On this past Saturday, June 8, the Legion Park was grounds to celebrate Pride month. There were various stations for anyone to come partake in or to visit. One of the members of the Swan Valley Regional Secondary School Genders and Sexuality Alliance folds a balloon animal...

Mountain View School Division (MVSD) is still facing some turmoil after a questionable presentation by Trustee Paul Coffey during a regular board meeting.

Not only has the presentation resulted in complaints, which in turn sparked a governance review to be conducted by the Province, things have since escalated.

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

The Town of The Pas Council held a special meeting on May 28 at 12:15 p.m. to discuss resolutions for the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM).
Two resolutions were discussed in great detail amongst the council. The first resolution was to call on the Province of Manitoba and Shared Health to improve the management of needle distribution and disposal. The second was with regards to collecting service fees from residents in neighbouring Provincial Parks and Crown Lands.
The concern of discarded sharps in the tri-community has been an ongoing one that has forced the municipality to get involved.
“The intent of calling on the Province and Shared Health to improve the management of needles distribution and disposal is to address the fact that municipalities should not have to deal with the responsibility of collecting and picking up sharps in their community,” said Town of The Pas Mayor Andre Murphy. “We’re not criticizing the local organizations, but we don’t they don’t have the resources and their actual method of distribution needs to be reviewed so that it operates like an exchange program. Is what they are doing really reducing harm?

June is known as Pride month and it’s a time when people can come and celebrate their uniqueness as individuals, in a safe, inclusive and supportive environment. Tri-Community Pride has been breaking down the barriers for the northern 2SLGBTQIA+ community for the last couple of years as the organization hosted events, including their annual Pride Parade and Festival.
This year’s Pride theme is heavily focused on how at-risk today’s 2SLGBTQIA+ youth are. There is still a lot of discrimination and hate targeting this community about having gender-neutral washrooms and having 2SLGBTQIA+ literature in schools. This has created a lot of turmoil and uncertainty when it comes to acceptance and safe spaces for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth.
“I can see this year is a big ramping up in comparison to other years,” said Tri-Community Pride Member Derrick Sanderson. “A lot of the slogans and messaging around Pride this year is not about love is love, but rather our queer and trans kids are in danger.”

On May 29, as a result of an ongoing investigation into the illegal sale of liquor from a home, officers from the Ste-Rose du Lac RCMP, along with assistance from the Manitoba West District CREST unit and Police Dog Services (PDS), executed a search warrant under the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Act at a residence located in Ebb and Flow First Nation.

As a result of the search, officers seized numerous bottles of liquor, several cases of beer, over seven grams of crack cocaine, marihuana, unstamped tobacco, over $5000 in cash and a loaded firearm.

Upon entry into the home, officers arrested three suspects, a 45-year-old woman and two men, aged 29 and 17. They were later released for and August 29 appearance in Dauphin Provincial Court where they will face charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking, unauthorized possession of a firearm, unsafe storage of a firearm and possession of property obtained by crime.

Charges were also issued under the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Act for the unauthorized sale of liquor and possession of fewer than 25 units of unmarked tobacco.

Police continue to investigate.

The Dauphin Clippers girls rugby team are two-time provincial champions after a convincing, 92-0 win over the Souris Sabres, Friday.

Bree Walker led the way with three tries, while Kiersten Vandekerckhove, Ashley Korney and Mai Maguet each scored twice. Lindsey Korney, Tanya Devos, Ryann Richard-Soltis, Tylee Rudkavich, Lucile Musick, Ruth Dandeneau and Raylyn Koshowski all had singles.

Megan Thompson had five converts, while Walker had one.

Dauphin finished the season undefeated, going 7-0 and outscoring their opponents, 490-0.

Clippers assistant coach Kent Miner said being a two-time provincial champion feels great.

“It’s very good for the girls to have that second victory, especially without letting a point against them this year, I think, is an all-out record for any rugby team out there,” he said.

 One of the reasons the Clippers were able to score so many points is the team-first attitude of every player.

“The reason why they got so many points as a team is everybody worked together. There was no individual play. If there was individual play, those players just got subbed out for a team member. So everybody knew they had to play together as a team or watch from the sidelines,” Miner said, adding that was the key to the team’s entire success this season.

“It was just playing together as a team. Always running with support. Always having a friend with you.”

This was the second year the local high school program has benefited from the Parkland Pirates youth rugby program.

