Amy Jackson has always been the kind of person that pushes the envelope. She is unapologetic, smart, funny and driven and as a result has built a successful business based on all that makes her deadly. Her passion for being who she is and encouraging others to celebrate who they are, combined with an amazing sense of humour has helped her created a business that not only makes you laugh but also makes you think. Native Love Notes started as a way to for Jackson to deal with isolation of the pandemic and has now grown into a success Indigenous business, producing and selling not only stickers but posters, cards, buttons, notebooks, clothing and more
“I’ve always been the kind of person that likes to push the envelope. I like to say controversial things. I like to make people think. I like to make people uncomfortable, well not everyone - but white people - I just feel like I like turning things on their head because for a lot of my life I’ve been made to feel uncomfortable in my body and my community. In places that I go to in town and when I’m visiting in the city, the way I’m looked at in restaurants and you know what, as I got older I’m just like f**k it, I’m gonna turn it over on its head and do it right back, I’m gonna return that energy,” Jackson said,

Margaret Barbour Collegiate Institute band students were joined by students from across the north in a one day, mass band exchange earlier this month.
Joining The Pas students were musicians from RDPC in Thompson as well as Hapnot Collegiate in Flin Flon for a total of 117 band and choir students. Band students worked on three mass band pieces: "Spring" by Randall Standridge was directed by Ms. Heather Gibson (Band Director at MBCI); "Latinesque" by Bruce Preuninger was directed by Mrs. Kim Jones (Band Director at Hapnot); "Spirit of the Wolf" by Michael Oare was directed by Mr. Kevin Lewis (Band director at RDPC)

For the last 25 years, the Vision Quest Conference has provided an opportunity to create a positive impact on the Indigenous business community and youth by providing information, encouragmeent and enlightenment. The conference is a celebration of both business and culture and this year was no exception.
A community based organization, Vision Quest was formed through partnerships with five Community Futures Development Corporations (Cedar Lake CFDC, Dakota Ojibway CFDC, Kitayan CFDC, North Central CFDC, Southeast CFDC). At the heart of Vision Quest is the mission of encouraging sustainable Indigenous economic development, and the goal of the emergence of best business practices that support and synergize community and individual development. The conference brings together innovators, entrepreneurs, and business leaders to discuss and promote Indigenous business, community and economic development.

The Vision Quest Annual Conference, held each year in May, is an opportunity for Indigenous business to share success stories as well as provide attendees with information on navigating the world of business and entrepreneurship. Paskwayak Businss Development Corporation’s Economic Development Officer Darryl Bauer was included this year in a panel on Success Stories In Indigenous Economic Development where he shared PBDC’s story of resilience and success.
Bauer outlined PBDC’s history including the business operations they are currently involved with and how they are growing. Bauer commented that economic development is an opportunity to shape Aborginal communities from almost third world conditions to a better quality of life. He outlined the growth of Opaskwayak Cree Nation in terms of business, including the growing pains of PBDC as a corporation. Sharing some of the highs and lows of being in the business of business, Bauer pointed to the ongoing growth of his community and how business operations are supporting the needs of OCN.

Across Canada, Pride month is celebrated in communities across the country. The month of June is a time when the celebration of diversity, the acknowledgement of the struggles the LGBTQ2S+ communities have endured and the progress that has been made in fight for equality occurs. This year, community members from our tri-community of The Pas, Opaskwayak Cree Nation and the RM of Kelsey are also joining in the celebration of Pride month.
Over the past few weeks a group of tri-community members have been meeting to plan a number of activities designed around celebrating Pride month and bringing awareness to the struggles and judgement that still exist around the LGBTQS2+ community. The committee, adopting the name Tri-Community Pride, began when two friends came out together last year and have discovered there is still a lack of support and some stigma and judgement that exists in the community.

After a three year hiatus dues to COVID-19, the Kinsmen Club of The Pas welcomed ladies from the community to an evening of celebration as they hosted their annual Kinsmen Ladies Night Out 2022 Saturday at the Legion.
The event, like previous years, was sold out with 129 ladies attending the evening which included a five course meal, prizes and music. Those attending were welcomed by Kinsmen club members who handled everything from being table servers to the cooking of the meal.
“It was a fantastic turn out. Everyone was well dressed and the ladies stuck around to the very end,” event chair Kinsmen Josh Lamontagne commented.

The Easter Bunny hopped on by Legion Branch #19 on Sunday to join families for an afternoon of easter fun. The event, hosted by the Legion with support from The Pas community Renewal Corporation was attended by 100 kids and adults and included games, treats, face and easter egg painting.

Nineteen local artists and three solo exhibits are a part of The Pas Arts Council’s latest on-line exhibit called Just Breathe. According to the Arts Council’s latest news release, the project was created to provide an opportunity for local artists to display their work and also to encourage new artists.
Featured in the Just Breathe exhibit is the work of Patty Constant, Akasha Fletcher, Mary Fletcher, Anita Genaille, Madison Genaille, Holly LaJambe, Frank Lang, Ava Lawrence, Tony Lawrence, Glen McKay, Joyce McLean, Azrielle Mink, Perry Nikolychuk, Lesa Nordick, Mike O’Toole, Shauna Ponask, Shelly Rudd, Kyle Tirschmann, and Shawn Yaremko.
In addition, three solo exhibits were chosen from the entries: the work of Danielle Kreller, Diana Muswagon, and Karli Shepherd.

The Terry Fox Foundation has released the Top 50 of 2021 in Manitoba schools list and École Opasquia School made a huge impact landing fourth out of 25 Elementary schools and 6th out of 50 elementary/secondary schools.
Back in October of the 2021, the school had set a fundraising goal of $5373 which was the equivalent of one dollar for every kilometer Terry Fox had run.