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The federal government is committing $321 million in new funding for programs to help Indigenous communities search burial sites at former residential schools and to support survivors and their communities.
Justice Minister David Lametti says he will appoint a translator to work with Indigenous communities and the government to propose changes to federal laws, policies and practices that are related to unmarked graves at residential schools.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett says $83 million will be added to an existing $27-million program to fund searches of burial sites and commemorate the children who died at residential schools.
She also says the government will create a national advisory committee, made up of archeology, forensic, pathology, and mental health experts, to advise Indigenous communities and the government about work to find and identify the children.
Since May of this year, several Indigenous communities across the country have announced that hundreds of unmarked graves have been located at the sites of former residential schools.
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Minnedosa is getting a new recreation centre, named after a former member of the legislative assembly and cabinet minister, Harold Gilleshammer.
Premier Brian Pallister made the announcement about Minnedosa Recreation and Events Centre yesterday.
“While investments like this support the health and well-being of community members, these kinds of critical infrastructure improvements also make a huge difference to the economic development and continued vitality of the community.”
He added that he’s proud to honour the legacy of Harold Gilleshammer by naming this recreation facility site after him.
Minnedosa’s mayor, Pat Skatch says she’s excited about the funding for the project.
“We look forward to the completion of this project in the near future as it will provide recreation and sporting opportunities in our community for many years to come.”
In addition to the current sport and recreation facilities on site, the new facility will feature:
• a full-sized ice surface
• five dressing rooms for athletes
• a fully-finished kitchen
• upper and lower viewing areas
• an elevator for accessibility
• an interior walking track
In addition to the province’s $1.7 million contribution to the arena and recreation centre project, the Government of Canada will contribute $2 million and The Town of Minnedosa will contribute $3.4 million toward the total $7.2 million cost of the project.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Dauphin City Council met in person on Monday night to discuss a few community topics.
One item on the agenda was COVID-19. Dauphin City Manager, Sharla Griffiths noted that even though masks are no longer mandated, some COVID practices will remain in effect:
“Most of the restrictions are on businesses and gathering sizes, and that has been greatly reduced, or the restrictions have been removed. Also, the wearing of masks in public spaces is no longer mandated by the province, but it is recommended. So with respect to our facilities, we will continue to be open to the public but our signage has changed to indicate that masks are recommended, and that does reflect the current recommendations from the provincial government. We will continue to require physical distancing, good hand hygiene practices, self-assessments regarding personal health status, and staying home when ill. We will continue to hold in-person meetings with virtual option available and our council meetings are once again open to the public.”
Another topic of discussion was the Rural Manitoba Economic Development Corporation or RMED. Griffiths briefly touched on who they are and what they do within the province:
“RMED is a new organization created by the province of Manitoba to improve, support and increase success for economic development in Manitoba. RMED is designed to work with communities, municipalities, economic development organizations, and businesses toward economic growth.”
The last topic was regarding the Association of Manitoba Municipalities fall cities caucus meeting. Griffiths said that the meeting was originally scheduled back in 2020 following the Manitoba Summer Games however, the games, along with the meeting, were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The meeting is now scheduled for September 22 in Dauphin.
The next Dauphin City Council meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 7.
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The government of Manitoba has introduced a new app that will allow people to request and access their immunization card.
The Manitoba Immunization Card app will allow people to access their digital card when not connected to Wi-Fi or cellular data services.
The app will only show the person’s first and last names and a QR code.
When scanned by the Manitoba Immunization Verifier app, the QR code will confirm that the person is fully vaccinated.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Manitoba has officially signed onto a Canada-wide plan to provide parents with $10 a day child care spaces by 2025-26.
The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, and the Honourable Rochelle Squires, Manitoba’s Minister of Families announced an agreement that will support an average of $10 a day for regulated child care spaces in the province in 2023, significantly reducing the price of child care for families.
Hussen says every child deserves the best possible start in life.
“Today’s historic agreement with Manitoba is another important step on the path to ensuring all families have access to high-quality, affordable, and inclusive child care.”
Squires says Manitoba negotiated an Early Learning and Child Care Agreement focused on the specific needs and circumstances of Manitoba working families.
“It builds on our own government’s increased investments for more spaces and better access by low-income families to needed child care. This historic new agreement will lead to 23,000 more child care spaces in our province.”
By the end of 2022, Manitoba families will see a 50 percent reduction in average parent fees for children up to six years old in regulated child care.
