With 120 officers in the search (and headquartered in Spiritwood, pop. 900), there is no news. The accused knows the terrain (hills, pastureland, few roads, thickly wooded areas) very well, having lived there most of his life. Police are giving out no information on the nature of the wounds sustained by Marc Bourdages and Robin Cameron.
More at the Star Phoenix.
There is another RCMP briefing scheduled for 1:30 local time. You can listen live at CKOM.com.
Update – Not so good news – it’s not confirmed by RCMP, but local radio is reporting from other sources that Constable Robin Cameron’s condition is “grave”. Both were visited by RCMP Commissioner Zacardelli today, which sources say indicates the seriousness of their injuries.

(bumped – scroll down for newer entries)
At Mildred (near Spiritwood) while investigating a complaint about an assault. The suspect, Curtis Alfred Dagenais, 41, is still on the loose. Tracking dogs and the SWAT team have been called in.
The officers are in hospital in Saskatoon, and have undergone “extensive” surgery for their wounds.
4 pm local time: CKOM. com reports that the manhunt is continuing south of Mildred, with farm residents south of the highway being advised to leave the area for their own safety.
From the comments a sad reminder from reader Trent of the “Shell Lake Murders”;

About five miles, or less, east of Mildred is the Peterson farm. On August 15th 1967 nine members of the Peterson family were shot and killed in their home by Victor Hoffman, a random stranger

Sunday morning update: More police, and even conservation officers, have joined in the manhunt. (The region has areas of heavy bush). There’s been no change in the status of the injured RCMP officers, reported to be in serious condition.
More on the suspect, via CKOM Radio – the suspect allegedly had a history of being a “loner”. (It was anecdotally reported that after the Mayerthorpe murders, Curt Dagenais’ name was raised by locals as another potential James Roszko. No information on past criminal history seems to be available yet, however.) The suspect’s earlier life history includes alleged abused by both parents. It’s reported that after moving to work in the oil patch in the Lloydminster area, the incident was sparked when he returned home in the belief that he was to take over the family farm. When he was informed that this was not going to happen, he allegedly went into a rage in his sister’s home, breaking windows and threatening family members. RCMP were called and followed his vehicle for about 15 km before it was disabled, (No details on how that happened). At that point shots were fired and the first two officers hit. The third officer on the scene was in another cruiser, and she returned fire. It’s not know if Dagenais was hit. He’s still on the loose.
That the police officers are still listed in serious condition is a good sign, as it indicates that they remain stable after their surgery.

Win A Weekend Getaway. (6 meg wav file)
(Via John Gormley LIve. Click here for contest details.)

Results for the birthplace-of-Tommy-Douglas byelection.
Let’s hope they got that cheque cashed in time. (Maybe when they finally pull down the old building, they can save a few bricks for a historical cairn – the site where the Greatest Canadian did his ground-breaking work in eugenics…)
And as an aside, when is that one-man Liberal Party going to throw in the towel? Though to be fair, it looks as though he pulled more votes than the NDP. That’s adding insult to injjury.

He’s been granted a new trial on his hate crime conviction. No link yet, (Via Rawlco reporter Mervin Brass talking to Charles Adler).

“If they want the way to encourage tourists in our province, then restore the roads so that driving in Saskatchewan is a pleasure again and not a challenge.” – Lorne Calvert, June 23, 1987, Hansard”

June, 2006:

The Funk-meister might want to participate in this SaskParty project;

“The Saskatchewan Party is encouraging people to invite Premier Calvert to drive their highways so that he can have a better understanding of how awful some of our highways are and the negative impact crumbling roads have on local economies, tourism and the safety of local residents,” Saskatchewan Party Highways Critic Randy Weekes said. “Some of these highways are so bad, they don’t even deserve to be called highways.”
Motorists can log onto the Saskatchewan Party Caucus’ website at www.skcaucus.com to submit their invitations to the Premier, along with photos and testimonials about their highway. The Saskatchewan Party will then plan a summer driving tour route for the Premier based on submissions. Click here for more information.

There is a slideshow at the link.
Saskboy’s Adventure On Gravel.

