John Cairns on Muck Rack

John Cairns

Verified
Regina
As seen in: Sask Today, BMJ Open, Dialnet - Universidad de La Rioja, Castanet News, Cottage Life, British Columbia Medical Journal, CKOM (Saskatoon, SK), The Prince George Citizen, Assiniboia Times, Humboldt Journal, Yorkton This Week and
Covers:  provincial politics, federal politics, city hall, agriculture, courts, energy, weather, sports, movies, business, severe weather
I'm a busy provincial news reporter covering provincial and federal politics, City Hall, business, the Riders, movies, for SaskToday.ca.

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John Cairns’s Biography

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John Cairns covers news, politics, City Hall, the courts, and plenty of other things for the Battlefords News-Optimist and Regional Optimist newspapers. His experience includes print, online and on-air experience on TV and radio in eastern and western Canada. He's also got extensive experience covering sports and has written a regular movie column for a number of years. You can find his columns Cairns on Cinema and John Cairns News Watch at www.newsoptimist.ca.

John Cairns’s Journalist Portfolio

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Stanley case returns to court; decision on bail pending

Stanley case returns to court; decision on bail pending

With supporters of Colten Boushie rallying outside, Gerald Stanley entered a not guilty plea to second degree…

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Battleford water, new wells part of NB response to oil spill impact

Battleford water, new wells part of NB response to oil spill impact

August 2, 2016 06:26 PM North Battleford city council has approved a three-pronged strategy to provide water …

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Wall visits NB to talk oil spill

Wall visits NB to talk oil spill

August 3, 2016 04:07 PM Despite what appears to be initial good news from water quality tests in the North Sa…

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Missing and murdered Indigenous women resolution passes at SUMA

Missing and murdered Indigenous women resolution passes at SUMA

February 4, 2015 10:54 AM A North Battleford-sponsored resolution calling for an inquiry or round table on mi…

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Nonsense a big part of the good ol' hockey game

Nonsense a big part of the good ol' hockey game

April 4, 2016 07:33 AM John Cairns' News Watch I was really struggling to come up with a topic for this month…

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Adventures in Cuba

Adventures in Cuba

February 17, 2016 06:34 AM Today the Battlefords News-Optimist has a dispatch from one of its reporters from …

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Articles

Combing through the details of the 2026 SaskPower annual report

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By John Cairns Verified
| Sask Today Verified
SASKATOON — Among all the Crown corporations releasing annual reports at a news conference Tuesday in Saskatoon, it was SaskPower that drew the most attention. Its moves toward nuclear, the financial impact of the removal of the carbon tax from bills, and the Crown corporation’s capital activities all made SaskPower the focus of attention at the news conference. But the biggest media attention was on the multi-million-dollar net loss on the books for SaskPower for the year.
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Provincial auditor weighs in on travel nurses and their impacts

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By John Cairns Verified
| CKRM (Regina, SK) Verified
REGINA — Provincial auditor Tara Clemett has outlined findings with respect to the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s use of travel nurses. She said they made several recommendations to help better monitor costs, workforce impacts and patient care risks. Travel nurses are commonly used to address staffing shortages within the SHA, but the practice has been criticized for higher costs.
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NDP blasts Moe over podcast comments about changing Canada Health Act

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By John Cairns Verified
| Sask Today Verified
REGINA — It was a war of words again between the Sask. Party and NDP on the issue of allowing doctors to work in both public and private health care. This time, the Opposition took aim at Premier Scott Moe’s recent appearance on the Christy Clark Show.
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See all 6,991 licensed articles (6,994 Total)

Interview

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Have you ever used a typewriter?

Yes, but that was a long time ago before computers came in.

What does it mean to be a journalist?

It's great, you get to see history as it happens. It means you get to tell the story for future generations.

How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?

Send an email, but better yet, call me up directly at the office.

Awards

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Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association Awards

2010 - Best Hard News Photo

Awarded for coverage of Curt Dagenais murder trial in Saskatoon.

Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association Award

2011 - Best Tourism Series

Shared with Trent Cey and Jayne Foster for series of stories on Table Mountain

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Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Association Awards

2015 - News Story of the Year

Awarded for coverage of community safety in North Battleford

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Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Association

2019 - Best Hard News Story of the Year

Coverage of the Gerald Stanley trial.

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Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Association

2019 - Best Tourism Story

Story on hotel construction in the Battlefords: “New hotels part of North Battleford building boom”.

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Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Association Awards

2020 - Best Government Story

Series on staff reductions at City Hall

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Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Association Awards

2020 - News Story of the Year

Series on downtown harassment

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Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Award

2021 - Best Government Story

Series on City Hall response to COVID-19

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