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UPDATE-----The University of Manitoba Faculty Association (UMFA) has now set a strike deadline, as they push for salaries more in line with other universities in Canada.
UMFA announced on Friday that they are setting a bargaining deadline of October 31st and a strike deadline of November 2nd.
This news follows union members authorizing a strike vote earlier this month.
UMFA says they have the support of the University of Manitoba Students’ Union.
The Faculty Association represents more than 1,200 professors, instructors and librarians at the University.
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
Dauphin's Friendship Centre (DFC) will be hosting its annual Halloween zombie walk next Saturday,
The doors open at 5:30 pm, and the walk will begin at 6 pm as ghosts and goblins come to play on October's second last day.
Youth worker for the DFC, Zabrina Nolan, briefs us on the Halloween themed night adventure,
"We'll go out and do a short walk as weather permits, and then we'll come back, do some draws for prizes, have some hot dogs and pop, all youth will leave with a treat bag."
Zabrina, who is new to the city, says she is very excited to host this event as one of her first activities as a part of the DFC.
Nolan noted that even though it's called a zombie walk, all costumes are welcome.
Those wishing to attend must have proof of double vaccination.
For information about having a safe Halloween while being mindful of COVID-19, click here to see what the government of Manitoba suggests.
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
The Manitoba government released new data today regarding illegal hunting activity caught by conservation officers.
Swan River made quite a few appearances in the update,
On Oct. 16th, a Swan River conservation officer was patrolling in the Duck Mountain Provincial Forest.
The officer found two males on an ATV who said they were hunting deer. An inspection found that one of the male's firearms was loaded.
A man was issued a $486 ticket for possessing a loaded firearm in a wildlife refuge.
On Oct. 3rd, conservation officers in the Riverton District received a tip about two individuals driving on private property without permission and shooting at geese.
Two hunters were seen heading west on Provincial Trunk Highway 68 toward Arborg.
The witness noted a Minnesota licence plate and followed the truck to a residence north of Arborg.
Two hunters were charged and fined $486 for hunting on private property without permission under the Wildlife Act.
They also received an additional fine of $390 for hunting a migratory bird from a motorized vehicle.
Both charges include a one-year suspension from big game, migratory bird and game bird licences upon conviction.
On Sept. 19th, conservation officers patrolling Provincial Trunk Highway 83, south of Swan River, near the Saskatchewan border, saw a truck travelling north with a large set of moose antlers visible in the back of the truck.
Officers stopped the vehicle and learned the moose had been harvested in Saskatchewan, and while the meat was correctly processed, the head was still attached to the antlers.
It is currently illegal to bring unprocessed deer, elk, moose or caribou into Manitoba.
The head and antlers were seized, the male was given a ticket but allowed to keep the meat.
And in early September, Swan River conservation officers acted on a tip about someone hunting on private land without permission in the R.M. of Swan Valley West.
Local RCMP had also reported seeing a male possessing an elk head and elk parts in the same area.
The individual, currently under a big game licence suspension, admitted to an officer that he had shot the elk.
Conservation officers, along with RCMP, executed a search warrant at the individual's property and seized the elk parts. Two men were issued appearance notices for court.
The province advises that conservation officers continue enforcement to protect Manitoba's natural resources.
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
There is another confirmed case of COVID-19 at a Dauphin school.
This time, the confirmed case was at Barker School. The person was at the school on October 19 in the kindergarten classroom during the infectious period.
Close contacts have been identified and advised to self-isolate.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Employees who work for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries will either have to provide proof of full vaccination or take part in rapid testing early next year.
The Crown corporation made the announcement and the policy will come into effect on January 10, 2022.
This follows an announcement from the Manitoba government back at the end of August that stated certain designated provincial employees would be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo regular testing.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Rotary Radio Week wraps up today with featured member Clayton Swanton.
Swanton, who has been a member for over a decade, says being a part of the Rotary Club is all about doing good for the community while surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals.
Swanton touched on the rotary club's involvement with active living,
"We had made a decision to support active living initiatives in Dauphin and just changed the culture a little bit about the way active living is perceived and how it's funded. A group of Rotarians had started what was the Manitoba Mud Run a number of years ago, made some decisions at that time that funds raised from that would be earmarked specifically for active living projects in Dauphin. And it really snowballed from there, and from the mud run, we also created a number of other events, and it ended up becoming what's now called Race RMNP and just a number of active living events that are hosted around Riding Mountain National Park. We have a 50 km trail run, an adventure race, a snowshoe run and now just this last year we took over the Riding Mountain half marathon."
Swanton further explained about the Rotary's involvement with active living,
"All the money raised from that goes back to the Rotary Club, and the Rotary Club dictates what active living projects its supports with those funds."
This concludes the Rotary Radio Week interviews with Rotarians, CKDM thanks everyone who made these features such a success.
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
MPI says since 2011, teen drivers have been involved in 10 percent of fatal collisions.