Well of course you can eat caragana flowers. They have a pleasant, mildly sweet flavour. Kids on the prairies have been doing it for generations without ill effect – though they generally stop after they realize the blossoms sometimes harbour little crawlies.

A reader writes;

This is 35 hwy north of Fort Qu Appelle. Its like this from the hill in Fort Quappelle all the way to the Hwy 16 junction at Elfros. There are red markers all over the place. (Believe me this picture is actually flattering and doesn’t do it justice!!!) Some of the holes (depressions) were the size, if not twice that of my truck filled with soft gravel that you dropped off the pavement and sunk into. Chunks of pavement the size of a fist were laying all over the place. The highway to Fishing Lake from Foam Lake is even better (310). The ran a grader down it to fix it up. If you run a grader down a “paved” road in the middle of May to improve it, then what does that tell you? Twelve miles from Foam Lake to Fishing Lake took me 1/2 hour to 35 minutes with boat in tow………….no kidding!!! This road is provincial responsibility not RM. (The province should adopt the tourism theme “Visit our Lakes Experience our roads)

Continue reading →

“To be launched next week in Regina.”
Monday Update: Ottawa Sun;

The Tory government is expected to announce plans tomorrow requiring that all Canadian gasoline contain 5% renewables, such as ethanol and biodiesel, within four years.
Environment Minister Rona Ambrose, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn and Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl are scheduled to meet with officials from several provinces in Regina tomorrow to discuss, among other things, the Conservatives’ renewables plan and how to achieve the standard by 2010.

Via a Press Release from Hon. Carol Skelton’s office;

The Government of Canada today announced plans to address a budget commitment to Canadian farmers by providing $950 million in new support to Canadian farmers.
The Honourable Carol Skelton, Minister of National Revenue and Minister of Western Economic Diversification, supports this new funding for farmers, including changes to the Canadian Agriculture Income Stabilization (CAIS) program. “Our Government is committed to supporting our farmers and providing them with income programs which meet their needs,” said Minister Skelton. “Today’s announcement is a step in the right direction to providing with the support they need right now and sets forth changes which will be used to develop a better, more suitable farm income support program.” Changes to the CAIS program include:

$900 million to adjust inventory valuation calculations retroactively for 2003, 2004, and 2005

$50 million for expanding the eligibility criteria for negative margin coverage under CAIS
The inventory valuation adjustment will result in CAIS applications for 2003, 2004 and 2005 to be recalculated. If entitled to more money after recalculation, producers will receive additional payments, returning $900 million to Canadian farmers. Negative margin coverage changes for 2005 and 2006 will amount to $50 million of federal funding and is a part of the annual increase announced in Budget 2006. In addition, the Government of Canada reiterated its commitment to replacing CAIS with a new program which separates disaster relief from income stabilization and is working with the provinces to include these changes to inventory valuation and negative margin eligibility as a new income stabilization program is developed.
“I have heard from farmers in my riding and across Saskatchewan who have said time and time again that CAIS does not work for them. This new support for farmers across Canada will better address the challenges our farmers face and put more money into their hands for this year,” said Minister Skelton. “These changes address the short-term problems and provide groundwork for developing new long term solutions for farmers and farm families.” For more information on these changes, producers can call toll-free 1-866-367-8506 or visit http://www.agr.gc.gc/caisprogram

Discussion in the comments about the state of agriculture in the province reminded me of this letter that I’ve long planned to share;

