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The Maverick Party of Canada is a political party that was officially formed last year and wants to represent the best interests of Western Canada.
On May 12th, the Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa Electoral District Association for the party was formed.
CKDM sought additional information, speaking with two representatives from the party to further understand their policies and rhetoric.
Don Armitage, the President of the EDA, spoke about the party:
"We consider ourselves to be the western equivalent of the Bloc Quebecois. We are exclusively representing the interests of western Canadians."
Mr. Armitage cites that the west has all but been forgotten on a federal level.
"The conservatives that use to be the best representative of western interests have pretty much abandoned the west under their new leader Erin O'Toole."
Armitage says the abandonment from the west is tied in with the carbon tax policy that O'Toole has seemingly flip-flopped on.
"It was not a policy passed at their policy convention, but he is now advocating for a carbon tax which he said he would not do. In fact, he signed a specific pledge with the Canadian taxpayers federation saying that he would not endorse the carbon tax."
Meanwhile, Deputy Leader and founder of the party, Allan Kerpan, spoke furthermore about the parties' intentions.
"What we set out to do is to get a fair deal for the west. We have been hard done by since confederation."
Kerpan spoke of consequences if the Maverick party's needs are not met
"If we do not get the deal we want will have to look at further measures."
If it does come to it, the Maverick party plans to persuade governments at provincial levels to hold a referendum on western independence.
The party has an interim leader, Jay Hill, but the party hopes to finalize an official leader by the end of August, as the potential for a federal election is growing by the day.
For more information about the party, visit their site here.
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
The splash park at Vermillion Park is opening this morning.
Dauphin Rec Services made the announcement yesterday, saying that it will be open daily, from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Public health orders allowed for the splash park to open earlier this month, but Dauphin Rec Services waited so that they could work on some repairs.
Dauphin Rec Services reminds those using the splash park to respect the current public health orders.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Dauphin’s Supersite is still taking Moderna walk-ins for first and second-dose clients until 4:30 p.m. today.
The Supersite will also offer limited walk-ins on Thursday.
First dose clients are prioritized and will be able to get their shot from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, and second and first dose clients can get the jab from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Today, individuals who received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on or before May 31st are eligible to book their second dose.
Second dose eligibility will expand tomorrow at 11:45 a.m. to include people who received their first dose on or before June 6th.
A total of 1,202,971 doses of vaccine have been administered in Manitoba.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Last Saturday morning, on June 19th, employees discovered a break-in at the Roblin Leisure Aquatic centre.
The public was not able to enter and use the facility until a police report was filed. The scene was thoroughly cleaned up around 2:30 pm later on that day.
If anyone has more information about this break-in at the Roblin aquatic centre, please notify the RCMP by calling them at 204-937-8054
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
Manitoba will move ahead with the first milestone of its ‘4-3-2 One Great Summer’ Reopening Path a week early.
Many businesses and facilities will reopen to 25 percent capacity starting on Saturday, June 26th.
Premier Brain Pallister says this is a good news day for Manitobans.
"After nearly a year and a half of fighting COVID-19 it's time for Manitobans to get some of their freedoms back and enjoy this beautiful summer. It's what we all want to do. Manitobans have earned that right."
Dr. Brent Roussin announced the changes, that are effective at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, June 26th:
· outdoor gathering sizes on private property to double to 10 persons and to allow outdoor visitors to briefly access homes for essential activities
· public outdoor gathering sizes to increase to 25 people
· retail businesses to open with increased capacity at 25 percent to a limit of 250 persons, with no restrictions on the number of household members, permitted to shop together
· personal service businesses like hair salons to reopen at 50 percent capacity, on an appointment basis only
· restaurants and bars to reopen at 25 percent capacity for indoors and 50 percent for outdoor dining. Those seated together inside must be from the same household unless all patrons at the table are fully immunized.
· indoor faith-based services and organized community gatherings to resume at 25 percent capacity to a limit of 25 persons with masks worn at all times
· outdoor faith-based and organized community gatherings to resume for up to 50 persons, provided distance can be maintained between households. Drive-in services continue to be permitted
· outdoor weddings and funerals may take place with up to 25 participants, in addition to photographer and officiants. Indoor weddings and funerals remain limited to 10 persons
· indoor dance, music, theatre, and other organized sports and recreation activities may reopen at 25 percent capacity to a limit of five persons, with no tournaments allowed
· outdoor dance, music and theatre classes, and other organized recreation activities may reopen for groups up to 25 people, with no tournaments allowed
· swimming and wading pools, both indoor and outdoor, may reopen at 25 percent capacity;
· gyms and fitness facilities may reopen for individual and group fitness classes at 25 percent capacity with three meters distance maintained between patrons; and
· summer day camps may reopen to a maximum of 20 participants in groups
COVID-19 safety fundamentals, like indoor mask use, and physical distancing, are still required.
