Manitoba State Of Emergency Ends

The state of emergency that the province has been under for over a year expired yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday, the news came down in a press release from premier Kelvin Goertzen and Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler.

Goertzen said that while the state of emergency is coming to an end, that doesn't mean Manitobans should stop following suggested public health guidelines,

“Nineteen months ago we declared a state of emergency to help protect the physical and financial health and safety of all Manitobans and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our hospitals and in our communities. As we continue to move toward a post-pandemic Manitoba, we want to remind everyone, although the state of emergency is expiring, COVID-19 is still here. With vaccination rates among the highest in the country with over 82 percent of eligible Manitobans fully vaccinated, we can help control COVID, but it’s important that all Manitobans continue to follow the fundamentals that help us limit our risks"

The state of emergency was first declared on March 20, 2020, by the powers of the Emergency Measures Act.

The province noted in the release that they still retain the right to declare a new state of emergency if required in the future.

Public health orders are still in effect and can continue to be issued through the Public Health Act without a provincewide state of emergency.

Details: Contributed by Noah Fuchs; Published: Oct 21, 2021 - 12:38 pm

As of Saturday, October 23rd, the CRB (Canada Recovery Benefit) will expire.

It will be replaced by the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit which will provide $300 a week to workers who have been affected by lockdowns due to COVID-19. The new benefit will also extend to those ineligible for Employment Insurance benefits.

Other benefit programs that will come to an end as of Saturday are the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS).

The Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) and the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) have been extended to May 2022.

So far, more than 27 billion dollars has been paid out in income support for Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Details: Contributed by Alec Woolston; Published: Oct 21, 2021 - 11:16 am

The number of vacant positions at the Dauphin Regional Health Centre has taken somewhat of a dramatic spike over the past two years.

Two years ago, the vacancy for nurses was at about 20 percent. Today, the vacancy is at about 33 percent. During the same period, the vacancy for healthcare aides has gone from 20 percent to 33 percent.

Brian Schoonbaert, CEO of Prairie Mountain Health says this is a concern and that they, at times, have had to limit the number of beds they use for patients.

"We have had issues in Dauphin recruiting and really throughout the PMH region," said Schoonbaert. "With that said, we also know Winnipeg is having the same problem with a vacancy rate of about 20 percent."

The province is taking a proactive approach to try and improve the numbers by adding hundreds of seats to nursing courses in the province. This means that if you have an interest in becoming a nurse or health care aide, now could be a good time to get more information about it.

The second-largest facility in the PMH region, Schoonbaert says Dauphin has had many nurses and health care aides working overtime and they also use agency workers because it's needed at times to provide the best possible care for patients. He also says Dauphin has a very stable physician workforce.

"We expect these numbers to improve over the next couple of months, there's no doubt about that," said Schoonbaert. "We must do everything we can to make sure that all the services that need to be delivered can be delivered."

Brian also says communities should be doing a better job of attracting local workers. In Dauphin at Assiniboine Community College, practical nursing is a course that is offered. A comprehensive health care aide course is also offered.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Oct 21, 2021 - 6:17 am

It’s day four of Rotary Radio Week at 730 CKDM, and we were able to talk with the Rotary Club’s President, Mark Kohan.

Mark Kohan joined the Rotary club in nearly three years ago, and this is his first year as president.

“I looked to get involved basically because of their activity within the community itself."

Mark talked about some of the club’s activities.

“A lot of things have been popular like the wine tasting, the book sale is always popular, we have a lot of active living type of projects like the mud run and snow shoe run.”

Mark shared what he likes most about the Rotary Club.

“The favorite thing for me is just basically always for a way to get involved and help people out whether it’s Meals on Wheels or different types of programs like that. ”

Tomorrow is the last Day of Rotary Radio week, and we will be featuring Clayton Swanton.

Details: Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson; Published: Oct 21, 2021 - 5:00 am

UPDATE:

Wesley Wadien has been arrested.

His arrest comes more than a day after RCMP began searching for him.

He was wanted for allegedly uttering threats and pointing a gun.

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An emergency alert has been sent out as Manitoba RCMP search for an armed and dangerous man.

Wesley Wadien is suspected to be an immediate threat to the public and was last seen in the Interlake at 3:53 p.m. on Wednesday.

