Dauphin fire chief Cam Abrey was pleased to report a positive staffing situation for the Dauphin Fire Department as part of his report on the department’s operations for the first quarter of 2026 to Dauphin city council at its regular meeting, May 25.
“For the first time since 2019, we’re currently at a full number of roster membership on the department,” Abrey said, adding there are currently 42 department members.
“In looking at our members, we have five with firefighting level one, 14 that have completed their level two, six in the process of completing their firefighting level before July 1 of this year. Then, the recent recruiting efforts have bolstered our membership where we’ll hopefully have 17 individuals start their formalized training for firefighting level one this September. Those individuals are on the department right now and taking part in training, just not for level one.”
The full roster takes some pressure off of veteran department members, who, at times have difficulty trying to balance their personal lives, careers, and commitment to the fire department, Abrey added, pointing to a trend which has seen a steady increase in calls between 2005 and 2025.
In terms of operations over the first three month of 2026, Abrey said the department had 60 emergency responses, a 23 per cent increase over the same time period in 2025.
False alarms continue to be ranked as the highest in call volume, at 37 per cent, followed by motor vehicle accidents at 25 per cent, kitchen fires at 10 per cent, EMS lift assists at 10 per cent, and structure fires at eight per cent.
“One thing to note . . . we had three structure fires, one quite large. All of those as a result of cooking fires and all properties were insured by the owners, but they had renters in them and in two of the three they had no tenants insurance,” Abrey said.
“It is something we encourage through the fire department, that all tenants get tenants insurance. We also encourage property owners to ensure that their tenants have contents insurance, so that they’re looked after, as well.”
Other call categories include vehicle fires, which accounted for three per cent of calls, outdoor fires at two per cent, carbon monoxide alarms at two per cent, and a catchall “other” category, which accounted for three per cent of department responses.
Training continues to be a major focus for the department, Abrey said, adding three members recently completed their firefighting level on practical exams ahead of written exams they will write later this month. In addition, four local firefighters will travel to Brandon in the coming days for written and practical exams for hazardous material awareness and operation certification.
In early April several members travelled to Roblin for ice rescue training on Goose Lake.
“That’s the first time in a number of years that we’ve been able to host the ice rescue training in this area,” Abrey said, adding Goose Lake is also the perfect location for surface water rescue training, which is set to take place later this summer.
April also saw a farm accident rescue seminar hosted locally on behalf of the mutual aid district, which included several local firefighters, as well as two from Pine River, one from Roblin and four from Swan River.
A school bus rescue seminar was also set for this past weekend, Abrey added.
“This assists students with the knowledge and practical skills required with mass casualty motor vehicle incidents,” Abrey said.
“We typically host this program once every two years and again we have several members that are enrolled in the training and we’ll be working alongside others from Robin and Swan River fire departments.”
A new district training plan is in the works to being in September and carry through to June 2027.
“We typically get together with the 11 fire departments in the district, decide what courses are needed and then make our submission to the Emergency Services College,” Abrey said, adding the college puts out calls to instructors in an effort to solidify dates.
“Once we have dates finalized, then our students can begin their variety of specialized training opportunities.”
Finally, Abrey provided council with an update on the fire station assessment, which took place recently
The final report from Sputnik Architecture indicated, “the fire station is structurally serviceable, but exhibits aging infrastructure, localized moisture damage, and functional inefficiencies. With targeted roof and envelope rehabilitation, improved mechanical integration, and space reorganization, the facility can continue to operate safely until full replacement or major retrofit.”
The report also included Class C estimates for a proposed addition which ranged from $5,689,640 to $6,541,121.
Fully realizing there is not enough funding available for the entire project, Abrey has met with Project and Development manager Justin Tokarchuk to prepare estimates for priority roof revitalization, electrical upgrades and HVAC improvements.
“We are hoping to have estimates on some of that work ready for the 2027 budget, and we’ll, obviously, be exploring some potential provincial and federal grant programs to assist with those project costs.”

People making their way between the north gate of Riding Mountain National Park and the City of Dauphin will now be travelling on the Lt.-Col. William G. Barker VC Highway.
The Manitoba government officially renamed the section of PTH 10 at a special gathering Friday at the Dauphin airport, which also bears the name of the locally-born World War One ace.
Local historian Al Gray, along with Hugh Arklie, a Winnipeg-based fan of Barker’s accomplishments, spearheaded the push to have the highway renamed as a further tribute to Dauphin’s most famous son. Along with the airport and the highway, the local air cadet squadron and a Kindergarten to Grade 5 school are named after Barker, as is a United Kingdom’s 7th Poseidon Marine Patrol aircraft stationed at RAF Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland.
