Last Friday (Nov. 4), the Manitoba Métis Federation celebrated the grand opening of the Elbert Chartrand Child Care Centre, a 40-space centre designed to serve infant and pre-school children located on Second Street South.

At top, from left, newly-elected councillor Steve Sobering and city manager Sharla Griffiths look on as mayor David Bosiak reads his oath of office prior to city councils inaugural meeting, Monday night.

The new council of Bosiak, Sobering and councillors Randy Daley, Ted Rea, Kathy Bellemare, Devin Shtykalo and Christian Laughland got right down to business electing Laughland as deputy-mayor and assigning signing authority for the new administration.

The new group’s first regular meeting takes place Nov. 14 at 5 p.m.

At the bottom, Newly-elected reeve of the Rural Municipality of Dauphin, Ernie Sirski, signs his name after reading the oath of office at a swearing in ceremony, last Thursday.

Sirski and the new council, which includes Tammy Koshowski, Todd Boguski, Midge Sametz, Ron Ryz, Ken Shewchuk and Ken Plustwa, will have their orientation meeting this week, followed by their first council meeting, Nov. 15.

The top skaters from Manitoba and Saskatchewan competed in Stonewall at the Junior/Senior Sectionals over the weekend.

Dauphin’s Breken Brezden finished first in the short skate and first in the free skate to captured the gold medal in the junior ladies event.

This earns her a spot at the Skate Canada Challenge the first week in December, where the top skaters from across Canada will compete to earn a spot to the Canadian Nationals in Oshawa in January.

The 122nd annual Firefighter’s Ball took place, Saturday, hosted by the Dauphin Fire Fighters’ Association.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the 2022 Jack Carey Memorial Fire Fighter of the Year Award, which was presented to Sabrina Anderson.

In introducing this year’s winner, Fire Chief Cam Abrey said Anderson gives back to the department much more than she takes, noting she is quick to sign up as the weekend standby during the summers and to help out around the station.

Anderson’s attendance is outstanding, Abrey added, with 89 per cent of emergency response in 2021, or 178 of the total 201 calls last year. In 2022, as of the end of September, she attended 87 per cent of all incidents, or 156 of 179 so far.

Abrey has worked alongside Anderson at many incidents, and noted the level of compassion that she demonstrates when it comes to patient care is top notch. There is definitely a compassionate layer beneath the gruff exterior. The nomination stated, “they have been there for me and others on numerous occasions as a shoulder and an open ear. I always walk better after a conversation with them if going through a rough time.”

Although not an officer of the fire department and not an instructor, Anderson shows up to classes to assist with training, which Abrey appreciates. The award came as a complete surprised to Anderson, who realized Abrey was talking about her when he mentioned she had signed up to be the summer standby.

“There was only two of us that were on every weekend,” she said.

The award, Anderson added, means everything to her, even though she was at a loss for words.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m very thankful and very appreciative for the recognition,” she said.

Anderson joined DFD in August 2018. She originally had an interest in paramedicine, but a chance meeting with Abrey led to her checking out what DFD had to offer. And she decided to become a firefighter.

“We’re there on people’s worst day of their lives and so it brings me peace of mind to know we’re helping somebody, even in the slightest way possible,” she said. “I’m very thankful for all of my fellow firefighters and chief.”

The history of the award goes back to 1978 when Carey, a long-time member of the Manitoba Fire Service, created and financially supported the Fire Fighter of the Year Award. He had served 23 years with the Brandon Fire Department, seven as the Fire Chief and then joined the Manitoba Fire Commissioner’s Office as a fire investigator.

It was during this time that he became acquainted with Dauphin Fire Department (DFD) and its membership.

Throughout the years to follow, he became a close friend and an avid supporter of DFD. The current award was dedicated in Carey’s memory in 2006 to honour his outstanding service and the Dauphin Fire Department’s fond memories of him.

With this award, a trophy was established that would bear the recipient’s name and would be housed at the fire station on display. A companion trophy is also given to the recipient for permanent possession.

A former NDP MLA and cabinet minister is back in the provincial political scene.

