Dawson Trail Dispatch July 2023

Southeast Celebrates Canada Day!

Aubin

Road

Receives Needed Upgrades

By Angelique Forest

The Ritchot Public Works Department has taken on a reconstruction and land drainage system installation project on Aubin Road. The work, underway since the beginning of June, is anticipated to be substantially completed by the end of July.

The scope of the project consists of clearing, earth excavation, base work/aggregate, grading, packing, watering, hard surfacing and remedial landscaping. According to Public Works, hard surface will be applied by a contractor with remedial landscaping to follow once asphalt has been applied.

For optimal results, once topsoil and hydroseed have been applied, Public Works is hoping residents will refrain from disrupting the area (no stepping on newly applied hydroseed) and help out the growth by watering the area (portion adjacent to property) twice daily for the first 7-10 days.

Residents should see the grass germinating after 10 days where less watering will be required.

They assure residents that both garbage and recycling, and emergency services will not be disrupted. Their plan during the construction period is to have municipal personnel onsite who will help coordinate any driveway disruptions with residents to minimize the length of closure and ensure alternate parking arrangements are made.

With what can be a busy area, residents are asked to please drive slowly and with caution through the construction area, and if on foot, stay clear from equipment at all times.

Lastly, the municipality is hoping parents can talk to their children and reminded them that while the project is underway they should not approach the area where the work is being performed.

Should residents have any questions related to the project, please call the municipal office rather than approaching employees at the job site. Ritchot Public Works Office can be reached at 204-883-2142.

Ste. Genevieve hosted a fun day of activities for its guests including a fireworks display organized by their local fire department. Ste. Genevieve Community Centre/Facebook

Stuartburn Neighbourhood/Facebook

in Vita were not lacking for all ages.

July 2023

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities! Dawson Trail Dispatch

Southeast Celebrates Canada Day!

Continued from Page 1...

Dozens of communities throughout the southeast hosted Canada Day Celebrations leaving residents with plenty of choices to visit.

With warm temperatures and sunny skies, both daytime activities and evening fireworks displays were welcomed.

(photo below) 800 hot dogs, 1,000 bags of popcorn, a dozen slabs of cake and hundreds of activity bags for kids takes a team of dedicated volunteers at the Richer Canada Day Celebration.

Photo by Dan Guetre

Provencher MP Ted Falk chose to venture to Vita to celebrate Canada Day.

Source: Ted Falk/Facebook

Getting a hug courtesy of the Richer Rodeo Mascots who made an appearance at the Richer Canada Day Celebration.

Photo by Dan Guetre

What would Canada Day be without a reptile display? Well, you wouldn’t be in Ste. Genevieve. The community pulled in this unique attraction for visitors to get up close and personal with friends from Prairie Exotics. Ste. Genevieve Community Centre/Facebook

Dawson Trail Dispatch

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities! July 2023

Seized Proceeds from Crimes Redirected to Southeast Charities

Four non-profit organizations have received $20,000 each to boost their programming thanks to the province’s Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund.

Recently, Steinbach MLA and Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen was able to make the rounds and commit $20,000 each to Recreation Opportunities for Children (ROC) Eastman, Steinbach Family Resource Centre, the local Teen Challenge, and Youth for Christ Steinbach.

The Criminal Property Forfeiture Act allows justice officials to launch a civil proceeding in which they ask a judge to give them assets that are the proceeds or instruments of unlawful activity.

Province Advises of Rock Blasting on Trans-Canada Highway at Manitoba-Ontario Border

Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure advises that rock blasting on the Trans-Canada Highway at the Manitoba-Ontario border is underway and will continue until mid-July.

The rock blasting is part of previously announced preliminary work underway to twin a 700-metre segment of the highway nearest the border to align with Ontario’s new four-lane highway.

Traffic will be stopped for each blast for approximately 15 minutes, depending on sitespecific conditions and traffic volumes. Motorists are advised to expect delays.

Ritchot Gains Neighbouring Municipal Support for “Car Share Initiative”

By Dan Guetre

A proposal by the RM of Ritchot to create a ride sharing program has received support from the RM of De Salaberry.

The eventual aim of the Car Share Initiative is to help offset the lack of transportation options for low income and marginal populations throughout participating municipalities.

RM of Ritchot, Economic Development Officer Ryan Faucher originally presented the concept to various municipalities at the Transportation Initiative Supporting Partner Meeting hosted in La Broquerie in early February.

The objectives of the plan is to provide a transportation source to community members that do not own a vehicle or an alternative vehicle available for use, should primary vehicle need to undergo repairs. It could also provide a source of transportation for seniors that would be able to use this type of transportation and no longer need to have their own vehicle for occasional outings, hospital visits, and other trips they need to book.

Additionally, it could provide a vehicle that local non profits would be able to use without having staff or even provide a service to council members to go to meetings, conferences, and work-related trips.

In a presentation to De Salaberry council, it was noted that this program could even provide vehicles that international students would be able to use at Providence College for shopping trips, visiting family and friends, and recreational trips to Steinbach and Winnipeg. By having this opportunity, they would not need to purchase their own vehicle.

Within the idea, the Ritchot plan noted that there is significant funding available through the Rural Transit Solutions Fund (RTSF): Capital Projects Stream of up to 80% of the project costs to increase energy efficient transportation in rural communities.

Based on initial interest and participation from neighbouring municipalities, the RM of Ritchot will work with the group Eco-West on some cost and budget scenarios that would be appropriate for council and organizations to review.

In the Ritchot proposal it assures participating councils that if they are not successful in securing the funds from RTSF the project would be cancelled, costing participating municipalities nothing more than a bit of time.

They also pointed out the 20% costs to the municipalities could even be lower as there are other funding opportunities that can be tapped.

The RM of De Salaberry approved joining the initiative committing up to $20,000 cash and $20,000 of in-kind support.

The Steinbach Adult and Teen Challenge received $20,000 recently from the proceeds of crime fund.

Moni Loewen, Executive Director of Recreation Opportunities for Children (ROC) Eastman met with Goertzen to receive the confirmation of the $20,000.

Goertzen was on hand to announce the commitment to the Steinbach Family Resource Centre.

Submitted photos

A Year in Review: January to June

Parliament has risen for the summer, after what ended up being a very eventful session.

January began with a bombshell interview by former Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau in which he confirmed what Conservatives and Canadians (and other former Trudeau MPs) have been saying for years: this Prime Minister is all style and no substance. A weak, insecure, and staff-dependent leader who is far more concerned with how things will play with the Ottawa press corps than the interests of Canadians.

In January, I also had the honour of presenting 50 extraordinary Provencher residents with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medallion for service to our community.

In February, Conservatives (and, by extension, Canadians) saw two big wins.

stand up for the rights of Canadians. Another positive in February was the passage of Bill C-22 (with support from all parties) to help provide additional assistance for Canadians with disabilities.

In March, another bombshell went off in Ottawa as intelligence sources began leaking information to the media that China had interfered in the 2019 and 2021 elections. The PM’s denials that he had ever been briefed became less and less believable as it became clear Beijing had conspired to help the Liberals win. Like their fake Emergencies Act inquiry, the Liberals put forward numerous individuals friendly to the government to lead the “inquiries” which (to no one’s surprise) exonerated the PM and his team.

Archive Issues available online:

www.dawsontrail.ca

Conservatives were able to get the Government to backtrack on their amendments to Bill C-21 which would have banned hunting rifles. The Government has since put some of those weapons back in and the bill remains in the Senate where our Conservative Colleagues continue to delay it. We were also successful in getting the Government to delay their expansion of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) to those with mental health issues and those with disabilities. While I am well aware the Government will be back on both of these issues, we were pleased to delay their implementation.

Conservatives will continue to oppose government overreach and

Conservatives continue to push for a real inquiry into what the PM knew and when he knew it to discover his level of complicity (if any) in this communist scheme.

In March Opposition parties, led by Conservatives passed private member’s Bill C-234, an act exempting farm fuels from the Liberal Carbon Tax. This Bill is currently in the Senate. Conservatives remain committed to axing the carbon tax altogether.

In April, as the interference scandal continued to rage, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland stopped by Parliament just long enough to table another disastrous budget, breaking

her promise to address inflation by adding an additional $60 billion in new deficit spending.

It was also in April the Liberals attempted to name the sisterin-law of Cabinet Minister (and ethics rules violator) Dominic Leblanc as the new interim Ethics Commissioner (the sitting Ethics Commissioner having stepped down due to exhaustion from investigating too many Liberal ethical violations). After being exposed, the Government opted to simply leave the Ethics Commissioner post vacant for now.

As violent crime soared across Canada, Conservatives called out the Government’s weak on crime catch and release policies. Conservatives proposed tough new legislation to ensure violent repeat offenders were not granted bail and stayed in jail.

As we entered May the battle over Bill C-11, the Government’s internet censorship bill intensified. Sadly, other parties were taken in by the Government’s assurances they had no intention of controlling what folks watched and posted. Conservatives were not and neither was the Senate who sent the bill back with numerous amendments—amendments the Liberal Government refused to consider and passed the bill anyway. Conservatives have committed to repealing Bill C-11 when we next form government.

May also saw the China issue heat

up again as it became clear Beijing continued to operate illegal Chinese police stations in Canada, despite the Public Safety Minister’s assurances to the contrary.

June saw long sittings with Conservatives filibustering (delaying) as much bad Liberal legislation as were able to. It also saw the release of the Johnston report on China’s interference (which to no one’s surprise “exonerated” Trudeau and his government). Conservatives are working with other opposition parties to hold a real public inquiry to get to the bottom of what actually happened.

As we head into the summer, Conservatives continue to oppose the Liberals’ new second carbon tax (coming into effect this July) as well as their “sustainable jobs plan” (which will kill tens of thousands of Canadian jobs) and other disastrous Liberal policies (the list goes on and on).

I look forward to connecting with constituents over the summer, then heading back to Ottawa in the fall to continue to be your commonsense voice in Ottawa.

Child Care Sustainability Trust Fund Grant Funding In La Verendrye

I am pleased to announce that our PC government is providing a total of $281,572 in grant funding to the Garderie de Bambins CO-OP Inc. childcare centre in St. Malo. This grant has been approved through the Child Care Sustainability Trust to support 34 innovative projects to make facility improvements, enhance health and safety and support access and inclusivity at child-care facilities throughout Manitoba.

I am thrilled that these funds will provide much needed program support to so many local childcare facilities in the province and communities. Our Government understands that access to quality childcare that meets the needs of families is more important than ever.

The Child Care Sustainability Trust Grant Funding supports eligible licensed child-care facilities by providing one-time grant funding for projects directed at infrastructure improvements, program enhancements, equip-

ment maintenance/replacement and professional development as well as learning opportunities. This Funding ensures that our children are getting the quality care they deserve.

June has been a busy month with graduation ceremonies in the many schools in La Verendrye and the rest of the province. I would like to congratulate all the students for their hard work in completing the first chapter of their lives. For some of you, its waiting to get out of school and enter the work force, for many others of you, high school graduation is just the next step in your education. You’re headed to a university, a community college, or other form of training to the daunting task of preparing for the career you want to pursue. Whatever you have chosen I wish you all the best in the future.

Health care is important to Manitobans, Our Manitoba government is pleased to announce that more than 300 Internationally Educated Health-Care Professionals are accepting Manitoba job offers to work

as registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, or health-care aids in communities located right across our province. Our government is committed to healing our healthcare system and building our health human resource capacity so that more patients have access to the care they need.

Shared Health has provided letters of interest to 348 candidates who passed interviews during a recruitment mission to the Philippines in February. More than 300 candidates have now accepted job offers.

As always, I look forward to hearing from you with your questions or concerns. I can be reached at my constituency office at 204-424-5406 or at dennis.smook@leg.gov.mb.ca.

Province Advises Whooping Cough Outbreak Declared in Southern Health Region

Manitoba Health advises that a cluster of whooping cough (pertussis) has now been declared as an outbreak in the Southern Health region, as cases continue to be reported. As of June 23, 154 confirmed or probable cases have been reported to Manitoba Health since January, with 152 of them reported from Southern Health-Santé Sud.

The age range of cases includes:

- 30 infants aged one year or younger;

- 80 cases in children aged one to nine;

- 24 cases in children aged 10 to 19; and

- 20 cases in adults.

The outbreak includes 78 female and 76 male cases and has resulted in 55 related visits to emergency departments and two admissions to pediatric intensive care. No deaths have been reported.

Whooping cough is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable illness. It is caused by a bacteria, usually spread through respiratory droplets in the air when coughing or sneezing, and is most contagious during the initial stages of illness. Initially, symptoms are similar to those of the common cold, and usually show up seven to 10 days after being exposed. The illness often starts with a mild fever, runny nose and a cough. It can lead to serious coughing fits that can last for one to 10 weeks.

The coughing fits may cause difficulty breathing, choking and vomiting. Infants may also have poor feeding.

Whooping cough can affect people of all ages, but infants aged one year or younger are at greatest risk of severe complications, including periods of stalled breathing, pneumonia, seizures, brain swelling and death. Pregnant people in their third trimester are also at higher risk.

The vaccine is safe and effective.

Immunization is the best way to prevent infection, reduce the risk of severe symptoms, and to help limit the spread. The vaccines that protect against whooping cough are part of Manitoba’s recommended routine childhood immunization schedule.

Children should be immunized at two, four, six and 18 months, between the ages of four and six, and in Grade 8 to 9 for the best protection. A whooping cough vaccine is also recommended for pregnant people in every pregnancy.

Public health officials recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted routine health care, including immunizations. To help reconnect, Manitoba Health sent follow-up letters to parents and caregivers of children born in 2019, 2020 and 2021 who may be missing routine childhood immunizations. These letters were mailed earlier in June, prov-

Clean Environment Commission Releases Report on Sio Silica Sand Project

I would like to offer more insight on the status of the Sio Silica Sand Project.

