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Unions representing thousands of public-sector employees in Manitoba are taking Brian Pallister’s government to court today to fight a wage-freeze bill that they say removes employees' right to collective bargaining.
The Manitoba Federation of Labour wants a judge to rule Bill 28 as unconstitutional.
President of the Federation, Kevin Rebeck, says they are asking for a “fair process”.
“We believe Manitobans believe in a fair process,” said Rebeck. “We believe they deserve it.”
“There are 120,000 workers and their families who have been left in the lurch because the Pallister government doesn’t want to do collective bargaining,” added Rebeck.
The PC government passed Bill 28 in 2017, which mandated a two-year wage freeze for public- sector workers as new collective agreements were negotiated. After the two years, wages would increase by 0.75 per cent in year three, and 1 percent in year four.
Although the bill has been passed, it never has been proclaimed into law. Public-sector unions say that government negotiators have acted as if the bill was law, and have refused to budge on wages during negotiations.
The unions, which represent lawyers, nurses, teachers, and university faculty, all say the bill is unconstitutional. They point to the fact that the Supreme Court of Canada had previously ruled that the collective bargaining process is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The provincial government has defended the bill by citing that it’s part of their commitment to fixing finances and protecting public services in Manitoba.
Pallister’s government had tried to have the case adjourned last month after making last-minute changes to the bill, but their attempt was unsuccessful.
Central Service Minister Reg Helwer, said in a statement that the province is confident that the bill is, in fact, constitutional.
“It protects public services for all Manitobans, supports collective bargaining, and delivers on our commitment to responsibly address the fiscal challenges we inherited,” said Helwer.
He didn’t make any other comments out of respect for the judicial process.
The unions will be in court until December 5th, and then again for three days in February, to plead their case.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
This weekend was a big one in Dauphin with Rogers Hometown Hockey in town.
Ron MacLean was impressed by the community.
“It felt like New York City, so there was that, and to be set up by this unbelievable train station, 1896 you can almost picture them beginning to break ground here and now it’s a tight-knit community obviously. That was special.”
Tara Slone got to take part in the whole treatment this weekend, joining the round dance with Treaty 2 First Nations and dropping the puck at Rangers Ukrainian Night.
During the weekend, Bridgette Lacquette, Colton Orr, and Butch Goring made appearances. On the broadcast, Mya Kubrakovich and Rylan Gibbs joined MacLean and Slone and named the three stars of the featured hockey game, Calgary Flames vs Vegas Golden Knights.
This isn’t MacLean’s first time in the Parkland.
“I have been to Winnipegosis a couple of times, I know Alex Lytwyn, a young man who has cerebral palsy, so he’s in a wheelchair, but he’s just an amazing leader in the community there. He’s helped to raise money for the hockey program there.”
MacLean was very emphatic about his favourite thing here in Dauphin.
“The pierogies. There’s no doubt, Leanne brought over some pierogies for us and they were state of the art tender. I wanted, and still might get, some kubasa, pumpernickel and beer. I got the treat of, Tara had said ‘make sure Ron, you save room for the pierogies’ and they were the highlight for me.”
MacLean also remembers a saying Darren Mallard, who played goalie for the Dauphin Kings a couple of times, liked to use.
“He used the term ‘Awesome Dauphin’ and it kinda rhymes, so I would say you’ve got your slogans but, the Sunshine City for me, was Awesome Dauphin.”
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Over the past few months, vaccination suppliers experienced shortages and delays in Canada.
Mahmoud Khodaveisi, medical officer of health with PMH, says Manitoba isn’t the only province to experience shortages and delays and that all provinces and territories had the same experience.
Manitoba Health has received its full order.
Khodaveisi thinks, because the full order has been received, there will be enough flu vaccines until the end of the flu shot campaign.
Khodaveisi says Manitoba Health and Health Canada are working to make sure next year is a lot smoother.
The last day to get the flu shot in Dauphin is on Friday, November 29th from 9 am to noon at the Dauphin Community Health Office. Call 1-877-646-3888 to book an appointment.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Barker School in Dauphin hosted a few other schools for a Hometown Hockey assembly.
Kyle Buttenham, MC with Hometown Hockey, says there’s one thing they try to do in every community.
“We aim to go to at least one elementary school in each of the communities to engage the youth.”
At the assembly, the kids were shown two videos about what Hometown Hockey is and a sneak peek into some of the stories that are a part of the stop here in Dauphin. The kids also got to see a bit of the Steve Goodtime Rockin’ Hockey Show.
Buttenham says they had a lot of fun at the assembly and it looked like the students did too.
“It was great, it’s so funny, especially when Steve Goodtime does his show for them, just watching the kids laugh, smile and make some noise.”
Going to elementary schools is one of Buttenham’s highlights from every Hometown Hockey weekend. He’s also looking forward to the ceremonial round dance with the Treaty 2 First Nations.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
You may have seen meteors shooting across the sky this month, and that's because of the Leonid Meteor Shower.
