The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) says an investigation is underway following the death of a patient at Royal University Hospital after an incident involving protective services officers.

SHA says security guards were called to a patient’s room Friday morning after staff reported a safety concern involving an admitted patient.

During the response, the SHA says a physical altercation occurred between the patient and the guards, and the patient became unresponsive.

SHA says medical staff responded to provide care and pronounced the patient dead.

“The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is committed to accountability and to ensuring a safe care environment for patients, visitors, and staff. The SHA is supporting an investigation into the death of a patient at Royal University Hospital following an incident involving SHA Protective Services Officers. The SHA takes this incident extremely seriously and we extend our sincere condolences to the patient’s family and loved ones,” SHA said in a statement.

The health authority says Saskatoon police have been notified and are conducting an investigation. SHA says it has also launched an internal review and declared the matter a critical incident.

SHA says it’s coordinating with the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) to provide supports to the patient’s family and loved ones and also providing support to staff members impacted by this incident.

The health authority had an unrelated press conference scheduled with the STC Friday morning, but it was cancelled.

SHA says no further details will be released while the investigation continues.

Saskatchewan drivers could see higher vehicle insurance costs starting next year, with owners of half-ton trucks potentially hit the hardest.

The Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) is proposing a 3.75 per cent rate increase in June 2026, with another identical increase planned for June 2027. SGI says the hikes are needed to keep up with inflation and rising repair and replacement costs for newer vehicles.

The NDP claims that including work vehicles like half-ton pickups — will face the largest increases, paying an average of $96 more annually, compared with $51 for most personal or business-use vehicles.

“I drive a Dodge Ram 1500,” said NDP MLA Darcy Warrington.

“These are work trucks. These are trucks that people need to safely get to their jobs,” added NDP Leader Carla Beck.

SGI’s Chief Financial Officer Drew Kendel said the rate adjustments are long overdue.

“We haven’t had a rate increase in over ten years,” he said. “During that time, inflation and vehicle technology costs have risen significantly, and those factors are driving the need for this adjustment.”

SGI says the proposed increases still need approval from the provincial review panel before taking effect.

Shovels were dug into North Central soil on Friday, starting the construction of a new 30,000 square foot building for the All Nations Hope Network.

It’s an essential place for Indigenous people that live in urban areas, says programs and research manager, Miranda Keewatin.

“People who live in First Nation communities, they have access to their elders; they have access to their ceremony and to those lodges,” she said. “So, it’s important for places like All Nations Hope Network to make sure that we have that sustainability for the people who walk amongst these streets,”

With three other locations around the city, the network says it’s been running out of capacity for patients in the last half decade.

“We outgrew the space, and we outgrew the outreach centre. There was more need for more space,” said Lana Holinaty, the director of operations.

“Once COVID-19 hit, the numbers tripled,” said Melanie Kingston, the director of community health. We went from 50 to 70 people per day, to probably to about 300 to 350 people per day.”

Currently, Kingston said they’re holding up to 350 people per day.

Located near the corner of 5th Avenue and Albert Street, the two-storey building will have ceremony rooms on the second level. It will also have a basement, mainly for storage purposes.

The main floor is expected to have a warming shelter, doctor’s office and commercial kitchen. As a notable need, it will also have a pharmacy with western and Indigenous medicine.

“Want to have a traditional pharmacy where we provide those natural herbs and those teas and those remedies, the medicine that we combine together that are supposed to be in our diet, our traditional diet,” Keewatin said.

For the construction of the building, $13 million was funded from the Indigenous Services Canada and Indigenous Collaborative Housing funded the $13 million.

“All nations have some very deep-rooted funding partnerships, throughout their years of operation,” said Dave Ball, the project coordination for all nations hope network. “These funders have really assisted, so we are confident that we will get the funding to finish the building.”

The end of the project is expected to take about two years until the building can be fully open.

The Mackenzie Art Gallery announced a new award they will distributing intended on helping the growth of established artists.

The Thorn Prize is named in honour of Regina-born artist Anthony Thorn.

