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A massive donation by Manitoba Pork will give food banks across the province the ability to offer more meat products to those who access them.
At their annual banquet on Thursday, Manitoba Pork announced they'd be donating $150,000 over the next three years to Harvest Manitoba. The money will go toward supplying rural food banks in Manitoba with freezers and ground pork.
"The major push is to provide some food banks in communities across Manitoba with freezers, to allow them to store fresh meat, that can be made available to people who need it."
Dahl says it's not only an important contribution for Manitoba Pork but also to its members.
"Pork Farmers in Manitoba really do recognize and appreciate that they're part of our community, and part of building that community around them. This is one of the ways of giving back."
In a release, Harvest Manitoba President and CEO Vince Barletta talked about how important Manitoba Pork has been as a partner to harvest.
“The freezers and ground pork will allow food banks across Manitoba to provide nutritious protein to Manitobans in need. The ongoing and sustained support of Manitoba Pork helps Harvest keep up with the unprecedented demand for food across our province.”
Harvest Manitoba feeds more than 90,000 Manitobans per month, including hungry children, hardworking families, and struggling adults. Harvest is the fourth largest distributor of its kind in Canada and is the only provincial food network in Manitoba.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
Main Street in Dauphin will see some new development after the Chiefs of Ebb and Flow, and Pine Creek First Nations signed off on the land ownership with the Mayor of Dauphin.
Chief Wayne Desjarlais of Ebb and Flow, Chief Derek Nepinak of Pine Creek, and Mayor David Bosiak met for a monumental day, in which the purchase of over 80 acres of land was finalized.
This deal has been in progress since 2019, and Chief Nepinak has overseen the entire process.
"It takes a lot of people to make this come to reality and I've had the benefit and the pleasure of seeing a lot of the progress over more than a decade now"
With the paperwork filed, development can begin on the open lot on Main Street South. Chief Nepinak went into some of the details of what will be done there and in the 80 acres behind it.
"Our immediate plan is to develop the frontage. We're going to put a Petro-Canada on site, I think that was announced last year sometime. In the longer term, we have bigger plans for the development of the back 80 acres there, possibly some residential, we've got some commercial land needs between treaty 2 and 4, and all of our different offices in the city of Dauphin. We may look to consolidate some of those in one office building around that property."
The joint ownership would be a financial boon to both Pine Creek and Ebb and Flow and the development of the 80 acres could bolster local businesses with increases in population to the local area.
With such a positive impact on all communities involved, this signing is a win-win situation. The symbolic nature of this milestone signing also acted as a renewal of trust, respect, and partnership between the city of Dauphin, and the communities of Pine Creek and Ebb and Flow.
Overall, this was another step closer to creating a strong community for Dauphin, First Nations, and the entire Parkland area.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
The Dauphin RCMP is looking for information after a number of thefts over the span of five days.
Between April 7th and 11th, the Dauphin RCMP received 14 complaints of Break and Enters, as well as thefts, involving vehicles, ATVs, a lawn tractor, bicycles, and power tools.
The stolen items include:
- A 2003 GMC pickup truck from a property in the RM of Dauphin (later recovered in Crane River)
- A 2010 Dodge Challenger from a shop in Dauphin
- An ATV from a property in Dauphin (later recovered after it had been involved in a collision with a vehicle and light standard in Dauphin)
- A 2019 Polaris Slingshot motorcycle from a property in Dauphin (later recovered in Ebb and Flow First Nation)
In regards to the stolen pickup truck, the Dauphin RCMP arrested and charged 24-year-old Braden Moar, of Crane River, with Break and Enter, Possession of Stolen Property, as well as Failing to Comply with a Release Order. Moar had three outstanding warrants for his arrest, and was remanded into custody.
The Dauphin RCMP is asking anyone who may have information about these thefts to contact the Detachment at (204) 622-5020, call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or submit a secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
The Union representing more than 7000 allied health professionals in Manitoba, including rural paramedics and emergency dispatch, says its members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike mandate.
The Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals (MAHCP) says its members, who have been without a contract for five years, voted 99% in favour of the mandate.
“Allied health professionals have been waiting more than five years for a contract, through a pandemic and a worsening staffing crisis,” said MAHCP President Jason Linklater. “This strike vote result clearly shows they are done waiting.”
MAHCP members work as rural paramedics and emergency dispatch; diagnostic imaging and laboratory technologists; mental health and addictions counsellors, respiratory therapists, midwives and over 40 other specialized professions that are essential to delivering health care for Manitobans.
The wages of more than 6500 health care professionals have been frozen since 2017, and the union says that in that time, the cost of living has increased by 20%.
MAHCP has expressed growing concern in recent years due to escalating vacancy rates and critical understaffing in many areas including rural emergency medical services, diagnostics, and mental health.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
On March 9th, 2022, Reit-Syd Equipment helped kickstart the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund with a $25,000 donation.
More than a year later, they've made another substantial donation to help the fund continue bringing families to the Parkland.
Reit-Syd Equipment General Manager Don Tarrant, joined by all of the company's employees, donated another $25,000 to the fund. Tarrant says while the donation is coming from the company, it's thanks to all of the hard work of their staff.
"It's not possible without the crew here today, or the team at Reit-Syd working very hard every day, earning customer loyalty, and also the income. We're donating back as a whole group."
Tarrant says that the continued generosity from the community has meant the fund has been able to continue helping families move to the area, with more than 30 families now in Parkland.
"I figured that we would have very good support, and the support has been more than expected actually. It's coming from everyone that feels like they can contribute. If they've got something specific, they've figured out how to put that into it, whether it's cash or gifts in kind."
Tarrant added that the families who have come to the area with the help of the fund are already settling in.
