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Part of the lineup for the 31st edition of Dauphin’s Countryfest has been announced.
The Thursday night kickoff party will feature Canadian country crooner Corb Lund.
Friday will feature a fully Canadian lineup with Jade Eagleson, The James Barker Band, and then the night finishes off with Canadian superstars Dean Brody and Dallas Smith.
The Saturday festivities kick off with the Saskatchewan grown Hunter Brothers, followed by the hosts for the night Big & Rich. Up and coming star Morgan Wallen will take the stage before hitmaker Chris Young.
The Sunday lineup will again feature a throwback lineup for the third year in a row. Roadhammers member, Jason McCoy will start the day and continue to host the evening. The rest of the day will feature country legends Joe Diffie, John Michael Montgomery, and Trace Adkins.
In a Countryfest twist, Creedence Clearwater Revival legend John Fogerty will end the festival with a bang.
More fantastic artists will be added to the already star-studded lineup.
Dauphin’s Countryfest will run from July 2nd to 5th 2020.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
After bad weather cancelled some events at Hoof ‘n’ Holler Days, they’ve decided to donate 5000 dollars to community groups and organizations.
Ashley Hopfner, president of the Ste. Rose Hoof ‘n’ Holler committee, says it feels good to give back to the community.
“The community’s always very, very generous towards us, businesses, and people. We get so much for sponsorship and our attendance has been fantastic over the years. It’s fantastic to give back.”
They’re using the money they saved when events had to be cancelled from bad weather in October.
Hoof ‘N’ Holler based the amounts on what each group needed at the time.
“For example the schools outdoor volleyball nets were $600 so we paid that in full, we are giving $1000 to the fire department as they are a well-used resource and fire chief Daryl Vandenbosch is always extremely supportive of our organization and is there to help us anyway we need not only during the long weekend but the weeks leading up to our event. Another big one we donated to was the Dr Gendreau Personal Care Homes hallway beautification project, we gave them $1000 towards that. The project is aimed at making residents doors more unique and recognizable. In total there will be 11 non-profit organizations receiving donations from us, some are larger some are smaller but we believe they will all have the same impact for the groups.”
The other groups receiving donations are the Ste. Rose skating club for their Santa Skate Party, turkeys have been donated to both Laurier and Ste. Rose schools, the Horseman’s Association, the Grotto Committee, they’re sponsoring some public skating at the rink, the food bank, Charlie brown daycare, and minor hockey for a power skating clinic.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Just a few weeks after being honoured by the Royal Canadian Mint, Louis Riel is now being featured on a new stamp.
The stamp is being released in honour of the 150th anniversary of the Red River Resistance, an event that led to the creation of Manitoba.
The image is a composite based on a photo of Métis leader Louis Riel surrounded by members of his government from 1870, and a lithograph of Upper Fort Garry from 1948.
The stamp was designed by Paprika and illustrated by Gerald Dubois.
In a press release, the Manitoba Métis Federation said that they hope everyone buys the stamp, and it goes all over the world.
The MMF said that during the resistance, the Métis asserted their rights and protected their families.
“It is a form of visibility and presence that will memorialize his People’s struggle for land, sovereign rights and for the integrity of our distinct culture,” said MMF President David Chartrand
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
The Independent Investigation Unit had to investigate an RCMP pursuit after a 26-year-old man sustained injuries when his car went into the ditch east of Swan River.
RCMP were alerted to a vehicle being driven by a suspect who’d made threats against a woman and could be armed.
Swan River RCMP located the vehicle on Highway 20 near Camperville where a high-speed chase began.
During the pursuit, the suspect crashed into a ditch and was then taken to the Dauphin Hospital where it was determined he had a chest fracture.
The IIU, under their own regulations, was mandated to investigate because of the fracture and admission to a hospital.
It has been concluded the RCMP aren’t responsible for the man crashing into the ditch.
No charges will be laid against any officers involved in the pursuit.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
At Monday’s city council meeting, an "Accommodation Tax" was proposed.
City Manager Sharla Griffiths, says it would be a tax on hotel stays at 5% per room, per night.
Griffiths says this is a pretty standard tax.
“Looking at other municipalities in Manitoba and around Canada, most have it. Dauphin isn’t blazing a trail here, we are trailing behind.”
The tax percentage of 5 per cent won’t change for holidays, summer, or festivals.
There are some situations where the tax won't apply, such as coming to Dauphin for medical reasons or treatments.
The council has decided to implement the tax to help fund maintenance and improvements to recreation.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Manitoba’s police watchdog has launched an investigation in an incident that led to a 62-year-old Russell man suffering a broken jaw.
The incident happened on October 31st when RCMP were called by the hospital for assistance in locating the man. Officers located him, and in the process of arresting him, something happened that resulted in the man breaking his jaw.
Under Independent Investigation Unit regulations, a broken jaw is defined as a serious injury, which means the unit is required to investigate.
Anyone with information or video footage of the incident is asked to contact the IIU toll-free at 1-844-667-6060.
