Dawson Trail Dispatch April 2022

Dawson Trail Dispatch

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

April 2022

Local Students Work Wonders in Supporting Ukrainians During Crisis

The students could not have imagined that they would be able to fill four buses loaded with donations and delivered to the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada in Winnipeg.

Students at Ecole/College Regional Gabrielle-Roy in Ile des Chenes came together to organize and collect community donations for Ukranian refugees.

By Angelique Forest With so much happening in the world, a group of local students began to wonder what impact they could have on such a large-scale problem after Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia’s aggression has triggered the largest refugee crisis in the world since World War 2 with a quarter of the population of Ukraine being displaced. Over 4 million Ukrainians have fled their country.

This conflict has left much of the world watching in disbelief wonder-

ing what they can do to help.

After some thought, students at Ecole/College Regional GabrielleRoy in Ile des Chenes came together after they realized they have more power than they could have ever thought. Abigail Natividad, Maia Spiers, Nelleke Hagenaars, Josée d’Auteuil, Noah Guenette, Riley McCabe, and Xavier Giroux along with staff from the school have organized and brought together their communities to gather donations of any kind for Ukraine during this very difficult

time. Donations were collected from the communities of Ile des Chenes, Lorette, St. Norbert, La Salle, St. Adolphe, Ste. Agathe, Dufresne, Niverville, Grande Pointe and Ste. Genevieve. Items collected consisted of food, medical and school supplies, toiletries, toys and clothing.

Abigail Natividad was the one who initially thought of the idea and soon her friends and fellow students got involved, with encouragement from the teachers, in order to make an impact for those suffering in Ukraine.

Abigail Natividad, Maia Spiers, Nelleke Hagenaars, Josée d’Auteuil, Noah Guenette, Riley McCabe, and Xavier Giroux are the students responsible for the idea to collect donations.

Pictures courtesy of Monique Guenette/Social Media

They could not have imagined that they would be able to fill four buses loaded with donations and delivered to the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada in Winnipeg.

“Monique Guenette is the true hero in this case, along with two students from ECRGR,” said Monique Leclaire, a local parent who was involved in spreading the word for the idea. “I simply put a few ads out on Facebook and the tremendous generosity from the surrounding communities was amazing!”

“My students are the real heroes of this project,” said Monique Guenette, one of the teachers who was very involved in the project and could not commend the students enough.

“Team work, problem solving, creativity, abilities of all kinds! Wow! Today’s leaders!”

The drive for donations was a huge success and the donations will help hundreds of displaced Ukrainians.

The students have learned there is nothing they can’t do with the proper resources and connections.

April 2022

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

“Backyard Tourist” Business Callout Steinbach’s Backyard Tourist is back for its 2nd year. This unique program was created by the Steinbach Chamber to aid in their advocacy efforts for the local business community.

From May 2 - 18, the public is invited to post pictures on Facebook or Instagram, tagging the Steinbach Chamber, for a chance to win 1 of 2 incredible local tourism prize packs.

Backyard Tourist is your opportunity to support local businesses and be entered to win 1 of 10 incredible local tourism prize packs.

By making a local purchase, bragging about it on social media and tagging the business you supported you are entered to win some incredible local swag.

As a business/organization in the tourism and recreation sector, they invite you to register as part of their 2022 Backyard Tourist campaign. As a registered participant, you will receive online promotion, posters, and social media content to promote Backyard Tourist on your own social platforms.

For full details or to register go to chamber.steinbachchamber. com and follow the link to events.

Dawson Trail Dispatch

Shedding Light on the New Lorette Community Centre Dream

Originally built in 1964, the 58 year old Lorette Community Complex has served its time by hosting decades of hockey games, curling and File photo other sports, cultural, social and family events.

By Dan Guetre Taché Mayor Justin Bohemier is in full agreement that the community of Lorette definitely needs a new community centre to replace the aging arena.

Originally built in 1964, the 58 year old Lorette Community Complex has served its time by hosting decades of hockey games, curling and other sports, cultural, social and family events.

“Back in 2010 there was a recreational needs analysis completed with the community that indicated that there is a need for a new arena in Lorette,” said Bohemier. “[The] current facility has long outlived its life being built in 1964 and that there is a need in the community to maintain the surface.”

According to Bohemier, the RM of Taché is budgeting $23 million in the event that the RM is successful in its application to the Federal Government through Green and Inclusive Communities Building Fund.

“If this is successful, roughly 74% would be funded by the Federal government with the remaining 26% funding through municipal reserves and donations already collected,” added Bohemier. “The Municipality is also

hoping to raise additional donations and/or sponsorship from the private sector to offset the 26%.”

With that said, in the preliminary 2022 budget the RM of Taché has committed just over $6 million for Phase 1 for the arena and library. “[This] is being funded from Taché Reserves with no anticipated levy to the tax payer,” explained Bohemier.

There is also a planned Phase 2 of the project. “The Community Centre would comprise of a new arena and library for Phase 1 of the project and for Phase 2 (the Bles d’or Senior Centre) will be included in the project for an estimated $1 million,” he said.

He noted that there is approximately $417,000 in municipal reserves set aside for Phase 2, the Bles d’or Senior Centre.

Bohemier added that for Phase 1, at this time, there has been $358,318 raised and held by the RM. This includes a combination of donations, including the original 36-Hour Hockey marathon from 20 years ago and a follow-up puck sale fundraiser a few years ago by the same organizers. Additionally, the account holds other contributions from the Municipality and LUD of Lorette. It also includes funds from a Chase the Ace event that is being held to raise funds for a community

recreational complex and community library.

Chris Maxemuck from the 36Hour Hockey organization added that his group is still sitting on an additional $32,000 plus committed to a new complex ready to be turned over once a new structure is given to go ahead.

Bohemier recognized there is a community fund raising committee and he hopes they will assist with corporate/private donations when the time comes. He believes the biggest issue with this project for all councils has been funding.

“But what this council has done has committed funding for an architect and consultant to get us closer to being ready to put the shovel in the ground as soon as the funding is secured,” he said.

Bohemier is being cautious, not wanting to “blow smoke” but remain realistic and transparent with residents.

In 2015, then MLA Ron Lemieux, handed over a “letter of commitment” for $8 million to the municipal council intended to be a Provincial contribution to a new multi-use community complex. This turned out was an error on behalf of the MLA and that funding commitment either vanished or was not officially approved by the Province.

Municipal Councils Eye Land Swap and Annexation Project

By Dan Guetre The RMs of Ritchot and Tache are in the preliminary stages of discussing a land deal trade or annexation in order to accommodate future growth and development.

At recent Ritchot council meeting, council agreed to share a cost of $85,000 to investigate mutually beneficial land deals.

Scatcliff Murray, a Winnipeg firm involved in planning and land development has been retained for what Ritchot council described as Phase 2 of the project. CAO Mitch Duval stated the RM of Tache had already agreed to share the cost.

The project, described as the

Tache-Ritchot Boundary Realignment Study, could put both municipalities in a good position to plan for future development.

According to the RM of Ritchot resolution, they want to move forward with discussions and negotiations, and to do so, believe bringing in experts in partnership with the RM of Tache is the best course of action.

Duval explained to his council that, “Phase 2 is basically the implementation of public consultations, bylaws, etcetera, etcetera, all basically ending up in the hands of the Municipal Board for approval.”

When questioned by council whether there were potentially more costs involved, he responded that

there may be some legal costs on top of the $85,000. He added that one lawyer will be representing both municipalities, hinting that this would save some legal costs.

“As long as the friendliness of both parties exists, I think we can get this done without too many issues,” he explained to council. “And once we do get the annexation done though, I’m sure there would be some other stuff to handle.”

Duval explained to council that with Phase 2 he expects some timeframes built into the proposal.

Both councils have committed to a joint release of more information to the public within the next few weeks.

Dawson Trail Dispatch

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Wildlife Haven Partners with Nonsuch Brewing Company

The release of a new craft beer through a partnership with Nonsuch Brewing Company.

Picture courtesy of Jeremiah Holmes/Social Media

By Angelique Forest

Company in an effort to raise funds. The company labelled a new craft beer called Wild Life picturing animals. The Wildlife Haven receives $1 of each 4-pack sold which will go directly to the rescue centre to help with costs of patients treatment and additional care needs.

In an effort to fundraise and public messaging the Wildlife Haven has also added additional merchandise online such as clothing, Yeti products and books for purchase.

Recently, an important announcement was made about a highly contagious Avian Influenza pathogen, the H5N1 strain that has entered Canada. The team at the rescue remains vigilant and is monitoring confirmed cases in other provinces.

They are focused on keeping wildlife patients, the ambassadors, and humans safe by continually monitoring their biosecurity protocols. This also means calling before showing up is required before bringing a wildlife patient into the rehab centre so that precautions are in place and instructions are provided to keep you and wildlife safe.

For more information, to donate, sponsor a patient’s care or Ambassadors who are permanent wildlife residents because they are no longer able to return to the wild and view the Centres wish list, visit wildlifehaven.ca.

If you find wildlife in need of help, please call Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre at 204-878Wildlife Haven ambassador Milan the Missis- 3740. Their phone lines are open Submitted photo from 9 am to 6 pm, 7 days a week. sippi Kite.

March has been a busy month for the Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre located near Ile des Chenes with staff attending the Manitoba Outdoor Show at the Red River Exhibition Park to the discovery of a new threat to their animals.

In mid-March the Wildlife Haven had a booth at the annual outdoor show featuring Elliot the Eastern Box Turtle, Bruce the Western Hognosed Snake and Milan the Mississippi Kite. Each non-releasable Wildlife Ambassador with their human caretakers focused on spreading awareness about peaceful coexistence with wild animals as well as details about the Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre’s mission to rehabilitee injured, sick and orphaned wildlife for their return back to the wild. Volunteers also showed off the Ambassadors sharing what to do when wildlife is encountered outdoors.

Additionally, Wildlife Haven partnered with Nonsuch Brewing

April 2022

Ste. Anne Senior Thanks Good Samaritans and Local Business

By Dan Guetre

A local Ste. Anne senior is thankful to an unknown local stranger and a local business for finding and returning her iPods that she thought she would never see again.

In the middle of March, Mary Ritchie, a resident at the 55-plus complex on St. Alphonse in Ste. Anne was running a few errands around the community. Upon returning home, she realized she could not locate her iPods.

Worried about the cost of replacing them and explaining she uses them regularly due to failing hearing; she decided to retrace her steps.

