The Government of Canada has expanded the AgriStability program to include pasture-related feed costs, beginning in 2026.

According to the government, the expansion is aimed at providing support for producers whose animals graze on land they do not own, particularly cow-calf, sheep, and goat farmers.

AgriStability is a business risk management program that protects producers against large drops in income due to market conditions, cost increases and production losses.

In a statement to CTV News, the province took credit for its role in the advocating for the coverage expansion.

“Saskatchewan played an important role and contributed directly to the development and advancement of these AgriStability enhancements, which are aimed at improving the program for livestock producers,” the statement read.

The Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC) is responsible for administering the AgriStability program in the province.

The province ended off by saying it will continue working with other provincial authorities and the federal government to ensure “any proposal captures the realities and needs of Saskatchewan producers.”

SCIC has stated it is moving to implement the changes for the 2026 program year.

Saskatoon teachers, students and family members described the horrifying moment a Saskatoon teen was set on fire at school — and the trauma that followed.

On Sept. 5, 2024, at Evan Hardy Collegiate, a 14-year-old girl doused her classmate in gasoline and lit her on fire.

The girl, who is 16 now, pleaded guilty to attempted murder.

Emotional victim impact statements were read during the teen’s sentencing hearing on Thursday at Court of King’s Bench. The statements described how the attack continues to haunt their lives.

“It will forever be etched in my mind,” said teaching assistant Stephanie Blunt, who was in the hallway with the victim, who rolled on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the flames.

After speaking, Blunt was hugged by the victim’s mother — who also works as an educational assistant.

The attack

According to an agreed statement of facts read, the arson attack happened around lunchtime as the then 15-year-old victim was leaving her classroom.

The offender poured gasoline from a black metal bottle over her classmate’s head and lit her on fire using a lighter.

Blunt initially believed the liquid was water. Within seconds, flames engulfed the teen.

Staff and students — including the victim’s brother — saw the fire but didn’t realize a person was burning.

Smoke filled the hallway as the fire alarm sounded and students screamed.

Staff rushed in to help. Teacher Sean Hayes removed his own clothing to try to smother the fire. He suffered burn injuries in the process.

Teachers recalled hearing the victim scream, “I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!”

In an interview with police, the victim said she had accepted she was going to die.

She was airlifted to a burn unit in Edmonton. At one point, 80 per cent of her body was covered in bandages.

‘The voices told me to do it’

After the attack, the offender was taken to a separate room in the school.

According to the agreed facts, she was swaying back and forth and repeated twice: “The voices told me to do it.”

A teacher later recalled hearing her utter, “She deserved it,” as police arrested her.

In a police interview, the teen said she planned the attack. She brought the gasoline and lighter to school the day before.

She told officers she felt happy the voices had stopped. She also expressed curiosity about the extent of her classmate’s injuries.

Harassment before the attack

Court heard the two girls became friends at the start of Grade 9, bonding over their shared love of Metallica.

“At some point [she] became obsessed,” Crown prosecutor Zach Huywan said, reading the agreed facts.

During the summer, the offender repeatedly contacted the victim, and her best friend, using multiple phone numbers and social media accounts. At one point, suggesting self-harm over text message.

Court heard the offender had taken photos of the victim and her best friend without consent and created a video featuring the photos, set to a song titled “Imma Kill U.”

“The lyrics to that song are troubling,” Huywan said.

Investigators later found videos of fires being set in fields on the offender’s phone.

The victim’s parents reported concerns to police and were told a school safety plan would be implemented for the new school year.

“We hoped [the accused] would be supervised and that she’d be harmless because we did everything we thought we could to keep our daughter safe,” the victim’s mother said.

“The brutal attack changed our lives forever.”

‘I’m still alive’

Her parents detailed the pain their daughter suffered.

“We are still haunted by her screams as her dressings were being changed,” her mom said.

“Forty per cent of her skin needed to be peeled off because it was burned. Doctors had to take healthy skin to graft her onto her damaged areas.”

The teen has spent her Grade 10 year undergoing surgeries.

She continues to require further operations and procedures, including rebuilding her ear and working to regain dexterity in her right hand.

The final impact statement came from the victim, read aloud by her mother: “I’m still alive. I’m left-handed now.”