After conducting public hearings and an independent technical review, the Clean Environment Commission (CEC) has officially issued their report. Our government recognizes the community and public interest in this project. As such, we have made the report public, promptly and transparently.

A technical advisory committee within our government will thoroughly review the CEC report and recommendations, including hydrogeological, geotechnical and geochemical technical details within the report. These department environmental experts will follow through on our commitment to consult with Indigenous leaders and seek their valuable feedback and expertise before a licensing decision has been made. Any licensing decision will be communicated to the public.

As we embark on an in-depth evaluation of this report and engage in meaningful discussions, we want to assure everyone that our government places paramount importance on the safety of drinking water and the protection of our environment. And as your MLA, I remain committed to the people of Dawson Trail and will always listen and advocate for your concerns.

To read a copy of the report, visit gov.mb.ca/sd//eal/registries/6119/ index.html.

For more updates and information, visit my website at boblagasse. com. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact my constituency office at ca.lagasse@outlook.com or 204-807-4663.

ince-wide.

Meanwhile, in Southern Health, health-care providers and public health teams are continuing to build relationships with families following service disruptions and other effects of the pandemic. It continues to reach out directly to families to determine if they have questions, need information, or face any barriers to immunization. Public health offices have offered evening clinic appointments and additional appointment slots to make immunizations more convenient and accessible for families. Posters have been distributed to child-care facilities in the region, encouraging families to reach out to public health to ensure children are up to date on immunizations.

Parents, caregivers and pregnant people who are uncertain or have questions or concerns about immunizations are encouraged to speak to their health-care provider or public health office. More information is also available by calling Health Links-Info at 204-788-8200 or 1888-315-9257 (toll-free).

People who have symptoms of whooping cough should see their health-care provider. Infected individuals may be prescribed antibiotics and should stay home and avoid close contact with others until treatment is completed. This can help prevent further spread of infection.

July 2023

Impressive Upgrades to St. Malo Arena on Horizon

By Dan Guetre

Thanks to some major financial commitments from the Government of Canada and the Province of Manitoba, the RM of De Salaberry council can now concentrate on the process of implementing Phase 2 of renovating and upgrading the St. Malo arena.

It was only a few years ago that the municipal council undertook a Facility Assessment Report in order to grasp what was needed to maintain and improve the busy facility. Council compiled the results in multiple steps.

“There have been many discussions at council meetings on how to fund recreation facilities and activities,” said Darrel Cure, Reeve for the RM of De Salaberry.

According to Curé, the facility assessment was prepared with a recommended timeline and costing for the upgrades in the immediate (1 year), short (2-6 years), intermediate (7-11 years) and long term (12+ years).

“This approach allowed council and administration to prioritize the work and start applying for grants to help reduce the costs to the municipality,” he added. “The phased approach was to ensure the funds were in place prior to commencing the work.”

Most recently, the RM of De Salaberry has now secured federal

government funding of $3.7 million for the renovation of the arena. This amount is in addition to a $700,000 grant from the Manitoba government, bringing the total project budget to $4.4 million.

“We are always hopeful when applying for grants,” said Cure. “Being approved for the Federal Green and Inclusive Community Grant and the Provincial Arts, Culture and Sport in Community fund is helping to accelerate the facility renovations.”

Phase 2 renovations will include expanding the building footprint to include multi-use spaces and creating an additional area for safe storage of a Zamboni. Additionally, the project will address structural safety concerns and the relocation of the rink resurfacing machine room away from the public. Further improvements include renovating the roof structure and wall framing and replacing dasher boards.

The municipality will also take a unique approach to the construction process.

“Through adaptive reuse measures the Saint-Malo Renovation project minimizes unnecessary demolition, environmental impact, and ensures the facility maintains continued use throughout the construction period,” he noted.

With their eye on staying within a budget, Curé is hopeful the work can be completed within a few years

for the newly branded De Salaberry Recreation Facility. The municipality has also committed approximately $300,000 towards the project.

“The proposed Phase 2 of the project will be setup to stay within the budget,” he stressed. “It may require delaying or having to fundraise for certain components, however the intent is to remain within the allocated funds.”

“The next step is to finalize the RFP for the renovation designs and then proceed with the proposed renovations,” he added. “As we wish to limit the impact to the ice season, the actual construction is anticipated to be completed by fall of 2025.”

The project includes the expansion of the arena’s facilities, increasing its total area by approximately 10,000 square feet. The additional multi-use spaces will accommodate new recreational programming for the community throughout the year.

Upgrades to the mechanical and electrical systems serving the existing facility will result in a reduction of the arena’s energy consumption by approximately 76.7% and greenhouse gas emissions by 120 tonnes per year. This feature ties in the project to the criteria requirement of the federal government grant which is coming from the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) program.

“We see the importance in having

accessible, quality programming, art, culture, and amateur sports available in the Recreation Facility and to reduce the energy footprint and greenhouse gas emissions,” explained Curé. “We will have a multi-use facility that will serve the community and surrounding area for generations to come.”

Curé says he may be Reeve but he is more importantly a community member who knows the value of keeping and attracting people to the municipality by providing amenities.

“St. Malo is known for being a hockey town and maintaining [and] renovating the facility is important to the residents,” he said. “We are excited to be able to invest in our community and to ‘modernize’ the front end of our recreation facility.”

While the details are being ironed out to begin this phase, Curé says council is already looking ahead.

“We will continue to pro-actively apply for future grants for Phase 3 of the renovations which will be to expand the ice surface to be closer

to a regular ice rink size,” he explained.

Curé stressed that to achieve what they have secured was due to many working together.

“I also want to recognize that the successful application of the federal and provincial grants are a result the cooperation of many groups,” he noted.

He pointed out that both the AMBM Group and CDEM were key to helping the municipality navigate through the grant application process.

Other municipalities are faced with similar scenarios of aging recreational infrastructure and Curé has some words of advice for others to create the foundation to make the process less daunting.

“The recommendation would be to do a comprehensive Facility Assessment report,” he suggested. “This report helped to prioritize and justify our requests for the grant applications and provided a roadmap as to which were the priority areas to address.”

St. Malo community residents and representatives at the federal funding announcement.

Submitted photos

Concept designs of the new De Salaberry Recreation Facility.

Dawson Trail Dispatch July 2023

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

St. Pierre-Jolys Eyes Creation of Southeast Recreation and Community Campus

By Dan Guetre

While it may seem to be a large number on paper, the Village of St. Pierre-Jolys is confident it can create a new recreation facility by inviting partnerships with various sectors of their community, including school divisions. This new “campus” is estimated to cost about $25 million to construct.

For the idea to have a chance of success the Village had to think beyond themselves and take into account partnerships based on needs.

“We wanted to build a facility that would benefit the local schools as well as the region,” St. PierreJolys Mayor Raymond Maynard explained. He added that involvement from the Red River School Division, La Division scolaire franco-manitobaine and Providence College are all key to making this project a reality.

“We approached all the schools to see what their thoughts were if we were to build this Campus and the response was very positive,” he added. “Once completed the schools could use the campus during the day for various activities. In the winter they could use the ice arena, and indoor field house for extra gym activities such as training or as meeting rooms for extra class rooms. When we add the full size gym in phase two this would help the schools with extra space.”

In order for this vision to have a maximum benefit for the community and region, Maynard says council has added various features.

“So by including an indoor 1/4 pitch soccer field house with a walking track in the plans, we felt this would attract people to move into the Village or the RM of De Salaberry,” he explained.

Key to the success and next steps will be the response from the various grants that have already been submitted to various levels of government.

“We are hoping to find out before the election but I suspect it won’t be until after the elections,” noted

Maynard when talking about the requests to the Province.

If the funding comes through, Maynard and his council have a plan ready to roll out.

“If successful in obtaining the grant and all the fundraising required, we have 2 years to start the project and then 2 years to complete it after that,” explained Maynard.

“It would be in 2 phases - phase one starting with constructing the new arena building along with the office and meeting room areas and then changing the old arena into the Field house. Phase 2 would be the completion of the Full size Gymnasium.”

Part of the success of the project includes the Village of St. PierreJolys to raising $2.2 million as their financial contribution towards the project.

“We have hired someone to do our capitol fundraising campaign and will be reaching to different en-

tities to see if they would like to be part of this project by way of anywhere from buying a door to naming rights to different areas of the building,” he noted.

With a project this size, Maynard agreed that residents would be justified in asking how this would affect the municipal taxes they pay.

“The goal,” he assured, “is to have it completely funded by grants and fundraising as to not affect or increase any taxes in the Village.” Maynard added that the response they are getting from residents so far is about 95% liking the plan.

Maynard believes their reasons for pursuing the dream is the same as everyone else in the southeast.

“We are all trying to grow and if we work together to grow as a region, everyone will prosper,” he said.

The Village of St. Pierre-Jolys is confident it can create a new recreation facility by inviting partnerships with various sectors of their community, including school divisions. This new “campus” is estimated to cost about $25 million to construct. Concept drawings

Niverville’s Heritage Centre Fills Keynote Speaker Spot for November Gala

Niverville Heritage Centre is ahead of the game and has announced their speaker for their 2023 Fundraising Gala being held Saturday November 4.

Jon Montgomery, an Olympic Gold Medalist and host of The Amazing Race Canada is the featured guest.

Montgomery captured the hearts of Canadians and the attention of everyone during 2010 Vancouver Olympics. His ability to do hard work, persevere and most importantly believe in himself, propelled him to an Olympic Gold Medal in Skeleton Racing.

Almost immediately his skill and national fame led him to getting in front of a camera.

In the summer of 2010, Montgomery and several friends filmed the television special Best Trip Ever, documenting their forays into various summer adventure sports for Discovery Channel Canada.

The following year, Montgomery appeared as a judge on Top Chef: Texas.

On June 5, 2013, it was announced that Montgomery would be the host of CTV’s The Amazing Race Canada, a role he has had to this day.

The Niverville Heritage Centre is inviting guests to come hear his passion, spirit and sense of humour.

Tickets are $200 each or $1,600 a table. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.

Proceeds support the needs of the residents of Niverville Personal Care Home and the Manor our Assisted Living facility. For information or tickets please call 204-388-5000 extension 210 or email gala@heritagecentre.ca.

Councillor Committed to Revitalizing Giroux’s Community

By Dan Guetre

Following the Grand Opening celebration for the newly minted Giroux Heritage Park, the municipal councillor representing the ward that Giroux sits in says she has a passion to revitalize the community.

Before Sarah Normandeau was elected to represent the area, the small community was staring at becoming stagnant and slowly disappearing. With dwindling resources and with limited volunteers, even the local community centre was sold.

“I’m not going to lie, I cried when I first came into council, and the community centre was sold in the first meetings I was involved,” admitted Normandeau. “That community complex meant so much to me as I grew up in Giroux… my parents owned the last store in this community, and my parents were both on the board of the directors and Ladies Club in this community.”

Normandeau’s pride for the community became more tangible and struck a chord, and turning the situation around became one of her priorities.

“The memories I have in this particular complex came flooding back, and I was devastated by the loss of this community centre,” she explained. “That’s how I started, and then from there one of the goals for Giroux became how to impact this community again, as there are quite a few young families here in Giroux.”

It wasn’t long until her vocal passion had her peers on council also wanting to investigate how to increase Giroux’s relevance on the municipal map.

“Since being involved on the council side of things, I’ve definitely seen some awesome conversations and ideas around the room as far as how we can focus on helping Giroux gain stride in the green spaces and recreational opportunities already in Giroux, and as well as building on new ideas and opportunities,” she noted.

Normandeau is proud of the first step of investing in a park that will service the families of the commu-

nity. There was also the added feature to recognize the families who were integral to serving the community.

While the next step may take a bit more time with more hurdles to overcome, Normandeau believes her council is onboard.

“I think it’s safe to say all of Council is in favour of invigorating this urban centre and providing both service and new opportunities for Giroux,” she insisted. “When it comes to thinking about Giroux, less is defiantly not more.”

Normandeau views the first step of rebuilding a park as a potential trend.

“I think it became more about responsibility than anything,” she expressed. She believes this attitude will continue with council but knows that it will take time. “As our Operations team grows it allows us to be able to take on more.”

While the next few steps for the community are not written in stone yet, Normandeau assured residents

that it is a topic that is regularly discussed.

“Giroux is a community we talk about often, it’s unique and has great opportunities for growth,” stressed Normandeau.

Tache Hires New Economic Development Officer, Taps into Experience

By Dan Guetre

Leslie Gaudry is not one to dwell on past successes and is already looking forward as the new Economic Development Officer for the RM of Taché.

A quick online search reveals that Gaudry has the qualifications to be innovative and can bring together quality projects for her new employer.

She has filled and developed her expertise in a similar roll in the RM of Ritchot for half a decade, was manager of the Economic Development Association of Manitoba

(EDAM) and worked with the Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (CDEM).

She is also a business owner, avid paddler, mother and drummer.

In her new roll, Gaudry will be a support and liaison for the Taché CDC.

The RM of Taché is confident they can to tap into her experience in community economic development, tourism planning and development, and facilitation.

The RM of Taché Community Economic Development (CED) Office and the Community Develop-

ment Corporation (CDC) Taché was formed to support, connect, path find, advocate and inform startup businesses, existing enterprises, and community-based organizations with their CED projects.

In a written statement, the municipality believes that “Economic Development is an important service and function of municipalities to help service business support and growth, sustainable community planning, and innovative community-based projects.”

The core of community economic development is based on economic,

social and environmental development of the community by the community, they added.

Council and Gaudry have already set priorities of what is required to enhance the municipality.

Examples of work that the EDO will be undertaking soon following the strategies as identified in the CDC Taché strategic plan include: the promotion of the new CED webpage with a business directory and business resources; a photo contest to support the start of a social media strategy for the CDC Taché; an Active Transportation Network

Plan Project in partnership with a selected consultation firm to support improved planning and implementation of pedestrian and cycling infrastructure; master planning consultation with the Centre of Canada committee; a housing survey; and a Business Retention and Expansion program.

