Election Profile List

Citing "decades of mismanagement" of the commercial fishing industry, the Manitoba Wildlife Federation says that certain fish species in Lake Winnipeg are on the brink of extinction.

Brian Kotak, the managing director of the federation says current commercial fishing policies aren't based on science, and that harvest levels are unsustainable.

The current system encourages heavy fishing pressure on whichever species is most in demand, which has meant a strong focus on Walleye for many years, leading to declining catches, and more small, immature walleye being caught over the years.

The wildlife federation says things can be turned around if the quota system is done away with, in favour of a flexible, science-based system where harvest depends on the state of the fishery.

Anglers have noticed the changes too. “Anglers still catch some large walleye on Lake Winnipeg but they are fewer and far between,” says Don Lamont, one of Manitoba’s most noted anglers. “Sauger have really taken it on the chin as well. The number of Master Angler size sauger has plummeted over the last two decades. In fact, there were no Master Angler sauger registered in 2017 and only two in 2016 from the Red River.”

These problems don't bode well for the jobs that rely on it or the provincial economy.

The MWF and its partners recently commissioned a study, conducted by Probe Research, on the economic impact of the recreational fishery for walleye on Lake Winnipeg. Over the last two years, there was $221 million in direct spending by anglers, adding $102 million to the province’s GDP, $44 million in wages, supporting more than 1,500 person-years of employment, and contributing $52 million in taxes. That’s just for one species and one lake.

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Oct 23, 2018 - 9:52 am

Michelle Gawronsky was elected to her 4th term as MGEU President.

Over the weekend the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union held its 65th biennial convention.

Gawronsly has been the president of the union since 2012.

The new officers are:

 1st Vice President – Charlotte McWilliams, Brandon

 2nd Vice President – Douglas Troke, Boissevain

 3rd Vice President – Shelley Wiggins, Minitonas

 4th Vice President – Ed Miller, Portage La Prairie

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Oct 23, 2018 - 9:19 am

The Town of Swan River could see disruptions to garbage collection and rec services as town employees prepare for strike action.

On October 16th employees nearly voted unanimous for a strike.

After months of delay, the Town demanded that employees take concessions that would include giving up some of their statutory holidays.

CUPE Local 851 represents most inside and outside workers including staff that work in: city hall, billing, the water treatment plant, road repair, snow removal, garbage collection, and the Richardson Recreation and Wellness Centre.

“While CUPE does not bargain through the media, I thought that citizens of Swan River deserved to know that there could be a strike following the municipal election if issues are not resolved,” said Paul Klein, President of CUPE 851, “residents have a right to know that when they go to the polls.”

A strike could mean disruptions to garbage collection, recreation services, among other frontline service disruptions.

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Oct 23, 2018 - 5:03 am

Dauphin’s MRI is being installed today.

Crews started lifting the machine into its room around the noon hour.

Petr Kresta, the Chief Operating Officer of Diagnostics for Shared Health, explains what happens after it's put in the room.

“The machine has quite a number of connections that have to be made to the physical infrastructure of the building that has been purpose built to house the MRI. So that’s going to take a number of weeks. Then there are inspections that have to be made to make sure that the MRI is working appropriately and because it is a very sophisticated piece of equipment that testing takes some time.”

“Assuming that there are no problems that have been created during shipping or otherwise the machine is working perfectly, then we anticipate we would begin operations of the MRI in early December.”

Kresta says there are currently two MRI technologists in Dauphin that are trained to use the machine with a third being recruited right now.

He talks about something everyone should know about the new machine.

“It’s important to understand that the MRI is a very powerful magnet. While it is safe for most patients, there are very specific safety precautions that are needed. That’s one of the things the MRI technologists learn when they take their MRI specific training.”

“So it’s really important that anyone who goes near the MRI, whether it’s a patient, a firefighter, a housekeeper, a maintenance person, that they respect the rules that are applied, and that the rules are there for very specific reasons to maintain everyone’s’ safety.

