentry, hand crafting guitars, a bed and breakfast, exclusive 40-course dinner events, artisanal bread making (there’s a wood-fired oven handmade of stone on the property), and, most recently, luxury chocolates.

****

Schenstead grew up in Lloydminster. He never thought he’d move back, but the Prairies have a way of bringing people home.

“I just fell in love with Saskatchewan. It’s got distinctive seasons. I like that feeling. It makes you know you’re alive. It’s harder, but living in Vancouver was like living in la la land. We had meals out three times a day. I was always on the go and it was always just … easy. I was too soft, living in Vancouver.”

Nestled in the fir trees among more typical lake cabins, La Casa Nella Foresta is a cedar and stone architectural beauty Schenstead modelled from his imagination. It’s surrounded by shrubs and gardens, cobblestone pathways and a courtyard.

La Casa Nella Foresta at Powm Beach, Turtle Lake has been a refuge for over 200 at risk boys over the years. Owner Francis Schenstead purchased these curved joists and decided to incorporate them into the place.

An elaborate glass chandelier, made at the home during the glass-blowing days, peeks through large windows. At the building’s north end stands a stone tower with turreted roof. In the courtyard, wood cabins sit behind a greenhouse (Schenstead once grew rare orchids for the international market).

On a brisk day in November, the kitchen was bustling with activity. Several young men were preparing lunch, cracking dozens of eggs, rolling out pie crust and chopping vegetables for quiche.

The kitchen is a chef’s dream, with a large gas range, multiple ovens, shelves of gourmet ingredients and racks of cake moulds. A cherry red antique stove sits in an arched stone alcove; pots and pans hang overhead.

Schenstead sat contentedly in the living room. The home is full of his collections, spanning the intellectual (a large library) and the eclectic (cases of rare tobacco, an arrangement of tea pots and Eastern antiques, and even Pez dispensers).

He suffered a stroke several years ago. After the loss of his sight and much of his mobility, his former artistic pursuits are no longer a reality.

His orchids all died after his stroke. The bed and breakfast and the 40-course dinners, served over eight hours and orchestrated by a Red Seal chef that Schenstead hired, are things of the past. But he still has much to accomplish with his life.

La Casa Nella Foresta residents from left to right are Chris Boucher, Terry Froese, Ryan Detillieux and Clayton Kerton. In front is owner and benefactor Francis Schenstead. 

****

Schenstead has a master’s degree in psychology, and decided he wanted to take in youth — “Kids who were not getting anywhere in life and who were just ready to give up.”

L’Abri, French for shelter, was founded in Switzerland in 1955 by Dr. Francis and Edith Schaeffer, and inspired Schenstead.

“I think my best abilities are working with people,” he said.

Since 1999, he’s hired more than 200 young men and gave them a second chance at life.

In 2008, Chris Boucher was 19, homeless and using drugs in Toronto. He had dropped out of school in Grade 10. He wanted to change his life and decided to head west.

He found an online job post for La Casa Nella Foresta’s bed and breakfast.

“I knew that part of the sobriety would be trying to find somewhere that I was not familiar with. I felt that a fresh start with no one I knew would probably help,” Boucher said.

He spent close to a year working for Schenstead, before setting out for opportunities in managerial and e-commerce roles across the country.

After a time, he went down an all too familiar path of illegal activities and crushing self-doubt.

“I called Francis and flat out said, ‘I’m not happy with anything. I’m missing something,’ ” he recalled.

Schenstead welcomed him back.

“That man makes more sense than anybody else I know,” Boucher said. “He’s got the ability to take something that’s chaotic and find the logic and the reason in it.”

Now, Boucher is back at what he considers his home, helping Schenstead with a new business venture and the household’s daily needs.

“This wasn’t just about a job,” Boucher said.

“Francis has an ability to see whether there’s a latent ability in somebody or what somebody’s potential is. He tries to maximize your potential — whatever that might be.”

****

A workshop beside the main residence has housed many creative pursuits. An upstairs room is still full of handmade leather belts, vests, horse bridles and harnesses.

Today, it’s where Terry Froese operates Stone Tower Chocolate using the finest Swiss ingredients money can buy.

The chocolate venture started out as gifts for the bed and breakfast guests.

Schenstead heard about a chocolate shop going out of business. He came home from the auction with two trailers full of supplies and Stone Tower Chocolate was born.

Schenstead wanted to make outstanding chocolates. He started calling the best chocolatiers in the world for advice.

“I think most of them don’t get calls like that from random people,” recalled Froese. “Most were shocked, so they’d just sit and talk to him for hours at a time. Then he’d come to me and explain.

“Everything I know about chocolate, I learned from Francis.”

Froese has worked for Schenstead off and on since 1999. After a few years away, and a bad bout with addiction, he went back home.

“I called Francis up and said, ‘Listen. I need somewhere to go and to clean up.’ ”

Being a chocolatier keeps his inner demons at bay. When he’s tempted by alcohol, he’ll go to the shop and run a batch.

“It’s really relaxing — the smell and the sounds. It’s tough to be in a bad mood when you’re making chocolate.”

When Froese isn’t making chocolates (which can only be purchased at the shop), he transitions to other jobs — like chopping firewood. The main house and greenhouse are heated by a wood boiler.

“Working here, I’ve experienced so many things that I don’t think I ever would have otherwise. How many people go out and blow glass or build themselves a belt or make chocolate?”

****

“If a person likes something, they can pursue it here,” Schenstead said.

Clayton Kerton, one of La Casa Nella Foresta’s current residents, is well on his way to becoming a professional gamer.

“There’s a lot of hard work here,” Boucher said. “And there’s a lot of downtime. You have the freedom to explore without limitation and see how far you can take it.”

Kerton also makes hand churned ice cream — but only in the winter. He refuses to use packaged ice, saying it has too much air in it and melts down, affecting the ice cream’s quality. He makes his with blocks of ice from the frozen lake.

He’s even experimenting with a ham curing technique used by soldiers on the battlefield in the 18th Century with whiskey jugs and salt.

Schenstead’s protégés have gone on to great things, like Colter Jones, a world-class barista.

Schenstead sees it as his duty to help damaged young men get through their troubles and then push them to exceed.

“I think I should (help). Otherwise, I’m not living.”

— Jenn Sharp is a freelance writer based in Saskatoon. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @flatoutfoodsk.

If 2017 was the year of austerity at Saskatoon city hall, 2018 was the year of controversy.

City council tackled a seemingly endless string of contentious initiatives this year, some of which have been discussed for years or even decades.

In 2017, council’s time was dominated by revamping its budget mid-year to account for an unexpected cut in revenue by the provincial government.

This year, council got down to business with planning the city’s future, but nothing seemed to come easily. Here’s a look back.

TRASH BASH

After decades of discussing moving to a user fees model for trash collection, city council finally approved that radical shift, along with an organic waste pickup service to be paid for by property taxes. These programs will apply only to single-family homes, but similar initiatives are in the works for apartments and businesses.

Four weeks after council voted to impose user fees, Coun. Darren Hill changed his vote and council rescinded the user fees concept. That leaves residents staring down a 4.7 per cent property tax hike in 2020.

Blayne Hoffman, a resident in the Avalon neighbourhood, stands at the intersection of Glasgow Street and Clarence Avenue in Saskatoon, SK on Thursday, June 7, 2018. A petition appeared to show strong support for removing a barrier that prevents left turns from Clarence onto Glasgow, because it has rerouted traffic elsewhere in the Avalon neighbourhood.

SEEKING CLOSURE

Two streets in Saskatoon continued to confound city hall. Council rejected an attempt by the city administration to permanently close Glasgow Street in the Avalon neighbourhood with a barrier preventing left turns from Clarence Avenue. Council also voted to barricade Ninth Street in Nutana so vehicles cannot access Idylwyld Drive for a year.

Both closures seemed to be very unpopular in the neighbourhoods. City hall is reviewing how it conducts consultation with residents on such issues and has announced a replacement for the neighbourhood traffic reviews.

BUS FUSS

The proposed routes for a new bus rapid transit-style revamp of the city’s transit system prompted some to seek changes. Downtown businesses want proposed bus-only lanes on Third Avenue moved to First Avenue. Broadway business district merchants appear to want a much more radical change with planned bus-only lanes moved from Broadway Avenue to Idylwyld Drive.

This rendering shows what dedicated bus lanes on Third Avenue in downtown Saskatoon would look like under proposed improvements to the Saskatoon Transit system that were unveiled on Wednesday, June 13, 2018. (City of Saskatoon)

VICIOUS CYCLE

City hall unveiled its plan for a downtown protected cycling network, including permanent bike lanes on Fourth Avenue and 23rd Street where temporary lanes have drawn criticism. Particularly concerning for some is the removal of a traffic lane on Idylwyld so the sidewalk can be widened and a raised cycling track installed. The proposed lanes may move from Fourth Avenue to Third if the bus lanes are relocated.

SPEED CREED

Council also approved studying the possibility of lower speed limits on residential streets, an issue under discussion in cities across Canada. The idea drew criticism even before any formal proposals were presented. Those are expected next year.

DOWNTOWN BOUND

Thirty years after Saskatchewan Place opened on the city’s northern periphery, council voted to start planning for a replacement facility downtown for the arena now called SaskTel Centre. The devil surely lurks in the details coming over the next several years as the project moves forward.

The new project could include a convention centre and a new downtown library. The early price tag for the project, between $300 million and $400 million, could make it Saskatoon’s most expensive.

BLAZE CRAZE

The controversy that spawned countless fire puns appears to have been finally settled when council voted 6-5 in April to impose a 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. time limit for backyard fires. Coun. Bev Dubois revealed in February that she had received threats that she referred to police over her support for a curfew.

LONG RIDE

In terms of the length of public meetings, no issue seemed to gobble up more time than how to prepare for ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft. Meetings conducted this summer needed two parts.