Gaudry says she is looking forward to meeting with businesses, community leaders and champions, and local residents in the days and weeks ahead.

She can be reached at lesley@rmtache.ca or 204-218-2568.

Jon Montgomery, an Olympic Gold Medalist and host of The Amazing Race Canada is the featured guest. Submitted photo

The most recent project to create an attractive community families can call home is complete with the municipally- led project, the Giroux Heritage Park. Photo RM of Ste. Anne/Facebook

Councillor Sarah Normandeau, with her ties to the community of Giroux is seeking ways to improve the community.

Photo source: Sarah Normandeau/Facebook

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Dawson Trail Dispatch July 2023

Construction Begins on Addition to Mitchell Middle School

Construction has begun on an addition to Mitchell Middle School in Hanover School Division.

According to Consumer Protection and Government Services Minister James Teitsma and Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Wayne Ewasko, this addition to Mitchell Middle School will address current enrolment needs, accommodating 100 additional students and their families in the community.

The approximately 5,400-sq.-ft. addition will cost $3.6 million and includes four new classrooms, service spaces and new washrooms.

“This addition will enable Mitchell Middle School and Hanover School Division to better serve students and families in the community of Mitchell and the surrounding area, and ensure students have the best possible environment to learn, grow and strive for academic excellence,” said Ewasko.

Design of the new classrooms was completed in February and the addition is scheduled to be operational by September 2024.

“We are grateful to the Government of Manitoba for their ongoing support and timely action in adding

Species at Risk Spotlight: Western Silvery Aster

four classrooms to Mitchell Middle School,” said Ron Falk, board chair, Hanover School Division. “This addition not only reflects the growth of our community but also addresses the pressing need for additional space to accommodate for increases in enrolment.”

Mitchell Middle School is a Grade 5 to Grade 8 school with approximately 290 students and 32 staff. The school offers a broad range of programs including French, band, choir, art, drama, music, guidance, English as an additional language, human ecology and technical education.

Niverville Coach Awarded for Being Outstanding

Ron Limpright of Niverville High School was recently presented with the Frank L. McKinnon Award for his outstanding volunteerism in high school sport. Limpright was chosen for the award by the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association (MHSAA).

Limpright has been a long-time high school volleyball coach for 37 years, which includes 10 years at Green Valley and 27 years at Niverville. He served as Zone 13 President for 11 years and as a contributing member for even longer.

He has been Niverville’s Athletic Director for the past 13 years.

In that time, he has organized many tournaments including hosting numerous Provincial Championships for volleyball, basketball, and soccer.

Limpright’s passion has always been coaching volleyball where he has led teams to an astounding 13 Provincial titles and numerous other

successful seasons, provincial appearances, and podium finishes.

According to the MHSAA, although Limpright has spent most of his time coaching volleyball, he has always been willing to step in and help supervise or coach wherever and whenever it has been needed providing students an opportunity to play.

They added that his commitment to students having a high school athletics experience has been simply exemplary. He has impacted MHSAA greatly through his contributions and will be leaving a large imprint on MHSAA volleyball. He will continue to serve the volleyball community as a referee.

Limpright’s MHSAA Provincial Successes Include: 16 times a Provincial Champion; 13 times a Provincial Champion as a Coach, 12 times with Niverville and once with Green Valley and 10 times as a head coach; 1 Final Four AAAA appearance in 1999 with Niverville Varsity Boys; 2 times Provincial Champion as a player for volleyball; 1 time Provincial Champion as a player for basketball; and numerous Finalists and Provincial appearances.

By Norm Gregoire

When July begins on the tall-grass prairie, we are reminded of the incredible diversity of flora and beauty that we live among. At this time of year, it seems we are welcoming new species every day, and they appear in every colour imaginable. These prairie beauties are also tough, but some rely on the conservation work being implemented in Manitoba’s tall-grass prairie in order to have a place to survive. Western silvery aster is a species that fits perfectly into this description: beautiful, tough, but needing some help in order to keep surviving.

There are many aster and aster look-alike species that are found in Manitoba. Although they can be tricky to identify, I find that the western silvery aster stands out. Western silvery aster are perennials that may grow over thirty centimetres in height. A plant typically has no more than ten purple flowers, though on occasion it may have as many as sixty that bloom by the beginning of September. The flowers are arranged on sparsely branched stems. Leaves are thin and lancelike, and a key identifier is that when observed closely, many silvery hairs can be seen.

Like many prairie species, western silvery aster are resilient plants. Their woody rootstock has evolved to survive Manitoba’s harsh climate, coping with everything from drought, wildfires, and cold temperatures in the winter.

I am often surprised to see the western silvery aster grow in what I would have assumed to be less than ideal habitat. In Manitoba, western silvery aster are found in prairie areas where the soil is calciumrich and generally gravelly, occasionally growing in the thin soil of the Canadian Shield. Thriving in a gravelly habitat means the western silvery aster can be inadvertently destroyed during resource extraction or road maintenance.

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada lists the western silvery aster as threatened. Threats not only include resource extraction but also the encroachment of woody species, the invasion of non-native plants, and urbanization.

Many conservation efforts are underway in the tall-grass prairie to help conserve western silvery aster in our province. This includes the Stewardship Credit Pilot Program (SCPP), a partnership between the Rural Municipality of Stuartburn and Nature Conservancy Canada.

As part of SCPP, participants receive annual payments to reward and assist in management, such as brush and invasive species control and the improvement of native prairie, with a focus on species at risk. Given the conservation status of the western silvery aster and the rarity of the habitat it relies on, the western silvery aster is one of the three target species of the program. Through the program, participants can learn about the plant, its management, habitat, indicator species, and more. Further, participants with the western silvery aster may be eligible for additional payments through the program in an effort to further conserve and protect the species. Private landowners are vital for the success of this at-risk species, as there are no records of it being found in the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve or any other con servation land.

If you think you may have western silvery aster or native prairie and are interested in learning more about the program (or both!), we would love to hear from you.

For more information, please contact Norm Gregoire, Stewardship Credit Pilot Program Liaison and Community Liaison for Species at Risk, at info@sharedlegacymb.ca or 204-408-6166.

Photo courtesy of Nature Conservancy Canada

Western silvery aster are perennials that may grow over thirty centimetres in height.

The approximately 5,400-sq.-ft. addition will cost $3.6 million and includes four new classrooms, service spaces and new washrooms.

Submitted photo

Ron Limpright of Niverville High School was recently presented with the Frank L. McKinnon Award for his outstanding volunteerism in high school sport. Niverville High School/YouTube

Our Drinking Water Must Be Protected

By Chris Wiebe

On Friday June 23rd, the Clean Environment Commission (CEC) released their report on the Sio Silica project near Vivian. Sio Silica has been pushing for the extraction of ultra pure silica sand from the region using an experimental technique on up to 7,700 wells. Critics of the project have noted that with the extraction of the silica sands, there is a risk to our water aquifer that provides clean drinking water to a large portion of southeast Manitoba. Many town halls and CEC hearings have been held across Dawson Trail to gather the opinions of concerned constituents. The Manitoba NDP has been concerned about this project as well, making inquiries about the Manitoba PCs’ commitment to clean drinking water in Question Period. Environment Minister Kevin Klein has largely ignored these questions.

The report released last Friday by the experts of the CEC is also one of concern. The report says that “it can’t state with confidence that the potential environmental impacts of the controversial Sio Silica sand mine proposal at Vivian have been fully considered or that there is an adequate plan for preventing or mitigating problems” (Winnipeg Free Press, June 23, 2023). Despite this report, the MB PCs are still relatively silent on this issue. Our PC MLA Bob Lagassé has not been seen at a single town hall or CEC hearing on the Sio Silica project. Lagassé claims that he doesn’t want to “interfere” with this project. Listening to constituents and standing up for them is not interfering, Mr. Lagassé. It is your job. There are families that have been on this land for generations that have legitimate concerns about our drinking water that is at risk. Minister Klein cannot even commit to guaranteeing clean drinking water if this project goes through. What could be more important than our water?

For the Manitoba PCs, that answer is money. If you take a look at the Sio Silica board, you will find multiple prominent Manitoba PCs there, including David Filmon, former PC Premier Gary Filmon’s son and MB PC fundraising chair. Can we trust the MB PCs with the future of our drinking water when prominent MB PC donors will be rewarded financially if this goes through?

My priority is to listen to the constituents of Dawson Trail - constituents that have expressed to me over and over again how important their drinking water is. I’ve been to town halls, rallies, and CEC hearings on the silica sand project. The majority of experts have grave concerns about our most precious natural resource - our drinking water. I wish that our PC MLA Bob Lagassé and his MB PC government had the same concerns instead of being worried about lining their own pockets. No matter what path the MB PCs will take with this project, our clean drinking water must be protected.

Chris Wiebe is the nominated Manitoba NDP candidate to run in the next provincial election for the Dawson Trail Constituency.

Clean Environment Commission Report on Proposed Sio Silica Sand Extraction Project Leaves No Clear Winner in Debate

By Dan Guetre

With the Clean Environment Commission’s (CEC) report on the proposed Sio Silica sand extraction project now publicly available, both sides of the debate are digging in their heals. While the CEC report highlights the uncertainty of the safety of groundwater that many rely on, it also offers a twisting path forward.

Environment and Climate Minister Kevin Klein says his government is sharing the report “in a timely and transparent manner, recognizing that there is significant community and public interest in this project.”

He added that the province will now take its time to review the 105-page report and its recommendations.

“I want to assure everyone that our government places paramount importance on the safety of drinking water and the protection of our environment,” he continued.

He laid out the next steps of the process, noticeably avoiding any comments on the commission’s summary which highlighted potential flaws in the unproven technology and missing safe guards. While the CEC found some merit in Sio Silica mining proposal, it also wrote that more risk management is needed.

“We now embark on an in-depth technical evaluation by experts and engagement in meaningful discussions with Indigenous communities, as part of a complete and thorough review,” said Klein.

The official opposition was a bit more direct on what the next step should look like.

“The CEC’s ruling makes it clear there are legitimate concerns about the impacts of this project on the drinking water of many people in the Eastman region,” said Mark Wasyliw, NDP Critic for Environment and Climate. “When it comes to something so important

to the health of kids and families - we have to take the time to get it right.”

Wasyliw wants the government to take a step back from any decision until after voters have their say in the upcoming fall provincial election.

“With just two months away from an election campaign, Premier Stefanson and Minister Klein should commit to following the caretaker convention and refrain from making any final decision on this project before the next government is chosen,” he noted.

Others believe the project should be denied based on the report.

“The government’s handling of this project has created a crisis of trust and confidence,” wrote one of the organized opponents of the project, Our Line in the Sand (OLS). OLS was formed by a group of concerned citizens when the proposal to mine was made public. “It has caused needless anxiety and cost to taxpayers. To instill trust, confidence, and credibility, our regulatory bodies must exercise their mandated powers in a manner that adheres to the principles of scientific integrity, thoroughness, and accuracy.”

OLS is dubbing the project as “all risks and no certainties.”

Without mincing words, Byron Williams, Public Interest Law Centre, legal counsel for OLS and the Manitoba Eco Network believes “it would be imprudent to issue a license based on the devastating report from the Commission.”

In the report, the commission admits it “does not have sufficient confidence that the level of risk posed to an essential source of drinking water for the region has been adequately defined.”

They formed this opinion when looking at the “novel characteristics of this project, which uses a technology that has never been used for such a purpose” and “on

limitations in the proponent’s testing and modeling” and “on the critical importance of maintaining the quality and security of aquifers that provide drinking water to thousands of residents in growing communities in southeastern Manitoba.”

They did offer a way forward though for Sio Silica if the “risks posed to the quality of water in the affected aquifers can be better defined and the management of those risks can be adequately addressed.”

Additionally they are also recommending that if the project is green lighted, it should only proceed if “done on a step-wise basis to improve the level of confidence that no significant adverse effects will occur to impair the quality and quantity of water available from the affected aquifers.”

The CEC is critical of Sio Silica’s lack of plans to mitigate any potential environmental problems should they arise.

“This statement comes as no surprise,” noted the OLS. “During the provincial review many citizens wrote criticizing the lack of supportive evidence and data. The absence of commentary from the Mines Branch in the Technical Advisory Committee review is questionable [and] this continued with the review by the CEC.” OLS says even the consultants and experts hired by Sio Silica identified glaring omissions and material deficiencies in the proposal.

“Many critical components of the project remain conceptual and competency unknown,” they wrote. They added that there are far too many questions remaining even after two environmental assessments, one by the province and this new one by the CEC.

A copy of the report can be viewed on the Manitoba government’s public registry: gov.mb.ca/ sd//eal/registries/6119/index.html.

The site of the proposed Sio Silica processing plant.

The Sio Silica (rebranded from CanWhite Sands) extraction will come from three “properties,” in southeast Manitoba. The Bru, Den and Aly properties as shown in this 2020 claims map.

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Dawson Trail Dispatch July 2023

Dawson Sea Cadets Celebrate 25 Years

Cadets are encouraged to become active, responsible members of their communities. They make valuable contributions to Canadian society on a daily basis in terms of environmental, citizenship and community activities.

By Lt(N) Jonas Desrosiers CD

The local southeast sea cadet corps was formed in 1997 making its home in Ste. Anne until it moved to Lorette in 2008. The group is now celebrating 25 years of servicing and involving youth in the region.

In its first year back in-person from the pandemic, the 12 months have been a busy one for the sea cadets of Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps (RCSCC) Dawson, who regularly parade out of École Lagimodière in Lorette.

Continuing with the “wind in its sails,” RCSCC Dawson has seen its numbers grow throughout the recent year with over 20 cadets showing up weekly for regular training. Not only has the corps offered the regular Thursday night parade nights, but it has also consistently held multiple weekend activities.

Cadets have an opportunity to participate in weekend activities and special training throughout the year.