One of her errands had taken her to the Clearview Co-op to

ask the staff if they would clean her windshield (which they did happily, no questions asked). Upon retracing her stops, Mary went into the Co-op and asked the staff at the register if someone might have found and turned in her iPods. It only took a minute for the staff member to run to the back and grab them from the office. Apparently, someone found the iPods in the snow by the gas pumps and did the right thing; brought them in to the business hoping the owner could be located.

Mary just wanted to let the community know how grateful she is and how proud she is of the honest community she lives in.

“It would have been easy for someone to pocket them but people can show you the bright side,” said

Mary Ritchie wants to not only thank the business, but also the unknown stranger that made her day.

Submitted photo

Mary. She wants to not only thank the business, but also the unknown stranger that made her day.

April 2022

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Public Asked for Input in Green Space Development

By Dan Guetre The RM of Ritchot is reaching out to its residents for input on what they would like to see in a neighbourhood park and hoping a survey can give them some direction.

The 1.7 acre, Perron Park, serving a St. Adolphe residential neighbourhood and established in the 1970s currently has a play structure and swings.

“Perron Park has not been updated in many years and the park infrastructure has reached the end of its useful life,” explained Ritchot Mayor Chris Ewen. “Revitalizing the park is a 2022/2023 priority to replace and/or enhance what is currently in the green space.”

“The survey is concentrated on the surrounding community to gain feedback on the needs of residents who currently use or could potentially use the green space,” added Ewen. “Conducting the survey was recommended by the Ritchot Recreation Advisory Committee as well as the Perron Park revitalization committee.”

The survey is part of a larger picture for all the public green spaces throughout the municipality. The RM of Ritchot had created a Recreation Master Plan in 2018 which included a comprehensive recreation survey and analysis. The plan can be found at ritchot.com/p/recreationmaster-plan.

“Feedback will be collected until the end of April and then will be assessed shortly after,” said Ewen when asked about the current survey.

“Communication on the results of the survey and project progress will be done through Ritchot Connect and the Municipal Website.”

“Council and the Perron Park Revitalization Committee value resident feedback and want to ensure that revitalization efforts are relevant and meet the needs of community members,” stressed Ewen.

According to Ewen, the Perron Park Revitalization Committee is made up of a diverse group of residents volunteering their time to improve their local green space.

Dawson Trail Dispatch

Carbon Tax Increase & Bill C-8 Will Add to Inflation At a time when inflation is on the rise and Canadians are struggling to make ends meet most responsible governments would conclude this is not the right time to raise taxes on essential items.

Not so in the case of the Trudeau Liberals.

Later this week, the Liberal government will, once again, hike the price of such essentials as food, gas, and home heating with their latest increase to the federal Carbon Tax. On April 1 the Liberal Carbon Tax will rise to 11 cents on the dollar for gasoline for a total of 34 cents tax on every dollar spent for gasoline in Manitoba.

At today’s price, the tax component equals just under 60 cents per liter in Manitoba.

The increase in the Carbon Tax will also see already inflated food, heating and new home prices go up. Why? Because the Liberal Carbon Tax is a tax on everything.

Last week, Conservatives put forward a motion in the House of Commons for the Government to give Canadians a break by temporarily removing the GST from fuel purchases. Sad-

ly, the Liberals backed by the NDP voted down this simple, commonsense measure.

Canadians can’t afford more taxes. In fact, 53% of Canadians are already struggling to pay their bills and service their debt.

Canadians need meaningful tax relief to help offset the skyrocketing cost of living. Instead, the LiberalNDP government continue to tax and spend with no thought to how it’s affecting every-day Canadians.

To make matters worse, with Bill C-8, currently being debated in the House of Commons, the Liberal Government plans to spend an additional $70 billion in new deficit spending.

As Director of Fiscal and Provincial Economics with Scotiabank, Rebekah Young, recently stated, “With the Canadian economy already at capacity and price pressures mounting, incremental spending even if merited - could complicate efforts to keep inflation expectations moored.”

In other words, by keeping the gravy train going, the Federal Government will likely end up doing more harm, than good.

Every time the government borrows or prints money and injects it into the economy the value of that

money decreases because there’s more of it. The result is, Canadians trying to pay for gas or groceries with more dollars chasing fewer goods.

As Robert Asselin, Senior Vice President of the Business Council of Canada says, “The right path is to grow the economy to pay for new spending measures; not the other way around.”

More taxes are not the answer.

More spending is not the answer.

More regulation and government interference in the market is not the answer.

The root issue here is not the cost of food, or fuel or housing. It’s the cost of this government.

If the Liberals really want to help Canadians, they should stop flooding the market with inflated currency, get their deficit spending under control, stop trying to control everything and just let Canadians live their lives.

Helping Ukrainians Fleeing War It has been more than a month since Vladimir Putin and his forces invaded Ukraine. Since the start on February 24 the invasion has only escalated, targeted bombings of Ukraine’s hospitals, residential areas and apartment blocks, orphanages, malls, schools and shops have increased.

Close to four million people have fled Ukraine seeking refuge in other countries. There is much that can be done to help Ukrainians fleeing a war that they did not want nor start. Our government is working with organizations such as the Ukrainian Canadian Congress of Manitoba, the Canada-Ukraine Foundation, the Canadian Red Cross, and other community organizations to address this humanitarian crisis. To date Manitoba has donated over $800,000 dollars for humanitarian relief, and we will continue to support Ukraine in any way we can.

Our Manitoba government is working with the Federal Gov-

ernment to make sure that Ukrainians seeking immigration or come as refugees to Manitoba will receive a full range of supports. Our government waived the fee for Ukrainian citizens coming to Manitoba through the Provincial Nominee Program. As well, the manitoba4ukraine.ca website was launched as a centralized government portal that offers a wide range of information for those wanting to help in any way possible. We must continue to support Ukraine in its battle to defeat Putin and his war to destroy democracy.

The warm seasons are fast approaching, and luckily for all of us Manitoba is home to 92 provincial parks. Every year, Manitobans and tourists come to enjoy the spectacular beauty our province has to offer.

Our government understands that having a customer friendly reservation system is key to a pleasant experience for campers. Manitoba is implementing a new system for reservations with the aim to have it in place for the 2023 season—however, there have been several technical improvements made to the existing

parks reservation service to address challenges users have experienced in previous years.

The Manitoba parks reservation service will accept bookings in five phases: All opening at 7 am; April 4 for all cabins, yurts, and group-use areas; April 6 for campsite reservations at Birds Hill, Falcon Beach, Falcon Lakeshore and West Hawk Lake; April 8 for campsite reservations at all western and northern region parks; April 11 for campsite reservations at Grand Beach, Nopiming and all remaining Whiteshell campgrounds; April 13 for all remaining locations. Online services begin at 7 am at prspub.gov.mb.ca.

As always, I look forward to hearing from you with your questions or concerns. I can be reached at dennis.smook@leg.gov.mb.ca.

Dawson Trail Dispatch

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Provincial School Funding Sees Increase On Sunday, March 6 I had the opportunity to extend greetings on behalf of the Province of Manitoba and welcome all participants and fans to the 60th annual Canadian Power Toboggan Championships held in Beausejour. I wish to extend my sincere congratulations to the organizers, volunteers and everyone involved. All the best for continued success in the future.

It has been over a month that I have settled into my role as Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning. Department officials and staff have provided ongoing technical briefings and many stakeholder engagement meetings. I look forward to continuing to connect directly with teachers, principals, school staff, administrators and early learning educators on the important work ahead. As a former teacher and guidance councillor myself, I have seen firsthand the dedication and care that everyone in the school setting put in to support our students.

It is an exciting time in Education and Early Childhood Learning as there has been exciting news regarding school funding for the upcoming school year. I was pleased to announce in early February in Brandon, that funding for the Manitoba school system will increase by $120 million in the upcoming

school year, including a $43 million increase in annual funding plus one-time funding of $77 million to address incremental wage costs and other pressures. This funding is over and above the $80 million invested for the 2021-22 school year that was announced in January. This investment is in addition to the COVID19 funding for PPE and ventilation in schools. Manitoba has the second-highest spending per student in Canada after New Brunswick at $15,412 and we are maintaining this position at the national level with a further investment of $120 million this year.

School divisions have told us that COVID-19, inflation and other costs have increased financial pressures, and this has been taken into consideration in this year’s publicschool funding. These increases will ensure that school divisions have the resources they need to help students succeed. Manitoba is committed to investing in education with the funding adjusted based on enrollment increases and accounting for COVID-19 related impacts. We will continue to consult with school divisions, school staff, parents and students to hear what is working and what we need to do to support them as we move forward to continuously improve and strengthen the educa-

tion system.

On a final note, I want to take this opportunity to share that my thoughts are with Ukraine and Manitobans with Ukrainian family and friends. Our Government condemns the actions of Russia and respects the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine. I am of Ukrainian and Polish descent and I think back to many of the stories that my grandparents had told of their parents coming to Manitoba, and Canada, looking for hope. There are so many strong, interpersonal, cultural, history, and education connections between Canada and the Ukraine. Manitoba will support the federal government in everything it can to pressure Russia to end its aggression and restore peace in the region.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email me at wayne@wayneewasko.com, or call me at 204-268-3282. Also, you can follow me on Twitter @wayneewaskomla and friend me on Facebook.

Red River Co-op Food Stores Set to Eliminate Plastic Grocery Bags In an effort to further reduce its impact on the environment, Red River Co-op food stores will no longer offer single-use plastic grocery bags at checkout stands at their nine food stores starting on Earth Day on April 22.

“Last year, we sold over 2.2 million bags,” said Sara Fournier, Vice-President of Food and Pharmacy Operations. “We believe that this Earth Day is a great opportunity to move away from single-use plastic bags at our checkouts and offer reusable options to our customers.”

Red River Co-op began encouraging reuse over single use plastics in 2018 when they started charging for plastic grocery bags. In the

first year, three million plastic bags were diverted from landfill, a reduction of 54 percent over the previous year. To further the impact on the local environment, Red River Co-op pledged to donate the profit from each sale to local green living non-profit, Green Action Centre to support their food waste reduction and composting educational programming. From there, a partnership formed and the co-operative and the non-profit continue to support the work each does for the environment.

“Our current and growing reliance on plastics is not sustainable, as very little of the disposable plastic products used are recycled, despite years

of recycling efforts and programs,” said Colleen Ans, Living Green Living Well Coordinator with Green Action Centre. “We fully support the elimination of single-use plastic bags and a switch to reusables. The focus must remain on reduction, not simply ‘better disposables’ like paper that is recyclable but may also have a large carbon footprint.”

Red River Co-op members and customers are encouraged to bring reusable bags to shop at their food stores. They have reusable totes and bag options for sale in-store, including a reusable cloth bag for 25 cents per bag available at the tills in case customers forget their reusable bags from home.

