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Late last week, Dauphin RCMP arrested an individual for spray painting graffiti on a sign in Dauphin's rail yard, and was charged with mischief under $5,000 for the offence.
We spoke with Cpl. Jason Shaw with Dauphin RCMP about some of the costs of graffiti. Most people have a similar stance on graffiti to piracy, with it being a more "victimless crime". Cpl. Shaw says that couldn't be further from the truth.
"There's the cost within the community, property values as well as just the visual effect of what it does to a community...[victims] often have costs out of pocket if they were to try to clean up the vandalism, or if they have to make an insurance claim, again it's costs out of pocket, but it also drops the property value," said Cpl. Shaw.
Dauphin is no stranger to vandalism and graffiti. Recently, the City temporarily closed access to the skate park near the train station to do a deep clean and get rid of some graffiti. Cpl. Shaw said grafitti is often a sign of more serious underlying issues within a community.
"Vandalism is often an indication of other criminal activity in areas, we see lots of vandalism, spray painting, tagging, that type of stuff in known drug areas, as well as known gang areas," said Cpl. Shaw.
More often than not, when graffiti and vandalism affects businesses, that can raise prices. It's not very cheap to clean up graffiti.
"So if vandalism is continuous and happening, then that can be built into the price of the product or the service, and then customers, the general public, have to pay higher amounts for these products to help cover that off," said Cpl. Shaw.
And if you're the one behind the can? You may think you'll get off light, but Cpl. Shaw says that's definitely not the case. If you're thinking of tagging, think again. Anyone caught spray painting graffiti or other forms of vandlism almost always faces a charge of mischief, and a lot of fines.
"If it's a large cleanup and it's costly, it can be in the thousands of dollars, as far as any time in regards to jail, it's really dependant on what the judge and the lawyers decice. Typically we don't see people receive jail time for mischief, but often there's hefty fines, as well as conditions imposed by the court for them to abide by," said Cpl. Shaw.
Vandalism is far from victimless: it affects everyone in the community.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
After Sunday's storm in Minitonas dropped two months of rain in two hours, Mother Nature has one-upped herself. Stonewall saw more than 255mm of rain over a 3 hour span, that's 3 and half months worth of rain.
Brian Proctor, Environment Canada Meteorologist, went over some of the major causes of this storm, and why it had that much rain.
"So we had very significant flow up into Manitoba from the south, a warm moist air mass with a lot of shear in the atmosphere, which really supported very very significant thunderstorm development across much of south and central Manitoba, stretching up into the Interlake...the Stonewall area saw torrential rainfall, they received more than 255mm [of rain] by 3:00 AM," said Proctor.
Though it definitely wasn't limited to Stonewall: the effects of yesterday's severe storm system were felt all across the Parkland. Wind, rain, and in some towns, hail, were a big worry. Environment Canada also received several tornado reports from across the province, but are waiting on surveyors to assess the damage before they can confirm.
"Lots of reports of wind, lots of reports of hail associated with that, and possible reports of some tornado activity as well...[surveyors] are in the area, they've been doing some surveys in Saskatchewan, and they're expected to get into Southern Manitoba today I would think, and maybe we'll have some better reports, we'll be able to confirm some reports, by tomorrow or Friday hopefully at the latest.
One concern that echoes Sunday's storm in Minitonas is the possible runoff leading to flooding of nearby areas after the fact. Almost a day after that storm had cleared, a large portion of the runoff made its way to Swan River, prompting a local state of emergency to be declared.
"I don't think there's any infrastructure that's possibly built to take those kind of [rainfall] rates and deal with them at this point in time...be prepared to evacuate if you have to, plan your routes out, take the medication you require, get your animals out if you can," said Proctor.
Click here to visit the Government of Canada's website for information on how to make an emergency preparedness kit.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
It was year three of a powerful partnership.
The Dauphin Kings and MNP in Dauphin came together for the third year for the Goals for Giving program.
MNP's Dauphin office committed to donating $100 to a local organization every time the Kings scored six or more goals in a game this past season.
Jordan Pernarowski is with MNP.
"I'm a big believer that the Dauphin Kings are a massive asset to our community," he said. "They bring in lots of transactions to town that I don't think some people realize. They do a lot of good for the community. We're happy to support the Kings."
The rest was up to the Kings. Score six in a game and add $100 to the tally. MNP capped the donation at $1,000. In year one, the Dauphin & District Food Bank were the recipient. In year two, the Countryfest Community Cinema were the recipient.
From this past season, the Dauphin & District Food Bank is once again the recipient. Robin Gambler was on hand to receive the $1,000 cheque. In a time when community members need the Food Bank more than ever, this money will go a long way in helping the Food Bank continue its great service.
"You know, the Food Bank is one of those programs that does so much for people who need it," ended Pernarowski. "As a partner group here, we sat down and thought about who we wanted to give that $1,000 to. They do a lot for the community. They need support. Their demand has never been higher, so we're happy to help out."
Last month, Jordan ran a food drive at the Caddie's Golf Simulator & Lounge. Funds from that went directly to the DRCSS Wellness Centre.
It currently supports roughly 20 local families with food hampers. It also provides meal kits to students throughout the week.
Pernarowski was blown away by the support and appreciates everyone who chipped in.
"Caddie's for us is about trying to help the community. About bringing something to the community that everyone can enjoy," he ended. "We always want to give back. We learned about the Wellness Centre this year, and we thought that if we could help them out, it would be great. The Food Drive was a great success."
Community caring about the community. That's what Dauphin is all about.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Manitoba's 93 Provincial Parks are breathtaking, and you can help keep them that way by donating in an interesting way.
The Province of Manitoba has announced their plans to introduce a new specialty license plate, with part of the sale going to the Manitoba Provincial Parks Endowment Fund. You can even help decide what the plate will look like.