In September, it was on-the-water sailing, where cadets had the opportunity to sail a 2-person dingy on Lake Winnipeg. In October, the cadets took a hike at Birds Hill Park, and in November they participated in the Remembrance Day ceremonies in Landmark.

These months also saw many Sat-

urdays dedicated to range training at 17 Wing Winnipeg so Cadets could achieve the requirement for their Air Rifle Marksmanship qualification badges.

In February, the Dawson Sea Cadets headed to A-maze-in-Corn in Saint-Agathe for teambuilding activities. They went swimming at the Steinbach aquatic centre in January and also participated in a Sports Competition against other Sea Cadets in Winnipeg.

In May, the cadets headed back to Birds Hill Provincial Park to participate in a Seamanship training activity, learning many new knots, bends and hitches commonly used in the Navy.

The training year culminated with the 25th annual ceremonial review.

Celebrations of the milestone included the presence of multiple former Commanding Officers, as well as a cake cutting. The ceremony also included an inspection from the Officer Commanding of the Regional Cadet Support Unit Northwest Region, LCdr Allyson Bourre CD who oversees all Cadet Corps and Squadrons, from Manitoba to BC and the territories.

The Ceremony also saw deserving cadets presented with awards. Award winners were: Top Shot

Marksmanship Award — Po2 Colin Cantin; Top Junior Cadet - Po2 Derrek Guiboche; Top Overall Cadet - CPo2 Aylee Braschuck; The Reno-Damaran Esprit de corps award - Po1 Amelia Shoulak; Navy League of Canada Award of Excellence - CPo2 Matthieu Bertrand; Royal Canadian Legion medal of excellence - CPo2 Aylee Braschuck; and Lord Strathcona Trust medal of excellence - CPo2 Hailee O’Connell.

The current Commanding Officer of RCSCC Dawson, Lt(N) Matthew Bisesi also took the time to promote many cadets to a higher rank, and to thank the local volunteers and community organisations that help support the corps.

RCSCC Dawson Sea Cadets are part of a national program for young Canadians aged 12 to 18 who are interested in participating in a variety of fun, challenging, and rewarding activities.

Cadets are encouraged to become active, responsible members of their communities. They make valuable contributions to Canadian society on a daily basis in terms of environmental, citizenship and community activities.

The Dawson Sea Cadet Program will pick back up after the summer break with a sign-up and information night on Thursday, September 7, at 7 pm.

Tache Hosting Photo Contest

It didn’t take long for the new Economic Development Officer (EDO) for the Tache Community Development Corporation to interact with residents in the municipality.

EDO Lesley Gaudry has announced a municipal Photography Contest and partnered with local

businesses allowing residents the chance to win one of three various gift certificates.

The first Gift Card Draw is September 15, 2023. (see poster image on right)

Photo submissions can be of people, places, nature, heritage, events,

special occasions, etc. Submissions would also be made with the knowledge that the CDC Taché could use them for online or print promotions for the municipality and when possible, photo credit will be given. Snap away and start sending those photos to lesley@rmtache.ca.

Photo by Lt(N) Mindy Brown of Lorette

Local Producer Spotlight: Thrive Like a Wildflower Holistics

By Tammy Tesarski-Derksen

I remember the day my husband and I were dry walling a house on a country property. There were mounds of sand from the site excavation and on top of one of them was a beautiful bunch of wildflowers. It wasn’t planted in a manicured garden and yet it seemed to be thriving in the sand and rocks. The sight of it stirred my heart and has stayed with me for the past 11 years.

My home-based venture, Thrive Like a Wildflower Holistics, is rooted in what I learnt from my parents. My dad instilled in me a passion for natural health, medicinal plants, and the value of learning in life. My mom taught me about gardening, harvesting and inspired me to persevere through her stories of the homestead farm she grew up on. Over the past 20 years I have enjoyed growing and harvesting herbs, foraging for wild plants and making medicinal preparations.

Two years ago, we moved from town to an incredible 320 acres of land where my opportunities to forage grew. We’ve en joyed setting up a homestead complete with gardens, a greenhouse, chickens and an outdoor kitchen. Having brilliant artists as neighbours inspired me further to open myself up to the possibility of developing my passion for herbs into something more than a hobby.

My vision for Thrive Like a Wildflower Holistics is to inspire others to thrive through sharing my love of medicinal plants, holis tic health and our homesteading life.

I practice traditional folk medicine (tradi tional medicine as practiced by non-profes sional healers). Though I have taken a num ber of courses over the years, much of what I know has been passed down from my dad and from books. I craft and sell products such as salves, dried herbal teas, essential oil roller blends, infused massage oils, bath salts, and tinctures. Almost 100% of the plants, barks and roots that I work with are carefully wild foraged from our own land and gardens.

Blooming Summer

I sense a growing desire in people who want to learn more about plant derived rem edies for mental, physical and emotional health. Medicinal plants are powerful and effective, yet gentle. It’s empowering to think that much of our wellness is within our own hands, in fact, it’s probably grow ing in your backyard or garden and can be crafted into a medicine in your own kitchen. It does not have to be complex; it can be simplistic.

As the future unfolds, I want to take things organically and as they come. Though I hope to continue expanding the handcrafted products that I offer, my vision for Thrive goes beyond that. I would love to develop teaching workshops on topics such as: growing, harvesting and making herbal remedies, sourdough bread baking, relaxation therapies/self care, cooking with herbs, and wellness through essential oils.

I see on the horizon, another piece of Thrive to be about meaningful connections and a creative place to share, listen and be inspired to make choices that will improve our personal well-being. Life brings us down some difficult roads and to have one on one or small group support is invaluable.

I owe gratitude to many people for their encouragement, especially my Dad and Mom, my sister Shannon, my friends Heather, Dèbora and Bibiana, and my cousin Crystal.

If you would like to learn more, you can call me at 204-371-5247, visit my website thrivelikeawildflowerholistics.ca or find me on Facebook. May you Thrive!

Brought to you by the Stuartburn Emerson-Franklin Local Food Initiative, initiativelocalfood@gmail.com or find them on Facebook.

What better way than to recognize summer’s arrival with the blooming of flowers, including the ones making their homes on the banks of our rivers and streams like the Lilies here on the edge of the Seine River in Ste. Anne.

Photo by Ginette Perron

Tammy Tesarski-Derksen.

Tammy crafts and sells products such as salves, dried herbal teas, essential oil roller blends, infused massage oils, bath salts, and tinctures.

Almost 100% of the plants, barks and roots that Tammy works with are carefully wild foraged from her own land and gardens. Submitted photos

Southeast Truck Show Raises Funds for Community

By Myriam Dyck

raised a total of $20,000 for the charities.

The Jake Brakes performed throughout the afternoon to an appreciative audience. Bouncy houses and hot dogs made it a family fun event.

Speakers from this year’s chosen charities, Steinbach Community Outreach/Today House and Soup’s On,

shared stories and successes and information about their programs. Soup’s On will use the funds received to continue their school lunch program. This was a “working truck” show so most of these trucks are on the road daily, though there were a few newer or custom show trucks out as well as some classic cars.

The Jake Brakes performed throughout the afternoon.

Event organizer Bill Schroeder said that they ended up with 58 trucks attending this year which, along with their sponsors, raised a total of $20,000 for the charities.

Photos by Myriam Dyck

The “Toxic Traits” show truck was a crowd attraction.

Packing Tips for Easier Airport Screening

The summer travel season is here, and whether you’re planning a short trip or travelling to a faraway destination, your experience starts at home. The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority has a few tips that can help you prepare for a successful security screening experience.

1. Know Before You Go

Whether you are an organized packer or a “throw and go” traveller, what you pack and how much you pack is very important. This is especially true if you are only bringing carry-on baggage. Be sure to know the limits for size and quantity of bags ahead of time. You can contact your airline in advance or check their website for more information if you’re unsure.

Once at the checkpoint, all carryon baggage is screened through X-ray equipment. If your item is too big to go through the X-ray, it must be checked.

2. Limit your liquids

Familiarize yourself with the liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGs) rule before

you get to the security checkpoint. All LAGs in your carry-on must be in containers of 100 ml or less and placed in a clear, resealable 1-litre plastic bag. This includes items like shampoo, sunscreen, toothpaste, liquid makeup, bug spray and hand sanitizer. At the security screening checkpoint, be prepared to remove the bag from your carry-on and place it in a bin for inspection.

3. Large Must Be Charged

If you’re travelling with a laptop or other large electronics, ensure all devices are fully charged and can be powered up. You’ll be asked to remove these items from their carrying cases and place them in a bin for X-ray. You should label these devices so you can

easily identify them after screening. Small electronics like cellphones and tablets can stay in your carry-on.

4. Arrive Early

Wait times at security screening checkpoints can vary for many reasons and can fluctuate throughout the day based on passenger volume and the number of flights. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to get to the airport and go through check-in and security. It’s recommended that you arrive at least two hours ahead for domestic flights and three hours in advance of US and international flights.

Taking the time to prepare can help get you on your way with ease. Find more information at catsa.gc.ca.

Safety for Do-it-yourself Projects

The weather is warm, the birds are out, and it’s a great time to take on some outdoor projects.

Before your shovel hits the dirt, go to ClickBeforeYouDigMB.com or call 1-800-940-3447 to request a locate of underground electrical cables and natural gas lines at least three full business days before you begin any project. This will help to prevent injury or damage while working near these utilities.

Once you’ve mapped out the appropriate areas, check your power tools and accessories thoroughly. Look for wear, breakage, and loose connections. Make necessary repairs and invest in any new tools you may need. Ensure your tools are properly grounded with a three-prong plug. Never break off the third prong so the plug will fit into an outlet; have an electrician install a new outlet instead.

Visit hydro.mb.ca/safety for more information.

Wait times at security screening checkpoints can vary for many reasons and can fluctuate throughout the day based on passenger volume and the number of flights. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to get to the airport and go through check-in and security. It’s recommended that you arrive at least two hours ahead for domestic flights and three hours in advance of US and international flights. Submitted photo

No cottage? No problem!

Cottaging is a quintessential Canadian pastime – satisfying the desire to escape the urban bustle and kick back with friends and family. But as owning a cottage or cabin becomes more and more expensive, many Canadians face a dilemma: “How can I get out of town for a few days without breaking my budget?”

Short-term rentals or resort-style hotels have become the go-to solution for many, but finding something in the right price range can be a challenge. If you’re not a cottage owner and still want that cottage-like experience, there are alternatives you can explore.

Vacation options have seen a real revolution in recent years in response to increasing demand for outdoor escapes within Canada. New accommodation choices like cabins, yurts and glamping tents are popping up in campgrounds across the country. They can offer outdoor experiences that vary from rustic escapes to deluxe retreats. Some private options even come stocked with necessities like kitchen utensils, small appliances and barbecues. With minimal packing required, you can take advantage of these ready-to-camp sites

Perhaps the best part of these many glamping options is that they’re much more affordable than renting a cottage. Bargain hunters can often find discounts for mid-week stays at many campgrounds.

Some private campgrounds also offer season-long rental sites as an alternative to cottage ownership. Typically, seasonal sites are intended for RV units, sometimes known as trail-

small cottage, without the same cost. They can include custom luxurious finishes like engineered hardwood floors and stone countertops, multiple bedrooms and smart-home technology. Getting a season-long site usually involves signing a lease with the campground operator but still typically offers savings over owning a traditional cottage or cabin.

With all these cottage alternatives available, it’s worth considering your options. You’re bound charge and relax at a price point

Some private campgrounds offer season-long rental sites as an alternative to cottage ownership. Getting a season-long site usually involves signing a lease with the campground operator but still typically offers savings over owning a traditional cottage or cabin. Submitted photo and get your cottaging fix without much hassle.

Cabins or yurts, such as this one in Riding Mountain National Park, are available for booking through Parks Canada. Photo from parks.canada.ca

4 Tips for Planning the Perfect Summer Road Trip

With summer right around the corner, it’s time to get your car in tip-top shape for the season.

Whether you’re heading to the cottage or cabin or driving across the country, there are some things to think about to help you and your passengers stay safe on your next road trip.

1. First, make sure your car is ready to face any weather conditions that may arise.

With properly inflated tires in good condition, a maintenance check, a fully charged car battery or enough gas in the tank, you’ll be able to get where you’re going with ease.

2. Next, be sure to plan your route ahead of time.

Avoid driving between midnight and 6 am and plan out the stops you’ll be making in between, including charging or fuel stops.

3. Stay prepared by always having an emergency roadside kit at your disposal.

Important items to include in the kit are jumper cables, a flashlight, blankets, matches and candles, bottled water, dry food and a first aid kit. It may seem like one too many items, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

4. It’s also important to find extra insurance coverage that fits your road-tripping needs.

Roadside assistance, as offered by many insurers, could be an invaluable feature during your adventure. With just a few clicks on an app, you can request a tow and

be back on the road in no time. Now that you’ve covered all your bases, you’re ready and well equipped to embark on a summer road trip.

Important Road Safety Message for Manitobans

For many Manitobans, driving is a routine part of their lives but it is also potentially one of the most dangerous activities they do every day. This is why we must all do our part to keep our roads safe.

Whether you drive a car, motorcycle, bicycle or are a pedestrian, it is important that you focus on the road, pay attention and be aware of changes in your surroundings at all times.

So far this year, 31 Manitobans have lost their lives in motor vehicle collisions, five more than at this time last year and well above the current five-year average of 23.

Motorists can expect to see increased patrols and sobriety checkstops throughout the province as officers continue efforts to help keep our roads safe this long weekend.

With the warmer temperatures now upon us, increased traffic flows are expected on our highways as Manitobans head to beaches, cottages, camp sites, and other holiday destinations, we are asking drivers to:

- drive sober,

- wear a seatbelt,

- slow down and drive to conditions,

- be cautious and always aware of your surroundings,

- pay attention to the road at all times,

- keep a safe distance between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead of you, and

- put your cellphone away.

