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The government of Manitoba has established a Provincial task force that will examine the correlation between poverty and education, and work in connection with the Province’s Poverty Reduction Strategy.
Education Minister Cliff Cullen made the announcement today poverty and education were highlighted as challenges in the Kindergarten to Grade 12 commission’s report.
“This group will support the implementation of strategies to improve engagement and outcomes for all students, and in particular, those who are living in low-income circumstances.”
Some areas of focus for the task force include access to food, technology, and transportation.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Public Health Officials advise that there have been confirmed COVID-19 cases at two schools in the Mountain View School Division.
There was at least one confirmed case of COVID-19 at Roblin Elementary School in Grade 7/8 from September 8th to the 10th.
At least one confirmed case was at Goose lake High School In Grade 10, 11, and 12 from September 8th to the 10th.
School administration is working with public health officials and following their recommendations.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
A driver in Dauphin has received a fine after driving without a valid license.
Last night around 12:20 a.m., multiple RCMP vehicles were on the scene of a traffic stop on 3rd Avenue NE in Dauphin.
Upon the stop, the driver was found to have a suspended license.
He was issued a fine under the Highway Traffic Act, and the vehicle was towed.
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
For the fourth straight year, Fuel Good Day is returning to Dauphin.
When you fill-up your tank tomorrow at Dauphin Co-op Gas Bar, Co-op will donate a minimum of five cents per litre of fuel purchased to a local registered charity or non-profit organization. Dauphin Co-op Gas Bar is donating all money raised this year from Fuel Good Day to Dauphin Bible Camp.
Joan Chetyrbok, Marketing and Community Relations Manager for Dauphin Co-op says that last year, Fuel Good Day in Dauphin raised quite a bit of cash but this year, she's hoping to match:
"Last year we raised over $5,000 with our litres sold that day. We hope to raise $5,000 from our litres and we're counting on the community to be generous and to help us meet that goal."
Chetyrbok added that last year, Dauphin Co-op was unable to do additional fundraising for Fuel Good Day, but she says that's all going to change this year:
"We're excited this year that we can hold a barbeque and have additional funds being raised."
Andrew Sevigny, Executive Director of the Dauphin Bible Camp says that they have some ideas of what to do with the money that is raised:
"We plan to use that money for our programming, especially for our winter programming. We're hoping to build a rink this winter to serve families in the area and in the community."
Since its launch in 2017, more than $2.4 million dollars raised through Fuel Good Day have gone to local organizations that support the communities they serve.
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It’s hard to tell what will happen on election night, as the Liberals and Conservatives are in a very tight race as the campaign reaches its final days.
The latest national polls show that the Liberal Party is at 32 percent and the Conservative party is at 31.7 percent.
It’s currently projected that the odds of the Liberals winning the most seats is 67 percent, and 32 percent for the Conservatives.
Election night is on September 20th, make sure to listen to 730 CKDM for all of your up to the minute election coverage.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Based in Dauphin, Manitoba, SciMar is on track to change the course of human health.
In 1991 Dr. Wayne Lautt discovered hepatic insulin-sensitizing substance, or the HISS hormone, while conducting experiments on the liver.
Today, the hormone is known as hepatalin.
From there, years of research took place before SciMar Ltd. was founded in 2009 when Dr. Lautt and his team concluded that hepatalin had a significant impact on type 2 diabetes and metabolic health.