Click here to visit Engage MB's website page to view the designs and submit your vote. Possible designs include a campsite at night, a teal loon on a lake, and a canoe with a sunset. The voting deadline is July 31st, and the plates are expected to be available next year.
Since the introduction of the Specialty License Plate Program in 2011, the Province has raised more than $6.2 million for charities and organizations.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The Town of Swan River has declared a Local State of Emergency due to overland flooding and a pending dam failure, the town said in a Facebook post.
The town says their Emergency Coordinator and Public Works are actively responding to the flooding, and they've requested volunteers to help with sandbagging at 10th Avenue South, 11th Avenue South, and Elm Street.
Residents are reminded to be on the lookout for other residents needing help, and to lend a hand where you can.
They will also be making an intentional cut in Highway 10, just east of town, to help reduce water levels. The decision has been approved by the Municipality of Swan Valley West and the Town of Swan River.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Dauphin's Countryfest has put out a casting call not for more performers, but for the ones that run the show behind the scenes: volunteers!
Countryfest Board Member Megan Porter went over some of the many roles that volunteers take on at the festival.
"We have opportunities for people to be bartenders, selling token booths, front gate ticket scanners, parking attendants are a few of the jobs we're looking for," said Porter.
Porter said there are a lot of different ways people can volunteer with Countryfest, whether it's as part of a larger group, or just by yourself. Lots of the things that happen behind the scenes rely on volunteers to work.
"Some people volunteer as an organization, and those organizations, if you know someone that's on it, are looking for people to help out and raise funds for their group...some people prefer to just come as a volunteer from the goodness of their heart, they want to keep the festival running, they see that this festival is a non-profit that gives back to the community," said Porter.
In a Facebook post, they've put out a call for night shift volunteers between 9:00 PM and 2:30 AM. It's one of the very few things they still need to nail down for this year's preparation.
"Definitely a particular need right now, people to help keep out bars and our token sales operating throughout those later evening hours, because there's a lot of people who are not willing to stay up late at night, they have kids at home or things like that, but they just can't do it...it just wouldn't happen without people stepping up to help, but beyond that, it's really a positive and welcoming place to be, everyone's there to have a good time," said Porter.
If you're interested in helping out one of Dauphin's centrepiece festivals, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more details on how you can get involved.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Four Parkland communities are among several across the province currently under boil water advisories.
Those communities include Angusville, Langruth, Duck Bay, and Minitonas.
No reasons were given by the province for the advisories for the first three communities, but the advisory in Minitonas is related to massive overland flooding in that community after a torrential rainfall on Sunday.
The four Parkland community advisories are considered short-term.
The province says crews are working with local authorities to restore safe drinking water, assess infrastructure damage, and support affected residents.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Yesterday's Public Hearing held by the RM of Lakeshore about their need to borrow almost $2.5 million wasn't a very happy meeting. Rightfully so, the municipality's ratepayers seemed to be baffled by the council's need to borrow that much money.
To make the situation worse, the council seemed very ill-prepared for the meeting. Between tech issues and dodged questions, by the end of the meeting, it didn't seem like a lot of questions were answered to the level that ratepayers wanted.
The RM of Lakeshore's need to borrow that much money is the result of a mandate from the Province of Manitoba's Office of Northern and Municipal Relations, who had a representative in attendance to speak on why that mandate exists. In 2023, the RM of Lakeshore reported a sizeable deficit. The RM says that deficit is from years past, but the Municipal Relations Representative said he could not find any deficit from 2020, 2021, or 2022.
In 2024 alone, the RM of Lakeshore's deficit for the year was $672,144. The total deficit amount from 2024, 2023, and years prior, according to the RM of Lakeshore Council, is $2,497,543.
Despite there being a public hearing, the public was left with more questions than answers in regards to what caused the deficit. One council member said it's the result of a systematic failure stretching back 12 years. Another council member said there have been several RM CAOs come and go over the years. Another said they've had a financial audit done, and that's currently in the hands of the RCMP and the RM's insurance companies.
Why should the average RM of Lakeshore resident be concerned? The Province and Municipality will pass that money along to the ratepayer. One council member said they plan a 3% increase to the General Municipal Levy to make up for that, though they're also looking at other ways to pay that deficit, like selling off old equipment.
The Council does not have to listen to the public's comments or recommendations, and is able to pass the proposed by-law if they decide. All that's certain is not a lot of questions were answered at yesterday's Public Hearing.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
The Parkland Chamber of Commerce wrapped up its luncheon series in May with the State of the City address.
There were five events in all. In January, it was re-imagining leadership in the non-profit sector, featuring local panellists from Canada's National Ukrainian Festival, Grandview Kinsmen and the Watson Art Centre. In February, it was the cost of doing nothing with Christina Birch.
March featured the annual general meeting and milestone awards. April was the state of the district, followed by May's state of the city.
Kamryn Winters has now released a survey to get your thoughts on how things have gone.
"We want to make sure those continue. It's nice to hear feedback if there's something we're missing," said Winters. "If there's something that doesn't really jive well anymore. Just little things we could improve on."
There hasn't been a ton of feedback as of yet. Something they're looking into doing is a 'series package'. The Watson Art Centre currently offers a package for its concert series.
With five events making up the chamber's luncheon series, Winters says that's something that could be in the cards.
"Like, this is a really good idea. We have a ton of people that come to the luncheons every single time," added Winters. "Maybe businesses could get a discount if they buy a season pass, and it's a ticket to every luncheon throughout the year. They could give it to the staff if some people can't make it. Do something like that."
That survey is waiting for you here. If you have additional questions, feel free to email the Parkland Chamber of Commerce at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
