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In Manitoba, it’s up to individual First Nations communities to decide how they approach the school year for on-reserve schools.
Lake Manitoba First Nation, along with Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation and Lake St. Martin First Nation, will keep schools closed to start the year and provide remote learning virtually and via take-home packages.
Pinaymootang First Nation and Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation have decided to delay the start of school but plan to welcome students back on a staggered schedule later in September.
The schools in Bloodvein, Brokenhead, Dakota Plains, Dakota Tipi, Fox Lake Cree Nation and York Factory will be opening on September 8th.
Most schools are adopting a model similar to that of the DRCSS, where half of the students will attend class two days a week and work remotely at home for two days a week. The difference here is some schools on reserves will be closing on Fridays for deep cleaning, whereas for the DRCSS, Fridays are designated as follow up/administration time for teachers to contact students and have preparation time.
One problem facing schools on First Nations is that most only go up to grade 8 or 9, so high school students have to travel off-reserve and that worries some parents.
Masks and personal protective equipment will be supplied for all students and staff by the Manitoba First Nation School System. Physical distancing guidelines and enhanced cleaning protocols will be in place.
If a staff member or student were to test positive for COVID-19, there’s a possibility of a temporary shut down for the school until everyone has been tested, isn’t showing symptoms, and the school has had a deep clean.
There has yet to be a confirmed case of COVID-19 on a Manitoba First Nation.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Parents and teachers who are against the province's plan to re-open schools next month are holding multiple rallies in Brandon today.
A group called “Safe September Brandon “is holding the protests in hopes to have more health measures implemented in schools, before their reopening.
The protests began at 9:00 a.m. Thursday morning at City Hall, and a second rally will be taking place at around 3:45 p.m. at the school division offices.
While the Prairie Mountain Health region is currently under level orange restrictions, schools in the region are still allowed to reopen on September 8th.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
Some temporary service interruptions are in store for Roblin, with diagnostic services being temporarily consolidated at the Russell Health Centre.
The change, set to take effect September 1st, is in response to “staff vacancies” in the area, according to a Shared Health spokesperson.
The spokesperson also stated that the vacant positions are a result of retirements, resignations, and maternity leaves — and that recruitment to fill these positions is ongoing.
In the meantime, officials are focusing on maintaining as many services as possible during the staff shortage.
ECG exams and phlebotomy (i.e. lab sample collection, including blood samples) will continue to occur in Roblin, with testing occurring off-site.
The Roblin District Health Centre is also dealing with interruptions of emergency department services, which a Shared Health spokesperson says is due to human resource shortages in various areas, including diagnostics and physician/primary care.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
Manitoba has gained 25 new cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the provincial total to 1,043.
Eight of the 25 new cases today are in the Prairie Mountain Health region, with none in the Dauphin health district.
The total number of cases in Dauphin remains at 7, all of which are recovered.
Officials are advising of a potential COVID-19 exposure in Wasagaming, at the Foxtail Café from August 14th to 17th. Officials say that transmission remains low, and information is being given to help people assess their risk and seek testing if symptoms appear.
At this time, 8 people are in the hospital because of the virus, with one person in intensive care.
There are 408 active cases and 662 people have recovered.
For more information about COVID-19, click here.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced yesterday morning, that the federal government will be giving the provinces and territories $2 billion to help reopen schools safely.
An extra $112 million will be doled out to First Nations communities for schools on reserves.
The money will be divided up based on student population per capita.
The base amount given out will be $2 million and the rest of the money will be based on the number of 4 to 18-year-olds in the province or territory.
Manitoba is getting the 5th most in the country, $85.4 million.
Half of the money is going out now and the other half will be in December after the provinces and territories tell the government what worked.
The money can be used to buy extra personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, or even improving air ventilation and adapting learning spaces.
On Monday, Manitoba announced the creation of the Safe Schools fund, which totals $100 million meant to ensure safe and healthy learning environments in the fall.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The province is encouraging businesses to bring old and new employees back to work by enhancing its Back to Work program.
