SaskatchewanThe Prince Albert Community Alcohol Strategy Steering Committee hopes to change attitudes about alcohol use. Prince Albert’s community alcohol strategy promotes fun without alcoholLisa Risom · CBC News · Posted: Nov 26, 2025 7:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 27 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Mayor Bill Powalinsky at the Mocktail Challenge fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Prince Albert and Area Community Alcohol Strategy Steering Committee (CASSC). (Lisa Risom/CBC)Personal tragedies related to alcohol are propelling some Prince Albert citizens, including the mayor, to support alcohol-free activities.“A drunk driver must have passed out at the wheel, four times over the legal limit. He crashed into me on the highway. He died unfortunately. I was knocking on death’s door,” Mayor Bill Powalinsky said. “I am really glad to be alive.”He said the crash left the man’s children without a father.“It’s given me a mission to promote responsible use, choices. Do the right things,” he said.WATCH | Advocacy group hoping to promote more alcohol-free events:Advocacy group hoping to promote more alcohol-free events in Prince Albert, Sask.The Prince Albert Community Alcohol Strategy Steering Committee hopes to promote fun activities without alcohol in the city. In 2024, Prince Albert recorded 480 cases of hospitalizations from alcohol per 100,000 people.The crash happened Sept. 11, 2021. Powalinsky was left with a brain bleed, a collapsed lung, internal bruising and a severe ankle fracture that required several surgeries and left him in and out of a wheelchair for two and half years.He was one of six people who volunteered to create and serve non-alcoholic drinks at the city’s first ever Mocktail Challenge, a fundraiser for the local Big Brother Big Sisters charity and the Prince Albert and Area Community Alcohol Strategy Steering Committee (CASSC).“We want a safer community. And that’s one of the goals of our city council and the steering committee,” said Powalinsky.Mayor Bill Powalinsky’s vehicle was hit by a drunk driver in September 2021. The driver of the other vehicle died. (Lisa Risom/CBC)CASSC has been working to change alcohol consumption habits among the public since 2015. Its latest focus is youth and the concept “proud to be alcohol free,” CASSC co-ordinator Sasha Sukkhu said.The group started a youth ambassador program with four positions in June this year with a funding grant from Sask Prevention.The ambassadors work to promote positive choices around alcohol to youth and adults. They create social media posts and pamphlets, and volunteer at CASSC events.“It is to get the messaging out through the youth, so if they are involved and they start to think about, not just healthy choices, what’s the cost? Alcohol is expensive. What’s the cost to my life? How have I been exposed to alcohol and those around me?” Sukkhu said.She said the community grapples with health and social problems stemming from alcohol abuse. As a former school counsellor, she saw youth as young as 13 using alcohol on a regular basis.Sukkhu pointed to research by the Canadian Institute of Health Information that found Saskatchewan had the most cases of hospitalization from alcohol — 394 per 100,000 people — in the 2023-24 fiscal year.In 2024, the Saskatchewan Health Authority reports rates higher in Prince Albert with 480 hospitalizations per 100,000.“Lots of people don’t talk about how they have to deal with the challenges of having families that drink alcohol and abuse it or, you know, just don’t know when to stop. So my messaging is focusing on changing those social, cultural norms,” she said.CASSC partnered with the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority on a liquor bag project involving school children. Twelve Prince Albert schools had students write messages promoting safe alcohol consumption, and warnings about drinking and driving, on liquor bags.The bags are now being distributed at liquor stores around the city.“If we start with that messaging and we are aware that it has not just an impact on one’s self, but on those around you, we can create some change but of course it takes time,” Sukkhu said.Sasha Sukkhu from the Prince Albert and Area Community Alcohol Strategy Steering Committee said the group lobbies for alcohol controls and promotes being proud to be alcohol free. (Lisa Risom/CBC)CASSC and Prince Albert’s Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) lobbied the city to restrict the business hours of liquor retail outlets in the city.“So many studies have been done across Canada and they’ve said, you know, often the amount of liquor stores, the availability, all of these things can increase problems, especially for those who are more vulnerable,” Prince Albert MADD director Karen Anthony-Burns said.Prince Albert city council passed a bylaw in April 2024 to restrict retail liquor store hours to 10 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.Anthony-Burns said that even with Saskatchewan having the lowest legal driving blood alcohol concentration limit of .04, many people still choose to drive impaired. Her son Daniel was struck and killed by a drunk driver while crossing the street in Prince Albert. She got involved in MADD after his death.“The change is coming, but it would just be nice if it was quicker. It’s been 15 years since we lost Daniel and in 15 years we just hate to hear of anyone losing their life in an impaired driving crash,” Anthony-Burns said.Daniel Carter was struck and killed by a drunk driver while crossing the street in Prince Albert in 2010. (Lisa Risom/CBC)MADD Prince Albert is participating in MADD Canada’s 38th annual Project Red Ribbon campaign, which runs until Jan. 5, 2026. MADD is distributing thousands of red ribbons and car decals across Canada to remind people to never drive impaired or ride with anyone who’s been drinking alcohol.“We ask people to take a red ribbon and tie it onto their vehicle, their backpack, their purse, and it’s their pledge to never drive impaired through the holiday season,” Anthony-Burns said.She said MADD pushed the province and SGI to legislate some of the stiffest impaired driving laws in the country.The sites of impaired drivers arrests are captured in an interactive online map.MADD also supports the Saskatchewan RCMP’s move in April 2024 to administer a breathalyzer test with every traffic stop. ABOUT THE AUTHORLisa Risom has two decades of multimedia journalism experience in northeast Saskatchewan. She joined CBC Prince Albert in 2025.
Prince Albert’s community alcohol strategy focuses on changing drinking culture
