Naming the team

Garnet Garven, dean of U of R School of Business, will be deputy minister, serve on transition team

Premier-designate Brad Wall

REGINA -- Premier-designate Brad Wall on Friday named the top civil servant for the new government that will be sworn-in later this month, as Wall met with his new caucus for the first time since Wednesday's provincial election that saw the Saskatchewan Party push the NDP out of office.

  Wall announced that Garnet Garven, dean of the University of Regina's School of Business, will be his deputy minister and will serve on his transition team.

  "He's very accomplished in terms of his involvement in public administration . . . across the country and here in Saskatchewan," Wall told reporters at the provincial legislature following a Service of Remembrance in which he took part with outgoing Premier Lorne Calvert.

  I've been working with Garnet on transition issues now for some time . . . I liked what I was seeing, I liked the work that I was seeing, the recommendations, and certainly they fit with my priorities,"

  Wall also noted that Garven, besides serving as president of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada in Saskatchewan, has public service experience. He was chair and chief executive officer of the Worker's Compensation Board under Grant Devine's Progressive Conservative government in the 1980s.                      See Sask Party Government/A3

Police puzzled by “stigmata murder”

SASKATOON – Police are still struggling to put together a case in last month’s “stigmata murder”.

  Twenty five year old Fiona Rosch was found dead in her room at the Royal University Hospital on October 13^th.  She had been in the hospital for several months, languishing in a coma brought about by an early morning assault.

  Rosch bled to death from wounds in her side, wrists, and ankles.  Her wounds strongly resemble stigmata, wounds that mimic those Christ is said to have suffered on the cross.

  According to Detective Sergeant Etwatski of the Saskatoon Police Service, the death is “clearly a homicide”.  Police suspect that Rosch’s killer hid inside the hospital after visiting hours, and then attacked Rosch with a sharp metal tool, causing the wounds. 

  Others disagree with the police’s assessment of the case.  A prominent religious leader, who asked not to be named, said “this would not be the first time serious stigmata have injured or even killed a seemingly healthy person.”

  The topic of Rosch’s death has been brought up on the pulpit in more than one congregation over the past month.  Although most accept that Rosch was a victim of homicide, there are a vocal number who disagree and instead call the death “a sign from God”.

Ontario man killed in wolf attack, coroner's jury finds

First documented case in North America of a healthy wolf killing a human in the wild

 PRINCE ALBERT -- A coroner's jury has determined that Ontario university student Kenton Carnegie was killed in a wolf attack.

  Carnegie was 22 when he died in November 2005 near Points North Landing, Sask. On a work term for a company at the mining exploration camp, located about 750 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, Carnegie went for a walk and didn't come back.

  Searchers later found his body surrounded by wolves.

Witnesses told the inquest that wild animals had been feeding at an unregulated garbage dump. Concerns were expressed that wolves in the area had lost their natural fear of humans.

  Paul Paquet, an expert on wolf biology who studied the case for the coroner's office, told the inquest earlier in the week that it was more likely that a black bear killed Carnegie, although a wolf attack was also a possibility.

  He said he based his findings on all the evidence, including the way the body had been consumed and moved around.

  But his evidence didn't jibe with what people on the scene observed. No one reported seeing a bear in the area.

  Another wolf expert, Mark McNay, who had studied the case for Carnegie's family, told the jury he was convinced it was a wolf attack.

  The jury's finding is significant, because there are no documented and confirmed cases in North America of a healthy wolf killing a human in the wild.

  The jury made a series of recommendations on how to prevent similar incidents. Among them is providing proper fencing and supervision at all landfills where there are known to be wildlife feeding.

Police investigate overnight robbery

SASKATOON -- Police are investigating an overnight robbery that took place in the Sutherland area.

  At approximately 3:15 a.m., a male entered a convenience store in the 800 block of Central Avenue wearing a mask. He showed a knife and demanded money from the store employee before fleeing the scene on foot with a small amount of cash.

  The Saskatoon Police Service K-9 Unit searched the area but could not find the suspect.

Hundreds of CUPE members, supporters, rally at U of S

SASKATOON -- The striking workers at the University of Saskatchewan pulled out all stops in a show of solidarity on Friday.

  "Stay together. Stay strong," urged Paul Moist, the national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, during a noon hour rally.

  In response, hundreds of striking workers, other university employees and students erupted with shouts and cheers. They wore placards that have become commonplace along College Drive and Preston Avenue for the past week: "Smell that. It's HR's offer," and "We are the heart of the university." Several fuscia-coloured CUPE flags flew high above the crowd along with the green and gold flags of the university's faculty association.

  The speakers took shots at the university's senior administrators whose salaries have increased, on average, 11 per cent per year for the past six years. In 2006, their salaries ranged from $122,437 to $242,348, not including the president's salary of $320,000.

  "Senior administrators receiving those big increases and salaries at this university never had to strike. They just got big increases and pay cheques," said Linda Reiber, a member of the CUPE bargaining committee, drawing boos from the crowd.

  "And then they turned around and made us strike for modest gains. That's disgraceful."

  The universities' latest offer to CUPE Local 1975 includes a 17-per-cent increase in wages and benefits over three years. But the union says the wage increase is really 8.25 per cent because six per cent is based on acceptable performance.

  The two sides also disagree on the funding and management of CUPE 1975's benefits plan.