CBC SK News: First heat wave hits Saskatchewan, Swift Current teen wins national model of the year

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]Tonight, Saskatchewan tries to stay cool as a heatwave takes hold.

[00:00:10]Some say changes to Regina's Pride parade route miss out on key 2SLGBTQ plus landmarks.

[00:00:19]And a swift current teen wins National Model of the Year.

[00:00:25]This is CBC Saskatchewan News.

[00:00:34]It is Tuesday, May 26th, and the CBC Saskatchewan News starts right now.

[00:00:41]Hi there, I'm Ethan Williams. Thank you for joining us. Tuesday marked the beginning of a heat wave sweeping across the prairies with daytime temperatures soaring over the 30° mark all this week.

[00:00:53]And that has people across the province preparing for the extreme heat. Laura Gillis has our top story.

[00:01:00]>> Despite the rising temperatures this week, Regina gardeners are getting to work.

[00:01:05]>> I'm just glad to have the heat. It's too bad it's extreme after having snow just about every week and it was too cool for any to do any gardening or anything.

[00:01:14]>> But they aren't all happy about the heat. When you put uh young plants out in this kind of heat, they uh they uh take a long time to toughen up and sometimes it can really harm them if uh if they're uh too exposed, especially with the wind like you get today.

[00:01:31]>> The hot weather can be dangerous for those working outside and for those who live outdoors. Carmichael outreach in Regina is offering cold water bottles and shower facilities for people living on the street. The nonprofit's executive director says he's expecting a spike in users this week.

[00:01:49]>> Typically, when uh we do see heat waves, we see people who are dehydrated, um heat stroke, sun strokes. So, you know, we encourage people to come inside or to um go to cooler shades and all that.

[00:02:03]>> The city of Saskatoon is also bracing for increasing temperatures. The city activated its extreme heat emergency response plan Tuesday. Cool down locations, misting tents, and water refill stations will be available. The city says older adults with health issues and those living in homes without air conditioning are the most at risk.

[00:02:24]>> So, we're really asking the residents of Saskatoon to reach out. If you have relatives or friends or neighbors who are living in those kind of conditions, reach out and check on them. Let them know about places they can go to cool off. Ask them if they need any help or assistance, but really reach out to those individuals.

[00:02:41]This is the earliest the city has activated its emergency response plan for extreme heat and the forecast is calling for this weather to continue until at least the weekend. Laura Gillis, CBC News, Regina.

[00:02:56]>> Victims and supporters of those affected by police privacy violations want Regina police to take action. They want harsher punishment for officers who break the law and a public inquiry. Alexander Quan reports.

[00:03:11]>> We need them to now stand up and say, "Okay, we are going to do something about this."

[00:03:16]>> Women who've had their privacy breached by Regina police officers say enough is enough. Some of them and their supporters gathered outside Regina police headquarters Tuesday, calling for action.

[00:03:28]>> We can't always have the Regina police investigating the Regina Police. The buck stops with our civilian oversight board. Victims and advocates want a public inquiry and stricter punishments for the officers caught violating privacy rules for their own benefit.

[00:03:44]Constable Clinton Duket was caught last year inappropriately accessing the personal information of his former romantic partner and their family. His punishment was a single day suspension without pay. He's now been charged with violating the privacy act with his first court appearance set for next month. But the city's police chief says even if Duket is convicted, her hands are tied when it comes to punishment.

[00:04:08]>> So, the police act uh discipline has all been concluded. And so, I don't have an ability as a chief to go back and reopen that.

[00:04:15]>> Former Sergeant Robert Sechuk used the services database to target 33 women, some of whom he started romantic relationships with using a fake name.

[00:04:24]Simchuk resigned when charges were laid last year and he was ultimately handed a conditional sentence followed by probation. One of his victims says punishment by Regina police needs to be more serious.

[00:04:36]>> Something so severe that they're not going to do it again. Just giving one day suspension, that's not going to do anything. You know, they're just going to find a um other ways to do it. You know, they have to be held accountable.

[00:04:48]>> The board of police commissioners says it will review the group's request.

[00:04:51]Davies says she's made it clear these actions are not acceptable.

[00:04:55]>> This situation obviously is a black eye on the service. It's not something that I want. It's not something that any of our employees want.

[00:05:03]>> Alexander Quan, CBC News, Regina.

[00:05:07]>> A two-day meeting of Western premers has wrapped up. A gathering dominated at least on day one by concerns, even anger about Alberta's recently announced plans for a referendum on separation. But at the closing news conference Tuesday, the tone seemed different with Premier Scott Mo promoting Western Canada being an economic powerhouse as a tool to help build federal unity.

