Rotary Book Fair Starts Tomorrow

There's nothing like getting lost in a good book.

The Rotary Club of Dauphin's annual Book Fair starts tomorrow at a new location in the auditorium at the Dauphin United Church at 37, 3rd Avenue Northwest.

Jean-Louis Guillas, coordinator for the book fair says "everyone should come shopping and really I can't oversell the quality of the books we have ready to sell. Lots of it has been read once, it's in immaculate condition - all kinds of things."

Although they're well-stocked with books, donations of literature in good condition will still be accepted during the sale. Keep in mind, if you plan on attending, you'll need to be fully vaccinated and show your vaccine card as well as photo I.D. Masks will need to be worn as well while you shop.

The Rotary Book Fair runs from Thursday to Saturday this week and will be open from 10 to 7 each day.

Details: Contributed by Alec Woolston; Published: Nov 3, 2021 - 4:00 am

Heather Stefanson was sworn-in yesterday as Manitoba's 24th premier amid a legal challenge of the Progressive Conservative leadership election results filed by ousted candidate Shelly Glover.

At Premier Stefanson's first press conference as leader of Manitoba, CKDM was able to jump in and ask her about the possiblity of reopening the Dauphin Correctional Centre. Former PC leadership candidate Shelly Glover had mentioned doing just that in late September while she was in Dauphin.

"I think there's been a decline in the population within our correctional facilities...these are tough decisions that are made and do have impacts on communities and we want to work with Dauphin and work with those people in the community there, to ensure that we find other ways that we can create economic development opportunities within these communities", said Stefanson.

When the new premier was asked about how her government will reach out to communities outside of Winnipeg and further North, she mentioned they'll head out as they can under current public health orders and will be reaching out to people all over the province. "We'll continue to listen to those Manitobans to see what the challenges are in their own communities and we'll help them through this time", she stated.

Some key issues Stefanson and her government would like to tackle are surgical and diagnostic backlogs in healthcare, economic recovery, and earning the trust of Manitobans.

The premier also mentioned that changes to her cabinet will come eventually but it's not something she wants to rush in to.

After the press conference, the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party issued a statement regarding Shelly Glover's legal challenge of the leadership election results:

"The party has received the court papers from Ms. Glover's legal counsel. Our election process was run independently and without preference to either candidate. All ballots from the time they were received to the time they were counted were in the care and control of initially our independent security firm and subsequently our independent auditors. The counting was overseen by our auditors together with a scrutineer from each campaign.

We hope that after our election committee talks to Ms. Glover and her advisors and respond to her concerns that they will see that the process and the results were handled appropriately, accurately and without favour."

Details: Contributed by Alec Woolston; Published: Nov 3, 2021 - 4:00 am

It's been a long time coming but the Grain Millers Harvest Showdown is back with its 32nd Annual event.

Beginning on Wednesday and going until Saturday night, there will be something going on for everyone. The list of events includes Chore Team competition, Breeders Alley, an Exotic Animal sale, and a Stock Dog competition, just to name a few.

There was no Harvest Showdown last year because of the pandemic, the last event was hosted back in 2019. Barb Woytas is the general manager of the Yorkton Exhibition and she can't wait to get things going.

"We're really excited to be back, I know many people have been waiting for this," said Woytas. "We have so much going on, this really is an event for anyone to take part in."

Quick Dick Mick Dick will perform on Thursday and Lenny and the Gypsies will perform on Friday and Saturday. There is no cost to get onto the grounds and there will also be food trucks throughout the week.

For more on the event, head to Harvest Showdown. Also, tune into Wednesday's edition of Agri-View, the Noon-Hour Edition to hear Darnell Duff's full interview with Barb.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Nov 3, 2021 - 4:00 am

The swearing-in ceremony for Premier Heather Stefanson took place this afternoon at 2.

Stefanson is now the 24th Premier of Manitoba and the first female to serve as leader of the province.

In her speech after she was sworn in, Stefanson spoke about a renewed commitment to reconciliation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economy.

She ended her speech by saying "together we will accomplish great things for this great province of ours".

Details: Contributed by Alec Woolston; Published: Nov 2, 2021 - 3:11 pm

There are no active cases of COVID-19 in Dauphin, one day after there was one.

This as 127 new cases of the virus were reported in the province on Tuesday. 75 of which aren't vaccinated, three are partially vaccinated and 49 are fully vaccinated.

The test positivity rate has now risen to 5% provincially.

Public Health officials also note that of today's cases:

17 are in the Prairie Mountain Health region
7 are in the Interlake-Eastern Health region
26 are in the Northern Health region
50 are in the Southern Health–Santé Sud health region
27 are in the Winnipeg Health region

The numbers of active cases in other Parkland health districts are:

Riding Mountain (2), Swan River (9), Duck Mountain (30), Porcupine Mountain (26), Agassiz Mountain (3), Asessippi (9), Little Saskatchewan (6), Whitemud (2). Brandon has 11 active cases.

In the Interlake, the Eriksdale/Ashern health district has three active cases. The Fisher/Peguis district has 22 active cases.

