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According to the latest Manitoba Agriculture Crop Report, Manitoba is at 51% harvest completion. Here in the Northwest Region, good weather allowed for excellent harvest progress over the past week, with the regional average now at 40% completion, up from 24% last week.
Canola harvest is around 40% complete, with reports of below average to average yields, though fields that experienced excess moisture have patches of delayed growth. Desiccation and swathing of canola continues as stages are reached, and winter cereal seeding continues - with recent heat and moisture, crops are growing nicely.
Around 75% of this year's field pea crop is harvested, with the rest of crop either ready to harvest, or near harvest. Yields are reported mixed, ranging from below average to average.
Spring wheat is mature, and mostly ready for harvest. Around 70% of the Northwest's spring wheat has been harvested, with yields ranging from below average to above average, with pre-harvest glyphosate applications continuing where stages are reached.
Most of this year's soybean crop is in the late R6 to R7 stage, and nearing R8 stage. The crop looks good where excess moisture didn't delay growth.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
On September 26th, Dauphin RCMP arrested a woman again, after she was involved in several disturbances at a residence in the City, throughout the month of September.
The first of the disturbances occurred on September 4th, around 10:20 PM. The suspect came to the home, and threatened to fight the occupants. She left before police arrived, then returned later in the night and smashed windows. She was located and arrested, but later released on an undertaking.
On September 9th, the suspect was involved in a theft at a 1300-block Main Street business. After the theft, she was located at the residence she was on court orders not to attend. She was arrested and released on a release order after a court hearing.
On September 24th, she was trespassed from a 1400-block Main Street business she was barred from attending, which carried a $672 fine. On September 25th, she returned to the same residence as earlier incidents, and attempted to fight one of the residents. She was arrested an later released on a release order.
On September 26th, there was another disturbance at the same address - the suspect assaulted a female and male, and threatened the male. She was arrested, and finally remanded into custody.
Autumn Mekish of Dauphin faces multiple charges, including assault, uttering threats, failure to attend court, and failure to comply with release orders and undertakings.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
From the start of his time in office, City of Dauphin Mayor David Bosiak said he won't be seeking a second term when the time comes. Now the time is here, and sure enough, his name isn't on the ballot for the upcoming Manitoba Municipal Election.
Looking back at his time as Mayor, Bosiak said he's glad he got the chance to work with such a good council.
"The thing that comes to mind the most is the cooperative nature of council. The culmination of a great council and a very competent senior administration team made work pretty easy for me, in the sense that everybody's on the same page...it's a credit to the people that are around the table, because I think they all come, we all come to the table with our own objectives and things that we think need to be improved, added, fixed, changed, yet this group of people worked very well together, in the sense that we understood what the ultimate goal was, making Dauphin a better place to live, to work, to play, to be," said Bosiak.
Over the past 4 years, Bosiak and Council have accomplished quite a few things of note, including collaborations with the RM of Dauphin and the Provincial Government, and keeping the budget fairly manageable. There have also been some hard times Bosiak had to manage, like the Carberry bus crash in 2023. They've also managed to navigate one of the worst natural disasters the Parkland has seen in more than 50 years with recent severe flooding in July. Bosiak said without the great relationships the City has build over the years with the Province and various Municipal Governments, getting through the tough times would have been much more difficult.
"We spent a lot of time developing those relationships, and then when we need to have a discussion with somebody, we were very able to have those discussions, where I think that if we hadn't created the relationships, the challenge of getting in front of a senior minister, it's a big challenge," said Bosiak.
Despite how well the City of Dauphin has done over Bosiak's term, he didn't go into the job with a mindset of making large amounts of positive change. In fact, himself and a few other members of Council ran to do quite the opposite: make sure there wasn't negative change in the community. Bosiak, being a lifelong Dauphinite, wanted to see his City thrive.
"Looking around at the end of Covid, the end of that sort of convoy period in Canada, I had a sense, and a few other members of Council were fearful that if certain people got elected based on what they were saying in public, that there may be some challenges for the community," said Bosiak.