Ron Kostyshyn will run again for the Manitoba NDP in the 2023 provincial election in the Dauphin riding after earning the nomination this past weekend.

“I’ve spent decades serving this community, first as a reeve and then as an MLA, because I want to make life better for families in the Parkland,” Kostyshyn said. “Over the last few years, I’ve seen how PC cuts have damaged our health care system and how their changes to Crown land leases have hurt cattle ranchers. I’m ready to fight on behalf of my community, alongside Wab Kinew, to fix health care and make life more affordable for Dauphin families.”

Kostyshyn was first elected as MLA of Swan River in 2011 and served as Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives and Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation.

Prior to and following his time with the provincial government, Kostyshyn served as the Reeve of the RM of Mossey River in the constituency of Dauphin. He finished his term prior to the most recent municipal elections.

Kostyshyn was born and raised in rural Manitoba, and his family has operated a cattle ranch for decades. He has sat on the board of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, the Manitoba Conservation Commission and various other local organizations.

“Ron brings years of experience and expertise to our team,” said NDP leader Wab Kinew. “He’s committed to serving the people of Dauphin and Manitoba and he’s excited about what the next NDP government can do for families.”

As the fourth session of the 42nd Legislature came to a close, Manitoba’s official opposition focused its efforts on fixing health care and helping families in the cost-of-living crisis.

“Manitobans want to see their government fix health care and make life more affordable. This session, with a provincial election around the corner, we put forward ideas to fix the damage done to health care and help families feeling the pressure of rising prices,” Kinew said. “Working families need a government that understands the challenge they face and is ready to help them, but the PCs are only focused on helping their wealthy friends.”

In Question Period, New Democrats raised record emergency room waits and hallway medicine at hospitals across Manitoba. The NDP urged the PC government to address chronic nursing and doctor shortages and to eliminate burdensome red tape that prevents Manitoba nurses from working in the province. They flagged the impacts of PC health care cuts on families, including cutting home care supports, abandoning the foot care clinic in Thompson and blocking addictions organizations from testing street drugs.

Kinew said in this session the Stefanson PCs resurrected Pallister-era Bill 36, which would raise Hydro rates and eliminate public oversight of Manitoba Hydro, after the first bill was stalled by the NDP. Kinew announced an early campaign commitment to freeze Hydro rates so that families can catch a break, while Premier Stefanson voted for a five per cent rate hike. Kinew urged the PCs to stop raising milk prices, to use MPI reserves to lower autopac rates, and his caucus brought forward legislation to end unfair rent increases.

As part of their commitment to community safety, the Manitoba NDP announced a plan to end chronic homelessness by following a Houston, Texas model to match unsheltered people with available housing.

Bullying seems to be a topic that is always in the news and despite the stories that come forward about these types of incidents; there very rarely is there a solution to this unacceptable form of behaviour. Recently seven-year-old Opaskwayak Cree Nation youth Wynston Martin was a recent victim of bullying when two young men stole his hockey card collection he was carrying, while waiting to get on the bus.
Wynston was extremely proud of his hockey card collection that he had been building for years. He’s a dedicated and true fan of the St. Louis Blues. Wynston was devastated by the loss of his collection, so his grandmother turned to social media for some support and asked if anyone would be willing to donate any hockey cards to her grandson, to help rebuild his collection.

Another successful Linkages conference was held this year, in The Pas by UCN, Manitoba Chamber of Commerce and Look North. Linkages was held on October 20 and 21 at the Kikiwak Inn and this year’s theme was Northern Manitoba and the World. It focused on initiating creative, critical thinking and collaborative conversations about northern economic development and the future.
Some of the objectives and outcomes of the Linkages were to assess the current northern economic situation and to describe the effects geopolitics has on Northern Manitoba. The conference also focused on understanding the importance of reconciliation for the economy and to identify strategies for growth and regional prosperity.