Niverville Welcomes New Physician This Spring The Town of Niverville and the Board of Niverville Health Care Services Inc. are pleased to welcome a new physician to Open Health Niverville this spring. Dr. Lila Boroditsky will be starting a full-time practice in Niverville on June 1.

Dr. Boroditsky provides general family medicine for all ages from pediatric to geriatric individuals. She has extensive family medicine background having practiced in Winnipeg for over 10 years.

Dr. Boroditsky will be accepting new patients to begin her practice at Open Health Niverville. An update will be posted on April 8, on the Open

Health Niverville Facebook page and website regarding remaining capacity (if any) and eligibility requirements for the next intake.

Due to the great need for family practitioners in the region, Open Health Niverville anticipates a large number of requests to come into the clinic. To alleviate strain on their phone lines, they have created an email address for new patient registrations only. Any calls regarding registering with Open Health Niverville will be directed to the email. If you are interested in registering and meet the above noted criteria, please email register@openhealthniv.com and in-

clude the following ,full legal names of all household members you wish to register, daytime phone number, civic address and mailing address including postal code. Please do not include medical information in your email.

The registration email will allow their staff to contact you and schedule a “Meet and Greet” appointment.

These appointments establish whether the provider-patient relationship is mutually agreeable.

If you live outside of the Niverville area, please check the Open Health Niverville website and Facebook page in the coming weeks for updates on possible open registration spaces.

April 2022

In Turmoil: Name the War Crime Well one more time and this COVID virus morphs into something different.

True to form it is much more transmissible. What else is worrisome is nobody in government is seemingly in charge. I hope that political leadership is in good medical hands. Assuming our front line workers and medical heroes don’t call it quits.

Furthermore I would like to hear talk of booster number two that targets the changing virus, just like the annual flu shot vaccine does. If the virus keeps evolving to be more and more transmissible, it not only continues to affect short term health it will have a lasting impact over both physical and mental health. No one wants to see another family member or friend die, nor do we want to go back into shut downs, or travel be limited because airlines will more than likely require booster shots along with many land borders crossings.

Barring a pandemic that has killed over $6 million, what is immensely worrisome is the turmoil and anguish that Ukrainians are living with, in a senseless war they did not ask for; they did not initiate.

This war that no one asked for is calling upon us all to help with aid and provide a safe haven.

That war caused by a maniacal Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; who is purposely deceitful, to the point that it will be very difficult to negotiate an end to the war which can abruptly halt further War Crimes from happening. The fact that he controls many nuclear weapons complicates everything.

24/7 we see War Crimes being committed in Ukraine by Russia.

The bombing of hospitals, clinics, houses, apartments, schools, playgrounds, farms and bomb shelters. The confiscation of humanitarian aid; killing and starving people; grabbing citizens off the street; disappearing Ukrainians into Russia. There is also the chokehold Putin has on the Russian people causing an exodus to reach freedom. The list is endless. It sounds all too familiar.

As of now 4 million Ukrainians have fled and for those who have lost everything, who have been displaced, half of them are kids. This is a madman in the ilk of Hitler or Stalin. The Ukrainian people know all too well what mad men are capable of from Stalin killing millions with an intentional famine by demanding all the food grown by Ukrainians to Hitler slaughtering thousands in World War II. How do you rebuild after this? What is the cost to rebuild and how do we make people feel safe again after this brutality?

The big question is why? Why is history repeating itself? Why do we allow mad men to be in charge of Peace?

Be the judge. Here is a list of War crimes. They fall into three groups, or four if you include genocide.

Which ones do you think Putin has committed?

Crimes Against Peace: - Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances.

- Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the above.

War Crimes Violations of the laws or customs of war, including: - Atrocities or offences against persons or property, constituting violations of the laws or customs of war murder.

- Ill treatment or deportation to slave labour or for any other purpose of the civilian population in occupied territory murder or ill treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas killing of hostages.

- Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments plunder of public or private property wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages.

- Devastation not justified by military necessity.

Crimes Against Humanity - Atrocities and offences committed against any civilian population, before or during the war, including: - Murder - Extermination - Enslavement - Deportation - Mass systematic rape and sexual enslavement in a time of war other inhumane acts.

- Persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where perpetrated.

Then there is Genocide. Genocide is considered one of the most severe crimes against humanity. It means the deliberate attempt to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

World War III is a mis-step in waiting.

April 2022

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Dawson Trail Dispatch

RM of Montcalm Joins Crow Wing Trail Association The Crow Wing Trail Association is excited to start the new year with an additional municipal partner. The RM of Montcalm is the latest rural municipality to join since 2002.

That’s when the Town of Niverville joined the founding members, the RM’s of Ritchot, De Salaberry, Emerson, Franklin and the Village of St-Pierre-Jolys, who created the Association in 1999 in order to develop the modern day Crow Wing Trail and become part of the Trans Canada Trail.

The Crow Wing Trail is currently within the RM of Montcalm boundaries for 5 km north of Emerson (west of Fort Dufferin), but Montcalm has an even higher aspiration, and that is to help close a gap in the Trans Canada Trail.

“Having just closed our last gap in 2020 with the installation of a pedestrian bridge over the Joubert Creek east of St-Pierre-Jolys in the RM of De Salaberry,” explained Murielle Bugera, President of the Association. “We then looked more closely at how we linked with the trail to the west. We realized there was a gap between the RM`s of Emerson-Franklin and Rhineland and that this gap was within the RM of Montcalm. So we reached out to them and offered to help.”

“As a provincial governing body for recreational trails, we are excited to see the RM of Montcalm partner with the Crow Wing Trail Association. The RM of Montcalm is joining a well-established trail association that strives to be a leader in sustainable trail development and trail maintenance,” said Tim Coffin, Executive Director Trails Manitoba. “In a time where Manitobans are encouraged to explore locally, this partnership is very encouraging for trail growth and opportunity in this area.”

The addition of a new municipal partner is very much welcomed by the Association as this brings new ideas and new opportunities for promoting rural communities and the rich history they hold.

“Community connections and leadership in trail development and sustainability are key values of the Crow Wing Trail Association,” confirmed Bugera. “And this is a work in progress.”

C ommunity E vents Friedensfeld Back In Business Fundraiser– On April 9 from 8 pm – 1 am at the Community Centre. Let’s get social. Tickets $15 each. ID Required. Night lunch provided. Music FNR Sound.

Contact 204- 326-2760.

Grande Pointe On June 3rd and 4th, Grande Pointe is holding their Slopitch Tournament, with the rain day being on June 5th.

Co-ed is on the 6th and 4th. Guaranteed 3 games and a beer garden on site. Food and Beverages are available as well as cash prizes. To secure your spot, contact Korrie Watt at (204) 981-4471 or email korriewatt@gmail.com no later than April 15. The entry fee is $300, with a deposit required of $100.

The Grande Pointe Community Centre will host a Grand Opening on April 24 from 1 pm to 4 pm at 423 Bernat Road. Come with your family to celebrate. The event will include refreshments, and door prizes. RSVP required before April 18 at www.ritchot.com/p/gpha-grand-opening.

Ile des Chenes Foot care clinic - With certified foot care nurse on Tuesday April 5 and Wednesday April 6. Contact Janice 204-8832880 Ritchot Senior Services.

Lorette Spring Craft & Bake Sale hosted by Taché Senior Resources on April 30th from 10 am - 4 pm at Club les Blés d’Or in Lorette.

Attention New Home Owners in Lorette; Welcome to the growing community of Lorette! Have you purchased a home, townhome, or condo in the LUD of Lorette, in the last year? Do you have questions about your new community? The Welcome Basket Committee of the LUD of Lorette would be happy to answer some of those questions. We have a free basket of Gift Certificates, coupons, gifts, and information which have been generously provided by the businesses and organizations in the LUD of Lorette. To arrange a short curbside visit please e-mail lorettewelcomebasket@gmail.com, no strings attached.

To apply, you must email your request to lorettewelcomebasket@gmail.com only. You cannot contact us via Lorette Discussion Board or Facebook.

Monominto Explore the new Monominto Hiking Trails - On May 14.

Trip Leader Rose Kuzina. Registration starts May 9. Contact rosek1066@mymts.net. The RM of Tache has created the brand new Monominto Trail ski and hiking system by reclaiming its old landfill dump area in the midst of a forest (ca. 7 km). Participants must be fully Covid vaccinated, adhere to all health protocols and be Nature Manitoba members; documented proof of everything is required.

Niverville 2022 MB Makers Market - On Saturday, May 7 at 10 am at the Niverville Heritage Centre Entrance 100C Heritage Trail.

Richer The Richer Community Club will be hosting its AGM on April 13 at 7:30 pm at the Richer Young at Hearts Hall. Annual reports will be presented and elections will take place for for some of the positions where terms have expired.

Monday Night Bingos - To raise funds for Stacey Pchajek Memorial Foundation Inc. The foundation provides scholarships, bursaries and prizes to students graduating grades 8

and 12. Limited seats please reserve. Doors Open at 5:30 pm at the Young at Heart Club, 22 Dawson Rd. MGCC License # BI/BO4164. Contact Doreen Pchajek at 422-5243 or doreen@spmf.ca.

Sarto AGM - Sunday, April 10 at 2 pm, Community Hall, Driveway #31077. All our welcome to join the Annual General Meeting. Welcoming new members. $10/person yearly membership, 50/50 Draw 1 -$2, 3- $5, and Arm Length $10. Door Prizes & Bartender’s Delight Fundraiser. Come see the Renovations! Contact Rick Rekrut 204-371-0818, email rickrekrut@xplornet.com.

South Junction Southeast Farmers’ Market – On Wednesdays; April 13 from 3 - 7 pm. If you can’t make it, bake it or grow it, you can buy it at the Farmer’s Market! Our vendors will be comfy cozy inside the Pine Grove Seniors facility for the winter and spring markets. All health protocols will be followed for a stress-free shopping experience. Masks Required. Contact Jen at 204-423-2223 or Shawny 204-437-2600.

St. Adolphe St. Adolphe and Windygates Hawk Watches – For novices, bird outing on April 18.Watches are not scheduled, so there is no need to register. Come and go as you please to midApril. Raptors and a host of other birds migrate north along the Red River and Pembina River valleys in early spring.

Come join the birders who monitor this migration. They will be present from mid-morning at either site on most days, especially when it is sunny with a south wind. The St. Adolphe site is on the east side of the bridge on PR. 210. The Windygates site is on PR. 201 at the Pembina River Valley.

AGM Ritchot Senior Services – Save the date, Wednesday May 11 at 7pm, 457 Main Street.

