NewsNow
The campaigning is now complete, and now it is time for the residents of Manitoba to decide who will form their next provincial government.
Here in the Dauphin constituency, voters have a choice between two candidates in this election.
Gord Wood is looking to hold onto the riding for the Progressive Conservatives.
"I will be exhausted when this is all done. There has been a lot of door-knocking and a lot of visiting and events and things like that, but it certainly has been an exciting process. I have learned a lot and met a lot of people and have had lots of great conversations with people. But I am excited to where our PC team can take our region and the province, so I am really hoping for the best outcome."
For his first foray into provincial politics, Wood says it was everything he expected it to be.
"Everything and More yes! It was certainly a learning experience for me and it was good to see the behind-the-scenes of the operations. So certainly I will be very excited for when Tuesday comes, but a lot of nerves as well."
Wood is opposed by former MDP agriculture minister Ron Kostyshyn, who also says the campaign went as they expected it to go.
"We put on 16,000 km and made sure I had the chance to visit all the people in the constituency. A number of questions have always come up and it sounds like people are concerned after seven years of the PC government. People are not happy about what has happened in the last seven years."
Kostyshyn adds he is not taking anything for granted going into today.
"I think what we have heard from the general public is that obviously, the record shows that health care is a disaster. The education component has got its challenges and I think we are going to be dealing with additional issues when we talk about settlement of contracts. Addressing the crime issue I think there is no doubt in our mind that we all witness this almost on a daily basis. And the jail closure obviously was a major economic downgrade."
Polls are open from 8 am until 8 pm tonight.
- Details
- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Today is election day in Manitoba.
Mike Ambrose with Elections Manitoba says polls will be open from 8 am to 8 pm today.
"Anyone at the polls waiting in line by 8 pm will still get the chance to vote. Voters should bring ID. They will need to show either one piece of government-issued photo ID with their address, something like a driver's licence, or any two other pieces of ID. One of those could be their voter information card."
In the Dauphin constituency, voting takes place at the following locations :
(Alphabetically by community)
Something brand new for this election - Voters can now vote at any polling place in their electoral division on election day. Once there, voters will cast their ballot on a first come, first served basis.
You can go online to www.electionsmanitoba.cam or call 204-945-3225 to find out where the nearest polling station is to you.
"We will be using vote counting machines. So voters will bring their paper ballot to the ballot box and the voting officer will put it into the vote counting machine. Then at the close of voting, the voting officer will run a report out of those machines, and that will produce the tally at the end of the night. Some voters will still be using the manual style ballot boxes, and those will be hand counted."
- Details
- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The average price of gasoline continues to fall across the province, according to the website GasBuddy.com.
The average price dropped a further 1.9 cents a litre over the past week to 159.66 cents.
That also represents a 5.5 cent decrease from exactly one month ago and is 24.9 cents a litre cheaper than on this day exactly one year ago.
Here in Dauphin, the price of regular gasoline is around 162.9 cents a litre at most stations.
The national average price is 161.75 cents a litre, which is down 1.7 cents from last week.
- Details
- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Many political pundits are predicting the Dauhin riding will be a close race Tuesday night.
The leaders of Manitoba's two main political parties see the importance of winning the Dauphin riding in their efforts to form the next government.
Both Wab Kinew of the NDP and PC party leader Heather Stefanson paid visits to the city during the election campaign.
Progressive Conservative leader Heather Stefanson was in Dauphin on Friday to support local candidate Gord Wood.
He says the visit was definitely a huge boost to his campaign.
"It's a good support. It just validates what we are doing here. We know we have support from the PC Party and we have had that support all the way through the campaign. Her coming here at the end of the campaign just shows that she wants us to retain this seat."
One of Kinew's visits included an announcement to build a new justice centre in Dauphin, to replace the jail that was previously closed.
Local NDP candidate Ron Kostyshyn says Kinew conected well with local residents during his visits.
"Wab Kinew is showing his credibility as he speaks, he connects with the general public. Here is a man that is a common sense thinker and is an individual that is connected to all people in the province of Manitoba."