We want everyone to reach their destination safely.

Sgt. Paul Manaigre RCMP

Road trips with your family are a great way to build memories that last a lifetime. Submitted photo

BBQ Safety 101

You should never leave a lit grill unattended. For an extra level of protection, remind kids and pets to keep three feet away from the grill to help reduce the risk of accidents and injuries.

Firing up the barbeque is synonymous with summer. While warm weather brings much to look forward to, it’s also a reminder to brush up on grilling safety measures.

Eighty per cent of Canadian households own a grill or smoker, according to the Hearth, Patio and Barbeque Association so, it’s important to take safety precautions.

Check out these four grilling safety tips before putting on your apron.

1. Grill outside and away from structures.

Position the grill well away from anything that can catch fire – like siding, deck railings and overhanging branches. Always make sure it’s set on an even surface in an open, well-ventilated area.

2. Clean and inspect your barbeque.

Remove all grease buildup from the grills and the trays below the grill. If your grill uses charcoal, make sure it has cooled down completely before you dispose of it. Before and after each use, inspect all parts of the grill for any needed maintenance or cracks.

3. Create a safe zone.

You should never leave a lit grill unattended. For an extra level of protection, remind kids and pets to keep three feet away from the grill to help reduce the risk of accidents and injuries.

4. Be ready in the event of a fire. Even if you’re following safe grilling practices, you should always keep a fire extinguishing device nearby. Models with a spray can de-

sign are quick and easy to use and easy to clean up.

Grease fires happen when oil, grease, or fat on a stovetop, oven, or grill gets hot enough to ignite. These fires burn very hot and can spread if not handled properly.

The instructions for how to put out

a grease fire must be followed in this exact order:

a) Turn off the stove.

b) Cover the pot, pan, or fryer with a lid.

c) Douse the fire with baking soda, salt, or a fire extinguisher—never water.

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities! Dawson Trail Dispatch July 2023

C ommunity E v E nts

Carrick

Carrick Days – Saturday, August 12 with parade, gates open at 12 pm. Horseshoe tournament registration at 1 pm, kids bouncy tent, musical bands, dunk tank, concession stand, silent auction, 50/50 draw, fireworks 10 pm. Sunday, August 13 breakfast 10 am and bean bag competition.

Centre of Canada Park – Pop-Up Play & Plan on Wednesday, July 19, at 4 - 7 p.m. Join us for fun, games, food, and an opportunity to share your input on what you want to see at the Centre of Canada Park. Food Vendors include Popsicle Planet, the Little Red Mini Donut Trailer, Firebird Chicken and Smokies, and Smokin Gunn BBQ.

Falcon Lake

Bingo – Wednesdays at 7: 30 pm, early bird games at 7 pm at the Whiteshell Community Club 20 301 Pr, Falcon Beach. Contact 204-349-2293.

Grande Pointe

Ritchot Recreation is hosting the Music in the Park event… Homegrown Harmonies! Join the community for an unforgettable day of live music and community gathering. It will be held on August 10 from 6 pm to 8 pm in St. Adolphe Park and August 24 from 6 pm to 8 pm in Grande Pointe Park. The musical theme of the event revolves around laid-back, rootsy, relaxing, folk, and jazz genres.

Grunthal

Coffee Connections - All adults ages 55+ are welcome to join us at the New Horizon Centre for a time of visiting, while enjoying coffee, tea and refreshments. Join us and bring your friends. There is no cost. Contact Anita Funk 204-371-9134.

Ile des Chenes

Yoga - Thursdays at 9 am and Wednesdays at 9:30 am. Gentle yet invigorating yoga for adults 55+. $5 per class. Contact yogaforyoumanitoba@outlook.com to register.

La Broquerie

Drop-in Community Bike Repair Workshop – Tuesdays, 6 – 9 pm at La Bikequerie Inc, 36016 PR 210, and (the old

Southeast Vet Clinic) Come; learn how to fix your bike. Bring a friend! We also have used bikes for sale. Contact Jacinthe Wiebe, 204-346-1515 or labikequerie@gmail.com.

Farmers’ Market –Until September 26. Weekly market Tuesdays 3 -7 pm and monthly market, last Sunday, 11 am -3 pm. We invite vendors to apply through our online form available at facebook.com/labroqueriefarmersmarket. Deadline for submission is Saturday, April 15, or until spots are filled. Location is the La Broquerie Hotel parking lot.

Lorette

Bibliothèque Taché Library – Plant a flower garden, July 13, 1 – 2:30 pm, Lego day July 20, 12 – 3 pm, Story Time outside & craft July 22 12 – 2 pm. Contest: How many s’mores are on the fire? Open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays from 11 am -5 pm

And Saturdays 10 am -2 p, 1082 Dawson Rd.

Fitness Classes for Active Older Adults- Every Tuesday at 10 am, until mid-June at the Les Club Bles D’or. Strengthening using body weight, bands and free weights. Sign up $9 to mid-June or $10 drop-in. Contact Laurie, laurie@rmtache. ca or Tobi Ann 204-801-3133.

Marchand

Annual Smokin’ Summer Charity Ribb Off – Saturday. August 19, 5:30 – 7 pm at the Marchand Inn. Fundraiser for the Robb Nash project that uses music and storytelling to engage our audience and address difficult mental health related topics such as suicide, addiction, self-harm and anxiety. Cost to enter the Ribb-Off, $100/two person team. Limited to 15 teams.

Deadline Monday, July 31. Enjoy ribs from all contestants, $50 meal ticket. Contact Ang and Laurie at smokinsummerriboff@yahoo.com. You get to have your say with the Peoples Choice Award. Enjoy games and drinks. No ticket required if you aren’t eating. Tickets must be purchased in advance; there will no meal tickets sold at the event. Every dollar raised goes directly to The Robb Nash Project.

Middlebro

Family Fun Day Fundraiser - Saturday, July 29 starting at

the Community Hall with pancake breakfast 9 – 10:30 am. Pots & Pans baseball ($20/team) and registration for Texas Hold’em tournament ($30 entry) at 11 am, BBQ lunch in the park, 1 pm horseshoe tournament ($10/team), kids games, face painting, music, 50/50 jail, silent auction, beer gardens, 3 pm Corn Hole ($10/team), 5 pm free basketball bump game.

Mitchell

Toast & Coffee – On Tuesdays, drop-in for toast and coffee for $2 and a menu is available with prices according to what you order at the Mitchell and Area Community Centre, 130 Ash St. Contact Jane Penner 204-346-2469, jpenner@jantre.com.

Richer

The next Richer Young At Heart dance on July 15, 2023 with music by Steve Ambrose band. Dinner is at 6 pm and dancing till 11 pm. Tickets are $25 per person, and can be reserved by calling Ron at 431 275 0874

Richer Recovery AA Group - Meets every Monday from 7:308:30 pm at LUD Hall. If you would like more information, call Jeff at 204-371-5518 or Albert at 204-380-3058.

RM of Stuartburn

Services to Seniors - Free Shuttle for residents of the RM the first Friday of each month. Call to book a ride and do your banking and shopping locally or book your doctor’s appointment and we will get you to your appointment. Call 204425-3701.

Services to Seniors Steinbach Shuttle - Subsidized cost $15/ person. Minimum of 8 participants required for the trip to take place. Departure from Shady Oaks at 9:30 am. Call 204-4253701 to book a seat.

Sarto

Willow Plain School Museum - Open from Thursday to Monday all summer from 10 am – 4 pm. New material to see having to do with the history of Sarto families and the latest edition of the 533-page Sarto Pioneers History/Genealogy ($30 cash only) is now available. Hope you and your family/friends will visit there very soon. Plan to spend a couple of hours perusing the historic memorabilia to make the visit even more memorable!

South Junction

Southeast Farmer’s Market - Summer Outdoor Market held every Friday starting Friday, July 7 - Friday, September 1 form 3 to 8 pm at the Pine Grove Seniors.

37th Annual Baseball Tournament – Saturday, July 22 (rain day Sunday, July 23). All families team slo-pitch tournament limited to 8 teams with payout for each win, music food, entertainment, rainbow auction. Gate entry free. Contact Mitch Gobeil 204-437-2343, mgobeil@mymts.net.

Meet Your Neighbours Coffee Group- Mondays, at 1 pm, Pine Grove Senior Club, Highway 12 and Prevost St. and Thursdays at 1 pm at the Evergreens Senior Club at the Hall by railroad tracks.

Sprague

Show & Shine Car Show Fundraiser – Saturday, August 12, Community Centre. Pancake breakfast, and Car registration 8 – 11 am, 9:30 am 3 on 3 basketball tournament with cash prizes, parade at 10:30 am, rainbow auction, kids entertainment, wood carving demonstration, horseshoe tournament, Bingo, Sprague Fest Social with DJ music ( 8 pm – 1 am), tickets $10.

Sprague Service to Seniors Seeking Volunteers - Seeking individuals to assist and to provide a few services to seniors within our community such as snow removal, transportation for a fee, volunteers in the congregate Meals Programs as well as home cleaning services to seniors for a fee. A criminal record check is required for cleaning services and transportation. Email lgdseniors@gmail.com with your rates and for information, or call 204-437-2604.

St. Adolphe

Ritchot Recreation is hosting the Music in the Park event… Homegrown Harmonies! Join the community for an unforgettable day of live music and community gathering. It will be held on August 10 from 6 pm to 8 pm in St. Adolphe Park and August 24 from 6 pm to 8 pm in Grande Pointe Park. The musical theme of the event revolves around laid-back, rootsy, relaxing, folk, and jazz genres.

St. Labre St. Labre 200 – Build your go-cart on Friday, July 7 and Race

on Saturday, July 8. It’s the go-cart building/racing competition that attracts thousands each year. Free admission, camping and entertainment, Kids Zone BMX Track, Rubber Boot Toss Practice, Excavator Rodeo, Kids Bike Race, live music. All proceeds go towards a chosen charity in the Giving Back to the Community campaign. Bring a can for Steinbach Helping Hands Foodbank.

St. Malo

Farmers’ Market – Every Saturday until September 2 at the Arena. Doors open 9:30 am for vendor set up. Doors open to public at 10 am to 1:30 pm. Please feel free to contact us for more information at stmalojrwarriors@gmail.

St. Pierre-Jolys

Children’s Pop up Party – Tuesday, July 11, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm at the Carillon Parc, for ages 6 - 12. Please send lunch, snack and water with your children. Registration required at ratriverrecreation website.

Ray Gagne Memorial Golf Classic – Saturday, July 15, 1 pm shotgun start at the Maplewood Golf Club, 19113 Cure Rd. Annual Fundraiser for the Rec centre. Entry fee $600/foursome. Early bird before June 15 $500/foursome. Includes competition $10k Hole-in One and 2023 Acura RDX Holein-One contest, steak dinner and prizes. More information contact Jordan Weiler 204-712-0640.

The Stand Market Event - Sunday August, 13, 10 am – 4 pm at the Carillon Parc. Local fresh produce, home décor, collectables, live music, and so much more. Interested in having a table contact thestandmarket@gmail.com for more information.

3234 Manitoba Horse Cadets – Thursdays, 6:30 – 9 pm at the Community Hall from September to June. Cost is Free. Meet new friends, fun, adventures, leadership, citizenship, community service, drill band, orienteering, and more. Contact Captain Phil Atkinson 3234Army@cadets.gc.ca or phillip.atkinson@cadets.gc.ca. Website 3234manitobahorse.ca.

Ste. Agathe Cheyenne Summer Festival – Friday, July 14 and Saturday, July 15. Entertainment for the whole family with music, fireworks, ball and horseshoe tournament, activities for kids, Fris-Nok, pancake breakfast and parade. Visit cheyennefest. weebly.com or their Facebook page for more information and program.

Ste. Anne Multi Family Garage Sale - Friday July 7, 1 – 5 pm, Saturday July 8, 9 am – 5 pm and Sunday, July 9, 11 am to 5 pm at 418 Central.

Concert in the Park – Sunday, July 16, 2 - 4 pm at the Pavilion in the Parc des Rédemptoristes with a francophne flavour. Featuring local artists Gerry St-Laurent at 2 pm and Isabel Lemoing at 3 pm. Free concert with different vendors with the Lions Club The Bring a lawn chair, sit right down and enjoy the camaraderie with everyone at the park.

Ste. Genevieve Library Night – Wednesday July 5 and 19, 11am-12:30 pm. A “mini-library” at the Community Centre. Come check out some books, exchange and request items from the library.

Steinbach Annual Food Truck Fair – For 5 Thursdays, until July 27, from 11 am – 2 pm, kick off the summer with the return of the Annual Food Truck Fair! You’re invited to grab lunch from a food truck at the Community Plaza, located downtown in front of the T.G. Smith Centre, in the east parking lot by the curling rink and theatre entrance rain or shine.

Story In The Park – Every Wednesday in July and August at 10 am in the EA Friesen Park beside the Jake Epp Library. Rain location in the Library under the big tree. Contact Steph McLean 204-326-6841, smclean@jakeepplibrary.com.

Steinbach & District Farmers Market - Every Thursday, 3- 6 pm beginning June 22 until September 28. Contact 204-3266222, dorothy@cdtrees.com.

Chase the Ace Fundraiser - Steinbach and Area Animal Rescue

– On Mondays at Smitty’s Restaurant. Tickets on sale 6 – 8 pm, draw at 8:15 pm. 2 tickets for $5.Come out and try to win cash. The jackpot goes up weekly until the Ace is drawn! Winning ticket receives 10% of ticket sales or 50% of sales if Ace is drawn.

Summer Arts Day Camp – Join the Steinbach Arts Council

for a fun-filled summer with talented instructors and staff eager to welcome your kids with a creative experience that they won’t soon forget. Camps focus on the arts such as visual arts, theatre, music, and dance. Campers will also participate in science experiments, culture workshops, games, field trips, swimming at the Steinbach Aquatic Centre, and much more. Each week has a theme to make sure the projects, activities, and workshops are different each week. Visit steinbacharts. ca/sadc to register.