[00:05:33]>> Some of the most significant and largest projects that are going to have the largest and most significant impact on our Canadian economy have yet to come.

[00:05:42]if we continue to work together, have those frank and civil conversations, speak about working together in the unity of our nation, giving everyone reason to want to be a part of our nation. Uh, and I certainly saw that in the room over the last day or day and a half, and I just say thank you uh to my provincial counterparts for although we don't agree on everything, we can set aside, not set aside those divisions, work through those divisions to a better place for all of us.

[00:06:09]Earlier in the day, the five premers in attendance put on a visual show of unity, all putting on Team Canada soccer jerseys in front of the media. But BC's premier says he remains incredibly anxious about Alberta's decision to hold a vote in October on whether to have a national unity referendum. And Manitoba's premier says Alberta has not met its duty to consult with First Nations.

[00:06:33]A former Alberta finance minister says the economic logistics of converting the province into its own country would be challenging and prosperity for the region would take a hit if Alberta separated from Canada. I really believe that it would be incredibly challenging for a landlock country of of 5 million people uh to ultimately thrive at the prosperity levels that we could achieve uh by remaining as a a part of Canada in spite of the frustrations uh that we have certainly been through over the last 10 years. Obviously, there would be large costs, massive costs to set up our national institutions, uh, foreign service, customs, uh, national legal system. I could go on and on. Defense.

[00:07:22]>> CBC News has learned Liberal MP Steven Gilbo is resigning. The Montreal MP and former environment minister is expected to share the news with colleagues at the Liberal Caucus meeting Wednesday. The former environmental activist had already resigned from cabinet last December after Ottawa and Alberta signed an agreement on a path forward for a new pipeline to the BC coast.

[00:07:46]Those taking part in Regina's Pride Parade will be walking a much different route this year. The changes mean the parade will no longer pass by an important gathering place for Regina's 2SLGBTQ plus community or a key spot where the city's first pride parade passed by in 1990. Alex Kazroski has more.

[00:08:11]>> Regina's Pride Parade won't be traveling through the city's downtown streets this year. The city and Regina police say they're moving it along with several other parades into a less busier area of town. The new route has the parade starting near the Kexus Arts Center. It travels down 23rd Avenue and all the way to Albert Street. From there, it goes up Albert to the legislative building. A committee involving officials from the city, the police, and experts helped come up with the new route. The goal was to make things safer for everyone involved, especially in wake of incidents like last year's car ramming attack at Vancouver's Lapu Lapu Day Festival. And Regina police say last year's Pride Parade caused some issues.

[00:08:52]>> The route that the parade took was uh pretty impactful on emergency vehicles getting to the hospitals, uh police vehicles because major intersections were compromised and tied up by the event. So, this uh certainly looked at new ways that we could offer up a better way for staging, better parking, um while still allowing for fairly big exposure. Queen City Pride says it wasn't consulted about the change, but its co-chair understands why it needed to happen. But she's disappointed the parade will no longer pass landmarks important to Regina's 2SLGBTQ plus community, like Q nightclub and Lounge, the home of the gay and lesbian community of Regina. I know that there are some things, like I said, that are important to us that we are no longer able to do. Walking in front of the queue is huge. Going across the Albert Street Bridge was a big deal to us.

[00:09:43]That's where the first Pride march happened in Regina and that's really significant.

[00:09:48]>> But no is glad the change will also apply to other parades.

[00:09:51]>> I think it is a good thing because we are really concerned about the safety of everybody that is involved, but there are real drawbacks and we recognize those real drawbacks. And while we wish we could figure out a way to do all of the things, um, I can understand how this is the most logical path forward.

[00:10:09]>> Police say the route has been used by a smaller parade already, but the Pride parade will be the first real test to see if it meets participant and traffic requirements.

[00:10:18]>> HAPPY PRIDE.

[00:10:20]>> ALEX KAZROSKI, CBC News, Regina.

[00:10:25]Well, that spring sunshine scorching downtown Regina. The temperature jumped above 30° in the Queen City for the first time this year on Tuesday. And the wind that came along with it didn't really cool things down all that much.

[00:10:41]And it is only getting warmer from here.

[00:10:43]Weather specialist Riley Lechuk has the details on just how hot things are going to get when we come back.

[00:11:05]The opposition NDP is questioning the province and its plans to staff the expansion of Prince Albert's Victoria Hospital.

[00:11:14]Mental health and addictions critic Leroy Lalabirdie says families in PA and northern communities are counting on a fully operational hospital. He is challenging the SAS party to release staffing numbers and a recruitment plan ahead of the 2028 completion. He argues the new and improved building alone won't fix the problems the health care system is already facing.