Those who win the award will receive $50,000 to support a self-directed period of exploration, as well as a solo exhibition at the Mackenzie Art Gallery.

“We hope this can be a life changing award at an important point in someone’s career, and are looking to get themselves established, and brings that recognition to bring them to that next level,” said John G. Hampton, the executive director and CEO of the Mackenzie Art Gallery.

The initiative was made possible through the generous support of Thorn’s sister, Lyn Goldman, who understands the career of an artist can have its unique challenges.

“[Artists] need recognition, they need an agent or a gallery, and it isn’t easy,” she said.

“I think it is very important for someone along the way to recognize what they are doing and give them that hope the world is interested in what they are doing,” she concluded.

Thorn was born in 1927 and was a part of the first generation of Saskatchewan artists to experiment with abstraction in the 1950’s.

His career would span over six decades, and his work would become known across Canada and around the world

The artist would also teach the arts throughout Canada.

“This is a great opportunity to celebrate national artists here in Saskatchewan. To continue the tradition of Saskatchewan playing a central role in Canadian identity,” Hampton said.

The Thorn prize will be awarded every two years, over the next 10 years.

The winner will be picked through a nomination process, with the inaugural award recipient being planned for February 2027.

Regina’s Team Campbell will wear the green jackets at the 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts after bringing home gold at the Bungee Prairie Pinnacle in Melville, Sask.

Led by skip Jolene Campbell, the Highland rink defeated fellow Regina curler Jana Tisdale in Sunday’s final 4-3.

It is Campbell’s second provincial title as a skip after winning the 2016 Pinnacle, but fifth Scotties after making three previous appearances as an alternate with Amber Holland. Campbell was also the third for Chelsea Carey’s rink in 2022 as a wild card team.

“It’s been ten years since I won that game,” the skip told reporters after the win. “That is a long damn time, so it feels really good.”

After blanking the first end, Tisdale was able to force Campbell to a single point in the second end.

Tisdale would add two after a couple of miscues from Team Campbell in the fourth.

Holding the final stone in the fifth end, Campbell attempted to split to score three. The rock sitting above the house would not catch the rings and she would settle for two but regain the lead.

Both teams would settle for blanks for three-straight ends before Tisdale would break through in the ninth.

With the hammer against three Campbell stones, Tisdale would draw to the button, tapping the yellow stone just far enough to tie the game at two heading into the final end.

“It’s a tough game and we went into that game wanting to be tied up with hammer coming home,” Campbell explained. “That was the plan. That’s where we thought we would be and we maneuvered the scoreboard to make it happen and it worked out.”

Needing just a single to win with hammer in the 10th, Campbell wouldn’t even have to throw her final stone after Tisdale ticked her own rock to give Campbell the victory.

“You’re obviously always ready,” Campbell said. “And it feels good to make that last one, I’ve had to do that before. But to not have to throw it sounds just as good.”

Team Campbell finished with the second-best record through round robin play before handing Ashley Thevenot her first loss of the bonspiel in the 1-2 playoff game Saturday to earn a berth to Sunday’s championship.

Campbell says she knew going into the week her team had a good shot to lift the trophy at the end.

“We’ve had a good season and we’ve all been in this big final game before,” she said. “We know what it takes to get there. We know how to put yourself in the position that you’re in. Playoffs. So we felt really confident that we were going to be there.”

She is joined by third Robyn Silvernagle, second Rachel Big Eagle and lead Dayna Demmans.

“We work really, really well together,” third Robyn Silvernagle said. “[Jolene] is a great leader and we play off of her energy. All of us just worked really well as a unit and did our jobs really well and just played like a team.”

Silvernagle has three previous Scotties appearances (2019, 2020, 2023). Big Eagle has attended the national women’s curling championships twice in 2021 and 2022, both as an alternate.

Demmans has never appeared in a Scotties before.

The vice-skip says the gameplan at nationals will be same as it was here.

“One rock at a time, one game at a time,” Silvernagle said. “Do your process and the outcome is none of our business.”