A doctor with ties to Saskatchewan and Ontario has had his medical licence suspended after being charged with dozens of sex crime-related offences in Toronto late last year.

David Edward-Ooi Poon garnered significant media attention during the COVID-19 pandemic after starting an organization working to re-unite families separated by travel restrictions.

According to the colleges of physicians in Saskatchewan and Ontario, responsible for regulating the profession in each province, Poon had training in family medicine and later earned a specialization in public health.

He was first charged by Toronto police in November 2025 for possessing and accessing child sexual abuse material.

Based on records from the colleges, at that time Poon was released on bail conditions limiting his access to the internet and was barred from attending to patients under 18-years-old or acting in a position of trust or authority over minors.

A month later, he was arrested a second time in Toronto and charged with an additional 40 offences alleged to have occurred between 2014 and 2024, including multiple counts of sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon, administering drugs to “overcome resistance,” voyeurism and multiple counts of creating child sexual abuse and exploitation material.

He’s been in custody since — and had his medical licence suspended in both provinces.

His records show he worked out of the Population Health Unit in La Ronge and also practiced in Ontario.

Under his LinkedIn profile, Poon disclosed he was an employee of the University of Saskatchewan (U of S), working as an assistant professor of public health and as a safety and wellness representative for medical residents’ exam preparation.

A spokesperson for the U of S told CTV News Poon was not employed by the university and had no active appointments, but was under a temporary contract to Northern Medical Services until November 2025, “and has not provided services since then.”

“Dr. Poon has not provided service in the exam preparation role since July 2025, and such role is no longer in place. He does not hold the assistant professor role in the Division of Public Health and Preventive Medicine,” the spokesperson said.

He’s expected to make another appearance before the Ontario Court of Justice tomorrow.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) will be taking over long-term care operations at an assisted living facility in north Regina.

The agreement will affect the Capital Crossing Assisted Living and Memory Care on Argyle Street N and its 139 long-term care spaces. The SHA will assume operations later this year with no immediate changes planned, according to the announcement.

“Our collective goal is continued, high-quality care for long-term care residents and their families,” SHA chief operating officer Derek Miller said in the announcement. “This transition is being designed to ensure stability for residents and families, while strengthening the integration of these existing spaces within Saskatchewan’s publicly operated long-term care system.”

According to Brightwater CEO Quinton King, the company’s collaboration with the SHA over the last five years has been positive and it is “committed to the success of this transition and ensuring continuity of care.”

“We will continue working closely with Saskatchewan Health Authority to support thoughtful planning and clear communication throughout this process,” King noted in the announcement.

CUPE 5430 President Bashir Jalloh says the facility’s workers will join the union as part of the public transition.

“We welcome this, it is good news for the people of Saskatchewan,” he told CTV News. “… We resisted this private long-term care model from the beginning. We have done a lot of work to try and prove to the SHA that this move is not a good one.”

Jalloh argued the transition is proof the SHA realizes the public model is the “best way forward.”

However, he also criticized the lack of communication from the health authority.

“They told us about a meeting tomorrow… but that’s all. We didn’t hear anything else until it came out in the press,” he said.

Jalloh reiterated that the shift to public at the Regina facility is a good sign but called out wait times for long-term care spaces and the potential privatization of long-term care facilities in Watson and Estevan.

“They should really think about this and think about the past, what has happened in this province and select the public option,” he said. “Which is better for the employees, better for the residents, better for the family, it’s better for the community as a whole.”

CUPE 5430, Saskatchewan’s largest health care union, represents over 14,000 members. It was formed in 2017 when five locals across northwest and southeast Saskatchewan merged into a single organization.

The SHA currently operates 157 care homes across the province, which are home to more than 8,200 residents.

For the past 11 years, Melanie Brown has been in stable recovery from an eating disorder and substance use challenges. Now chief administrative officer of Prairie Sky Recovery Centre, she is continuing the work her mother began at the facility in 2008. The centre was formerly known as Leipzig Serenity Retreat.

Brown says the facility is seeing an increase in clients seeking treatment for alcohol and substance use, particularly among people working long hours in high-pressure industries.

“The trades, the farming community, oil and gas — they have huge pressures in their workplaces, and I think that’s become apparent as a cause for addiction,” she said.

