FCM: Honouring Nelson Mandela’s Life and Legacy

FCM shares the sorrow felt by South Africa and the world as we mourn the loss of former president and anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela. Mr. Mandela was a visionary leader and a model of courage and determination in times of adversity. The world watched in awe and admiration as he fought against remarkable odds for freedom, justice and equality. He led South Africa toward a healthy democracy with full participation by all members of society, notably through the establishment of democratic, accountable, and effective local self-governance. Thanks to his efforts, local government principles were entrenched in the South African constitution. FCM shares these values and will continue its work in various parts of the world to strengthen local governments and the democratic process. As such, we will be reaching out to the South African Local Government Association to convey our sincere condolences and support. Nelson Mandela will be sorely missed, but his legacy lives on in our hearts and in the spirit of friendship and cooperation he worked so hard to foster. FCM member municipalities from across Canada are honouring this spirit by creating opportunities for citizens to reflect on Nelson Mandela’s life of service and the values he embodied. This includes activities for schoolchildren, letters, resolutions to council, books of condolence and community memorials. We urge member municipalities who have not already done so to celebrate the life and work of this great man by hosting a community memorial in his honour. Members may also wish to pass resolutions recognizing July 18 as Nelson Mandela Day in their community. On this day, citizens are encouraged to devote 67 minutes of their time to helping others, in recognition of the 67 years Mr. Mandela dedicated to public service. Sincerely, Claude Dauphin President

Bumper Crop!

Congratulations to our farmer neighbours on their bumper crop this year! According to the Ministry of Agriculture the harvest this year was up 40% over last year weighing in at 38.4 million tonnes 48% above the ten year average.

Weather is an important factor in producing a great harvest but there has also been significant improvements due to innovations and research. To see the full release click here.

Burst Pipes at WCEC

Just a quick note to say that a water pipe over the Klippers' main dressing room burst sometime early Sunday morning. The damage seems to be significant affecting the room, equipment, and electronics. The Klipper's office space, gym, and trainer's room is seemingly unaffected.

A local plumbing company has provided a fix, an assessment of the damages has begun, the insurance company has been contacted, and a restoration company has been engaged to provide clean up and some repairs. The clean up and repairs won't be able to begin until tomorrow morning around 10:00.

Thanks to our staff for working today to try and resolve the issues that were found this morning.

The Bean's Moment with the Mayor: December 8

Hi,

November 29^th was an exciting day as we officially hosted the sod-turning ceremony to launch Brookhollow Estates. The first stage of this 115 acre, multi-stage development includes 58 lots for single, detached housing, 16 lots for townhouses, 3 lots for multiple-unit dwellings (i.e. duplex, 4-plex), 3 lots for high-density residential (apartments), and 1 lot for seniors housing.

This is an important step in addressing the significant housing shortage we are facing in Kindersley. It is key to our growth and our future. Over the course of the next ten years, with staged development, Brookhollow Estates could become the home for more than 3,500 new friends and neighbours in Kindersley. Further, Wynn Sturm, the developer, also announced that he is in discussions with a company to develop a seniors housing complex.

Some of the lot prices are expensive - a single home lot starts around $92,900. However, there are lots available for sale in which two residential units (duplex) can be built. The price of one of those lots is $109,000 but since it has two units on it, only half of the price is apportioned to each unit, thereby reducing the cost of the duplex and making it more affordable. Likewise with the other multiple unit dwellings - each unit shares in a portion of the cost of the lot. As a result, the unit becomes more affordable.

We are aware that this does not sufficiently address our current need for affordable housing. I want to assure you we are working on this challenge. I wish we could do everything at once but we aren’t able. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has made this a key item in their agenda this year and we are working with them on housing as well. Further, we are collaborating with other levels of government to bring affordable housing here.

As I said, this development is exciting. Businesses can now better plan their human resource strategies knowing that new housing has started.

I hope you have many good celebrations this month. Please be safe and act responsibly; we have had too many accidents this year.

