Council has passed a new bylaw to regulate and control animals in the urban and rural areas of the municipality.

The bylaw replaces legislation passed in 2015 and identifies and lists a number of restricted animals which are not permitted anywhere in the municipality.

Find out more in this week’s issue.

Private James “Jimmy” Moar was born in Crane River in 1915, and was one of fifteen children. He moved to Swan River after completing grade five, to work, and then back to Crane River.
In 1941, James and his brother, John, walked over 160 kilometers to Swan River to enlist in the Canadian Army. The brothers walked for a week, stopping at farms to work for food and sleeping outdoors along the way.
Once the brothers were enlisted, they joined the Royal Rifles and did their basic training out of Portage la Prairie. John was assigned to serve in England, where he trained and fought on Juno Beach in Normandy, France.

Tim Hortons will be making the holidays a little brighter by introducing their first ever Holiday Smile Cookie Campaign this month. The original Tim Hortons Smile Cookie Campaign has been running for over 25 years and raised over $111 million. The most recent Smile Cookie Campaign raised $19 million that went to over 600 local charities and community groups.
The Pas Tim Hortons franchise is gearing up for this fun and festive holiday treat campaign.
“This is the first time Tim Hortons is hosting a Holiday Smile Cookie Campaign,” said The Pas Tim Hortons Franchise Co-Owner Kathryn Sanderson.

The Pas Kinettes pride themselves on having fun while making The Pas a better place to live, work and play. Kinettes enjoy planning and participating in local fundraising, that often showcases their work skills and talents. It also gives them an opportunity to network with like-minded people.
“We do have executive members and anyone can fill an executive position,” said The Pas Kinette Member Kristal Gluska. “The first Wednesday of every month is our general meeting, where we have supper together. The following week, we host the executive meeting.”

The Brick Ltd. started its story as The Brick Warehouse LP in Edmonton, Alta., in 1971, eventually growing into the national retailer of furniture, mattresses, appliances and home electronics that it is today.
With a reputation for having large retail spaces in urban centres, Lance Jacobson didn’t expect that it was even an option to open up a Brick franchise in Swan River, which has had its footprint and iconic Vermillion Red logo in Swan River for 10 years now.
Jacobson was the manager of the Sears store that existed in the same location at 619 Main Street East, before it abruptly closed amongst the company-wide shuttering of retail locations across the country in the last decade leading up to the company’s bankruptcy.
“With Sears, of course it was a whole different business that focused more on catalog sales,” he said. “We had a mix of major appliances, some beds and some lawn and garden. It really was limited to what we could have and sell inside that store.”
When the local Sears store closed, Jacobson asked around amongst his Sears colleagues and he discovered that the manager in Humboldt had opened up a Brick franchise instead.
“I called up my friend in Humboldt and he said that if we don’t have a Sears anymore, that I’d be interested in this,” said Jacobson.
“It’s completely night and day as far as operations go. In the Sears stores, you didn’t own them and were more of a dealer. You didn’t have much flexibility or opportunity to grow. Here (at The Brick), you own it and it opened up a lot of different avenues for us to explore and to grow.
“When we went through the process of applying for a franchise, back in those days it was a little simpler than it is today,” Jacobson continued. “We were very lucky and we had a chance to meet with the Senior Vice President. He came here twice to Swan River: once when he assessed the building and who we were, and then he came for the grand opening as well.”
The Brick operates both corporate-owned and franchised locations. The Brick in Swan River represents one of about 20 franchise locations out of the more than 200 retail stores that The Brick operates across Canada.
Jacobson sees owning a Brick franchise as a natural progression in his career.
“Before managing the Sears dealer store with Neil Scales for almost 13 years, I worked at the Co-op furniture department for 13 years,” he said.
“Those early days working at the Co-op were the learning days – learning about the business, product and customers. Then the Sears days were about learning a management role and building a customer base. And, now owning The Brick is about being franchise owners.
“Of course, we’re not just franchise owners,” Jacobson continued. “We do the accounting, sell merchandise and take care of the customer from start to finish. We even do most of the deliveries.”
Jacobson added that he enjoys doing many of those jobs from start to finish because he is invested in making sure the customer experience goes the way it should, or can make things right when something doesn’t go the way it should.
“In smaller towns, we focus more on customer service because everybody knows you,” said Jacobson, who is a business owner with even more local visibility due to his role as an elected figure in Swan River. “If people have issues, you deal with them the best that you possibly can.”
The furniture and home furnishings industry has also gone through some major changes, not just in the time since Jacobson started selling furniture at the Swan Valley Consumers Co-op in 1988, but also even just in the last few years.
“When I started, everything was pretty much manual as far as inventory systems and POS and payment,” he said. “Eventually, Internet was a big part of everyone’s life and way to communicate.
“In time, Internet expanded, companies had websites and then had the option to buy online and so much more. This definitely has had the largest impact of consumer shopping and spending today.”
In Jacobson’s early retail days, cheque and cash was the norm, whereas today, most transactions are done through debit, credit or even e-transfer. And, through using the in-store Flexiti credit card, so many purchases can be financed now as well.
“Now, we pretty much can’t do business without Internet, including POS and inventory control,” he said.
“But no matter how one will shop, online or in person in our store, we continue to make our personal connection and the experience the best it can be.”
One other thing that has changed in just the last few years is where product is manufactured. Jacobson said that much of the industry had shifted towards imported products from overseas versus the domestic manufacturing the way it used to be more than 30 years ago.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic exposed how vulnerable the supply chain is with the shutdown of foreign manufacturing and logistics, which made companies realize that a shift towards more domestic products might be a good move, which also resulted in more expensive price tags as cost of inputs and labour went up.
While Jacobson said he’s not the kind of guy to often toot his own horn, he did share some praise and positive comments that he has received during the last 10 years a Brick franchisee.
“In the first few years, we had people in Flin Flon who would stop our truck and ask if there was a Brick store in Swan River,” said Jacobson, adding that people were very excited to stop by.
Jacobson has also received compliments and praise from other people from The Brick family in other locations.
“Overall, I appreciate the customers that support us,” said Jacobson. “We have a lot of different partners that we’ve grown a lot of different relationships with and we appreciate every single one of them. And, we also value the employees that we have.”
Jacobson has run The Brick with his wife, Coralie, for the entire 10 years, and one of his employees, Ashley Eggie, has also worked alongside the two of them for the entire 10 years, as well as the other valued employees and friendly faces that people interact with at The Brick, whether it’s people on the sales floor or people helping deliver purchases.
“I appreciate all the people that support us and I welcome those that have not yet walked in our door,” Jacobson concluded. “We will treat you as good as we possibly can with the best prices that we can.”