To fully grasp this breakthrough, we must first understand what the SciMar team has brought to life; Mick Lautt, CEO of SciMar, takes us through the advancement his father uncovered:
"The science can be explained through the concept of nutrient partitioning, and that is when you eat a meal, the excess glucose in the blood can be stored either as fat or as muscle. So when we're healthy and young, then you have a nice balance between the actions of insulin and hepatalin. So, insulin from the pancreas and hepatalin from the liver. But as we age and eat a high refined sugar diet and don't get a lot of exercise and deal with stress in a chronic way, we lose the ability to release hepatalin. And so, the body is compensating with increased insulin action. The problem is that insulin does a lot of the work of nutrient partitioning by storing glucose as fat, whereas hepatalin is doing that work by storing it as muscle. So, you can see the problem over time. You move towards being a type 2 diabetic and all the chronic diseases associated with that. That's a significant breakthrough." Mr. Lautt continued, "So, this is a game-changer for us. Our job now is to keep the ball rolling, keep moving forward. Keep understanding what we found. What are the implications of it? Create a suite of products that can detect, prevent, and treat therapeutically the problem at the core, which is the lack of hepatalin. What we've discovered is that type 2 diabetics, they don't have a problem producing insulin; they have a problem producing hepatalin."
The SciMar team has started trials on multiple products involving hepatalin that are currently being clinically tested or soon to be on the market.
Product one: "SciMar NuPa Test" assesses one's ability to produce hepatalin and properly partition nutrients. This at-home test involves drinking a specially formulated shake and then measuring the body's response. When hepatalin production is shown to be inadequate, appropriate interventions can be considered.
Product two: "SciMar NuPa Daily" is a supplement, available without a prescription, that protects the production of hepatalin, thereby supporting metabolic health. Sold at nupa.com, SciMar NuPa Daily is available only in the U.S. for now. It will launch in Canada in 2022.
Product three: "SciMar NuPa Renew" is for people already diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes. This pharmaceutical drug will activate the production of hepatalin in the first 90 minutes after a meal is consumed. For some people, SciMar NuPa Renew will reverse type 2 diabetes by addressing the underlying biological conditions that led to it. This product is currently in trials and is expected to hit the market in two or three years.
Product four: Hepatalin-S is a synthetic version of naturally occurring hepatalin. This will be a therapeutic treatment for people with advanced type 2 diabetes. SciMar envisions that Hepatalin-S would be used in combination with insulin for a more complete and effective treatment program.
Mick Lautt understands some may be skeptical of this breakthrough:
"We're often asked if we're making a magic pill to solve a lifestyle problem and allow people to continue to engage in behaviours that aren't healthy. Yes, on one level, but it's really important for us to use this platform to encourage lifestyle change. We know that you can fix type 2 diabetes just by lifestyle. So, you don't actually need medication. If you change your diet, get active, deal with your mental health, and minimize the amount of pollution and insults in your environment and all those that impact our bodies and minds, we can fix it, and we know people who have done it. They've been on full medications, insulin injections, pills, and they've been able to fix it and get off and really get their health under control. That's fantastic, and we encourage that. And that's what we want to see."
SciMar’s CEO knows that lifestyle change can be complicated and sometimes out of a person's control:
"However, we also recognized that those behaviours are really difficult to change. And for some people, they're more difficult than others, depending on where you're living—the location, what's happened in your family, food security. There are a lot of things that people can't control. And there are things people can control. They're fighting a lot of addictions and other things. In the meantime, while people struggle to make changes in their lives, we want to provide them with a suite of products that can help. That's why we have an early diagnostic screening tool that can measure health and help people measure the effect of lifestyle interventions. We have a preventive that people can get on now to prevent them from progressing further while making those changes. And then we have a therapeutic for those who are currently sick; they need some kind of treatment right now. Our therapeutic is about staunching the bleeding for this generation of sick people and encouraging people to make lifestyle change." Lautt carried on, "So we don't have another generation, whether it's the next generation or the one after that, that is drug-dependent. So, our goal is to eradicate type 2 diabetes through novel science. As we do that, people need support. Eventually, I would love to put ourselves out of business in 30/40 years when no one needs our therapeutic because type 2 diabetes isn't a problem anymore. So our job right now is to help people with where they are at. And help them as they move forward to be as healthy as they can be."
Rates of type 2 diabetes and the conditions that lead to it—especially obesity—are skyrocketing everywhere. We are moving towards 650 million people around the globe developing diabetes, with Diabetes Canada saying about $75 million is spent each day on diabetes-related problems in Canada.