Please write or phone if you would like me to discuss a particular topic. If you have any questions or comments, drop me a line at the town office or email me at mayorenns-wind@kindersley.ca. You can also check out my blog at http://mayorjohn.blogspot.ca/. I appreciate your feedback.

Have a good week!

The Stanley Cup's Visit to Kindersley

Today the Stanley Cup visited Kindersley. The first stop was at the Cannon's farm and then at the West Central Events Centre. At the WCEC the Minor Hockey Teams of all ages dressed and then had team and individual pictures with the Cup at centre ice.

Stanley Cup in Kindersley. December 7, 2013

On hand as part of the celebration was NHL great Lanny McDonald. Lanny McDonald was on hand to visit, have his picture taken, and sign autographs. Below the contest winner Gwendolyn Hrycak and her son Dixon are standing with Lanny McDonald.

There was a great turnout with the rink filling up as the event went on.

Congratulations Gwendolyn for winning the contest and enriching Kindersley!

True Pond Hockey: Gwendolyn Hrycak of Scotia Bank

3 years ago our community suffered the loss of what some call "the heart of our town" when the old rink burnt down.  The old wooden hockey rink that served as the secondary but VERY MUCH USED ice rink was destroyed by fire. 

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2010/01/08/sk-kindersley-fire-101.html

As is always the case in small town Saskatchewan, communities from far & wide pitched in to squeeze their schedules tight to give our kids ice time.  Kerrobert, Eston, Brock, Coleville & Eatonia were some of those communities who not only sent their fire departments down to help but also opened their rinks to Kindersley kids for months afterwards. 

In addition, a local farming family (Ron & Cora Cannon) cleared their dugout & hockey practices began on their pond.  TRUE POND HOCKEY!!

 The 3 hour time constraints would not allow for what I would like to have happen…take the Stanley Cup to all those communities that gave of their firefighters and rinks

BUT

If we could bring the Stanley Cup to Kindersley, we could create a life experience event by taking the cup to the Cannon farm.

We would invite our Kindersley kids & their coaches & family to the event. 

An invitation to the minor hockey people from the communities that gave of their rink AND the firefighters would be extended. All too often we forget to say thank you & this would be our Scotiabank thank you those people.

To have the Stanley Cup in photos with the Cannon farm in the background & the kids on the dugout playing hockey would be priceless. And…if we could convince our local hockey boys like Steve MacIntyre, Derek Dorsett, & Curtis Glencross to come home to scrimmage with the kids that would add so much to making memories of a lifetime for some very lucky kids. 

Kindersley is most definitely a hockey town & Scotiabank has been operating in this community since 1954.   2014 marks our 60th year of Scotiabank in Kindersley. 

Let’s celebrate this Scotiabank milestone with the Stanley Cup. 

My Close Encounter with Mandela

I met the two faces of Nelson Mandela through two South Africans I met while I was living and working on a Kibbutz in Israel; I was a 19 year old naïve and unaware young man.

To say I was politically aware and astute at that age would be grossly inaccurate. I was opinionated and had an answer for everything. After all, I was the riding President of the Young Progressive Conservatives and read the news. Living on the Kibbutz changed my worldview. The discussions surrounding racism and the nature of political and moral leadership, as demonstrated by Mandela, played a key role.

On the Kibbutz were two young South Africans: one young white man whose father owned a huge ranch and the other was a young, brilliant and beautiful coloured woman who was facing arrest should she return to South Africa. The one thought Mandela was a terrorist and believed that Blacks were unable to govern themselves let alone manage a business or the government. The other believed that one class of individuals should not, nor ought to be, ruled and oppressed by another group of individuals.

My male friend struggled with the morality of apartheid but was convinced from a pragmatic governance perspective that apartheid was necessary to stave off chaos and preserve the status quo. My female friend believed that all individuals were created equal and should not be oppressed because of the colour of their skin. She believed in equality of opportunity and the opportunity to succeed and fail.