[00:11:37]>> Emergency rooms are closing. Patients are waiting hours, sometimes days for care. Healthcare workers are burning out and leaving the profession. That's why this week's announcement feels so disconnected from reality. The hospital building by itself doesn't deliver healthcare.

[00:11:55]>> The Ministry of Health says staffing for the hospital is projected to increase by more than 500 jobs. And it says the Saskatchewan Health Authority is working on a comprehensive staffing plan tied to the expansion.

[00:12:14]Well, is this hot enough for you across Saskatchewan? Yes, it is another scorcher and it looks like it's going to stay that way across the province, but we are also starting to see some summertime weather in the form of thunderstorms as well. Weather specialist Riley Lechuk has the latest for us now. Hi Riley.

[00:12:31]>> Thanks Ethan. Yeah, temperatures certainly the story of the day, not just in Saskatchewan, but through Alberta and into parts of Manitoba as well as the heat cranks up. I'll talk a bit more a lot more about this uh in just a couple of minutes here. Uh looking at temperatures though through the afternoon, 31s, 32s uh through much of southern Saskatchewan, 33 in Maple Creek through the afternoon. Uh Saskatoon at 30°. These are temperatures that are uh near or even above 10° above seasonal for this time of the year. So, some very warm air in place that has prompted a yellow level heat warning to be issued by Environment Canada for much of South and Central Saskatchewan looking at not just the high temperatures in the low to mid30s as we go through the next several days. But overnight temperatures, and this is one of the key parts of this, not getting much relief at night with low temperatures either in the high teens in some cases close to 20° overnight. So that includes Regina, uh, Saskatoon, Outlook, Maple Creek, Swift Current into parts of Alberta as well, uh, where we're looking at some of these very warm temperatures setting in place here as we get through uh, the next several days. We also have a severe thunderstorm watch that's been issued through the afternoon hours. Uh for southwestern parts of the province, uh swift swift current, Maple Creek into Shonovan, Moo really right on the edge, but does include Cineoa. We could see uh some large hail, some heavy rain uh or uh some strong wind gusts as we see thunderstorms popping up. And we have seen some of that on satellite and radar through the afternoon uh through parts of southern Saskatchewan, south of the TransCanada Highway for the most part.

[00:14:07]But just keep your eyes on the sky as we head through uh the overnight hours uh as we head into the day uh on Wednesday.

[00:14:14]The rest of the province really not a cloud really to be found. That's because of this ridge in the jetream. A couple of things here. First, this ridge of high pressure pushing all this hot air in. Low pressure, a trough to the west and a trough to the east really locking this in place as we get through the next several days here. So, this is going to be a pattern that we're in here as we get through uh the next several days across the province. I'm not looking at any relief until we get into early next week when we start to see this pattern breaking down a bit and we get into uh some slightly more seasonal air as we get through into early next week. So, there's that possibility through the evening, through the overnight hours of a few thunderstorms, some of which could become severe in nature. Other than that, really a mix of sun and clouds is the pattern uh for the most part as we get through the next several days across the province. But you will notice uh some very windy conditions as we get through the next couple of days here as well. So looking at gusts potentially up to 60 as we head overnight into Wednesday. Gusts generally around 50 as we get through Wednesday before we see things picking up once again into the afternoon hours again on Thursday. So the wind combined with some of these temperatures through the afternoon into Wednesday. 31s 32s uh through much of southern and central Saskatchewan means high to extreme fire danger really right across southern and central parts of the province. Ethan, so lots to break down.

[00:15:31]I'll have more on your long range when I come back. Sounds good. Okay, thanks Riley.

[00:15:36]Well, a 17-year-old from Swift Current never expected to be named National Model of the Year, but Haley Seammens recently took home that title at the Canadian Model and Talent Convention in Toronto. And she says modeling has been a big confidence booster for her.

[00:15:52]>> It was like my first time ever getting a any kind of trophies or anything like that. So, it was just kind of like a really big deal.

[00:16:00]I started being told from people that I had like a modeling kind of look, like I was like that kind of pretty cuz there's like different kinds of like pretties, I guess. I don't know. And then that kind of got it into my head. And then my mom mentioned um CMTC and then we went to try it out and that was kind of the first step towards actually kind of thinking about it.

[00:16:22]>> So basically I was looking for something for Haley to build confidence. She's struggled with even attending school just with peers and different things and just her anxiety and stuff like that, which is something that she's struggled with since grade nine. So, we went to the Canadian model and talent convention.