Darker nights and clearer skies in this season allows for nature’s late-night light shows to present themselves. On Sunday night (Nov. 12), a show of aurora borealis – or northern lights – danced in the sky as seen on Hwy. 10 north of Cowan...

The Dauphin Kings saw their six-game winning streak snapped on home ice, Sunday, when they fell 3-1 to the Winkler Flyers.

Prior to that, the Kings won their sixth straight contest, 5-2 over the Neepawa Titans, Saturday in Neepawa.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley didn’t think the Kings played well against Neepawa, stating they got away with some things.

“We got caught standing and watching a bit. Good teams find ways to win and we definitely did that. I think we could have been better. Neepawa pushed hard. They had some good opportunities and (goaltender Austin) Seibel played real well. He made some big saves when he had to. Otherwise, they would have been back in the game,” he said.

That game was a continuation of the way the team has played in recent games.

“The last little while, we’ve been getting away with some stuff and I think we’ve got to get back to doing those little things better,” Hedley said. “Whether it’s getting to the paint to get second shots. Whether it’s putting pucks in behind the D-men, not turning pucks over at their blueline. Last night, we turned pucks over, over and over again and gave them opportunities on the rush. Fortunately for us, Seibel made some big saves when he had to.”

It’s a good way to learn, Hedley added, knowing the team can play with any team in the league.

“The speed is there. When we start moving pucks up ice and we start attacking bluelines with speed, we create some opportunities,” he said.

Winkler, playing their third game in as many days, kept the Kings from generating much in the way of scoring chances, blocking a lot of shots.

“If we had 25 shots total in the game, we probably had 25 blocked,” Hedley said. “Sooner or later, we’ve got to figure out you can’t just bury your head and shoot the puck. You’ve got to get your eyes up, get your chest up and maybe step fake and go around the guy who is sliding at you. In the last seven or eight minutes, they were down before we even shot the puck and we didn’t one time go around them.”

The Kings played better in the third period, using their speed to create chances, but could not solve Winkler netminder Malachi Klassen.

Winkler controlled the play through the first 40 minutes, outshooting Dauphin 30-11, an indication of the slow start by the Kings.

“You’ve got to give them credit. Their goaltender played well and they played well,” Hedley said.

The Kings added defenceman Charlie Sandven, who played eight games with the Minnesota Wilderness of the North American Hockey League.

The Edina, Minn. native brings size to the Kings blueline at six-feet, three-inches and 190-pounds.

“I like him. I like his mobility. He makes good first passes. He doesn’t do too much. He gets pucks up ice and snaps the puck hard. I really liked him and Trey tonight. They both played real well,” Hedley said. “We think he’s going to help our hockey club. I think he’s a real good D-man, moves well and he’s just going to get better and better.”

Forward Gavin Nemis is close to returning from a shoulder injury he sustained at the Showcase.

The Kings have just one game this week, hosting the Portage Terriers, Friday on Ag Night, with more than $10,000 in raffle prizes. Following the game will be a Skate with the Kings, where fans can skate with their favourite player.

Kings notes:

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League still has three teams in the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s top 10. The red hot Steinbach Pistons, 11-0-1-0 in their last 12 games, moved up from no. 8 to no. 4, while the Winkler Flyers dropped two, spots to no. 5. The Kings also dropped in the rankings to no. 9. The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Flin Flon Bombers sit atop the rankings, with a 14-1-1-0 record.

Dauphin’s Breken Brezden won gold at the 2024 Manitoba Sectionals, this past weekend in Moose Jaw, Sask.

Brezden won the provincial title after posting a score of 46.48 in the short program and clinched her second straight provincial crown with a score of 87.37 in the long program, for an overall score of 133.85.

This result qualifies Brezden for the Skate Canada Challenge in Winnipeg in early December.

Canadians are familiar with the annual Tim Horton’s Smile Cookie Campaign, held each spring for the past 25 years or more.

And now they will be able to add a little smile to their holidays as the iconic Canadian restaurant is holding its first-ever Holiday Smile Cookie Campaign.

And locally, no one will be smiling more than the Dauphin and District Community Foundation (DDCF), which has been chosen as the local beneficiary of the campaign.

The Holiday Smile Cookies are white-chocolate sugar cookies with red and green sprinkles baked into them and each is hand-decorated with a white smile.

The cookies sell for $1.50 plus taxes and can be purchased at the local Tim Horton’s until Nov. 19, with 100 per cent of the proceeds of the cookies going to charity - 50 per cent to DDCF and 50 per cent to Tim Horton’s Foundation Camps.

“We are so pleased to have been selected by Tim Horton’s as the local charity to share in the proceeds of the Holiday Smile Cookie Campaign. We have no idea what to expect, but we are excited as to how this will help us increase what we can grant to the community,” DDCF executive director Kit Daley said. “We have had a tremendous response from local businesses and very quickly had sponsors for each day of the campaign. We are grateful to them for immediately coming onboard and to everyone who is so generously going to support this campaign through their purchase of cookies. A huge thank you to Tim Horton’s for selecting DDCF for this campaign.”

You can also place an order through any of Tim Horton’s delivery partners and get the cookies delivered.​

Fire protection is one of the most important services a municipality can provide to its residents. It is also one of the most expensive.

The City and RM of Dauphin recently approved the purchase of a new pumper truck for the Dauphin Fire Department, but the $828,447.90 price tag might not be as big a hit as it initially appears, said fire chief Cam Abrey.

“This is part of our capital replacement plan. We have a 10-year capital replacement plan so there’s no surprises to the taxpayers. The city and the RM make annual contributions towards the plan through their budgeting process and then we take a look at the age of our apparatus and the maintenance that’s been going into it as of late,” Abrey said. “One of the things that we did in order to lower the cost for the ratepayers is we’ve moved from a custom cabin chassis, which was the last pumper purchased in 2011, to a commercial cab and chassis, which lowers a price by $150,000 to $200,000.”

Three bids were received for supplying the truck with The Fort Garry Fire Trucks plan for a 2025 Freightliner cab and chassis top mount enclosed pumper being selected.

The truck will carry 1,000 imperial gallons of water which will be managed through a Darley 1,250 imperial gallon pump. The truck will also provide seating for six firefighters and has a delivery time of 24 to 32 months, Abrey said, adding the new truck is being built to address the department’s specific needs.

“We looked at maximizing the crew efficiency, so the 2002 pumper only carries two firefighters, which means that we’ve got to send multiple trucks to any call outside of the City of Dauphin into the RM because we need more than two firefighters for these fires,” he said. “The new (truck) will be carrying six firefighters and a higher volume of water. The 2011 only carries 500 gallons of water and the new one is designed to carry 1,000 gallons of water. So it’s multipurpose in that it could respond within city limits and the RM of Dauphin.”

The additional water capacity, Abrey said, makes the truck ideal when crews are smaller than desired, providing additional resources for the initial knockdown while hydrants are tapped and provides enough water for fighting vehicle fires, which usually require around 500 gallons.

Those are the kind of benefits that can come with planning 10 years in advance, Abrey said, stressing the department will not spend the maximum amount of money available, simply because it is available.

“Every member on this fire department is also a ratepayer of the community and we’re not out to hose our community and increase taxes. We want to do it as efficiently as possible,” he said, adding even emergency situations like when the department’s water tanker caught fire in 2012 or the ladder truck had an electrical fire in 2015. “It would be easy to say, ‘we need a new truck’ and go get one rather than putting in the work to get it done. But we fought with insurance to get the best proceeds we could.”

Once the new truck is delivered the department will make a decision as to how to dispose of the old apparatus.

“We’ll ask the manufacturer when we get closer to delivery date if they’ll assist us in selling it or if they’d consider it as a trade in,” he said. “We always look for the best efficiencies we can with that, too. Obviously that money is returned back into the capital replacement plan.”

Abrey said the new pumper has a life expectancy of 20 years according to the Fire Underwriters Survey, the organization which sets insurance rates across Canada.