The man in charge of SaskPower’s advanced metering program was at Craik town council’s meeting Wednesday to give an overview of the new smart meters.
Lloyd Crookshanks, consultant for SaskPower’s advanced meter infrastructure, attended the meeting to explain the benefits of the new wireless meters that, over the next year and a half, will be installed across the province.
The new meters will send a signal once every hour that provides regular information on electrical and natural gas consumption to SaskPower and SaskEnergy using a secure two-way wireless communication system. This transmission will allow both companies to use actual consumption information instead of generating estimates for billing purposes
In November, when she learned a smart meter was going to be installed on her house, Craik resident Ernady Destre approached town council with her concerns about the meters. She also wrote a letter to SaskPower’s CEO notifying the company of her refusal to have a meter installed.
“I refuse your wireless smart meter on the grounds that it has the capability of being a surveillance system, used by you or other parties, which could violate my right to privacy. Also my fundamental democratic right to protect my health from a possible carcinogen specifically radiofrequency electromagnetic fields emitted by your wireless smart meter, supersedes any right you have to install a wireless smart meter on my property,” Destre states in her letter to Robert Watson.
Crookshanks said they have heard some concerns from people who do not want the meters installed on their property.
Many of these concerns are associated with the potential health impacts of radiofrequency energy emanating from the meters.
Crookshanks said SaskPower has done tests on the meters being installed, measuring the radiofrequency from distance of 8 inches away from the meter and the measurements come in at 0.5 per cent of Health Canada standards, which he said is “well, well below federal government regulations.”
He said this is much less than radiofrequencies coming from common devices such as cell phones.
To read more please see the December 16 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Monthly Archives: December 2013
Harriet Alexandra (Tommie) Weir
April 22, 1923 – November 26, 2013
Harriet Alexandra (Tommie) Weir (née Thompson,) age 90, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, November 26, 2013 at Hillcrest Place in Brandon, Manitoba, with her family by her side.
Tommie was born April 22, 1923 on the family farm near Davidson, Saskatchewan the ninth of Harold (Harry) and Olivia Thompson’s fourteen children. Raised in Davidson, she trained as a Registered Nurse at the Regina General Hospital. There she became better known by her nickname Tommie, a derivative of her maiden name. The name stuck; her given name common only among her extended family.
While nursing at the Regina General Hospital, Tommie caught the eye of Walter Weir, a young man from High Bluff and Portage la Prairie who was apprenticing as a funeral director with Speers Funeral Home. Walter informed his parents, Maude (Christina Maude Cox-Smith) and Dick (James Dixon) Weir, who then resided in Winnipeg, that he was bringing his friend Tommie home for Christmas. Much to their shock, Tommie turned out to be a young woman. Maude quickly changed the sleeping arrangements while Dick poured Tommie her first drink!
Tommie and Walter married at the United Church in Davidson on November 3, 1951. They moved to Portage la Prairie where Walter began work at McMaster Funeral Home and Tommie worked as a nurse at the Portage General Hospital, residing in a suite over Hill’s Pharmacy. Their first child, Leslie Enid, was born shortly after and the young family moved to Minnedosa shortly after as the new owners of Weir’s Funeral Home (complete with local ambulance service, flower shop and furniture store, a common combination at the time.) Three sons came along over the next few years; John Dixon, James Patrick and Hugh Cameron.
Walter was elected as a member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly in 1959 under Progressive Conservative Premier Duff Roblin, requiring him to be away from home a great deal. Tommie kept the family and their business on an even keel. Walter’s appointment as a Cabinet Minister led to a move to Winnipeg in 1963 and eventual sale of the funeral home to Hugh Sanderson, a long-time employee, but developed the cottage as a connection for family and community.
In November, 1967, Walter succeeded Duff Roblin as Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, hence becoming the Premier of the Province, a post he proudly held when he presided over the official opening of the Red River Floodway in 1968 and when together he and Tommie participated in hosting Manitoba’s Centennial celebrations, including the historic visit of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 1970.
Tommie weathered the highs, lows and stresses of many election campaigns by Walter’s side. They were partners in public life. Their home was a gathering place for political colleagues and respected opponents, Minnedosa constituents and people from all walks of life who enjoyed their friendship and hospitality.