New rules to make taxi services more flexible are not expected this year, but rules to allow ride sharing passed at city council’s last meeting of the year.

ptank@postmedia.com

twitter.com/thinktankSK

Related

• Reversal on rubbish: Saskatoon city council kills user fees
• Saskatoon city council invites ride-sharing companies to operate

In our Year in Review series, The Saskatoon StarPhoenix looks back on the stories that affected residents the most in 2018.

Broncos crash stops Saskatchewan life in its tracks

This was the month Saskatchewan experienced one of the biggest tragedies in its history: The Humboldt Broncos team bus crash. Sixteen people were killed and thirteen were injured on April 6 when the junior hockey team’s bus and a semi truck collided at a rural intersection near Tisdale.

For residents of the province, there may only be blurred memories of that month of unprecedented loss and sadness. Here, we remember some of the events and acts of kindness that were part of the immediate aftermath of the crash, as recorded by Postmedia reporters.

The intersection of Highway 35 and Highway 335, known locally as Armley Corner, is seen Saturday, April, 7, 2018, after the crash of the Humboldt Broncos team bus.

Mourning with Humboldt

Word spread fast — down the highway, across the prairie, into the farm community of Humboldt, where people huddled with phones and friends.

With that word came numbing horror: 14 people on a bus carrying the beloved Humboldt Broncos, dead. They were en route to a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game late on a Friday afternoon when their bus collided with a semi at a junction on Highway 35. Later, the death toll would climb to 16.

Reaction poured in from across the world — both close to home, and on the other side of the globe.

Humboldt mayor Rob Muench said his phone lit up with text messages from area codes he didn’t recognize. People sent poems, songs, messages of deep sorrow.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NHL royalty rubbed shoulders with Humboldt residents at a memorial service attended by about 3,000 people.

The crash attracted a tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump, who on Twitter posted “Just spoke to (Justin Trudeau) to pay my highest respect and condolences to the families of the terrible Humboldt Team tragedy. May God be with them all!”

“My heart breaks this morning for the entire Humboldt Broncos community. I am sending so much love to everyone affected,” tweeted comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.

GoFundMe

Sylvie Kellington, who launched the GoFundMe campaign for the Humboldt Broncos that raised over $15 million by the end of April, said the credit belonged to everyone who came together to support the Broncos.

Kellington, 35, launched the campaign on the night of the crash.

A Humboldt resident for the past five years, she is reluctant to take acknowledgment for the effort. She turned down interview requests from the New York Times and other international media outlets.

She was at home on the evening of April 6, exchanging messages with her husband, who was underground at his job at a potash mine. He told her about the crash.

She was stricken by the magnitude of the tragedy.

She pulled out her phone, and with a “few taps,” launched the campaign. The goal was $5,000 at first, then $10,000. From there it took off.

“I knew that it would hit hard for us and for people around this community and maybe Saskatchewan. But never did I think it would go worldwide. Unbelievable,” she said.

#PutYourStickOut

Social media users reached out to the town of Humboldt, sharing photos of hockey sticks left on front porches to pay tribute to the lives lost and changed forever.

Among the first to post about the #putyourstickout movement was Trevor Ollen.

The Calgary resident said he and his five-year-old son placed a hockey stick on their front porch on Saturday night, after the full extent of Friday’s crash had emerged. His boy made sure they left the porch light on all night in order to illuminate the piece of equipment, he said.

“It was really a teaching moment for us to talk to our children about loss and how, when you’re in a moment like this, what can you really do? You can make donations for these families, but a kid doesn’t make a donation,” Ollen said.

The tribute gained traction when Winnipeg Jets broadcaster and Humboldt native Brian Munz shared a screenshot on Twitter of a text message he said he received from a high school friend in the town of 6,000 people.

“Leaving it out on the porch tonight. The boys might need it … wherever they are,” the screenshot read, along with a picture of a hockey stick.

Hockey sticks rest outside the doors of the Saskatchewan legislative building in Regina following the Humboldt Broncos bus crash.

The crash site

The meeting of two highways on flat Saskatchewan prairie became a national landmark, embedded in the minds of people who had never been there. They saw the aerial shots — skid marks, obliterated bus, widespread wreckage, peat moss bundles scattered across the snow.

They wrestled with this spot, whether they’re the next town over, or thousands of kilometres away: Those trees in the corner, the stop sign, the position of the sun, and how we might re-make the place to make it safer.

A makeshift tribute sprang up in that ditch where everything landed in the seconds after the collision: crosses, toy buses, sticks, notes, magazines, flowers.

People stopped, wandered through paths carved out beside piled hockey sticks, flowers, brightly-spinning pinwheels.

Semi driver Darwin McLeod stepped out of his vehicle, and walked up quietly to the memorial during a May visit. He looked and thought about the Humboldt Broncos and the lost lives — about the bus crash that happened in that exact spot, at that exact time, four Fridays before. At one point, his eyes misted up.

It was good, McLeod said, to stop.

“A month ago,” he said, “these kids were doing things, and they didn’t realize this was their last day on earth. Life changes like that, in a split second.”

So there he was.

“Out of respect for the people,” he said. “For everyone who was involved.”

A memorial is placed by the Humboldt Broncos crash site.

Hockey world unites

The hockey community is spread all over the world, but just how close-knit it actually is was revealed in the days after the crash.

Don Cherry was at a loss for words, speaking briefly during his weekly Coach’s Corner segment on Hockey Night in Canada on the night following the crash, before introducing a montage of photos of every member of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team. He and Ron Maclean visited team members in the hospital in Saskatoon before travelling to the memorial service in Humboldt.

Edmonton Oilers’ star Connor McDavid’s daylong trek to Saskatchewan — made for the express purpose of bolstering the spirits of people most affected by the crash — was supposed to be a quiet, under the radar thing. But his presence was soon known.

NHL player Connor McDavid visits the on-ice memorial at the Elgar Peterson Arena to pay his respects to the Humboldt Broncos hockey players who lost their lives in a bus crash in Humboldt, Sask., on April 17, 2018.

Hockey icon Wayne Gretzky tweeted that he and wife Janet “have struggled all day with the horrific accident in Saskatchewan. We are so sad for the (Humboldt Broncos) families and are praying for them.”

The Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks players wore the word ’BRONCOS’ on the back of their game jerseys in place of their own names.

Closer to home, Saskatoon Blades president Steve Hogle made the drive to Humboldt — feeling the need to do something, to extend support, to help, even if he wasn’t sure exactly how to do that.

“They’re all chasing their dreams, playing this beautiful sport they love,” Hogle said. “You want to do everything to encourage them, and this is the last thing you expect to happen.

“It could have been any team, in any league, on any given day, that came into this catastrophe. In the same breath, it could be any school band heading off to a trip. It hits the hockey community hard, but it’s bigger than the game. It’s about community and family.”

Those lost:

Tyler Bieber

Logan Boulet

Dayna Brons

Mark Cross

Glen Doerksen

Darcy Haugan

Adam Herold

Brody Hinz

Logan Hunter

Jaxon Joseph

Jacob Leicht

Conner Lukan

Logan Schatz

Evan Thomas

Parker Tobin

Stephen Wack

The survivors:

Graysen Cameron, pictured on June 20, 2018.

Brayden Camrud, pictured on June 4, 2018.

Kaleb Dahlgren, pictured on June 20, 2018.

Bryce Fiske, pictured in a handout photo distributed in June 2018.

Morgan Gobeil

Matthieu Gomercic, pictured on June 20, 2018.

Xavier Labelle, pictured on June 19, 2018.

Layne Matechuk, pictured on Nov. 24, 2018.

Derek Patter, pictured on Sept. 11, 2018.

Nick Shumlanski, right, pictured on April 8, 2018.

Ryan Straschnitzki, left, pictured on Sept. 15, 2018.

Tyler Smith, pictured on June 29, 2018.

Jacob Wassermann, pictured on Nov. 30, 2018.

Related

• The StarPhoenix 2018 Year in Review series

StarPhoenix photographer Kayle Neis attended many events in 2018. As part of our Year in Review 2018, here is a selection of his favourites.

Ava Holinaty (centre) stands behind a curtain during the Ukrainian New Year’s Eve celebration at TCU Place in Saskatoon, SK on Saturday, January 20, 2018.

Saskatoon Fire Department respond to a house fire at 415 Avenue I south in Saskatoon, SK on Tuesday, February 6, 2018.

Huskies women hockey team celebrates after a goal in the first period during the game at Rutherford Rink in Saskatoon, SK on Friday, February 23, 2018.

A man drops of flowers at a memorial located inside the Elgar Petersen Arena in Humboldt, SK on Saturday, April 7, 2018.

Volunteers help set up chairs for a vigil in the Elgar Petersen Arena in Humboldt, SK on Saturday, April 7, 2018.

Hockey sticks are seen stuck in the snow as a memorial to the Humboldt Broncos in Saskatoon, SK on Thursday, April 12, 2018.

Saskatoon firefighters work to extinguish a house fire at 1427 Avenue C north in Saskatoon, SK on Monday, April 16, 2018. 

Sheila Lukowich shows off her micro pigs that she rescued which live temporarily on her farm outside Saskatoon, SK on Thursday, June 7, 2018.

The Saskatchewan Rush celebrate after defeating the Rochester Knighthawks foe the NLL championship during the championship game at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, SK on Saturday, June 9, 2018. 

Members of the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement unit act out mock scenarios during a Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure event showcasing the tactical training Commercial Vehicle Enforcement officers are receiving prior to joining the provincial Protection and Response Team, at a private range southwest of Saskatoon, SK on Thursday, June 14, 2018.

Colleen Wilson grooms her horse Blaze inside her stables near Saskatoon, SK on Monday, June 18, 2018. 