“We started with the process of Whitmore and Main to the north gate of Riding Mountain. It is 10 miles. We could have gone a little further maybe, but I learned a long time ago not to be greedy,” Gray said.
“I’m so honoured that through the efforts of Hugh and I, through the courtesy of Ron and staff that we’re here today. I couldn’t be more proud.”
Representing the provincial government at the ceremony Agriculture Minister and Dauphin MLA Ron Kostyshyn highlighted the significance of the tribute for the community.
“This recognition helps honour his legacy and ensures future generations understand the important role he played in both Canadian history and our local heritage,” said Kostyshyn.
“These signs will serve as a lasting tribute to Lt.-Col. Barker’s remarkable legacy and connection to our region for years to come.”
The renaming initiative received strong public support, as well, from both the City and Rural Municipality of Dauphin.
“The people of Dauphin care deeply about the city’s history,” mayor David Bosiak said.
“It is truly appropriate that the major highway leading into the city from the south bears the name of one of our finest heroes.”
Barker is widely recognized as one of Canada’s most decorated war heroes. During the First World War, Barker was credited with 50 aerial victories and is the most decorated military member in Commonwealth history, receiving the Victoria Cross, the Distinguished Service Order with bar and the Military Cross with two bars.
Born on a farm near Dauphin, he enlisted in the Canadian Mounted Rifles in late 1914, later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. He later earned a reputation as a daring pilot on the Western and Italian fronts.

Dauphin city councillors gathered for a special meeting, May 19, to lend their support to a proposed housing development.
The Willow Lake Properties proposal involves the construction of a 45-unit apartment building adjacent to Riverside Road as phase one of a larger, $11 million development, which will include affordable rental units to help address local housing needs.
At the meeting, council approved an incentive package to aid in the development and provided a letter demonstrating the need for housing in the community as the developers seek Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation support for the project.
“The request came from the developer. They’re trying to make their budget work so that this project can actually go ahead. For them to make the numbers work and for this project to go ahead, they were looking at the City of Dauphin to provide them with an incentive package,” Dauphin Economic Development manager Martijn van Luijn said, adding the City has provided incentives for all major developments in the community over the past several years.
“For this much needed development to go ahead the developers requested that we provide the water and sewer install from the nearest access point.”
The estimated cost of making the water and sewer connections to the development from the intersection of Riverside Road and Main Street South is estimated at $460,000.
But that number represents service for more than just the Willow Lake Properties project. With 60 acres of land behind the project also awaiting development, the City is also ensuring it is prepared to service that land when it is developed.
“I’ve been working with council to be proactive when it comes to development,” van Luijn said.
“We need the housing, there’s no doubt about it. If that means that we need to invest up front and that entices others to develop, that might sound as us taking a risk, but I think it’s a calculated risk. It’s something that you need to do as a municipality to be able to get people to come and develop.”
And development is badly needed, van Luijn said, adding he tried to stress that in the letter to CMHC.
“CMHC was not convinced that Dauphin needed additional housing, which is mindboggling,” he said, adding CMHC was probably relying on high level statistical data, which shows the depopulation in the Parkland as a whole.
“I provided as much data as possible in this letter, for example, a recent growth in the immigrant population and the fact that city hall gets daily phone calls from people looking for a place to live,” van Luijn said, adding Manitoba Health numbers show a population growth and he encouraged CMHC to research that.
With the new community justice centre and the new day care facility coming down the pipe, the need is only going to grow, van Luijn added.
“I put this whole package together in the hope that the developer can convince the financier to become a partner in his project.
“We’re just trying to support this as much as we can and at the same time, trying to think ahead and get ready for the future.”
Agreeing to the incentive package in principle, council will consider the $460,000 in funding as part of its 2027 budget deliberations.

Everything is set for a celebration of learning at Dauphin’s annual graduation powwow, May 21, at Selo Ukraina.
Niigaani Miikana - The Road Forward - Graduation Powwow is about celebrating all people no matter where they are in their life’s journey, said Carole Shankaruk, co-ordinator of Indigenous Education at Mountain View School Division.
“It’s not just focussed solely on Grade 12s and postsecondary students, it’s focussed on all of us on our life journey in transitional moments,” she said.
“This year our focus is around this concept of the road forward. So we’ll start with the Head Start students that are coming into our Kindergartens and then our Kindergarteners coming into Grade 1. Then we’ll focus on our elementary students coming into the Mackenzie middle years, then our Grade 8s coming into the high school and then our high school and post-secondary coming into the workforce.”
