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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to testify before the House of Commons finance committee tomorrow.
He’ll be asked about the events that led to his cabinet asking the WE Charity to oversee a $900 million student-volunteer program.
The federal Conservatives have called for the ethics watchdog to broaden their investigation into the We Charity scandal.
Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau are already being investigated by the ethics commissioner, for possible violations of the Conflict of Interest Act.
Members of Trudeau’s family were paid more than $500,000 in speaking fees at various WE Charity events.
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- Contributed by 730 CKDM
Manitoba RCMP is investigating a fatal vehicle collision, just outside of Brandon.
The initial investigation suggests that a vehicle going west on Highway 1 collided with a woman that was lying in the middle of the westbound lane of traffic.
Emergency services were called but the pedestrian, a 30-year-old woman from Brandon, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 44-year-old male driver from Brandon was not injured.
RCMP continues to investigate.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
Three new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Wednesday's update from public health officials.
This brings the total number of confirmed and probable cases in Manitoba to 407.
Today's cases include two in the Interlake-Eastern health region; and one in the Winnipeg health region.
There are 74 active cases, and 325 individuals listed as recovered from COVID-19.
There are six current hospitalizations, with four individuals in intensive care. The number of deaths in Manitoba due to COVID-19 is eight.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
Front-line workers in Manitoba can expect to see an additional $1,377 in their bank accounts this week.
The province has given an update on where they stand when it comes to the wage top-up for front-line workers.
Premier Brian Pallister made the announcement today, saying “we want to thank front-line workers and acknowledge the sacrifices they made during the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased risks they faced on the job to provide crucial services. We also appreciate Manitobans’ patience as we reviewed every application we received in order to determine final payment amounts.”
The province will divide $120 million equally among 78, 442 eligible Manitobans, which will equal out to $1,377 after taxes.
Eligible positions for the wage top-up included health care, social services, justice, security, transportation, food and beverage, hotels and essential retail.
For more information about the Risk Recognition Program, click here.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
If you’ve been waiting to watch your favourite movies on the big screen, here’s some good news.
With Manitoba loosening more restrictions as a part of Phase 4, the Countryfest Community Cinema is reopening this Friday.
On Saturday, July 25th the province gave movie theatres in Manitoba the all-clear to reopen at 30% capacity, and the local cinema is kicking off their reopening with some classic movies including ‘Jurassic Park’, ‘Harry Potter’, and ‘Back To The Future’.
Countryfest Community Cinema General Manager Ron Suchoplas says they’ve invested in a new way to arrange and reserve seats.
“Out of this little bit of darkness came a little bit of light. It was a costly expense but it makes our physical distancing part a little bit easier because we’re able to set up the spacing and seating in the theatre using technology.”
He adds that there will be enhanced cleaning protocols in place after every movie.
“Because of the cost of them I didn’t pull the trigger on it until we got the go ahead to reopen, but we ordered a disinfectant fogger. In between show times after we clean the theatres, we’re going to disinfect them.”
For more information, and to get tickets this weekend, you can visit the Countryfest Community Cinema website.
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- Contributed by Tess Kovach
Dauphin’s fire chief has given an update on the department’s activity in the first half of 2020.
In the first six months of the year, the Dauphin Fire Department (DFD) responded to 72 emergency incidents — compared to 109 during the same period last year.
That’s a 34% decrease in emergency response calls — something Fire Chief Cam Abrey says is the lowest number of incidents (for the first half of a year) in well over 10 years.
“A lot of those calls that we are still responding to are motor vehicle incidents. That seems to be our largest response area, out of the total.”
(Graph courtesy of the Fire Chief's 2020 First Half Year Report to Council)
Despite the cancellation of festivals and summer events that typically bring more traffic to town — Dauphin's fire chief says there’s been an increase in motor vehicle collisions compared to the same time period last year— and he’s not exactly sure why.
“We really did suspect that with the COVID restrictions and people at home from work and school — that we may have seen an increase in kitchen fires. We actually saw a decrease in kitchen fires in that six-month timeframe.”
Training
While some rural fire department elected to postpone firefighter training during the COVID situation, the DFD took a different approach.
Abrey says the department decided to continue their firefighter training, by reducing group sizes and increasing classroom sanitization.
“We’re firm believers that the training is protecting not only the citizens we serve, but the firefighters themselves. These are all skills that if you don’t use it, you can lose it, so we want to stay on top of our game.”
Fitness
It appears the Dauphin Fire Department has embraced a greater focus on physical health and mental wellness, by shifting to healthier meal alternatives, and committing to regular fitness training.
When fitness centres closed in Manitoba at the beginning of the pandemic, Dauphin firefighters pooled together some workout equipment at the station, gathering in groups of 10 for their FireFit training regiment.
“Not only are we training to serve the citizens, but we’re also training to protect ourselves health-wise too. The better that you can be physically, helps with the mental wellness of everybody — which we know during the COVID — is something everybody is struggling with.”