Foot care clinic - With certified foot care nurse on Monday May 2 and Tuesday May 3. Contact Janice 204-883-2880 Ritchot Senior Services.

Heart to Home Meal Service - Order your meals by Wednesday April 13. Meals are ready for pick up or delivery on April 14 and Wednesday April 27 meals are ready for pick up or delivery on April 28. To place your order call 1-204-8168659. Menus are also available to pick up at Ritchot Senior Services or by calling Heart to Home. We ask you to please contact Ritchot Senior Services after placing your orders and let us know you have placed an order. This will assist us in organizing volunteers for delivery of meals to you.

Ste. Agathe Foot care clinic - certified foot care nurse on Thursday April 27. Call Janice 204-883-2880 Ritchot Senior Services.

Canadian Red Cross Stay Safe! - Classes are coming Ste. Agathe on April 18. Youth home safety is an increasingly important topic for your children. Various scenarios can call on your child to be responsible for their own wellbeing, be it a routine half hour at home after school, or an emergency situation. This class, taught by local certified Red Cross instructor Deidre Perron, will provide your child with those skills and knowledge to Stay Safe! Register at amilia.com/ store/en/municipality-of-ritchot/shop/programs.

Ritchot Summer Camps Registration – Opens on April 4 at 7 am. Registration link will be posted at ritchot.com/p/ summer on Monday, April 4 at 7am. Register online or call 204-346-1077, contact Liam at program@ritchot.com

with any questions. All Camps Run 8 am - 4:45pm. Drop off time 8 - 8:30 am and pick-up 4:15 - 4:45pm. Sports week, Art week, Culinary Camp (ages age group 9-14), Survivor Camp (3 days only $85), and Nature Camp, Eco-Culture & Agriculture Week.

children and join in the fun as we hunt for Easter eggs and kick off the spring at the museum! The gates will open at 10 am and the hunt will go on until noon. The museum will be open until 5 pm. Visit mennoniteheritagevillage. com/event/the-great-easter-egg-hunt.

Steinbach Southeast Open Judged Exhibit - The Hall Gallery is open!

Come see the submissions by local artists for the Southeast Open Judged Exhibit. We have received many stunning pieces from local juvenile and adult artists that are now showcased in our gallery, featuring photography, pencil drawings, watercolor and acrylic paintings, sculpture, pottery, and more. Stop by the Hall Gallery at the Steinbach Cultural Arts Centre or view the art online

Steinbach & Area Garden Club - Invites you to our special April 30 “SPRING FLING” featuring special guest speaker Lyndon Penner - A Celebration of Poppies. Space is limited so pre-registration is required. Join us for an exciting exploration of some of the most gorgeous plants this family has to offer. Find out how to care for them, where to plant them, and how to best enjoy them! Doors open at 11:30 am, local vendors, door prizes, silent auction, Master Gardener Question/Answer table. Lunch available for purchase. Seating limited, pre-registration is required. SAGC Members free of charge. Non-members $10 (pre-registered participants payment accepted at the door – cash please). Visit our website for details, sagardenclub.com.

Live Concerts - Watch the homegrown multi-talented pianist, singer, and composer, Mike Janzen perform live on Tuesday, April 5, 7:30PM at the Emmanuel Evangelical Church.

Other Concerts in this series: Indigo Trio - Saturday April 23, 2022, 7:30PM Those Guys Acapella - Thursday May 5, 2022, 7:30PM Madeline Hildebrand - Thursday May 26, 2022, 7:30PM Free Skating - Saturday, April 9 at 9 am, Mennonite Heritage Village, 231 PTH 12 N. Come enjoy free skating on Saturdays. Admission is a tin for the bin benefiting Helping Hands Food Bank. Vaccination verification is no longer required. Mask use indoors is still a requirement.

Southeast Event Centre Design – On Tuesday, April 12 at TG Smith Centre, the City of Steinbach would like to once again, invite the public to view and provide feedback on the latest designs for the Southeast Event Centre on. This is an opportunity to learn more about the project, talk to the architect, ask questions, and contribute valuable feedback during the design planning. Everyone welcome! Learn more at steinbach.ca/southeast-event-centre.

Creative Writers Club - Second Wednesday every month at 7 pm. next one April 13 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.

Southeast Career Expo – On April 12 visit the Southeast Career Expo from 3 - 7 pm at the TC Energy Centre in Ile des Chenes. See the full notice on our website at ritchot.com.

Nobody’s Perfect Parenting Course – On Wednesday’s at 1 – 3 pm, April 13, 20, 27, May 4, 11 and18. Contact Pre/Postnatal Outreach and Community liaison, Steinbach Family Resource Centre, 101 North Front Drive, email Maggie@steinbachfrc.ca or call 204-346-0413.

Steinbach Professional Development Toastmasters Club – On Thursday, April 14 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.

The Great Easter Egg Hunt – On Saturday, April 16 at 10 am, Mennonite Heritage Village, 231 PTH 12 N. Bring the

Spring Wreath Craft Night - Wednesday, April 27 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.

Steinbach & Area Garden Club MHV Manitoba Days - Planting Pansies for Mom – On May 7 from 10 am - 1pm at the Mennonite Heritage Village. We invite you to take part in the Manitoba Days by coming and planting a pot of pansies to take home for Mom. Presentation following by Mike Plettt on MHV Peace Garden plans.

Steinbach & Area Garden Club Members’ Shopping Night – On May 24 to 27 from 4 -8 pm at Oakridge Nurseries.

Open to SAGC members only, with one time discount on plant purchases. You must show your 2022 membership card to be eligible for discount. Reminder that the deadline to renew membership to participate in the May shopping event is May 1.

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.

Vita Fish Fry! - Hosted by the Ukrainian National Home of Vita on April 9 from 4-6 pm at the Vita Hall. $15 per plate and includes 2 pieces of fish, fries, coleslaw and a dessert. For more information contact Nettie at 204-425-3951 or Nell at 204-425-3820. Easter Paska and Babka will be sold between 3 - 6 pm.

Retro 90’s Social - At Vita Hall on Saturday, April 30 from 8 pm – 1 am. Tickets are $15 each and include a perogy and sausage night lunch! Advanced tickets available at Sumthing Special. DJ music. All proceeds towards Ukrainian National Home of Vita.

Baseball Registration Open - at Vitaball.rampregistrations. com until April 8. If you have any questions please call Crystal Barnabe 204-371-6039 To have your event featured in this listing, please email your events to editor@dawsontrail.ca

Dawson Trail Dispatch

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

April 2022

Niverville-Born Race Car Driver to Compete in Europe

Professional race car driver, David Richert, has signed to compete in the Drexler-Automotive Formel Cup in Europe for the 2022 race season. Richert is originally from the Niverville area.

Submitted photo

Professional race car driver, David Richert, has signed to compete in the Drexler-Automotive Formel Cup in Europe for the 2022 race season. Richert is originally from the Niverville area.

Richert will be racing in a Volkswagen powered Formula 3 car prepared by the Franz Woss Racing team from Austria.

The Drexler-Automotive Formel Cup features events in 6 different European countries at some of the continent’s most historic Formula One racing venues including Hungaroring in Hungary, Monza and Imola in Italy, Red Bull Ring in Austria, Spa-Francorchamps in

Belgium and Hockenheim in Germany.

After growing up as a farm boy near Niverville, Richert began his pursuit of advancing into the highest levels of motorsport, a 20 year journey that has seen him grow from racing go-karts in Manitoba to formula cars in Monaco.

Through the support of an enormous number of people, Richert has been able to battle through the difficult challenges of a sport driven by financial resources.

“The last couple of years have been very challenging for international travel and I consider it a privilege to be able to continue pursuing this dream. I owe a

lot to so many people in our community for the support they’ve provided over the years and I can’t wait to take this next step forward towards our goal,” said David Richert.

Richert will complete pre-season preparations in Poland prior to the first race weekend which will take place from April 8-10 at the Hungaroring located just outside of Budapest, Hungary.

Water Quality Debated in Ile des Chenes Neighbourhood

By Angelique Forest Something has been happening in Ile des Chenes in the Southside Estate trailer park.

Residents are consistently finding themselves talking about the water situation, be it the boil water advisories or the damages the hard water can cause.

Tracey Vien, one of the residents, believes the responsibility to deal with the damages should not be hers alone. Vien claims washing machines are burning out, along with dishwashers, hot water tank and even pipes are bursting.

To date, Vien and other residents of Southside Estates have had to pay for their own repairs out of pocket even though, they believe, it is the water that is causing the issues.

On top of that, they have been informed that since there has been an advisory issued; all residents are still responsible for paying their rental of the lots at full price.

Additionally, residents are forced into having to buy water and water coolers in order to access potable water.

“The trailer park in Ile des Chenes has been on a boil water advisory since November 2021,” said Vien. “[Getting] clear water, water pressure and even water shut off without notices has been a major issue

since I moved in 5 years ago.”

While she alleges that there has been no response from the park’s owner regarding fixing the issue or reimbursement of expenses, other residents disagree.

Lisa Forest is one resident who disagrees citing low lot rentals an advantage to living in the community and the hard water is just a result of living in the rural area.

“I’ve lived here 5 years and we always get notice, it’s always posted online,” said Forest when the water is turned off to conduct repairs. “A few of the trailers don’t have their own shutoff valves, which means the trailer park goes without water for a bit when something happens or repairs are needed.”

“It’s hard water so it naturally has more wear and tear on appliances,” she added in response to the water quality. “Sometimes things happen, but it isn’t that frequent.

The lot fees are the lowest I’ve seen and the water is free here. I’ve been happy living here.”

While the discussions continue online and throughout the park the trailer park owners explained that they are aware of the issue and continue to do their best to maintain the water quality for the residents.

April 2022

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Dawson Trail Dispatch

SCU Announces It Pays to Be a Member Steinbach Credit Union (SCU) announced at its virtual Annual General Meeting recently that they reached three important milestones in their organization’s history, including surpassing $8 billion in assets, growing to 100,000 members, and celebrating 80 years of serving their members. SCU also announced they will be giving their members a $10 million cash back Member Bonus.

Glenn Friesen, CEO of SCU (left) with Maria Reimer (right) as newly-elected Board Chair.

SCU remains committed to investing and improving their products, services, and member service in an ever-changing economic environment. Not only was it a year of organizational milestones, but SCU also witnessed unparalleled growth. In 2021, their assets grew by 12 per cent, deposits by 11.11 per cent, and loan growth of 16.25 per cent. “I firmly believe our success is a result of high member satisfaction, competitive rates, and custom solutions that meet the unique needs of each member,” said Glenn Friesen, CEO of SCU. “I look back on the year with great appreciation, gratitude, and pride, and can’t wait to explore the future,” he concluded.