Mr. Calvert,
I am a small (1680 acres) farmer with 4 kids in Rocanville area. My land taxes went up $1500 last year. They went from around $7500 to over $9000. It was all because the school unit didn’t adjust their mill rate when your government played with the land assessments in the area.
Now, immediately after your government made our school unit massive, with administration being done 2 hours away, we are losing 56% of provincial gov’t funding. If the cuts were being applied evenly across the province, it wouldn’t hurt so bad. Unfortunately for your gov’t, we still have people that can find out the details and publish them. Why should the french students get over $12,000 per student and we get $538??? This is stupid.
I am 45 years old, I worked oil rigs for 15 years out of school to start farming. I went back drilling last winter, leaving my wife and kids to look after cows and snow clearing on their own. Fortunately we have very good neighbors and municipal patrol operator. We have our farm for sale. Fortunately for Saskatchewan, we have put a lot of improvements into our yard, so it probably won’t be abandoned like so many others, it will probably be purchased by another family. If it sells, it will be to Albertans or foreigners.
Saskatchewan has so much wasted potential it makes me feel sick to my stomach to think of it. We have oil, diamonds, largest potash and uranium deposits in the world, some of the best farmland in the world with the most efficient farmers. We have so much more that I don’t think of at the moment, and we always seem to squander it away. Your government now and in the past always seem to think they have to have their fingers in any project ‘for the people of Saskatchewan’ or it wouldn’t be ‘fair’. Where’s the ethanol plant you had the photo op for by Regina a few years ago?? You destroyed the potato industry. You won’t allow us to process the uranium here (ever hear of ‘value added’?) An economy needs investors and people willing to take a risk with their own money with the potential for a good profit in order to grow. Saskatchewan has such a reputation for the last 40 years of beating up people trying to get ahead, and trying to run everything, that it will be a long time before the attitude changes enough for anyone to take a risk here.
Ever heard of a guy named Lingenfelter? Used to be deputy premier? Wonder where he is right now. He had some good ideas last fall, and you guys fell over yourselves shutting him down. Have you noticed ADM is setting up a biodeisel plant just across the border in North Dakota? Have you noticed the northern states are getting a quite a number of Biodeisel plants when they don’t even grow much canola?? Doesn’t that piss you off just a little bit? It does me. It also pisses me off that when working in Alberta, a large percentage of the enterpeneurs out there come from where? Yep. The land of perpetual potential.
I know you can’t change your way of thinking, and I also know you that You know that there is a great divide in Saskatchewan. You know you are being returned to power all the time by the old Tommy Douglas voters, Gov’t union voters, and (dare I say it?) the native vote. I would suggest that most of the above mentioned voters like things the way they are because its easier for them. Human nature says most people take the easiest way out. All I can ask is that you actually try to LEAD this province, not try to run every little thing, and try to do what is best for the future of the province, not whats best for your party.

I stand corrected.

Injusticebusters blog;

The following account by Donna Jones is just the beginning of a series of Kafka-esque experiences she had from the time she was approved as a foster parent until all her foster children were illegally removed from her and she brought her story to injusticebusters.

It makes for sobering reading. The link was brought to my attention by a current foster parent, (identity withheld on request) who adds;

Mark Belanger the Director of DCRE–said in an article in the Star Phonenix in March–that there were 150 new foster parents taking training at that time and new homes would be opening by spring. Well I have first hand information that there were 20 couples at the foster parent orientation and there are only six left in it as we speak.
Apparently 14 couples did not like what they heard from the first couple of meetings. IE: Volunteers are starting to wake up I guess.

SDA flashback – Oct 2005 – “In May of 2004 to May of 2005 the number of children placed in care in Saskatchewan rose 12 per cent – with over 700 children in care in the city of Saskatoon alone”. I wonder what the figures are today?
Related…
To answer a long standing question – those preteens are running the streets on Saskatoon’s west side during school hours because nobody bothers to round up truants in this province. True to form, a pilot project was required to uncover what most people figure out just by driving down 22nd street;

A government pilot project estimates 1,000 to 1,500 Saskatoon students do not attend school on a regular basis, Learning Minister Deb Higgins said Tuesday.
Higgins said there are still no clear solutions to combat the problem, but Saskatchewan Learning is working on a tracking system of students using health cards. There is no mechanism in place that follows students from school to school, monitors whether they are registered or tracks their whereabouts.
Ultimately, it is the parents’ responsibility to make sure their children are attending school, said Higgins, but “there’s nothing defined in legislation that says ‘if you don’t send your kids to school this is what can be done.’
“One of the issues we are working on now is with the First Nations to make sure that we have a provincewide tracking system because what you will see is the mobility of on-reserve to off-reserve and more transient families within the population.”

“Tracking system” – code words for “hiring more civil servants to issue periodic reports to the Learning Minister and secure additional funding for First Nations nepotism participation”.
Instead of shuffling paperwork between government departments through an internal “tracking system”, maybe they should just fit these little juvies with ankle bracelets during one of their passes through youth court, and kill two birds with one stone.

