Agriculture and rural leaders of state and provincial legislative bodies, including three Saskatchewan MLAs, came together last month to pass a resolution encouraging the United States congress to build trade in Canadian cattle and hog exports rather than implement a new regulation that could become very costly to each country’s producers.

Greg Brkich, MLA for Arm River–Watrous, said the U.S. government’s new rule that disallows meat from animals born, raised and slaughtered in the United States to be processed on the same packing line as meat from other countries is going to end up costing the cattle industry in both countries more money. He said in response to this new regulation SARL (State Agriculture and Rural Leaders) passed this resolution at their annual Legislative Agriculture Chairs Summit held June 7 to 9 in Vancouver.

“We feel that North America should be just a straight trading block,” said Brkich. “The border should be an imaginary line because we produce the same kind of meat. We have the same safety regulations (and) environmental rules are the same. It’s just a little bit of protectionism. Some of their federal politicians down in the United States try to protect an industry that doesn’t need protecting. What it is is our producers are going to be getting less money.”

The United States government presented the new rule as a way to try and resolve years of trade disputes with Canada and Mexico over mandatory country of origin labelling rules (mCOOL). Canada and Mexico brought the United States before the World Trade Organization (WTO) over mCOOL, which ruled in Canada and Mexico’s favour last year.

In the resolution passed by SARL, it is stated that mCOOL was found by the WTO to discriminate against imported livestock, which creates challenges for Canadian cattle and hog producers, jeopardizes the viability of U.S. packing and feeding infrastructure placing local and state economies at risk and undermines North American competitiveness in the global market.

Canada’s Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz and Minister of International Trade Ed Fast responded to the U.S. decision to impose the new rule by stating their intention to apply retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports to Canada.

To read more please see the July 8 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) James Schmit has been honoured with a Stars of Life Award for his outstanding achievement, exemplary service and commitment to Emergency Medical Services.

“It was quite a surprise to me,” said Schmit, noting he received a letter from Saskatchewan Emergency Medical Services Association president Steve Skoworodko informing him he won the award only two weeks before the presentation. “I think there was eight or nine of these awarded in the province this year. There is (only) one of these awards in the Heartland Health Region and I received it.”

Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Vaughn Solomon Schofield presented Schmit with the glass sculpture award at Government House in Regina on June 19. He has been an EMR with the Davidson EMS (Emergency Medical Services) for the past 11 years.

As a responder, Schmit has provided pre-hospital emergency care to citizens in need from Chamberlain in the south to a couple miles north of Kenaston as well as from Lake Diefenbaker in the west to halfway between Davidson and Imperial to the east.

Davidson EMS coordinator Adrian Schmiedge nominated Schmit for the award because of his passionate dedication to the service. He said the Davidson EMS would not be what it is today without Schmit’s involvement.

“These awards get sent out for people who have done extra, have done a lot of work for their community, and I nominated him because he has done so much work for EMS,” said Schmiedge. “He has always been available when we need him. He has another job (at C & M Motors) he has to worry about, but he still makes time to be on-call for us when we need him which is very often.”

Schmit describes his job as an EMR as a cross between “intense boredom and sheer terror,” but he is proud to do it because it gives him another opportunity to help those who might need it.

“I’ve always volunteered within the community,” he said. “I’ve been with the fire department here for 33 years. This is something that the community needs and I believe in the community and in small towns.”

A rare virus has killed one person in the Heartland Health Region this summer while another death in the region is being investigated to determine if the same virus is the culprit.

Phil Curry, zoonotic diseases consultant with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health, said complications from hantavirus has been confirmed by health officials as the cause of death in the first west central Saskatchewan case. He said hantavirus is caused by exposure to airborne particles from the droppings, urine and saliva of infected deer mice, so people need to be careful when cleaning up areas that might have had a mouse infestation over the winter months.

“Deer mice are found throughout Saskatchewan, but they’re more common in rural and semi-rural areas,” said Curry, noting hantavirus has been detected in many samples of deer mice in southern Saskatchewan this year. “They put their nests in stumps, hollow tree cavities, under logs, abandoned bird nests and manmade structures such as wood piles and old cars. They might even enter buildings like garages and homes later in the fall when the weather turns cool. If you think of a lot of areas like farms or small rural communities you’ve got nature right next door to you and deer mice are one of the more common mice in those areas.”

A deer mouse can be distinguished from the common house mouse because of its two-tone colour. The deer mouse has a dark brown back and a white belly, feet and under-tail, while a house mouse is uni-coloured.

Curry said deer mice infected with this strain of hantavirus is “pretty exclusive” to Western North America and the Prairie Provinces. He said since the virus was first characterized in 1994 there have been 24 reported cases of hantavirus in Saskatchewan with seven of them proving fatal.

“It’s important to note too that we basically tend to see the more severe cases and not everybody gets a severe case,” he said. “There is a lot that we don’t know about it. It seems to affect all age groups, so it’s not just people with compromised immune systems. It can affect anybody including young healthy working adults.”

Common symptoms of hantavirus in humans include fever, muscle aches, cough, headaches, nausea and vomiting. If a person develops a fever, cough and shortness of breath within one to six weeks of exposure to a mouse-infested area, immediate medical attention is required.

“Hantavirus is widespread, the actual virus in mice,” said Curry. “We’re asking people to make sure they take precautions when they clean out a building. It’s very important to ventilate a building properly. It is very important not to stir up the dust and breath in the dust particles, so wear gloves, wet mop the area down, don’t use a vacuum cleaner and don’t use an air hose or sweep vigorously. Then you can disinfect the area with one-part-to-10 of bleach.

“For more heavier infestations, it is advised that you take more precautions like wearing coveralls, gloves, and maybe even a mask and eye goggles if you’re cleaning overhead on shelves and things like that. You don’t want the dust to fall in your eyes.”

Another school year is coming to an end for students and teachers at Davidson School this Wednesday, but this time the usual jubilation is tempered with heavy hearts.

Longtime Grade 1 teacher Norma Gregoire is retiring after spending the past 32 years at Davidson School. Gregoire said she had to retire sometime and this will give her more time to spend with her family.

“Although teaching has been my calling and I feel I could teach many more children to read, it’s the right time for me to retire,” said Gregoire. “I have a new grandson, Elliot, in Yorkton and my husband (Mark) is happy that I am going to spend more time with him.”

At the school’s annual awards presentation last Wednesday afternoon, current students at the school showed their appreciation for her help in teaching them how to read by lining up to give her one last hug.

“That was so amazing,” she said. “That wasn’t even planned and I fell apart. It is just amazing to get all those hugs.”

In addition to the hugs at the awards presentation, Gregoire was given a “memory box” that included notes from past and present students which detail the many wonderful moments they have spent in her care. A few hours later at the School Community Council’s annual end-of-year potluck supper, she was also presented with a honourary bookshelf filled with her favourite children’s books that would be placed in the Davidson School library.

“I love books,” said Gregoire. “One of the memories I got in that little memory box from one of my kids is a thank you for teaching (her) how to read books. I love children’s books and I love reading to kids. It couldn’t have been a better gift.”

In a funny way, the bookshelf actually serves as a bookend to Gregoire’s career. After graduating from Brandon University in Brandon, Manitoba, in the mid-1970s she was presented with the Grolier of Canada Award, which was given to one graduate at each education department in a Canadian university for being the most promising teacher to be. The award was three sets of encyclopedias in a bookcase, so it seems her career has come full circle.

To read more please see the June 24 print edition of The Davidson Leader.