What's next for Bosiak? A bit of a break, spending time doing things he didn't really have the time for while he was in office. But the lessons he learned from that time will stay with him for a while.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
After former Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan's departure from the position, the caucus has selected MLA Konrad Narth as interim Leader of the Official Opposition.
In the Party's news release, Narth says he is grateful for the trust and confidence of his colleagues, and thanked Khan for his service as Party Leader.
"Manitobans deserve an Opposition that not only holds their government to account, but listens to their concerns and is ready to offer them something better. That's our job," said Narth.
Khan announced Monday evening that he would be stepping back from his role in the Progressive Conservative caucus, but will continue to sit in legislature as an independent, one day before legislature returned for the fall session.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
The first Orange Shirt Day took place on September 30th, 2013. The day was made a federal statutory holiday in 2021. In the 5 years since it's official adoption by the Government, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation has become something observed all across Canada, whether you're Indigenous or not.
Jessica Verhaeghe, Client Navigator and Intake Coordinator with West Region Tribal Council, said it's good to see how the day has grown over the years. Truth and Reconciliation is something that all Canadians should take part in, not just if you have connections to Indigenous communities.
"I think that it's so important for everyone to recognize. It honours the residential school survivors, their families, and the children who never returned home. To recognize it publicly, we take into consideration the tragic history and trauma, and the lasting intergenerational impacts," said Verhaeghe.
According to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, over more than 150 years, more than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children were taken from their communities, and put in the residential school system. The first residential school opened in 1831, and by 1880, the Federal Government had started funding them. By 1920, the Federal Government made residential school attendance mandatory for Treaty-status children between 7 and 15, through the Indian Act.
Jarri-Ann Thompson, Dauphin Friendship Centre Events Coordinator, said the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation serves as a way to reflect on Canada's past treatment of Indigenous peoples and communities, and learn from history.
"It just reminds people of the history of Indigenous peoples across Canada, and what we want to change going forward, how we want to empower Indigenous people to bring back our culture, to just show people who have been systemically suppressed, that there's a better future out there, and we have to all work together to get there, and it starts here, it starts by doing events like Truth and Reconciliation," said Thompson.
At yesterday's Truth and Reconciliation event at Maawami Park, Knowledge Keeper Gail Welburn spoke to attendees, who were mostly kids from local schools. She said when approaching difficult topics like residential schools with children, it shouldn't all be bad - there should also be a message of hope. Especially with Dauphin being the site of a residential school, Welburn said the fact that we even have events to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation goes to show how far we've already come.
"I think it's important that the kids know stuff that's happened in Canadian history, but I also think that we need to leave them with some kind of hope, that this kind of event never happens in our society again...we're gathering on a day to celebrate hurts of a history, but we're doing it in a way where people, you can hear the laughter and the joy, and they're going to be playing games, and the children are going to leave here knowing what has happened, and work that in their future it doesn't happen again," said Welburn.
Throughout today, there are several events across the Parkland to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. More details can be found in our Community Calendar.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
A 75-year-old woman from Alonsa is the subject of a Silver Alert from RCMP.
Barbara Mack was last seen around 6 a.m. Monday, when she got into her vehicle and left without saying where she was headed.
Mack is 5'3", about 120 pounds, with salt and pepper hair. She wears glasses, sometimes uses a cane and recently received a black eye from a fall.
She is believed to be driving a 2019 Ford Edge, licence plate KAN 418, and is known to occasionally travel to Ste. Rose, Dauphin and McCreary.
Mack has memory issues and other health concerns, and h er family and RCMP are very concerned for her well-being.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the Ste. Rose detachment at 204-447-3082, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477
UPDATE: RCMP have located Mack safely, and thank all involved parties for their assistance in locating her.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
In a news release, the Provincial Government announced plans to expand presumptive workers compensation coverage for firefighters, to make it easier for firefighters diagnosed with occupational illnesses to access benefits. The Province has not yet announced how they'll be improving the system.
Cam Abrey, Dauphin Fire Chief, said it's good news, but there are a few key things the Province should focus on.