Kaydence Stronger (centre right) marches down the street during the Saskatoon Pride Parade held downtown in Saskatoon, SK on Saturday, June 23, 2018.

Avril Arthur takes a portrait with her air rifle at the Saskatoon wildlife federation in Saskatoon, SK on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.

Saskatoon Wildlife Federation president Robert Freberg gets ready to fire a .22 rifle at the Saskatoon Wildlife Federation’s indoor gun range outside Saskatoon, SK on Tuesday, July 17, 2018.

Kara Parker (L) and Syd Burns (R) practice their instruments for the loud band practice during a workshop at the second week of Girls Rock Camp, a week-long summer program that teaches young girls collaborative music creation and performance at Mayfair United Church in Saskatoon, SK on Monday, July 23, 2018.

(Chase Kohle practices guitar during a workshop at the second week of Girls Rock Camp, a week-long summer program that teaches young girls collaborative music creation and performance at Mayfair United Church in Saskatoon, SK on Monday, July 23, 2018.

Myah Steinhauer site on a ride during the Saskatoon Exhibition at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon, SK on Wednesday, August 8, 2018.

Participants march during a parade downtown held by the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans in Canada Association in Saskatoon, SK on Sunday, August 12, 2018.

An injured Huskies player holds his leg after a collision into another player during the Canada West men’s soccer home-opener at Nutrien Park in Saskatoon, Sk on Saturday, September 1, 2018. 

Edmonton Huskies Nicholas Reh (R) looks out during a pile up during the Prairie Football Conference at SMF Field in Saskatoon,Sk on Sunday, October 28, 2018.

Kerry Bishop the owner of Pink Tree The Fitting Shop takes a portrait inside the her store on Friday, November 9, 2018.

Aaron Vopni holds a 100 year old bugle before performing the last post during the Remembrance Day ceremonies at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon,Sk on Sunday, November 11, 2018. 

Saskatoon Hilltops DL Garth Knittig (C) celebrates during the Canadian Bowl championship at SMF Field in Saskatoon,Sk on Saturday, November 17, 2018. 

-Junior Bull Rider Stefan Tonita (L) stands in the back stage area during day two of Professional Bull Riders Canadian finals at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon,Sk on Saturday, November 24, 2018.

Related

• StarPhoenix Year in Review 2018

More than a year after Saskatchewan’s 12 health regions combined to form a single provincial health authority, work is still underway to complete the amalgamation process — and will be for some time. The StarPhoenix sat down with Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) CEO Scott Livingstone to discuss what’s ahead for the organization in 2019.

Standardizing policy

More than 14,000 corporate and clinical policies were implemented by Saskatchewan’s 12 former health regions over the years. The SHA has collected those and now needs to sift through them, putting related ones side-by-side and determining which parts of which policies will govern the provincial body.

The SHA made a deliberate decision not to introduce standardized policies on day one of amalgamation based on advice of governments in Alberta and Nova Scotia, which amalgamated their health regions years earlier, Livingstone said.

“Before you start mucking around with policies, you have to create a policy framework so that you can actually evaluate, build, modify and keep up to date any policy in the organization,” Livingstone said.

The SHA created that framework in the last year and will soon begin going through existing policies on a priority basis and developing standardized ones.

A key part of that framework is making sure all policies that affect patients — things like visiting hour and infection control policies — are looked at through a patient lens.

“In our former world, not all policies were viewed by patients,” Livingstone said. The SHA is committed to getting “patient eyes” on all new policies that directly affect them, he added.

Sorting through all 14,000 existing health policies will be a “multi-year journey,” Livingstone said. He noted that Alberta, which amalgamated its health regions a decade ago, is still working on it.

Part of the reason it takes so long is because there are risks involved in implementing new clinical policies; the SHA needs to make sure that all care providers understand what changes are being put in place so staff and patient safety isn’t compromised, Livingstone said.

In terms of imminent policy changes, he said the SHA plans to implement a standardized conflict-of-interest policy in 2019, which will address concerns raised earlier this year after the dismissal and departures of former eHealth executives who accepted paid trips from vendors to events in 2017.

*****

Identifying success — and replicating it

Last year the SHA realized that wait times to see child psychiatrists were much shorter in Regina than Saskatoon, even though Saskatoon had more child psychiatrists.

Before the spring of 2018, children in Saskatoon were waiting roughly two years to see a child and adolescent psychiatrist, while children in Regina were waiting three or four months. That’s because the two former health regions had different ways of responding when youth entered the health care system with mental health concerns.

In Regina, families who think a young person needs help with a mental health issue or illness can go to a mental health clinic and meet an intake worker who sets them up with appropriate care, such as appointments with a social worker, counsellor or psychologist. Only the most severe cases are referred to child and adolescent psychiatrists, who can take referrals from anyone.

Until the spring of 2018, child and adolescent psychiatrists in Saskatoon were only paid to see patients referred by family physicians, so people who had children with mental heath concerns would go to a family doctor, get a referral and wait. There was no screening by family doctors, which meant some people put on the waitlist as needing to see a child and adolescent psychiatrist could have been better helped by other health care workers.

Recognizing the disparity, the SHA introduced an approach in Saskatoon similar to the one used in Regina; now child psychiatrists are paid by a different model and can be part of a health care team that goes through the list of people waiting to see a child psychiatrist and identifying which people need to be on that list and which don’t. Livingstone said there has been a 35 per cent drop in wait times to see a child psychiatrist in Saskatoon over the course of 2018.

He hopes to see other similar stories next year as the SHA looks at areas of variation across the province in things like wait times to see specialists. He said the SHA will look at which former health regions have found success in driving down wait times and when good models are identified, they can be implemented elsewhere. This will likely involve looking at how former health regions have built up health care teams to support medical specialists.

“It’s not just about having physicians. It’s about making sure we have the right supports for those teams to work together,” Livingstone said.

*****

Promoting and growing innovation

Even though the former health region boundaries existed only on paper, Livingstone said they caused “real challenges” for information sharing.

“People didn’t reach out,” he said.

That meant good ideas in one region weren’t necessarily implemented across the province. That’s changing now that all the health regions are part of the same organization.

As an example, Livingstone noted the Yorkton Regional Health Centre’s lab recently launched a remote monitoring project that allows patients with cardiac device implants in the Yorkton area to get regular checkups at the local lab instead of travelling all the way to Regina. The patients undergo tests at the lab and the information is relayed to the GMS Cardiac Rhythm Device Clinic in Regina, where staff there interpret it.

Now other areas of the province are looking a implementing a similar remote monitoring program, Livingstone said.

“One of the things we’re trying to do is build an inventory of this type of work so we can make sure that we’re sharing the work.”

Although some have raised concerns that creating a body as large as the SHA would stifle innovation, Livingstone disagrees. He said the health authority has been working hard to learn how best to scale innovation.

“In fact, we think (amalgamation)’s the ticket to actually stimulate innovative practice,” he said.

ahill@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/MsAndreaHill

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It’s their biggest find yet — literally.

After more than a year’s worth of expeditions to Diefenbaker Lake, smashing rocks and looking for 75 million-year-old treasure, the Dino Hunting Gang — a group of young fossil hunters headed by seven-year-old Lily Ganshorn and her father Jon — have made a sizable discovery in Douglas Provincial Park.

“I think I had about eight kids out with me that day,” Jon recalls. “We were just exploring the area and we just came across it and thought ‘holy smokes.’ We starting looking around more and the whole beach — like everywhere — was covered.”

Isabelle Ganshorn, Lily Ganshorn and Ethan Ganshorn stand for a portrait at the Biology Building at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon,Sk on Saturday, November 17, 2018.

The roughly 400-metre formation is called a coquina — a large deposit of shells from organisms like snails and clams. It’s part of the Bearpaw formation that stretches back roughly 75 million years, said Emily Bamford, an honorary Dino Gang member and paleontologist with the Royal Saskatchewan Museum.

“This was deposited at a time when there was a large seaway through the middle of North America that stretched from the Arctic Circle to the Gulf of Mexico called the West Interior Sea,” Bamford said.

Completely floored by the discovery of the seemingly endless number of shells within the coquina and the dozens of ophiomorpha — more commonly known as crab burrows — protruding from underneath, Jon snapped some pictures to send to Bamford for a deeper analysis.

It was an exciting discovery for Bamford. Although discovering a coquina isn’t all that rare, studying its makeup is important in understanding the surrounding environment during the time of its formation.

Crab burrows, or ophiomorpha, discovered by the Dino Hunting Gang under the layer of coquina in the sand dunes at Saskatchewan’s Douglas Provincial Park. (Supplied)

“This is something paleontologists are always looking at,” she said. “Coquinas form in shallow water so we know that we were right on the edge of that seaway … and we also know that because of the volume of shells that we got that this was a very healthy, productive environment as well.”

Though finding a coquina isn’t rare, Bamford says she was shocked at the sheer size of the find — noting that coquina usually measure about three to four meters long. She says the Royal Saskatchewan Museum plans to send up some paleontologists to explore the find in the summer.

Discoveries like this one are exciting, but for Lily and her cousins Isabelle and Oliver Ganshorn the best parts of the dinosaur hunting expeditions do not come from what they find, but rather how they find it.

“It’s fun because some (rocks) are open, but some are hard so we have to smash them!” Lily said. “But sometimes I need help.”

Her cousins are more than happy to join in on the rock smashing — though they call in Jon for reinforcements for any rocks their small hammers can’t handle.

A closer view of the coquina discovered in Saskatchewan’s Douglas Provincial Park by the Dino Hunting Gang. (Supplied)

“It’s fun smashing the rocks and finding the glorious, glorious treasures and beautiful fossils,” Isabelle agrees. “I’d heard about fossils before (joining the Dino Hunting Gang) but I’d never actually seen a real fossil in my life before, so it’s like, ‘Whoa.’ ”

The group hopes the discovery of the coquina will lead to the opportunity to officially name the site Fossil Beach.