The RCMP believes he's still in in the Interlake or in Selkirk or Winnipeg.

Wadien was last seen driving a white Dodge Ram with the license plate of KRC 820.

If you have any information, call 911. Additionally, if you spot him, do not approach and call the authorities.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Oct 20, 2021 - 8:45 pm

UPDATE--- A collision occurred at the corner of 1st St. NW and 2nd Ave NW in Dauphin around 5 pm yesterday.

According to the RCMP, a vehicle had come to a stop sign on 1st St NW; the driver then proceeded through the stop sign and struck an eastbound vehicle on 2nd Ave NW.

No one in the vehicle that was hit was wearing seatbelts, and all three occupants received minor physical injuries.

The investigation is continuing.

Details: Contributed by Noah Fuchs; Published: Oct 20, 2021 - 12:32 pm

The Manitoba RCMP is warning about two recent frauds in Southwestern Manitoba.

Two people have been defrauded of over $34,000.

In one instance the victim was called by a person claiming to work for the Canada Border Services Agency. The caller claimed that they intercepted a package addressed to the victim that contained drugs, money, and fraudulent documents. The victim had recently placed some Amazon orders, which made it believable and concerning.

More calls were made to the victim from someone impersonating a police officer, and the Canada Revenue Agency. The victim was told to send money to settle the issue, which the victim did. In the days following, the victim continued to receive phone calls requesting more money and realized it was a scam and reported it to the police.

In the second instance, a victim was called by someone impersonating a police officer, claiming that a family member of the victim had been involved in a collision and was now at a police station.

The caller requested that the victim send money in order for the family member to be released from police custody. After the money was sent, the victim talked with another family member and realized it was a scam, and called the police.

The RCMP is advising Manitobans that no police agency or government agency will ask for money by mail, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or QR codes.

Suspicious phone calls can be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.

Details: Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson; Published: Oct 20, 2021 - 10:02 am

Rotary Radio Week carries on, and today's featured member is Darren Eddie.

Eddie, a member since 2019, says being a Rotary member is all about helping improve life in Dauphin.

He touched on the club's involvement in Habitat for Humanity,

"The first Habitat house was built about 10-11 years ago, and at that time, the Rotary Club sponsored and funded the lot purchased; this time around, we are getting very close to starting, they are going to sponsor about $10,000 towards our build, and it will go to one portion of the house or the other that is needed, whether it's the roof, shingles, or the foundation."

Darren said he has been on the board for habitat since the beginning and was president of the committee for four years before moving back into a board member role.

Eddie says serving the community and getting to know your neighbours is his favourite part of being in the club.

Tomorrow on Rotary Radio Week, CKDM is featuring rotary president Mark Kohan.

Details: Contributed by Noah Fuchs; Published: Oct 20, 2021 - 9:00 am

Mountain View School Division has announced that there was one case of COVID-19 at Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School.

The case was at the school during the infectious period on October 15^th.

Close contacts have been identified and advised to self-isolate.

Details: Contributed by Trillian Reynoldson; Published: Oct 20, 2021 - 5:23 am

Each year in October, along with 160 other locations across western Canada, Dauphins Co-op celebrates Co-op week.

Joan Chetyrbok, the marketing manager for the Dauphin Co-op, talked about the organization's commitment to the community,

"Co-op week is a time to celebrate our long history of commitment to our communities; it's so much more than a grocery store or a gas station our members and our communities are the top priority, supporting our local economy working with local Manitoba suppliers and investing in organizations and community groups that share our vision to enrich the lives of our communities."

She touched on what Co-op is doing to celebrate,

"Gift baskets at every location. When members go there and use their Co-op number, they are automatically entered into a draw to win a basket from every location, and they also have cedar fence boards at 50% off at the home and building centres."

Chetyrbok says she encourages everyone to be a part of something more by joining Co-op.

"When you're a member of Dauphin Co-op, you're an owner. Sign up today online or in person; we'd love to have you."

Dauphin Co-op has been serving the community since 1939 when a few folks saw a need and came together to build something for their community that would create good jobs, provide fuel and farm supplies at fair prices to farmers and others. With all the profits being returned to its members forming the cooperative.