The federal funding of more than $1.2 billion over the next five years will also fund critical services for Manitoba families and children and grow a strong and skilled workforce of early childhood educators, including through the creation of a wage grid to support the attraction and retentions of early childhood educators.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Mihir Patel is the new owner of Dauphin's McDonald's; he officially took over ownership of the restaurant on August 1st.
Mr. Patel is new to the community, but he plans to live and stay in Dauphin as he tries to grow his roots here,
"I am going to be staying in Dauphin because I believe that if I stay in Dauphin, I will be able to connect with my community people and support them any way I can. Certainly, it is a busy town. We do serve a lot of traffic in Dauphin for sure and being the owner of the McDonald's, I do see how much people support the McDonald's, so that is certainly awesome to work there."
Patel pointed out some of the changes coming to the restaurant under his leadership,
"There are certain changes we are going to be making. The first thing we will be doing is the whole dining area with a new look. We are changing our kitchen station and our drive-thru to provide customers with better and effective service."
Patel notes that he aims to hire 30 more staff as one of his first priorities as owner.
Mihir is a family man. In fact, on his first day of taking over McDonald's ownership in the city, his wife had a baby boy to join his two other sons and German Shepherd.
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- Contributed by Noah Fuchs
The COVID vaccine clinic in Russell has a new location, and it’s offering Moderna and Pfizer walk-ins on Tuesday.
Walk-ins are taking place from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The clinic is located at 447 Main Street North in Russell.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
Keep an eye in the sky because the Perseids meteor shower has begun, with its peak coming next week.
The Perseids meteor shower is considered the best of the year as it produces nearly 100 meteors an hour at its peak. And this year, its peak is during the night.
As astronomer, Gary Boyle, explains, the Perseids hit its peak in the late hours of August 11th and August 12th:
“The complete shower lasts from July 14th to August 24th so of course there’s a peak for everything and that’ll come on, a little over two nights from August 11th into the morning of the 12th, and then again the next night. The night of the 12th into the morning of the 13th.”
With weather conditions expected to be perfect during the shower's peak, Boyle says that people should get out and watch the Perseids:
“So people can head out to the countryside, safely of course, and you’ll be rewarded with the beautiful Milky Way or two of our gas giant planets, which are Jupiter and Saturn in the southern sky. They’ll be about an arm’s length apart with Jupiter on the left. And again, just meteors dashing through the sky.”
Boyle also says that this year is the best year to watch the Perseids:
“The moon will have set a couple hours after sunset, and we’ll not be seeing that glow in the sky. So it’s a good year that the moon will not be out and there should be a lot of meteors.”
The meteor shower started on July 14th and will go on until August 24th.
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There will be walk-ins at Dauphin’s vaccine supersite next week.
On Monday Pfizer and Moderna Walk-ins are taking place from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday the 14th.
The supersite is located at the Ukrainian Orthodox Hall at 304 Whitmore Avenue east.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
The Rural Art Mentorship Program application is now open for Indigenous artists.
In partnership with Mentoring Artists for Women's Art, the Rural Art Mentorship Program is a 10-month online program that will pair five emerging northern and rural artists with Lita Fontaine, a professional artist, and mentor.
Lita Fontaine is a mixed-media artist of Dakota, Anishinaabe, and Métis descent with roots in Long Plain and Sagkeeng First Nations. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Regina and has exhibited her textile works, paintings, and photographs in solo and group shows nationally.
Fontaine says it’s important to share knowledge.
“I carry some knowledge in regards to making art, so I think some of my responsibility as an Indigenous woman is to share that knowledge with other First Nations people, and that’s my everyday job.”
Fontaine says making art is a way to be productive, learn, and understand more about yourself, your community, and culture.
“Connecting with our people, our culture, making art together, healing together, and understanding each other. It’s actually a good approach for reconciliation as well. So that’s the way I’m looking at it.”
Fontaine hopes to cover a lot of ground in the 10-month program.
"I'm hoping to have the students understand the process of making a piece of art. There's also art literacy, I would like to share knowledge that with them. Also knowing what line is, what form is, what texture is, what colour is, sharing that knowledge that way I hope they can be better artists for carrying that knowledge."
Applications for the mentorship program are open, and those interested have until September 9th to apply.
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- Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson
The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU) is investigating the death of a male that occurred in police presence in the Sandy Bay area.
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