The meteor shower ranges from November 6th to 30th every year, with the peak coming tomorrow night.
The shower happens because Earth crosses through the orbital path of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle.
Moonlight is expected to decrease the number of meteors that can be seen, but brighter meteors will still be visible.
If the night was dark, 10 to 15 meteors would be seen every hour.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The Manitoba Métis Federation announced its new Post-Secondary Education Support Program on Friday.
The MMF, in partnership with the Canadian government, will receive close to $90 million over the course of the next 10 years, and then after that, they will receive $9.9 million yearly.
The Federation is hoping to award up to $5,000 to 1,000 students for the upcoming school year. MMF said this agreement ensures that Métis students in the province can have access to financial and much-needed student supports for the next decade.
“That young person can now say, I can be whatever I want to be because the Métis nation is there to back me up,” said President of the MMF, David Chartrand.
Chartrand added that the funding is long overdue, and new opportunities will be created for Métis people.
Anyone wanting to apply for funding is encouraged to do so online.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
November is Philanthropy Month in Manitoba.
David Bosiak, chair of the Dauphin and District Community Foundation, says all Manitoba community foundations host a challenge fundraising day as part of the month.
“This Saturday, November 16th, is Community Challenge day in Manitoba and all donations that day goes into a pot for the community foundation. If we can achieve 10 thousand dollars of contributions, we’ll be able to top that up by a 4 thousand dollar gift from the province and Winnipeg foundation.”
The goal is to raise 10 thousand dollars.
Bosiak says they raised over 43 thousand dollars last year.
If you’d like to help them achieve their goal, you can check out their website.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
CN Rail has announced they have made the “difficult decision” to lay off an unspecified number of workers.
A spokesperson for CN said that job numbers would be cut “due to a weakening of many sectors of the economy” and that some employees will be placed on furlough.
In an emailed statement, a senior media relations advisor for the company said “These adjustments have already started to take place across the network. CN would like to express gratitude to the employees who will be leaving the company and thank them for their service.”
CN would not confirm how many jobs would be affected.
CN transports more than $250 billion worth of goods annually across a 32,000 km rail network within Canada and the U.S.
Currently, CN has about 24,000 staff.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
Politicians and delegates were on hand at the Dauphin Regional Health Centre to celebrate the grand opening of the new entrances to the Emergency Department.
Central Services Minister Reg Helwer, Board Chair of Prairie Mountain Health, Lee Jebb, and Dauphin MLA Brad Michaleski all made speeches commemorating the opening.
“This new site will make a real difference for people in the community and surrounding area,” said Minister Reg Helwer. “I’m pleased to note the investments that our government is making will ensure people across rural Manitoba have access to quality health-care services.”
The entrances officially open up to the public on Monday, November 18th.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
It’s set to be a busy weekend in Dauphin with hockey galore.
The weekend starts with the Dauphin Minor Hockey Peewee Tournament at Credit Union Place and the Rotary Arena. The tournament runs all weekend with the first game between Roblin and the Fusion Kings starting at 10:15 this morning.
Tonight, the Parkland Rangers are at home against Southwest, and the Dauphin Kings are on the road in Selkirk to play the Steelers. You can hear the Kings game with the voice of the Kings, Darnell Duff, on CKDM with the pre-game show starting at 7:15.
Tomorrow, the Peewee Tournament continues and the festivities for Rogers Hometown Hockey kickoff at noon.
The Kings and Rangers both play again on Saturday night, with the Rangers holding their Ukrainian Night against the Winnipeg Bruins. Hometown Hockey host Tara Slone will be drop the puck at the Rangers game.
The Kings are paying a visit to the Steinbach Pistons, with Darnell Duff having that call on CKDM starting at 7:15.
Sunday, the Peewee tournament wraps up with the finals at 2:15. Hometown Hockey festivities start up again at noon and the weekend wraps up with an outdoor broadcast of the Calgary Flames taking on the Vegas Golden Knights.
Be sure to listen to CKDM at 12:40 after the Noon Ag Show, when Josh Sigurdson and Darnell Duff will preview the weekend’s events.
You can find the weekend schedule under the sports tab all weekend long.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
A part of the 2019 budget in Manitoba was adding 35 full-time equivalent rural paramedic positions.
Most of those positions have been filled with the rest to come in January.
The new paramedics are based out of Russell, Swan River, Flin Flon, and Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage.
Once all 35 positions have been filled, Manitoba’s EMS funding will be at 12.1 million dollars.
Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen says these investments are in addition to the government’s most recent commitment to hire an additional 80 full-time paramedics over the next four years.
Since 2016, the provincial government has improved emergency services by giving paramedics the right to self-regulate under the Regulate Health Professions Act, purchasing 65 new ambulances, and reducing ambulance fees by half to 250 dollars.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