Brown was one of many social workers attending the Saskatchewan Recovery Summit, where participants discussed ways to improve treatment and recovery supports for alcohol, methamphetamine and opioid use.

“Even though it’s not rising, the consequence of alcohol use still kills more people today than opioids do,” said Nathaniel Day, chief scientific officer with the Canadian Centre of Recovery Excellence. Day spoke at the summit about compassionate intervention and emerging concerns.. “A non-substance related addictive problem, something that’s on the rise and is worth paying attention to is gambling and especially how online gambling has become so accessible.”

On Feb. 10, the Saskatchewan government pledged $863,000 to support sober living initiatives as part of its mental health and addictions strategy, which includes a commitment to provide 500 treatment spaces by 2028.

“Substances are much more harmful to these individuals,” said Mental Health and Addictions Minister Lori Carr. “The average 28-day program isn’t going to work any longer, so the treatment spaces we have available are tailored to the individual and how long they need to be there to get the help they need.”

Online gambling remains a concern across Canada, particularly among young adults. According to the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, 23.5 per cent of young adults report experiencing harm related to online gambling.

“There’s a threshold where if you gamble over a certain percentage of your income, you’re likely to have social harm,” said Day. “So you’re likely to lose your house or have conflict with your loved ones, maybe you have the breakup of a relationship and sort of have your life destroyed.”

Brown said the fentanyl crisis continues to affect clients, but behavioural addictions are also increasing due to easy online access.

“We’re seeing a lot of gambling clients. Pornography is very accessible. All of these things can come right to your phone,” she said. “The cure to addiction is connection,” she said. “If people are isolated and feeling alone, they’re going to struggle more.”

Moose Jaw RCMP is warning the public of a phishing scam involving emails that appear to come from the police service.

According to Moose Jaw RCMP an individual in the area recently received an email. The message indicated that “unacceptable activity” was detected on the recipient’s network and summoned them to the RCMP.

A PDF was attached to the email and was signed with someone posing as a member of the RCMP.

The email included the RCMP crest, but it did not come from a legitimate RCMP email address.

Moose Jaw RCMP reminded residents to take precautions against scams such as:

• Never clicking on links and download attachments in unsolicited text messages or emails
• Never sending your personal, credit card or banking details in response to unsolicited messages
• Always take a moment to verify the source of messages received. Red flags include misspellings or unusual email addresses

The service reminded anyone who encounters a suspected scam to report it to their local police service, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers.

This story contains details some readers may find disturbing.

Jason McKay has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 17 years for the 2017 murder of his wife, the same sentence he was given in 2020.

McKay pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his wife in Regina on Jan. 23, 2026, almost eight and a half years after she died.

She was murdered in September 2017 in her home on the 200 block of Angus Street. According to an agreed statement of facts, sometime between the late hours of Sept. 5 and the early morning of Sept. 6, McKay attacked her with a knife.

He ultimately stabbed her 24 times, using multiple knives, with some wounds made post mortem.

Jenny was 33 at the time of her death.

Justice Beverly Klatt handed down her decision at the Court of King’s Bench on Tuesday. Earlier in February, she reserved her decision to review submissions from Crown and defense.

Klatt’s decision to extend McKay’s parole ineligibility to 17 years was due to the violent nature of the murder, as well as McKay’s criminal past which includes two violent incidents.

“This sentencing judge imposed the same parole ineligibility that the first judge did. We are grateful for that, and we think it is an appropriate sentence,” said Adam Breker, the Crown prosecutor involved in the case.

While McKay was guaranteed to receive a life sentence for the murder, the Crown and defense argued what his parole eligibility should be.

The Crown pushed for 18 years until parole eligibility, while the defense had called for 12 years, citing the guilty plea over eight years after the murder.

Following a trial in 2020, Jason was found guilty by a judge of second-degree murder, sentenced to life in prison and ineligible for parole for 17 years.

He then appealed his conviction and sentence, which led to the retrial.

“Sadly for the family of Jenny, it has taken a lot of years to conclude. More than is typical but we are certainly grateful that is has finally concluded,” Breker said.

McKay has been in prison since he was arrested in September 2017, almost nine and a half years ago.

He appeared in court on Tuesday in a grey jumpsuit and was quiet when the sentence was handed down.

He will be eligible for parole in the year 2043.

