Nickel Belt News Volume 61 • Issue 15
Friday, April 16, 2021
Thompson, Manitoba
Serving the Norman Region since 1961
Stray dog and nine puppies have Cross Lake RCMP officer as foster mom
RCMP photos Stray new mom Goldie, right, and her nine puppies, above, have a temporary home with the Cross Lake RCMP officer who responded to a call about the dogs while she arranges for them to be transported to Winnipeg with the help of the Manitoba Animal Alliance. A Cross Lake RCMP officer took a stray dog named Goldie and her nine puppies in as foster pets after finding them on the deck of a home April 8. RCMP received a call about the mother dog and her puppies around 9:30 a.m. last Thursday and
Const. Stacey Shearer attended the residence and determined that the dogs were strays. “Everyone helps out as much as they can in the community,” said Shearer in a press release, “and I just try to do my part, so when I discovered Goldie
didn’t have a home, I took her and her pups in. They were only a few days old. They still had their umbilical cords attached.” Shearer is arranging for the dogs to be transported to Winnipeg with the help of the Manitoba Animal Alliance, in what is some-
thing of a habit for her, as she has fostered and rescued hundreds of dogs, in addition to having two of her own. “We work closely with the community and rescue organizations when there are dogs that need assistance,” said Shearer of her-
self and her fellow Cross Lake officers. “We are all dog lovers and are happy to help out when we can. I personally have had dogs, and tried to help as many as I can, my whole life.” “Working in a close-knit community like Cross Lake means that we get involved
in many ways that may not be considered traditional policing roles – like helping rescue dogs,” said Cross Lake RCMP detachment commander Staff Sgt Greg Sutherland. “I am really grateful for Const. Shearer’s dedication to helping in any way she can.”
Manitoba budget projects $1.6 billion deficit, freezes rent increase guidelines for 2022 and 2023 BY IAN GRAHAM
EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
Manitoba announced a 202122 budget of approximately $16.7 billion with a projected deficit of $1.597 billion April 7. A little more than 40 per cent of the total budget – $6.98 billion – is going into health care, including $1.2 billion for COVID-19 costs and contingency funds for future needs. Overall health spending is going up by $156 million from the previous year. Education accounts for about $3 billion, including $5.5 million in special needs funding, $4 million for a virtual learning strategy to support online, distance and remote learning for all Manitoba students and $5 million to advance the province’s planned education reforms, which include amalgamating school divisions and getting rid of elected school board trustees. The government is also supporting the creation of 200 new child care spaces, 50 of them in licensed home-based centres, and freezing child-care fees for three years. Post-secondary tuition fee increases are bing capped at 3.75 per cent for
university tuition and $250 per college program in the upcoming academic year. The use of municipal property taxes to help fund public education will begin to be phased out this year, with residential and farm property owner getting a 25 per cent education property tax rebate and owners of other types of properties a 10 per cent rebate. Vehicle registration fees will be reduced by 10 per cent in July and tax-exemption amounts and income tax brackets will be adjusted for inflation, adding 1,500 more low-income Manitobans to the already 11,000 who didn’t have to pay provincial income tax. Other cost-controlling measures include freezing rent increase guidelines for 2022 and 2023 and raising the payroll tax exemption threshold to $1.75 million and the threshold below which a reduced rate is paid from $3 million to $3.5 million. Northern-specific spending includes $1.3 million for the Northern Healthy Foods Initiative and $4 million for health and safety expenditures in Northern Affairs communities,
including the improvement of water systems and of sewage treatment and disposal systems. Finance Minister Scott Fielding’s budget speech also included vague promises without a price tag attached about increasing broadband internet con-
nectivity in rural, remote and Indigenous communities ands creating new opportunities for remote working to encourage the hiring of civil servants from rural and Northern Manitoba. “Despite the ongoing financial and economic challenges
posed by the pandemic, this budget continues to make record investments in the priority public services that Manitobans rely on,” said Fielding in a press release. “We will grow our way out of deficit and back into balance by investing in more
jobs, tax relief and economic growth.” The province projects that Manitoba’s economy will grow by 4.1 per cent in 2021 and 3.6 per cent in 2022 and plans to return to a balanced budget within eight years.
Manitoba hiring five extra initial-attack forest firefighting crews for upcoming wildfire season Wildfire season is still a way off in Northern Manitoba but the provincial government is implementing various fire prevention and protection measures around the province to help mitigate the risk of damage. Restrictions on travel and burning have already been implemented in parts of southern and central Manitoba, where there were dry conditions due to low moisture levels resulting from lower-than-normal snow accumulations over the winter. Manitoba Wildfire Service weather stations across the province are being upgraded and the province is spending $774,000 for salaries and other costs in order to hire five additional initial-attack crews
consisting of 25 members for the wildfire season. The crews will be assigned to existing bases around the province where they are needed. Rapid COVID-19 testing will be implemented at Manitoba Wildfire Service bases for the safety of staff. The Manitoba Wildfire Service has spent $460,000 on prevention and mitigation programming efforts over the past year, developing a print publication called “Blazing the Trail – Celebrating Indigenous Fire Stewardship” that is relevant to Indigenous communities and helps promote actions to encourage wildfire resilience. The Boreal Discovery Centre in Thompson also received support for an ex-
hibit and educational outreach that covers boreal forest fire ecology, fire weather and Indigenous fire management. Remote lodges and outfitters have also been assisted with obtaining specialized sprinkler systems and FireSmart planning and programming to help ensure that they are able to protect themselves from approaching wildfires until the Manitoba Wildfire Service can respond. $2.6 million has also been committed for avionics and communications upgrades for Manitoba’s water bomber fleet to enable them to be deployed to the United States if assistance is required and they are not currently needed in Manitoba.