There are 1,303 active COVID-19 cases in the province.

77 Manitobans are hospitalized with active COVID-19.

18 Manitobans are in intensive care units with active COVID-19.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Nov 2, 2021 - 1:02 pm

The RCMP responded to a report of a single-vehicle rollover at 11:09 a.m. on Tuesday on Highway 20, near Camperville.

An ambulance was dispatched. The extent of any injuries is not yet known.

We will have more information when it becomes available.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Nov 2, 2021 - 12:21 pm

The rifle deer season is set to open in a few days but the list of places to hunt has gone down after the first case of chronic wasting disease was found in a deer that had to be euthanized.

The unhealthy male mule deer was discovered on October 14 and he was euthanized as a part of the province's wildlife health surveillance program. While the disease poses no threat to humans, it is fatal to infected animals and has no cure.

It affects a variety of animals including deer, elk, caribou and moose. It causes drastic weight loss, stumbling and other neurologic symptoms. In some cases, infected animals can appear healthy until the later stages of the disease.

As a result, the provincial government has called for an immediate ban on hunting deer and other animals in parts of southwestern Manitoba. Boundaries have yet to be finalized; however, they will include at least a portion of Game Hunting Area 22. Again, no boundaries have been set; however, Game Hunting Area 22 includes Binscarth, Rossburn, and north of Minnedosa.

The area in all stretches from Brandon north and west to the Saskatchewan border.

We have reached out to Manitoba Wildlife for more. Stay tuned in the coming days to find out exactly what areas you can't hunt in.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Nov 2, 2021 - 11:13 am

An RCMP officer has been issued a Provincial Offence Act ticket for proceeding before safe to do so after a motor vehicle collision near Winnipegosis earlier this year.

It happened on May 21, 2021, and the crash resulted in a female sustaining a serious injury. The charge comes after an internal investigation by the Independent Investigation Unit (IIU).

The civilian director of the IIU determined that there were reasonable grounds to believe a provincial offence occurred under the Highway Traffic Act.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Nov 2, 2021 - 10:17 am

A ground-penetrating search is underway at Parkland Crossing, the site of the former McKay Residential School in Dauphin.

The KGS Group which specializes in Engineering and Geomatics will conduct the search. It will cover six acres of land that is currently owned and operated by the Dauphin Church of Christ and it's expected to take two days. Processing and analyzing the results will follow and that is expected to take some time.

The McKay Residential School, which was originally built in The Pas, was operated by the Anglican Church between 1914 and 1988. In 1933, The Pas school burned down and it was rebuilt in Dauphin starting in 1954. According to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, it originally operated as an elementary school.

“The Indian Residential School system was created for the purpose of removing AnishinaabeAbinoonjiiwaag from the influence of their own culture and assimilating them into the dominant Canadian culture, ‘to kill the Indian in the child’,” said Ogichidaa Eugene Eastman. “These innocent children were stolen from their families and their Nations under the authority of the Canadian government, and never returned home. They all deserve to be found and honoured that Creator may guide them home and bring peace to their families."

In 1969, the McKay School closed, but the federal government continued to operate the residences (Scrase Hall and Spence Hall) up until 1988.

We will continue to follow this story.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Nov 2, 2021 - 6:14 am

Dauphin RCMP was unable to locate a male on Monday morning after getting a call for service.

The force received the call at 7:26 a.m. to the Tim Hortons where it was reported that a man was acting strangely and there are reports that he was trying to break into people's vehicles in the drive-thru.

When the RCMP arrived on the scene, the man was gone and no violence was reported. Witnesses that spoke with the RCMP were mainly concerned for the well-being of the individual.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Nov 2, 2021 - 5:31 am

At Monday night’s Dauphin City Council Meeting, Christian Laughland was named Mayor after an appointment by council.

Laughland cited the Late Mayor Allen Dowhan for why he accepted the appointment.

“Just being with him over the last three plus years on council, I believe I know the vision he had and what he wants to see put through and that’s why I said I just want to bridge the gap between now and the end of the term and just kind of see Al’s vision kind of Come to full circle.”

With less than a year until the next set of Municipal Elections in Manitoba on October 26^th, 2022, Laughland admitted he intends to keep his stay in the Mayor’s chair a short one as he doesn’t plan to run for re-election because of having a young child.

With no By-Election’s being held for the vacancies from the passing of Mayor Allen Dowhan and the resgination of Councilor Kerri Riehl because of the pandemic, Mayor Laughland said the two vacancies won’t restrict council moving forward.

‘’We have a lot of professionals on Council with a lot of experience. Councilor Eilers has got a lot of experience.” Said Laughland. “Councilor Shtykalo, Councilor Bellemare and Deputy Mayor Rodney Juba have got a ton of experience. And I know that they’ll be professional and I think they’re kind of on the same lines as me. We want to get through this term and get through the Covid-19 pandemic. I mean we’re not quite out if it yet and we want to get out of it and move Dauphin forward in the right direction.”

Longtime Councilor Rodney Juba was appointed Deputy Mayor.