Maria Reimer, Chair of the SCU Board of Directors, agreed with Friesen, adding, “Our strong fiscal performance and balance sheet allowed us to offer our members competitive rates for their saving and lending needs.

We focused our attention on helping members on their journey of saving and spending wisely.”

With continued growth in assets and membership, Reimer announced a cash back Member Bonus of $10 million. “We are thrilled to share this bonus with our loyal members,”

Submitted photo

she said. “This is further proof that our members truly make us great, and that when we work together to meet our challenges, we emerge stronger collectively.”

As a cooperative organization, SCU believes in sharing profits in the form of a cash back bonus with their members as a way to thank them for their trust and loyalty; a practice the credit union has employed for many years. The bonus will be shared with members who hold both deposit and lending accounts. The breakdown of this allocation will be 60% to deposit holders and 40% to credit holders. This breakdown recognizes that members with deposits have been impacted by lower interest rates over the last year. In contrast, borrowers have benefited from lower interest rates.

SCU operates three branches, one in Steinbach and two in Winnipeg, and serves over 100,000 members.

The membership re-elected board member Chris Goertzen, and also elected board members Bonnie Goertzen and Kris Plett, to the SCU Board of Directors. The Board of Directors elected Maria Reimer as Board Chair, Bruce Penner as First Vice-Chair, and Chris Goertzen as Second Vice-Chair.

RM of Piney to Bring Financial Plan to Their Residents The RM of Piney intends to present its financial plan for the fiscal year 2022 at a public hearing on Tuesday, April 12 at 6 pm in the Council Chambers.

To ensure that everyone is able to participate, they are offering for you to attend either by Zoom, teleconference, or in person.

If you wish to attend, please contact Martin Van Osch to request your meeting link: martin@rmofpiney.mb.ca or call 204- 4372284.

Council will hear any person who has questions, make a representation, or register any objections to the financial plan. Copies of the financial plan are available for review during their regular office hours. *Editor’s note: In April, most municipal governments are in the process of hosting public hearings for their residents to view and discuss their financial plans.

Go to your local municipality website to find details of when and where the public hearing will occur.

There will also be an explanation on how to participate.

Dawson Trail Dispatch

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

GIS and CERB, Plus CAI Update The Climate Action Incentive CAI payments for 2022 have been announced.

They are about 15% higher than they were a year ago. And for 2022, the payments will be made throughout the year.

There is more information at the end of this article.

One-Time GIS Payment for Seniors Affected by CERB First, I want to share the recent government announcement that affects many low-income working seniors.

The announcement from the federal government came on March 3, which said it is providing one-time payments to Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) recipients who received pandemic benefits in 2020 and faced a reduction or loss of GIS benefits from July 2021 to June 2022.

Payments will be delivered automatically by direct deposit on April 19 or by cheque by the end of the month.

If you were a working senior receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement and during 2020 also received CERB due to loss of job, watch for this unexpected payment. You’re being reimbursed for what you lost.

Many seniors over the age of 65 years are still working (as employees or selfemployed) to supplement their income.

These seniors, who continue to work, can earn up to $5,000 without any effect on their GIS. If you earn $5,000 to $15,000 the GIS is reduced but not as significantly as regular income from interest or pension or registered income funds.

When CERB came out in April 2020, a lot of working seniors applied because they lost their jobs and their income.

Unfortunately, CERB was not treated the same as employment income when the Guaranteed Income Supplement was recalculated July 2021.

When will the repayment be received?

The payment is scheduled for April 19, 2022 and will include repayment of GIS from July 2021 to June 2022. Regular GIS payments will resume July 2022.

This special payment will be non-taxable and non-reportable.

The payment will not affect eligibility for income support programs, such as what you pay for provincially subsidized housing.

Climate Action Incentive Payment The CAI payment will be 15% higher than a year ago. For an individual, last year it was $360. Starting July 2022, it will be $416 per year, paid in quarterly installments. The April 2022 payment will be combined with the July 2022 payment.

Those of you that receive GST credits

will be familiar with receiving government benefits on a quarterly basis.

The CAI will be paid quarterly much like the GST credit.

The additional CAI payment for a spouse is $208 and for each child under 18 is $104. For example, a family of four in Manitoba will receive $832 for the year: $416 July 2022; $208 October 2022, and $208 January 2023.

Plus, those of us living farther from Winnipeg will receive an extra 10%. This family of four will receive $915 for the year.

In previous years, the CAI was part of your refund (or reduced your taxes owing).

We remind our clients as we file the tax returns for 2021 that your refund is less than previous years in part because the CAI will now be paid to you throughout the year. Many taxpayers are disappointed with the amount of their refunds this year.

Adjust Tax Deducted Some taxpayers now have taxes owing for the first time in years or ever. We are helping them increase some tax deducted on one or more of their government pensions so when we file their taxes a year from now, they may have a small refund again.

Some taxpayers will decide not to pay the amount they owe that is due May 2 and will instead have CRA take the amount owing from their upcoming GST quarterly payments or from the new CAI quarterly payments that start July 2022.

Deadline May 2 A reminder to have your taxes filed by the due date May 2 (April 30 is a Saturday). This is especially important if you owe. And many of you will owe this year for the first time! If you file late, the penalty is 5% of what you owe, plus 1% for each month you are late.

Taxpayers that include business or farm income on their tax returns have until June 15 to file without any penalty. This applies to their spouses too. If you have an amount owing, the interest does start May 2, but many self-employed taxpayers prefer to file between May 2 and June 15.

And us tax preparers prefer that too. We have so many clients that really do need to be filed by May 2.

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 or 36 Dawson Road in Ste Anne (near Co-op) or info@ sataxes.ca.

April 2022

10

April 2022

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Dawson Trail Dispatch

A Success Story in Creating a Community Event, The St-Labre 200

The event has grown to accommodate thousands of visitors over the years and won the Manitoba Tourism Awards - Innovation Award in 2020.

Photo credit: St-Labre 200/Facebook

By Dan Guetre

Read the Dispatch online at www.dawsontrail.ca

One annual event in a small southeast community has taken on a life of its own and has become a staple for many to attend, knowing that the weekend will be fun, exciting and an experience to remember.

The St-Labre 200 will host its 13th annual program this summer on July 1-2 and celebrate with the return of spectators.

“We are excited to open up to the public,” said Huguette Vallée, Media and Marketing spokesperson for the St-Labre 200. “The last 2 years haven’t been easy for many people, and it will be fun to welcome summer with St-Labre 200.”

According to the municipal website, the small rural community located in the RM of Piney can trace its roots back to “As early as 1897 when Pierre Poitras first came to the area and set up a saw mill. The opportunity of employment brought in many families from Quebec, Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland over the next decade. In 1904, the first chapel was constructed, and in 1910 the first

school was set up. Around 1928, a convent was added to the church.”

The contemporary version of this small community still thrives on the pioneer spirit when over a dozen years ago, a group in the community created an event that involved building and racing go-carts, something that can be defined as “thinking out of the box”. It established itself as a community that hosts one of the most unique festivals in Manitoba.

The event has grown to accommodate thousands of visitors over the years and won the Manitoba Tourism Awards - Innovation Award in 2020.

“We offer free camping, events throughout the day, live music and lots of races,” explained Vallée.

“Our Program is still being put together but we hope for a fun filled event.”

“Sponsorships are always welcomed,” she added.

To be involved in the hands-on gocart racing weekend, all you need is to gather a few friends or co-workers and enter as a team. Currently, there are 20 registered teams signed up to compete but, according to Vallée, there are four spots still available.

If you and a group would like to

form a team, she encourages you to check out the registration process at stlabre200.ca. She added that registration needs to be as soon as possible as the kits need to be ordered quickly to arrive on time. They will probably have the four extra kits on hand for the late entries just to be safe, but acknowledges these could go fast.

“We have new teams almost every year,” encouraged Vallée. “A lot of repeat teams since day 1, but it’s nice to have new people come out to the event.”

The St-Labre 200 has also become known as a benefactor for many other social and community groups throughout the region.

“As of last year, we have given back just over $115,000,” said Vallée when talking about their “Giving Back” campaign. According to their website, everyone is welcome to apply for funds that will help an individual, organization and/or community. “And we are starting a fund which will help us to give back in perpetuity,” she concluded, talking about the newly established endowment funds approved at their most recent annual general meeting.

Dawson Trail Dispatch

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

April 2022

11

Spring Home Maintenance Inside and Out With spring right around the corner, we’re all looking to put those winter blues behind us and get our homes into tip-top shape. But with spring weather being unpredictable, sometimes it’s hard to juggle work, life, interior and exterior maintenance.

Get a head start on spring by checking the interior of your home while it’s still cold and snowy outside.

Here are some of the ways you can be proactive about protecting your home and your health:

• Check and reset ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) • Test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors • Lubricate weatherstripping and sliding doors and windows • Check that windows and screens are operating properly • Check air ducts, remove covers and vacuum dust from vents • Clean humidifier and check for condensation and proper humidity levels

• Check attic, basement and crawlspaces for leaks or moisture • Clean or replace your furnace filter • Check and clean the heat recovery ventilator (HRV); wash or replace the filter • Check sump pump (if installed) for discharge • Inspect water heater for leaks As winter starts to break, you may have more opportunities to check on areas outside the home. In the long

run, maintaining the exterior of your home can be just as important as interior upkeep.

When the weather is better, consider the following: • Check eavestroughs and downspouts for debris • Check roof for loose or cracked shingles • Check driveways and walkways for frost damage • Inspect fences • Turn on exterior water supply

Reno Tips to Make Your Home Look Like an Expensive Custom Build It seems like everyone is making over their home these days, from small additions to complete teardowns. Although it sounds pricey, there are ways to transform your home while sticking to a budget.

Here are some renovation tips to help you get started: Never underestimate the power of good lighting.

Nothing says luxurious quite like the perfect mood lighting of beautiful fixtures. From gallery-style recessed lighting to illuminate your artwork, to pot lights built into a rustic piece of reclaimed wood for hanging over your dining table, light fixtures are a fun and functional way to create ambiance and show off your personality.

Accessorize with high-quality investment pieces.

Achieve an expensive look by carefully curating accessories and decorative items. For example, some plump throw pillows and a plush area rug can elevate your living room. You can also try hanging curtains from ceiling to floor, even if your windows are small — this will elongate your walls and draw the eye upward. Splurge on custom framing to showcase your favourite photographs on a gallery wall or floating shelf.

