With the start of June comes the recognition of Pride month and all the activities surrounding the acknowledgement and creation of safe spaces for 2SLBTQIA+ individuals. This year, Tri-Community Pride has been working on a plan to bring more education and awareness to the area.
“We have been working on completing a Yearly Strategic Plan for the Tri-Community Pride,” said Tri-Community Pride Member Holly LaJambe. “We asked the public to join us, share opinions, and tell us what they need to see in the tri-community. We also partnered with Rainbow Resource Centre, Hope North Committee, and The Pas Community Renewal Corporation to bring a Pride Beading Event to our community, which presented 2SLGBTQSIA+ information and resources while learning to bead a rainbow pin.

The Minitonas 4-H Beef Club held their 72nd Annual Show and Sale last weekend Saturday (May 30), at the Swan River Valley Agricultural Society Grounds. The 4-H club had a total of 15 showmanship classes being judged by Keegan Blehm throughout the day.  Here, Oscar Yakielashek proudly shows off his steer to the crowd and judges. See more A10

Agricultural producers across the Swan River Valley were hard at it last week getting their crops seeded in hopes of bumper crops come the fall. Here, Jared Penner puts the finishing touches on a field of freshly planted canola.

An enthusiastic group of first-year medical students from the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine will participate in Rural Week across the Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) region from May 25–29 and June 1–5.
Coordinated annually by the Department of Family Medicine, Shared Health (Manitoba Healthcare Providers Network), and Manitoba’s rural regional health authorities, Rural Week offers students valuable first-hand experience in rural and northern medical practice, while highlighting the benefits of living and working in these communities.
This year, Prairie Mountain Health is hosting 41 students across 14 communities, including Brandon, Carberry, Dauphin, Deloraine, Grandview, Hamiota, Killarney, Minnedosa, Neepawa, Roblin, Russell, Souris, Ste. Rose, and Virden.
The program introduces students to both the clinical and community aspects of rural healthcare, often their first exposure to rural practice. During the week, students will shadow physicians, connect with healthcare teams, and explore local services, while also engaging in community activities that showcase rural life.
PMH Associate Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kyle Conrad, a past Rural Week participant, understands the program’s impact. Dr. Conrad is also a family practice anesthetist based in Brandon, while also supporting Minnedosa, Neepawa and Northern Manitoba.
"My experience with Rural Week played a significant role in shaping my career. I clearly remember how welcoming the community was and how proudly they showcased the care and services they provide. That experience has stayed with me, and I’m proud to continue providing care in rural and northern Manitoba. Rural Week is an essential recruitment initiative—it’s about more than healthcare; it’s about the strength of our communities and the people who make them thrive."
PMH extends sincere thanks to physician preceptors, healthcare professionals, and community volunteers whose dedication makes Rural Week possible. The program’s success reflects the commitment and hospitality of participating communities.
Rural Week was introduced in 2003 as an optional experience within the University of Manitoba’s first-year medical curriculum and became a mandatory component the following year

By Terrie Welwood
Russell Banner
For Prairie Mountain Health, the region’s Recruitment and Retention Team it’s ‘all hands-on deck’ with their near constant search for doctors.
As such, the team partners with representatives from the province, region and individual communities to all work together to promote the benefits of living and working in rural Manitoba.
A very valuable part of this initiative involves the prospective physicians touring around various Manitoba communities. They will be arriving at those communities after their successful completion from the PMPH sponsored Medical Licensure Program for International Medical Graduates (MLPIMG) program.
In return for the regional sponsorship, MLPIMG doctors agree to practice in their respective communities for four years.
In Russell, councilors Wes Anderson and Brent Havelange toured Dr. Porimol Debnath around the area where he visited the health facilities here as well as several local attractions.
Dr. Debnath is hoping to be arriving in the first week of September and begin his medical practice in Russell, although, as that is dependent upon the completion of the necessary paperwork for licensing, the exact dates have yet to be determined.
His interest in general practice is conducive to the much needed medical doctor shortage across rural Manitoba.
Read the full story on the front page of this week's Russell Banner.

Cree writer, filmmaker and public speaker Sonya Ballantyne has had a busy year and recently published her latest graphic novel. The graphic novel is a self-reflective memoir about Ballantyne’s life through the lens of a superhero overcoming life obstacles.
“The Unbeatable Sonya Ballantyne is the superhero origin story of myself,” said Ballantyne. “It looks at my childhood as if I were a comic book hero, aware of their destiny, but uncertain of their powers and abilities. It looks at growing up on the Misipawistik reserve in Grand Rapids and how my interest in nerdy things helped me deal with the racism and sexism I faced.
“The Pas Regional Library also made a cameo in the first few pages of the graphic novel!”