Retiring from public life in 1971, Walter and Tommie made their new home in Mississauga, Ontario, where Walter became President of Service Corporation International Canada and later joined Memorial Gardens. Their three sons kept life interesting and they enjoyed new friendships with neighbours and more frequent visits with “eastern” relatives. Five years later they decided to return to their roots, moving home to Minnedosa where Walter established a financial planning and insurance business. Tommie became involved in the community, particularly enjoying her leadership role in celebrating Minnedosa’s Centennial in 1983 and the Canada Summer Games in 1997. She tended a large garden for many years that kept her busy pickling and canning things that she loved to share with others. She enjoyed knitting, crocheting and crafts which will remain family treasures.
When Walter passed away unexpectedly in April, 1985, Tommie rose to the challenge of being family matriarch. She continued to be interested and involved in the lives of her children, grandchildren and her extended family. In earlier years Tommie enjoyed walks around the dam and beach road near her home in Minnedosa. She took care of and remembered countless relatives, friends and neighbours throughout the years, always finding ways to show kindness to others, whether it was funny cards, gag gifts her Halloween goodie bags, gifts of Christmas baking, decorated Christmas brooms or home-made antipasto, candy or fudge. In recent years crosswords kept her mind sharp and her vocabulary impressive. She enjoyed following sports, especially favourite players, always pleased to win a few dollars from Cam on their friendly bets.
Tommie was predeceased by her parents Olivia and Harry Thompson, husband Walter, his parents, Maude and Dick Weir, and her brother-in-law Bill Weir; her sisters, Nettie Frances, Gladys, Bertha Paintin and husband Claude, Lillian Bigg and husband Robert, Helen Hrubetz, Olivia Gillespie and husband Harold and brothers Stanley, Leslie, Alex, Robert (Barney) and his wife Margaret and their son Dale, who always had a special place in her heart.
Tommie also cherished the memory of beloved pets that were part of her family over the years, Mike, Tinkerbelle, Tuffy-Lin, Tuk, Brando, Quinn and Kayla and more recently time with Lynx, Patches and Comet.
Mom will be missed by her children, Leslie, her partner Terry Cheater and his family, granddaughter Kara Frain and husband Gord Dowhan, great-granddaughter Victoria Mary Dowhan (born after Mom’s passing), John Weir, J.P. (Pat) Weir, his partner Theressa Treloar and her family, Cam and his wife Alison Weir and their sons Nigel and Tyler as well as her sisters May Gill and her husband Bev (Unionville, ON,) Grace Halstead and her husband Ludwig (Skip) (Thomasville, Georgia,) brother Glenn Thompson and his wife Jesmond (Gimli, MB) and Leslie’s widow Elizabeth (Betty) Thompson in the United States in addition to many nieces, nephews and her vast extended family.
Leslie, John and Cam extend heartfelt appreciation to Pat and Theressa for always being there for Mom.
In accordance with Mom’s wishes, a private family service will be held and her remains will be interred next to Walter at the Minnedosa Cemetery. Flowers are gratefully declined. Should you wish to honour Tommie’s life please show kindness to someone who may be lonely or alone or make a gift in her memory to a cause you care about. Her family is thankful for her long life, well lived. Messages of condolence may be posted at www.brockiedonovan.com. Arrangements are in care of Brockie Donovan Funeral and Cremation Services, Brandon, MB, (204) 727-0694.
Lowdermilk
God has taken another angel home. Edna Mae Lowdermilk born on January 4, 1926 passed away peacefully on December 3, 2013 at the Davidson Health Centre where she lived since she moved from Kenaston in 2005. She has gone to be with the lord and to be reunited with departed family members.
Loving mother to Leslie (Marie), Linda (Richard), Lorne (Heather), Lee (MaryEllen). She will be sadly missed by ten grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, five sisters Fay, Lois, Fern, Marie, Doris and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and other family members. Edna was predeceased by her parents Irwin and Minnie Ames, husband Bernard, grandsons Steven and Rosco Lowdermilk and sister Jean and brothers Cecil and Orville.