These new orders are set to expire at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 2nd which is the next milestone in the Reopening Path.
The province says reopening capacities could be increased earlier if vaccination rate goals are reached sooner and the province’s overall COVID-19 situation continues to improve.
The next step on the reopening plan is for the province to reopen to 50 percent capacity or greater if 75 percent of Manitobans aged 12 and older have received their first vaccination dose, and 50 percent of Manitobans aged 12 and above have received their second dose.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Emergency crews responded to a two-vehicle collision in Dauphin this morning on 1st Street NE.
Dauphin RCMP received a report of a collision on 1st Street NE and 1st Avenue NE at 8:03 am this morning.
A pickup truck had turned onto the roadway from a parking lot and struck an SUV that was northbound on 1st Ave NE.
Both vehicles had female drivers as the only occupants, who received minor injuries and were treated and released on scene. No charges were laid.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Manitoba reached its first vaccination goal for step one of the province's plan to reopen so that begs the question, what is next?
The current public health orders are set to expire later this week, orders that allow gatherings on private and public property of up to five people. But many people are now wondering, will larger gatherings be allowed in the new set of orders.
And while there is no concrete answer yet, we will find out on Wednesday afternoon.
"We have a lot of things we're still considering right now," said Dr. Brent Roussin.
That is all Roussin had to say when asked about the province's plan to reopen in a press conference. More than 71.2 percent of Manitobans have received at least a single dose of a vaccine while more than 25.4 percent have received two doses.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
MP for Dauphin, Neepawa, and Swan River, Dan Mazier recently introduced a private members bill meant to promote broadband advertising transparency.
Bill C-299, the Internet Accountability Bill would make internet service providers give transparency when they advertise their internet speeds.
Mazier says we’re paying hundreds of dollars a month but we’re not getting what we expect for it.
“Right now internet service providers can provide advertising in the information of theoretical or ‘up to’ speeds, and that creates a lot of confusion and sets up a lot of false expectations.”
Mazier says this bill would make them provide information for what customers can actually expect.
“I think it’s the least we can expect as paying customers. This would help seniors, and rural Canadians, we expect to know what we’re paying for and I think this bill will go a long way in clearing up these expectations.”
Mazier says, this private members bill came from the feedback they got from the constituency when they did different surveys on connectivity.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Weiming Zhao applied to many different universities across the country and after plenty of talks with his family, Zhao moved to Brandon nearly 30 years ago from China.
Growing up in China, Zhao often found himself painting as it was something that not only provided him with something to do but also allowed him to get outside. But back in 1979, Zhao stopped painting completely and it stayed that way until 18 years ago when he was inspired to pick back up his brush. And for the last 18 years, Weiming hasn't missed many days putting his creations together.
Zhao began painting on Remembrance Day in 2003 and since that day, the Brandonite's portfolio includes more than 6,600 paintings.
"It's honestly a part of life now, I look forward to painting every single day," said Zhao. "If we're in the vehicle, my wife will drive so I can paint, it brings me so much joy."
Most of Weiming's paintings are scenes in Brandon, but he always also made Riding Mountain National Park a frequent stop of his. Over the course of the past 18 years, Zhao figures he has completed about 1,000 paintings while touring RMNP. Whether it's a painting of a beautiful sunrise to a bear on the side of the street to anything in between, Weiming has done it all with his brush and easel.
This painting was done by Zhao at the Clear Lake Golf Course.
Zhao says although the past year and a half has been very tough because of the pandemic, he finds peace in painting and he doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon.
"I can't imagine stopping, I really can't," ended Zhao. "Just thinking about stopping makes me sad. This is what I love to do and people are always telling me how beautiful my work is, so that means a lot."
He's now urging fellow Manitobans to paint, saying all it takes is a brush and a canvas and the options are endless.
"Paint anywhere, I've even painted on vacation in Mexico and Hawaii in the past," ended Zhao. "The process is a lot of fun and it's always rewarding when people talk about your work after."
Weiming has also painted many times in Dauphin.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
Hamiota RCMP are seeking information about a missing 13-year-old girl.
Kylynn Kasto was last seen on June 21st at her high school in Hamiota, when she left around 12:15 for her lunch break and never returned. She had stated that she was headed towards Alberta.
Kasto is 5’2”, 110 pounds with brown hair.
Anyone with information is asked to call RCMP at 204-759-2344.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
