Davidson’s population rose by about 200 the evening of March 3 and early morning of March 4 thanks to a blizzard that swept through the area closing Highway 11 between Chamberlain and Davidson for approximately 10 hours.

Trish Schilling, Davidson emergency management officer (EMO), said around 150 to 200 people ranging in age from a one-year-old baby to a 93-year-old lady were routed from Hwy. 11 to Davidson Town Hall between the hours of 7 p.m. March 3 to 1 a.m. March 4. She said the majority of people waited out the storm at the town hall, but many were also redirected to billets in the community and a sleeping space at the Davidson New Life Pentecostal Assembly.

“We have a billet list (of people) who are willing to take in stranded travellers, so we phoned them and exhausted that list,” said Schilling. “Then Russell and Angela Sparks opened up the Pentecostal Church and we billeted some out there. The remainder just held off (at the town hall) until the highways were opened (at 5 a.m.) and they took they their chances once the roads were clear.”

Around 20 billets in the community opened their homes to approximately 50 people, while another 25 people slept on bedding provided by the Davidson Health Centre at the Assembly. The remaining 75 to 125 people spent the night at the town hall where tables and chairs were set up, coffee was provided through volunteer work by Danielle Schneider, diapers were given by town residents and food in the form of pizzas and sandwiches were donated by Toppers Bar and Grill for the hungry stranded.

“We just provided a warm spot where travellers could be, so they weren’t on the side of the road,” said Schilling.

Craik RCMP constable Ian Smith said the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways closed the stretch of Hwy. 11 between Chamberlain and Davidson at approximately 7 p.m. March 3 due to three separate accidents on the curve at Hwy. 11 at Girvin and reopened it at around 5 a.m. He said there were “too many vehicles to count” in the ditch that night, but there were no injuries.

To read more please see the March 11 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Moose numbers have increased dramatically in the past 30 years in Southern Saskatchewan farmland areas and a new research project spearheaded by the University of Saskatchewan is trying to find out what these animals are up to.

Ryan Brook, moose project director and assistant professor in the U of S College of Agriculture and Bioresources, said his group was capturing and collaring moose in the area along Highway 11 between Dundurn and Chamberlain during the month of February in an effort to understand their movements, diet, home range, what kinds of habitats they use and when and where they cross roads and highways.

He said the capture of the moose lasts a maximum of 30 minutes and the collars have a built in GPS unit enabling the researchers to know the movements of the moose every hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

“We have a short chase time,” said Brook. “We shoot a net out of a helicopter and the net immobilizes the moose. We hobble the legs together, put a blindfold over their eyes, so it calms the animal down, and then we put a collar around the neck.

“We then draw a blood sample for assessing health of the animal, take a poop sample to look for parasites and disease, and take just a pinch of hair from around the tail, so we can look for genetics and diet of the animal.

“As soon as that’s done, we take off the hobbles, remove the blindfold and just let her go.”

Brook said the collar would stay on the moose for two full years and then fall off on its own meaning the group never has to bother the animal again. He said they managed to capture and collar 17 adult female moose over the span of a day and a half last month, with one animal dying from a broken neck suffered during the fall after being netted.

“That’s unfortunately just a challenge of capturing large animals,” he said, noting the capture adheres with guidelines laid out by the Canadian Council on Animal Care. “There is a risk during capture because they go down in a net. That would be with any capture (of any large animal).”

The project will focus on adult males next February and has an end goal of capturing and collaring 50 moose in total if they can find more funding support.

To read more please see the March 4 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre MP Tom Lukiwski said someone in the Conservative Party “screwed up” by not identifying the party as the sponsor of the push-poll call that went out to many Saskatchewan residents two weeks ago voicing the party’s opposition to the province’s new riding boundaries.

That being said, he still objects to the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Saskatchewan’s final report tabled in the House of Commons Jan. 28 that redraws the province’s federal electoral map.

“I think you have to let them know who the sponsor of the calls are and that was not done,” said Lukiwski. “The party said there was a miscommunication there. I certainly take them at their word for that. They said they would be more diligent in the future and quite frankly had they identified the Conservative Party as being the sponsor of the call none of this, really controversy if you want to call it that, would have occurred.”

A push-poll call is a telemarketing call designed to rally opposition to a particular issue, but does so in a way that makes it seem it is a public-opinion survey. The push-poll call in this instance first gave the Conservative Party argument against creating urban-only ridings in Saskatchewan before asking recipients of the call to press a button if they are for or against these boundary changes.

Lukiwski said push-polls are not undemocratic as “all parties do them,” but whether they are effective or not could be debated. He said the call, which also went out to some of his constituents, is not the issue; it is the fact the Conservative Party did not identify themselves as the sponsor of it.

“Certainly a mistake was made,” he said. “That is the bottom line.”

Ralph Goodale, Liberal MP for Wascana, said he has filed a complaint with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) alleging the Conservative Party’s failure to identify themselves as the sponsor of the call broke telemarketing rules. He said the automated call said it came from Chase Research, but this company was obviously working on behalf of someone else and that someone else was not identified.

“It was essentially an anonymous call made for a political purpose and that purpose was not identified in the course of the call and that would appear to violate potentially a number of CRTC rules and regulations,” said Goodale. “It’s an issue here of transparency and honesty in making the call.

“Is it adequate to say Chase Research or should they say ‘hi, I’m employed by Chase Research, but I’m calling on behalf of the Conservative Party.’ That really is the nature of the issue here.”

To read more please see the Feb. 18 print edition of The Davidson Leader.