- Details
- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Five people are dead following a single-vehicle crash near Swan River.
RCMP say it happened around 5 pm on Saturday on Highway 83, about 19 km south of the community.
They say an SUV carrying all five people was traveling northbound when the vehicle went off the road and rolled into a field.
All five people in the car were not wearing their seatbelts at the time and were thrown from the vehicle.
RCMP believe speed was a factor in the crash.
Two women, aged 42 and 26, as well as three men aged 37, 36, and 25, were all pronounced dead at the scene.
No names or hometowns of the deceased have been released.
Swan River RCMP continues to investigate along with a Forensic Collision Reconstructionist.
- Details
- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Saturday (September 30th) is The National Day For Truth and Reconciliation, a day to remember the hurt, loss, and trauma that many Indigenous people experienced at residential schools.
Parkland Crossing will play host to a special commemoration event.
Susie Secord with the Dauphin Friendship Center is helping organize this event.
"I think it is important for people to recognize and to acknowledge what happened with the residential school system, and the fact that children were basically taken from their home at a very young age, and parents were forced to give over their children and it was not a volunteer thing, particularly in the early onset of the residential school system. Many children did not make it home. "
Secord mentioned it will be a busy morning of speakers, including an elder from, Ebb and Flow First Nation, The Metis Council's Fran Chartrand, representatives from the city, and more.
The ceremony starts at 11 a.m. and will wrap up with drum groups, fiddling, and dancing.
Secord says the day is just a small part of the healing that needs to happen going forward.
"To us, when people come out, it is their way of acknowledging what happened, and their attempt at trying to get some education on what happened."
While there is rain in the forecast, the backup plan is to move into the gym inside of Parkland Crossing.
- Details
- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The leader of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party paid a visit to Dauphin on Friday.
Heather Stefanson visited a local cattle operation, Vermillion Growers, and Northgate trails, before wrapping up the whirlwind visit with a reception at Obsolete Brewing.
Stefanson says retaining the Dauphin constituency in Tuesday's election is important to her party.
"We see lots of great things happening. Here we are at Obsolete Brewing (Friday night), we were at Vermillion Greenhouse earlier (Friday). There are so many things. Jobs coming to this community. It is thriving and this is what we want to see and I just think there is hope and opportunity for the future here."
Local PC candidate Gord Wood accompanied Stefanson during her visit to Dauphin.
The PC leader says Wood has worked extremely hard during this campaign.
"He is very well known within the community. I have been out here a couple of times now and he will be a tremendous asset to us in our caucus and be an incredible representative for this community. We look forward to continuing to have this community represented in a Progressive Conservative government after the next election."
Wood says the visit by Stefanson is definitely a huge boost to his campaign going into its final days.
"I think it is a good support. It just validates what we are doing here. We know that we have support from the PC party and that we have had that support all of the way through. Her coming here at the end of the campaign just shows that we have support within the community. She wants to see us retain this seat."
Manitobans go to the polls to elect their next government on Tuesday.
Saturday is the final day for advanced voting.
- Details
- Contributed by Jeff Henson
A 37-year-old Swan River man faces a number of charges after an alleged break-in and assault at a residence in that community.
RCMP were called to a home on 7th Avenue in Swan River just before midnight on September 24th.
According to their investigation, a man known to the 45-year-old male resident is alleged to have broken into the victim's home,assaulted and threatened them before stealing a cell phone and a bicycle, leaving the victim with minor injuries.
The following day, the suspect reportedly broke into the home a second time, breaking several items including two TVs, and then took a hammer and broke several windows of a business on Main Street, as well as smashing two vehicles in the parking lot.
A female employee of the store suffered minor injuries from the flying glass, while an eight-year-old was also in the store at the time but was not physically injured.
RCMP finally made an arrest at a residence just before noon that day.
Jeremy Gingras remains in custody and faces a total of 10 charges, including two counts each of break and enter and uttering threats, three counts of mischief, and one count each of assault, theft, and theft of a bicycle.