[00:16:46]>> I was nervous because I didn't I didn't really think I was going to make it in cuz there's like there's so many different people there and there's so many people like around Canada that are doing it. So, you have to think that like why why me out of all of these other people? And I just thought that I was just kind of like a basic looking person and like a basic person in general. So, that's what kind of made me nervous at the beginning. And also because I've never done anything like that before.

[00:17:15]We kind of got to practice on the runway for the first time and that was like when I decided that I actually really liked it. It was the second I tried it.

[00:17:23]I was like, "Okay, yeah, I feel like at home." home. Like it felt nice. It made me feel confident just to be up on the stage and just like walking. Before I got onto the stage, I was like kind of really really nervous. And then when I walked on the runway, it was just immediately like everything else was gone. And all I cared about was like, oh my gosh, like I'm kind of the center of attention. And it it just felt really nice. And it made me feel honestly comfortable in a way. And just made me feel like myself. I was like every worry that I had was like gone for like that little amount of time. When I was a kid, I guess I was like really really confident, but for a while I haven't really been the most confident. So, it really helped me out actually.

[00:18:03]>> Why do you think that is?

[00:18:05]>> Um, high school sucks. That's that's like a big part of it is that I've kind of struggled like ever since like high school started with like friends and stuff like that. And that's like the main reason my confidence kind of went down.

[00:18:20]Congratulations.

[00:18:22]>> Her age division was 16 to 19 female. So she won overall in that division and then she ended up winning the grand overall female. So that was 12 years and up for modeling. I was in complete shock. Yeah, it was uh amazing and very surprising, but like for us to go there and not know anything and have no clue if she was doing good or not. I'm a rancher farmer from Saskatchewan. So, it's kind of definitely not our element or whatever, but she sure surprised us both and everybody and night and day kind of difference. She was in her element and yeah, I was just surprised.

[00:19:06]I've never seen her so confident and happy. Confidence matters because I used to think that confidence like I used to think that people would just say that, but it honestly does just it does matter. Everything is kind of like how you carry yourself and everything.

[00:19:20]Confidence matters.

[00:19:33]That is the UK's famous famous cheese rolling race. Thousands of people from around the world faced record-breaking heat Monday to hurl themselves down a steep hill after a wheel of cheese.

[00:19:45]Whoever reaches the bottom first is the winner. And by the way, that cheese can reach speeds of over a 100 kilometers an hour. Stay with us. We are back after the break.

[00:20:04]Welcome back. Saskatchewan's largest pod ash company sends millions of tons of pod ash around the world. And it all depends on one room. Nutrients pilot plant repairs and invents technology for its six pod ash mines in the province.

[00:20:20]And the company let reporters and cameras come inside and take a look around for the first time on Tuesday.

[00:20:27]The work here supports the sites in producing the most amount of pod ash from every ton of ore that is mined underground.

[00:20:36]If we improve our flotation performance, if we um improve our crystallization performance, we're actually making more pod ash with the same amount of ore.

[00:20:45]>> We're always looking for the opportunities where we can add value to the sites. And that might be the sites coming to us with projects and saying, "Hey, we could use some extra support or hey, we have this um stream. Can you help us brainstorm? And it might be us doing some longer term um projects here at the pilot plant ourselves.

[00:21:03]>> Pod ash compaction has been around since the start of producing pod ash in Saskatchewan. Pod ash flotation's been around since the start of producing pod ash in Saskatchewan. Um crushing uh screening, you name it all.

[00:21:19]But what we've done here is find ways to make that process much more cost- effective, much more efficient, much more safe, and uh much more easy to operate across our sites.

[00:21:35]All right, let's take you through uh your long range forecast. I was talking a bit earlier about that extreme fire danger that will stay in place as we get through at least the balance of the work week here with not just the temperatures 33 to 35° for Regina and really much of south and central parts of the province as we get through the next few days, but those winds consistently 30 gusting 50 as we get through uh the next several days and looking at some relief coming as we get into early next week. So, a hot weekend ahead, not a lot of moisture in the forecast. It's not till we get into Monday and Tuesday that things start to drop closer to seasonal uh for this time of the year. Into Saskatoon, much the same. The potential for parts of central and western Saskatchewan to get up to 35 or even 36° as we head through the balance of the work week here again with that high to extreme fire danger remaining in place with those winds consistently 30 gusting 50 or 20 gusting 40 through the next several days. Uh still another hot weekend ahead, Ethan. 29 for Saskatoon into Saturday and things dropping back into the teens by early next week.

[00:22:36]>> Yeah, finally a nice reprieve. Okay, thank you Riley. And that is our news for this Tuesday. You can head to our website or subscribe to our CBC Saskatchewan YouTube channel for the latest or download the CBC News app.

[00:22:47]Thanks so much for watching.