麻豆视频

Another year is nearly finished. People have shifted their attention from Christmas preparations and gift shopping, to Boxing Day sales, New Year鈥檚 Eve plans and new year鈥檚 resolutions.

As the year wraps up, it鈥檚 always fun to look back at what we learned during the past 12 months.

We learned that the future of a 60-year-old arena can become a pretty divisive issue in the community. When Estevan city council voted to close the Civic Auditorium indefinitely, it generated a lot of criticism, particularly from affected user groups who have grown accustomed to having three ice surfaces. While the contingent in favour of closing the Civic for good wasn鈥檛 as vocal, that doesn鈥檛 mean they didn鈥檛 exist in large numbers. The Civic remains closed, but it appears if could reopen, as long as insurance comes through. (As of Mercury press time, it had not).

We learned that people really do love their libraries. The most contentious aspect of this year鈥檚 provincial budget wasn鈥檛 the demise of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company, the increase in the provincial sales tax, the application of the PST to restaurant meals, insurance premiums and other expenses, or the loss of grants in lieu of funding for municipalities.

It was the funding cut for the regional library system, which jeopardized its future. Fortunately the government backtracked a short time later, after an organic groundswell of support for the libraries.

We learned that 12 health regions can be merged into one health authority within a 12-month span. We still don鈥檛 know if it will result in better healthcare, or benefit front-line healthcare workers.

Residents of southeast Saskatchewan learned the joys of having a four-lane highway in our area. Yes, there was the inconvenience of construction, but most people can grasp the concept of a short-term pain for a long-term gain. That gain is a twinned highway from Estevan to just south of Bienfait, creating a safer highway in an area that still has a lot of heavy truck traffic.

We also found out that we wouldn鈥檛 be getting double lanes from Estevan to Regina. Instead, we get passing lanes, to the chagrin of many, particularly the Time to Twin committee that worked so hard since 2009 to get double lanes. We鈥檒l see if people learn to love passing lanes.

We learned how easy it is to botch new tax measures. The small business tax changes introduced by the federal government in July were widely panned for their negative impacts on professionals, small businesses, farmers and many others across the country. Fortunately the government backtracked on some of the measures, but the uncertainty caused by the changes was troublesome for small business owners whose concern should be running their businesses, not taxes.

We found out how hard it is for some motorists to adapt to relatively simple changes, after the widening and resurfacing project on King Street was completed.

We learned that a former vehicle dealership can be transformed into a fire hall, largely through volunteers, within 12 months. The Estevan Fire Rescue Service, and the community as a whole, are better off now in their new home.

We鈥檇 like to say we learned how generous local residents are, but frankly, we knew that already.

There鈥檒l be more for us to learn in 2018. And you鈥檒l be able to read about it in the pages of the Mercury.聽