RCMP in the Battlefords have arrested and charged a 22-year-old man in connection with an incident in which a driver allegedly fled from police at dangerous speeds.

On Saturday, Feb. 21, at around 11 a.m., officers with the Battlefords RCMP were alerted to a vehicle travelling at high speeds on Highway 29.

Police attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver refused and fled, reaching speeds of up to 176 km/h.

Officers followed the vehicle at a safe speed and distance. According to RCMP the vehicle turned onto a rural road and continued to travel at dangerous speeds despite winter road conditions.

More officers responded and spotted the vehicle back on Highway 29 travelling south, before turning onto a rural road with a dead end.

RCMP then set up a spike strip at the intersection of Highway 29 and the rural road and waited for the suspect.

The suspect returned to the intersection and promptly ran over the spike strip. The vehicle veered off the road and stopped near a frozen body of water, according to police.

Three men got out of the vehicle. Two were arrested without incident while a third fled officers on foot – running towards the middle of the frozen body of water.

Officers caught up to the suspect and arrested him where he was later identified as the driver.

As a result of the ensuing investigation, the 22-year-old from Saltcoats faces five charges. They include fleeing police, operating a motor vehicle while impaired, operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration exceeding 80mg per 100 ml of blood, resisting a peace officer and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

The accused made his first appearance in North Battleford Provincial Court on Monday.

The two passengers were released without charges.

EVO Radio Network – Scheduled Maintenance Notice

EVO Radio will be conducting a network-wide server migration and infrastructure update beginning Saturday, January 17, 2026 at 3:00 AM, with work expected to be completed by Sunday, January 18, 2026 at 8:00 PM.

During this maintenance window, the following services may be temporarily offline or intermittently inaccessible at various points:

Websites

• https://z1035.evoradio.ca/

• https://979thecowboy.evoradio.ca/

• https://101therockhound.evoradio.ca/

• https://887thegoat.evoradio.ca/

• https://advertiseraccess.evoradio.ca/

• https://vipclub.evoradio.ca/

• https://evomcorp.com/

• https://djspinderella.evomcorp.com/

Live Broadcasting

• Z103.5

• 979 The Cowboy

• 101 The Rockhound

• Classic 88.7 The Goat

Stream Relay Network

• All Stream Relay services will be unavailable during the migration.

Because this update involves server transfers, database installations, and name server changes, exact downtime periods cannot be guaranteed. Individual service interruptions may vary, with some components taking up to several hours to complete.

Our support and technical teams will work to keep all stations and websites online for as long as possible and will restore services immediately as each system becomes available. Broadcast services and station websites will be prioritized, followed by additional network services.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we complete these upgrades, which are designed to improve performance, reliability, and long-term stability across the EVO Radio Network.

Thank you for your continued support,
EVO Radio Network

🎉 Update Completed Successfully! 🎉

We are thrilled to announce that our scheduled network update has been completed without any issues! 🚀 All our broadcast stations, streams, and websites are now fully operational and running better than ever.

What’s New?

Here’s what you can expect from this update:
✅ Improved Audio Player – No more interruptions or cutting off! Enjoy seamless streaming on our websites.
✅ Enhanced Stream Stability – Our radio streams are now more reliable than ever.
✅ Upgraded Security & Quality – Improved protection and enhanced broadcast quality for an unmatched listening experience.

Fully Operational Services:

🎵 Stations:

• Z103.5 – https://z1035.evoradio.ca/
• 979 The Cowboy – https://979thecowboy.evoradio.ca/
• 101 The Rockhound – https://101therockhound.evoradio.ca/
• Classic 88.7 The Goat – https://887thegoat.evoradio.ca/

🌐 Websites:

• EVO Radio Advertiser Access – https://advertiseraccess.evoradio.ca/
• EVO Media Corporation – https://evomcorp.com/
• DJ Spinderella – https://djspinderella.evomcorp.com/

Experiencing Issues?

While everything is running smoothly on our end, we’re here to help if you encounter any issues. If you’re having trouble with our broadcasts or websites, please report the issue to us immediately so we can address it.

📧 Contact Us:

If you have having any issues please reach out to us on our websites!

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this process. We’re committed to providing you with the best listening experience possible and appreciate your support!

🎧 Happy Listening!
The EVO Radio & EVO Media Corporation Team