Manitoba has chosen a new Advocate for Children and Youth for the province this month. Sherry Gott, from Sapotaweyak Cree Nation (SCN) has been appointed as the new Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth.
“The Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth in an independent office that’s non partisan of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly,” said Gott. “Our office represents the rights, interests and view points of children and young adults throughout Manitoba, that should be receiving provincial public services. In this position I am able to advocate, support and amply the voices of children, youth and their families as they receive services.”

Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada and one in four Canadians will die from it. The Eisner family knows all too well about how cancer can take a loved one. This past summer they lost their wife and mother, Robyn and her husband, Jason, still grapples with her loss and just how the whole scenario played out.
“Robyn was the kind of person that saw the good in everyone,” said Eisner. “I never heard her say a bad thing about anybody in the 29 years we were together. She focused on the positives, never the negatives. She loved her children, Rayna and Maddix, first and foremost as well as exotic vacations, family gatherings and spending quality time with friends playing games or just simply socializing.
“She loved the outdoors such as camping, water sports, bike rides for ice cream, her flower gardens, sipping wine on the neighbours' decks, or relaxing in our hot tub. One of her favourite activities was cross-country skiing with the Nordic Girls. She would always comment on how good it felt after getting some exercise and being out with the girls.
“Robyn had a magical smile and a genuine concern for people's feelings, which reflected throughout her daily life at work and at home,” said Eisner. “She was easy to talk to, never judged what was going on in a person’s life and was always there for anyone that needed free advice. I truly think that will be missed the most for she was a constant reliable friend to all.”
The discovery of Robyn’s cancer wasn’t as apparent as the normal warning signs. The symptoms she was experiencing at the time seemed to amount to feeling run down, but it wound up being so much more.
“To say it was an emotional rollercoaster would be an understatement, for it's so tough to describe,” said Eisner. “I’m the kind of guy that can fix almost anything and having something like this attack the one you have been with for almost 30 years, and not being able to physically do anything to help, literally broke my heart.
“We were on vacation for spring break in Orlando and she seemed to be sleeping in a lot, which was not normal for her. Normally, she was up at 6:30 a.m. getting us a coffee and having a leisurely walk around to see the layout of the resorts. We chalked it up to her being a bit stressed from work and her body was unwinding, so sleep was a good thing.
“When we got home from our vacation, the tiredness for her got worse by the week,” said Eisner. “Within a few weeks, she was having naps through her lunch breaks, coffee breaks and having a nap after work for a few hours and then going to bed for the night at 9 p.m. Night sweats got worse and her appetite began to decrease, so she called a doctor to make an appointment. After the doctor's visit, he felt it was likely pre-menopause related, as she was almost 48 and it seemed most likely as otherwise, she seemed normal.
“He scheduled a blood test for precautionary purposes but two weeks went by with no call to go so, upon follow-up, it was determined the request didn’t get sent. We ended up going to the emergency department and met with Dr. Koetting. She quickly gave her blood tests and an X-ray. Based on the blood test results, she said she wanted Robyn to spend the night and go for a CT scan the next morning in Dauphin via ambulance. At this point, we still were just expecting some sort of bad flu bug.
“The next day, when she got back to Swan River, the doctor called me in and told us that the CT showed that her liver was full of what looked like cancer tumours,” continued Eisner. “She explained it wasn’t a good scenario and we needed to do a colonoscopy to search for the primary tumour, as the liver is a catch-all-filter and there’s likely something in her colon."
Shortly after it was confirmed she did, in fact, have a large tumour in her colon and a few days later it was removed by a surgeon in Dauphin. The battle against cancer was now on for Robyn. Little did they know just how limited their options would be in fighting the cancer that had already spread.
“The tumour was removed successfully, but we still had a fully infested liver to deal with and hoped chemo would take care of that,” said Eisner. “We had to wait six weeks for her surgery to heal but, at the end of the term, she was too weak and was denied a chemo option. We were given two and a half months at that time.
