MooseJaw

"This is going to be a tough one." 

Those were the words of Coun. Dawn Luhning as she fought back tears while paying tribute to former long-time city employee and director of financial services Brian Acker. 

The 2025 Canada Summer Games were held from August 8 to 25, 2025, in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Moose Jaw-area athletes delivered standout performances in softball, athletics, cycling, and box lacrosse. 

Softball Standouts

Pitcher Ava Unser played a key role in Saskatchewan’s softball campaign. She threw 3.2 innings in a win over Nova Scotia, striking out three batters and keeping the opposition in check. In a later matchup against Quebec, Unser pitched 1.1 innings, allowing just two runs on three hits.

Saskatchewan RCMP’s Underwater Recovery Team (URT) is reminding residents to be prepared if they ever find themselves in a vehicle sinking or submerged in water. 

When a vehicle enters the water, water can pour in through windows and doors, causing entrapment and creating a life-threatening situation. With more than 100,000 bodies of water in Saskatchewan, residents are urged to be ready. 

More than half of Saskatchewan’s registered nurses have given serious consideration to leaving the profession entirely in the past 12 months, according to a stark new survey from the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN). The survey of over 1,600 nurses highlights the severe impacts of short-staffing on patient care, prompting the provincial opposition to declare once again that the healthcare system is "going in the wrong direction."

Canada’s canola industry is expressing deep frustration over the federal government’s newly announced support package, saying it fails to meet the urgent needs of farmers and the broader value chain affected by the ongoing closure of the Chinese market.

While industry leaders welcomed the government’s attention to agriculture, they say the measures announced on Friday do not reflect the scale of the crisis.

The federal government says it plans to launch a public registry to keep Canadians in the loop on its growing use of artificial intelligence.

"We are seeing a lot more activity across departments and agencies," Stephen Burt, the government’s chief data officer, told The Canadian Press.

The federal government says it has found almost 500 ways to streamline regulations and cut costs following a 60-day red tape review exercise.

Departments and agencies have published reports identifying measures to make them more efficient and eliminate complicated or redundant regulations or processes.

Examples include a Canada Border Services Agency proposal to end the rule requiring that travellers arriving in Canada only on their way to another country, be examined by the agency before making their way to their departing flight.

A new poll suggests 44 per cent of Canadians want to see the temporary foreign worker program scrapped as the country grapples with high unemployment, especially among young people.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre recently proposed eliminating the program in response to high youth unemployment. The unemployment rate for people aged 15 to 24 hit 14.6 per cent nationally in July, according to Statistics Canada data.

Federal, provincial, and territorial agriculture ministers are gathered in Manitoba this week for critical discussions on the future of Canadian agriculture. The meetings, which wrap up Tuesday, come at a time when global trade disruptions, domestic infrastructure needs, and food security are top of mind for producers and policymakers alike.

Federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Heath MacDonald says the meetings are an opportunity to listen to regional concerns and collaborate on national solutions.

As federal, provincial, and territorial agriculture ministers are meeting in Winnipeg this week, the future of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) is drawing renewed attention. While the Conservative Party has proposed eliminating the broader program, both farm leaders and Conservative MPs are emphasizing that agriculture will remain exempt.

Keith Currie, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), stressed the importance of the program to the sector.