Canada Reaches Vaccine Milestone

Canada has reached another vaccine milestone as more than 50 percent of Canadians who are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine have now been fully vaccinated.

50.06 percent of Canadians age 12 and up have received the required two doses in a vaccine series. This is equal to 44 percent of Canada's entire population.

Nearly 78.5 percent of Canadians age 12 and up have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

As of Tuesday morning, Canada has administered more than 16.7 million second shots and over 26.2 million first doses.

In Dauphin, walk-ins are taking place today and Wednesday, July 14th, at the Dauphin Supersite from 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Pfizer and Moderna doses will be available for all eligible individuals at the Brandon & Dauphin supersites.

Appointments can also be made online, or by calling 1-844-626-8222.

Details: Published: Jul 13, 2021 - 11:07 am

Last week a total of 57 Warnings and 15 tickets were issued in Manitoba for health order violations.

Nine $1,296 tickets were issued to individuals, four $298 tickets to people for not wearing a mask in an indoor public place, and two $5 thousand tickets to businesses.

Officials advise that eight of the nine $1,296 tickets issued to individuals were in relation to gatherings in private residences or outdoors.

Details: Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson; Published: Jul 13, 2021 - 10:15 am

There are 150 Pfizer walk-ins at the Russell vaccine clinic today, located at George P. Buleziuk Centre.

Youth 12-17 and first dose clients are given priority for the Pfizer vaccine.

Moderna is also being offered.

Walk-ins start at 11:30 a.m. and go until allotted doses are used.

Consent forms are required for both doses.

Details: Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson; Published: Jul 13, 2021 - 10:29 am

The province is now accepting applications for the Healthy Hire Manitoba Program.

The government says the program is designed to help private-sector employers reopen and encourage employees to get fully vaccinated.

Economic Development and Jobs Minister, Ralph Eichler says the government remains focused on getting all eligible Manitobans vaccinated as quickly and safely as possible.

“The goals of this program benefits employers, employees, and Manitobans alike as it encourages vaccination and helps to safely restart our economy as it increases staffing levels and brings more employees back to work to provide Manitobans with the goods and services they depend on.”

Under the Healthy Hire Manitoba Program, local employers can apply for up to $50 thousand in provincial support to help cover the wages of new employees who have been vaccinated, intend to be vaccinated, or are unable to be vaccinated.

Eligible employers will receive a grant equal to 50 percent of wages for a maximum of 10 employees, with a maximum of $5 thousand per employee. The wage support covers full pay periods for employees hired on or after June 10^th with the last pay period ending Oct. 15^th.

Details: Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson; Published: Jul 13, 2021 - 9:43 am

Dauphin City Council met in person on Monday night to discuss a few community topics.

One item on the agenda was COVID-19. Dauphin City Manager Sharla Griffiths said that there will be no changes to the operations of city facilities however, she says that the city is waiting for an update from the province:

“We are seeing changes being talked about from the province and so we do eagerly await any updates that we receive from the province in terms of being able to open up more or include more people in meetings or open up our public areas to more public people.”

Another topic of discussion was the Watson Art Centre. Dauphin & District Allied Arts Council approached the city regarding forming a committee involving representation from both sides with the purpose to discuss maintenance and renovation projects at the Watson Art Centre. Many of the projects are safety and accessibility related. Renovations are slated for 2022.

The last topic was regarding the former site of McKay Residential School at Pioneer Park. Community Minister of Dauphin Church of Christ, Brian Olson, approached the city requesting information about the land adjacent to the site, mainly Pioneer Park. With the recent findings and reporting’s of unmarked graves at several former residential schools across the country, Dauphin City Manager, Sharla Griffiths says that Olson is working with elders to gain more information on the history of the site:

“Mr. Olson is working with Elders of the First Nations in Treaty 2 Territory to proceed in searching the land of the former residential school.”

Last night’s meeting was live-streamed on YouTube. You can watch the meeting in full here.

The next Dauphin City Council meeting will take place on Monday, August 9.