Yesterday’s launch of the Think Sask advertising campaign to draw investment back to the province features on its website a Quicktime video of “what some successful entrepreneurs have to say about doing business in Saskatchewan”.

“The Greek” asks; Am I the only that has watched this thing? One of the people telling us how good it is to do business in our fair province is Steve Smith, VP for Weyerhaeuser… I bet the people in Prince Albert must be happy to see him promoting the benefits of doing business in Saskatchewan …

Yeah. I bet.

(update – the video was pulled)

(Post timestamped to stay at the top of the page for the time being. Scroll down for new entries.)
Rita Bourgault is trying to get the attention of the Calvert government – always easier said than done when you live in rural Saskatchewan;

I just moved back to my home community of St. Brieux after living in Saskatoon for 30 years and, then most recently, Calgary for 4 years. This little town is an entrepreneurial success story. It has a population of just over 500 people and about 500 manufacturing jobs. As you would expect, many of the employees have to commute from neighbouring towns.
The crux of the problem is the abominable condition of Highway # 368 (I use that term loosely), between St. Brieux and the town of Lake Lenore. This is the only highway into St. Brieux from the south. This road is almost impassable when the weather is perfect. It becomes impassable when it rains. It is 30 KM of broken pavement with pockets of gravel and warning signs. You would swear you’re driving through a minefield. There have been 2 road accidents involving semi trailers that are attributable to road conditions. The road is so soft in places that I have bottomed out with my 4 x 4 Nissan X-Trail. In the areas that don’t have loose gravel, you basically weave using the entire road trying to avoid hitting the large potholes. I have included some photos of the road so you can see its condition for yourself.

Because of the condition of the road, any manufactured products or supplies shipped in and out of St. Brieux have to be routed through Melfort. This is about a 100 KM detour. This is a significant additional cost to everyone including the environment. Any employees who live to the south of St. Brieux have to travel this very dangerous road on a daily basis.
Besides the negative impact to the companies located in St. Brieux, there are a number of individuals who live in this community who do business and receive medical, dental and other services in the town of Humboldt. This has become a nightmare journey for these individuals. Many of these people are elderly.
My late father, Frank Bourgault, founded Bourgault Industries in 1973 and his sons continue his dream. He founded this company, in a time when many people were leaving the farm and the village, largely to create employment for his children and his community. This has lead to a community with a virtual unemployment rate of 0%. Because of the relative prosperity, the social problems in the community are almost non existent.
Over time there has been a concerted effort on the part of the business and community leaders to work with the government on addressing this crisis. This is not something that has just come about. This is a result of years of neglect of the roads in this vital part of the province. I am told that, at one point, the mayor of the town took the provincial Transport Minister for a ride on this road.
The various manufacturing enterprises ( Bourgault Industries Ltd, F.P. Bourgault Tillage Tools Ltd., Dryair 2000 Inc., Assié Industries Ltd., Free Form Plastic Products, and other smaller enterprises) conservatively annually produce between 150 and 175 million dollars of equipment, much of which is exported to the U.S. and overseas. The revenue to all levels of Government from this little community is probably between 70 and 100 million per year.

Bourgault Industries Ltd. offered to help fund the building of a passable road to southern markets. This offer has been met with silence. It would seem to any fair-minded individual that this community has paid for a decent road time and time again.
This Government always talks about creating employment and yet a community that has done such a good job of keeping its young from moving to Alberta is treated with such contempt.
I am reaching out to you to help to inform the public of Saskatchewan and Canada of this very serious problem. I followed your website very closely during the last federal election. I personally believe that you and other like-minded fair rational individuals have had a major impact on the election by overriding the bias of the mainstream media. I am hoping that you would be willing to help our great little town in its fight for a decent road.

My pleasure, Rita.
More Callers to John Gormley Live this morning included one resident who advised that there were 72 red warning flags along a 16 km stretch of this highway last year.

Today the Saskatchewan government launched an ad campaign that will promote tax cuts to out-of-province business called “Think Sask”. They have a website… this is how it looked this morning. It’s a subliminal message, I guess. (It’s now been changed)

(If anyone has more photos, send them on. Identify the road, send in .jpg format, and not too large, please. If I get enough, I’ll do a followup post next week. My email info is on the sidebar.)