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
The City of Dauphin tell us that recycle pick-up has been delayed, due to a mechanical issue.
Recycle pick-up in part of the Day 1 areas has been delayed.
The city advises if your bin was not picked up today, to leave it out so OSS can pick it up tomorrow (Wednesday, July 29).
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
Manitoba has recorded its eighth COVID-related death, and added 5 new cases of COVID-19 in Tuesday’s update.
The province’s most recent death related to COVID-19 is a man in his 70’s from the Southern Health region.
Today’s new cases bring Manitoba’s total case count to 405.
There are 78 active cases, with three individuals in hospital — two in intensive care — and 319 people listed as recovered.
One of the new cases is in the Prairie Mountain Health region.
Travel Restrictions
As part of Phase Four of reopening, the province will continue with the 14-day self isolation period for visitors from Quebec, Atlantic Canada, and southern Ontario.
But we’re also learning that Manitoba could reinstate a 14-day isolation order for those arriving in Manitoba from Saskatchewan, Alberta and BC, should those provinces see a surge in cases.
Chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin is advising Manitoban’s travelling west to be mindful of possible changes to self-isolation requirements.
Health Minister Cameron Friesen says public health officials will review possible adjustments on a week-by-week basis, and make any additional changes based on the health situation at the given time.
“If we see a significant deterioration happening in western Canada, we’ve never said that we wouldn’t, you know, reinstate those 14-day isolation requirements at this point in time.”
Anyone who develops symptoms is recommended to self-isolate and visit www.Manitoba.ca/covid19 to use the online screening tool, or call Health Links for guidance on how to seek testing.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
It’s been one year since the new Emergency Department (ED) opened up at the Dauphin Hospital.
In the past year, staff have been able to become accustomed to the upgrades and larger space to work with.
Curt Gullett, Dauphin Regional Health Centre Director, says over the past year, physicians and staff have worked to learn and improve patient flow in the new ED space.
“Our new ED treatment areas and equipment have been beneficial for the support of client care needs and the requirements of the general public.”
Improvements that were made with the new ED include improved access to the hospital through the back entrance cul de sac and ED front doors, the EMS now offloads in a four-bay temperature controlled area, and the special care unit got private rooms, adjacent bathrooms, and overhead sky lighting.
Gullett says feedback from the staff at the hospital has generally been very positive.
“Private areas for the clinic and the clients to have their treatments provided, so privacy is a big thing, adequate space for the staff to work in and function has been certainly one of the things we’ve heard positive staff response to, and again, the layout, we’ve taken the approach that it’s a team effort and it’s a team approach, so all of our work stations are team stations, they’re not just nursing stations anymore, so really focusing on the team aspect at Dauphin Regional Health Centre.”
Activity at the ED overall has been busy. Although COVID has caused a decline in the use of the ED. That decline is also in part from the major events such as Countryfest, CNUF, and the Ag Fair being postponed.
While work was being done on the new ED, the department was in a temporary space.
Since moving into the upgraded area, that temporary space has been left vacant.
Gullett says PMH and Manitoba Health, Seniors, and Active Living are working together to determine what that space will become.
“It’s a fairly large space, but when we designed the temporary ER, we designed it, essentially that it would be potentially a clinical enhanced area. So, it was developed with that in mind, that it would be some form of clinical space.”
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
5:30 a.m. Update:
Shortly before 10 p.m. last night, the fire department was dispatched back to the scene due to a possible rekindle of the morning's fire.
When firefighters arrived, they found smoke coming out of the roof at the back of the home.
Earlier in the day, they identified that spot as an area of concern because there had been an addition built on to the home at some point and there was a roof built over top of a preexisting roof that created some difficult void spaces.
It was also discovered that someone had removed the plywood from the windows and gained access to the structure. No one was located in the home and neighbours confirmed that they saw someone crawling out from the basement window.
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Firefighters have now determined the cause of a Monday morning house fire in Dauphin, at the corner of 2nd St. SW and 4th Ave. SW.
Shortly after 5 a.m., crews arrived on the scene with heavy smoke coming from the home.
Fire Chief Cam Abrey says members of the Dauphin Fire Department remained on scene until 3:00 p.m., working with the fire commissioner to ensure the fire was completely extinguished, and figure out what caused the blaze.
After an investigation, it was determined to be an accidental electrical fire, which had burned undetected in the basement until neighbours saw smoke and contacted the fire department.
There are no injuries to report as a result of the fire, and there is no estimate on the damage caused.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Masks will be mandatory for everyone entering Winnipeg James Richardson International Airport, starting Wednesday.
The Winnipeg Airport Authority explains this is an added safety measure being implemented in all public areas of the airport terminal, in the interest of safety and protecting the community.
The airport had previously only required passengers wear masks when boarding, and passing through security — but say the new rule is in response to increased traffic.
A Winnipeg Airport Authority spokesperson says travellers should have a mask with them on arrival at the airport.
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- Contributed by Matt Hamel