- Details
- Contributed by Jeff Henson
This week is School Support Staff Week across Manitoba.
Mountain View School Division Superintendent Stephen Jaddock says their support staff plays an invaluable role in the day-to-day operations within the division.
"A big thank you for all of the hard work that they put in, in supporting all of the activities in the Mountain View School Division. We certainly appreciate their role and we can not do any of our roles without everyone else pitching in."
Jaddock says support staff includes much more than just educational assistants and janitorial staff.
"That would also be all of our mechanics, our maintenance staff, all of the individuals that are in our food staff that are working. We have all of our bus drivers as well and so many more. So we can not have a school day occurring without all of them."
- Details
- Contributed by Jeff Henson
All games begin with a 15 minute pregame show.
Dauphin Kings
- Friday, September 20th @ Virden - 7:30pm
- Tuesday, October 1st vs Winkler- 7:30pm
- Sunday, October 13th vs Wawayseecappo - 4:00pm
- Tuesday, October 15th @ Wawayseecappo - 7:30pm
- Friday, October 18th @ Selkirk - 7:30pm
- Sunday, October 20th @ Winkler - 7:30pm
- Friday, November 1st @ WPG Freeze - 7:30pm
- Saturday, November 2nd @ Selkirk - 7:30pm
- Wednesday, November 13th @ Swan Valley - 12:30pm
- Thursday, November 21st @ Wawayseecappo - 7:30pm
- Saturday, November 23rd @ Portage - 7:30pm
- Tuesday, December 10th vs Wawayseecappo - 7:30pm
- Wednesday, December 11th @ Northern Manitoba - 7:00pm
- Tuesday, December 17th @ Northern Manitoba - 7:00pm
- Sunday, January 5th vs Northern Manitoba - 4:00pm
- Wednesday, January 8th @ Portage - 7:30pm
- Friday, January 17th @ Winkler - 7:30pm
- Saturday, January 18th @ WPG Blues - 7:30pm
- Tuesday, January 21st @ Swan Valley - 7:00pm
- Friday, January 31st @ Virden - 7:30pm
- Friday, February 7th @ Steinbach - 7:00pm
- Saturday, February 8th @ Niverville - 7:00pm
- Friday, February 21st @ Steinbach - 7:00pm
- Saturday, February 22nd @ Niverville - 7:00pm
- Sunday, February 23rd @ WPG Blues - 6:00pm
- Friday, February 28th @ Neepawa - 7:30pm
- Tuesday, March 11th @ Wawayseecappo - 7:30pm
- Friday, March 14th @ Neepawa - 7:30pm
- Details
- Contributed by Dallas Jansen
Dauphin's Culture Days continue this weekend with a number of events.
Jean-Louis Guillas is one of the organizers of Dauphin Culture Days and says festivities begin Friday night with an open mic event at the Watson Arts Centre starting at 7 pm
"It is an ongoing series, but we are really happy to have it as part of Culture Days because it is that encouragement of amateurs or people who want to strut their artistic selves in Dauphin. We have to entertain ourselves and celebrate our own local people. And Gary does a fantastic job of encouraging new people and people to come back and refine their skills and just gain more confidence."
The other big event this weekend is the annual Yard Fringe bike tour, which begins from CN Park on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
"We go to backyards and a couple of parks where something cultural happens. We keep it a secret as to exactly what happens, but there are some staples from year to year. There will be amateur drama. In the past, it has always been youth drama, but this year we are letting adults in on the drama game."
Guillas adds one exciting component to this year's Yard Fringe is a Viking Encampment.
"It will be set up in Vermillion Park from 10 am until later Sunday afternoon. They do a traditional encampment and also battle re-enactment,l which is so cool! And they are really into making their own weapons and all of that kind of stuff, so you can also learn about that. And they are also looking for new members."
Guillas adds they are expecting anywhere from 80-to 100 people to take part on their bikes, but maps and stop times will also be provided to anyone who wishes to drive to the Yard fringe stops.
- Details
- Contributed by Jeff Henson
