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News Director’s picks for Dec. 3 to 9

Dec 10, 2018 | 12:31 PM

From a week-long coroner’s inquest to addressing oil price differentials and semi truck driver training, here is a look at some of the top stories from the battlefordsNOW newsroom for the week of Dec. 3 to 9.

Sask. won’t follow Alberta with cut to oil production

The Saskatchewan government said it will not follow Alberta’s lead to cut oil production in the face of plummeting prices.

Western Canadian select has been selling at a steep discount from the global benchmark due to a lack of pipeline capacity to ship it to buyers outside the U.S. 

This led Alberta Premier Rachel Notley to announce Sunday that production would be cut by 8.7 per cent in an effort to get prices back up.

Premier Scott Moe said he understands and supports the actions taken by the Alberta government to address the crisis but said the situation is different in Saskatchewan.

Coroner’s inquest into death of Brydon Whitstone concludes

A jury at the coroner’s inquest into the death of Brydon Whitstone, who was shot and killed by an RCMP officer in an altercation last fall in North Battleford was unable to determine the manner of his death.

In their interaction with Whitstone, police said he reached towards his waste, which led to a member discharging their firearm. It was later determined Whitstone was unarmed. 

Jurors recommended the RCMP examine other methods of intervention to immobilize or stun a suspect, such as a Taser gun, to prevent similar deaths from happening in the future. 

Province to enforce 121-hour training standard for semi drivers

Saskatchewan will impose stricter rules and standards for semi driver training starting in the spring of 2019.

Come March, 15, anyone who wants a Class 1 license in the province will have to go through a minimum 121.5 hours of training within a standardized curriculum.

While the Humboldt Broncos bus collision turned a spotlight on training standards, the province had been working to improve them since the middle of 2017.

 

 

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr