Ask just about anyone responsible for staffing at any business - small, medium or large - and you are likely to hear of many difficulties in filling vacancies.

An inadequate workforce is a problem in most jurisdictions, including here in the Parkland, but a group of area municipalities have banded together to help address the problem in the area.

The City of Dauphin, RM of Dauphin, Grandview Municipality, Municipality of Gilbert Plains, Mossey River Municipality, Municipality of Ste Rose and Municipality of Roblin each provided $3,500 in seed money to run a one-year pilot project aimed at recruiting skilled workers and matching them directly with employment in the area.

Immigrate Parkland has been two years in the making, said Martijn van Luijn, City of Dauphin Economic Development manager and chair of the Parkland Immigration Committee, and with Saturday’s launch has set a goal of recruiting 40 to 50 workers in the first year.

“We have adopted terms of reference, have had monthly meetings, developed a new brand . . . and together with our partners, we’ve been working to build this project and to get it to launch today. So we’re ready for the next step and to start recruitment of skilled workers and bring them to the Parkland,” he said, adding the project has been supported from the beginning through strategic partnerships with Regional Connections, Rural Manitoba Economic Development Corporation and the Parkland Chamber of Commerce.

The Parkland Chamber of Commerce has been selected as the agency which will oversee Immigrate Parkland to ensure transparency and fairness in the process.

“We want every community to be part of this and for every community, every welding shop, every farm, every little mom and pop store to be able to tie into this program,” van Luijn said. “And to be able to have impartiality, the chamber of commerce actually popped up as the best agency for us to execute this program. We want to start slowly and build it up correctly and do it correctly. We’re looking forward to working with everyone in the future and we hope that in due time we can welcome many new families to our region.”

Forecasts predict the trend of labour shortages in all sectors will continue unless more skilled foreign workers are attracted to fill vacant positions. On hand for Saturday’s launch of Immigrate Parkland, Manitoba’s Minister of Labour and Immigration, Malaya Marcelino, said the Province is intrigued by the possibilities the program presents in addressing those challenges.

“(The Province of Manitoba is) just really excited that this is happening,” Marcelino said. “I hope that you are going to be able to go forward with a lot of success with this and that’s going to inspire other communities around you to say ‘wow, look what’s happenning in this region. Let’s try to replicate that’.”

Acknowledging the time and effort that was put into getting the project to this point, Marcelino said Immigrate Parkland is poised for success.

“Newcomers need their families in order to be successful. We know that newcomers need a welcoming community in order to be successful and we know that newcomers need jobs and jobs preferably in their field of study and in their experience,” she said. “When we have that kind of set up of their family, a welcoming community and jobs that they can actually succeed in, then it’s going to be a very, very good initiative and that we’re going to be seeing a lot of the things that we’re hoping for together as a community. I want to thank all of you for all the work that you put in and know that as a province we’re here to support you in this important endeavour and we’re here with you the whole way. As a new Immigration minister this actually means a lot to me as an immigrant myself. I came to this country as a young child with my parents and I know what it means to be able to come to a welcoming community and to be able to thrive and succeed and contribute to that economy and to that community. We’re going to be here for you when you need us.”

More about the program, and information needed to apply can be found at immigrateparkland.ca.

Talk about being committed to a community. After a six-month delay in their plans to open a retail cannabis store in Roblin, Adam and Dylan Carritt of Prairie Trichomes are finally ready to go.

The store, located on 2nd Avenue NW right next door to the 50 & Over Club Drop-In Centre, is set to hold its grand opening Saturday, Feb. 3.

Check out the rest of the story in this week’s Review.

A new but very familiar face has taken over the reins of the Roblin Agricultural Society.

At its annual general meeting held Thursday (Jan. 18), long-time member Dean Chescu was elected president with Ellen Arnott stepping down after five years at the helm.

Find out more in this week’s issue.

The 2024 bonspiel season got underway Jan. 11 with 16 rinks battling it out in this year’s version of the Roblin Farmers’ Bonspiel.

With four events this year, the ‘spiel saw some rinks playing four games on the final day, Saturday, making for some very tired curlers after the finals.

Read all about it in this week’s Review.

AgriInsurance program is expected to provide farmers with nearly $5 billion in coverage on an estimated 9.55 million acres for the upcoming crop year.

That continued stability was announced Tuesday at Ag Days by federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay and Manitoba ag minister Ron Kostyshyn.

Want to know more? Check out this week’s paper.

Recently The Pas Legion has voted in a new president, Roger Nikolychuk. Roger is no stranger when it comes to volunteering as Legion member, for he has strong family ties to The Pas Legion that started with his mother, Angie, who was the former president of The Pas Legion. Serving The Pas Legion has become the Nikolychuk family’s legacy.
“I’ve been a Legion member with The Pas Legion for 29 years, but I wasn’t really active until about 2014, when I became involved with it through the air cadets,” said Angie. “My kids were in air cadets at the time, and the Legion sponsors the air cadets and monitors their activities closely, so we naturally started giving back to The Pas Legion for everything they gave for the cadets.

When thinking about the Grub Box being in existence for 50 years, since 1973, I’ve had to go back in history some 70 years, to the early 1950s, when I was in my teens. I had a part time job working for Mabel and Gilbert Jones at Jones’ Grocery, stocking shelves, burning garbage and delivery groceries to customers with a bicycle during the summer and on a toboggan throughout the winter months. I kept this part-time job all through my teens until I left The Pas at age 19, to join the RCMP.
After a few years of police work and a better part of a year on the RCMP Musical Ride in 1961, I got out of the force, got married and pursued getting into business to fulfil the entrepreneurial blood in my veins. Firstly, here in The Pas in the service station business, then to Saskatoon again in a new Esso service station.
In 1967, still living in Saskatoon, I received several phone calls from my previous employer, Gilbert Jones, who wanted to retire, but couldn’t find anyone to buy his grocery business. Initially he was told, ‘I don’t know anything about the grocery industry’. His reply was, ‘I will teach you’. I told him I didn’t have the kind of money needed to buy his business. He then told me I didn’t need any and that he would finance the purchase. With that my family was packed up and moving back to The Pas.

