Fusion Credit Union (FCU) has announced another round of Community Infusion winners.

Launched in 2021, Community Infusion is designed to promote economic development and entrepreneurship in FCU communities.

“Community Infusion stems from the belief that economic development is the foundation behind thriving communities,” said FCU Business Development manager Mike Csversko. “With community impact being a strategic priority for Fusion, the idea of a business competition to help grow local commerce was a natural fit.”

Through the annual Community Infusion competition, current and aspiring business owners can apply to share in up to $30,000 towards a new business idea, an expanding business idea, or the purchase or improvement of an existing business.

This year, Fusion received 17 submissions from entrepreneurs from 18 communities, and the four finalists participated in the live event in Russell, Oct. 4.

The 2nd Annual 2022 Community Infusion finalists included Fierce Female Hockey Camp, Moonlit Canopy, Dauphin Lake Rentals, and Modern Mini and Me online store.

With over 85 audience members in attendance, the four businesses pitched their idea to the Fusion panel of judges, and the $30,000 was awarded.

Fierce Female Hockey Camp won first place and was awarded $20,000. Moonlit Canopy came in second and won $5,000, and Dauphin Lake Rentals and Modern Mini and Me each won $2,500.

Darwin Johns, CEO of Fusion Credit Union, was on hand to award the prizes.

“The joy on our winners faces tonight is an excellent reminder of how important it is to offer these opportunities,” Johns said. “The Community Infusion event is another great example of just how much incredible entrepreneurial spirit lives in rural Manitoba.”

Melissa Rushton, Fusion’s director of Credit Risk, acted as a judge at the event.

“It was not an easy decision to make, as we had so many fantastic entrepreneurs share their journey and aspirations with us,” she said. “Community Infusion provides a platform for great ideas to come to life, and we have no doubt Amy Doerksen and the Fierce Female Hockey group will do amazing things with this prize money.”

The North Central Hockey League will take a one-year pause after a league meeting determined there would not be enough teams to form a league for the 2022-23 season.

The Miniota-Elkhorn C-Hawks signalled their intention to join the Tiger Hills Hockey League, while the Waywayseecappo Warriors asked for a leave of absence citing player shortages and organizational difficulties.

The other two teams from last season also indicated they had player shortages. The Russell Rams said they would not be able to ice a team, while the Swan Valley Axemen were low in numbers, but said they would have enough players to play this season.

The Grandview Comets attended the meeting, held on Sept. 8, and showed interest in returning to the league.

In the end, a motion was passed to not form a league this season and reconvene in the spring of 2023 to reconsider for the 2023-24 season.

The league has been operating since 1956-57 and has missed only one season, 2020-21, due to the pandemic

Dauphin Consumer’s Co-op gas bars in Dauphin are once again preparing for Fuel Good Day.

On Sept. 20, the Bridge Youth Drop-In Centre in Ochre River will receive 10 cents from every litre of fuel sold at Dauphin Co-op Gas Bars.

This includes all grades of gasoline and diesel fuel.

The Bridge Youth Drop-in Centre has been providing local youth a place to go after school to learn new skills and gain experiences.

“The funds raised during Fuel Good Day will help with programming and building maintenance so we can better serve our youth and the Ochre River community,” said Keith DeVries, a volunteer at the centre.

A barbecue will also be held between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at both gas bar locations with all proceeds going to the centre. Pre-orders are welcome by contacting Donna Devries at 204-648-7952.

“Once again, Fuel Good Day is providing the opportunity for us to work together with our members and customers for the benefit of our community,” said Lorne Eiffert, general manager of Dauphin Co-op. “This is a great fund-raiser that shows how small actions can have big impacts.”

Since 2017, Co-op locations across Western Canada have donated more than $3 million to local registered charities and non-profit organizations as part of Fuel Good Day and Dauphin Co-op has donated more than $25,000 through this initiative.

Inter-Mountain Watershed District (IMWD) has developed new Memorial Park and held a ceremony honouring its first two inductees, Ernie Bayduza and Wes Bernat.

IMWD’s new Memorial Park is located in the yardsite of its office near Ethelbert and is intended to honour the volunteers instrumental in founding and building the district into what it is today.

According to IMWD general manager Jeff Thiele, tremendous growth has been accomplished during Bernat’s and Bayduza’s time with the district, and their work constitutes important building blocks for the next generation which will be working and volunteering in conservation.

Bayduza was a long-time councillor, reeve and farmer in the RM of Dauphin. His conservation ethic led him to become a subdistrict member with the Turtle River Watershed Conservation District 1986, and he was integral in the formation of Intermountain Conservation District (IMCD) in 1997. With the new district, Bayduza became chair of the Wilson River subdistrict and served as chair of IMCD between 1999 and 2004. Bayduza remained an active member of the main board of directors until he stepped down in 2011. He continued on as chair of the Wilson River subdistrict until his death in 2019.