“It’s just a game – a really important game – but it’s just something I’ve always been grounded with,” Campbell added. “It is still a curling game. It’s very meaningful to us but we feel like we do have a really good shot going in there.”

The 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts is slated to run from Jan. 23 Feb. 1, 2026 in Mississauga, Ont.

Tankard Final

Yet to be decided is the men’s provincial champion in the SaskTel Tankard.

Team Kleiter will take on Team Knapp for a chance to represent Saskatchewan at the 2026 Montana’s Brier. Kleiter is looking to defend his 2025 Tankard win while Knapp last won in 2023.

Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon says Canada isn’t considering a ban of the social media platform X, though his office says discussions about X’s deepfake controversy are underway.

The platform, which is owned by Elon Musk, has drawn global criticism over sexualized deepfakes created by X’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok, which have proliferated in recent weeks.

On Saturday, The Telegraph reported the U.K. government was gathering international support to respond to the controversy, with Canada sharing U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer’s concerns.

Regulator Ofcom is investigating, which could lead to X facing a ban in the U.K.

Just after midnight Sunday, Solomon said in a post on X that contrary to media reports, Canada is not considering a ban.

Asked whether the government is considering taking any other actions, or cooperating with the U.K. or other countries on another response, a spokesperson for Solomon said more information will be available soon.

Sofia Ouslis said discussions are being held “with allied governments and across Canadian government departments.”

The Liberal government has continued to use X despite the controversy.

In an earlier post, also on X, Solomon pointed to a government bill introduced late last year that would criminalize sexual deepfakes.

“Deepfake sexual abuse is violence,” Solomon wrote. “We must protect Canadians, especially women and young people, from exploitation. Platforms and AI developers have a duty to prevent this harm.”

Grok has also drawn criticism from the European Union’s executive arm and other countries, including France, India and Brazil.

Over the weekend, Malaysia and Indonesia said they would block access to Grok.

Grok Imagine, an AI image generator that allows users to create videos and pictures by typing in text prompts, was launched last year. It includes a so-called “spicy mode” that can generate adult content.

Late last month, Grok apparently began granting a large number of user requests to modify images posted by others.

In recent days, X has placed some restrictions on Grok image generation functions, limiting image generation on X to paying customers.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne is in Washington, D.C., Sunday and Monday for meetings on trade and critical minerals.

The government says in a news release Champagne is meeting with G7 counterparts and “other like-minded countries.”

It says Champagne will take part in a finance ministers’ meeting to discuss critical minerals supply chains, hosted by the U.S. treasury secretary.

Champagne said in December it is time to move on extraction and refining of critical minerals in Canada, and that that Canada can help Europe move away from dependence on China for critical minerals.

At the G7 meeting in Kananaskis, Alta., in June, G7 countries launched an action plan and a production alliance on critical minerals.

In October, Canada announced the first projects coming out of that alliance.

A Canada-wide doctor shortage continues to fuel service disruptions and temporary closures in rural and remote emergency departments.

As a result, more patients in rural Saskatchewan are being treated by virtual doctors when they step inside an emergency room.

“Our goal is always to try and have in-person physician coverage,” said Dr. Johann Roodt, deputy chief medical officer for Integrated Rural Health with the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA).

When that isn’t possible, Roodt said virtual physicians are the health authority’s last line of defence against temporarily closing emergency departments and forcing patients to drive elsewhere for immediate care.

The SHA launched the virtual physicians pilot program in five communities in July 2023. Two-and-a-half years later, the program has expanded to 28 rural health centres that have been flagged for doctor shortages, or being at risk of service disruptions due to staffing vacancies.

“Not only in Saskatchewan, but across Canada, we are facing significant physician pressures with significant vacancies,” Roodt told CTV News.

Visiting a virtual physician in the emergency department is a similar process to when a doctor is on site, according to Roodt.

Patients are first triaged and assessed by a nurse, who then consults with an off-site physician through the SHA’s Healthline 811. From there, the doctor will speak with the patient over the phone or video call to provide a diagnosis, treatment, prescription or order imaging.