The current model for preventing and treating type 2 diabetes is not working, but with SciMar's help right here in Manitoba, there is hope for a brighter future for people living with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes everywhere.
To learn more, visit SciMar.ca.
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
There was an unveiling ceremony for a bronze bust of Dr. Vernon L. Watson outside of the Watson Art Centre on Thursday.
Deputy City Manager Lisa Gaudet says there were many people in attendance.
“Deputy Mayor Christian Laughland gave some opening remarks, MLA Brad Michaleski was attending, Yvonne Lilly the President of the Dauphin and District Allied Arts Council, we had Johnny Pacey providing music for the event, and Dr. Roger Watson - Dr. Vernon L. Watson’s son flew in from Calgary was in attendance with his son.”
Lisa adds that it was a pleasure to meet Dr. Roger Watson.
Peter Nadolny, coordinator for the Watson Art Centre says Dr. Vernon L. Watson wore many hats.
“He was a dentist, and I think he was on town council for a while. He founded the Dauphin and District Allied Arts Council 1972 and kind of took over the building from the city. It was City Hall for a while and I think it was going to get torn down. He kept it and made it into the arts facility that it is today.”
Yvonne Lilly, President of the Dauphin and District Allied Arts Council says this event was a joint organization with the City.
“Roger had the idea, the city was really excited about doing it, the bust of it that he got made was by the same person who did all of the other ones in town here.”
The bust was cast by Studio West in Cochrane, Alberta.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
The province announced Thursday that they would empower Manitobans to have their say on Manitoba Hydro rates through a public hearing rather than leaving the decision solely on the government.
Last year, the PC government and Brian Pallister decided to raise electricity rates by 2.9 percent, which bypassed the usual exercise of Hydro asking for a rate increase and then the Public Utilities Board having the final say.
Premier Kelvin Goertzen said Hydro would need to put forward its next rate request through the PUB.
"I think it's the desire of caucus and cabinet to see both the process happen through the PUB and to have some rate certainty for Manitobans going forward."
The last rate increase took effect in December 2020.
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative Party race is down to two candidates.
MLA Heather Stefanson and former Conservative MP Shelly Glover are the only names that will be on the ballot for the Conservative leadership race.
The winner of the race will end up being the First Female Premier of Manitoba.
Former PC Chief Financial Officer Ken Lee intended to run for the leadership but didn’t make it through the party’s screening process.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Health Canada has approved both the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for people aged 12 and older, and they also changed the names of the vaccines.
Both vaccines were first given approval for use a month ago however, that go-ahead was only temporary and was only allowed to quickly roll out the vaccines to try to slow the spread of COVID-19.
But today, that temporary order became permanent as Health Canada approved both vaccines for use in all people aged 12 and older.
With the thumbs up for these vaccines, Health Canada also changed the names of both vaccines in the process.
Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine will now be known as “Comirnaty”, Moderna will now be called “Spikevax”, and AstraZeneca’s will be called “Vaxzevria.”
Over 84 percent of Canadians over the age of 12 have received at least one COVID-19 shot, and over 77 percent of eligible Canadians are now fully vaccinated.
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Premier Kelvin Goertzen made a few announcements at a press conference this morning.
The third session of the 42nd legislature reconvenes on October 6th at 1:30 p.m.
Goertzen announced that five bills, including bill 64 will be withdrawn when they reconvene.
“As well on that day, bits of the Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act will be tabled. Looking and hoping to pass Bill 72 which is the Disability Support Act which is brought forward by Deputy Premier Rochelle Squires, so looking for support from the opposition to pass that.”
Also announced, was that a meeting between all premiers that was supposed to take place in Winnipeg in early October will now be virtual, and hosted by BC instead of Manitoba.
Goertzen didn't make any announcements related to the Progressive Conservative leadership race after yesterday's deadline passed.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