“I wanted so bad to fix her that I was prepared to buy new body parts or send her for specialized treatments in Tijuana or Michigan, for new state of the art trials; anything and everything was on the table if there was a chance to help her beat this. When we were told she was too weak to receive chemo, I went into overdrive to try and find something with any type of success story behind it.
“We tried Essiac Pills, and then I reached out to some First Nations friends I have that could refer a traditional medicine man and had some remedies made up,” said Eisner. “We tried Phoenix Tears (CBD/THC) and water purification solutions that were supposed to attack the cancer food within the body. I tried everything and, in the end, it was either too far advanced or I was living on hope for a miracle.”
Jason made the most compassionate decision to enable Robyn to live the remainder of her days in the comforts of their home, surrounded by loved ones. He took remarkable care of Robyn during her final days and was crushed when the pain became too much for her to take.
“We both knew that time was not in our favour,” said Eisner. “So we chose to live the way she would be most happy. I was able to sell three of my companies, so I could look after her myself, instead of working during the day and having homecare. She wanted to be home so bad instead of the hospital and I wasn’t about to deny her that request. She was able to spend her last few weeks in her happy place, looking out at the river and her gardens, and having her friends and family beside her meant the world.
“This allowed us to have some pretty deep conversations and make a special video for the kids on how she wanted them to conduct themselves after she passed on. That was super hard, but a cherished keepsake that can’t be replaced.
“As time went on, we had to take her back to the hospital a few times for fluid replacement and CT scans in Dauphin to monitor progression,” said Eisner. “We would have to stay there a few days then she would say ‘let’s get outta here’ and we’d head home to try it again. We borrowed a special tilting bed from friends of ours to set up in a spare room to keep her as comfy as possible. I was able to sleep with her, which allowed me to monitor her throughout the night.
“She would need to go to the bathroom frequently and spiked high fevers. Since she couldn’t walk due to weakness, I would lift her onto a walker that had wheels and a place to sit or the wheeled commode. As for the spiking temperatures, I would administer Advil, soak cold clothes, turn on a fan and get her to eat a freezie, which seemed to bring it back down within an hour. Sleep was difficult as I was always wondering what was going to happen and when.
“As she got weaker, I would sit her on a chair in the shower and wash her hair, shave her legs and brush her teeth,” said Eisner. “I found pleasure in being the one to do this for her. She told me how much she appreciated it all and it warmed my heart. I couldn't imagine it any other way. I told her I had made a commitment ‘in sickness and in health’ and wasn’t giving up my duties to anyone.
“Then came the day when the pain was too much to handle and something stronger was going to have to be given. I somehow knew that when the ambulance came this time, it was going to be the last time she would be there and that hit me like a ton of bricks.
“The nursing staff and doctors were amazing,” said Eisner. “They were all very understanding and accommodating. She told me many times how she felt so cared for by them and I was there to witness it. I would sleep at the hospital to help monitor her at night and advocate for her when she was too weak or a bit confused to do it herself.
Robyn passed away on July 27. Looking back, Jason can’t emphasize enough to people the importance of early detection when it comes to cancer and how it can save lives.
“With Robyn’s particular type of cancer, things weren’t known until it was too late,” said Eisner. “Robyn’s symptoms were fatigue and heavy night sweats and a slight pain under her right rib cage. There was no blood in the stool, which is a typical sign of colon cancer. So in all reality, the only thing that triggered everything was the blood test. Her counts were off showing her body was fighting something. The question of the day is would it have shown up if she did the test six months earlier, which would have allowed a better chance to fight it?
“Her sister, Tara, passed away four years prior from breast cancer at a young age. Even though there seems to be more proactive screening for that type of cancer with mammograms, not much is offered for other types of cancer.
“I guess the big takeaway from our experience has been that there are recommended screening ages for certain things and as a society, we don’t go get things done that may be uncomfortable if we aren’t feeling sick, such as pap smears, breast exams, colonoscopy, and a full physical. We will never know if a simple routine blood test would’ve helped her predict something was going on inside her body even though she felt fine.
“I want to encourage everyone to talk to their doctor about what proactively can be done to minimize the risk of cancer,” said Eisner. “We were told that the day we found out she had cancer, it was likely progressed too far already and there was nothing that would've helped.”