“That would be very fun,” Oliver said.

“It’s called Fossil Beach because everywhere you step is fossils,” Lily added.

“It’s not some of the most brilliant, shiny stuff we have found, but the history behind it is what makes it pretty special,” Jon said.

(L to R) Isabelle Ganshorn, Oliver Ganshorn and Ethan Ganshorn look into a pond of fishes at the Biology Building at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, on Nov. 17, 2018.

This discovery came only a few months after the Dino Hunters came across a rare eutrephoceras ammonite — one of only a few in the province and the most recent to be discovered since 1963 — which ended up finding a home in the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina.

Bamford says citizen scientists like Jon and the Dino Hunters are important to the study of paleontology in the province. Currently only four paleontologists are employed in Saskatchewan, so having people noting the GPS co-ordinates of their finds and emailing pictures helps expand their research into areas they can’t explore themselves. The only caveat, she says, is that you can’t take the fossils home with you.

The Heritage Property Act — legislation put in place nearly 40 years ago — gives the Government of Saskatchewan ownership of all fossils in the province and does not allow people to collect and keep the fossils they discover.

“This legislation exists not only to protect the fossil, but also for the scientific integrity of the fossils too,” Bamford said. “It’s against the law to collect them, but we don’t want to dissuade people from going out to look; some of our biggest finds this summer were by amateurs who were out looking or just hiking … Jon goes out a lot and is really good about having eyes on the ground and because of that he finds some really neat and unusual things.”

People who, like Jon and Lily, really want to collect fossils, can apply for a permit that grants permission on a ministry level, although those finds are still considered provincial property.

Members of the Dino Hunting Gang explore the expansive coquina on the shores of Diefenbaker Lake in Saskatchewan’s Douglas Provincial Park. (Supplied)

The Dino Gang averages about one hunting trip a month, with an open call to any of the nearly 40 kids who have joined them and their parents to tag along.

“My nieces and nephews are starting to pull rank,” Jon laughed. “Saying, ‘Well we’re the original Dino Gang and you guys are guests.’ It’s definitely become a seniority thing — they’re pretty proud of what they’re finding there.”

The kids are less excited to go out searching in the winter — “it’s just too cold,” Isabelle says — but Jon hopes to mediate this by getting his hands on a reasonably priced camper van so the Dino Hunters have a place to warm up on cold days, or even stay for an overnight expedition.

He’s happy to do anything he can to keep the kids interested in getting outside and exploring. As Lily’s interest in fossils continues to grow, he wonders if one day he will be sending off of his future finds to her. She has been so inspired by the fossil hunting expeditions that she wants to become a paleontologist when she grows up.

“I think it’s very interesting; I like to see what we find,” Lily said.

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Four in five Saskatchewan residents think vaccinations for children and youth under the age of 18 should be mandatory, new public opinion research suggests.

However, Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer, says such a move wouldn’t be of much value because the existing system is doing a good job of ensuring as many people as possible are vaccinated on time.

Eighty-three per cent of the 400 Saskatchewan residents who participated in a telephone survey this month agreed that immunizations should be mandatory for children and youth under the age of 18. Fourteen per cent disagreed. The remaining respondents were unsure or refused to answer.

Men were more likely than women to agree that immunizations should be mandatory.

The research was done by the University of Saskatchewan’s Social Sciences Research Laboratories (SSRL) as part of the Taking the Pulse initiative, which involves SSRL researchers calling a representative sample of Saskatchewan residents four times a year and asking for their views on hot-button topics in the province. The results are published by Postmedia News.

Ontario and New Brunswick are the only provinces in Canada with legislation in place requiring children to be immunized against diseases including diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, meningococcal disease and pertussis (whooping cough) in order to attend school.

However, both provinces have exemption clauses that allow parents to refuse vaccinations for medical reasons or because of conscience or religious beliefs.

Shahab estimates that fewer than one per cent of parents in Saskatchewan actively refuse to have their children vaccinated. In the majority of cases when children are not up to date on vaccinations it’s because parents don’t understand the immunization schedule, have questions about vaccinations they want answered before getting the shots, or face challenges in making it to a clinic on time.

Saskatchewan’’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab

Cory Neudorf, a professor in community health and epidemiology at the U of S, said he wasn’t surprised to see high support for mandatory immunization in the survey results.

“People think that immunization is very important and, not just important for them, but they want to make sure that their friends and neighbours have their kids immunized as well,” Neudorf said.

Despite the apparent support for mandatory vaccinations, “we probably haven’t met the bar in this province for needing that,” Neudorf said.

“I think we’re already getting the same kind of results here without needing the legislation … I doubt very much whether there would be a perceived need for going that way.”

According to the Immunization Coverage Report for School Pupils in Ontario, which looked at immunization rates of seven-year-old students for the 2016-17 school year, coverage was 91 per cent for measles and 85 per cent for pertussis.

Reports published by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health show that immunization rates for measles and pertussis were 91 and 76 per cent respectively for the province’s seven-year-old children in September 2018.

The national goal for coverage is 95 per cent.

Sarah Skanderbeg holds her daughter Eve Skanderbeg as she receives a flu shot from Sarah Sokoluk during the flu clinic opening day at Station 20 West in Saskatoon, Sk on Monday, October 22, 2018.

“The herd effect really starts kicking in above 80 per cent and the herd effect of community immunity is better the higher the immunization rate,” Shahab said. “Aspirationally, we would want to go to 95 per cent.”

The herd effect refers to the fact that, when a significant portion of a population is immune to a disease, it reduces the likelihood of disease outbreak and provides a measure of protection for those who are not immune to it.

The most recent outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease in Saskatchewan happened this fall when at least two dozen cases of whooping cough were reported in children and youth in Rosthern, Hague, Wakaw, Hepburn and Waldheim. The majority of the children were not up to date on their whooping cough immunizations.

While whooping cough causes a bad cough in most people, the disease can be fatal for infants.

Children need six doses of pertussis vaccine by the time they reach Grade 8 to be fully immunized. The first three doses are done at ages two, four and six months. Shahab says it can be easy for parents to fall behind this schedule. A big misconception is that parents think they should delay vaccinations for premature babies — but they shouldn’t, he says.

The health region has recently started recommending pertussis vaccinations in pregnant women to protect their newborns before they are old enough to be immunized, and the health region continues to do public education around the need for vaccinations, Shahab says.

In Saskatchewan, public health nurses work with pregnant women to ensure they understand the province’s vaccination schedule before their children are born.

As of February 2015, no matter where a child is immunized in Saskatchewan, their information is entered into a common database so their immunization records are easily accessible by other public health professionals, even if they move.

Shahab says this has helped improve immunization rates in centres such as Prince Albert and North Battleford, where people often move around, because families can now get the appropriate immunizations regardless of where in the province they go to access healthcare services.

Public health nurses do vaccination checks in Saskatchewan schools at Grades 1, 6 and 8. If children are not up to date on vaccinations, arrangements are made to catch them up.

Shahab says immunization rates tend to lag the most in centres with large newcomer populations, because parents may not understand the Saskatchewan immunization schedule.

A decade ago, Neudorf was part of efforts to narrow the immunization rate gap between different areas of Saskatoon. When he started his work, some neighbourhoods had 100 per cent immunization rates while others had rates below 50 per cent.

Neudorf and his team worked to understand why, and learned that some families were struggling to get to clinics for appointments on time. The former Saskatoon Health Region then made changes to drive numbers up in neighbourhoods where immunization rates were lower, including changing where clinics were located and when they were open.

The health region has credited his work for bringing measles immunization rates in two-year-old inner-city children to 80 per cent in 2016 from 46 per cent in 2007.

Neudorf said it’s efforts like this — not laws on mandatory immunization — that make the most difference in immunization rates.

“Essentially, it’s not an issue with the parents’ level of support. It’s a question of the rest of the delivery system: Are we able to respond according to those patients’ needs?” Neudorf said.

Each iteration of Taking the Pulse has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 per cent, 19 times out of 20, which means researchers expect their results to reflect the opinions of Saskatchewan adults to within 4.9 per cent, 95 times out of 100.

ahill@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/MsAndreaHill

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The Humboldt Broncos are in the market for a new head coach and general manager following Nathan Oystrick’s abrupt departure after six months on the job.

Oystrick, 36, was hired in July, three months after 16 people — including former head coach Darcy Haugan — were killed and another 13 injured when the team’s bus crashed north of Tisdale, Sask. on April 6.

The Saskatoon StarPhoenix reported Oystrick’s departure Friday morning. In a tweet sent half an hour later, the coach confirmed that he had “stepped away” from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League club.

“Despite the extreme stress and constant pressure of working with the organization, I gave them everything I possibly could and am proud of their performance, and mine, this season,” Oystrick said in the tweet.

The Broncos have won 21 of 37 games so far this season — good enough for second place in their division and fourth overall in the league — but have been on a slide recently, with two wins in their last 10 games.

Oystrick said in the tweet that he would issue a “proper statement shortly.”

In a statement issued hours later, the Humboldt Broncos said the team and Oystrick “decided to part ways” and assistant coach Scott Barney will take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

“The Broncos wish to thank Nathan for his work with the organization and wish him the very best in all his future endeavours.”

SJHL President Bill Chow described the situation as “unfortunate,” but noted — referring to Oystrick’s tweet — that “if that’s what he needs to do is step away, then that’s the right thing to do. 

“Everybody is an individual and people will react to different things. It’s unfortunate the situation the team is in right now … It’s unfortunate, but they move on as best as they can.”

Oystrick played four years at Northern Michigan University before embarking on an 11-year professional hockey career, which included 65 games in the National Hockey League.

