Premier Promises "Bolder" Approach In 2020

Premier Brian Pallister says his government will take on a “bolder” approach in the New Year.

In his year-end press conference, Pallister promised that he can continue to cut taxes, keep costs for civil services down, and move towards a balanced budget, despite fears of a potentially costly spring flood due to high water this fall.

The Premier added that he will follow through on promises made during the election like the elimination sales tax on home insurance, salon services, and other items.

Pallister continued to say that cost-control measures, including the public-sector wage freeze announced in 2017, introduced by his government, have allowed the province to save more money.

He added that, with some potential federal help, the province will be able to pay for any possible new flood-protection measures needed in the spring.

Pallister went on to say that the advertisements he has been running in Quebec, targeting civil servants in the province, are gaining some interest. The ads criticize Quebec’s highly scrutinized ban on religious apparel for public sector employees.

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Dec 10, 2019 - 2:24 pm

Last week, CKDM reported that the RCMP made a substantial drug bust in an extensive investigation in two provinces, and today RCMP confirmed that for the past 16 months, RCMP has been investigating a drug trafficking network through Project Declass, resulting in the largest drug bust in Manitoba history.

It all started in August 2018 when two people were arrested while attempting to import 40 kilograms of cocaine into Manitoba.

Project Declass uncovered an integrated network of individuals belonging to different organized crime groups that were working together in an opportunistic fashion to import and distribute illicit drugs in Winnipeg and throughout Manitoba.

At 6:00 am, on December 4, 2019, nine coordinated search warrants were executed in Winnipeg, St. Laurent, and Calgary. Nine people were also arrested on Wednesday. More on that can be found in the article posted last week.

On December 5^th, two more people, 34-year-old Jess Thomas and 33-year-old John Everse Medina, were arrested to bring the total number of individuals arrested up to 11.

Those 11 people have had 66 total charges laid against them to date.

Those charges include trafficking meth and cocaine, conspiracy to traffic fentanyl, possession of proceeds of crime, and money laundering.

The total amount of drugs seized throughout the investigation is 22 kilograms of methamphetamine, which translates to about 220,000 hits, and 43 kilograms of cocaine.

43 kg cocaine crop meth Dec 2019

The street value of these drugs is estimated to be $6.5 million dollars. This investigation has resulted in the largest amount of meth seized in an organized crime investigation in Manitoba history.

In addition, 5 vehicles were seized, including a 2018 Harley Davidson motorcycle and financial seizures to date totalling over $100,000.

This investigation is still ongoing and restraining orders have been placed on additional bank accounts.

The RCMP says Project Declass is an excellent example of how they work with international and domestic partners to identify, target and arrest those who are importing cocaine, meth, fentanyl and other illicit drugs into our country.

The Manitoba RCMP would also like to thank the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Canada Border Service Agency, the Calgary Police Service, Regina Police Service, the MB Liquor & Lotteries Corporation, Seized Property Management Directorate, Health Canada, Fintrac, as well as RCMP investigators in British-Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. These partnerships were crucial to the success of the investigation.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Dec 10, 2019 - 2:11 pm

With the extremely cold temperatures that we're experiencing now and will for the next few days, staying inside is a good idea, but at times, you'll need to go outside. One of the reasons you'll need to is to let your furry friends out.

While you should still let them out, you should take some precautions when it's this cold.

"If it's cold for us, it's going to be cold for them as well," said Roxane Neufeld, a veterinarian at the Dauphin Vet Clinic. "You should always be careful to not take them out for too long. If they're lifting up their feet, it's likely because it's too cold on them so you should take them back inside."

Some other precautions you can take include:

Keep your walks a lot shorter.
If your dogs or cats are generally always outside, make sure they have a shelter where they can go to get out of the wind.
If outside, a heat lamp is always a great idea.

"These temperatures are cold for all of us, so it's really important that we always take extra caution," concluded Neufeld.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Dec 10, 2019 - 12:20 pm

At the last city council meeting of 2019, the city council passed four bylaws.