For a white boy from Canada, the ideas and passion were eye opening. I no longer remember the details of the conversations, but I do remember coming away wondering how one man can inspire two people resulting in radically different outcomes: in one he inspired fear and loathing, in the other hope and courage.

Mandela was a prophetic voice crying out for justice. In his role he embodied grace, dignity, forgiveness, and determination as he worked to see justice done in South Africa. His leadership, and the leadership he in turn inspired in men such a Desmond Tutu to implement a new vision, a new purpose to bring healing to a truly dysfunctional land.

History raises up men and women who are both shaped by the events of their time and in turn shape the events of their time. Such men and women are special and Mandela was one of them.

Growth and the Province

The provincial government issued a press release regarding growth in the province. Here is parts of it and my response.

Today is the final day of the fall legislative session which focused on meeting the challenges of a growing province, according to Premier Brad Wall.

“Saskatchewan has grown by more than 100,000 people in just six years,” Wall said.  “That creates many new opportunities and it also creates many new challenges.  Our government is working hard to meet the challenges of a growing province.”

Wall said two of the biggest challenges are building infrastructure and addressing the labour shortage.

“Over the past six years, our government has more than doubled investment in infrastructure projects like hospitals, schools and highways,” Wall said.  “Still, there is more to be done and we have to look for ways to ensure taxpayers’ dollars are going further by exploring new and innovative approaches to building these kinds of projects.

The provincial government has been doing a good job on a lot of different fronts in facilitating the expansion and diversification of the province's economy. They have been given some good opportunities in which to govern and have been optimizing those opportunities.

As they focus on growth in areas like labour, hospitals, schools, and highways I would like to encourage them to remember that those expanded and new hospitals and schools, the new workers who are also new residents, and the highways which transport our people, our goods, and our services, are located in municipalities. Municipalities that lie outside the orbit of Saskatoon and Regina, municipalities that also need infrastructure such as new and expanded water and sanitation treatment plants, new and expanded landfill sites, and new and expanded facilities to invest in the new people in Saskatchewan.

In the end what I am asking the province to do is to diversify their investment in the province. Hospitals, schools, and highways are sexy; but can we grow if we don't have water to drink and toilets that don't flush?

Provincial Landfills Audit

One of the consequences of our landfill fire is that the provincial auditor audited the Ministry of Environment regarding their management of landfills. Some of the findings include:

• many landfills are not up to code,
• standards need to be established for the ongoing covering of landfills,
• many landfills need updating,
• some landfills should be shut down,
• 80% of landfills do not have documentation indicating how they were built,
• improved monitoring is needed as well,
• 30 landfills had not been frequently inspected with one landfill not having an inspection for 6 years.

If you want to read the article this info came from click here.

Sun West Communication: Kindersley Education Opportunities

The town of Kindersley has been planning a second phase to their Multi-Use Facility.  This planning process has provided community organizations an opportunity to examine possible partnerships that could benefit citizens of all ages.  Our Sun West School Division has taken part in these planning discussions and is quite excited at the many educational opportunities that could present themselves within the community.

One of the partnership discussions has been between our school division and the Great Plains College.  These discussions have led to some exciting partnership projects that are now underway.  For example, the Sun West School Division and the Great Plains College are in the process of developing an online Power Engineering program.  This program would provide students with an opportunity to achieve industry standard credentials such as a Power Engineer Class 4 by the time they graduate from high school.   There are many other partnership opportunities that are being explored that provide students with high school credits while at the same time allowing students to gain post-secondary credits and/or industry standard certificates.  Stay tuned for more announcements on exciting new educational programming options that will be developed within this partnership mode.

