麻豆传媒

I feel more confident about the future of Estevan than I did at the start of the year.

That might seem like an odd thing to say, considering what a difficult year it鈥檚 been at times, thanks to the ongoing pandemic, an announcement earlier this year about job losses at our local mine site and the federal government鈥檚 ongoing infatuation with carbon taxes.

But there are a lot of reasons for hope for our community.

In case you haven鈥檛 noticed (which means you鈥檝e likely been living under a rock), there鈥檚 a lot of new businesses that have opened in Estevan this year, especially in the last six months.

It鈥檚 been a while since we鈥檝e had so many brick and mortar businesses open within a short span like we鈥檝e had in her in the past few months.

These businesses aren鈥檛 going to offset the job losses associated with losing one unit at the Boundary Dam Power Station, let alone two. And they won鈥檛 offset the larger job losses we鈥檙e going to experience should the Shand Power Station and Unit 6 at Boundary Dam eventually have to retire by the end of this decade.

And these new businesses aren鈥檛 going to generate the wages associated with a mining job or a SaskPower job.

But these new businesses, with their jobs, add up. And they show tremendous confidence in the community.

We鈥檝e seen other positive developments.

The potential for polygeneration is tremendous, as far as jobs and investment capital and opportunity, but it鈥檚 not a slam-dunk.聽

The indoor agriculture facility, guided by top southeast Saskatchewan entrepreneur Derrick Big Eagle, is an exciting proposition that looks to be on the horizon in the more immediate future. It will create jobs during construction, and it will make a big difference once it opens.

Skepticism about the project from the Citizens Against Virtually Everything crowd should be eased once you remember who鈥檚 involved with the project.

The opening of the addictions treatment and recovery centre at St. Joseph鈥檚 Hospital was a big plus for our community. It has brought skilled, knowledgeable people to work in our city.

The news earlier this year that the owners of the Estevan Market Mall are investing big money into that site is certainly a step forward for our city. They wouldn鈥檛 be spending big money on a renovation if they weren鈥檛 confident in Estevan.聽

While it鈥檚 outside of our city limits, the geothermal project for Deep Earth Energy Production is a fascinating concept that will generate clean, baseload power once it鈥檚 finished.

It won鈥檛 offset the job losses at Boundary Dam and the mine, but again, it will help.

When he was in Estevan last month, economic development guru Doug Griffiths came away impressed with our community. The fact that we have Griffiths consulting with the city is a positive development; it doesn鈥檛 take long to realize that this guy knows his stuff, and he has a lot of great ideas.

He makes a great point that it鈥檚 unlikely we鈥檙e going to find that one magic answer that will offset the jobs lost with the eventual demise of conventional coal power. (Although the polygeneration facility would go a long ways in helping). It鈥檚 going to take a lot of smaller things, which would gradually offset those losses.

He also speaks of the value of downtown, and it鈥檚 great to see some new businesses on Fourth Street.聽

I wish we could live in a world in which Units 4 and 5 at Boundary Dam would be retrofitted, in which the provincial and federal governments would commit to continued rollout of carbon capture and storage technology, and people would realize there is a happy balance that can exist between economic and environmental needs.

I wish people would realize how proud people at the mines and SaskPower are about their jobs. It would cause government types to alter their thinking and approach when it comes to coal transition efforts.

Reality, though, is we鈥檙e facing big changes, and we have to deal with them and adapt and be ready for them, or risk losing our community.

We have to be willing to think outside the box and embrace the new investment that comes in, rather than cling to the hope that we can return to the excitement and the boom times of 10 years ago.

We have an economic development committee in place that is doing great work and looking to the future, making Estevan a place for investment.

And we鈥檙e starting to see results.

That鈥檚 why my excitement for the future of our city is growing.