Royal Canadian Legion Steinbach Branch - Meets first Tuesday of the month via Zoom at 7:30 pm; Ladies Auxiliary meets first Monday of each month, 7:30 pm. Steinbach Legion, 227 Main St – Unit 5. Email steinbach190rcl@outlook.com.

Al-Anon – Mondays at 7:30 pm Steinbach Cultural Arts Centre back door, downstairs. Contact steinbachafg@gmail.com.

Creative Writers Club - Second Wednesday every month at 7 pm at the Jake Epp Library, 255 Elmdale St. This is not a class but rather a writing share group where we hope to foster and encourage our participants’ love of writing. Feel free to bring 5 pages of writing (single sided, double spaced) to share with the group. Our evening will begin with an ice breaker and then move into share time. Coffee and tea will be served. Contact Madison Redekopp email mredekopp@jakeepplibrary.com.

Steinbach Professional Development Toastmasters Club – On Thursdays at 9:46 am, Eastman Education Centre, 385 Loewen Blvd. How can a person get the message across well, keep meeting participants engaged, and fully use the capabilities of videoconferencing platforms? What works? What doesn’t? What is the etiquette expected? Join us in person or by zoom on 12 pm every Wednesday. All guests are welcome! Contact Mark Hiebert 204-371-5197, email mhiebert@ barkmanconcrete.com.

Knit-Wits Fibre Craft Club- First Tuesdays of the month at 6 – 8 pm, Jake Epp Library, 255 Elmdale St. Do you enjoy knitting, crocheting, cross stitching and other types of fibre crafting? Join other adults for informal knitting, crochet, etc. circle. All skill levels welcome. Please bring your own project/supplies.

Craft Night - Wednesdays at 7 pm, Jake Epp Library, 255 Elmdale St. Ages 16 years and up join us for a free event, with coffee and crafting. Our craft for the evening will be a beaded spring wreath. There is limited space available. To sign up, email mredekopp@jakeepplibrary.com.

Book Club - Meets on the third Wednesday of each month from 7 - 8:30 pm Jake Epp Library, 255 Elmdale St. Books are available at the circ desk as well as on our Libby App (free with your library card). Please sign up by email mredekopp@jakeepplibrary.com. Limited space available.

West Hawk Lake

20th Annual West Hawk Lake Meteor Fest – Friday, July 7- Sunday, July 9. Live music and BBQ on the Beach, Street Hockey, Pony Rides, Face Painting, Meteor Market under the big tent, Bingo, Kid’s parade, Kid’s Races, Sand Sculpture contest, Air Mattress Races, Pancake Breakfast, Church Service, Horseshoe Tourney, Poker Derby, 50/50, kids’ games, contests and more! Check out their Facebook page for more details.

Whiteshell

The Boreal Shores Art Tour - Saturday, August 19, 9: am to 5 pm and Sunday, August 20, 10 am - 4 pm. Free, self-guided tour showcasing the work of artists in eastern Manitoba, from Lake Winnipeg to Whiteshell Provincial Park. Experience the work of painters, photographers, ceramic artists, beadwork artisans, jewellery makers, sculptures, woodworkers, knife makers, and fabric artists who are inspired and nurtured by the beautiful natural environment of the Boreal Shores. For tour maps and information go to borealshoresarttour.ca, email: info@borealshoresarttour.ca.

Woodridge

Annual Fun Run on the Ridge – Saturday, July 22, 11 am – 4 pm at the M.A. Querel Park and picnic shelter. Annual 2 km walk (free) or 5 km run ($20 registration fee). Registration 8:30 am, run at 9 am. Afternoon activities Kids on the Ridge Fun Zone, Horseshoe tournament, Scavenger Hunt, adult and family races, free BBQ lunch 11 am – 2 pm. Community Fundraiser Woodridge Firefighters Association, all donations gratefully accepted.

Please email your events each month to editor@dawsontrail.ca

Dawson Trail Dispatch

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Grocery Rebate, GST Credit, Climate Action Incentive, Manitoba Carbon Tax Relief Fund

Every household will be receiving some credits or benefits from CRA Canada Revenue Agency in July 2023. Check your bank account in July for credits on July 5 and/or July 15.

Grocery Rebate

This is a new one-time credit announced by the Government of Canada earlier this year. The Grocery Rebate will provide financial support to eligible Canadians and will be issued on July 5, at the same time the GST credits are paid.

You will receive the Grocery Rebate if you were entitled to receive the GST credit for January 2023. To get the Grocery Rebate, you did have to file a tax return for 2021. It’s possible you may be entitled to the Grocery Rebate but not the July GST credit or vice versa.

The Grocery Rebate is calculated based on your 2021 tax return, but the next quarterly GST credit payment in July 2023 is calculated based on your 2022 tax return.

The Grocery Rebate will be double the amount of your GST credit payment from January 2023. The amount calculated id based on your family situation in January 2023 and your 2021 family net income.

Tax refunds, benefit and credit payments may be applied to pay outstanding balances. So, if you have an outstanding balance with CRA for income tax or GST credit or Canada Child Benefit, the Grocery Rebate may be used to offset the outstanding amount.

GST Credit

The regular GST credit will be paid July 5 2023 based on your 2022 income and family situation. If you (or your spouse) have not yet filed your 2022 taxes, then the GST credit will not be calculated and paid to you until your 2022 taxes are filed and assessed by CRA.

If the amount of the GST Credit is small, you may receive the annual payment as a lump sum instead of a quarterly payment. If your GST credit is less than $50 per quarter, CRA will pay the entire year of GST on July 5.

It is possible to receive GST credit based on the 2022 tax year and not the one-time Grocery Rebate. If you were not eligible to receive GST in the past 12 months based on your income for 2021, but your income is less in 2022 and you now become eligible for the GST credit, you will receive it beginning July 2023. But maybe not the Grocery Rebate if you did not receive the GST credit July 2022 or January 2023.

Climate Action Incentive

The CAI is also paid quarterly.

The first payment should have been made April 2023, but most taxpayers did not receive it then as you needed to have your 2022 taxes filed by about March 10, 2023. Most people did not file or have CRA assess their taxes by then.

For taxes filed after March 10, 2023, the payment may have been delayed to May 15 or June 15 or will be combined with the July 15, 2023 payment, depending on when CRA assessed your taxes. It seems that if CRA assessed your or your spouse’s tax return by the end of a month, CRA will issue the CAI the following 15th of the month.

For example, taxes filed and assessed by CRA by April 30, the CAI did get paid May 15, 2023. And the CAI is issued even if only one spouse has filed. Since it is not dependent on income, it gets paid as soon as one spouse files their taxes.

Last year was the first full fiscal year that CRA paid the CAI quarterly instead of including it in the tax calculation. For the 2020 and earlier taxes, CRA added it to the refund (or reduced taxes owing). Last July 2022, CRA paid the April 2022 and July 2022 payment on July 15 2022. This year the CAI payment has been made the following month of taxes being filed, so it’s been a bit confusing for all of us as tax professionals and taxpayers as to when the CAI will be paid.

Manitoba Carbon Tax Relief Fund

These Manitoba rebate cheques were issued last February and March 2023 to households with 2021 income under $175,000. The amounts were $275 for an individual or $325 for a couple.

Just recently, the Manitoba government announced that of the over 600,000 cheques issued, more than 43,000 have not been cashed. And almost 15,000 have been returned to them as “undelivered” or “returned to sender”.

Unfortunately, it is more likely for lower income Manitobans to have moved and have not received these cheques. Plus, they are less likely to keep informed of these payments and how to get them. And they are the ones that needed these benefits the most.

The address used for the cheques were the address you had when you filed your 2021 taxes (likely filed March or April 2022).

If you moved in the past year or so and did not arrange to have your mail forwarded, you may not have received the cheque last February or March 2023.

People who believe they’re eligible

and haven’t received a cheque need to fill out a Manitoba government form online.

The government website for the Carbon Tax Relief Fund states applications for people who didn’t get their cheque will remain available until July 1, but a government spokesperson says inquires will continue to be reviewed after that date and cheques will still be sent if necessary.

Manitoba Seniors Hearing Aid Program

A reminder that this new grant program opened earlier in June (read our June 2023 article at dawsontrail.ca or annimarkmann.ca. You can find out more by searching for the grant online. If you or a helpful family member cannot access the information online, give our office a call, or drop by; we’ll see how we can help you.

You do need to have a “Proof of Income Statement” from Canada Revenue Agency. We have found out the CRA tips line does not seem to be sending out the correct type of income statement. They have been sending detailed assessments instead of the correct Proof of Income Statement. And the applications have been declined by the Manitoba Government office. We have contacted CRA about the problem, but not sure how quickly they will get it corrected.

You can get the correct Proof of Income Statement online thru your CRA My Account, or by calling CRA’s Inquiry line: 1-800-959-8281. If you phone, you will eventually speak with a CRA agent, but you may be on hold for an hour or more. Just a heads up.

For our clients, we can get the correct Proof of Income Statement for them. We have online access to their CRA account and can print or mail immediately. We do charge a $25 fee for this service for our clients or new clients that need our help.

Anni Markmann is a Personal Income Tax Professional and Certified Financial Planner; living, working, and volunteering in our community. Contact Ste Anne Tax Service at 204-422-6631 (phone or text!) or 36 Dawson Road in Ste Anne (near Coop) or info@sataxes.ca.

July 2023

Your Passport to Heaven

Have you ever traveled to another country, other than the one you were born in? If you have then you know there are a series of questions to answer before they will let into their country. Where were you born? Where are you going? How long do you plan to stay? Who will you be staying with? Are you bringing anything into our country? What is the purpose of your visit?

All these questions can make a person nervous and unsettled, but they are necessary for a country to keep out undesirables.

This world is the only country we know and one day, when death comes, we will pass over into the next world. The border crossing will be at the time of our death. When we reach that border there will only be one question asked, and it will be of prime importance. It will not be “Where were you born?” but rather, “Have you been born again?” In John 3:3, in the bible, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus and said to him, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

In other words, only those who have put their faith and trust in what Christ did for us on the cross will go to heaven. Christ’s blood will take away every blot of sin and save your soul. This then becomes your passport to heaven. Have you acquired your heavenly passport yet? Are you traveling by God’s grace toward heaven? The passport office is still open if you haven’t, but don’t wait till it’s too late!!!

Arts4Tots Preschool Registration

Now Open!

Have you been looking for a fun and educational preschool for your toddler? Our Arts4Tots preschool registration is open for the 20232024 year! This is a great way to prepare your toddlers for kindergarten and get them excited about the arts. Introduce your children to science, math, reading, and fine motor skills. Immerse them in music, theatre, arts, and games. Visit our website steinbacharts.ca for more information and to register.

Summer Arts Day Camp

Join the Steinbach Arts Council for a fun-filled summer. Our talented instructors and staff are eager to welcome your kids with a creative experience that they won’t soon forget. Our Summer Arts Day Camp focuses on the arts such as vi-

sual arts, theatre, music, and dance. Campers will also participate in science experiments, culture workshops, games, field trips, swimming at the Steinbach Aquatic Centre, and much more. Each week has a theme to make sure the projects, activities, and workshops are different each week. The camps are filling up fast so register on our website at steinbacharts.ca today!

2023-2024 Classes

We are excited to announce that registration for our 2023-2024 year will open on July 19. We will be offering various pottery, art, theatre, dance, choir, and cooking classes along with lots more! Check our website steinbacharts.ca for updates on classes!

Volunteer at SAC

We are looking for people who are like-minded and love the arts as

much as we do. As a non-profit organization, we would not have been able to thrive without volunteers who share their time, talent, and service. The Steinbach Arts Council would love to have you be part of our team.

Volunteering is a great way to build your resume, network and be part of this vibrant community. We have opportunities to help in putting up our promotional flyers, setting up for events, theatre stage production, administrative work, and many more.

We are willing to train and introduce you to what our organization does. In return for your participation, we provide a volunteer certificate and a welcome packet.

Put your name on our volunteer list today! Go to steinbacharts.ca/ volunteer.

Ritchot Senior Services Events

Special Father’s Day Coffee

Thursday, June 15, 10 – 11:30 am. This day is just for you. Join us as we celebrate. Coffee and breakfast treats will be served.

Group Events:

Pineridge Hollow – Wednesday, July 12. Located 20 minutes North of Winnipeg near Birds Hill Provincial Park. Bus leaves Ritchot Senior Services at 9:30 am, return at 2 pm. Cost $5. You must pre-register. Shop for clothing, home decor and furniture, antiques, specialty foods, plants, Indigenous-made goods, wellness supplies, home decor and more. Enjoy prairie cuisine and farm to table fare, treat yourself to fresh baked pastries and breads at Hildegard’s Bakery, cocktails and snacks, gourmet burgers or a cup of coffee.

For the Birds - Tuesday July 18 meet at 10 am, and spend the morning painting. Each person will receive a birdfeeder, that you can paint anyway you like,

it’s up to you. All supplies will be provided and at the end of the day you will take your birdfeeder home along with a bag of seed for your new feathered friends. Lunch will be served. You must pre-register for this event.

Frauds and Scams - Help Ritchot Senior Services welcome Margaux Booz, new Branch Manager for Caisse Financial St. Adolphe. Margaux will be sharing some important information regarding some of the latest frauds and scams. After a short presentation lunch will be served. To show your support please wear purple. Lunch will be served at no cost but you must pre register for this event.

Foot Care Clinics:

By appointment only. For more information, please contact Janice at 204-883-2880. Upcoming clinic

dates:

Ste Agathe – Wednesday, July 19 and Thursday, July 20.