He says it’s not like other pieces of equipment that are quiet when they sit there. The MRI is constantly a very powerful magnet.

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Oct 22, 2018 - 3:08 pm

Everyone is safe after a Dauphin home went up in flames early this morning.

Around 5:30 the Dauphin Fire Department was called to the 100 block of 2nd Avenue South West.

The fire had extended from the main floor to the second floor and firefighters worked to get the flames under control and to prevent the fire from spreading to the neighbouring homes.

Crews stayed at the scene for around 3 hours to make sure the fire was completely extinguished.

Everyone was able to escape the home and there was no one left inside.

The fire remains under investigation.

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Oct 22, 2018 - 10:18 am

The province Is making it easy for people to voice their opinion during Manitoba’s pre-budget consultations.

There are no budget consultations scheduled for the Parkland, so everyone here is encouraged to go online and fill out a survey.

The survey seeks feedback from Manitobans on several topics including balancing the budget, sustaining healthcare and funding education.

You’re able to adjust the budget for items like income tax, the retail sales tax and other revenues, as well as adjust spending on health, education, public safety and other key areas of government. The interactive feature then uses the responses to build a budget based on the participant’s priorities.

You can find the link to the Budget 2019 survey by going here.

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Oct 22, 2018 - 10:03 am

Riding Mountain National Park is following provincial laws when it comes to pot use.

Here are the rules around where you can’t use cannabis:

Public consumption (including Day Use Areas): cannabis consumption is not permitted in day-use areas.
Campgrounds: In Parks Canada campgrounds, cannabis consumption will be limited to campsites as they are considered temporary residences. Therefore, cannabis consumption will not be allowed in shared public spaces within campgrounds (i.e. kitchen shelters, washrooms, trails, roads or anywhere else outside a person's campsite).
Trails: cannabis consumption is not permitted on trails.
Playgrounds: cannabis consumption is not permitted near playgrounds.
Parks Canada accommodations (oTENTiks, Yurt, micrOcube, Cairns Cabin): cannabis consumption is not permitted inside of Parks Canada accommodations.

For more information click here.

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Oct 22, 2018 - 9:20 am

The Dauphin Knights of Columbus have to make some big changes to their Christmas activities.

Grand Knight Lloyd Hudson explains what’s going on.

“In past years we’ve always had activities at the arena. Free skating, we’ve provided a movie, sleigh rides. We’ve had a team of horses; gentlemen come in with a team of horses and give sleigh rides to the kids. We just don’t have the volunteers to do that anymore, so we’re scaling back. And we always had Santa at the area as our guest, and he was there from about 1 till about 3:30. This year we’ve had to scale that back because of a shortage of volunteers.”

He shares what’s going to take place this year.

“We’re going to do, at the hall, as much as we can, our own hall at 101 11th Avenue Southwest. We’re going to have Santa there from 1 to 3, and we will be handing out goodies to the kids and oranges and things like that.”

“We will still take care of the organization of the Parade of Lights. The Christmas Parade of Lights that we are not scaling back at all. We hope to get as many floats in as possible. “

Age of the volunteers and the people who organize it is the main reason for the changes. Hudson says most of the members are in their 80s and organizing so many events is too much.

Deputy Grand Knight Ken Yakielashek hopes other groups around town can help put on these events.

“We’re kind of hoping that maybe the Chamber of Commerce can step in and take that up or even the City of Dauphin, most of that is their property anyway, the recreation commission. They can step in and take that up if they so think.”

Hudson says the knights are more than willing to help give guidance on running the events if someone is willing to take it on.

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Oct 22, 2018 - 5:01 am

Human remains have been found on the Ebb and Flow First Nation.

The RCMP were called to the area yesterday around 5 in the evening.

Officers secured the area and currently remain on the scene.

At this time, it's believed these are historical remains and not related to the missing Dwayne Lavallee missing person case.

The investigation is ongoing with assistance from Forensic Identification Services, Major Crime Services and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.