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December 3, 2023

An iconic northern store is shutting down after 56 years.

Alex and Phyllis Robertson moved to a small community in northern Saskatchewan with little more than dust in their pockets, big dreams and dedication.

They started up a tiny general store and fur trading post, not knowing that Robertson Trading would still be running strong 56 years later in La Ronge, Sask., or that it would come to be regarded as a gem of the north.

Their son Scott Robertson has worked at the store since he was a child and has been managing the iconic shop for decades. He’s tormented by his decision to shut the store down.

“It’s misery. This stuff keeps me up at night. I do not feel good about this in any way, shape or form,” said Scott Roberston.

“My head says do it. My heart says don’t.”

Despite his inner-turmoil, he will close the iconic shop and retire at the end of December.

The store, known locally as the Trading Post, is technically a general store, but it’s also an Indigenous art gallery, a genuine Canadian antiques show, a bucket-list destination for tourists, and an outfitter for camps and people heading into the bush.

The unofficial museum operates on the town’s main street across from Lac La Ronge, which is on the edge of the Canadian Shield.

“If you want a taste of what Northern Saskatchewan was and has been, you would come to Robertsons and have a look around,” said Scott Robertson.

“To have a trading post last almost six decades, [that’s] pretty much unheard of.”

December 3, 2023

June 19, 2023

Sask. photographer who sees magic of the night sky says it needs protection

June 19, 2023

Jeanine Holowatuik keeps her camera gear stashed by the door, ready to go at a moment's notice.

The astrophotographer spends her time chasing the northern lights, waiting for waves of green and purple to start dancing across the sky.

"I could be in the middle of nowhere all by myself, just screaming, all excited at the sky, because it's just so unbelievable. It could be raining down light in every direction," said Holowatuik, who lives near Hudson Bay, Sask.

"There's just something magical about the night sky. It has this way to calm you and excite you and bring out the curiosity."

Holowatuik wants others to experience that magic. She teaches photography, leads aurora tours and speaks at conferences.

But she also wants people to know that the dark skies, as people have known them, are under threat as space and light pollution increases.

June 19, 2023

April 6, 2023

The grief isn't gone 5 years after the Humboldt Broncos crash, but for some it's softer

April 6, 2023

Bernadine and Toby Boulet say they are still coming to terms with their son's death, even though he's been gone for years.

They've noticed the boys their son Logan knew growing tall and moving into adulthood.

"I looked at pictures to compare and it really hit me that Logan's pictures aren't going to change. Everybody else gets to change. I thought about that lots before, but it's really starting to hit," Toby said. "After five years, there's a difference."

Logan Boulet played defence for the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team. He was one of the 16 people who died after team's bus collided with a semi that had blown through a stop sign in rural Saskatchewan on April 6, 2018. The thirteen others travelling on the bus were injured.

April 6, 2023

February 2, 2023

Woman 'empowered' as former Christian school coach faces charges 10 years after alleged sexual exploitation

February 2, 2023

Jennifer Beaudry will never forget her first kiss, but it's burned in her memory for all the wrong reasons.

She was a teen student at a private Christian school in Saskatoon when it happened.

Beaudry says the kiss was initiated by Aaron Benneweis, a popular coach and the athletic director of the Christian Centre Academy (CCA) at the time.

According to Beaudry, Benneweis was inappropriate with her while she was a teen student and he was in a position of authority. She alleges he began making eyes at her in 2008, when she was 13 years old, and that the behaviour escalated over years to secret meet-ups and sexual touching.

"There's a few reasons why I want to share my story," Beaudry said. "To bring closure and to bring some healing to myself and to actually have confidence that the situation is being dealt with properly."

Beaudry and her mom claim that when the church's pastor was told about the allegations, he encouraged them to file a police report. However, they say the pastor told them to tell police that it began when Jennifer was 16, not 13, to make it "easier on Aaron" — and they obliged.

February 2, 2023

November 14, 2022

'Picking up these pieces': Daughter of Sask. stabbing victims says healing journey will be long, complicated

November 14, 2022

Deborah Burns presses a wet, crumpled tissue up to her eyes, taking a moment to breathe.

She wishes her mom Joyce was beside her to share their family's story. Joyce isn't ready to speak publicly yet, but she has made progress in her recovery after a terrifying tragedy that devastated the Burns family and their community.