Organized in conjunction with Assiniboine College, Dauphin Friendship Centre and Dauphin’s Countryfest, Shankaruk said the goal was to organize a community event and everything is coming together beyond her expectations.
Artisans and other vendors, food trucks, entertainer and community organizations, such as Prairie Mountain Health, Kids Help Phone, MMF, Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth and Service Canada are all confirmed.
“We reached out and the community is really responding. We have almost 2,000 people registered to date. We also know that there will be lots of people who attend who aren’t registering, so we know that number is going to be higher,” Shankaruk said,
“So, it's going to be an amazing community event.”
On top of the powwow dancing and drum groups, there will also be cultural workshops, crafting activities and entertainment.
“It’s fluid. Let’s say a teacher has a class of Grade 2s and they’re feeling a bit overwhelmed. They can take some quiet time in the hall where they could do some beading work or they could make their own personal talking stick. Or we have storytelling going on there,” Shankaruk said.
“People don’t have to sign up. They can just come and go as it works in their schedule.”
The day gets underway at 9 a.m. and runs to 3 p.m., with a traditional feast planned for lunch.
Transportation will also be provided for those who need it. Pickups are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. at the Dauphin Friendship Centre and 9:45 a.m. at Dauphin Marketplace Mall.
Shankaruk hopes people make an effort to attend as the time is right to celebrate community.
“Coming out of the pandemic, there’s been lots of challenges for people and our youth. We know that a lot of people are struggling with mental health,” she said.
“As a community we need to we need to come together and this is a perfect time and event.
“It totally is about being together.”

With just a couple of months until the 2026 edition of Dauphin’s Countryfest, organizers have launched a new promotion to put more people in the stands.
The Two Step and Stay program is offering a free campsite in the Fisher regular campground for anyone purchasing two general admission weekend passes for the regular price of $738 plus fees and taxes.
The promotion, Countryfest president Duane McMaster said, is about topping up an already fantastic crowd.
“Ticket sales have been good. We’ve sold more than twice as many as we did last year, the most sales we’ve had post covid. So things are moving along, but we still have tickets to sell,” McMaster said.
“Right now we’re looking at maybe 7,500 to 8,000 people there each day and we’re still selling tickets. I’d like to see it full again.”
Given the resources put into the lineup, this year the board opted to offer only weekend passes over single day admission. At this point, that is still the plan, McMaster said.
“We always want people to come for the weekend, right. We don’t want it to be about one day. We want people to come and enjoy the event for the entire weekend,” he said, adding the board will meet later this month to re-evaluate the situation.
“We don’t want to, but if it becomes a necessity, we will. But we want to have a weekend event, we’ve always wanted that.”
With everyone talking about Saturday headliner Jelly Roll, one of the hottest acts in music right now, people are forgetting about the entertainment available throughout the rest of the weekend, McMaster said.
“Everybody's really excited about Jelly Roll, but we have good entertainment on every night, Nate Smith, Tyler Hubbard. We have Brett Kissel, Blackhawk, we’ve got a lot of really good names,” McMaster said.
“We want people to come see the whole event. We don’t want it to just be a Jelly Roll concert with camping.”
While competition for entertainment dollars is tight, McMaster believes Countryfest rises above other options in not only quality of entertainment, but also in convenience and overall experience.
“The thing about Countryfest is you can pull in there on Thursday and park and you don’t have to move again until Monday. You can stay there and enjoy the entire weekend. There’s food vendors there, you’ve got your camping, you’ve got showers, you’ve got ice. Everything you need is there,” he said.
“We’ve got an incredible lineup. We have, in my opinion, the best site for an outdoor event, an outdoor music event, in Western Canada for sure, and probably in Canada overall. There’s not a bad seat in the house. We’re on the edge of a national park. It’s just beautiful, and we’ve got everything you need.”
McMaster said the volunteer board works hard to create an event worthy of people spending their hard earned money on and he believes they have achieved that goal.
“We have great value for money in my opinion. I know it’s not just the price of the ticket, but we figured it out. I think it was last year that the price of a weekend pass worked out to $6 a band. I don’t know if that’s the same this year, but it will be pretty close to that,” he said.
“I think we’ve got a great lineup. I think we’ve got a great venue. We just need people to come out and support us and keep us around. We do an awful lot of good in the community. We bring a lot of business and a lot of economic impact to Dauphin. That’s something that we need to keep supporting here.”
For those wanting to get in on the Two Step and Stay promotion, tickets are available on Ticketmaster.