The Government of Saskatchewan has struck a permanent Rail Transportation Initiative committee with a goal of tackling the grain movement backlog problem.

Arm River-Watrous MLA Greg Brkich, legislative secretary for the Rail Transportation Initiative, said the committee is going to be gathering information on what is causing the movement of grain backlog over the next couple months in order to gain an understanding of what the main issues are. He said the committee is also going to develop a long-range plan, so Saskatchewan farmers do not continue to run into these same grain movement problems in future years.

Brkich said the committee, which is led by Economy Minister Bill Boyd and includes government members such as Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart and Highways and Infrastructure Minister Nancy Heppner, is going to be looking at meeting with grain companies and the two rail companies to ensure there is a good movement of grain. He said they would also be meeting with members of the federal government to make sure any future legislation that is passed on the federal end works for farmers.

“There still is a backlog, definitely not as bad as it was in spring, but a lot of farmers the last month have been concentrating on seeding, so they haven’t been moving a lot of grain,” said Brkich. “I know there are outstanding contracts that farmers will be looking to fill and I’m not exactly sure how much grain is out there, but I think there is still quite a bit to be brought in.”

As farmers finish seeding and begin trying to move grain again, Brkich said there could be a situation where another backlog is created. He said the committee is going to be monitoring what happens to see how they can ensure there is a steady flow of grain moving out of the province in a timely fashion, so farmers don’t end up losing market access and suffering lower prices for their product as a result.

“We’re looking at another bumper crop coming in and we want to make sure we can flow it to port,” he said. “The minister (Bill Boyd) is the lead on this. He’ll be setting up meetings and we’ll be working on some plans and long-range plans of how we can keep a steady flow.”

Cathy Sproule, agriculture critic for the Saskatchewan NDP, said the Opposition has not been provided with any information of what the Rail Transportation Initiative is, but they’re “hopeful” that the provincial government can make some progress with their federal counterparts to help grain producers get through this and any future crisis. She said the NDP has been “pretty vocal” about what ideas they would like to see to help resolve the grain movement backlog including, but not limited to, ensuring railways are held to account in terms of their responsibility for moving grain.

Sproule said a second initiative they would like to see is the establishment of a national or prairie body tasked with marketing coordination for farmers, so they can better move their grain. She said terminal capacity is also an issue and unless all the terminals in all the ports are used properly the grain movement backlog is going to continue to be a problem in the future.

To read more please see the June 23 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

The new Veterans Affairs Canada volunteer branch service officer in Davidson is asking any veterans in the area who may need help to contact the local Legion.

Gord McRae, president of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #51, said his new role as branch service officer enables him to assist any veterans by identifying those with unmet health needs and then helping them receive any available benefits they are entitled to from VAC. McRae is able to accomplish this through helping these veterans fill out any necessary forms before referring these men and women with needs to provincial command service officers.

“I’d like to see people step forward and say I am involved with the military…and I do need help,” said McRae. The problem “is there is so many out there that do not. They have that macho thing. They don’t want to think that they need help, but they should come forward.”

McRae became a branch service officer earlier this month by attending a training session through Veterans Affairs that provided him with the needed information to assist these men and women in need. The role became important after the Department of Veterans Affairs closed eight district VAC offices across Canada earlier this year, including the one in Saskatoon, which provided face-to-face services for veterans.

The loss of person-to-person contact between veterans and their families with a qualified individual with Veterans Affairs and move to an online self-service program for veterans to try and get help highlighted McRae’s desire to attain the role of branch service officer. As a branch service officer, his training equips him to help these veterans understand the benefits they are entitled to and move them towards receiving this assistance.

“There are 70,000 veterans in Saskatchewan alone and out of the 70,000 probably one quarter of them are stepping forward and saying we need help, not so much money wise, but mentally as well,” said McRae. “We are here to help them to get on the right path.”

The Davidson School community came together last Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the end of the 2013-14 school year with their annual awards presentation.

Grade 12 students Matthias McCreary and Sarah Nykiforuk along with Grade 9 pupil Andrew Read hosted the event that acknowledged members of the various sports and culture teams, gave out fabulous door prizes and served as the presentation ceremony for the school’s athletic and academic awards.

