Estevan

A British Columbia community's "out-of-the-box" plan to ease its family doctor shortage by hiring physicians as city employees is sparking interest from across Canada, says Colwood Mayor Doug Kobayashi.

The mayor said the community has hired its first family doctor for a city-operated medical clinic, and the Victoria-area city is looking to hire seven more under the first-in-Canada pilot project.

The family doctors will be paid as community employees, receiving full medical benefits, vacation and a pension, he said.

An "overheated" immigration system that admitted record numbers of newcomers to the country has harmed Canada's decades-old consensus on the benefits of immigration, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said, as he reflected on the changes in his department in a year-end interview.

The system, he said, needed some discipline to get the country back on track.

2024 has been a year of change for the Estevan Chamber of Commerce, with a new Executive Director stepping in midway through.

Merissa Scarlett joined into the role during the fall and was immediately thrust into action dealing with forums for the provincial and municipal elections.

She says that the year has gone well, with the chamber celebrating a big milestone.

The provincial Ministry of Social Services will again have clients who receive benefits by cheque pick up their payments at a local service centre. Social Services instituted the process last month due to the strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and while the labour disruption is now over, they are opting to handle the payments in the same way due to potential mail backlogs.  

A new expansion to Regina's airport could mean that travellers will spend less time on connecting flights and more getting to where they want to go during their vacations.

Earlier this week, the Government of Saskatchewan, Regina Airport Authority, and United Airlines announced that they would now offer daily flights to Denver.

It feels like deja vu all over again. 

Southeast Saskatchewan is being hit with another round of snow and wind today, as a weaker system settles in the area. Poor driving conditions and reduced or little visibility are being observed on the highways and roads around Estevan.

This weekend on the Canadian Country Showcase, we have a special holiday edition of the show! Courtney Fielder catches up with many of your favourite artists this holiday season to talk about all things Christmas, from their favourite holiday movies to how many trees they have in their homes—and so much more.

Tune in to the Canadian Country Showcase every Saturday at 12 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m., exclusively on the Golden West Country Network.

Romeo Melanson
1932 - 2024

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is adding eight fresh faces to his cabinet in a shuffle today, though they may not have much time in those new roles after all.

Just before Trudeau moved to shore up his front bench Friday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh declared he is finally ready to vote down the government and attempt to trigger a snap election in the new year -- though Parliament won't return for a month and he may not get that chance until March.

The New Democrats will bring forward a non-confidence motion to bring down the Liberals in the next sitting of the House of Commons, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Friday.

In the latest blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's struggling Liberal government, Singh wrote a letter address to Canadians in which he doubled down on his call for Trudeau to resign but also said the NDP will vote to bring down the government, regardless of who is at its helm.