The Regina native spent a few years as a minor-pro assistant before taking a high school coaching job in Colorado last year.

When the Broncos put out a call for a new head coach, Oystrick submitted his resume. “I didn’t think I had a chance,” he told the StarPhoenix in July. “I didn’t know what to expect. I sent in my resume, and waited.”

A couple of weeks later, then-Broncos president Kevin Garinger asked him to fly to Saskatoon for an interview. At one point, Oystrick was asked what he would say if offered the job, and he replied, “Yes.”

Humboldt Broncos head coach Nathan Oystrick skates during the first day of the Humboldt Broncos training camp at Elgar Petersen Arena in Humboldt, Sask., Friday, August 24, 2018.

Shortly afterward, Oystrick was told he was the coach the Broncos wanted. He beat out more than 50 other applicants.

Oystrick is not the first person to leave the Broncos since the crash. The team has previously lost its assistant general manager, an assistant coach, an office manager and multiple directors.

The team has been under intense pressure since April 6, both on and off the ice.

In an interview with the StarPhoenix a few days before the team’s home opener — which was broadcast to a national audience on TSN — Oystrick admitted that there would be “tough times this year.”

“I don’t think you can fully prepare, because we don’t know what to expect.”

—With StarPhoenix files from Kevin Mitchell and Darren Zary

amacpherson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/macphersona

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L-R: Humboldt Broncos returning player Brayden Camrud, unknown player, head coach Nathan Oystrick, and returning player Derek Patter during practice at at Elgar Petersen Arena in Humboldt, September 11, 2018.

Humboldt Broncos head coach Nathan Oystrick as his team takes on the Estevan Bruins in Warman, SK on Tuesday, September 25, 2018.

A 25-year-old man is recovering in hospital after he was stabbed in Saskatoon’s Riversdale neighbourhood.

According to a police news release, officers responded to a report of an injured person near Avenue H and 17th Street West shortly after 10 a.m. Friday.

The man — suffering from non-life threatening injuries — was taken to hospital by a bystander before officers arrived at the scene of the stabbing; however, when officers attempted to interview the victim, he was “uncooperative,” police said.

Police believe the victim and the suspect are known to each other.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Saskatoon police at 306-975-8300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Saskatchewan politicians reported almost $8.1 million in travel and constituency office expenses last year, down about $300,000 from the year before but above the $7.9 million they expensed two years ago.

Public records show that Mark Docherty, who was elected speaker of the legislature in March, was the most frugal of the 57 MLAs who spent the entire 2017-18 fiscal year, which ended March 31, in office.

Docherty, who represents Regina Coronation Park, spent $67,835 on his constituency office, telephone and advertising costs, furniture and office equipment, and travel, the records show.

He was also the thriftiest MLA in the 2016-17 fiscal year, with reported expenses of $75,845.

Buckley Belanger, the longtime MLA for Athabasca, one of the province’s two vast northern ridings, claimed more expenses than any other MLA last year: $199,372.

Including MLAs who did not spend the whole year in office, the average expense claim was $124,521. That is up from the previous year’s average of $113,260, but that figure captures multiple MLAs who lost or did not run in the 2016 election.

According to the legislature’s Board of Internal Economy, MLAs are eligible to claim various expenses related to their duties as members, including renting and furnishing office space, hiring assistants, and local advertising.

MLAs cannot expense any advertising or communications that carry their political party’s logo, solicits party memberships or asks for re-election support. They also cannot claim expenses from party events.

Cumberland MLA Doyle Vermette spent more on travel than any of his legislative colleagues last year — $72,246 — while Docherty spent the least, with reported travel expenses of just $115.

That Vermette spent the most on travel is not surprising given that his constituency office is in La Ronge, 520 kilometres north of Regina. Only Belanger’s office in Île-à-la-Crosse is further from the capital.

Docherty’s constituency office, on the other hand, is two kilometres from the legislature.

Delbert Kirsch, who represents Batoche, spent $15,926 on telecommunications, including phones, calls and internet access, last year — more than any other MLA. Dave Marit, the MLA for Wood River, expensed the least: $2,979.

Stonebridge-Dakota MLA Bronwyn Eyre spent $31,064 on renting an office, more than any other MLA. Hugh Nerlien, who represents Kelvington–Wadena, got the best deal: $4,200 for the entire year.

Scott Moe, who succeeded Brad Wall as premier with just under two months left in the fiscal year, reported spending more on communications than any other MLA last year, with expenses totalling $32,033.

Moe’s cabinet colleague Gene Makowsky, who holds the Regina Gardiner Park seat, spent the least on communications — $3,436.

Belanger paid more to his constituency assistant or assistants than any other MLA last year — $87,890 — while Saskatoon Nutana MLA Cathy Sproule spent the most on “supplies and miscellaneous” items: $29,514.

Herb Cox, the MLA for the Battlefords, spent just $64 on furniture and office equipment last year. Saskatoon Centre MLA David Forbes spent the most in that department, with expenses totalling $10,222.

Travel and constituency expenses are separate from expenses incurred by cabinet ministers as part of their jobs, allowances paid to MLAs who serve on committees and when they leave office.

They are also distinct from expenses incurred by the MLAs’ political parties.

Saskatchewan MLAs were paid a base salary of $92,817 during the 2017-18 fiscal year, following a 3.5 per cent cut designed to “show leadership” as the government worked to eliminate a $1.2-billion deficit.

This spring, they reversed the pay cut, bringing their base salary back up to $96,183.

amacpherson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/macphersona

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We offer a look back at some of the year’s best editorial cartoons from the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and Regina Leader-Post. Read more of our Year in Review series here.

January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

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• Year in Review series

Three men have been arrested and are facing criminal charges after RCMP were called to a home invasion at a residence in Leask, Sask.

According to a news release from the Blaine Lake RCMP detachment, officers were called to the residence just after midnight on Thursday after receiving a call that a gun had been fired during a home invasion.

Three adults and a toddler were in the home at the time of the shooting, though no one suffered any injuries.

The suspects fled the home before RCMP arrived, but officers — with additional help from the Spiritwood RCMP detachment — later located and arrested them without incident during a high-risk traffic stop.

Two adult males and one male youth are facing firearms-related charges and will make their first appearance in Saskatoon provincial court on Monday.

The incident remains under investigation.

RCMP ask anyone with information to contact the police or their nearest RCMP detachment. Those who wish to remain anonymous should call Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or submit a tip online at http://www.saskcrimestoppers.com 

In our Year in Review series, The Saskatoon StarPhoenix looks back on the stories that affected residents the most in 2018.

Fire ban

After months of delays and debates, Saskatoon residents are no longer allowed backyard fires outside the hours of 2 p.m. to 11 p.m.

By a widely expected vote of 6-5, Saskatoon city council voted to introduce the ban outside the nine-hour window.

The fire pit debate has gone on for years, long before city bylaws were changed in May 1994 to allow them in backyards, and regularly since those changes were made.

The time limit will only apply to open-air fires, or barbecues or enclosed smokers or ovens. The fine for a first offence under the existing bylaw is $250.

Though many feel the previous bylaw just needed more effective enforcement by the fire department to address nuisance fires, Kaela Tennent, who appeared before council on the issue, said she disagrees.

“This can make the difference between him being in hospital,” Tennent said of her son Jack, who has asthma and a condition that exacerbates asthma’s effects.

Weir allegations

Regina—Lewvan MP Erin Weir was banished from the federal NDP caucus and barred by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh from running under the federal party banner in any election.

After a complaint was made against Weir, an investigation was launched. It found one claim of harassment and three claims of sexual harassment against Weir were sustained — all of which were deemed to be “on the less serious end of the spectrum,” involving the MP standing too close or failing to read non-verbal cues in social settings.

Singh rejected the MP’s request to be readmitted to the NDP caucus and said he won’t approve Weir’s candidacy for the 2019 election.

Weir requested an external appeal of his former party’s harassment investigation that ousted him from the caucus.

Expelled MP Erin Weir.

Emerson sentenced

A 33-year-old woman who sent dozens of threatening letters containing white powder and emailed bomb threats to 17 schools and businesses in and around Saskatoon was targeting an ex-boyfriend, his family and his ex-wife.

Alexa Emerson pleaded guilty in Court of Queen’s Bench to 15 counts of public mischief, uttering threats and criminal harassment. The indictment encompassed 81 charges stemming from incidents in the fall of 2016 and spring of 2017.

Justice Gerald Allbright accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence, sentencing Emerson to two years less a day in jail, followed by a three-year probation order with conditions that include psychiatric treatment for mental health issues, a curfew, an eight-month ban on electronic devices and no contact with dozens of victims.

Although the white powder was found to be non-hazardous, prosecutor Jennifer Claxton-Viczko said it caused widespread panic, evacuating buildings, disrupting classrooms and delaying cancer treatments.

Domestic violence report

Peggy Musqua, Raime Myers, Nylan Clark, Natalia Shingoose, Latasha Gosling and her children Janayah, Jenika and Landen, Dorothy Woods, Hannah Leflar, Donna Clements, Daniel Matheson, Celine Whitehawk, Jack Lever, Elise Cote, Shirley Parkinson — those are the names behind just a few of Saskatchewan’s dire domestic homicide statistics.

Some of the cases are among those that spurred the creation of a panel of experts to review domestic violence deaths in the province.

The result? Nineteen recommendations to the provincial government to address a domestic violence rate that is double the national average.

The final report was released along with several actions being taken by the government to address its findings.

Formed in 2016, Saskatchewan’s Domestic Violence Death Review Panel closely studied six homicide cases (which ones were not specifically identified) related to domestic violence that occurred between 2005 and 2014, and also provided a statistical analysis of 48 domestic homicides and nine domestic suicides in that time frame.

Latasha Gosling and three of her children — Janayah, Jenika and Landen.