The ceremony began with Craik RCMP constable Kevin Morrissette presenting Grade 11 student Jill Rettger with the Craik RCMP Citizenship award for the outstanding contribution she has made to Davidson School throughout the years. A power point presentation created by Jill and Paige Travers along with a cheer of members of the various sports teams beginning with football in the fall to track and field in the spring followed.

The school’s different clubs including the yearbook committee and Student Leadership Team were mentioned and acknowledged as well for the great contributions they provide the school. These presentations were interspersed with a number of door prize giveaways of posters, t-shirts, water bottles and Raider socks.

The emcees also took time during the presentation to thank the Davidson School staff for putting in all the before- and after-school hours needed to give kids the opportunity to enjoy these activities. A goodbye was also given to Kristin Dolman who is moving on from Davidson School.

The Spirit of Sport, PHD (Pride Hustle Desire), Athlete of the Year, Most Deserving Athletic and Behind the Scenes awards were then presented to the deserving students before the grades seven to 12 merit and honour awards were given out.

After the presentation the Leadership 20 class held a Gym Blast event for the grades one to six students. The Gym Blast, which was organized by Gabe Ebenal and Huck Rettger, separated the elementary school kids into four teams who then competed against each other in fun activities like leapfrog, an over/under ball passing challenge and cheer contest. Elise McJannet and Brooklyn Read served as emcees for the Gym Blast, which proved a difficult task with a gym full of rambunctious elementary students.

With Carter Shaw in charge of the music and sound, the team leaders of Quin Johnson, Liana Farrell, Kaitlyn Baldwin, Paige Travers, Kieran Boehm, Dylan Sweet and Ben Nykifouk took over the teams.

Once the contests were complete, the kids displayed the line dance moves the Leadership 20 class taught them before ending the day with an energetic “The Continental Drift” dance number.

A child luring incident in Davidson earlier this month has placed a focus on increased supervision among community members and extra education for kids towards exhibiting smart and safe behaviour.

On June 5 a young Davidson School student was approached by a stranger in a vehicle while walking along Government Road on her way home from school. The man in the vehicle tried unsuccessfully to lure the girl into his truck.

The girl has described the man as bald with a neck tattoo and the colour of the truck as black. The police were called about the incident and Davidson School staff sent out a letter to parents the next day informing them about what happened.

Craik RCMP constable Kevin Morrissette said this is the only incidence of child luring that has recently been reported to them. He said they currently do not have any suspects and the situation is still under investigation.

Morrissette said the girl in this incident did the right thing by not responding to the stranger, immediately going to a known place to stay safe and notifying her parents and the police about the incident. He reiterated not engaging with strangers, heading straight to a safe place such as a family member’s home or a business and then notifying authorities is what all kids should remember if confronted with this type of situation.

The letter sent out to students’ families by Davidson School states school staff and teachers are increasing supervision and having everyone on the lookout for anything that doesn’t seem quite right. It also notes teachers are having extra discussions with their students about being safe and what the proper things to do are in situations such as this one.

“The beauty of small towns is that everyone knows each other,” said Davidson School principal Jason Low on what the community can do to help. “So we need to continue to notice things or people that are out of the ordinary and report them when necessary. We also need to continue to look out for each other and take care of our kids.”

Low said kids need to remember that if their parents change their afterschool plans they would first inform the school and then let the school staff inform them. It never would be a stranger on the street or in a vehicle telling them of a change. He added kids also need to talk to their parents or teachers if something weird or different occurs.

“I think we have a good system going where teachers know where their kids are going after school,” he said. “If the plan changes, we let kids know and ensure they are clear on the plan. With cellphones, it is easy for parents to check in with the school to see where kids are if necessary. I know that the daycare will call the school within a few (minutes) if one of the kids hasn’t arrived.”

Morrissette said Highway 11 is one of the busiest roadways in the province and there are people of different walks of life continually going up and down it and even though Davidson may be a small and safe community there are lots of transient people going through. He said people who attempt crimes such as child abductions are usually unknown to a community and don’t regularly frequent the area, so the main thing kids need to remember is don’t talk to strangers.