"They're settling in really really well, they're getting employed, we're seeing jobs that were posted that didn't have anyone to fill the spots getting filled. So I think it's a huge positive impact for the Parkland economy."
The Family Fund has scaled back the support they're offering new families, but its volunteers are still working to help people fleeing Ukraine find housing, jobs, and anything else they need in the Parkland.
You can get more information about the Fund, by calling Larry at 204-648-5904.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
An overland flood watch has been issued for the Fisher River area near Peguis First Nation and Fisher River First Nation.
Manitoba's Hydrologic Forecast Centre says moderate precipitation is forecast for the basin, and with the rain, water levels could rise significantly overnight Friday into Midday Saturday.
An overland flood watch was also issued for eastern Manitoba including Winnipeg and areas east of PTH 75.
The province says up to 20 millimeters of rain and/or snow could fall between today and tomorrow in those areas.
The flood watch will remain in effect until noon on Saturday. It may be extended depending on future weather conditions.
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- Contributed by Alec Woolston
Bear spray is increasingly being used as a weapon and new measures are in place to help solve this problem.
Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen says with this rise in crime, using identification in the purchase of bear spray could help lower the rates that it's used in assaults.
The Manitoba government is also looking to the federal government to make the sale of bear repellent difficult through stronger restrictions.
With a rise of 75 percent in crimes involving bear spray over the five-year average, these new regulations will be a welcome update.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
The Manitoba Maple Syrup Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary in McCreary this weekend.
Over the years, the festival has done its best to bring back all of the attractions that everyone loves, as well as add to great activities. Festival President Pam Little says the festival has evolved over the years, and that's what makes it special.
"We've gone from a one-day festival to a two-day festival, we have way more activities than we did our first festival. I think we've also just matured in the way that we're highlighting our indigenous partners that were the first people to tap tree's in this area, and in Canada."
One of the main attractions at the festival is tours of a working Sugarbush, and Little says it's something you definitely don't want to miss.
"The main thing that people come for is to learn about maple syrup and how it's produced, but we have lots of other maple things going on. On Saturday you can go to a working sugarbush, so that's a major thing. You go by horse and wagon, it's quite a nice experience, and out there you roast bannock on a stick, the Asham family will have their bannock out there."
Bannock Roasting at the 2018 Manitoba Maple Syrup Festival
The festival has two days packed full of events, including shows by local musicians, the Old Time Dance with music by the Brendan Chartrand Band, and new this year, a Maple Dessert Contest on Sunday.
You can see the full schedule, as well as purchase tickets to the festival, at the Manitoba Maple Syrup Fest Website.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
A town hall meeting in Dauphin recently took place to discuss the rising crime rates in the area, and the possibilities of bail reform.
Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa MP Dan Mazier, accompanied by Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Frank Caputo, hosted this event to have some open communication with the community.
Caputo was invited to this event by Mazier, as his background as a former crown attorney allowed him to detail the changes and bills moving through parliament around bail.
The bail issues focus on a problem with "prolific offenders", who commit a disproportionate amount of crime, compared to other offenders. The reform looks to change the policies around bail to make repeat offenders have a harder time getting a bail plea. This in turn would free up more resources that would otherwise go to such offenders that would serve their sentence in the community.
The next topic, which also dominated the Q&A session was the ever-rising numbers of rural crime. Mazier noted that these trends in smaller towns are something that may have been seen before elsewhere.
"We're seeing some really startling stats, especially of rural Canada that crime rates are up 32% but even more concerning is the whole issue of what we used to see in Toronto, what we used to see in Winnipeg, that crime is coming to Dauphin, to Swan River, to Neepawa."
Overall, the meeting left off with the strong message that the only way to deal with the crime in our community, is together as a community.
The town hall meeting wrapped up shortly after 8:30 pm.
If you were unable to make it out to the town hall and you still want your voice to be heard, you can email MP Dan Mazier at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or reach his Dauphin office by calling 1-877-405-8946.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
The Pas RCMP is investigating a fatal accident that took place along Highway 10 near midnight on April 12th.
Police got the call around 12:10 am this morning (April 12th), that an accident had happened on Highway 10, about 2 km north of Highway 60.
The investigation determined that a southbound semi-trailer, driven by a 59-year-old male from Truro, NS, crossed over into the northbound lane and collided with a northbound semi-trailer, driven by a 22-year-old male from Assiniboia, SK.
The 59-year-old male was pronounced deceased at the scene, while the 22-year-old male was taken to the hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries. The Pas RCMP, along with a Forensic Collision Reconstructionist, continue to investigate.
Highway 10 from Highway 60, north to Highway 287 was closed but is now back open.
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- Contributed by Sam Brownell
A State of the District meeting was held at the Ste. Rose community hall for figureheads from the area to talk about community growth.
Mayor of Ste. Rose Robert Brunel was excited to have this event in Ste. Rose, and he's looking forward to working with the surrounding towns to stay connected and thrive together.
"It's really about bringing us together and building those relationships. prior to covid, the state of the districts has been going on, so having them in Ste. Rose is nice to see that it's starting over since covid and it's bringing leaders, community members, and business people together."
Brunel addressed several key factors that affect most places in the parkland area, such as housing growth, increasing tourism attractions, and preserving the campsites and trails.
"These are some of the investments in time and energy and money that people are putting into their community so they can raise their families and make it a good place for others to raise their families and set down some roots, to make it a community where there's something for everyone."
Several important members of the community were there, including Chamber Executive Director Stephen Chychota, Chamber Board Member Gabe Mercier, Dauphin Mayor David Bosiak, Gilbert Plains Reeve Jim Manchur, Grandview Mayor Lyle Morran, and RM of Dauphin CAO Nicole Chychota.
This meeting highlighted the common points that all of these areas have to address and provided an ideal situation to build a better community, together.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