"It was welcome news to hear that the Province of Manitoba will be doing something with improving our presumptive legislation for firefighting cancer, but it's still a waiting game to see exactly what that coverage will entail...we want to make sure that every firefighter, regardless of being a career position or a volunteer firefighter in a small community, that they're covered through Worker's Compensation Board, with less hassle than what folks have had to go through over the past 25 years since this legislation first came into effect," said Abrey.
Better coverage for volunteer firefighters was at the top of Abrey's list. Across Manitoba, there are 250 different fire departments - 246 of them are volunteer departments.
"So when you look at the other 246 fire departments in the Province of Manitoba, they are volunteer, or paid-on-call as we refer to them. So it would be great to have this coverage, because unfortunately in rural Manitoba, as a member of the fire department, you may go to every single call that comes in, and be exposed to traumatic scenes, carcinogens from the smoke," said Abrey.
Abrey said he would also like to see more uniformity when it comes to coverage, when you look at different jurisdictions. For example, for firefighters in Manitoba to get coverage for esophageal cancers, they need at least 20 years in the service, whereas other provinces vary, with some requiring 10 years, and some requiring 15. Plus, if you work for the specified number of years in one province then move to another, you won't qualify in the new province. Abrey said simple changes like that would go a very long way.
With Manitoba's firefighters set to get a small boost to looking after their physical health, it's important to look at mental health too. Manitoba's province-wide Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder coverage has been praised by many groups, and Abrey said it really makes a difference, especially in volunteer fire departments.
"So you never know what the next call is going to be coming in, whether it's a traumatic car accident, whether it's a nuisance alarm where somebody just burnt their supper and set off alarms in their home, or whether it's a fully-involved structure fire. So being an all-hazards approach, firefighters train for everything that they might be able to face, and it's hard to predict what that's going to be," said Abrey.
The Province also recently announced the creation of a new cabinet position - Minister Responsible for First Responder Initiatives. The role is currently held by David Pankratz, MLA for Waverly, and a former firefighter.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Obby Khan is stepping down as leader of the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives.
Khan announced his decision on Monday evening at a news conference, adding he will also resign from the PC caucus on Tuesday and continue to serve as an independent MLA.
He said that despite winning a caucus confidence vote Friday by more than two-to-one, a minority of members lacking what Khan called “moral integrity” have since been working to undermine his leadership.
Once Khan leaves, the PCs will have 19 seats in the 57-seat legislature.
Premier Wab Kinew’s NDP will have 34 and the Liberals one.
There will be three Independents.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Tomorrow is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a statutory holiday to recognize and remember residential school survivors and their families, and the lasting effects the system had on Canada's Indigenous communities.
There are two events today in Dauphin to mark the day. West Region Tribal Council is holding an event at the 8th Avenue Hall, which will include Indigenous vendors, a light lunch, and presentations. Jessica Verhaeghe, Client Navigator and Intake Coordinator, said it's an event that you should try to make it out to, especially if you're not Indigenous.
"I think it supports inclusion, I think that it's definitely good to come and learn, and all the knowledge we can get is best," said Verhaeghe.
The Dauphin Friendship Centre and Northwest Métis Council are hosting an event at Maamawi Park as well, including lunch, kids activities, and speakers. Jarri-Ann Thompson, Dauphin Friendship Centre Events Coordinator, said the day serves as a good reflection on Canada's history.
"It just reminds people of the history of Indigenous peoples across Canada, and what we want to change going forward, how we want to empower Indigenous people to bring back our culture, just show people who have been systemically suppressed, that there's a better future out there, and we have to all work together to get there, and it starts here, it starts by doing events like Truth and Reconciliation," said Thompson.
For more information about the events, and other events that'll take place tomorrow, details can be found on our Community Calendar.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
The annual Boyz and Bullz s event is set to return to the Eriksdale Arena this Friday night, as man gets set to go one on one with bulls in the most exciting eight seconds in sport.
The doors will open at 5:30, which is also the same time as the delicious rib dinner.
The show begins at 7:30, and Ben Kinkead with Crossfire Bull Riding says this year will see one of the strongest lineups of bull riders in the 26-year history of the event.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