Outlook and District Health Centre was an early adopter of the virtual physician program. The town, an hour southwest of Saskatoon, is one of several rural communities that struggles with doctor shortages and temporary closures.

Emily Trew, who has lived in Outlook for the last four years, rang in the new year with a trip to the town’s emergency department.

She says she was suffering from a severe migraine, and the centre was staffed with a virtual doctor that night.

“There are people that are frustrated with it, but at the same time, a virtual physician is better than not being able to see anyone at all,” Trew said, adding it can be less comforting to talk to a doctor over the phone than face-to-face.

While Trew was able to get medication for her migraine, she says there have been times when the off-site doctor has had trouble assessing patients.

“We had one experience last year when my little girl had pneumonia, and because a doctor couldn’t physically see her, and see her breathing, they debated sending her to the city,” Trew said.

Virtual health care comes with some limitations. There are certain conditions that doctors can’t treat if they are not there in person.

For example, doctors can’t give stitches to patients over the phone or on a video call, Roodt said, but they can treat a heart attack.

“It certainly is not something that will replace in-person physician services, but certainly, we live in a technology age where I believe, if we use the tools in our toolbox to deliver services and be innovative with the way we deliver services, I think that’s important,” he said.

The health authority is planning to trial new technology to improve video calls between remote doctors and on-site nurses, according to Roodt.

“I certainly want health care to be safe. I also do not want people to have to be worried if they have a heart attack and their emergency department is closed. I personally think that’s more unsafe,” he said.

Expanding virtual care to the north

In other parts of the province, primary care, physiotherapy and diagnostic imaging, including ultrasounds, are being performed virtually through the Virtual Health Hub.

The health-care organization uses leading edge technology, robotics and AI to deliver the services in northern and remote communities, according to hub director Dr. Ivar Mendez.

“This is the only program in the country that has this advanced technology where we can provide diagnostic imaging to the people that need it in real time, without them needing to be traveling to the cities,” he said.

About 15 per cent of Saskatchewan’s population doesn’t have access to a family doctor, Mendez said. It’s especially hard for those in remote northern communities to access specialists or primary care.

Technology is not meant to replace the health-care workers in these remote locations, according to Mendez, but instead support them.

“It’s hard to retain health-care workers in rural and remote locations, because they feel they really are not supported by the system,” he said.

“I don’t think we have any option but to innovate.”

The Virtual Health Hub is set to open a new facility on Whitecap First Nation in 2027, which Mendez said will eventually help expand virtual services to about 90 communities. Currently, the Virtual Health Hub serves six communities.

“The future is a hybrid system, where virtual care supplements and supports human care,” Mendez said. “We really feel that the human touch is absolutely crucial, and it is something that should not be lost.”

🎉 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

We’re committed to providing our audience with a listening experience like no other! To maintain this standard, we’re excited to announce a major update to our Broadcast Network.

What’s New?

This update will bring:

• A Better Audio Player: Improved performance on our websites to resolve issues with streams cutting off.
• Enhanced Session Operations: Ensuring error-free radio streams.
• Upgraded Security & Quality: Improved protection and overall broadcast quality.

Downtime Details:

• Expected Downtime: 1 hour (we’ve allocated up to 4 hours for any unforeseen circumstances).
• Impacted Services:
  • Live Broadcasts & Website Access for these 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/
  • Third-Party Apps: Any apps relying on our live broadcasts will also be affected.

Commitment to Excellence:
During the downtime, our team will work diligently to complete the update and monitor the network to ensure peak performance. We’re committed to enhancing your listening experience to the highest standards.

Stay Updated:
Follow us on Facebook or check our websites for real-time updates:

• EVO Media Corporation: https://www.facebook.com/EVOMediaCorporation/
• Z103.5: https://www.facebook.com/YourPartyStationZ103.5
• 979 The Cowboy: https://www.facebook.com/979thecowboy/
• 101 The Rockhound: https://www.facebook.com/101TheRockhound/
• Classic 88.7 The Goat: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093402861183

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding as we work to improve our services.

Thank you for your continued support,

The EVO Radio & EVO Media Corporation Team