All of the bylaws already existed, but some changes needed to be made.

The first bylaw was 09/2019, the bylaw that outlines all the city’s fines, fees, and charges. The bylaw needs to be reviewed every 1-2 years. No changes were made to the bylaw.

The next bylaw passed was 10/2019, the city’s property standards bylaw. Council made a couple of changes to the bylaw including adding the clause that makes business owners have to take care of their sidewalks to the property standards bylaw rather than the traffic bylaw it was categorized in before.

Another change made to the property standards bylaw was the city will now allow for one unused vehicle to be stored on private property without any fees or permitting process. The new changes come into effect on January 1st

The next bylaw was 11/2019, the city’s penalty scheme for parking and bylaw enforcement. Council added the penalties for the failure to adhere to the city’s proposed accommodation tax.

The last bylaw reviewed was bylaw 12/2019. The change allows the recreational facilities reserve fund to include funds contributed by the proposed accommodation tax

All of the bylaws either come into effect immediately or on January 1st.

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Dec 10, 2019 - 11:19 am

Environment Canada issued an extreme cold warning for the Parkland yesterday, and they weren't kidding.

The affected areas include the RM of Gilbert Plains, RM of Grandview, RM of Mossey River, RM of Ethelbert, RM of Roblin, RM of Russell-Binscarth, RM of Dauphin, RM of Lakeshore including areas from Makinak to Toutes Aides, and the RM of Riding Mountain West.

Wind chills close to -40 are expected this morning thanks to an Arctic ridge of high pressure in the prairies that has dropped the temperature to nearly -30.

Wind chill values are expected to get a little better later on today, however similar wind chills are expected to continue into tomorrow.

Environment Canada is urging people to watch for cold-related symptoms like shortness of breath, chest pain, muscle pain, weakness, numbness, and colour change in fingers and toes.

Find the full statement here.

Details: Contributed by Alec Woolston; Published: Dec 10, 2019 - 5:13 am

A standing hearing is set to take place to see who will be allowed to participate in the upcoming inquest into the death of an Eriksdale man.

On November 14^th, 2017, 18-year-old William Saunders escaped from custody while being escorted by Lundar RCMP to the Winnipeg Remand Centre. During the initial altercation, an officer was injured and discharged his firearm, but Saunders managed to get away in a police vehicle. He was later found in the early hours of November 15^th, when the police vehicle ended up in a ditch.

When Saunders exited the stuck vehicle, he was shot by police. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful and Saunders was pronounced dead at the scene.

Under the government’s Fatality Inquiries Act, an inquest has been called by the Chief Medical Examiner. Inquests look at the circumstances and events leading up to deaths, to try and see what, if anything, can be done to prevent the incident from ever repeating.

Before the inquest can start, a judge will select who can participate in the process and question witnesses. People interested in taking part can make an application to be granted standing and participate in the inquest.

Those wishing to apply can call Ashleigh Smith, inquest counsel, at 204-945-2852 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by January 3^rd

The standing hearing will take place in Winnipeg on January 24^th.

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Dec 10, 2019 - 5:00 am

The Government of Manitoba is introducing new cannabis possession rules to help stop the illicit cannabis market that will come into effect as of January 1^st.

Justice Minister Cliff Cullen announced that the new rules are aimed at preserving the integrity of the legal retail cannabis system and protect health and safety.

“Our government has made health and safety our top priority throughout the legalization process,” said Cullen. “These legislative changes about possession restrictions give provincial inspectors the ability to seize illicit cannabis, helping us crackdown on the illicit market without further increasing the burden on police officers.”

The changes to the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Act will allow for provincial inspectors to issue tickets and make seizures of illegal pot, making Manitoba the first province to allow the enforcement.

The changes will also make it illegal to possess pot that is not packaged, stamped or labelled according to federal laws. Exemptions to the rule allow people to remove the pot from its original package for storage. The province says it is supporting the legal pot market by prohibiting the possession of illegal cannabis.

