Gilbert Plains Staying Healthy With Wish A Dish

The fallout of the COVID pandemic is making it difficult for some to afford nutritious meals.

The Gilbert Plains Wish A Dish program is providing a free meal kit for residents that are struggling to make ends meet.

Gilbert Plains Rec Director, Chantal Gamache explains the idea behind the program.

“We just want to make sure everybody in our community has the opportunity to put a healthy meal on their table for themselves and their family. With the current pandemic, that’s a struggle for some so we just want to make sure everyone has that opportunity.”

Donations are being accepted towards the program to buy food for the meal kits and can be dropped off at the Gilbert Plains Municipality building.

The deadline for applications is Friday, May 22^nd.

For more information, and to apply, you can call (204)-548-2519 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: May 1, 2020 - 5:00 am

After the RCMP received 101 calls related to COVID-19 from April 14-20, the number of calls decreased from April 21-27, albeit by two.

From the 21-27, 99 calls were received across the province, most of which were reports of ten or more people gathering at a location and that goes against the Public Health Order that is in effect.

In the West District which includes Dauphin, there were 36 calls related to COVID-19, compared to 64 the previous week.

Three warnings were given while no charges were laid.

"I think people are now in that mode where they know what's going on," said Paul Manaigre, Media Relations Officer with RCMP. "I believe people are more comfortable and they understand what has to happen as far as not gathering with big groups."

Manaigre is now wondering what will happen in the near future as temperatures continue to get nicer and he knows people will have the urge to get outside and gather.

"I guess the big question is will this generate more calls or will the trend continue, that's what we'll find out very soon," continued Manaigre.

In the entire province, there were seven verbal warnings issued.

One ticket was issued and it was given to an adult male up north. On April 25, the male was instructed to self-isolate for 14 days by health professionals while he awaited his test results.

He told the medical staff that he wouldn't comply and left the hospital on foot. A short time later, he was located by the RCMP who offered him a ride home. He refused and as a result, he was charged with Failing to Comply with a Provincial Emergency Order under the Public Health Act.

Reports of non-compliance can be made to the Manitoba Government Inquiry line at 1-866-626-4862.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: May 1, 2020 - 4:00 am

As of April 29, Prairie Mountain Health has conducted 1080 COVID-19 tests, 202 of which have been in Dauphin while the other 878 were in Brandon.

From April 27-April 29, 20 tests were done in Dauphin while Brandon completed 92.

PMH also announced that Swan River is set to get a testing site and that will open tomorrow.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Apr 30, 2020 - 3:08 pm

The Gilbert Plains Community Fund 2020 grant announcements have been made.

Chairperson Charlene Gulak says the community usually gathers for their annual fundraising event to announce the recipients. She says without the opportunity to gather because of social distancing requirements, the grant recipients have been announced in a video, alongside CKDM.

Charlene says this is the 13th year of giving grant allocations back to the community. In that time, over $60,000 has been distributed to 25 community groups in Gilbert Plains and the surrounding area.

“We’re really proud of our local volunteer efforts to generate this sort of outcome.”

Here's a link to the announcement video.

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: Apr 30, 2020 - 2:34 pm

Organizers for Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival are sad to announce the postponement of this year’s event.

It would have been the 55th Anniversary of the big celebration of Ukrainian culture.

Festival president Kayla Gillis says the Board of Directors decided the postponement was in the best interest of the public, the entertainers, and for all the patrons.

“It’s sad that we won’t be able to celebrate the Ukrainian culture. We’re hoping everyone still thinks of the August long weekend as a chance to party in your backyard and celebrate the Ukrainian culture,” Gillis says.

The festival president says ticket holders will be contacted in the coming weeks.

The festival has been rescheduled to next year, on July 31st, August 1st, and August 2nd.

“I think next year is going to be a heck of a party,” Gillis said.

More information will be available in the coming weeks at Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival website.

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: Apr 30, 2020 - 1:29 pm

Today Public Health officials announced 2 new cases of COVID-19.

The total number of cases in the province is 275. In the Prairie Mountain Health region, there are 15 lab-confirmed cases. Today it was announced the Parkland area will be getting another COVID screening site, located in Swan River.

The number of deaths remains at 6, and 5 people are hospitalized. Right now, there are 49 active cases and 220 people have recovered.

Dr. Brent Roussin is reminding Manitobans to continue to be mindful of the virus.

"We still need Manitobans to take precautions, still be mindful of social distancing. This is not a return to normal at this point. If we continue to function the way we have been, we'll continue to decrease the transmission of this virus in Manitoba, which will allow us to further loosen our restrictions."

For more information, visit Manitoba.ca/covid19.

Details: Contributed by Tess Kovach; Published: Apr 30, 2020 - 1:22 pm

Swan River is set to get a COVID-19 testing site.

Prairie Mountain Health will open the site at the Manitoba Public Insurance service centre at 125, 4th Avenue North and it will open tomorrow on May 1. The hours of operation will be from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., seven days a week.