Learn how to achieve the handmade look for less.

Anything custom-made says luxury because it’s uniquely tailored, fitting your style and space perfectly. But customizing anything from scratch can be prohibitively expensive. Fortunately, there are many ways to get the same results on a budget.

For premium and tailored cabinetry in your kitchen and bathrooms, try working with Kitch. The company specializes in making high-quality doors, drawer fronts and accessories for popular IKEA systems. The result is fabulous

and unique cabinetry that’s personalized for your home, style and organization needs.

Find more design inspiration at mykitch.ca Article courtesy of newscanada.com

• Test septic system and clean if necessary • Plan landscaping to avoid soil settlement and water ponding Remember to always work safely and do your research before taking on an unfamiliar task.

Consider leaving some of the more dangerous tasks, such as checking for mould or roof inspections, to a licensed professional.

Article courtesy of newscanada.com

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April 2022

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Answer That Patient Call Have you ever wondered why you do certain things or think a certain way? Certain traits run in family lines and also our environment influences us. The Bible says in I Corinthians 11:14, “Doth not even nature itself teach you?”

There are illustrations from nature that may tell us more about ourselves.

Salmon are a good example. Drawn by instinct, they swim against currents, up waterfalls, and around hydro-electric dams. Despite eagles, bears and many other predators, they struggle to reach their ancestral spawning grounds to lay their eggs. When God made these fish at Creation, He put that instinct in their DNA and they fulfill their purpose in life, still today.

There is a comparison between salmon and humans. We too have an instinct implanted in our DNA that God put there when He created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. This instinct gives us a sense that there is a Deity (God).

John Calvin said, “We are born and we live for the express purpose of knowing and loving God. He is the source of our life.” Our hearts are restless until they come to know the Almighty God of heaven.

Are you restless today, driven by discontent and a longing for “something more”?

Jesus Christ is THE Source of all you instinctively seek. Come to Him and find rest for your soul. In Revelation 3:20 Christ says, “Behold, I stand at the door (of your heart and life), and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me.”

Christ will not force Himself on you. He patiently waits for you to respond to His call. Won’t you answer that call today and find the peace, the joy, the fulfillment and purpose in life that God created for you? I have never met a person yet who regretted coming to Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

May God lead you and bless you as you seek Him and follow His leading in your life.

Buy Tickets for the SAC Concert Series After pausing our concert series due to the COVID impact in our region, the Steinbach Arts Council is excited to relaunch the SAC 2021-2022 Concert Season! Featuring nationally and internationally recognized artists with Manitoban roots, there is something for everyone in this concert series!

- Mike Janzen, inspirational jazz - 7:30 pm, Tuesday April 5 - Indigo Trio, classical string trio - 7:30 pm, Saturday April 23 - Those Guys Acapella, vocal pops - 7:30 pm, Thursday May 5 - Madeline Hildebrand, classical piano - 7:30 pm, Thursday May 26 Go to SteinbachArts.ca or call Tara at 204346-1077.

Buy tickets for 50/50 for Kids!

Win up to $50,000 - The biggest raffle fundraising event of the year to support the arts is running from April 11 - May 4. We were so close last year to raise $100,000 and this year we’re counting on you to help raise just that for our free drop-in After School Arts Program. The money will go towards adding new classes, equipment, and features to its operation which will focus a lot on kids’ creative wellness.

Any Manitoba resident can participate and win! Half of the jackpot amount will go to the lucky winner. Imagine what you can do with $50,000! Follow the SteinbachArts5050 Facebook Page and Instagram to get updates

Dawson Trail Dispatch

on our giveaways, draw dates, and daily jackpot amount. Early bird draws on April 20 and 27. Final draw is on May 4.Tickets available at SteinbachArts.ca. Only $5 per ticket.

Time to Renew SAC Membership and Receive Great Benefits Anyone can be a SAC Member. We’ve lined up amazing benefits for you in appreciation of your support and you can use these benefits when you purchase a membership with us! Memberships are $15 for individual residents; $20 for individual non-residents; $30 for family resident; and $35 for family non-resident.

2021-22 SAC Member Perks: - 10% off at Santa Lucia Pizza (Steinbach location) - 10% off at Coffee Culture (Steinbach location) - 10% off at Za Pizza (Steinbach location) - 10% off at Chicken Chef (Steinbach location) - 10% off at Old Church Bakery - 15% off at Janzen’s Paint & Decorating (all art supplies) - $2.00 off a 10lb box of farmer sausage from Country Meat Deli - Discounts on SAC Concert Series Package - 10% discount on SAC additional attractions, concerts, and events as stated - Reduced rental fees at SAC - Voting privileges at AGM Buy your membership online at steinbacharts.ca or call 204.346.1077.

Live Performance with Indigo Trio The Steinbach Arts Council is excited to bring Indigo Trio to Steinbach this spring.

Newly formed in 2021, Indigo Trio is made up of Jessie Ramsay (violin), John Sellick (viola), and Alyssa Ramsay (cello), who came together with the intention of creating beauty and meaning in the midst of the pandemic. Through the integration of classical music with folk music, popular music and fiddle tunes, they strive to create innovative and varied programming that will appeal to audiences of any age.

David Klassen, Director of Programming for the Steinbach Arts Council is excited to bring these accomplished artists to Steinbach.

“This ensemble is fresh, exciting, and energetic,” said Klassen. “It’s incredible when you realize the level of talent that is produced in our province.”

This live performance event will be

held at the Mennonite Heritage Village pavilion at 7:30 pm on April 23. Tickets are $20 for SAC members, $24 for non members, and are available to purchase through SteinbachArts.ca.

The Steinbach Arts Council’s 2021-2022 close-to-home concert series has been planned with a priority on the health and safety of our guests. All public health orders pertaining to performing arts events will be followed. Guests may be required to provide proof of vaccination. We may ask that masks be worn while moving through the performance venue and social distancing will be required.

There will be limited audience capacity, and therefore limited ticket availability.

Buy your tickets early to avoid disappointment. Visit SteinbachArts.ca for the most up-to-date ticket information or call Tara at 204-346-1077.

Arts Grants Heading to Southeast Organizations At the end of March the Manitoba Arts Council (MAC) announced the recipient organizations that will benefit from grants.

A few communities in the southeast will receive funds to put towards their projects.

The Comité culturel de Saint-Anne and the Comité culturel de La Broquerie will both receive $3,000 each to go towards their ideas.

Additionally, on February 28, MAC approved an award of $6,000 to the Hanover Agriculture Society towards their music and arts proposal.

The $12,000 from the MAC is part of a Manitoba Government commitment of nearly $4.8 million for the Arts and Culture Sustainability Fund.

Dawson Trail Dispatch

Current Programming All indoor programming requires preregistration. Call 204-320-4600.

Coffee Corner - Monday - Fridays from, 10 am – 12 pm.

Cards/Games - Monday - Thursday, (Monday Bridge, Tuesday Yahtzee, Wednesday Crib, Thursday Domino) from 1- 3 pm and Friday 10 am -1 pm (Phase10). Member $2/Non-Member $4.

Drumming – Tuesday 1 - 1:45 pm, Member $2/ Non-Member $4.

Badminton - Wednesday 12 – 3 pm. Preregister at patporteralc.com. Member $2/ Non-Member $4 PACE - Wednesday 1- 1:45 pm. Preregister, Member $2/ Non-Member $4.

Old Time Country Jam – Wednesday 7 – 9 pm. Member $2/ Non-Member $4.

Pickleball - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Fri 9 am-12:30 pm. Register at patporteralc.com.Member $2/Non-Member $4.

Beginner Pickleball – Tuesday & Thursday, 2 – 4 pm. Register at patporteralc. com. Member $2/ Non-Member $4.

Yoga with Carrie – Friday 9 – 10 am.

Old Time Country Dance - April 29, from 7 – 11 pm. Featuring “Highway 6 Band”. Cost: $12 for members, $15 for non-members. Tickets available now. No outside food and drinks.

Painting Class - Tuesday, April 26 at 1:30 pm. Join local artist Doug Enns for a painting workshop suitable for all skill levels. All supplies are provided with a registration fee of $20 for members or $25 for non-members. Please call 204320-4600 to register!

Steinbach Rockin’ Rollers - Sundays 5 – 7 pm. No skill required! No Roller Skating on April 17. A fun new roller skating program is now offered at the Centre. All skill levels and ages welcome, and no pre-registration required. Cost $5 ($3 for Pat Porter members). Please bring your own roller skates and proof of vaccination. We hope to see you there!

Easter Lunch - Thursday, April 14. $10 per meal. Available for delivery to residents of Steinbach or pickup at the Centre. Includes baked ham, scalloped potatoes, honey dill baby carrots, crisp salad, bun, and Carrot Cake. Orders Must be placed by Monday, April 11 at 4 pm.

Call 204-320-4600 to order. Payment can be cash, debit or credit.

Pancake Breakfast - Thursday, April 28, 9:30 am – 12 pm, $7 per person.

Start your morning off with a stack of pancakes and sausage from our Meals on Wheels kitchen.

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Potato- Cheddar and Cottage Cheese Perogies - Freshly made and for sale.

Handmade by staff at the Centre, these perogies are delicious and ready to be enjoyed. $7 per dozen. Please call 204320-4600 to order.

2022 Memberships - Now’s the time to purchase your 2022 membership.

Memberships are $30 each. Stop by the Centre to purchase yours. Why become a member?

- Decreased program rates - Discounts on special events - Discount on rentals of the building - Voting privileges at the Annual General Meeting - Supports the Centre directly so we can continue to provide programs, activities and services to you!

Foot & Calf Massage - By appointment! We are excited to be able to offer foot and calf massages at the Centre again. Treat your feet and calves to a relaxing massage. Our massage machines emulate the same techniques used by massage professionals and are a wonderful treat to incorporate into your day.

Appointments last 30 minutes and are $2 for members and $4 for non-members.

Call 204-320-4600 and treat your feet today!

Laughter for Health & Happiness - Join us weekly on Mondays from 1- 2 pm. Laughter Yoga with Pearl is a movement and breathing exercise, which aims to bring out your inner child, cultivate joy and help you get rid of daily stressors. $2 for members, $4 for non-members. Registration required call 204-320-4600.

Clinics: Footcare - Licensed Footcare Nurses will take care of your feet and make sure they stay healthy. Call 204-320-4600 to make an appointment.

Hearing Clinic - first Wednesday of the month. Call 1-800-661-2653 to make an appointment.

Breast Cancer Screening Clinic - May 2 – 27. Call 1-855-952-4325 for your appointment.

Tax Clinic - for low income individuals and families, call 204-989-1913 or Toll Free 1-833-215-3359 Community Financial Counselling Services.