The Parkland Mavericks overcame a slow start to win their season opener in Winnipeg, Saturday.
The Manitoba Wombats took an early 12-0 lead, but the Mavericks regrouped and stormed back for a 38-22 victory.
Ronin Mouck and Daniel Evans had two tries and two converts each and player-coach Codi Harrigan, Alex Boshoff and Riley Keith had a single try each.
Harrigan said the Mavericks were caught offguard by the Wombats strong start.
“We have a lot of new players that came out. We just had to learn where we needed to be and we had to learn our systems again. Just get used to each other, really,” he said.
“Then as soon as we found our chemistry, things started working out in our favour.”
Harrigan was pleased to see how every player supported their teammates on the field.
“If guys made a mistake, we kept our chins up. Kept our heads up. And we just went back to our systems. We kept playing our system.”
The Mavericks return to Winnipeg this weekend to face the Assassins, Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Harrigan hopes the team can keep building on its momentum.
“I think we will. These last couple of practices the guys have really bought into the system we’re introducing. They’re really happy with it and it was our first time to try it out and it worked out for us. The guys are happy and they’re looking forward to practice again,” he said, adding he is expecting a tough game against the Assassins.
“We will put in the work we have to do.”
The Parkland Lady Mavericks will play their first game, Saturday, when they face the Lady Barbarians in Brandon at noon.

Both Dauphin Clippers rugby teams ended the regular season 4-0 and will host the semifinals, this week.
The Clippers JV team played three games last week, ending its regular season with a 2-2 record.
Garrett Urichen had two tries to lead the Clippers to a 20-17 win over Crocus Plains, May 19.
Ivan Brazhko had the other try and Rudy Oosthuizen added a convert and a penalty kick.
Following a 60-7 loss to Souris on Thursday, the two Dauphin teams hooked up in the regular season finale, Saturday, which saw the varsity boys score a 33-29 win.
Josh Yakielashek with two, Ryzlie Nepinak, Blake Thacker and Ben Miner had tries for the varsity team and Jordan Evans added four converts.
Oosthuizen had two tries and a convert for the JVs. Cody Love, Urichen and Hendrik DuPlessis had the other tries and Love also had convert.
JV coach Henk DuPlessis felt the team played well in the three games to end the season.
“For a JV team, Grade 9s and 10s, they’re still boys, playing against men. What else can you ask of these kids? You can’t ask anything else. They showed a lot of heart,” he said, adding the team has improved since the start of the season.
“I could see the ball was moving a little bit today. Better tackles, hitting the rucks better. I talked to them at halftime and it helped. It looks like they improved. I think every game is getting better and better,” DuPlessis said.
“I’m really waiting for two more years.”
Varsity coach Aaron Miner liked what he saw from his team.
“We went out there and did exactly what I thought we were going to do. We were going to go out there and work on some of our set plays. We weren’t going to go out there and kill them. We were just going to go out there and practice what we’ve been practicing for the last couple of weeks,” he said.
Miner said it was hard to get up for a game against a group of, essentially, teammates.
“But wow, you look at how much they’ve grown since the opening kick off to today. It’s just amazing. I parrot what Henk says. I’m so excited about the future of this JV team in two years time. Even next year,” he said.
“We were worried about losing 12 players to graduation this year, but I think the program is going to run strong for at least the next three to four years.”
With three bonus points, the JVs finished in second place behind the varsity team. They were to have played Crocus Plains, but the Brandon team forfeited, so they will advance to the final and will face the winner of the game between the varsity squad and Souris on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in Dauphin.
The varsity girls will host the Crocus Plains Plainsmen Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
The final will take place on the weekend.

The Dauphin Rail Museum is set to begin fund-raising for the Dauphin Rail Turntable Exhibit.
To set the wheels in motion, the first of two open houses were held at the museum, Saturday.
The open house, which included a rendering of the exhibit, was intended to be a question-and-answer session regarding the project, its significance and the fund-raising effort.
“We thought it would be good for the public to come in, see what we’re trying to propose and then if they have any questions regarding the structure itself, the rendering, the fund-raising, that’s why we’re holding this today,” said museum president Jason Gilmore.
The museum has an arrangement with the City of Dauphin to accept donations on the museum’s behalf and issue tax receipts.
“If you didn’t want to go that route, you can donate directly to the Dauphin Rail Museum, as well. But if you want a tax receipt, you have to go through the City,” Gilmore said.
The goal for this phase is to move the structure to CN Park beside the CN Station, which would cost $75,000.
“We’ve already had some consultations with Reit-Syd. They’re going to help with the move and the prep of the site,” Gilmore said.
“But we do need some engineering help as this structure is still 50,000 pounds. We want to make sure it’s stable and there is a little concrete pour, so we want to make sure that’s done in the proper fashion, as well.”
The 24-foot structure is still at its current location by the city public works shop.
“Our goal, in a perfect world, is to have this in place as shown in the rendering by the time snow falls. That would be ideal, but we know in this day and age right now things are a little bit challenging financially. Especially some of the organizations in town and companies that are very community orientated, we’re hoping they’ll step up given the tax receipts issued, as well,” Gilmore said.
“But this will be a one-of-one legacy. There’s nothing like this in Manitoba, for sure, probably western Canada at the very least, bringing to light this structure that was quite common, but this was the last remaining one in Manitoba.”
A second open house will be held, May 30, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free coffee will be on hand, as well as dainties courtesy of Western Bakery.

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.