There’s a parade of boats launching into Lake Diefenbaker on any typical summer day in Beaver Flat, Sask.

Now, the council that runs the resort village is going to have to turn over the steering wheel to someone else.

“Talking to the government, they said there [were] deadlines and you guys didn't meet the deadline,” said Beaver Flat Mayor Bill Bresett.

Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Government Relations said the Resort Village of Beaver Flat, approximately 177 kilometres south west of Saskatoon, will dissolve into the Rural Municipality of Excelsior No. 166 on Jan. 1, 2027.

In a statement, the ministry said it monitors for municipal compliance on education property tax remittance, submitting yearly audited financial statements and having a qualified administrator.

The ministry said it notified Beaver Flat of non-compliance in December 2023 and gave it until Jan. 1, 2026 to rectify it. The ministry said that didn’t happen, triggering the restructuring.

“We don't want that,” Bresett said. “And the RM doesn't want it.”

He blamed a previous administrator for causing the village to fall behind on its financial reports and said it didn’t quite get caught up in time.

“We're up to date with everything now and we're hoping they can let it slide,” Bresett said.

“There’s villages in the province that are in trouble and I understand the reason for their ruling. But we're not like that. We have money. We have lots of volunteers that keep the village up to snuff.”

The resort village had a population of 82 in the 2021 census. Bresett said it has 145 cabins, with only about 25 to 30 of them occupied year-round.

A history on the resort village’s website says it was created as the Goodwin Subdivision in the late '60s, before becoming a municipality on April 1, 1981.

“The government is the one that encouraged us to set up the resort village because they wanted nothing to do with us,” said longtime resident Kevin Unger. “Now, 50 years later, they want to take us back. Nobody wants it.… I think we're going to be neglected.”

Unger pointed to the village building a boat launch, paving roads and putting in water systems.

“We've done a lot of work down there,” he said. “I think most people are pretty proud of it and now the provincial government wants to take it away from us?”

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A Saskatchewan man who killed two RCMP officers in 2006 is fighting to keep the truck at the centre of the deadly shooting. Laura Woodward reports.

A Saskatchewan man serving life in prison for killing two RCMP officers is fighting to keep ownership of the truck he was driving when he fired the fatal shots.

Curtis Dagenais, 61, is serving three life sentences.

He was convicted in 2009 of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Dagenais shot and killed RCMP constables Robin Cameron and Marc Bourdages and wounded Const. Michelle Knopp during a police chase on a rural road northwest of Saskatoon in 2006.

He was driving a blue 1986 GMC pickup truck at the time. The vehicle has remained in RCMP storage since the shooting.

The Crown is seeking forfeiture of the truck — meaning Dagenais would lose his ownership rights and the vehicle could be destroyed.

Dagenais appeared by video conference from Saskatchewan Penitentiary for Monday’s hearing at Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench.

He argued that he should retain ownership of the truck.

“There’s a lot of value in parts,” Dagenais told the court.

“Bring it back to my farm, or I can get it picked up if it’s in their way.”

Dagenais argued self-defence at his 2009 trial, testifying that the officers shot at him first and that he returned fire because he feared for his life. The jury rejected that argument.

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal upheld his convictions in 2012.

During Monday’s hearing, Dagenais suggested the truck continues to have evidentiary value.

“They don’t want to risk any other member of the public laying eyes on that truck, seeing all the police-bullet holes,” he said.

Crown prosecutor Scott Bartlett noted that the 40-year-old truck is severely damaged and “would never pass an inspection.”

Bartlett said the vehicle has been a liability in police custody for the past two decades.

Dagenais told the court he has struggled to arrange a meeting with his lawyer and asked Justice Daryl Labach to adjourn the hearing. He had already been granted an adjournment in June.

Bartlett opposed the request.

“I’m looking for a reason for us to believe that if we adjourn it one more time, that something would be different,” Bartlett said.

Labach noted that while the matter is not complicated, it can be difficult for an incarcerated person to meet with a lawyer.

“The court wants to give Mr. Dagenais every opportunity to be able to make the arguments he wants to make,” the judge said.

He granted the adjournment, but warned that the hearing will proceed on Oct. 19 — whether Dagenais has a lawyer or not.

“There will be no further adjournments ... My patience is starting to wear a little thin,” Labach said.