Volleyball coach fired

Saying that the school and its athletic programs expect its leaders to be accountable in their roles, the University of Saskatchewan fired men’s volleyball head coach Brian Gavlas after he admitted he knew a recruit was facing a sexual assault charge in Alberta when the player joined the team last season.

In Medicine Hat Court of Queen’s Bench, Matthew Alan Meyer was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to a January 2016 sexual assault. When the Prince Albert native joined the Huskies in the 2017-18 season, the charge had been laid but not yet proven in court.

Gavlas said he “was aware of the charge” prior to Meyer joining the team and that he and Meyer “had talked briefly about the situation” but “didn’t go into a lot of detail.”

In a statement, Huskie Athletics chief athletics officer Shawn Burt and Dean of Kinesiology Chad London said they became aware of Meyer’s conviction on a Tuesday. After immediately removing Meyer from the team, Gavlas was fired on a Thursday.

University of Saskatchewan men’s volleyball head coach Brian Gavlas

Related

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People in the small La Loche courtroom applauded when Judge Janet McIvor announced that the young person who had killed four people during a shooting spree in the community more than two years earlier would face an adult sentence for his crime.

I wasn’t there to hear it.

I was outside the courthouse, close to tears. The doors to the building were locked and guarded by RCMP members with semi-automatic rifles. Temperatures flirted around -20 C and I had lost feeling in my toes. I had no idea how I was supposed to do my job, to let the public know the fate of the young person responsible for one of the worst shooting tragedies in Canadian history.

Police stand guard outside court as a provincial court judge decides if a teen who pleaded guilty in the 2016 shooting spree that left four people dead and seven others wounded will be sentenced as an adult in La Loche, Sask. on Friday February 23, 2018.

It wasn’t until hours later, when I listened to an audio recording of the proceedings, that I was able to properly piece together what happened in the courtroom.

The La Loche shooter, who is now 20 years old, was weeks away from his 18th birthday when he picked up a shotgun on Jan. 22, 2016, and fatally shot two brothers in a home. He then drove to the La Loche Community School where he opened fire, killing two and injuring seven.

Nine months later, the shooter pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of teacher’s aide Marie Janvier and teacher Adam Wood, two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of brothers Dayne and Drayden Fontaine and seven counts of attempted murder. He has since appeared in court multiple times and was sentenced earlier this year as an adult to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years. The sentence is under appeal, much to the frustration of some community members who wish the legal ordeal had wrapped up long ago.

The shooter’s name is protected by a publication ban, pending the outcome of his appeal.

I began following his journey through the court system in May 2017, when his sentencing hearing began in Meadow Lake. The spacious and relatively new Meadow Lake courthouse was able to accommodate the large number of community members and reporters who had interest in the case. Proceedings were also streamed live in La Loche.

But when it came time for Judge McIvor to issue her decision, she chose to do so in La Loche, where the crimes had happened. The decision created logistical difficulties because the La Loche courthouse has seating for just 32 people.

Prior to the shooter being sentenced on Feb. 23, provincial government court workers warned media that seating was limited and would be given preferentially to victims and family members of the people affected by the shooting. However, I was never given any indication I wouldn’t be let inside. In fact, I’d been told that if the courtroom was filled, the door would be left open and reporters would be able to listen to the proceedings from the courthouse lobby.

That didn’t happen.

RCMP outside La Loche provincial court on the day a judge issued her sentencing decision for the teen who pled guilty in the 2016 school shooting in La Loche, SK on Friday, February 23, 2018.

There are no hotels in La Loche, so the night before the decision, StarPhoenix photographer Liam Richards and I spent the night in Buffalo Narrows, roughly 100 kilometres south of La Loche. McIvor wasn’t scheduled to issue her decision until 10 a.m., but we’d heard rumours of road blocks and were concerned about getting into the courthouse, so we left at 5 a.m. and were in front of the La Loche courthouse by 6 a.m.

It was dark and quiet. There were no road blocks when we arrived, but RCMP members eventually asked Richards and I to move our rental vehicle several blocks away from the courthouse.

Richards and I stood outside of the courthouse with other media who had come from all over the province to cover the hearing. When the doors finally opened, journalists entered the lobby, but we were told we could not pass through airport-style security into the courtroom until community members were seated. Then we were told the courtroom was full. We were asked to leave the building for security reasons while the shooter was escorted into the building. The doors were locked behind us. A deputy sheriff told us he would tell us if proceedings started.

We only learned that McIvor had begun issuing her decision because a radio DJ in Meadow Lake, where the proceedings were being live streamed, tweeted about it.

Reporters marched across the road to the local RCMP detachment, seeking answers. Editors and station managers in Saskatoon and Regina — including the editor in chief of the StarPhoenix — started making calls to provincial leaders.

About an hour into McIvor’s decision, someone left the courtroom and a CBC reporter was allowed in to cover the proceedings as a pool reporter who would share his reporting with everyone.

The CBC reporter was just in time to hear that the young shooter would be sentenced as an adult.

When Crown prosecutor Pouria Tabrizi-Reardigan left court, he told reporters he hadn’t realized what had happened until court was adjourned.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.

Shooting victim Charlene Klyne, who moved to Saskatoon after she was shot in the face, had planned to follow the court proceedings on social media from home instead of travelling to La Loche to sit in court. She was denied that opportunity.

“How is that fair to the people who couldn’t be there that are victims and stuff? This is ridiculous,” she said after the hearing.

Not everyone shared her view. When the StarPhoenix posted an article on Facebook about the media being locked out of the courthouse, the first comments were anti-media, and they stung: “They like to pick a side and change the story for their own sensationalism!!!” read one comment. Another said “You idiots had no business being in town.”

Saskatchewan courts made audio recordings of the sentence available to media that evening, but it’s impossible to get a sense of the atmosphere in that room simply from a recording. What did the shooter do when the sentence was read? I can’t tell the public, because I don’t know.

It has never become clear who made the decision to lock journalists out of the courthouse.

An RCMP spokesperson said no RCMP member locked the courthouse door, and that the RCMP did not know who locked it. A spokesperson for Saskatchewan courts said McIvor understood the decision to lock the door was made by the deputy sheriffs and the RCMP.

McIvor addressed the issue the following month, during another sentencing appearance for the shooter. She said she had been “dismayed” to learn what happened.

“For me, as a judge of the provincial court — and I think that I can speak for every judge, not only in this province, but in this country — we take very seriously the open court principle,” McIvor said in court.

“It can never be emphasized enough how important it is to have the media to have free and open access to any court in Canada.”

It was not an apology, but it was an acknowledgment that what had happened was wrong, and I appreciated the words.

I still wish I had a better understanding of why it happened, and what happened afterwards. Was a review ever done to ensure something like this will not happen again? I hope so.

ahill@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/MsAndreaHill

Related

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• Editorial: Court access issues are not just about media
• Fuller: Do people really hate us and if so, why?
• 'It's just not right': School shooting victim upset that media banned from courthouse for sentencing decision
• Media locked out of La Loche school shooter sentencing

The new University of Saskatchewan plan unveiled in the fall of 2018 committed the institution to being “the university the world needs.” President Peter Stoicheff said he looks forward to making good on that commitment in the new year.

As 2018 drew to a close, he sat down with the StarPhoenix to speak about how that will be realized and what else is coming up for the university in 2019.

INNOVATIVE RESEARCH 

Stoicheff knows the future of Canada and Saskatchewan depend on the ability to be innovative — and he wants the U of S to play an integral role. He points to the involvement of U of S researchers in the mapping of the wheat genome this year as an example of how the school’s researchers are addressing issues of global significance (the first complete map of the large and complex genome was published in the journal Science in August).

Stoicheff said he expects great things in the new year from the school’s global institutes for food and water security, which he says are “running on all cylinders” and have been “talent magnets” in recent years. Most recently, the school attracted Jay Famiglietti, who was previously based out of NASA’s lab at the California Institute of Technology, as executive director of the Global Institute for Water Security, effective July 1.

University of Saskatchewan president Peter Stoicheff speaks during a media event regarding the announcement of the University of Saskatchewan’s new strategic plan in Saskatoon, SK on Tuesday, October 10, 2018.

MORE GRAND OPENINGS

The U of S celebrated the grand opening of the $51-million Merlis Belsher Place in the fall and the rink has been a boon not just for the school’s hockey team, but also for community teams looking for ice time, Stoicheff says.

The multi-use complex will soon be home to the Ron and Jane Graham Sport Science and Health Centre, which is expected to open in the new year. The centre will support research in injury prevention, nutrition and conditioning and performance and recovery.

The U of S also expects to make an announcement in the new year about the grand opening of an interdisciplinary science building designed to encourage collaborative science research across disciplines.

The university continues to work toward the completion of its new campus in Prince Albert. Stoicheff said that campus likely won’t open until 2020.

CAMPUS FACELIFT

The U of S will continue to “move forward really aggressively” on renovating the buildings around the bowl that were among the first university structures to be built, Stoicheff said. The school secured an $85-million bond from the provincial government earlier this year to help cover the cost of what is estimated to be $330 million in critical deferred maintenance costs.

“All universities of our age have deferred maintenance issues and we’ve been able to really handle those very creatively,” Stoicheff said.

He noted plans are underway to upgrade lab and student space in the W.P. Thompson Biology building next year.

STATUS QUO BUDGET

Stoicheff said he expects the upcoming provincial budget to provide funding to the institution “similar to somewhere in the territory of the most recent budget.”

The university’s operating grant was slashed as part of the wildly unpopular 2017-18 provincial budget — which forced the institution to cut millions of dollars from academic programs and services and offer buyouts to some unionized staff — and did not receive a significant boost last year in the 2018-19 budget.

Stoicheff said he doesn’t expect the university’s operating grant to return to pre-2017-18 levels until after the provincial budget is balanced, but he does not anticipate any layoffs or buyouts in 2019.