Edna was born in Davidson and lived on the Ames family farm until 1945 when she went to Saskatoon and took a secretarial course and lived with her sister Marie who was also attending school. She married Bernard September 1, 1949 and moved to the farm in Kenaston where they lived until 1982 when they built a new house in town and lived till moving to Davidson. She enjoyed gardening and her flowers gave her great pride. She loved spending time with her children and helping Bernard on the farm as best she could. Her grandchildren were her pride and joy and loved it when they would come and stay with her. She didn’t have a lot of hobbies but did enjoy needlework. After moving to town Bernard and her were regulars at weekly bingo games. She also enjoyed carpetbowling at the Adams Centre or just going to visit with friends there. They also attended many dances at the old hall as they both liked to dance and listen to music.
The interment for Edna will be held at a later date. For friends so wishing memorials in memory of her may be directed to the Davidson Health Centre.
Hanson’s Funeral Home in Davidson in care of arrangements.
McCraney patrons group await greener pastures
The leader of the McCraney PFRA Community Pasture committee patrons group is not willing to sign a lease agreement with the province unless it secures the non-reversionary land on the pasture for them.
Dean Palmer, chairman of the McCraney patrons group, said they were told on Nov. 29 that they won’t be able to own the yard site for the pasture that sits on non-reversionary land for a while. He said this is because the federal and provincial government has not come to terms on what they’re going to do with the land, which makes it tough on them to take control of the pasture when they don’t know who is going to secure the land rights to the non-reversionary piece.
“We’ve seen a draft lease and we’re supposed to be getting the official lease within two weeks, which is what the powers that be told us,” said Palmer. “We’re kind of waiting for that and see what happens then. I’m hoping there is some negotiation after that.
“The biggest thing for me is to get it spelled out properly how the non-reversionary land will be handed down once it does get put in place. The second issue is the bull issue. We’ve got money in place to buy the bulls, but we’re fighting too. They want us to buy the bulls now and we feel we need a full bull evaluation come spring to pay them in full and they’re balking at that as well.”
Palmer said they had 37 bulls and have cut out six already just by simple observations in the fall processing of the bulls, but they are not going to have a chance to do actual semen evaluations before they buy them making the patrons go into the sale “blind.” He said the land lease is not likely to “change a whole bunch” as the province doesn’t appear willing to negotiate, but the group’s power there lies in the fact the Saskatchewan and Canadian Governments don’t have their cards in order for the non-reversionary land.
“They do know that is important for our manager and his family and we’ve expressed interest in that already,” he said. “We were told way back on Nov. 17 that we were going to have a lease on that quarter because they had done a land swap with the federal government and everything was basically a done deal. When I asked for that written down on paper Mr. Hoehn, Wally Hoehn, said that you’ve got 17 witnesses. There were 17 people at the meeting that day and he said there are 17 witnesses here that will vouch for me.
“Then I get a call on (Nov. 29) saying that nothing can be done, so that is kinda a bit of a game-changer for us right now because our manager and his family are pretty important to us and our community.”
Wally Hoehn, executive director of Lands Branch with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, said the province has not acquired the non-reversionary land on the McCraney PFRA Community Pasture. He said they were trying to acquire it, “particularly the home quarter because we see it as an operationally critical chunk,” but have not been able to as it has not yet gone through the federal process.
“We have a proposal with the federal government to exchange some other Crown land that we have for critically operational land in those pastures (with non-reversionary land),” said Hoehn. “The federal government does have a process though that they have to follow through in terms of this non-reversionary land and so in the interim we do have agreements with the federal government that allow us to lease the non-reversionary land to include it in our lease to the patrons. So in effect we’re leasing it from the federal government and that lease that we have with them allows us to sublease it to the pasture patrons.
“If there is a lease for the McCraney group to sign next week it will include the non-reversionary land. Now the term of that land is a little different. You know (provincial) leases are for 15 years. The term of the non-reversionary land is undefined until the federal government gets it through the process, so we’re just waiting for that process to be finalized.”
To read more please see the December 9 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Farmers haul record crop
The largest crop in Saskatchewan’s history and record yields all across Western Canada has resulted in some strains in grain being moved by trains this fall, but when taken in perspective everything is going smoothly.
Derrick Vetter, general manager of Cargill Ltd. in Davidson, said local producers have had “pretty good crops” the past four or five years while other parts of Western Canada have suffered through wet land, problems seeding or the crop just not coming in as big. He said this year is different as there are big crops spread out all across Western Canada.