Read the full story in this week’s edition of the Dauphin Herald.

Swan Valley Folkfest returned for the first time since 2018, with plenty of food, drinks, entertainment and cultural sharing at the Swan River Community Centre on Friday and Saturday (May 31 and June 1). Swan Valley’s diverse residents were able to share their culture from their home country or other ethnic backgrounds, as well as visiting groups from Winnipeg’s Folklorama...

Despite the rainfall over the past week, farmers were still able to get into their fields to prepare for the growing season. A producer south of Benito was working the first rounds of early evenings to come.

On May 19, at approximately 3:15 a.m., Winnipegosis RCMP were conducting traffic enforcement in Minegoziibe Anishinabe First Nation.
A traffic stop was conducted on a vehicle with three occupants. Officers observed drug paraphernalia in plain view, resulting in the arrest of the occupants.
When officers searched the vehicle they located illicit cannabis, crack cocaine in individual baggies, a sawed-off shotgun, a handgun, ammunition, black ski masks, Canadian currency and drug paraphernalia.
Damien Moosetail, 18, from Dauphin, a 16-year-old male from Duck Bay and a 15-year-old male from Camperville are charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine, possession of cannabis for the purpose of selling, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, possession of a weapon obtained by crime and several other firearms offences.
All three were remanded in custody.

The May long weekend was productive one for officers with the Dauphin RCMP detachment.
From May 17 to 19, to close off Canada Road Safety Week, police were busy doing traffic enforcement in the city. Enforcement which took drugs and weapons off of city streets.
On May 17, at approximately 8:40 p.m., a traffic stop was initiated on Mountain Road. Two of the three occupants of the vehicle were found to have outstanding warrants. Further investigation led to the arrest of all three occupants and the seizure of methamphetamine, cocaine, a cutting agent, Tramadol pills, drug paraphernalia, and Canadian and American currency.
Leslie McKay, 42, and Robert Chartrand, 46, both of Pine Creek First Nation, along with April Bull, 28, of Dauphin were arrested and are facing charges of possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking for both cocaine and methamphetamine, and possession of property obtained by crime.
All three were remanded in custody.
On May 18, at approximately 7 p.m., a traffic stop was initiated on Mountain Road. One of the passengers was found to be wanted. Investigation led to the arrest of all the occupants and the seizure of methamphetamine, crack cocaine, Gabapentin pills, drug paraphernalia, and Canadian currency.
Brian Houle, 39, Sherise Hunter, 33, and a 45-year-old man, all from Ebb and Flow First Nation, were arrested.
They are facing charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking for both crack cocaine and methamphetamine and possession of property obtained by crime.
Hunter, who had a warrant, and Houle were both remanded in custody while the 45 year old was released with a court date.
On May 19, at approximately 2:05 a.m., a traffic stop was initiated with two vehicles associated to each other on Second Street Southwest.
Investigation led to the arrest of all six occupants from both vehicles, and the seizure of a sawed-off rifle, an imitation handgun, methamphetamine, cocaine, a baton, and Canadian currency.
Four males, aged 16, 19, 32, and 38, and two females, aged 31 and 37, all of Swan River, are facing charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking both cocaine and methamphetamine, possession of property obtained by crime, possession of a prohibited firearm, and other weapons offences.
All six individuals have been released with a court date.
Also on May 19, at approximately 9:35 p.m., a traffic stop was initiated on Main Street. Two males fled from the vehicle when it came to a stop. Officers located the two nearby and they were taken into custody.
A 25-year-old man from Dauphin was found in possession of cocaine, psilocybin, drug paraphernalia and bear spray.
He is facing charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking both cocaine and psilocybin, possession of property obtained by crime and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
A 15-year-old from Dauphin was found to be in possession of bear spray. He is facing the charge of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
Both were released with court dates.
“Increased traffic enforcement does not only result in safer roads, but it gets drugs and guns off the streets of our community,” said Dauphin detachment commander Staff Sergeant Scott Linklater.
“Illicit drugs and everything that comes along with it – the firearms, the gang connections, the associated criminal activity – means more crime in the city of Dauphin and the surrounding communities. We remain committed to enforcing against illicit drugs to their fullest extent.”
The total amount of drugs seized over the four traffic stops is more than 108 grams of cocaine, more than 105 grams of methamphetamine, and 30 grams of psilocybin.
Investigations into each of the incidents continue.