Details: Published: Jul 13, 2021 - 5:03 am

In today’s COVID-19 news conference Manitoba’s top doctor talked about the online threats that he’s faced during the pandemic.

Dr. Brent Roussin says that he’s received many threats against him and his family, that he’s been in contact with security and the police about.

“There's been suspicious activity reported to me around my house, where I’ve been in contact with law enforcement.”

Roussin says the threats have increased over the third wave of the pandemic.

"I think email type threats or at least low-level threats were pretty common throughout all stages of the pandemic. So that was probably daily or at least weekly. During this third wave, things have been stretching out, so I've been getting more and more severe ones, ones that have been reported to me that people have seen in social media that have had some law enforcement involvement in it.”

Roussin said he hopes the threats decline as Manitoba starts to reopen.

Details: Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson; Published: Jul 12, 2021 - 8:11 pm

There’s a special air quality statement in effect for Dauphin and the surrounding area.

Environment Canada says there are numerous forest fires producing large quantities of smoke in areas east of Berens River and north of Kenora.

West winds developing later tonight are expected to push the smoke farther east, with most of it remaining on the Ontario side of the border through the overnight hours.

We could also being seeing smoke from the 206,017 hectare fire in the Rural Municipality of Grahamdale.

The fires are causing heavy smoke in areas, reducing visibility and causing poor air quality.

Details: Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson; Published: Jul 12, 2021 - 6:23 pm

This year’s extremely dry conditions have made it challenging for fruit growers in the province.

Angie Cormier, who’s an executive director with Prairie Fruit Growers Association, says there’s a small window to go to some ‘U-Pick’ sites this year.

“This has definitely been a challenging year for fruit growers, and keep in mind this is now the second summer that we’ve had drought conditions.”

Cormier adds that the demand for local fruit is very high this year, but the supply is very low.

“I think it started last year with COVID. People weren’t allowed to travel, so families and individuals were all looking for something to do. So with U Pick farms being open last year, it was something they could do as an outing.”

Fruit farms and local fruit producers can be found here.

Details: Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson; Published: Jul 12, 2021 - 12:16 pm

Many communities in Manitoba broke hot-weather records over the weekend.

Environment Canada had issued heat warnings for several parts of the province including Dauphin.

The weather agency is reporting that the following communities beat hot-weather records for July 11^th:

Swan River reached 34.9 C, passing its previous record of 32.3 C that was set in 2012
Fisher Branch set a new record of 35.3 C, beating its previous record of 35 C which was set in 2012
Deerwood reached 33.5 C, beating its previous hot-weather record of 33.3 C, set in 1957
Flin Flon hit a record temperature of 32.2 C. Its old record of 31.1 was set in 1939
Gimli experienced a record temperature of 34.8 C. Its previous of 34.3 C was set in 2012
Grand Rapids saw a record temperature of 34.2 C. Its previous record of 33.3 C was set in 2012
Oak Point set a new record of 31.8 C, beating its old hot-weather record set in 2012
Steinbach set a new record of 34.1 C, with its old record of 32.8 C set in 1957

In Dauphin, we could be seeing temperatures in the mid-thirties later this week.

Details: Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson; Published: Jul 12, 2021 - 9:21 am

Customers of Dauphin’s Co-op can expect to see their equity cheques in the mail soon.

Dauphin Co-op announced $1.27 million in cash-back to their member-owners, thanks to another successful year in 2020.

General Manager, Lorne Eiffert wants to thank members for their support in 2020.

"You can feel confident knowing that every single dollar our Co-op earns stays right here in your communities and goes back to your members. I am very pleased to announce cash-back to our members this year of over $1.2 million dollars and the cheques are in the mail!"

He adds that the support has helped Co-op invest in brand new facilities, and expand existing ones to serve customers better.

“In 2020, over $170 thousand was invested in community programs and initiatives. This investment betters the lives of our employees, you and your family and the communities we work and raise our families in.”

Those wanting to support local can take their cheque to Fusion Credit Union and exchange it for Chamber Bucks.

Anyone can become a Co-op member by signing up at any Co-op location, or online.