Physician and nurse shortages, as well as closed ERs, are issues that aren’t going to be solved any time soon, especially for rural and northern Manitoba communities, but there is another option. The online service Q-Doc has had a successful year in providing patients with virtual appointments with physicians and nurse practitioners, to help people who don’t have access to immediate healthcare in their community and to prevent unnecessary visits to the ER. Q-Doc has seen substantial growth over 2023, when it came to service providers and patient usage.
“There have been a lot of highlights in the past year for Q-Doc,” said Q-Doc Co-founder Dr. Norman Silver. “At the end of 2022, we had 62 physicians and as of now we have 113, along with 30 nurse practitioners as part of a pilot project with the provincial government that went really well. So, provider wise, we have gone up about 80 percent in that capacity. We were able to recruit 30 nurse practitioners in a month. The nurse practitioner pilot went really well and allowed patients to be seen through Q-Doc as a result.

The Town of The Pas held a special budget meeting and a regular council meeting on January 8, in council chambers. During the citizens period, a representative from The Pas and Area Animal Shelter presented a financial request to council to help with the operations of the shelter. The organization planned on submitting the same request to the R.M. of Kelsey and Opaskwayak Cree Nation, since they serve those areas as well.
Council put forward a resolution to amend the policy to the Sales and Extensions of Lots From the March 1, 2018, Land Development Incentive. The policy was originally created to allow the approval of first and second extensions, however since then, council has approved third and fourth extensions, which led to a precedent being set.

When Canada was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the recently completed World Junior Hockey Championship in Sweden, there were plenty of disappointed Canadians who realized the defending champions wouldn’t even medal this year.
However, there were a few pockets here and there who were cheering loudly when the American team defeated host Sweden for the gold medal, including some, right here in the Valley.
Or should we say they were cheering on Lane Hutson, the dynamic 19-year-old defenceman from Team USA. His father, Rob Hutson, was born in Bowsman and they still have family here in the Valley, guaranteeing a strong local Hutson cheering contingent.
Hutson wasn’t just a member of Team USA, he was a key cog, playing huge and important minutes. The five-foot, 10-inch, 161-pound left-shot blueliner finished with six assists and 14 penalty minutes in the tournament (anyone who watched the tournament can attest the officiating was suspect at best). The second-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens was also a solid plus-eight in his plus/minus.
But most importantly, Hutson – who was born in Barrington, Ill., got to hear the American national anthem played after the final game of the tournament, and had a gold medal draped over his neck, signifying his team was the best in the world.
“It felt really good to win – to be with this team, at that moment, I couldn’t be happier,” said Hutson. “I was really part of history.”
Many observers expected a final between Sweden and the United States. These two teams, in various forms, have met each other in high-profile games over the past two years, with each claiming victories over each other – including Sweden defeating the USA in the final of the Under 18 championship two years ago.
“With our age group, the rivalry really started in the Under 18s,” said Hutson. “We were able to beat them out for the bronze last year (at the World Juniors), but beating them for the gold this year, that was the cherry on top.”
And the Americans were literally in hostile territory, as Sweden rallied around their team in a major way. The cheering was never-ending, and that was something the young Americans had to contend with.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played in an atmosphere like that before,” noted Hutson. “There was constant clapping, cheering – it was really special.”
Gold medal in hand, Hutson is now back in North America, playing with his college team Boston University. As well, Hutson has to think about his hockey future. Before the tournament, Hutson spoke with some representatives of the Canadiens, who wished him well in not just the World Championship, but the rest of his school year.
“We talked about my goals this year, and winning gold was one of them, so that’s checked off,” says Hutson.
“I also have goals with Boston University (currently ranked second in the nation behind Boston College), and that includes winning a championship with them as well,” he added. “So, they have encouraged me to keep going, as I’m going to have a lot more meaningful games coming up.”
As of early January, the soon-to-be 20-year-old Hutson has nine goals and 23 points in 16 games with Boston University – his second year with the team. The alternate captain really turned heads last year as a rookie, scoring 15 goals and adding 33 assists in 39 games. So, a Frozen Four appearance is definitely in the cards for this up-and-comer.
Hutson’s college career mirrors that of his father Rob, who after a strong junior career in the BCJHL with Bellingham, went on to star with the University of Illinois-Chicago before enjoying a long career in professional hockey.
And Lane is quite aware of his father’s roots – he spoke about spending the summer in the Valley as a youth, and has nothing but positive memories of spending time where his dad grew up.
“Dad grew up there, and when I was younger, we would go there every summer,” says Hutson. “I remember enjoying my time there – the weather was great, and my uncle had a place we would stay at with a huge garden and there was always lots to do.”
Hutson isn’t the only one following in his father’s footsteps. His older brother Quinn is a current teammate at Boston University, while his younger brother Cole is already committed to joining the team next season. Cole is also ranked to go in the first three rounds of the upcoming NHL draft as well. Finally, the youngest of the bunch, Lars, is a talented 15-year-old prospect himself.
So, with a World Junior championship in hand, a run at a national championship in the NCAA on tap this spring, and a professional hockey career on the horizon, 2024 is shaping up to be quite the year for Hutson and his family.