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The recent Chair’s Luncheon, held virtually by the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce, marked one of the first public appearance opportunities for Battlefords MLA Jeremy Cockrill since his election . . . ....
The project is being funded in one-third amounts by the federal, provincial and municipal governments. But last month council learned that the city would likely be on the hook for an additional $1.5 million in overages, about half of which was attributed to PST on construction. The city has been looking to lobby the province to get the PST removed from the project. Those efforts seemed to be dealt a setback Monday when Premier Scott Moe said at a media scrum that the province would not be introducing changes to construction PST. “No, not at this time,” Moe said during that virtual scrum at the Municipalities of Saskatchewan convention. ....
Meanwhile, a palatial new office is being built at Railway Avenue and 104th Street, at what expense, away from all the problems at the currently “free” office at Tower II. The taxpayers of both Battleford and North Battleford should brace themselves for a tax increase this year. Both communities are part owners in the Battlefords Housing Authority. That puts Battleford and North Battleford taxpayers on the hook for a portion of Housing Authority losses. A large new office building, empty suites vacated by discouraged seniors, repairs to units and common spaces damaged by partying tenants and “visitors,” management incompetence and poor decisions all cost money. ....
For the Battlefords a case could be made that it was our worst year ever worse than even the cryptosporidium and oil spill years and not just because of the COVID-19 pandemic that prompted shutdowns, economic devastation, and no shortage of loss of life in the province and world. It was a year in which one event after another ended up postponed or called off. It was also a year of devastating tragedy: the loss of a beloved Battleford NHL player, a tragic local murder-suicide, and ongoing and notorious criminal cases in the local courts. But look on the bright side: at least North Battleford isn’t the “Crime Capital of Canada” anymore, ending a long streak at the top of the Crime Severity Index this year. ....
“It’s certainly an honour to walk in that building every day and get to go to work there,” said Cockrill to the News-Optimist. He called it “pretty neat to be a part of the legislative process.” But like all things in this COVID-19 year, things were different at the legislature than expected during his first legislative session. “It certainly looked different than normal we were at 50 per cent of members in the House at any one time and so even voting looked different. Question Period was probably a little less raucous than normal just because there was fewer people, and no guests in the gallery, but it was still pretty amazing to be there for the first time and to participate in that.” ....