St. Adolphe – Monday, July 24, Tuesday, July 25 and Wednesday,

July 26 Ile des Chenes – Tuesday, August 15 and Wednesday, August 16. Heart to Home Meals:

To place your order please call 1204-816-8659 or 1-888-216-1067. Call for a menu or pick one up at Ritchot Senior Services. Please call or email Ritchot Senior Services after placing your orders to let us know you have placed an order. This will assist us in organizing volunteers for delivery of meals to you.

Order your meals by: Wednesdays, July 5 and July 19. Meals ready for pick up or delivery the following day. This service is available to all areas of the Ritchot Community including St. Adolphe, Ste Agathe, Ile des Chenes, Grande Pointe, Howden and Glenlea. There are no contracts, no minimum orders. Coffee with Friends Thursdays in July at 10 - 11:30 am. Open to everyone. $2 for bottomless coffee and a treat. Ritchot Senior Services, 457 Main Street, St. Adolphe.

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Dawson Trail Dispatch July 2023

I N Y OUR C OMMUNITY

About Us:

Pat Porter Active Living Centre (Serving Seniors Inc.) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing the community with various activities that promote good mental health and an overall healthy lifestyle. This incorporates anything from events to dances, pickleball, and coffee, and everything in-between. We strive to offer programs and events that address your physical, social, cultural, intellectual, and emotional well-being.

Our website patporteralc.com is updated on a regular basis with all of our current events and Activities, which range from fitness to recreational and social events. Everyone will find something they enjoy!

Current Programs:

Cost is $4 for members and $8 for non-members. * Programs are subject to change* Please check daily sign-up for updated hours.

Coffee Corner: Monday - Friday from 10 am – 12 pm.

Pickleball: Monday & Wednesday from 9 am – 12 pm, Friday 9 am10:30 am.

Beginner Pickleball: Monday – 1 – 3:30 pm, Tuesday 9 am – 12 pm and 2 pm – 4 pm, Wednesday 1 pm – 3:30 pm (1 court), Thursday 9 am – 12 pm and 1 - 3:30 pm.

Evening Pickleball: Mondays 7:30 – 9 pm.

Badminton: Tuesday - Thursday 12 pm – 1 pm, Friday 4 – 6 pm.

Registration required at patporteralc. com

Cards: Card games are played Monday to Friday from 1- 4 pm.

Fitness Classes

Laughter Yoga: Monday 1 – 2 pm.

Fitness Drumming: Tuesday 1 – 2 pm

– Cancelled July 04.

PACE: Wednesday 1 - 1:45 pm.

Floor Curling: Wednesday 1:30 - 3:30 pm.

Yoga with Carrie: Friday 9 – 10 am. Square Dancing has taken a break until September Steinbach Rockin’ Rollers has taken a break until September

Old Time Country Jam has taken a break until September

Special Events:

Pancake Breakfast: Join us Thursday, July 27 at 9:30 am for a delicious breakfast of 3 homemade pancakes and sausage. Pre purchase your meal in advance by calling reception 204320-4600 to reserve your spot before Thursday, July 27. Cost $12

Perogy Bee: On Monday, July 10, at 1 to 3:30 pm, we are getting together to make cottage cheese perogies. We need volunteers to join us and help with rolling, pinching, scooping, and boiling. This is a fun afternoon to enjoy good company and help make some delicious Perogies.

How to Challenge Frustrations

Psalm 23:5 . . . You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. (NIV)

Rentals: We have rooms of a variety of sizes and prices. For pricing and room, availability visit our website patporteralc.com, email rentals@patporteralc.com or call 204-320-4600.

Meal Programs:

A healthy, warm and delicious meal cooked fresh daily and delivered to your door. We have two Meals on Wheels programs running out of Steinbach and Grunthal. Meals may be purchased for $8 for delivery (residents of Steinbach & Grunthal) or pickup. A meal includes soup, a main dish, sides and dessert. Please call 204-320-4600 with any questions or to order a meal. To receive a same day meal, you must call before 9 am.

Steinbach Accessible Transit: Need a ride to an appointment or other errand? Steinbach Accessible transit can get you there! This service is available to residents of Steinbach. Please visit our website www.patporteralc.com for a full price list.

Services are available Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm and weekends. To book a ride, call 204-3264055. If your call is not answered, leave a message with the answering service. Appointments must be booked in advance to ensure availability.

Blumenort Community Garden Project Comes Together

By Angelique Forest Hiebert upped the start-up fund and added a donation of $500.

A new community garden will soon take shape in Blumenort thanks to some creative community members who are receiving support from the LUD committee and others.

“The LUD Committee and Ward Councillor Roberto Hiebert, were approached by community members in the area to do a community garden,” said Kevin Medeiros, Chairman of LUD Blumenort.

According to Medeiros, residents had spoken with a developer prior to approaching the LUD.

The plan is to create a 200’ x 130’ community garden on the south side of Rockridge Drive just west of Barkman Street in Blumenort in the Southview Development area, and that Leo Pauls agreed to maintain the entire community garden for the season.

Impressed with the project, the LUD committee also committed $1,500 towards the project as they felt that the creation of the community garden would allow the residents to come together and grow food. All in all a great community building project.

RM of Hanover councillor Roberto

Not to be left behind, local business, KK Penner also donated $200 and Image Sod and Sprinkler donated some machine time for prepping the area and hauling in 30 yards of top soil for the project. Friesen Hauling stepped up and donated 100 yards of top soil delivered to the site. Various community members also raised additional money towards the project.

Following discussions, it was decided to place the garden on the most north lot on the east side in order to allow the group a potential option to purchase the lot in the future so the garden wouldn’t have to move much.

“No guarantees but an option,” affirmed Medeiros. “This lot was always an over grown future area that has road access to future development. The developer agreed to allow the community to place a garden on the lot with the understanding that when the road goes in, the garden has to move.”

Barb Brule, a community member and one of the proponents of the project has already gathered a lot of donated seed. Brule also approached Oakridge

Nursery and secured a donation of 60 tomato and 60 pepper plants. She also arranged for two local residents to regularly bring over some mowers and commit to maintaining the peripheral, keeping the area looking attractive.

Brule, along with three other neighbours will harvest the garden and ensure that excess produce will get into the hands of people who need it and possibly working with Ridgewood Church to reach out to elderly residents and new Canadians that may require the extra support. She even suggested that she could work with her children to create a produce stand and take the money raised to put it back into the cost of the project.

Brule can be called or texted at 204371-7583 for information on plots, as well additional donations.

Medeiros says he was happy to play a part in this project and expressed satisfaction with the plan.

“The community members that will grow in this garden will enjoy it hopefully for years to come,” he said. “And the committee members and councillor couldn’t be more happy to see it come together.”

Summertime – here come the flies, the bugs and so many other creepy things. When we take a drive through the countryside during the summer month’s we can not help see cows, horses, and sheep grazing in the fields, they seem to be everywhere. But we also notice how flies bother the animals. I have heard that sheep farmers smear a compound composed of linseed oil, sulphur, and tar, over the sheep’s nose and head; this, they say, will protect the sheep from those annoying nose flies. The farmer also points out, that an incredible transformation takes place among the sheep. Once the oil has been applied there is an immediate change in the sheep’s behaviour. Gone is the fuss and running about, the touchiness and the restlessness. Instead, the sheep will graze quietly again, then soon lie down to rest completely at peace.

I wonder if this could be the exact picture of all the irritations in our own lives. How easy it is to have my day ruined by a fly in my own soup, how easy it is to pour chilly water on my most lofty spiritual experiences! So often it is the small, petty annoyances that can ruin one’s day. Has it ever happened that you have had a fly in your soup during a lunch break? These small distractions can become burning issues that drive us around the bend or straight up a wall. And if we are not careful, these trivial things can torment us to the point where we feel totally frustrated. There have been times when my behaviour as a Christian has been tarnished; and later I feel ashamed of myself.

Just as with sheep, there must be continuous and renewed application of oil to forestall, to prevent the flies in my life. There must be the continuous outpouring of God’s gracious Spirit to counteract the ever-present clashes, those nasty quarrels, those personality conflicts. One application of oil, sulphur, and tar was not enough to keep those annoying flies away for the entire summer. It was a process that had to be repeated. The fresh application was an effective medication. There are those who believe that in the Christian life one need only to have the initial encounter, that one meeting, that one touch of God’s Holy Spirit. Yet the frustrations of all the daily problems we meet up with demonstrate that we need much more than that. We need to have the continuous touch of the Holy Spirit to counter the attacks of one’s tormentors; to bring peace to a troubled mind and heart. When people, circumstances or events beyond our control tend to disturb us, it is possible to be content and satisfied when these outside forces are counteracted by the presence of God’s Spirit in us. It is this daily walk with our Lord that will produce in us a mind that is at rest. As the Bible points out, if we allow God’s Spirit to work in our lives, contentment, love, patience, gentleness, and peace will be produced. What a contrast, what a difference this is to the tempers, frustrations, and irritableness which ruin the daily conduct of so many of God’s children.

With my limited understanding, as a mere human being, I cannot always understand how Christ’s unlimited wisdom moulds us into His very own image. Our natural tendencies are to fear, worry and ask why? Somehow many cannot believe, or we assume that Jesus Christ, the very Author of life itself, really does not know what He is doing with us. There are times when I just lose it and run from the very source which supplies me with the power to overcome. I have been known to even go as far as to believe that I can survive on my own. But despite this perverse wayward behaviour, I am so glad God did not give up on me, on us. He did not let us drift helplessly. The only possible motivation is His own love, His care and concern for us as His very own. And despite us doubting Him, despite our wavering about His management of our affairs, He has picked us up and tenderly and lovingly restored our faith in Him.

To God be the Glory Great Things He Has Done.

Would you pray this prayer with me? “Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Forgive my sins. I want my life to change. My thoughts and my attitude need to change. I do not have peace in my heart, I really want that peace, joy, and happiness that I long for. Please let the Holy Spirit help me be the kind of Christian that will bring honour to Your Name.” Amen.

RCMP FILES

If you have any information in regards to any item here you are asked to contact the Steinbach RCMP Detachment at 204-326-4452 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or manitobacrimestoppers.com or text “TIPMAN” plus your message to Crimes (274637).

Thief Makes Off with E-Bike

Steinbach RCMP received a report of a stolen EDGO electric bike from the 300 block of 2nd street in Steinbach between 12:15 pm and 1:30 pm on June 4.

The EDGO E-bike has a silver frame with black fenders, 60 cc with black saddle bags.

If you have any information in regards to the above matter, you are asked to contact the Steinbach RCMP Detachment at 204-326-4452 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or manitobacrimestoppers.com.

Illegal Christmas Tree Harvester Pleads Guilty

By Dan Guetre southern Manitoba.

Earlier in June, Mark Neufeld pleaded guilty to illegally harvesting trees on a Crown land plantation north of Marchand.

Following a tip from the public in December 2022, Steinbach conservation officers began an investigation at the plantation. This area serves as a valuable testing ground that grows highquality trees for planting in forestry renewal projects across

On Dec. 13, 2022, officers observed a suspect bringing trees out of the plantation and determined that a total of 167 trees, the majority between 20 and 30 feet tall, had been cut with only their tops removed.

Neufeld was identified and subsequently indicated he was selling the trees at his business in Steinbach and was charged under the Forest Act of Manitoba.

Following his guilty plea on June 1, Neufeld received an $8,000 fine. The plantation’s missing and damaged trees are a significant loss that negatively impacts long-term sustainable forest management projects in southern Manitoba. Anyone with information on illegal activity is asked to call a local Natural Resources and Northern Development office or the Turn in Poachers (TIP) line at 1-800-7820076.

Fatal Collision on Highway 1

On June 10 at approximately 6:30 pm, Steinbach RCMP responded to a two-vehicle collision on Highway 1, near Municipal Road 54E, located in the RM of Reynolds.

Investigators have determined that a car with two male occupants, being driven by a 33year-old from Waterloo, ON, was travelling westbound on Highway 1 when the passenger side of the car struck the left rear

Auction House Break-in

Steinbach RCMP received a report of a break-in and theft from Penner Auctions on Brandt Street in Steinbach.

At approximately 1:30 am on June 5, thieves cut the fence to access the compound. They then pried open the main door, gaining entry into the building, where they stole a chainsaw. The thieves fled down Chrysler Gate towing an ATV behind their getaway vehicle.

The ATV was recovered the following day.

If you have any information in regards to the above matter, you are asked to contact the Steinbach RCMP Detachment at 204-326-4452 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or manitobacrimestoppers.com.

corner of a semi-trailer, which was stopped on the north side shoulder of Highway 1.

The vehicle continued alongside of the semi-trailer and struck the driver, who had just exited the semi, before continuing on into the ditch. The 31-year-old male driver of the semi, from Winnipeg, was transported to hospital in critical condition, where he was later upgraded to critical but stable.

The 30-year-old passenger, from

Winnipeg, who was not wearing his seatbelt, was pronounced deceased on scene. The 33-year-old driver was not physically injured.

Officers administered a roadside screening test on the 33-year-old driver, which resulted in a warning. He was subsequently served with a 72-hour Immediate Roadside Prohibition (IRP) licence suspension notice.

The investigation remains ongoing and additional charges are possible.

Vehicles Stolen from Multiple Communities

On June 12, Steinbach RCMP received report of a stolen 2018 Grey Dodge Journey GT bearing Manitoba licence plate 03101. Vehicle was parked on Crestview Lane in Blumenort. Vehicle was stolen between 9:30 pm on June 11 and 1:10 am on June 12. A couple of days later, on June

14 RCMP received a report of a stolen 1997 red Toyota Tercel bearing Manitoba plate GLD382. The vehicle was taken from a residence situated on Norwood Bay in Mitchell between June 13 at 9:30 pm and June 14 at 7:40 am. This vehicle was recovered by the RCMP the next early evening on First Street in

Steinbach. So far, no suspects have been apprehended and police continue to investigate.

If you have any information in regards to the above matter, you are asked to contact the Steinbach RCMP Detachment at 204-326-4452 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or manitobacrimestoppers.com.