Businesses will be reimbursed 50 per-cent of wage costs up to $5,000 for every employee hired or re-hired between July 16th and October 31st.
The government announced they`re doubling the number of employees that are covered under the program, from 10 to 20. This boosts the maximum level of financial support available to employers from $50,000 to $100,000.
In order to be eligible, businesses can`t have funding from another government program. The application deadline is October 1st.
For more information about the Back to Work program, click here.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
The Member of Parliament for Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa says there’s an air of excitement in the Conservative Party of Canada following the election of new leader Erin O’Toole.
Dan Mazier tells CKDM he’d endorsed O’Toole throughout the leadership race “because he was, in my opinion, the best candidate.”
“I’ll have to admit that when Andrew Scheer stepped down, that sent our party into a particular direction that were kind of in purgatory until we had a leader. Having this done and put behind us in such a decisive vote, definitely sent us in a positive direction moving forward,” said Mazier.
Upwards of 175,000 Conservative party members cast a ballot in the election, in which O’Toole was announced as the winner in the early morning hours on Monday.
As the MP for the Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa riding, Mazier also serves as Deputy Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change, but says there could be some shuffles on the horizon with O’Toole starting to form his team around him in the leadership office.
“But he might leave a lot of us in the same positions too, so we don’t what the committees or shadow cabinet are going to look like. It’s a very exciting time, it’s like a whole new reset after an election.”
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
The City of Dauphin has postponed the Canada Day fireworks celebration again.
The City is citing the region's current situation for the postponement.
The fireworks would have been held on Sunday, September 6th, but the restricted level from the Pandemic Response System doesn’t allow for the celebration to proceed.
The City will continue to follow all provincial public health orders and guidelines and is looking forward to celebrating our national pride, history, and unity when it is safe to do so.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The potential for tornadoes was there yesterday afternoon and into the early evening.
From about 4-8 pm yesterday tornado watches were issued across southwestern Manitoba.
A tornado watch was in effect for Dauphin, Gilbert Plains, Grandview, Winnipegosis, and Wasagaming for a couple of hours, but the real potential for danger was with a storm near Roblin.
At 6:21 and lasting a little over an hour, Environment Canada issued a tornado warning in the Roblin area.
The storm, however, only brought a torrential downpour and no tornadoes were reported.
For the rest of the week, the forecast isn’t calling for any thunderstorms, but we could see some rain.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Some First Nations leaders in Manitoba are hoping to see the reinstatement of travel restrictions to the province’s northern communities.
Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) and Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) called for the province’s top health officials to reintroduce the travel restrictions that prevented Manitobans from travelling north of the 53rd parallel.
That travel restriction ended on June 26.
MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee says the call to reinstate the northern travel restriction is a proactive measure to minimize the spread of COVID-19, pointing out that northern communities’ access to primary health care “is not comparable to our neighbours in the south.”
The Fox Lake Cree Nation near Gillam went into lockdown following a positive COVID-19 test result in their community — making it the first positive test result in Northern Manitoba since April 6.
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- Contributed by 730 CKDM
UPDATE | At 6:41 p.m., the tornado warning for the Roblin area has been downgraded to a tornado watch.
A severe thunderstorm warning remains in effect for the area.
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UPDATE | At 6:21 p.m. Environment Canada issued a tornado warning for Roblin, including Makaroff Shortdale and Bield.
Meteorologists are tracking a severe thunderstorm that is possibly producing a tornado. Damaging winds, large hail and locally intense rainfall are also possible.
Doppler RADAR indicates rotation on a severe thunderstorm located 15 km southwest of Togo, SK, tracking to the southeast at 30 km/h.
The weather authority says this thunderstorm is possibly producing a tornado or may produce a tornado at any moment.
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4:05 p.m. | A tornado watch has been issued for the Virden and Souris area.
Environment Canada say scattered thunderstorms are expected to develop later this afternoon over southeastern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba. Some of these thunderstorms may produce a tornado.
There is also a tornado watch in effect for Yorkton.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