Finally.

A Saskatoon welfare administrator who was fired by the province after $1 million was discovered missing has been charged with fraud.
Evelyn Hynes is charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Her lawyer appeared on her behalf at the case’s first court hearing, which took place in a Saskatoon provincial court Monday morning.
The RCMP said the charge was laid following an investigation at the Department of Community Resources and Employment office in Saskatoon.
Police began investigating after a complaint was filed in late 2004.
The government said slightly more than $1 million went missing over a 10-year period.
Hynes, 56, had been a manager in charge of dispensing emergency welfare payments in Saskatoon.

Canadian Press;

Last month, the government faced pressure over the case after a news report said police had forwarded the file to Crown prosecutors for an opinion on whether charges should be laid and had yet to hear back.
In a report released last year, provincial auditor Fred Wendel detailed how the money disappeared. According to the report, 16 fictitious welfare recipients were created over 12 years ending in 2004.
Just over 900 emergency payments were made to the non-existing people during that time. The money was listed as going toward things such as emergency repairs and travel for funerals, but it all ended up in the same bank account.

Having received background information on Evelyn Hynes (in addition to the published revelation of her criminal record in Newfoundland) from a private source, all I can say is that I hope a substantial jail term awaits. But I’m not optimistic.
SDA flashback Jan, 2005;

As so often happens in these cases, the irony positively drips. Hynes also enjoyed a second paying position, teaching classes at the University of Saskatchewan in poverty. Former President of the Saskatchewan Social Workers Association, her work on “Social Work Ethics and Income Security” was adopted by that association. (Someone may want to be checking over the books there as well.)

I spent much of the day doing yardwork, and as often happens, found myself wondering if such a thing exists as “Dutch Caragana Disease”? It just so happens that at the moment, I’d like to get my hands on some.
Or failing that, some “Anti-Order Of Canada” to bestow on the sadistic bastard who introduced this wretched legume/shrub/infestation to the Canadian prairies? I realize that such an award would have to be presented posthumously, but hey – it’s the thought that counts. And, if we’re lucky, there are surviving grandchildren somewhere to extract an apology from.
There’s also the question of government reparations – call me crazy, but this botanical curse just has “Tommy Douglas” written all over it.
Some of you know what I mean. I am off to tend to my wounds now.
Update – reader “BDT” writes in the comments;

Just when you think they might be dead and gone, they are voted as the Greatest Canadian Shrub, and the sucker Shirley shows up from the States.

Star Phoenix;

The provincial government has discovered another case of financial irregularities, this one worth about $100,000 and involving a SaskPower employee.
John Nilson, minister responsible for SaskPower, said the employee — a manager — is on leave with pay, a situation that is being evaluated on a day-to-day basis.
[…]
Last month, the government announced 43 incidents of financial irregularities, adding up to nearly $2 million, that have occurred in the last three years within provincial departments, agencies and Crown corporations.

Then, there’s this little tidbit;

A few high-profile cases, which had been previously disclosed, accounted for the lion’s share of the $2 million, including a Saskatchewan Environment employee and another person being charged with fraud in a case involving up to $513,000. Another case involving the misappropriation of about $1 million of welfare money led to the dismissal of a Community Resources employee, but no charges so far.

Steal a million and it could cost you your job. So there.
In another get-tough move, the Saskatchewan NDP government (aka the SGEU, as the two bodies are pretty much interchangable) has given current employees enough time to have any criminal record expunged by way of a pardon.
SDA Flashback – September 19, 2005

Emphasis mine. By way of comparison, if you want to serve your local volunteer fire department, you’ll have to agree to that criminal record check before you’re issued the boots and hat.

Sask Premier Lorne Calvert is grooming his young new Finance Minister to be his replacement.
That’s why things like this are going on;

“The total budget for the Saskatchewan budget advertising is $445,000 — and the primary audience are Saskatchewan voters…I mean….Saskatchewan people.”

Future wide open, indeed. Complete with radio and TV ad appearances by Andrew Thomson. Brought to you by taxpayers.

Star Phoenix has more.