December 10, 2024 | Advertise with us

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Regina council likely to toss Bresciani’s motion to move new pool location

Regina’s city council is “likely” to toss a motion put forward by a previous councillor that would see plans to build a new aquatics centre scrapped or moved to a different location. 

The motion was put forward by former Ward 4 Coun. and mayoral candidate Lori Bresciani, and asks the city council to reconsider the approved building of the new indoor aquatic facility at the current site of the Lawson pool, task administration to explore additional funding options to repair and upgrade the current facility and possibly build the new pool somewhere else.

Citing fiscal responsibility at a campaign event, Bresciani said, “My first reaction is we should be looking at other options,” Bresciani told reporters at a pre-election campaign event on Nov. 5. “[The cost] has gone up 50 percent.” In March 2023, council approved the project with a $160 million capital cost. In August 2024, costs had swelled to over $245 million.

The costs were approved by the last council with a 9-2 vote with Bresciani voting against. There are twelve outstanding motions remaining from the previous council before the election. Seven of the motions do not require debate and are ‘likely’ to be tossed. All twelve will still need to be voted on.

City Clerk Jim Nicol said, “The new council has to say if they’ll continue with this, or not. Someone has to say, ‘is it still council’s priority?”

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Oxbow residents raise concern over community hospital

Residents in Oxbow are raising concerns regarding the type of health care they can receive in their community after writing to the Minister of Rural and Remote Health.

According to families, a former healthcare worker, Oxbow’s mayor Doug Pierce, and the RM of Enniskillen chief administrative officer Pamela Bartlett, if someone has a respiratory illness, broken bones or even a heart attack that would necessitate a brief hospital stay, they can’t be treated for more than 24 hours at the fully staffed health centre in Oxbow. According to provincial rules, the patient must be sent to a facility where beds are allowed for acute care use, at least an hour away.

Bartlett told the media, “Somebody can stay there for 24 hours under observation. After that, they have to be transferred out to a hospital unless there is palliative care, convalescent care,” Earlier this year she wrote to the Minister of Rural and Remote Health saying, “Please, please, we can not ask enough to escalate this situation so that we can have AT LEAST 2 acute beds. From what I understand, the only difference between Oxbow and Arcola (northwest of Oxbow) is that Arcola can run a few more labs. If equipment is needed, please let us know what is needed. We are asking for openness, transparency and urgency in this situation.”

Then-Minister Tim McLeod responded, saying the hospital ‘does not offer acute care’ and that “the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) has informed the ministry that the current designation of beds is meeting patient needs.”

One concerned resident is frustrated after not being allowed to return to their home hospital to take antibiotics. They said, “Our doctors are frustrated, our nurses are frustrated because they can not offer the care that they know they can provide.”

650 CKOM/980 CJME requested an interview with the new rural and remote health minister, Lori Carr multiple times over several days. A statement sent from the ministry read, “While we are not actively considering redesignation of the Galloway Health Centre, we are committed to working with the community and the Saskatchewan Health Authority on maintaining stable physician and staffing in Oxbow.”

The issue was raised in yesterday’s Question Period, along with shadow minister Vicki Mowat raising alarms about St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon at 200% overcapacity.

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GST ‘Tax Holiday’ to start next week, CFIB warns of a ‘hot mess’

The “Tax Break for All Canadians Act” will come into effect on Saturday, removing the GST on select items.

The parliamentary budget officer (PBO) said in a costing note published Monday that the two-month tax break will save taxpayers an estimated $1.5 billion and reduce that amount from federal revenues. According to the Department of Finance, a family spending $2,000 on qualifying goods would realize GST savings of $100 over that period.

Starting Saturday and ending on Valentine’s Day, the GST will not be charged on: restaurant meals, prepared food and ‘snacks’ at grocery stores, non-alcoholic drinks, beer and malt beverages, wine and cider up to 22.9%, spirits that are 7% or less, catered meals, children and baby clothes and children’s footwear up to 24.25 cm insole, diapers, car seats, children’s toys, video games, books, newspapers, and Christmas trees. To read a breakdown of what is, and what is not included you can click here.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is calling it a ‘hot mess.’ “Business owners were given just two weeks to prepare, right in the middle of their busiest season,” Dan Kelly, CFIB president, said in a statement on Monday. “For some small retailers, this has required going through and making judgment calls on thousands of items based on limited guidance from the Canada Revenue Agency. It is going to be a hot mess.”

The four Atlantic provinces and Ontario have their own provincial and federal sales tax lumped into the HST. The PBO said the “tax holiday” could cost the federal government an additional $1.26 billion if those provinces did not waive the compensation required under their agreements with Ottawa.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will deliver a fall economic statement on Monday, December 16. It is expected that the federal deficit will be higher than projected. In addition to the brief GST Holiday, the government will send a $250 cheque to every Canadian who filed income taxes in 2023 next spring.

More news and info

• Sask. premier dismisses calls for ex-MLA to testify about breaking conflict rules (CBC Saskatchewan)

• To address Trump’s border concerns, feds expected to spend more than $1-billion: senior government source (The Hill Times)

• Assad flees to Moscow after rebels take Syrian capital, Russian state media report (CBC News)

• Finance minister says government’s fiscal update coming Dec. 16 (CKOM News)