During his time on the board, Bayduza also served as chair of the Manitoba Conservation District Association’s board from 2001-03. He received the Conservation Builder Award in 2004 and Bayduza and his wife Alvina were the district’s Conservation Award winners in 2008.

Bayduza also played an important role with the Dauphin Lake Advisory Board and Dauphin Lake Integrated Watershed Management Plan.

“We would like to acknowledge Ernie’s many years of commitment to the district by recognizing him today as a founder and builder of IMWD,” Thiele said.

Bernat grew up and farmed in the RM of Dauphin and also had a long-time career with the City of Dauphin. He was first employed by the City as the Engineering clerk and went on to become the personnel director. Bernat was later elected as a city councillor. He was a member of the IMCD since its establishment in 1997, when he was appointed as the City’s representative on the Vermillion River sub-district.

Bernat was appointed as Chair of the Vermillion River sub district in 2013 and remained an active member of the main board of directors until his passing in 2016.

Bernat participated in many district events such as the annual water festival, conservation district conferences and meetings and was instrumental in the creation of the district’s water retention strategy as well as the implementation and expansion of conservation programming.

Bernat was chair of the Personnel Committee and was instrumental in developing the district’s human resource policies and procedures.

“We would like to acknowledge Wes and his wife Stephanie’s many years of commitment to the district by recognizing him today as a builder of IMWD,” said current chair of IMWD, Jack Bremner. “Both Wes and Ernie were very passionate about conservation and the health of our watershed. It is important for us to recognize their contributions in our new Memorial Park”.

IMWD is in a partnership with the Province of Manitoba and the fmunicipalities of Alonsa, Dauphin (City); Dauphin (R.M), Ethelbert, Gilbert Plains, Grandview, Lakeshore, McCreary, Mossey River, Mountain South, Riding Mountain West, Roblin, Rosedale and Ste. Rose.

These partnerships enable IMWD to deliver a variety of soil, water and educational programs in the area.

IMWD was recently created after the amalgamation of Turtle River Watershed Conservation District and Intermountain Conservation District. Check out its website at imwd.ca for more information.

Results of an Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) member survey shows municipalities are concerned about public safety issues.

According to survey data, 92 per cent of respondents noted that they are concerned about the lack of police presence throughout their communities while 90 per cent believe the province should not be able to replace municipal representatives on police boards with provincial appointees.

In addition, 84 per cent and 77 per cent of respondents noted that property crime and drug crime are likely to occur within their municipal boundaries. As well, 92 per cent of respondents also expressed concern about illicit drug use in their municipality.

“Public safety and crime prevention are top priorities for municipalities,” AMM president Kam Blight said. “Our survey results reaffirm that increased police visibility may help deter crime and make community members feel safer. Municipal officials are very frustrated with the practice of applying a catch-and-release approach to repeat offenders who are contributing to rising rates of crime in local communities. Police officers should be out on the street and in the community, rather than behind a desk filling out repetitive paperwork or waiting to testify in a courtroom.”

The survey was administered in April and 73 responses were received. The AMM was particularly interested in understanding public safety challenges throughout local communities across Manitoba.

The AMM will present the survey’s findings and initial recommendations to the provincial and federal governments while continuing to encourage all orders of government to work together to ensure greater supports are provided to municipalities.

“Moving forward, the AMM will continue to call on the provincial and federal governments to increase support for policing services in order to properly address local public safety priorities and help local governments manage increasing public safety costs,” Blight said.

For more information, a presentation summarizing the survey’s responses can be found at www.amm.mb.ca.

CanTalk is offering Manitoba businesses free access to on demand language support for Ukrainian refugees as they arrive into Canada.

Qualified interpreters, from the company, which has been providing immediate language support services via phone for clients across North America for 25 years, will be available 24/7 to help overcome language barriers with Ukrainian refugees at job worksites.

Using a toll free line within Canada, CanTalk’s qualified language specialists will translate Ukrainian language into English and vice versa:
• for citizens and refugees arriving in Canada,
• for calls placed into Ukraine,
• for calls into those countries surrounding Ukraine and respective languages.

From outside Canada, CanTalk has acquired a toll-free line within Ukraine where frontline journalists and workers who require language support will directly access CanTalk’s language service centre in Manitoba.

CanTalk (Canada) Inc. as a Manitoba based business provides real time, over-the-phone interpretation and translation support services in more than 220 plus languages and dialects. The company has an established network of over 2,000 multilingual language specialists, the majority being Canadian language interpreters and translators.

Service accessibility is based on the convenience of a phone, smart device or laptop.

Language support from the time the request is received, typically takes less than a minute to have a qualified interpreter on the phone line and ready to help.

The scenes of a Ukrainian mass refugee movement driven by the despair of an unprovoked war under deplorable conditions, compels a collective humanitarian will, to do something – to help, to raise hope, to go beyond, to not idly watch.

CanTalk will provide up to 250 minutes of interpretation over-the-phone at no cost.