The Eisner family had tremendous support from people in the Valley. Many fundraisers were established and people came to provide support in any way they could.
“I can’t thank our community enough,” said Eisner. “The support given to us really amazed us. Robyn said many times ‘we must have done something right around here to get this level of support’.
“Special thanks to our neighbour, Tracey LaForce, who set up a schedule for people to deliver hot meals to us at the house, so we didn’t have to cook three days a week for a few months. Sean and Brandy Eggie of Eggies Green House donated all her flowers and soil. Ricki-Lea Keefe started selling t-shirts on behalf of our hockey family with close to 500 sold. Carmela Brading, from Shivers, held a ‘Support Mrs. E’ ice cream day with proceeds being donated to local cancer care and $5,600 was raised.
“I would also like to thank Dr. Koetting for the guidance and support through everything,” said Eisner. “Dr. Stan Riddell for the immunology guidance. Chris Staniland got the Swan Valley Regional Secondary School gym ready for the funeral during a huge renovation. Clint Weir from the golf course donated the proceeds from a Ladies' night to our kids’ education fund, which was $1,800 raised.
"Thank you to Marla Chernyk for the facial/spa treatment, Aspire Dental’s Heather King and Krista Smolinski for the teeth cleanings, and Kayla Hofford from Empire Esthetics for the manicure and pedicure. All of these incredible ladies came to our house to do these services. Jeff Schwarz from The Liquidator, died his hair blue for a Muay Thai event and to everyone who sported their blue t-shirts in support of her.
“Thank you to everyone that dropped off food and snacks, came for visits, donated to the children's education fund, cut our grass, watered/planted flowers, funeral assistance and prayed. We will never forget you all. A special shout out to my sisters, my parents, close friends and Robyn’s parents; we couldn’t have done this without your support.”
Eisner is hoping to play a bigger role in cancer screening advocacy and awareness.
“We wear our ‘Don’t Puck With Robyn’ t-shirts often to maintain awareness, hoping someone asks a question about what it means,” said Eisner. “I've shared her story often. I’d like to sit down with people who have also been affected by cancer and see if they want to brainstorm some ideas for creating awareness. Unfortunately, it seems to be a common thread amongst people and cancer seems to be affecting almost everyone in some way. Since it is still fairly fresh, I haven’t spent a lot of time putting that plan into action yet.
“I do explain to people who ask, that they should do research on their own, as to what all the options are available for treatment. We seem to be pushed towards chemotherapy, when there are alternative options that do work, under certain circumstances depending on the stage. In this journey, I found things offered in the U.S. that weren’t available in Canada, but had high success rates. I learnt a lot about immunotherapy - when it works, when it won’t and how changing your diet is a key ingredient to starving what cancer feeds on. I’d love to see more public education on how diet affects disease among people and will try to push the buttons to make that a reality.
“As I mentioned before, breast cancer seems to be the only one really out in front for pre-screening,” said Eisner. “I know there are some early warning tests available for men for prostate cancer, but you don’t hear the same amount of information about it, such as mobile screening units like they have for breast cancer. It could be because breast cancer is more prevalent? I’d like to see statistics posted for what types of cancer are most common in Manitoba and broken down further to what area per capita is most affected. That information should be published, so people can see clear as day if they should be more concerned.
“But, as far as colon cancer and liver cancer, I don’t know of anything being done proactively. I had a childhood friend that had the exact same cancer that Robyn did a few years ago. They caught it earlier as he had some symptoms such as blood in the stool. The doctors were able to resect a large portion of his liver as it regenerates itself, and remove the tumour in the colon. To this day, he is doing fine.
“With the amount of cancer happening around us and living in such a rural setting, we all need to advocate our politicians that more needs to be done in terms of availability to our health care system and prices for healthy products at the grocery store need to be brought into line,” said Eisner. “Water should not cost more than a soda pop.”
Robyn’s life will always be remembered and cherished. Her courageous battle with cancer will be a constant reminder for people to get screened for cancer and hopefully spark more advocacy and options for those going through a similar battle as Robyn did.

Residential areas across the Swan Valley were crawling with costumed children as they hunted for the houses with the best treats on Halloween (Oct. 31).