It is always nice when you find a little money, whether that’s a $5 bill in the pocket of a jacket you haven’t worn for awhile or, in the case of the City of Dauphin, a share of a new $62-million provincial fund announced at the recent Association of Manitoba Municipalities Fall Convention.

The One Manitoba Growth Revenue Fund, will funnel that $62 million to municipalities across the province over the next five years, Premier Wab Kinew said.

“Last year, our government promised to treat municipalities like the true partners that they are and to respect the pressures they are under after years of freezes,” Kinew told municipal officials gathered in Winnipeg for the convention.

“This year, we’re establishing a new fund to provide extra support for programs now and into the future. Together, we’re giving Manitobans reasons to hope with a plan that makes life better across our province.”

With shares of the new fund determined on a per capita basis, for the City of Dauphin it will mean roughly $75,000 in “found money” annually for the next five years, said city manager Sharla Griffiths.

How that money will be used is yet to be determined.

“It’s always great to have some found money and we have a really progressive, exciting and excited council who want to do things,” she said.

“So we might be able to put this money into something special.”

The new fund is part of what Kinew is calling historic funding for municipalities. Budget 2024 provided $221 million in unconditional funding to all municipalities, including a two per cent escalator to the Municipal Operating Grant to help municipalities address rising cost pressures after years of funding freezes worth $4.4 million, the premier said.

However, when considering those years of frozen funding, combined with delays in receiving inflationary increases, the renaming of grant programs and uncertainties around the size and timing of grants, it is not as if the City is awash in discretionary funds.

“While we’re told historic funding, that kind of thing, it’s not like we now have a windfall . . . we’re catching up,” she said.

“But we will always take any money that’s given to us.”

The new growth revenue fund will be in addition to the operating grant. When combined, this increase to municipal funding is equivalent to 7.6 per cent, a $16.8 million guaranteed increase in operating funding for the next year.

It is an indication that the Province of Manitoba  is in the corner of its citizen’s, added Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard.

“True collaboration is about recognizing the challenges of our municipal partners and coming forward with real support to meet those challenges,” Simard said.

“Our new growth revenue fund is focused on helping municipalities deliver for their communities and continuing to offer the quality services Manitobans expect. We’ve got your back.”

In the last year, Simard noted record provincial investments for municipalities include:

• $221 million in unconditional funding to all municipalities including a two per cent escalator to the Municipal Operating Grant to help municipalities address rising cost pressures after years of funding freezes worth $4.4 million;
• $62 million for the One Manitoba Growth Revenue Fund, a historic commitment to municipalities across the province;
• $265,000 in funding to the Swan Valley General Investigation Section (GIS) pilot program as part of the provincial Public Safety Strategy;
• $42 million for the new Manitoba Growth, Renewal and Opportunities for Municipalities (Manitoba GRO) program, which provides dedicated capital project funding for municipalities outside Winnipeg;
• $4 million in additional funding to the Manitoba Water Services Board, which increases its funding to $24 million to support water and sewerage projects;
• $500,000 to the Municipality of Virden to support the expansion and renovation of Virden Regional Airport;
• $47 million to complete the rehabilitation of the Rivers Dam; and
• $19.6 million for the Souris bridge crossing.

Dauphin residents will be paying more for their treated water in the new year following the recent approval of a rate increase by the Public Utilities Board.

As of Jan. 1, 2025, the minimum quarterly charge for 5/8-inch standard household connection will increase to  $89.59 from the current  $79.12, a 13.2 per cent rise. That minimum will rise further to $92.96 on July 1, 2025, and to $95.39 on Jan. 1, 2026.

Additionally, in the new year water and sewer used over the minimum will be billed at $3.44 per cubic metre instead of the current $3.04 per cubic metre, again, a 13.2 per cent increase.

Those rates will increase to $3.59 and $3.67 per cubic metre on July 1, 2025 and Jan, 1, 2026, respectively.

The new rates will be reflected in the first quarter billing in April.

“In terms of importance for the city, it’s ramping up and continuing with slow and steady increases, as opposed to not doing a change for five years and then it increasing by substantial double digit percentages,” city manager Sharla Griffiths said, adding there was no increase in water and sewer rates in 2024.

The City will begin the process of another water rate study in anticipation of the lagoon expansion project set to begin next year.

“We had hoped that the lagoon project would have started earlier and then we could have included the cost of that lagoon project in the rates, however, it didn’t happen. So instead of waiting so that there was no increase in 2024, 2025 or 2026 and then having a huge increase in 2027 we’ve done this small two-year order, basically recovering 2025 and recovering 2026 for increases,” she said.

“We anticipate another increase in 2027 and we will and we will know what the cost of the project will be, because there will be tender contracts that are committed to. So we can plug that into the calculations and then we can have rates that cover or help to cover the cost going forward for that debt.”

The Dauphin Rotary Club has launched a new fund within the Dauphin and District Community Foundation.

But this new fund is a little different from what they have done in the past, said club president Darren Eddie.

“Rotary has always done donations and stuff for scholarships and things, but never had a fund set up for itself, so that perpetual monies would come in,” Eddie said, adding the club opened the fund with an initial $10,000 investment.

