Dauphin was one of more than 50 communities across the country to recognize the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine with a candlelight vigil, Friday evening.

After an opening prayer, Ukraine’s national anthem was sung by a local folk singing group.

Various dignitaries spoke to the crowd of about 100 people who braved the cold temperatures to attend and show their support for Ukraine.

Organizer Stephen Jaddock was pleased with the attendance, noting the temperature was crisp even though it had warmed up a few degrees from earlier in the week.

“I was telling the speakers to make sure they were dressed appropriately and be able to handle it,” he said. “And you know what? It went about 45 minutes, so that’s quite the amount of time to be out in this weather. But I’m happy with the turnout.”

Because of the city’s Ukrainian heritage and culture, Jaddock wanted Dauphin to be part of the vigils being held nationwide.

“We wanted to make sure that Dauphin was on the map with the communities across Canada that were doing this, over 50, so I’m very happy that Dauphin was included in that number,” he said.

The recurring theme of the evening was that the war must end as soon as possible.

“We just wanted to say that the war in Ukraine is a terrible thing and that it needs to end. And also that we’re very thankful that families have chosen to come to Dauphin and we’ve been able to help them out with the volunteers and the great people that we have in the community of Dauphin and the Parkland area,” Jaddock said. “It was a great message and I’m pleased that it was able to get out.”

A number of the families that have relocated to Dauphin were in attendance and Jaddock feels events such as this will send a message to them that the community is here to support them.

“We’ve got the Ukrainian culture here. And it was so nice for the City of Dauphin to make sure that the Ukrainian flag was flying today. They made a special effort to make sure that was happening,” he said. “And I know that when the war broke out, the Ukrainian flag was flying in the City of Dauphin for many, many days. So it was so good to see. And again, it just speaks to the support that we have here.”

Like everyone in attendance, Jaddock hopes the war in Ukraine ends soon.

Since the war started one year ago, five million civilians have been forced to leave Ukraine and more than eight million are internally displaced.

After freezing municipal operating grants for seven years, the Manitoba government has announced an increase in the annual basket funding it provides municipalities to help fund their operations.

And while the exact impact of the 28 per cent increase for the City of Dauphin remains to be seen, it is enough to change the conversations elected officials are having around the 2023 financial plan, mayor David Bosiak said, adding he expects the figure to be around $170,000 or $180,000.

“We were forewarned in some of our earliest meetings this year that inflation in particular, but other things were really going to impact our ability to come up with a budget so this is good news absolutely. As we were looking at this year’s budget, very preliminarily so far, costs are up and so we have to find ways to deal with that. So this announcement will certainly help,” Bosiak said. “The unfortunate part is that it probably just makes up for the lack of funding in the last six or seven years, if you calculate cost of living, even averaging at two per cent a year. It’s a nice chunk of change, but it would have been nice to have that in years previous, as well. But I’m not going to scowl and say, ‘bad Province.’ I’m very happy that they made that decision and it’ll be good for us.”

All municipalities will receive a minimum 24 per cent increase in 2023 to address inflationary impacts. With this increase of up to $47 million, the 2023 municipal operating grant will grow to $217 million from $170 million.

It is still early in the city budgetting process, Bosiak said. The capital budget has been thoroughly examined, he added and is all but set.

“It’s the operating budget that we’re still in the process of working on and I know that there were some hard decisions that were going to need to have be made if we weren’t going to consider increasing taxes,” he said. “I can’t speak for the rest of council, but it’s been very clear to us that a tax raise is likely. But now I don’t know if it’s going to be or not, or how much it will be, based on this particular announcement.”

Council is holding a planning session in early March to plot a strategy for the next four years, which will absolutely have budget implications, Bosiak said, adding he is looking forward to the process. There are other things impacting the budget which are out of council’s control such as utilities, fuel and salaries.

“But there’s some very variable costs on some of the projects we’d like to do,” Bosiak said. “And that’s where I’m hopeful that the increases in our fixed costs related to fuel and heating and those other things, that we will have some room to have some very thoughtful discussion on the things that we want to put in this year. And everything’s going to be validated, so it’s based on what the rest of council and administration believe we have to do as a city going forward.”

And the added money from the province will help the new mayor and council to makes ends meet and, hopefully, move forward on some of their plans.

“If we’re really short a lot of money, it’s not the stuff that you have to pay for that goes first, it’s all those good things that need to be trimmed,” Bosiak said, adding he is hopeful the extra dollars will help offset cost increases in areas such as fuel, snow clearing and upcoming negotiations with employee unions.

“Council, the three incumbents, the three new councillors and myself, are now going to be looking forward and saying, ‘okay, so now the province has increased its funding, maybe getting us back to a bit of an even keel, what are those things that we think are truly important for our community?’ And they will likely be in the discussion longer now than if it was a situation where we’re short, we have to raise taxes, we have to cut programs or services and we’re still looking at a deficit. So it’s going to make the decisions maybe a little bit easier, but this isn’t like winning the lottery.”

