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The Manitoba PC Caucus released a statement today to recognize and thank outgoing Premier Brian Pallister for his leadership and dedication to serving Manitobans.
Caucus Chair Greg Nesbitt had this to say about Pallister:
“Since forming government in 2016, Premier Pallister has championed historic achievements to re-build the economy while fixing the finances and repairing services across our province. On behalf of the entire PC Caucus, I wish Premier Pallister and this family all the best as in their future endeavours.”
The PC caucus then went on to say that Premier Pallister has made significant progress in improving the province’s fiscal position. Under his leadership, the province balanced the budget for the first time in 11 years while reducing taxes and investing more than ever before in front-line services. This was achieved by bending the cost curve, trimming top-heavy administrative costs and ensuring value for taxpayer dollars in procurement practices. This was done while lowering the tax burden on every working person and family, more than any other province, to keep making life affordable for Manitobans. He reduced the PST by 1% while having it removed from home insurance, wills and tax services. He began the elimination of education tax on property with a 25% reduction on residential and farm and 10% on commercial properties, providing nearly $250 million in education property tax rebates.
The PC's finished things off by saying that under Premier Pallister’s leadership, the province has made significant progress in cleaning up the mess left by the former NDP administration. Manitoba is well-positioned to springboard into a stronger economic future with even greater social progress moving forward. His efforts will benefit the people of Manitoba for years to come.
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Today Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler announced that the government and the Town of Swan River are working together to resurface Main Street.
Schuler says the government has committed to working with municipalities across the province to build and maintain sustainable infrastructure.
“Main Street between the CN rail crossing and Centennial Drive needed improvements to the underground storm sewer system, which the town completed in 2020, and now the highway needs to be resurfaced with new asphalt pavement.”
Mayor Lance Jacobson says the partnership agreement between the town and province is a testament to the commitment of the community’s provincial and municipal leaders.
Work is currently underway and is expected to be complete by the end of the summer construction season.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Last night, Mountain View School Division had its Regular Board Meeting.
One of the first things discussed was COVID funding, which was approved by the board.
In May, Manitoba Education notified school divisions that $40 million would be allocated to divisions on a per-pupil basis, $615,114 of which was given to Mountain View School Division.
The division also received $83,713 from the Safe Schools Fund.
The proposed plan is for this additional funding to be broken down into the following areas:
- $400 thousand for additional instructional staff
- $214 thousand for operations maintenance
- $11 thousand for summer programming
- $25 thousand for early years speech-language support
- $8 thousand for professional development
- $40 thousand for youth support workers
COVID-19 protocols were also discussed, such as cohorts, and immunization and testing requirements.
The next regular board meeting is scheduled for September 13th.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Dauphin’s Senior Centre is offering to take some of the stress off seniors by helping with the process of applying for a vaccine card.
Kim Armstrong, Administrator and Program Coordinator at the Dauphin Multi-Purpose Senior Centre says they’re happy to offer any help that they’re able to.
“We’re absolutely here to help seniors get through this process, as difficult as it is. Especially for individuals who don’t have a computer or don’t even have an email address, we’re trying to help them out with that.”
Kim wants people to know that if they need help, the centre is there to help out.
“We certainly don’t mind making phone calls so that we can organize the government to support them however they need to with regards to these vaccination cards.”
Seniors who need assistance can call the Senior Centre at 204-638-6485, or visit the centre in person.
All vaccinated Manitobans will need physical or digital vaccination cards by Friday, September 3rd to be able to participate in certain events.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
In one of his last days as Premier, Brian Pallister announced gifts of nearly $260 thousand that will endow two new scholarships at Brandon University, and increase the value of existing scholarships he had previously endowed.
Pallister says he was raised with the strong belief that a quality education is essential to building a successful and prosperous future.
“I am thankful for the scholarships I received that allowed me to obtain a post-secondary education and even more thankful that our family can pay it forward to ensure more students are able to benefit from this additional assistance.”
One of the new scholarships will benefit male student-athletes, mirroring an existing scholarship that Pallister had established in 2014 to benefit female student-athletes.
The other new scholarship will benefit students who are coming to BU to finish a joint program with Assiniboine Community College.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Individuals who do not have a Manitoba health card can now request a Manitoba immunization card if they meet the following requirements:
• have received two doses of Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, with the final dose more than 14 days ago; and
• have submitted proof of any COVID vaccination(s) received outside of Manitoba to public health, and the data has been recorded in the system.
Individuals can call 1-844-MAN-VACC (1-844-626-8222) to speak with an agent, who will provide a client identification number for the digital version of the card. The agent can also request a physical card on behalf of callers.
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A woman has been arrested after allegedly driving impaired and hitting a pole and taxi with her vehicle.
On August 28th at 11:30 a.m., officers received a call of a possible impaired driver on Main Street.
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Mountain View School Division is holding its Regular Board Meeting tonight at 7:00 p.m.
A few things on the agenda include delegations, the CEO Report, and information from the finance committee.
The meeting is to be live-streamed on their website.
730 CKDM will be watching and will provide information about what happens in the meeting tomorrow.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Premier Brian Pallister is stepping down Wednesday morning, according to a statement he put out this morning.