“We’ve been lucky and maybe a little bit spoiled the last couple years when we’ve had good crops and good quantity and good quality, so we’ve been probably able to get a little bit more than our fair share when we talk (about) our local marketplace here, between the two cities and either end between the lakes,” said Vetter. “Now that this year when everybody has lots of quantity and for the most part the same quality it’s just getting spread out over a much bigger geography.”
Last week Statistics Canada estimated Saskatchewan’s 2013 crop is 38.4 million tonnes, which is 40 per cent above 2012 production and 48 per cent above the 10-year average. It further indicates this province’s canola crop is estimated to the largest on record at 8.9 million tonnes, an increase of 37.5 per cent over 2012. Production levels for wheat, canola, peas, lentils, chickpeas, oats and flax are all estimated to be above the 10-year average.
Vetter said this has resulted in a bit of a delay in grains being moved by trains, but it’s more company specific and they are “probably not” experiencing much of one. He said they still have a little bit of October grain to move, but for the most part they’re fairly current.
“When we’ve actually started looking into as far as trains running this year versus previous years, other than the month of October for us, we’re probably ahead of where we typically would be this time of year as far as shipping by rail,” he said. “It’s one of those things. There is lots of talk about the doom and gloom, (but) I think if people were to look at the stats it’s maybe not as bad as what the perception is out there.”
A Canadian Grain Commission release last week showed exports of Western Canadian grain to be higher this year to date compared to data from the same time last year and the five-year average. It states the volume of grain shipped by producer cars is also higher than at the same time last year.
As of Nov. 24, the Canadian Grain Commission states 5.1 million tonnes of wheat and 2.3 million tonnes of canola have been exported this crop year. The five-year average for exports of wheat by this time is 3.9 million tonnes and for canola 1.8 million tonnes.
That means 2013 exports have seen a 31 per cent increase in wheat exports and a 28 per cent increase in canola exports compared to the five-year average. This amounts to Western Canadian producers shipping 105,700 tonnes of wheat and 5,500 tonnes of canola to terminal elevators by producer car, while in the 2012-2013 crop year producers shipped 64,600 tonnes of wheat and 5,300 tonnes of canola to terminal elevators by this time.
To read more please see the December 9 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Raiders start year on a high note
The Davidson Raiders senior boys basketball team jumped out of the gate last Tuesday beating the Central Butte Bulldogs 71-33 before a big crowd at home in their first game of the 2013-2014 season.
Kim Rettger, head coach of the Raiders, said the team did a good job moving the ball quickly up the court and staying wide until they reached the three-point line resulting in good penetration on the Bulldogs defence. He said they have a small team with a deep bench, so that is going to be their “bread and butter” this season and it worked well against the bigger Central Butte team that seemed to run out of gas in the third and fourth quarter.
“I was really pleased how they stuck to the game plan,” said Rettger. “From the big guys we got some inside plays and some real nice passes from our guards, some screens and some guys were working pretty well together. We tried a couple different defences, man-to-man in the first half and then we went to zone in the second half, and both seemed to work pretty well. With the defences mixed up no one can find us very predictable, which is a nice thing.”
The Raiders were led by centre/forwards Travis Bublish and Kirby Manz who controlled the backboards while also dominating the inside, which gave point guards Huck Rettger and James Morrison the means to send in passes. Davidson forward Vanner McDonnell helped set the tone for the game playing a strong first half that saw the Raiders jump out to a quick 20-8 lead after the first quarter and 35-18 advantage by halftime.
“It was good,” said Huck, who got his first taste of senior basketball action in the game. “It seems a lot faster than junior is, but it was a good game. We had pretty good contributions from everyone. Vanner and a whole bunch of kids played great. James, Gabe (Ebenal) and Ben (Nykiforuk), all those guys played good. It was just a good all-around team game.”
Rettger said he has lined up a busy season for the team where they would play some strong opponents that they normally wouldn’t see, while also developing some good rivalries with opponents in their own conference. He said they’ll be heading to a few “big schools” for tournaments this year giving the Raiders a chance to see some tougher competition while also providing them with a couple clues on what they need to do to keep improving.
“We’re going to be playing uphill most of this season, but I’ve found over the years we play much better by challenging ourselves versus playing teams that you have an easier chance to beat,” said Rettger, noting better play and staying healthy are their keys to a successful season. “With this deep a team we can take a fairly good run at the playoffs and see how far we can go. Going out of conferences is a real strong possibility and after that who knows.”