No further details are being released as the investigation is still underway.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
Last night at the Minnedosa Community Conference Centre, Minnedosa Credit Union members held a special meeting to vote on the proposed merger with Sunrise Credit Union.
The 73 members present at the meeting voted 100% in favour of the merger, effective July 1, 2020.
Barry Mcnabb, chair of the Minnedosa Credit Union Board of Directors says that the vote shows the democratic member control that credit unions have.
“Member-owners having the final say on important initiatives is one of the mainstays of the co-operative movement,” said Mcnabb. “We’re pleased with their decision.”
General Manager of Minnedosa Credit Union, Brad Ross says that the members made the right decision.
“This partnership will allow us to serve or communities well in the future,” said Ross. “We will bring enhanced products and services to our members and create powerful new opportunities for our staff.”
Sunrise Credit Union members will get a chance to vote on the merger tonight at the Sunrise Branch in Brandon. Member registration begins at 5:00 pm with the meeting to begin at 5:15 pm.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
An independent human rights adjudicator has ruled that the Manitoba government discriminated against a transgender person when it refused to allow a non-binary sex designation on that person’s birth certificate.
The province now has 180 days to comply with the ruling and allow people to choose to designate neither male nor female as their gender on legal documents.
Adjudicator Dan Manning has ordered the government to pay $50,000 in damages to T.A., the trans pangender person who filed a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission in 2015.
T.A. doesn’t identify as male or female and uses the pronoun they. They tried to change the sex designation on their birth certificate in 2012, but Manitoba’s Vital Statistics Agency denied the request
Manning has awarded $50,000 to be paid to T.A. in 60 days for injury to dignity, feelings, and self-respect.
The province argues that since every Manitoban is not allowed a birth certificate without a sex designation or non-binary designation, here was no discrimination.
Manning says the government failed to recognize T.A.’s personhood when it decided to deny their request.
A spokesperson for the government said that the province has received the adjudicator’s decision and will carefully review it to determine how to deal with it.
Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Northwest Territories issue non-binary birth certificates, which allow people to list their gender as “X” instead of male or female.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
The Rotary Club of Dauphin is having their book sale at the Dauphin Marketplace Mall.
The book sale will be open during mall hours until Saturday.
Proceeds from the sale help the Rotary Club give back to the community.
Jean Louis-Guillas says they’re still accepting donations.
"Every book is donated by the community and goes right back out at a very modest price."
Guillas says people love to stock up for their winter reading, adding there’s a large assortment of fiction, history, and cookbooks to name a few.
The last book sale occurred in April.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The President of Keystone Ag Producers has invited Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to tour farms in Manitoba after producers endured one of the province's most challenging years.
Manitoba saw both ends of the weather spectrum in 2019. The growing season started with a drought and ended with flooding due to torrential downpours and an early snowstorm.
In a letter sent to Trudeau, KAP President Bill Campbell says that these weather extremes mixed with international trade disputes have threatened producers' bottom lines.
Through sending the invitation, Campbell hopes to show Trudeau and Federal Ag Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau what is happening in rural areas of Canada.
“I thought it was important to offer an invitation to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture to come to western Manitoba, to walk with Canadians, as he has mentioned in his post-election comments,” said Campbell. “I’m hoping he can see some of the significance of his actions with regards to trade policies, and economic growth policies, and how it has impacted rural Manitoba and the small communities that we live in.”
Campbell’s letter goes on to mention the disappointment that western Canada has in the Liberal government. This was shown in the federal election results that saw no Liberal seats in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and rural Manitoba.
Campbell also weighs in on the growing popularity of a western separatism movement.
“These discussions do not serve the best interest of our country and are not discussions Manitobans support,” said Campbell. “We do, however, have the need to hear from our federal government on the issues that we encounter every day.”
The KAP president is hopeful that not only the Prime Minister accepts his invitation, but that other federal party leaders take the time to see what is impacting producers the most.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
Prime Minister Trudeau announced today that Canadian beef and pork exports to China will resume.
In a tweet, Trudeau said “Good news for Canadian farmers today. Canadian pork and beef exports will resume. Thanks to Ambassador [Dominic] Barton and the Canadian meat industry for their work on re-opening this important market for our meat producers and their families.
Meat exports between Canada and China came to a halt in June after Chinese authorities reportedly discovered residue of ractopamine, a banned additive, in a batch of pork products.
The Canadian Food Inspection confirmed later than the export certificate for the shipment was illegitimate.
The trade dispute was just a small part of the diplomatic tensions between the two countries caused by the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, an executive for the Chinese tech giant Huawei, in Vancouver last year.
Federal Ag Minister Marie- Claude Bibeau and International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr issued a joint statement saying that their departments have been busy working with the CFIA and the embassy in Beijing to engage with the Chinese government over the past few months.
They added that they will continue to work closely with everyone involved in the coming days and weeks to make sure the resumption of trade is a success.
Many experts believe that the toll that African Swine Fever has had on China’s pork industry, may have influenced the country to resolve the dispute.
While the door for meat exports is reopened, the same can’t be said for canola exports.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