Rentals - We have rooms of a variety of sizes and prices.

For pricing and room availability visit our website patporteralc.com, email programs@patporteralc.com or call 204320-4600.

Meals on Wheels - 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 $7 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’s 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. Visit our website patporteralc.com for a full price list. Services are available Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm.

To book a ride, call 204-326-4055. If your call is not answered, leave a message with the answering service. Appointments must be booked in advance to ensure availability.

Community Resources: - Transportation Program - Equipment Loan program - Friendly Visitor program - ERIK Please call 204-320-4600 if you require access to any of these resources.

Circle of Friends Adult Day Program - Our Circle of Friends program is designed to strengthen an individual’s ability to continue to function in their homes as well as remain active in the community. The program runs twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm. Transportation can be arranged through Steinbach Handi Van. What are some of the things we do?

We have lots of coffee and snacks; participate in light exercise and arts and crafts or games. We often have special guests who perform live music and go out for lunch in the community. For more information, please call 204-3204600.

Volunteering - All volunteer positions require a Criminal Record Check. To find out how you can help, call 204320-4600 or email programs@patporteralc.com.

For more information on our programs, activities or volunteer opportunities Monday to Friday 9 am - 4 pm.

Call Sonja at 204-320-4603 or the reception desk at 204-320-4600.

Mennonite Museum Receives Grant for Project Support The Mennonite Heritage Village has recently been awarded $9,000 through the Community Museum Project Support Program created by the Province of Manitoba.

The Community Museum Project Support Program is an eight-year initiative designed to fund museum activities that advance reconciliation, equity, diversity, inclusion, COVID-

19 recovery and collections management.

The program is allocating a total of $240,000 in 2022 to support museums.

April 2022

13

We Need Loyal Trustworthy Friends Philippian 2:19-23) …

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you, 20) I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. 21) For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22) But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.23) I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. (NIV) Strange how things change as we age; at times we think we are so independent that the friendship and help of others is not necessary. And yet even the apostle Paul says that he needed his friend Timothy to cheer him up. “There is no one like Timothy who has a real interest in you,” he says. “All the others seem to be worrying about their own plans and not those of Jesus Christ.”

The apostle Paul sounds like 100% of us. We all need companionship. Can you imagine what this world would be like without people who stand with us during the good times and tough times? Let us face it; we need friends to help us through life. Friends who share the same interests we do. These folks can make an enormous difference in our lives. Folks that have been helpful, gracious, and generous with their time... I must admit I sometimes think I do not need their help; I think I can go it alone. However, it does not take exceptionally long for me to come to my senses and find that I am not as independent as I thought I was.

Did you know that we are important to God? We are His greatest success story. He made us in His image. It was for the salvation of all of us that Christ went to the cross and died, and it will be for us that He will someday return. There are questions that I struggle with as a Christian today: Is my life being changed? Do my actions show growth in Christ? Am I more mature this year than I was last year?

What about my thought-life, is it becoming more Christlike? Being a Christ follower is a lifelong journey. God has called us to live lives as level-headed Christians. By that I mean our lives must be changed into the very image of Christ, so that we can reflect our faith in sensible ways.

As we grow in Christ likeness, we then will really have an impact on others in the year 2022.

Timothy and Paul experienced a deep friendship. Their ideas were much the same, they had the same vision, and they were in step with each other’s ministry. Their outlook or viewpoint on life was in line with each other’s thinking.

They could rely on one another for advice and help.

Paul and Timothy never tried to be a substitute for Jesus. Their messages were identical; that the love of Christ reaches out to us, waiting for us to reach back in faith to Him. They never tried to take the place of Christ. Their message was that Christ could change our hearts. No one else could turn our entire life around. Who else but Christ was able to remove not only our sins, our guilt, or shame or any other dark secrets in our past?

If Christ is our example, then we see that there is no cross without a crown. If we suffer because of Christ, we shall also reign with Him. We are God’s leading light in a dark age. No flame can shine brightly when it is covered. The Christian who brings honor to the Lord must seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit so not to grieve the Holy Spirit... 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 the peace in my heart that I yearn for. I want that peace, joy and happiness that fulfills my heart’s desire. Please let the Holy Spirit help me be the kind of Christian that will honour Your Name. Amen.”

14

April 2022

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

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).

Company Truck Stolen in Steinbach On March 31 Steinbach RCMP received a report of the theft of truck. A white 2000 Chevrolet Silverado with Manitoba License plate CGB304 was stolen from a business in Steinbach. The truck has “Silverfox Enterprise” decals on the side.

If you have information regarding this matter, please call Steinbach RCMP at 204-326-4452, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-2228477, or secure tip online at manitobacrimestoppers.com.

RCMP Search for Witnesses in Fatal Motor Vehicle Collision On March 8 at 1:25 pm, officers from Headingley/Stonewall as well as RCMP Central Traffic Services responded to a report of a multi-vehicle collision that occurred in the eastbound lane of Highway 1, located approximately 12 kilometres east of Elie.

The investigation has determined that a vehicle, being driven by a 61year-old female from Lorette, was travelling eastbound on Highway 1 when it was involved in a multi-vehicle collision due to the extremely poor driving conditions as a result of the winter storm passing through the area. The victim was transported to hospital in critical condition where on March 24 she succumbed to her injuries.

RCMP are requesting additional witnesses to come forward in relation to this collision or anyone who may have dash cam footage from the area, between the hours of 1:15 pm and 1:35 pm, to contact the Headingley/Stonewall RCMP at 204-888-0358.

Steinbach RCMP Make Five Arrests in Theft On February 3 Steinbach RCMP General Investigation Section (GIS), charged five Winnipeg males in relation to a string of trailer thefts that occurred between March 2020 and September 2021 in southern Manitoba.

The suspects would sell the stolen trailers using popular online buy and sell sites. These thefts took place in Steinbach, RM of Springfield, RM of West St. Paul, RM of Rosser and Stonewall. During the investigation 12 stolen trailers were recovered.

The men charged are Sukhraj Brar (42 years old) with theft over $5000 x 8, theft under $5000 x 2, possession of stolen property x 10, and fraud x 2; Love Deep Brar (18 years old) with theft over $5000 x 4, theft under $5000 x 1, possession of stolen property x 5, and fraud; Gupinder Singh (30 years old) with theft over $5000 x 5, theft under $5000 x 2, possession of stolen property x 6 and fraud; Jatinder Sandhu (35 years old) with theft over $5000 x 2, possession of stolen property x 2 and fraud; Bhalbhinder Gill (25 years old) with theft over $5000 x 2, possession of stolen property x 2 and fraud. They appeared in court on March 23.

During the search RCMP recovered off-road vehicles including one stolen from Steinbach. On March 22, as a result of an ongoing investigation, Lac du Bonnet RCMP executed a search warrant at a residence located in the RM of Lac du Bonnet.

The search resulted in the recovery of two side-by-sides as well as two snowmobiles which had been previously reported stolen from the City of Winnipeg and the City of Steinbach.

Officers arrested 43-year-old David Wagner, from Lac du Bonnet, and remanded him into custody on four counts of Possession of Property Obtained by Crime. Lac du Bonnet RCMP continues to investigate.

Dawson Trail Dispatch

Police Investigate Suspicious Death On March 23, at approximately 5:50 pm, Steinbach RCMP received a report of a disturbance at a residence located in the RM of Reynolds, just east of Richer.

Officers, along with EMS, attended to the residence and located a 39year-old male with critical injuries who was pronounced deceased on scene.

A 22-year-old male, who also resides at this residence and was not physically injured, was taken into custody.

Steinbach RCMP, along with Major Crime Services and RCMP Forensic Identification Services, continue to investigate.

Stolen RM of Hanover Truck Search Warrant Results in RM of Ste. Anne Resident Facing Numerous Charges On March 30 Steinbach RCMP and Steinbach General Investigation Section executed a search warrant in the RM of Ste. Anne.

Recovered from the warrant were over 60,000 unstamped illegal cigarettes, cocaine, methamphetamine, psilocybin (mushrooms), over $3,700 cash and 3 rifles and ammunition that were improperly stored.

James Armstrong (40 years old) was arrested, charged with three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, two counts of failure to comply with release order, and careless storage of firearms.

In regards with the possession of unstamped cigarettes, he also has three charges through the Criminal code, Excise Act and the Tax Administration and Miscellaneous Taxed Act (TAMPTA). The accused was remanded into custody.

On March 1 Steinbach RCMP received a report of a stolen truck from a RM of Hanover building in Blumenort. The suspect was able to access the storage building through the man door before stealing the truck, and exited utilizing a garage door opener that was inside the vehicle. The truck is described as being a white 2010 Ford F-150 bearing the Manitoba licence plate FTN 748 with “RM of Hanover Public Works” stickers on both doors.

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.

Be aware of happenings in your neighbourhood and report suspicious activity to the authorities.

Check on your neighbours.

Call 911 if you suspect a crime is in progress or has occured!

Dawson Trail Dispatch

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Our Rights to an Opinion

Recently I have been receiving some emails and DMs on social media in response to some opinion pieces in the Dispatch.

Some of the comments were critical demanding I stop allowing articles that did not create the narrative they prescribe to.

My response was simple. It is an opinion and whether I agree or disagree with the opinion written, I have for past 25 years allowed free thinking. This is what all media should strive for. Putting my slant and restricting what goes into a community newspaper is unfair and could be considered manipulation.

One detractor in his criticism basically said the opinions that don’t adhere to his view did not belong in the newspaper. While I offered to allow him (just like everyone else) to submit a response espousing his opinion, he proceeded to get more angry and eventually resorted to vulgarities.

An opinion according to the proper definition is: “o·pin·ion - a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. It is a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.”

Over the past few years (in my opinion) we have slowly polarized our thinking and have become more critical of those with any view other than ours. The concept of having an open-mind feels like it is taking a backseat to respectful discourse.

Radicalization, some politicians, and yes, some media outlets feed this beast. Putting blinders on creates a tunnel vision and this is not good for society. Respect for others slides away. Friendliness becomes rarer.

Families and friends become aloof.

I will always try my best to allow a diversity of opinions in this publication whether it be an editorial, opinion or letter to the editor. Diversity of

opinion feeds our ability to learn, research and grow as a society. It also creates advancements, and even maintains our comfort level with those around us. It broadens us, diverting us away from being egocentric.