Media Relations Coordinator for MPI, Brian Smiley, says some teen drivers need to look in the mirror and reflect on the changes they need to make to keep our roads safe,
"This week has been the launch of national teen safety driving week, and we certainly can recognize the importance of our young drivers having a safe driving foundation. But having said that, it's important that all teen drivers out there, especially in the Dauphin and Parkland region, just self-evaluate your driving. If you tend to be speeding and tailgating, not using your seatbelt, those are high-risk driving behaviours that you need to adjust."
According to Manitoba collision statistics, teen drivers are:
- 3.4 times more likely to follow too closely than drivers aged 45 and older.
- 4.3 times more likely to speed than drivers aged 45 and older.
- 5.2 times more likely to lose control/drive off-road than drivers aged 45 and older.
- 6.8 times more likely to experience extreme fatigue or fall asleep behind the wheel than drivers aged 45 and older.
- 4.2 times more likely to drive impaired than drivers aged 45 and older.
Parachute Canada organizes National Teen Driver Safety Week; they say it's a good time for all teen drivers in the province to evaluate their driving behaviours and help reduce collisions.
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
Lundar RCMP continue to investigate after they responded to a report of an armed robbery at a gas station located on Highway 6 in St. Laurent.
Two males and one female entered the store on October 18 at about 10:50 a.m., grabbed several bottles of liquor and pointed a firearm at the employee as they walked out. The suspects were then seen a short time later walking towards the school where they were picked up in a vehicle.
Shortly after at 11:40 a.m., the suspect vehicle was spotted at the intersection of Highway 6 and Highway 101 and the vehicle was stopped by officers from the Emergency Response Team who were coming from St. Laurent to provide assistance.
A search of the vehicle led to the seizure of the firearm, which was identified as an airsoft gun, as well as several knives, a machete and the stolen liquor.
A 40-year-old female passenger, who was found in an unconscious state in the vehicle, was taken to hospital where she remains in stable condition.
RCMP have charged the following individuals in relation to this incident with Robbery and numerous weapons-related offences;
1) Wendy Cook, 42-years of age from Winnipeg, was remanded into custody.
2) Nathan Sumner, 24-years of age from Little Saskatchewan, was remanded into custody.
3) Mark Holden, 24-years-of age from Lundar, was released from custody. He will be appearing in court in Lundar on December 16, 2021.
4) Vanessa McKenzie, 34-years of age from Lake St Martin, was released from custody. She will be appearing in court in Lundar on December 16, 2021.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
The state of emergency that the province has been under for over a year expired yesterday afternoon.
Yesterday, the news came down in a press release from premier Kelvin Goertzen and Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler.
Goertzen said that while the state of emergency is coming to an end, that doesn't mean Manitobans should stop following suggested public health guidelines,
“Nineteen months ago we declared a state of emergency to help protect the physical and financial health and safety of all Manitobans and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our hospitals and in our communities. As we continue to move toward a post-pandemic Manitoba, we want to remind everyone, although the state of emergency is expiring, COVID-19 is still here. With vaccination rates among the highest in the country with over 82 percent of eligible Manitobans fully vaccinated, we can help control COVID, but it’s important that all Manitobans continue to follow the fundamentals that help us limit our risks"
The state of emergency was first declared on March 20, 2020, by the powers of the Emergency Measures Act.
The province noted in the release that they still retain the right to declare a new state of emergency if required in the future.
Public health orders are still in effect and can continue to be issued through the Public Health Act without a provincewide state of emergency.
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
As of Saturday, October 23rd, the CRB (Canada Recovery Benefit) will expire.
It will be replaced by the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit which will provide $300 a week to workers who have been affected by lockdowns due to COVID-19. The new benefit will also extend to those ineligible for Employment Insurance benefits.
Other benefit programs that will come to an end as of Saturday are the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS).
The Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) and the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) have been extended to May 2022.
So far, more than 27 billion dollars has been paid out in income support for Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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- Contributed by Alec Woolston
The number of vacant positions at the Dauphin Regional Health Centre has taken somewhat of a dramatic spike over the past two years.
Two years ago, the vacancy for nurses was at about 20 percent. Today, the vacancy is at about 33 percent. During the same period, the vacancy for healthcare aides has gone from 20 percent to 33 percent.
Brian Schoonbaert, CEO of Prairie Mountain Health says this is a concern and that they, at times, have had to limit the number of beds they use for patients.
"We have had issues in Dauphin recruiting and really throughout the PMH region," said Schoonbaert. "With that said, we also know Winnipeg is having the same problem with a vacancy rate of about 20 percent."
The province is taking a proactive approach to try and improve the numbers by adding hundreds of seats to nursing courses in the province. This means that if you have an interest in becoming a nurse or health care aide, now could be a good time to get more information about it.
The second-largest facility in the PMH region, Schoonbaert says Dauphin has had many nurses and health care aides working overtime and they also use agency workers because it's needed at times to provide the best possible care for patients. He also says Dauphin has a very stable physician workforce.
"We expect these numbers to improve over the next couple of months, there's no doubt about that," said Schoonbaert. "We must do everything we can to make sure that all the services that need to be delivered can be delivered."
Brian also says communities should be doing a better job of attracting local workers. In Dauphin at Assiniboine Community College, practical nursing is a course that is offered. A comprehensive health care aide course is also offered.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