Motor Vehicle Deaths Almost Double the Normal Provincial Average So Far in 2023

With the summer season now officially in full swing, the Manitoba RCMP would like to remind everyone to be safe on roadways and while enjoying the beautiful lakes and rivers throughout the province.

So far this year, 64 people have died in motor vehicle collisions in Manitoba. This includes 16 people who died in a collision that occurred on June 15, 2023. This is well above the number of people

who died on Manitoba roads last year at this time (33) and above the five-year average (34).

With increased traffic expected on our highways as Manitobans head to beaches, cottages, camp sites, and other holiday destinations, the Manitoba RCMP can’t stress enough the importance of the following:

- drive sober

- wear a seatbelt

- slow down and drive to conditions

- be cautious and always aware of your surroundings

- pay attention to the road at all times

- keep a safe distance between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead of you - put your cellphone away

Motorists can expect to see increased patrols and sobriety checkstops throughout the province as officers continue their efforts to help keep roads safe this summer.

Dawson Trail Dispatch July 2023

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Being Human Means Being Humane

By Monica Guetre

(A warning to readers about graphic content)

A philosopher once wrote “the only relevant criterion for establishing legal rights against cruel treatment is the capacity to experience suffering. The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?” (Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, 1789, Ch 17. n.122.)

We know that research has shown there is a direct link between animal cruelty, domestic violence, child and elder abuse… crimes against our most vulnerable. Those who abuse animals are more likely to commit other violent crimes causing harm to all of us.

Animal abuse normally doesn’t happen in isolation. When an animal is abused, the likelihood a person will also beat on or kill a child, a woman or a senior has a high probability. There is decades of evidence called the “human-animal violence link”, suggesting that serial killers and mass murderers sometimes abuse animals before hurting people. 2017 data from a University of Windsor study found that 89 per cent of women in Canadian domestic violence shelters who were surveyed said the abuser threatened or actually harmed their animal. Cruelty to animals is a red flag when it comes to people’s safety and is a big reason to take animals’ well-being seriously.

We’ve indiscriminately wiped out species in the name of “fashion” and “profit”. Think of the fur trade, the loss to history forever of the Tasmanian tiger, plains bison and the carrier pigeon or the mass destruction of elephants for ivory, the slaughter of Blue whales for their blubber. There are also individuals who think it’s fun to make money and watch dog fighting or baiting of animals and birds.

Unlike 10,000, or even 500 years ago, most of us don’t need to hunt to put food on the table, yet we still promote the big game macho hunter tourist who’s allowed to kill species that are threatened. Even in Ontario they announced an expansion of the sport that allows dogs to track down captive coyotes, foxes and rabbits in massive fenced-in pens in the name of sport and training. Our governments also sanction the extermination of species via mass strychnine poisoning or shooting wolves from helicopters.

In a recent BBC investigation they uncovered a horrific baby monkey torture ring that originated in Indonesia but also has connections to the United States. An undercover BBC reporter interviewed one of the sadistic perpetrators who videoed his brutal torture of baby monkeys for profit. These videos were originally posted on YouTube before being reported and moving onto private message groups like Telegram. This man they interviewed is more than depraved, he sounded criminally insane - no empathy whatsoever.

There’s also a case in Florida where

someone permanently etched on the back of a gentle manatee a former president’s name and recently there’s a video showing of a woman running around shooting up Iguanas with a pellet gun.

There’s a recent video on the news of a rescued 29 year-old lab chimpanzee, named Vanilla seeing the open sky for the first time. The wonder and joy displayed on that chimpanzee’s face was astounding. What we do in the name of research for a new shampoo or medical research is inhumane.

The Humane Society of Canada and many other domestic and international rescue organizations are trying to stop animal brutality such as those that slaughter dogs for meat (sometimes while alive) and live in appalling conditions throughout Asia. There also the millions of animals tortured, killed and driven to extinction for their medicinal remedies or their fur.

Closer to home we’ve seen cruelty investigations across Canada year-after-year. In BC there was the investigation into a company and its employees working in a slaughterhouse after video showed multiple examples of animal torture, signs of consciousness even as these animals were being cut open. How about those people who faced cruelty charges in Quebec and BC with the discovery of sled dogs being mass culled, puppies gassed, frozen to death in freezers and hanging.

In our province the RCMP opened an investigation in northern Manitoba into the case of an eight-month-old dog badly burned after being thrown into a firepit; recently an animal rescue organization saved two emaciated dogs that were being sold on an online eastern Manitoba auction house; 10 golden retriever puppies were found abandoned near a rural Manitoba highway in the bitter cold and another 4 freezing emaciated puppies were saved after they were found in a box by a Manitoba highway.

A few years ago about 100 dogs were seized from a puppy mill operator in southern Manitoba. A man was charged under the Criminal Code, found guilty of cruelty to animals. He got off with a slap on the wrist prohibiting him from owning animals for two years. They proceeded to get back into business. And a former Manitoba rancher was sent to jail for 45 days in connection with a cruelty to cattle that saw many of them succumb to starvation.

In all those cases we’ve seen that when humans use the excuse, it’s just an animal, we become unrooted from all living creatures and the wonders of nature and end up with the capability of turning into monsters.

Certainly many of these monsters need to be taken out of our neighbourhoods to face the consequences of their cruelty and perpetuation of evil. Personally, I wouldn’t trust them to be around any of my family members.

Our animal cruelty laws and our justice system don’t reflect the link between what makes us human and how we treat our domesticated animals along with paying lip service to how we embrace Canada’s legacy of nature. We say we’re proud to be Canadian, so the hope is we take this amazing privilege of where we live and guard it rather than let others pil-

lage it.

By turning a blind eye to abuse and insulating ourselves from our own empathy, compassion and caring for those around us and Mother Nature, we end up treating our most vulnerable, our land, and our planet as something that is measured in dollars.

Instead, if you stop and think about it, we all crave community. What some of us don’t get is that we are already part of something much bigger than one community, much bigger than ourselves. A “Just Society” is one that lives alongside the natural world, not separate from it.

The attitude of having “dominion” over every living creature is not sustainable and by promoting these inhumane actions as a society we’ll no longer recognize what it means to be human. Some may say we would turn into a bunch of animals.

Laws are made by humans for humanity to keep all of us safe. In Canada our Federal animal cruelty laws were originally codified in the Canadian Criminal Code back in 1892. Provinces have also been given the power to create regulations and municipalities’ given the power to enact by-laws.

Federally, the Criminal Code makes it an offence when the act is a deliberate killing, wounding, maiming, injuring, or poisoning of an animal, as well as acts of deliberate cruelty can result in a prison sentence of up to 5 years or a fine of up to $10,000. Also those who abuse marine mammals, of the order Cetacea such as a whale, dolphin, or porpoise may be punished and liable to a fine, but not exceeding $200,000. An exception to the law is those doing research.

Many provinces including Manitoba make it a regulatory offence but not a criminal code offence when an animal is abused, in pain or in distress when deprived the basic need such as food, water and hygienic shelter, pain or and/or neglect, let alone how we treat our family companions.

Manitoba’s regulations under the Animal Care Act state that animals need to be provided adequate medical attention when the animal is wounded or ill; reasonable protection from injurious heat or cold; not confined to an enclosure or area with inadequate space, in unsanitary conditions, inadequate ventilation or lighting, or without providing an opportunity for exercise, so as to significantly impair the animal’s health or well-being unless it falls under an accepted activity such as agricultural uses of animals; exhibitions and fairs; zoological displays; animal slaughter; medical care, animal discipline and training; sporting events; fishing and hunting; trapping; research and teaching involving animals; pest control; control of predators, etc.

In this province people caught abusing animals for the first time can be fined no more than $10,000 and spend no longer than six months in jail, or both; and for subsequent cruelty no more than $20,000, or imprisonment no more than 12 months.

Woefully Federal and Provincial animal cruelty convictions are rare and any penalties meted out are insubstantial. There is way too much wiggle room that should be closed and yes, abusers should go to jail

much longer, and considering there is a direct link to how they will be around your loved one, they should also be banned for life from all contact with any animal under care.

According to Manitoba’s “Animal Welfare Dashboards”, since 2016 there have been 7,094 reported cases of animal abuse, of those cases 4,762 were for dogs and 1,638 for cats. The yearly inspections that took place have dropped from 1,635 back in 2017 to 926 in 2022 and after investigation 792 were found to be non-compliant. In 2023 so far (June), there have been 225 inspections and of those there were 160 cases that have been found to be non-compliant with Manitoba’s animal care legislation.

It begs the question who we are really helping when the animal cruelty and protection laws are not enforced.

There are many advocates of our humanity when they help to stop animal abuse and cruelty through their volunteer action locally and internationally.

Humanity shines a bright light with its support for actions taken by Diane

Fossey Gorilla Fund, Greenpeace Canada, The David Suzuki Foundation, World Wildlife Fund Canada, Ducks Unlimited, Soi Dog Foundation and with advocates of protecting our pollinators such as bees and the Monarch butterfly and all of our local animal rescue’s like the Steinbach & Area Animal Rescue, Manitoba Underdogs Rescue, the Winnipeg Humane Society or our wildlife rescues like the Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre, or advocacy and educational groups that connect us with what it means to be part of something so much bigger than just being human, like The Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve we owe gratitude for their advocacy efforts and dedication – because this is humanity that makes us better humans.

I encourage you that if you suspect an animal welfare concern is occurring in Manitoba, please contact the Province’s Animal Care Line at 204945-8000, Toll Free 1-888-945-8001, email animalcare@gov.mb.ca or connect with your local animal rescue organization.

The Future is in Good Hands

For those of you that have been reading my column for a while know that I love to write about my three children. They are my love, my support and my muse. While I do like to write about all three, for this month’s column I am going to focus mainly on my oldest son.

From the time that my oldest son was small enough to “help” me shovel snow by sitting in my snow scoop and having me slide him out with the gathered snow, to the time when we were racing our bikes up and down the driveway and up to the time that he earned his driver’s license, I have been sharing tails about him and rejoicing and supporting him in his accomplishments. At the end of June he succeeded in reaching a new peak on his journey of life.

He graduated.

Not only did my son graduate from grade twelve, he did so with Merit Recognition. For those who are not sure, Merit Recognition is when a student graduates with more than the required credits. In this case, thirty credits are required to graduate and thirty-three, or more, are needed to earn the Merit Recognition award. As a person that also graduated with the Merit Recognition, oh so many years ago, my chest doth puffeth up with pride as I see my son also achieve such an honour.

I could not help to smile as I watched my son interact with his fellow students as the staff attempted to gather everybody together for the formal photos and a few silly ones. It reminded me of the expression, “trying to herd cats.” It was an interesting viewpoint for me to see my son laughing and joking with his buddies and friends in the graduating class.

After the convocation and the banquet that followed, I had the distinct honour of driving my son around in a parade procession. Once again, I was surprised by how many people knew my son by name and, not only knew him but, called out to him as we slowly drove by. It was a great time!

Following the parade there was the After Party. A great thing for these young adults to participate in and have a blast with their graduating friends and classmates. With a mechanical bull and a DJ in attendance, these partygoers had a great time. As a parent, I was impressed with the level of security in place to keep our young ones safe and was also thankful that it was a ‘dry grad party’ to help ensure that everyone has fun and gets home safely at the end of the night.

In closing, I just wanted to touch upon another point, a common phrase if you will. Often, a parent or grown-up will comment about how their child was so small yesterday and today they are all grownup. With my son nearing adulthood, I don’t feel that way at all. With my son and I having spent so much time together and my paying attention to his milestones and achievements, I don’t feel that he grew up over night, I feel that we have grown up together and have shared some very special times in our lives, just the way we were meant to.

I look forward to seeing where his life will take him as he begins this next chapter in a life well-lived. One thing I do know is the future is in very good hands.

Until next time, take care and keep your world spinning.

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities! Dawson Trail Dispatch

Aethos Taekwondo Awards Scholarships and Bursaries

Aethos Taekwondo was pleased to present their Athletic & Academic Merit Scholarships and Citizenship Awards to graduating students from College Lorette Collegiate and Ste. Anne Collegiate.

Scholarships of $1,000 were presented to Hannah Fox, and $500 each to Owen Berg, and Tristin Thomas of Lorette. A $750 scholarship was presented to Breanna Stronciski of Ste. Anne. The $500 bursary awards were

presented to Danika Middleton and Jordan Gottfried of Lorette and one of $250 to Keagan Broesky of Ste. Anne.

The selection committees for these awards were from the teaching faculties of both schools. Presenters Master Lionel Bernier and. Melody Tardiff congratulated the recipients of the awards and also extend their congratulations to all the students of the 2023 Graduating Classes of the two collegiates.

Taekwondo Tournament

Sees

Lorette and Ste. Anne Athletes Rake in Dozens of Medals

The 12th annual Community Challenge Invitational Taekwondo Tournament was held at the TC Energy Centre in Ile des Chenes in early June. The Lorette and Ste. Anne branches of Aethos Taekwondo competed beside a half dozen other clubs.

Aethos Taekwondo, with registered 41 competitors came away with a total of 78 medals of all colours.

The rural Taekwondo club has also added additional extracurricular activities by attending community festivals to promote the sport. Just before the competition members participated in the annual Lorette Family Fun Days parade and hosted a demonstration in the community park. They have plans to participate in the Landmark Friendship Festival parade in August.

Lorette medals group.

Ste. Anne medals group.

Photos courtesy of Lionel Bernier/ Aethos Taekwondo

Lorette grads Tristan Thomas and Owen Berg are both awarded

Melody Tardiff (left) helps present Breanna Stronciski with a scholarship and Keagan Broesky with a bursary accompanied by Master Lionel Bernier of Aethos Taekwondo at the Ste. Anne Convocation.

Hannah Fox of Lorette was awarded a scholarship from from Melody Tardiff and Master Lionel Bernier of Aethos Taekwondo.

Photos courtesy of Lionel Bernier/ Aethos Taekwondo