The new provincial offences give officials the option to follow through with a charge in a less formal way by issuing a ticket, instead of requiring a person to appear in Provincial Court to deal with a formal charge.

The fines for possessing more than 30 grams of non-medical cannabis and possessing improperly packaged pot will be $672.

In September of last year, the province established pre-set fines for other cannabis-related provincial offences including supplying pot to a person under 19, smoking and vaping in provincial parks, transporting improperly stored pot and failing drug-screening tests as part of the graduated driver licensing program.

As part of a larger response to the federal laws around non-medical cannabis, the province has also introduced legislation that would formalize a social responsibility fee for cannabis retailers, establish a hybrid retail model to support public safety and economic development, and launched an awareness campi9agn about the laws and risks associated with cannabis use.

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Dec 9, 2019 - 1:39 pm

Manitoba First Nations Police are requesting the public’s assistance in locating a missing man last seen a week ago in Sandy Bay.

31-year-old Cody Grayson Mousseau of Sandy Bay was last seen between November 29th and December 1^st in Sandy Bay.

Police are concerned for his well-being and are asking anyone with information that could lead to his location to contact them.

Police did not provide a description of his appearance.

Details: Contributed by Josh Sigurdson; Published: Dec 9, 2019 - 9:12 am

This past weekend was the return of the Dauphin RIDE Program.

It was a successful weekend, with 62 people getting to their destination safely. 32 volunteers gathered at the Dauphin RIDE Headquarters and worked 110 hours combined.

The program is looking to recruit more volunteers because they depend on having a consistent volunteer base, and more are always appreciated.

Those wanting to donate or volunteer can call Cory or Sho-Sho at (204) 638-1463. The Dauphin RIDE Program runs on Fridays and Saturdays from 9 pm to 3 am for the next few weeks with the final day being New Year's Eve, if you need a ride call (204) 638-5707.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Dec 9, 2019 - 5:00 am

Manitoba was ranked lowest on the PISA results that were released last week. Students in Manitoba scored last in the country in math and science and second-last in reading skills.

MVSD Superintendent Dan Ward says it gives them some data to look at and analyze.

“Obviously, I would have liked our students, provincially, to have done better. However, we do have to keep in mind that it is one test that was administered back in 2018, the sample size is relatively small at 10% roughly across the province.”

Division by division results don't get released.

While giving the reasoning for why Manitoba is low, Ward says the provinces with higher child poverty rates don’t perform as well as provinces with a lower rate.

“I think that, when we look at the issue of student performance both nationally and provincially, we have to take a collective effort to make sure that every student who walks through the doors of one of our schools comes ready to learn and has their basic needs met.”

Ward adds that they have to continually look at ways to improve and says the Mountain View School Division is investing heavily in the numeracy achievement project. Many rural school divisions are participating in the project. MVSD is focusing on student performance data in grade 6, 7, 8, and 9.

Ward wasn’t surprised in the results, saying for some time now, Manitoba has been at the bottom half of the PCAP and PISA results.

“There have been discussions about how we can improve, not specifically for PISA or PCAP, but as a province. The province introduced a continuous improvement plan a number of years ago where the Department of Education is supporting school divisions in creating targets.“

Ward says the province is well aware they’re ranked in the bottom half, adding it’s a multi-year effort to improve.

Details: Contributed by Isaac Wihak; Published: Dec 9, 2019 - 5:00 am

Neepawa RCMP attended a two-vehicle collision 1km north of Neepawa on Highway 5.

Friday, just before 6 pm, a vehicle driven by a 42-year-old male was driving north on Highway 5 when it hit a deer that was coming from the east side of the road.

A second vehicle heading south hit the same deer, causing injuries to those inside.

The 58-year-old male driver, and 58-year-old female passenger, both from the RM of Cornwallis, were taken to hospital where the female was pronounced deceased.