During discussions with the Town, other partnerships were explored that would allow our schools to take advantage of newly developed recreational and fine arts facilities that might be contained in the new Multi-Use Facility.  Specifically, partnerships around developing and running Fine Arts and Sports related academies that could operate within the town’s Multi-Use Facility have been discussed. Academies are typically programs that allow students to develop in-depth skills in specified fields through focused skill development programs.  For example, a Fine Arts Academy might be a program that has students spending more time in arts related courses such as band, choir, dance, drama and art.  A Sports Academy might have students developing enhanced skills in various sports like hockey, baseball, soccer and court sports.  Two essential ingredients are required in order to take advantage of such academies.  The first is having the facilities to allow for skill development while the other is having a “critical mass” of student numbers that allow for viable program options.   The eventual building of the next phase to the Multi-Use Facility will satisfy the facility portion of the equation.  In order to have the necessary “critical mass” of students for viable options we would have to consolidate our students into same grade schools.  All of our present grade 8 to 12 students are housed in our Kindersley Composite School while students in our middle years of education are presently split between two schools, Westberry and Elizabeth.  Restructuring these schools would allow us to consolidate those numbers so that we did have the “critical numbers” required for offering program choices to students.

Presently, Westberry School has 9 groupings to manage, Pre-K through to grade 7.  Elizabeth School has 8 groupings to work with, Kindergarten through to grade 7. Our Composite School manages 5 groupings, grade 8 through 12.  The following table represents student enrolment numbers for the 2014-2015 school year should we maintain the present school structure in Kindersley.

School	Pre-K	K	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Westberry	32	32	44	26	31	24	39	26	35	289
Elizabeth	0	39	32	31	30	39	28	29	41	269
School	8	9	10	11	12					Total
Composite	70	69	77	76	68					360

If we were to restructure our elementary schools so that we could consolidate student numbers into grade groupings to provide more “critical mass” as far as student numbers were concerned, the following table shows a possible grade grouping structure for the 2014-2015 school year.  It would make sense to make Elizabeth School the middle level school due to its proximity to the Multi-Use Facility.

 

School	Pre-K	K	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total
Westberry	32	71	76	57	61					297
Elizabeth						63	67	55	76	261

By restructuring our elementary schools one can see how the “critical mass” of student enrolments per grade significantly changes.  This then allows the schools to consider offering educational choices that are not really possible in the present structure.  As mentioned above, the ability to offer academies such as Fine Arts and/or Sports at the middle levels school become feasible.   This type of structure also provides flexibility at the primary level school for educational programming offerings not presently available like language programming, for example.  Programs such as French Immersion are perhaps more feasible given the “critical mass” at each grade level allowing possible choice.

There do appear to be other significant strengths in consolidating same age students in a school.  School administrators have more options available in setting up their class structures.  Professional learning teams of teachers teaching the same grade level become a reality.  Teachers have more opportunity to specialize at a certain age or grade level.  Pre-K students get to remain together entering Kindergarten as all Kindergarten students would be attending the same school.  Principals can further refine and focus professional development activities over fewer grade levels.   Same age students in Kindersley all go to the same school thereby strengthening bonds and friendships throughout the community.

Restructuring our elementary schools might also create some challenges. Students in close proximity to their present school might have much further to walk.  An express bussing service between the two schools could alleviate this challenge.  Playground equipment would have to be consolidated for age appropriate structures. This could be arranged through the division’s facility department.   Special needs equipment would have to be re-arranged to provide age appropriate supports in each school.  We would need information events in order to hear all concerns and investigate whether satisfactory solutions could be formulated.

Please consider the information provided to you in this communication.  We would like to hear from parents and community members with regard to this possible opportunity.  We will hold one or more public events to discuss your thoughts on this in the new year.   In the meantime, please discuss this amongst your friends, neighbors and community members.  Your school principals would be happy to hear from you and will attempt to provide answers to your questions.  We will send information home after the holidays about possible open house meetings to discuss this with you.  Thank you very much for your consideration of these ideas and may you have a very special Christmas season with your families.

Sincerely,

Guy G. Tétrault, Ed.D. Director of Education/CEO