“I am ultimately responsible for ensuring we are working within our means, but we don’t have any plans for anything like that,” Stoicheff said.

His conversations with the province about the budget have been “good” and he expects the budget will “allow us to move forward in all the ways that we are trying to move forward,” he said.

“We are committed to what we’re doing here and we will make our financial situation always such that we can continue with those commitments.”

ahill@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/MsAndreaHill

Related

• New U of S strategy steeped in ideas of reconciliation
• 'Billion-piece jigsaw puzzle:' U of S researchers key to first complete map of wheat genome
• NASA water scientist joins U of S as Canada 150 research chair
• Let the hockey games begin: Merlis Belsher Place open for use
• Cost of new U of S building in P.A. to top $13.5 million
• U of S to begin renovations on five buildings after government approves $85-million bond
• Budget 2018: U of S medical school sees bulk of increase in post-secondary funding

As 2018 turns into 2019, we are taking a look back at some of our most memorable stories of the year …

—–

From Shih Tzus to Shetland Sheepdogs, German Shepherds to Golden Retrievers, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix’s Alexa Lawlor analyzed more than 30,000 dog registrations in the city. What breeds are most common? Where do their owners live? How does the popularity of a breed correspond with the neighbourhood it calls home? Take a look at a dog’s life around Saskatoon …

•••••

Presley has been a fixture at Insightrix Research for most of his life. His hair is more grey than it used to be and he’s getting grumpier in his old age, but he still seems to always have a quizzical look on his face.

His job title: chief morale officer, or CMO. Presley is Insightrix president Corrin Harper’s 12-year-old dog.

“When new employees start here they’re always surprised about ‘Oh, you know, you have a dog in the office.’ People I think just like having an animal around,” she said.

Insightrix president Corrin Harper poses for a photograph with chief morale officer Presley

Presley began “working” at Insightrix when he was around one and a half years old, soon after Harper was driving on the highway and saw “this little black dot” and other drivers hitting their brakes. As she drove closer, she realized it was a dog on the highway.

Though Presley seemed scared at first, he let Harper pick him up and put him into her car. She initially planned to stop at a local shelter and drop him off.

“I thought, ‘Well, maybe I’ll just keep him for a few days, see how that goes.’ I thought maybe if I put up an ad on Kijiji I could find out who the owner was, or maybe I thought some staff member was looking for a dog,” she says.

By the time she hit Saskatoon’s city limits, Harper instead had a new companion.

Presley — who is a mix of Shih Tzu, Golden Retriever and Boston Terrier — followed Harper everywhere. Since she worked long hours, she thought it would be nice to bring him to the office so he wouldn’t be at home alone all day. Pretty soon, Insightrix had a CMO.

“It’s a distraction from the everyday,” she says. “So if you’re stressed about something — like in our office we’re working on a report, if we’ve got a heavy deadline — and then all of a sudden a dog walks up with a toy in his mouth, you can stop for a moment, pet him, play with him for a few minutes.

“It gets your mind off of the pressure. I think it’s a stress reliever.”

Presley is one of more than 30,000 dogs — 31,112, to be precise — registered in the city.

According to the City of Saskatoon, in 2018 there were 31,112 dogs registered in the city. The City of Saskatoon in July 2018 estimated the population of the city to be 278,500. According to the registration numbers provided by the City of Saskatoon, that means there is one dog for every 8.95 people in the city.

The City of Saskatoon in July 2018 estimated the human population at 278,500. According to registration numbers provided by the city, that means there is one dog for every 8.95 people.

How does that compare to other major Canadian markets? According to CTV Winnipeg in 2017, Winnipeg had a population of 705,244 people and 54,585 licensed dogs — approximately one dog for every 13 people. Vancouver has approximately one dog for every 32 people. Toronto has one for every 50. Calgary has one per approximately 12 people, while Edmonton is around one dog for every 14 people.

According to tracking done by Kynetic (formerly Ipsos) for the Canadian Animal Health Institute, dog population figures in Canada in 2016 increased to 7.6 million, up from 6.4 million in 2014.

It’s a dog’s life, indeed.

‘It’s the dog’s personality’

According to Saskatoon SPCA education and public relations coordinator Jasmine Hanson, if someone wants a Shih Tzu or Chihuahua, they’d better get to the shelter quickly.

Those two breeds are typically adopted the fastest, she said. After that, puppies of virtually any breed are the hot commodities.

“That’s just what people get most excited about. But the actual breed of the dog isn’t necessarily the determining factor in how long it takes them to be adopted,” she said. “Usually it’s the dog’s personality.”

Hanson said 6,317 dogs came through the shelter between June 11, 2013 and June 11, 2018. During that period, the SPCA adopted out 2,424 dogs, mostly within one to three weeks of the dog’s arrival. Of the others, 2,437 were returned to their owners, while the rest were either transferred to another rescue or, as a last or necessary option, euthanized.

Megan Donnelly believes her adopted dog Cedric, a Corgi-mini Aussie cross, definitely chose her.

“I initially had my heart set on another puppy,” she said. “Then I held Cedric, and I just knew.”

Donnelly said when she was younger, she fell in love with a corgi in a pet store, although  she didn’t know what kind of dog it was at the time.

“I just remember seeing it in the window all the time,” she said. “It had big ears and short little legs and it was the cutest thing. Then I realized it was a corgi, and one day I went there and he was gone. And I was like, ‘Oh my god, I want a corgi.'”

When Owen LaClare-Hepp was looking to adopt, he had no idea what kind of breed he wanted. Then he saw Luna the Dalmatian online. After researching the breed, he adopted her when she was eight weeks old.

“We brought her here, and true to her nature, she just did not stop exploring,” he said. “And that’s still who she is today. Like if we go to a friend’s house or somewhere she’s never been before, she will spend the entire time we’re there like exploring, searching, smelling, running around — just go, go, go.”

Venessa Martens is “very big into the dog world.” She works at a clinic, as a dog trainer, owns five dogs of her own and is fostering one for New Hope Dog Rescue. Her first experience with fostering for New Hope was about seven years ago, with four two-week-old puppies that needed to be bottle fed.

“A friend of mine who had fostered with New Hope wanted them, but she was going on holidays, and so she said, ‘Do you want to foster these puppies with me?’ She basically suckered me into it,” she said.

Martens said taking dogs that are shut down or shy, or have medical issues, and fostering them out is rewarding.

“And then when somebody comes and adopts them, you get the kind of joy of you (finding) this person a dog that they’ll love for the rest of their lives.”

Three breeds most popular in city

The three most popular breeds in Saskatoon all look and behave differently — different strokes for different folks.

According to certified canine behaviour consultant Meghan Oesch, that’s why each of the three appeals to potential owners.

For Labrador Retrievers, which grow on average to be around two feet tall and 65 to 70 pounds, the appeal is often their intelligence and sociability, especially with people.

Shih Tzus often appeal to people because they’re portable and small (a typical dog of this breed weighs around 12 or 13 pounds and stands around eight to 10 inches tall). They’re an easy fit for a variety of homes, says Oesch.

For many, the most appealing quality of German Shepherds — which grow to around two feet tall and upwards of 70 to 90 pounds — is their undying devotion to their families, Oesch said.

According to the City of Saskatoon in 2018, the top-10 breeds, with the highest number of registered dogs, are (middle row, left) Labrador retriever (3,241); (middle row, right), Shih Tzu (2,579), (top row, from left) German Shepherd (2,439), Border Collie (1,306), Golden Retriever (1,123), Yorkshire Terrier (1,011), (bottom row, from left) Shorthair Chihuahua (969), Pit Bull (716), Pomeranian (693) and Rottweiler (570).

Marie Lindberg had German Shepherds growing up. As a child, she didn’t grasp how loyal they are. It took a few days for her current German shepherd, Boss, to warm up to her when she got him in December 2017, but now he rarely leaves her side.

“Since then he’s been my shadow,” she said. “He follows me everywhere I go. He sleeps by my bed, or sleeps right outside my door. He’s very attached.”

The top-10 most popular breeds: Labrador retriever (3,241), Shih Tzu (2,579), German Shepherd (2,439), Border Collie (1,306), Golden Retriever (1,123), Yorkshire Terrier (1,011), Shorthair Chihuahua (969), Pit Bull (716), Pomeranian (693) and Rottweiler (570).

On the opposite end, three breeds are represented by a single dog registered in the city: the Lowchen (say hello, Lucy), the TR Walker Hound (meet Ranger) and a Sealyham-Terrier mix (say hi to Rudy).

Tough versus fluff

For Lindberg, who lives in the Exhibition area, the appeal of a German Shepherd is its loyalty, friendliness and protectiveness. Oesch said the appeal of a German Shepherd may also come from their reputation.

People often gravitate to them for protection (or intimidation) since they are a breed commonly used as police and military dogs.

“They think, ‘Oh, this must be a great dog. This must be a dog that can do anything for me,’” she said. “And obviously some people get them because of the guarding aspect; they want a dog they feel will be able to protect them.”

Barry Gay breeds and trains German Shepherds. He uses working lines of the breed, where the dogs are selected for certain characteristics like loyalty, bravery, high intelligence, and a high willingness to lay down their lives for the people who own them. He says asking about the appeal of the breed is like “asking the appeal of a Canadian.”

Athena the pit bull

Three postal code areas — S7L, S7H and S7M — cover some of the city’s highest-crime and economically-challenged areas, including Riversdale, Pleasant Hill and Westmount. Those three areas are also home to more dogs of powerful breeds than any other postal codes.

(According to the City of Saskatoon’s 2017 neighbourhood profiles, 70 per cent of residents owned their homes, the average house sale price was $343,534 and the median personal income was $39,760. For comparison, S7M includes Riversdale, where the median personal income is $21,290, home ownership percentage is 40.9, and the average house sale price is $300,921. S7M also includes Exhibition, with a median personal income of $36,450, home ownership of 66.8 per cent and average house sale price of $285,744.)

