FortSask

A new poll suggests Canadians are looking for ways to cut back on spending as their concerns about the cost of living rise alongside headline inflation rates.

Four-fifths of respondents to the Leger poll had started or planned to buy cheaper items at the grocery store to save on food bills, and cut back on how much food they throw out to stretch every dollar.

Some three-quarters of respondents told the firm they planned to cut spending on household items and eat from local restaurants less frequently.

Federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for emergency preparedness are working to launch a new national flood insurance program to protect homeowners in high-risk flood zones. 

A task force made up of government leaders and representatives from the Insurance Bureau of Canada is expected to release a final report on the program later this spring after two years of work.

Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says vaccinated travellers will no longer need to show a COVID-19 test to enter Canada beginning April 1.

Incoming tourists will still need to be vaccinated to visit Canada, and all inbound travellers must also upload their details to the ArriveCan app.

Duclos says vaccinated people could also still be subject to random molecular tests when they arrive at Canadian airports.

Unvaccinated Canadians who are returning to the country will still need to isolate and be tested on arrival, and again eight days later.

The voice of Canadian credit unions says their members watched people make significant withdrawals after the federal government vowed a financial crackdown on the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa.

The government's use of the emergency powers in February included allowing financial institutions to freeze the accounts of those involved in the protests that occupied streets in downtown Ottawa and blocked key border crossings.

Strathcona County is paving the way for trauma response in communities.

A first-of-its-kind in North America, the Violence, Trauma and Suicide Prevention (VTSP) Protocol outlines steps for the county, RCMP, schools, and more to take during a community event that involves violence, trauma, or suicide. The idea behind the protocol is for all these different groups to work together, share information, properly assess the community impact and respond in the best way to support residents.

Local RCMP have made an arrest.

Just before 1 p.m. on Tuesday (Mar.15), the Fort Saskatchewan RCMP got a complaint about a man jumping out of a grey 2006 Mercedes Benz and the intersection of Highway 28A and Highway 37, leaving the vehicle abandoned.

The Strathcona County RCMP responded as well, as one of their investigations was of a vehicle that had fled from police multiple times over the previous two days in Vermilion and Edmonton, and the vehicle matched the description given.

Canadian Pacific Railway locomotives are shuffled around a marshalling yard in Calgary, Wednesday, May 16, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Close to 3,000 employees of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. could be off the job early Sunday morning.

Calgary-based CP Rail said in a release Wednesday that it has issued 72-hour notice to the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference of its plan to lock out employees at 00:01 eastern time on Sunday if the union and the company are unable to come to a negotiated settlement or agree to binding arbitration.

A Win Ferguson class is trying to do their part to support Ukraine.

Sasha Kupchenko's Grade 3 class recently held a bottle drive and book sale at the school. All of the proceeds are going to the Red Cross.

"We can help the Red Cross get money to buy coats, food, water, all that stuff," said one of the students, Everett.

Kupchenko explained that Grade 3 students learn about four different countries as part of the curriculum, and their class happened to be learning about Ukraine when Russia invaded.

An amendment is coming to the Traffic Safety Amendment Act. 

The proposed change will require all drivers, regardless of lane, travelling in the same direction to slow down to at least 60 km/h when passing a stopped roadside worker vehicle with its lights flashing.

The act would also require motorists travelling in the opposite direction on single-lane highways to slow down to 60 km/h.

Strathcona County Emergency Services members were a part of something special for a local family.

On Wednesday (Mar. 9), the family started driving towards the hospital to deliver their new baby when the woman's water broke on Highway 21. The family called 911 and a crew arrived within minutes to help.

"It was pretty cool to be part of a call when a new little one was brought into the world," explained firefighter paramedic Lee Dombrowsky, who said this was his first in-field delivery.