To Abe… thank you for an apology that was not necessary. Your opinion is important. Your criticism of Ted Falk, our MP should not be silenced. Our MP would probably agree. He probably realizes not all would agree with his opinions or political ideology. He may not always agree with me but I have found that he and his staff are always willing to listen. You are invited to send in your public opinion and it would be given the same importance as our MP. To Nick (AKA Joy Joy, AKA themessengers123)… sorry I hurt your feelings, but again, not sorry for defending the rights of people to have an opinion. The sarcasm on my part was a build up of your inability to understand what an opinion is, and it naturally morphed into you eliciting my “opinion.” As mentioned in our dialog, you are more than welcome to add yours.

April 2022

15

Just Keep “Painting” In The Moment

By Arlene Derksen

His face cringed as yet another splash of 16th century paint dripped mockingly on his tired face.

“I am not in the right place… I am not a painter”. – Michelangelo Who would have thought these words would come out of this most famous painter’s mouth.

His most famous work of art during the Renaissance in the 16th century, the Sistine Chapel, took him 14 years to complete. (1508-1512).

Along with many laments characterizing his self-written poetry of his painting experience, Michelangelo penned these words, “This is torture”, “My brain is crushed,” “Every gesture I make is blind and aimless,” “my thoughts are crazy.” and “My painting is dead”.

14 years of these laments, torturing his mind. And yet he carried on and created one of the masterpieces of all masterpieces.

At the age of 74, Michelangelo was called to save Saint Peter’s Basilica, himself painting for many of those next 14 years and instructing other painter’s to complete his work the last years before he died at the age of 89.

How often don’t we “lament” over things we know we are called to do in our hearts, and speak to ourselves loudly some of the same poetic words of one of the ultimate Renaissance Masters?

“This is torture… My brain is crushed… Every gesture is blind and aimless… I am not a painter…

My painting is dead”.

We think our efforts are futile in our calling and passion because we may have this ever-present dialogue in our minds, perhaps 14 years or even more.

You may not be the painter of the Sistine Chapel over 400 years ago, but you may be the painter of the 21st century of encouragement, kindness, love generosity, hope, or even the best literal painter, along with all that looks like in our own unique gifts and passions.

Do you constantly cringe from the “paint drips”? The feeling that every step you take in your passion is “blind and aimless” and even “dead” as Michelangelo lamented, though his gift was clearly not dead.

Despite these constant thoughts and feelings, Michelangelo went on to paint and oversee the Saint Peter’s Basilica till the day he died at the age of 89.

89…

Take courage. Your thoughts and feelings don’t rule your abilities in your Passions. The world needs them. They are unique to only you on this planet of 7 billion. That fact alone makes your gift /passion priceless.

We can learn from this master painter of the 16th century. No matter or thoughts and feelings about our abilities and Passions.

Let the majestic colours of your unique gifts and passions colour your world with the brightest of the brightest hues only you can give.

But more than that find your encouragement/ truth from the ONE who is the author of those gifts and passions.

We may not reach 89 but we will all reach whatever day will be our last. Make each day count and despite your self-talk and discouragement, keep moving.

And… Just keep “painting.”

Tall Grass Stewardship Credit Pilot Program Applications Open Screenshot of conversation. One detractor in his criticism basically said the opinions that don’t adhere to his view did not belong in the newspaper. While I offered to allow him (just like everyone else) to submit a response espousing his opinion, he proceeded to get more angry and eventually resorted to vulgarities.

After the success of the first year of the Tall Grass Prairie Stewardship Credit Pilot Program in the RM of Stuartburn, they are opening up the application process to sign up and work with local landowners who have native prairie on their property and are looking to improve the quality and quantity of this habitat.

The Tall Grass Prairie Stewardship Credit Pilot Program is a two-year pilot program (2021/2022) delivered jointly by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and the RM of Stuartburn. The purpose of this program is to acknowledge the important role that locals have played in maintaining and protecting the rare habitats and species within the region and further support them in their efforts.

This program will pilot an approach in which participants will receive annual payments that are

directly tied to positive outcomes for the habitat on their property. By focusing on results, participants will be encouraged to use their expertise and experience, supported by a local advisor with the RM when needed, to create management plans which work best for both their own goals and the habitats and species on their property.

Participants, NCC, and the local advisor will sign a confidentiality agreement to assure that information about the participant’s property, including the presence of endangered and threatened species, will never be shared to organizations or parties outside of NCC and the program advisor.

If you are interested in applying or need more information, please contact Norm Gregoire at sarcommunityliaison@gmail.com or 204408-6166.

16

April 2022

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Service to Our Communities!

Dawson Trail Dispatch

Tache Councillor on Mission to Improve Waste Disposal Initiatives

By Dan Guetre

One RM of Tache Councillor has spent over 20 years bringing ideas to the municipality to create a more responsible process when it comes to waste disposal, something all municipal governments struggle with.

In early April, Councillor Jacques Trudeau will attend the Solid Waste Association of America (SWANA) Conference to be held in Banff on April 4-7. Upon returning and reporting to council, he is hoping to bring new information and initiates that the municipality could adopt to benefit residents and make the waste they produce less impactful on the environment and pocketbook.

Since the early 2000s Tache’s Organizational Bylaws have assigned the representative duties of SWANA to Trudeau. Around 2011, Trudeau was also elected to the Prairie Chapter of SWANA (now called Northern Lights Chapter, which now includes NWT) as 1 of 2 Manitoba Reps.

Trudeau has developed a keen interest in new ideas evolving in solid waste management.

“Going back in time [to] 1999, my first term in office, I attended AMM’s Municipal Official Seminar in Brandon with Mayor Danylchuk and another newly elected council member,” said Trudeau. “At the end of conference we were advised that SWANA was having a solid waste meeting and anyone interested could attend.

Knowing absolutely nothing about SWANA, I asked Mayor Danylchuk if we should attend. He said probably a good idea as we had just opened our new solid waste facility and organizing transfer station in Monominto.”

“Information is always good to have,” added Trudeau. “So we attended our first SWANA conference.”

Trudeau did not waste time proposing a new concept at council.

“At the new facility, Tache had small used oil collection containers which were not always being emptied in a timely fashion and often had mini accidental spills due to carelessness of clients,” explained Trudeau. “Well at conference we discovered that we could get a used oil collection metal building with a sealed bottom to protect environment, including a large volume tank which would be emptied on a regular basis and used oil and filters disposed of.”

After discovering the project cost of $25,000 would be cut in half if they signed up, Trudeau, Danylchuk and councillor Perrier presented it to council and after a unanimous approval, the project was put in the queue to build.

“Once received, installed and operational our used oil and oil filter collection grew,” said Trudeau. “I am proud to report that for at least the past 10 years we have been

Jacques Trudeau, a councillor with the RM of Tache is proud of the work his municipality has taken on over the years to create a more environmentally beneficial and cost effective waste disposal plan.

Photo by Jeannette Fréchette

achieving the highest volumes of used oil collection in Manitoba. At first we were happy to collect and get rid of used oil at no cost. Today we are receiving a small annual revenue from used oil and filters.”

Trudeau is also proud of council’s decision to dig a collection cell and evaporate the leachate (water that gets contaminated by garbage).

This project was developed with their engineering firm who so happened to have a young engineer associated with SWANA. “He had knowledge of how to collect leachate and how to dispose of it,” explained Trudeau. “The standard option was to truck it to Winnipeg’s sewage treatment plants... a very expensive solution, plus not knowing how long Winnipeg would allow us to haul to their plant.”

Working with the engineer and SWANA, Tache found a less expensive and environmentally sound solution.

“We have been doing this for many years now,” said Trudeau.

“Tache had one of the first leachate evaporations site in Canada. We had to experiment with different

site for used shingles [and] may be looking at collecting used mattresses,” said Trudeau. “They take a lot of airspace in land fill and metal springs in mattresses cause equipment damage.

Used mattresses could be shipped to Mother Earth Recycling in Winnipeg to be disassembled and mattress material recycled.”

Through SWANA a program called Clean Farms had been organized in Alberta, Saskatchewan and is now in Manitoba.

“It will now be active at Tache’s solid waste facility,” said Trudeau.

Clean farm collects used plastic grain bags, silage plastic covers, bale twine and more from farms and agribusinesses.

A number of years ago Manitoba Government re-classified solid waste facilities. “Tache’s solid waste facility was classified as a “Class 1 by the Province, which means we must operate on tighter Provincial rules, regulations and licensing,” explained Trudeau.

“Information is always good to have.” types of pumps, spray nozzles and take wind direction and speed into consideration.”

Initially, SWANA was more active in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Both provinces were innovative in reducing waste by using zero waste principles and practices. Eventually Manitoba became more interested in those principles also.

According to Trudeau, when Manitoba moved forward it started by organizing used paint, electronic waste, fluorescent tubes, used tire collection programs and much more. He even sees these programs expanding every year.

“In Tache we have developed a

“Approximately 5 years ago, the Government of Manitoba was looking for an organization to train land fill operators and staff to manage facilities,” added Trudeau. “I was instrumental along with Sheri Praski the SWANA NLC administrator in convincing our provincial government to accept SWANA NLC as official land fill operators’ trainer.”

“Through SWANA, Tache has also gathered information for future biodegradable site or composting site,” said Trudeau.

He explained that the municipality’s practices in the past were also actually shortening the lifespan of their municipal waste disposal sites.

“At the Tache solid waste facility we had been using a caterpillar/ dozer to push and compact solids,” explained Trudeau. “At SWANA conferences we learned that we were not getting much compaction with our equipment and were wasting a lot of airspace.”

Approximately 3 years ago Tache council purchased a used land fill compactor to run over garbage to break it down and compact it.

Ultimately, this now extends the useful life of each cell which will also extend the useful life of their acreage and facility.

A few years ago council members had noticed that there were operational issues at their solid waste facility.

“To me it was clear that we needed a third party operational assessment of our solid waste site and transfer station,” said Trudeau.

“I suggested to Council that we find someone through SWANA to do operational assessment. Council accepted the suggestion.”

“Through his contacts, he found an experienced solid waste operator, who also did landfill assessments,” said Trudeau. “Over a 3 day period he visited the landfill and transfer station. He observed, spoke with staff, management and clients. He then prepared a report exposing our strengths and weaknesses. He also provided suggestions and/or guidelines as to how we could improve our facilities’ operations.”

Trudeau believes managing solid waste is always changing through materials collected, rules and regulations. He is confident that innovative solutions do exist for most problems. He also is an advocate for continuous training to keep up with times and prepare for the future.

He is excited to attend the conference and hopeful that when he returns he will have ideas to share with his council that could benefit the residents of the municipality.

He is also grateful to be re-elected to SWANA NLC Board for another 2 year term as a Manitoba Rep and believes there are many benefits and information to be gained and shared that outweigh the costs of membership.