The offer is open for six months and will be reviewed monthly. A specific toll-free 1-800 number will be assigned and those participating will be provided with a six-digit PIN number.

Language Call Process:
• You will already have your party on the phone ready to speak.
• Call the 1-800 number as assigned.
• A CanTalk language facilitator will answer the call.
• You will be asked for your first and last name.
• CanTalk facilitators will ask for the language you require.
• You will then be connected to a CanTalk interpreter.

All inquiries for this service support offer should be directed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone, toll-free at 1-833-215-0586, or direct dial at 1-204-560-5543.

Last Tuesday started out as a busy day for the Dauphin Fire Department (DFD).

In the early hours of Aug. 2, DFD responded to four separate incidents.

At midnight, the first call was received for a fire in a business on 3rd Avenue North East. As crews were wrapping up and putting the trucks back into service, shortly after 1 a.m., another call was received for a vehicle fire located behind a business on the 300 block of Main Street South.

During this vehicle fire, crews noticed smoke near the corner of Fst Avenue South West and Main Street. A fire was located behind 7-11 beside a trash dumpster.

Then shortly after 6 a.m., a fourth call was received for another vehicle fire at a business in the 500 block of Main Street South.

There was another attempted fire which was not reported to 911 as it had burned itself out at a business on 3rd Avenue North West.

Each one of the incidents is suspicious in nature.

Anyone with information, is asked to contact the RCMP at 204-622-5050.

Just before 1 a.m. Sunday morning, Dauphin Fire Department was dispatched for a report of general fire alarms sounding at Parkview Lodge on 2nd Avenue NE.

Upon arrival crews were met by occupants and security who stated someone had pulled a pull station activating the alarm system, but a quick check of the alarm panel indicated a heat detector on the 10th floor was activated.

Crews climbed the 10 floors via the stairwell and located a fire in the laundry room with heavy smoke entering the hallway. Firefighters evacuated the 10th and 11th floors, while a crew extinguished the fire. The remaining floors were then thoroughly checked to verify there were no other incidents within the building.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation at this time and there are no estimates on damages and no injuries to report.

Close to 100 golfers hit the links at the Gilbert Plains Country Club for the annual senior mixed open, Aug. 2.

In the women’s tournament, Pearl Maksymetz’s shot an 87 to give her a one-shot victory over Marilyn Schwitzer, while Lorna Munroe finished third, three back of Maksymetz.

Karen Toderian won the first flight after carding a 118. Pam Hammett was awarded second place on a countback over Donna Campbell after they both finished with a 120.

Darren Graves carded a 75 to win the men’s tournament over runner-up Farron Genaille, who was awarded second on a countback over Kevin Boucher. They each shot a 77.

Don Hudson won the first flight on a countback over runner-up Dean McConnell and third-place finisher Glen Ross after they all finished with an 89.

Countbacks were needed for the second flight, which was won by Doug Cooke, with Murray Kalechyn in second and Darcy Boucher in third. They all shot a 93.

Cal Harrison won the third flight over Reid Birss, both of whom finished with a 95. Tom Monson was third, one shot back.

Jim Demonitgny won the fourth flight over runner-up Don Shumka and Terry Murray. They all scored a 101.

The men’s fifth flight was won by Wayne Manweiller, while John Abrams was second and Curt Pederson was third. They all shot a 108.

Genaille won the closest-to-the-hole contest on nos. 4 and 14, while Jean Sydor won on no. 9. Fred Todoruk and Pam Hammett were the closest-to-the-line winners on no. 5.

The incidences of violent crime in some rural communities in Manitoba is escalating. The Manitoba RCMP recognizes that these elevated violent crime rates in certain communities are often driven by street gangs and prolific offenders.

Increasingly, these prolific offenders and street gang members are using a variety of weapons, including firearms, to carry out their intimidation and violent crimes. This heightens the risk and threatens the safety of all community residents.

To address this systematic rise in violent crime in some rural communities, the Manitoba RCMP has created a Strategic Enforcement Response Team (SERT). SERT operates in two distinctive phases.

Get all the details in this week's Dauphin Herald!

In mid-July 2020, Tammy Nattaway went missing. The kind, quiet, shy 16-year-old girl from Kistiganwacheeng, Man., was not known to go off by herself. When Nattaway didn’t come home, her family knew immediately that something was wrong.

Community searches were conducted, and the RCMP were contacted. The police investigation has led investigators to suspect foul play in Nattaway’s disappearance, and RCMP Major Crime Services is leading the investigation.

During the investigation, information came to light that Nattaway may have been seen in the days following July 14, 2020.

RCMP continue to receive tips, which are all followed up on, and the investigators are pursuing several different investigational avenues they hope will help progress the investigation and find some answers for Nattaway’s family.

Police continue to ask people to come forward if they have any information related to Nattaway’s disappearance.

If anyone has information, call Island Lake RCMP at 204-456-2626, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or submit a secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.