In his statement, he says he has informed lieutenant-governor Janice C. Filmon that his resignation is effective at 8:00 a.m., Wednesday, September 1st.
“I am resigning at this time to ensure the election of my successor can continue to take place free of any perception of any influence from the Office of the Premier.”
Pallister ended his statement by saying that being Manitoba’s 22nd premier was the greatest honour of his life and that he’s optimistic about the province’s future.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
The Brandon Flight Centre has taken flight to the Parkland.
The Aviation School is now offering commercial flight training at the Dauphin Airport, the furthest north the program has ever gone.
CKDM caught up with two employees, Jill Borreson and Samantha Friesen, from the flight centre to chat about this program's presence in the city.
Jillian Borreson, the Student Services Coordinator, spoke about how the program made its way to Dauphin and when they will launch their official opening;
"In January, the city of Dauphin reached out and asked if we would be interested in starting a flight training unit up at the municipal airport to try and revitalize the aviation community here in Dauphin. It was a perfect opportunity for us. We were looking to expand, and we've been tickled pink with the reaction from the community. Everyone has been very welcoming. We started flight training on the 6th of August and just doing a soft launch. We're hoping to have the whole community out September 11th to celebrate a grand opening."
Samantha Friesen, Assistant Manager of the Flight Centre, talks about a unique opportunity taking place during their grand opening and a scholarship fund in the works;
"We will have some planes up at the airport for taking flights only $20 a person will get you a ride around Dauphin. We're also hoping to have a bit of a fundraiser to start a scholarship fund for Dauphin and Parkland area students."
Borreson and Friesen noted that the school is a non-profit organization, citing that all of the funds raised from their programs go towards their student's training.
The Flight Centre, founded in 1936, was a part of the commonwealth air training program briefly during WW2 and has been in civil aviation ever since.
For more information, you can visit their website here or visit their Facebook here.
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
Last Wednesday the Dauphin Fire Department got together to recognize the achievements of some of their members.
A semi-formal awards ceremony was held at the fire station.
Fire Chief Cam Abrey says that there’s usually a presentation to acknowledge their members either at the Firefighters ball, or the Council appreciation Dinner.
“We try to take advantage of those two events to do any kind of presentation, but due to the COVID restrictions, we haven’t been able to do anything since 2020. So last night was our opportunity to play catch up on some of these awards.”
Many crew members had to wait a while to receive their recognition because of the pandemic.
“Most of these awards and recognitions are from 2020. The 2021 recipients would have been the Level 1 students who received their badges.”
Badge presentations and the swearing-in ceremony included those that have completed their Level 1 Fire Fighting training since the fire station’s last awards event.
Tyler Abrey, Brendan Bogoslowski, and Evan Butler were presented with their badges; Daniel McKay, Brendan Greening, and Chris Davidson were unable to attend and will receive their badges at a later date.
Also acknowledged were those that completed the Level 2 Fire Fighting training. Recipients were presented with a Maltese Cross keychain. Recipients included Nathaniel Yury, Cameron Popiel, Jordon Steiner, Devin Kiesman, Sabrina Anderson, Tyler Abrey, Brendan Bogoslowski, and Evan Butler.
Retiring members were given gifts as a memento of the time dedicated to the safety of the citizens the station serves.
Those recognized included Richard Snyder, Ryan Clyde, Stuart Sinclair, Dave Height, Marie Sorlie, and David McInnes.
Dave Height says that his time with the Dauphin Fire Department was a good experience.
“It’s a good group of men and women to work with. Being able to represent the citizens of the city of Dauphin and the RM, was an honour and a privilege. It was nice to give back to the community.”
Several firefighters were recognized for their years of service.
Dave Butler and Justin Barsewsky were recognized for five years, and Kevin Hollyoake was recognized for 15 years.
Dave Butler says it’s always good to be recognized for the time and effort that they spend with the department.
“I’ve been with the Dauphin Fire Department for a little over five years now. I’ve been with the Gilbert Plains Fire Department for about 27 years as well. Whenever the guys were short I would help out, and just over five years ago Cam asked me if I would like to join the fire department on an official basis and I said certainly.”
Justin Barsewsky was recognized for his five years of service and was awarded Jack Carey Memorial Firefighter Of The Year 2020.
“It’s an honour to be able to receive that award, even to just get nominated for it. Lots of firefighters will get nominated for it, and those who’ve been nominated and haven’t gotten it, I mean to me it’s just as much of an honour to be nominated and to be able to win it. It’s awesome.”
The Exemplary Service Medal recognizes the men and women dedicated to preserving Canada’s public safety through long and outstanding service.
Those who received this medal are Allan Gray for 40 years of service, and Raymond Lofgren for 20 years of service.
Raymond was supposed to receive this award in 2001, which is when he retired.
“There’s an application process, and the person who was supposed to send in the application didn’t do it, so it got stalled for a few years. It was exciting to be recognized for the work I’ve done.”
Several members received the MAFC Long Service award. This includes Greg Acevedo for 25 years, Kenneth Ushkowski for 35 years, and Gary Hollyoake for 45 years, which was the longest period of service recognized.
To finish off the evening, the City and RM of Dauphin gave blankets embroidered with the DFD logo to each of the firefighters.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
