When David Bosiak thinks of Dauphin, he thinks about the great potential.
He thinks about Dauphin's Countryfest. The festival was a smashing success last month with some of the top acts in country music putting on a show for festival goers. He thinks of Canada's National Ukrainian Festival.
Last week, CNUF announced the cancellation of the 2026 event. The Board of Directors has determined that it cannot provide the safe environment that performers, patrons, volunteers, sponsors, vendors, and staff deserve.
"They made that decision to eliminate any risks for people. So again, what a humanitarian thing to do," said Bosiak. "As much as it will hurt them financially and possibly have a negative financial effect for the community, it's another example of people doing the right thing at the right time."
Bosiak credits Dauphinites for banding together during a tough time. After the recent flood and closure of the Dauphin Regional Health Centre, he's proud of those who have come together.
David recently spoke with Ron Kostyshyn, Dauphin MLA and Agriculture Minister, who is fighting on behalf of Dauphin.
"Again, I want people to have faith. To not be too critical at this time," added Bosiak. "Even though you're still dealing with very troubled situations. Please trust that everyone is trying to do their best to get us back on our feet as quickly as possible."
Bosiak is hopeful that the powers that be understand the severity of the current situation in Dauphin.
He's also been in touch with the Minister of Health, Wab Kinew, and the Minister of Northern Affairs.
"Everybody is aware of our situation. It's complicated, and there are many moving parts," commented Bosiak. "I will absolutely state that we at the City of Dauphin will be doing absolutely everything we possibly can to keep the senior level governments aware of our situation."
On another note, the City of Dauphin celebrated its 128th birthday on Saturday. That's 128 years of resilience, kindness, and willingness to stand beside one another through both celebrations and challenges. Those challenges have been met head-on lately with the mass flooding.
Bosiak has seen firsthand over the past weeks how people step up to help one another. He talked to a man who had a significant amount of water in his basement. Instead of dealing with his own home, he helped neighbours who were worse off and had less capacity to help themselves.
Neighbours helping neighbours, friends helping friends. People helping strangers. That's what Dauphin is all about.
David was born in the Dauphin Hospital and has spent the majority of his 66 years in Dauphin. He never planned to live in Dauphin for his entire life, but he's happy that's how it has turned out. He's proud to be a Dauphinite and to be part of the community.
He sees the next wave of leaders, such as Carla Wolfenden, Clayton Swanton, and Barret Procyshyn, to name a few.
"I'm so happy to be from here and so happy to represent the people in our community," ended Mayor Bosiak. "Given this dark few weeks we've been through, and the few months of recovery to come, we're going to be stronger and more resilient after. Completely confident that things will turn out okay. It's going to be a bit bumpy for some people, and some will feel they're getting the short end of the stick at times. But, all in all, I think we're in a good place."
Dauphin is strong. What a beautiful community, full of incredible people.