Joyce and her husband Earl were brutally assaulted in their family home on James Smith Cree Nation, Sask., during the September long weekend.

Earl didn't survive.

"It's just so shocking when I think about it. It's really, really, really unbelievable," Deborah said.

The man wielding the knife was Myles Sanderson, who stabbed 10 people to death on James Smith Cree Nation (JSCN) that morning, including his own brother Damien. He also killed one man in the nearby village of Weldon, Sask., and injured several others during the merciless rampage.

November 14, 2022

June 25, 2022

How 2SLGBT people are reclaiming their faith and redefining their relationship with spirituality

June 25, 2022

The week Mitchell Anderson publicly came out as gay, he also attended a Sunday service in his hometown for the first time.

Anderson was nervous heading to church, since personal news (and gossip) travels fast in small towns like Meadow Lake, Sask. But when he arrived at the United Church, a community member literally embraced him with open arms.

"You know, Mitchell, it's so nice to see you here today," he remembers her saying, "I just want you to know you're welcome here."

Anderson still holds onto that experience nearly 15 years later, now as lead minister at St. Paul's United Church in Saskatoon.

June 25, 2022

April 25, 2021

Black activists across the Prairies are calling for defunding of police. Is anyone in power listening?

April 25, 2021

Calls for police reform and abolition howled through the Prairies like a fierce wind in 2020.

As the rallies quieted, Black advocates began to draft recommendations for how police and community leaders could meaningfully address systemic racism and police violence in their own communities.

The biggest call to action: defund the police.

Advocates are not asking police to do more with less money. Many are asking them to do less and let other, better-equipped mental health and social services agencies step in to handle the rest. They want money to be diverted from swelling police budgets to community-based organizations trying to stomp out the root causes of crime like poverty, housing insecurity and addictions.

Others are calling for the entire police institution to be dismantled.

Police services and politicians in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta have said they were listening, but advocates from Winnipeg to Calgary say change has been minimal at best.

It's not for lack of conversation…

April 25, 2021

April 1, 2021

'I was in darkness': How a Saskatoon safe house helped a woman find healing through art

April 1, 2021

Alice sketched out three versions of a rose with pencil and charcoal to show the metamorphosis of a wilted flower into a flourishing one.

The piece is symbolic of her own evolution, which unfolded during her time living at a Saskatoon safe house for women during the last year.

"When I first got there, I was this dead wilted rose, but as the time went on I started growing."

The woman is transitioning out of the Hope Restored program. The Saskatoon organization offers women who have been sexually exploited — or are at risk of that — a safe place to go. It aims to help women escape dangerous situations and stabilize their lives.

At the safe house, women are offered counselling services, mentorship and even art classes. The art classes have given Alice the space to show what she doesn't feel comfortable saying.

CBC is referring to the woman as Alice, having agreed not to name the woman to protect her identity as she transitions from the safe house.

April 1, 2021

March 26, 2021

Greg Fertuck lies but that doesn't make him a killer: defence lawyer

March 26, 2021

Defence lawyer Morris Bodnar says he doesn't trust Greg Fertuck.

But Bodnar still plans to defend Fertuck in a first-degree murder trial.

"When he drinks, he's not a nice person. Just because he's a person that's not a nice person — that may be obnoxious, may be violent at times, etcetera — doesn't mean he killed anyone," Bodnar said.

Greg is accused of killing his estranged wife, Sheree Fertuck, in 2015. He told undercover police that he killed Sheree. The five-week trial was supposed to begin Monday, but on Friday afternoon it was adjourned at the last minute until September because of COVID-19 concerns.

"The health and safety risks are just too great," wrote Justice Richard Danyliuk.

The 11th-hour adjournment was prompted by a spike in coronavirus variant cases in the Regina area and the public health recommendation to avoid travel.

Police suspected Greg of murder not long after her disappearance, but he wasn't arrested until 2019.

He called Bodnar, 72, from jail.

"I was pretty well retired and I remember getting a phone call at home from Greg in custody. They had arrested him for the murder."

The call wasn't unexpected. Bodnar said he had warned Fertuck earlier that this could happen.

March 26, 2021

March 25, 2021

The Pit

March 25, 2021