According to a 2015 study by the federal government exploring the link between crime and socio-economic status, 13 of Saskatoon’s 16 neighbourhoods that are considered ‘disadvantaged’ are located in a tight cluster and include S7M neighbourhoods Pleasant Hill and Riversdale, as well as S7L areas Westmount and Caswell Hill. The same areas also ranked in the ‘high’ or ‘highest’ categories in the study for crime rates per 1,000 people, and among the highest neighbourhoods for violent offences.

In the S7L, S7H and S7M postal codes, German Shepherds are either the most popular or second-most popular breed. The most Rottweilers (108) and pit bulls (128) of any one postal code are also found in the S7M area. The tough-to-fluff ratio was also second-lowest, with one traditionally tough breed for every 1.89 fluffy dogs such as Shih Tzus, Yorkies and poodles.

Gay said instincts often kick in for canines when presented with threats.

“They really look after you well, even without training at all, it’s just right into the line — you know, somebody kicks your front door in and instead of hiding under the bed, the dog is out there stopping them at that point. It’s just a natural thing they do.”

Residents of other areas, where crime rates aren’t as high and economic concerns aren’t as prominent, have far more lap dogs than any other breeds.

The S7N postal code, which includes Erindale and Arbor Creek, had a 1 to 3.67 tough-to-fluff ratio (134 to 492); the S7W postal code, which includes Willowgrove, is 1 to 2.76 (86 to 238); S7T, which includes the Willows, Stonebridge and Riverside Estates, is a 1 to 2.93 ratio (64 to 188); and S7V, which includes Rosewood and Briarwood, is a 1 to 3 ratio (61 to 183).

Economically, Willows residents have a $71,750 median personal income, 100 per cent home ownership and an average house sale price of $895,492. Briarwood residents have a $54,140 median personal income, home ownership at 95.6 per cent and an average house sale price of $593,402.

“No matter what dog you think you want, always do the research first,” Oesch said.

“Actually look into that breed, do Google searches, talk to breeders, talk to trainers and people who know that breed of dog. Make sure that it fits into your lifestyle.”

What’s in a name?

New York City’s population is more than 8.6 million. NYC is the home of the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty, the Yankees and Madison Square Garden, Saturday Night Live and Broadway Avenue. But there are plenty of similarities to Saskatoon when it comes to dog names.

In the list of top 10 names in Saskatoon, numbers one through seven — Charlie (330), Bella (300), Molly (291), Buddy (267), Max (245), Maggie (241) and Lucy (238) — along with No. 10 — Daisy (216) — also rank in the top 10 female names or top 10 males names in New York City, according to numbers in a New York Times feature. Only Sadie, with 232 in Saskatoon, and Bailey, with 225, aren’t found in New York’s top 10 lists.

The top 10 names for dogs in Saskatoon, according to the City of Saskatoon in 2018

Susan Ford and her family of four are among the households that include a dog named Daisy. It wasn’t a complicated naming process, she said. There was no dog book or back-and-forth debates.

“It was close to the name the shelter had given her,” Ford said of the mixed breed she calls “Lab Shepherd-ish.”

Sneezy, no more. Daisy, it is.

Looking for a one-of-a-kind name in Saskatoon?

There’s the Shih Tzu-Bichon Frise named Ahhh Choo. Equally unique: Batface, the Labrador Retriever-Treeing Tennessee Brindle. There’s Di O’Gee, the Labrador Retriever. Other one-of-a-kinds: Lunch Kit (a Golden Retriever), Spookeroo (a Bichon Frise-Shih Tzu), and Obewan Kedog (Parson Russell Terrier).

•••••

For LaClare-Hepp, it’s always good at the end of the day to be greeted by man’s (or woman’s) best friend.

“You come home after your day of work, and if it was a long day or whatever, you’re tired, you open the door and she comes and ambushes you with a smile and jumps on you and starts giving you kisses and hugs,” he said.

“It just uplifts your mood.”

alawlor@postmedia.com

twitter.com/lawlor_alexa

Kelly , a miniature pinscher, shows great interest in the camera during the annual Pets in the Park fundraiser in Kiwanis Park

Mackie was trying to not get overheated at Pets In The Park in Saskatoon

Three month-old Golden Retriever Tucker met Harley, a six year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback, at Pets in the Park in Saskatoon

There was a palpable buzz in the hallways of the Saskatoon provincial courthouse on a Monday morning in October as people were heard talking about “the dog.”

In an upstairs courtroom a screen flickered to life, showing a seven-year-old boy on a black leather couch in a room across the hall. Beside him, a black lab lolled, camouflaged by the couch, her gentle snoring the only thing giving her away.

For the first time, a facility dog was being used for emotional support in a Saskatoon courthouse.

Trauma support dog Merlot and handler Sergeant Tia Froh with the RPS visit the StarPhoenix building on Oct. 29, 2018.

“That’s a pretty special thing, so you’re lucky,” Judge Natasha Crooks told the boy from the bench.

Merlot and her handler, Sgt. Tia Froh with the Regina Police Service (RPS), stayed in the room while the boy testified at the preliminary hearing of a man charged with child abuse and neglect.

The boy broke out in a big grin as soon as the video turned off, Froh later said. She told him she thought it was the first time she’d seen him smile. He corrected her: It was the second time. The first was when Merlot started snoring.

The almost six-year-old lab doesn’t bark or frolic. In fact, if it weren’t for all the human attention, she’d be easy to miss.

“Her temperament’s chill. When people see her they think something’s wrong with her because you see a lab and you think it should be running around,” Froh says.

But when Froh takes off her vest and badge during the lunch break, Merlot becomes playful. She knows she’s “off the clock.”

Judges, court workers and lawyers flocked to the courtroom, petting, swooning and relishing the happiness Merlot brought to a place accustomed to tears and frustration.

The benefits of an accredited facility dog in the justice system are far-reaching, Froh says. Merlot provides a silent comfort that helps people focus on the task at hand — in this case, giving testimony.

Trauma dog Merlot helps provide support to victims who have to visit courtrooms under strenuous circumstances.

“It changes the energy in the court entirely,” said Tamara Rock, the Crown prosecutor on the case. “I saw the judge being responsive, the defence lawyer was very supportive, it made everybody feel that there was a fair and kind process going on.”

Studies show just the presence of a dog can release stress hormones, Froh noted. Facility dogs are specifically trained to provide emotional support.

Merlot came from Pacific Assistance Dog Society (PADS) in British Columbia — one of seven accredited agencies in Canada. All courthouse dogs must be accredited; it’s a vigorous process that includes 16 to 18 months of basic training before the pups transition into their specialty. Merlot’s loving demeanour and connection with people made her perfect for facility work, Froh said.

She’s been in court more than 70 times since the Regina police got her in 2015. Merlot is one of 39 accredited facility dogs in Canada and the first to be used in a Saskatchewan courtroom, where Froh said she’s taken to curling up on the witness box floor, making herself small and quiet.

Her intuition kicks in when people become agitated during their testimony; she’ll nudge them until they calm down. Once, when a five-year-old girl started crying in the witness box, Merlot licked the tears off her face.

“She’s just got the perfect timing of knowing when that person needs her the most,” Froh says.

Merlot is based out of the Regina Children’s Justice Centre and mostly assists with child witnesses, sexual assault victims and vulnerable adults during the investigative and court processes. However, she can be available for anyone who has “shut down,” Froh said.

A seven-year-old boy who testified in a child neglect case in Saskatoon provincial court holds his “stuffie” version of Merlot while also clutching the dog herself.

Rock said that’s why she requested Merlot, describing how the young victim in her case initially wouldn’t even make eye contact.

“I knew that he would be asked to recount details of a very traumatic and painful time in his life and I wanted to try and get him something that would make him feel safe and taken care of.”

The boy smiled during his first meeting with Merlot, Rock said. He may not have been responding to the court case, but he was responding to something — and that was progress.

The next time Rock saw the boy, he was much more confident. He knew he had a job to do.

“It was kind of like magic, to watch it, because it’s not about words. It’s a very strong bond and you can just see it.”

Regina police did not have to purchase Merlot — PADS is a non-profit that voluntarily trains the dogs and loans them to organizations at no cost. Froh can choose to adopt Merlot at the end of the dog’s working career.

Regina Police Service Sgt. Tia Froh with Merlot, in Regina in November 2017.

In the meantime, facility dogs need a dedicated handler. Froh and Merlot are with each other virtually 24 hours a day.

It’s a big commitment, and something the Saskatoon Police Service has been considering for a few years. The province’s three accredited facility dogs are all in southern Saskatchewan.

Froh gave a presentation about Merlot to Saskatoon police that sparked a “renewed interest” in getting a trauma dog, said Insp. Lorne Constantinoff.

“To see it in action, to see the success stories within another police service — and one so close to Saskatoon — resonates.”

The challenge is deciding where a dog would fit best within the organization — sex crimes, victims services, etc. — and what the handler position would look like. For example, it could be a part-time civilian rather than a full-time officer.

“It’s a matter of juggling manpower and timing. Maybe at the time when the RPS was able, they had the availability within their organization to absorb that,” he said, adding that sometimes, Regina and Saskatoon’s police services have different priorities.

However, Constantinoff confirmed there is “strong interest” within the police service, and meetings planned to talk about how to move forward.

Rock is happy to hear it. She says there are plenty of files in Saskatoon that could benefit from a dog like Merlot.

“When there’s that level of protection given to a child, the justice system feels fair. It’s just a superior level of support for our witnesses and it’ll provide better cases all around.”

bmcadam@postmedia.com

twitter.com/breezybremc

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