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The Manitoba Government is open to the idea of contracting the water bombers from the fire suppression services.
The government is looking at other alternative ways of providing the water bomber service because they are unsure if the best option is to own and operate their own fleet.
The provincial government is open to the idea because there could be a better way to use the water bombers and they won’t know if there’s a better way unless they allow people to make offers.
Brad Michaleski says the government is doing its job by looking at the possibility of contracting the water bombers from the fire suppression services.
Michaleski adds the most important thing is, whether the service comes from the province or a business, the service provider must meet the provincial requirements and provide the service expected.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Environment Canada is warning that five to ten centimetres of snow will fall in the Parkland.
A special weather statement is in effect for areas all over including Dauphin, Roblin, Russel, Gilbert Plains, Grandview, and the RM of Lakeshore.
A disturbance forecast is tracking across southern Saskatchewan and is expected to bring lots of snow to the southwestern part of Manitoba.
Periods of snow will start falling early this evening with around two to four cm and then around five cm is expected tomorrow.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
The City of Dauphin is planning to increase compensation rates for council members.
At their most recent council meeting council gave first reading to a bylaw increasing their pay.
Mayor Dowhan is set to be paid $2,581.00 a month as well as reimbursement of nominal out-of-pocket expenses while doing the duties of mayor.
The Deputy Mayor will be paid a monthly compensation of $1,176.00 and councillors are set to be paid $1,023 a month, plus reimbursement to things paid out of pocket for doing the job.
Also, municipal officials are eligible to receive $28 per hour, to a maximum of $140 for each hour actually spent representing the City at meetings for boards and committees.
If anyone on council is absent for more than six meetings of council, which includes regular and special council meetings and Planning and Priorities Committee meetings in one calendar year, they will be subject to a loss of $140 for each subsequent absence of the three meetings.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
After a 53-25 senate vote in favour of back-to-work legislation, Canada Post employees will return to work today starting at 11 this morning.
What happens next is Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) will negotiate using an independant mediator-arbitrator whom will be chosen with input from both sides. If an agreement is not reached after a certain amount of time, a deal will then be imposed on both sides.
Officials with CUPW say it's unconstitutional to legislate away their ability to be on strike. They say they will challenge the back-to-work legislation in court.
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- Contributed by Alec Woolston
The MVSD has a full cast of trustees now.
Floyd Martens has been named the second Ward 1 trustee for the Mountain View School Division.
He has many years of experience being president of the Manitoba School Board Association as well as the president of the Canadian School Board Association.
There were two other people in the running but Martens was ultimately voted in by the rest of the trustees.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
City of Dauphin representatives are attending the 20th Association of Manitoba Municipalities convention.
The three days are some of the best times to speak face to face with provincial ministers.
“The premier and all the ministers will be in attendance, where we get to ask ministers firsthand the questions, and they respond to us. Joe Massey, of the AMM, said that as far as he understood, this is the only entity, in Manitoba, that gets access to all ministers at our conference.”
Sharla Griffiths shares some of the more significant topics she expects will get covered.
“I think there’s going to be some infrastructure funding programs that are going to be covered. As well as a code of conduct and speaking to council member’s actions. “
Dozens of municipalities from across the province have sponsored a resolution calling for Manitoba Municipal Relations to undo changes to its road and bridge program.
Speaking about day one, “It has been great! We had three council members come into the new council members orientation. I attended it as well as our deputy city manager.”
Some of the breakout sessions during the convention are on the Traffic and Transportation Modernization and the Sustainable Watersheds Act: An update on the New Streamlined Process to Provincial Drainage Approvals and the Evolution of Conservation Districts into Watershed Districts.
The RM of Dauphin is putting forward a resolution that asks the province to enhance rural transportation programs for seniors and the mobility disadvantaged, and tie funding to inflation.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
Concerned individuals worried about the effects of climate change came together over the weekend to discuss the problem.
They held a meeting in the Watson Art Centre on Sunday.
“I just find it so interesting that so little is said about the solutions to climate change. Climate change is science, it’s fact, it’s coming. It’s coming fast, and it will mean big changes to our lives. It’s already costing the economy, I think they said 5 percent to fix up the floods and the damage from the wildfires, and all that. We just think we should be proactive. Our government should be proactive in turning those costs towards mitigation before the damage happens.”
Kate Storey, an organic farmer around Dauphin, organized the meeting and says the trend is towards a cleaner economy led by urban youth.
“We see a lot of change coming in the consumer goods that we buy. Right now, the short warranties, things wear out. You would think that governments would be starting to improve consumer standards or manufacturing standards so that things would last longer. That would be a really simple way to reduce our use of resources and save on the pollution.”
Storey hopes to organize another meeting to discuss climate change sometime early in the New Year.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
Being on the ice right now could lead to a situation where you fall in.
Christopher Love, Water Smart coordinator for the lifesaving society Manitoba Branch, says if you are near the water you should have a water safety plan that should include taking a friend, keeping children within an arm’s length, and alcohol or other intoxicants are huge factors in drowning deaths in Manitoba.
Brian Kotak, managing director of the Manitoba Wildlife Federation, says it’s a good idea to have an emergency kit when ice fishing or hunting. The kit should include a waterproof bag with something to start a fire such as a match or lighter, a signalling device in case a search team is looking for you such as a mirror, and a blanket or something to keep warm.
Love says the top 3 activities people are involved in before drowning are land, ice, or air transportation, the second one is boating, and the third is non-aquatic. All three categories have people that are not intending on getting in the water.
Those three categories cover 70 percent of drowning deaths in Manitoba.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The City of Dauphin is removing 88 Elm Trees this year.
The city is contacting Brandon Busy Beaver Services, of Brandon, with a bid of $30,450.00 to complete the work.
The contracted company has until March 4th to remove and properly dispose of them.
Manitoba Sustainable Development identified the diseased trees.
This year’s numbers are down from 95 trees cut down last year.
In 2017 50 trees were removed in the city.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
There is a Christmas tree at the Dauphin Market Place Mall for the Angel Tree.
Each angel on the Angel Tree represents a child, people can pick from the tree to buy a Christmas gift for the child.
They are looking for any kind of gift for any gender and age. They are accepting monetary donations as well.
They are also looking for more volunteers. You can call the Dauphin Friendship Centre to sign up if you would like.
Robin Gambler, the coordinator of Angel Tree, says Angel Tree is going on until December 16th.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Roads are being brought up during the Association of Manitoba Municipalities annual convention.
“The one that has been the most hot topic is the elimination of the municipal roads and bridge program. A lot of municipalities relied on the funding that was provided by that. Now the government is switching to a federal program.
There hasn’t been a lot of details provided on that yet. So there is a little bit of hesitation from a lot of municipals as to what does this mean. But the AMM has presented a resolution on that as well. So, we’re hoping that we will be able to get some answers and hopefully the new program will suffice.”
Nicole Chychota says this is an excellent opportunity for our representatives to network and get a better understanding of what others are doing in their own areas. Using what they learned, they'll take the information back and see how they can improve things here at home.
“We’ve been preparing for the last few weeks. Looking into what is going to be discussed at the convention. We’ve had input from our local fire department on our resolution that’s being presented as well. So, we’re a little bit informed on their opinion on the matter. “
The convention takes place over the next three days in Winnipeg.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