It may not have been the coldest night of the year, but it wasn’t far off.

However, with windchills of -30C and below, it was enough to have Dauphin’s edition of the Coldest Night of the Year walk cancelled for this year.

So instead, participants gathered in the back hall of the Dauphin Friendship Center for a presentation and enjoyed chili and a bun. Participants are still encouraged to walk whenever they see fit and to post photos and videos online.

As of Saturday evening, the event raised $23,701 or 133 per cent of its $20,000 goal.

This year marks the first time in the event’s seven-year history in Dauphin that the fund-raising goal has been surpassed and donations will still be accepted until Mar. 31.

Proceeds are earmarked for the Food for Thought  program. Next year’s walk will be held, Feb. 24, 2024.

Since age three, Pacey Wall has relied on the Health Science Centre Children’s Hospital due to intestinal failure.

Even after more than 30 surgeries and countless days in hospital, Pacey is a resilient child with a great attitude who greets everyone he meets with a smile and a wave – making him perfect for his new role as 2023 Champion Child for Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Meet the CHF’s Champion Child in this issue.

The Parent Advisory Council (PAC) at Roblin Elementary School is looking for a few good women and men.

“We have 10 members right now but we’re losing five come June so we need to recruit desperately,” said the council’s current and outgoing chair Mary Newton.

Want to know more? Check out this week’s issue.

Roblin Fire & Rescue Chief Alf Brade had high praise for the students and staff of Roblin Elementary School. The school was forced to evacuate Thursday just before the noon hour because of a fire alarm.

“They did everything right,” Brade said. “They didn’t waste any time, everybody got out and went straight to the high school, just like they’re supposed to do.”

Read the rest of the story in this week’s Review.

For Shannon Saise-Marshall, finding out about her family would be a journey that would take her from England to Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN). Her parents passed away when she was quite young leaving her to be put up for adoption. She was on a journey to find out her identity and family connection, and was able to do get the process started through the help of her Nana Peggy.
In 1943, Canadian soldier, Sergeant Peter Partridge was stationed in London, England. It was here where Saise-Marshall’s story would begin and then it would get lost amongst the turmoil of the war. Sergeant Partridge had an affair with Peggy that resulted in the birth of Saise-Marshall’s biological father.

As part of the provincial government’s strategy to reduce red tape, they’ve made changes to the angling regulations, which will come into effect as of April 1. One of the most notable changes to take place will be the elimination of the two categories of fishing licences, conservation and regular, with the replacement of a single annual licence for each residency type.
“There are a significant number of changes that will be implemented,” said a Provincial Spokesperson. “Some of the more prominent changes include moving to one annual angling licence and one possession limit for each fish species, replacing the two-tier fish limits of conservation and regular. There will also be changes to angling licence fees and a one-day angling licence option will be implemented.

Representatives from both the provincial government and the Manitoba NDP Party were in attendance at this year’s Manitoba Trappers’ Festival. This history of the Manitoba Trappers’ Festival runs deep and is one of the oldest winter festivals in Manitoba. It started in 1916, as The Pas Dog Derby, and has grown extensively over the years, to also include the World Championship Dog Race.
Manitoba’s Natural Resources and Northern Development Minister Greg Nesbitt was in attendance for the grand opening of this year’s Trappers’ Festival.
“The Manitoba government congratulates the Northern Manitoba Trappers’ Festival and recognizes the unique opportunity it offers for visitors to experience traditions and activities with a special connection to northern wilderness,” said Nesbitt. “I would encourage all Manitobans to visit the Northern Manitoba Trappers’ Festival in The Pas and take part in this iconic Manitoba tradition.

It’s been about a decade in the making but thanks to the efforts of a few community minded enthusiasts, the sport of snowmobile drag racing is making a comeback in a big way in this area.

On Sunday, February 12, 2023, racers and spectators gathered just north of Russell to watch the second annual Russell - Gambler Snowmobile drag races. About 100 snowmobile drag racers came together from provinces as far afield as Alberta and Ontario to battle for the best and fastest of their class. The Russell-Gambler Snowmobile Drag Races ran 15 different classes, resulting in 100 heats of high-speed snowmobile racing.

Garry Naherniak, Anthony Longclaws and Richard Shingoose had been organizing and operating snowmobile drag races for 10 years in Waywayseecappo First Nation, before Garry proceeded to bring the event to Russell. Naherniak hosted the first races in March of 2020 which were a huge success. Then, like so much else, the event had to come to a halt for a few years. Now Garry has once again brought the racing circuit back - this time with the help of the chief and council and the people of Gambler First Nation.

Check this week's Banner for more!