Prior to the site opening, tests were being done inside the emergency department at the hospital.

"We've been monitoring our testing volumes at all sites and we want to have a site one hour within our communities and Swan River is about two hours from Dauphin," said Glenda Short, Vice President of Community Programs for Prairie Mountain Health. "The right decision was to open a new testing site in Swan River."

Sites in the PMH now include one in Brandon, Dauphin, and Swan River. Short says more testing sites may open in the future, but there are no plans at this time.

Short also adds that testing is going well within PMH with just 15 lab-confirmed cases.

"They've all been running as drive-thru and everything has been going excellent," continued Short. "It's been taking about 10 minutes from the time people drive up to the time they can leave and then isolate for two weeks."

The public is reminded that you must contact Health Links in order to be screened and receive notice of an appointment. The number for Health Links-Info Sante is 1-888-315-9257.

The province has now expanded testing to any Manitoban with symptoms of COVID-19 --- even just mild --- which include a cough, runny nose, sore throat, and or fever.

You can access the online screening tool and more information here.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Apr 30, 2020 - 12:38 pm

A local healthcare professional that works with Manitoba Corrections is calling attention to some issues with the closure of the Dauphin jail.

Dauphin's Kirk Nyquist is a Registered Nurse, and has worked casually at the Dauphin Correctional Centre (DCC). His first concern is about the government’s reasoning for the closure.

“I think what’s happened here is the province has closed the jail, and given the public the wrong information.”

In a press release regarding the shuttering of the jail, the government stated: “there is currently sufficient capacity at the other facilities following an overall decline in the provincial inmate population”. Nyquist says this is not accurate.

“It occurred to me that the information the government has provided the public is misleading,” and Nyquist insists the government is “misleading the public in saying the correctional system is not overburdened and they can handle the closure the Dauphin jail. In actual fact, that’s incorrect.”

“Everyone in the system knows that closing the Dauphin jail is going to burden the system.”

Furthermore, Nyquist wants people to know the decision to close the jail will create serious health issues for inmates, and put them in jeopardy.

“My issue is the health and welfare of the inmates. As a Registered Nurse and employee of Manitoba Corrections, I am mandated advocate for my clients and my patients."

Nyquist also takes issue with the decision to move forward with the closure of the DCC during the pandemic.

“Closing the jail during a pandemic means now the employees have to go out there — friends and colleagues of mine — have to go out there and find housing for their families in the middle of a pandemic. So as a nurse, I’m now worried about not just the inmates.”

Nyquist brought his concerns to senior managers, the senior nursing officer, senior management at Manitoba Corrections, and the leader of the opposition. He tells CKDM he hasn’t received a response in over 7 weeks.

“They are breaking their own policies by doing this. I’ve asked them why they are doing this, and no one has answered the question.”

Nyquist has voiced his concerns in a letter to the Ombudsman, and is now waiting for them to work through their process.

The Dauphin native says he’s probably the only person willing to go this far and speak out, because he’s not concerned about his job. “I'm a casual employee and I have a part-time job elsewhere,” he explained.

“I need other people to understand that as a society, we have to be concerned about our vulnerable people. People that are incarcerated in Manitoba are vulnerable people. We have a responsibility to them.”

Details: Contributed by Matt Hamel; Published: Apr 29, 2020 - 6:42 pm

It started as a lark, but now International Yellow T-Shirt Day has reached its 40^th anniversary! Fork River's René Hübener, also known as the Parkland Poet, was 17 years old and in high school when he started Yellow T-Shirt Day to see how many people would wear yellow t-shirts.

“People actually wore them! So, in the following years, we decided to start sending out press releases to the media and we found over the next 2, 3, 4 years, it really caught on with the media and more and more people were wearing yellow t-shirts to celebrate Yellow T-Shirt Day. To the point where in 1984, it became an international news story on the radio and every English speaking radio station in the world was running a story about International Yellow T-Shirt Day.”

1984 was the biggest year for International Yellow T-Shirt Day, and Hübener was interviewed over 300 times and also had one interview running on a radio network that broadcasts to 750 radio stations around the world.

When asked how he feels now that the day has reached 40 years, Hübener jokingly said, "Old!"

“It’s pretty bizarre, we’ve kept it going, my friends and I, just because it’s been so much fun over the years and we had our little hey day in the ’80s there. But, on this 40^th anniversary, it really is cool to think that as a group of friends we continue to wear yellow, share yellow, on the International Yellow T-Shirt Facebook page.”

Something he’s noticed about wearing yellow on this day over the years, is the fun that those participating have.

“Yellow is a very happy, positive colour. It’s a neat thing to be a part of something that other people are a part of, and in this case, it’s a fun, happy, and bright colour, so I encourage everyone on Thursday, April 30^th (Tomorrow) to wear yellow and just take part in it and be happy.”

While the virus has put a damper on the fun they were planning to have for the 40^th, René has his eyes set on a big 50^th year.