“Any of the monies we have ever raised would get spent directly on other programs, right, so we wanted to get this started up so that we have funds that will come in every year that we don’t have to fund-raise directly for.”

A means of celebrating the club’s centennial year, the fund was created mostly through an  $8,700 donation it received as the beneficiary of the Holiday Smile Cookie Campaign.

“We topped it up, so it’s $10,000, so that the fund started off at the community foundation is now an active fund and will pay us out in percentages, five per cent of whatever it earns,” Eddie said.

“It will continue to grow and anyone can add to it at any time. So it’s now open for people to make bequests or just general donations in perpetuity for the Rotary Club.”

Since the beginning, and even before completion of the construction of the Northgate trail system, those involved have been advocating for a partnership with Parks Canada with an eye to developing world class mountain biking infrastructure.

And, while at times it seemed as though the wheels of government turned impossibly slow, there has been progress made, with initial scrubbing occurring this fall to join RMNP’s Edwards Creek Trail to the Northgate system.

That is thanks in part to advocacy for the project from Dauphin MLA Ron Kostyshyn.

In June, Kostyshyn sent a letter to Steven Guilbeault, federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change educating him on the project and the vision and stressing the importance of a working relationship between the Northgate development group and Parks Canada.

“I encourage you and your staff to take a look at the Northgate Trail system outside the park at northgatetrails.com, as well as the extremely well-received user experience at maps.app.goo.gl/HZkFd8ftnXSxpaca6,” the letter read.

“With a bit of resolve, there is a real opportunity here to take this excellent trail network to the next level by connecting the Northgate Trail to trail networks within RMNP.”

POSSIBILITIES A8

Recently, Kostyshyn heard back through a letter from Parks Canada president and CEO Ron Hallman, who indicated his organization recognized the significance of the trail system as it exists today and the potential it represents.

He also provided an update of work completed on Parks Canada’s end.

“I am pleased to inform you the Edwards Creek Trail Project is moving forward. The project detailed design was developed and reviewed in spring of 2024. The project impact assessment was initiated in July with an archaeological field component completed prior to bird nesting seasonal restrictions on recreational trail projects of this scope,” the letter read.

“Member representatives of the Coalition of First Nations with interests in Riding Mountain National Park participated in this field work. Additional archaeological field work is scheduled for spring of 2025. An interim impact assessment was completed in late fall of 2024, for preliminary brushing of the trail to occur this fall and winter. Preliminary brushing, in progress, will allow for completion of the archaeology field work next spring, and to better inform the detailed (engineered) design for the proposed trail work. The Basic Impact Assessment (BIA) for the full project scope is in final review and construction work is expected to begin in the late summer or fall of 2025, following bird nesting season.”

That type of acknowledgment, and co-operation among all levels of government is important, Kostyshyn said.

“The Derailleurs group and the bike trail, it is just unbelievable the opportunities we could see in the tourism industry and economic development,” he said.

“This is an opportunity that has really blossomed and continues to grow. Just talking to the organization about future plans and competitive biking opportunities, worldwide opportunities, and I think, wow this is really unique.”

Once he learned about the scope of the project, Kostyshyn said there was no question he would get involved in promoting the project and doing what he could to advance it.

“It’s what an MLA should be doing and I’m very happy to help out in anyway. I think this is really important for our community,” he said.

“Just kind of blue skying the thoughts of what’s going to happen with this bike trail and competitions, it’s unbelievable. It’s people from across the world would be actually coming here and competing in Dauphin. Why not enhance the amazing tourism opportunities. We need to continue building.”

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

Looking for that special Christmas gift for the country music lover in your life?

Don’t despair, Dauphin’s Countryfest has released its main stage line up just in time for the holiday shopping season.

In no particular order, Josh Ross, Jordan Davis and John Michael Montgomery will headline the three nights of the Play Now Main Stage  entertainment.

Davis is an American singer/songwriter who is considered one of the top talents to emerge in country music in recent years. Fans will be familiar with his hit singles “Singles You Up’, “Take It from Me”, “Slow Dance in a Parking Lot’, “Almost Maybes’, “Buy Dirt’, “What My World Spins Around’ and “Next Thing You Know”.

A Canadian singer/songwriter, Ross draws his influence from a wide range of acts from Guns N’ Roses and Metallica to country-rock outlaw Steve Earle.

Ross has been on the music charts with singles such as “First Taste of Gone”, “On a Different Night”, “Trouble”, “Ain’t Doin’ Jack”, and “Single Again”.

Montgomery is an American country music singer boasting a long career and an even longer list of hits.

“Our Friday headliner is one of the newer up and coming acts. We’ve got a little more established act on Saturday night and then, of course, we have our throwback or retro Sunday theme,” Countryfest president Duane McMaster said, adding fans of Montgomery will be interested to know that Countryfest will be his final Canadian performance.

“We have been informed that he’s not going to come to Canada again, this will be it for him. So if you want to see him in concert without having to cross the border, then you’ll have to come to Countryfest this year.”

Read more in this week’s Dauphin Herald.

According to Mahatma Gandhi, the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

On a local level, the City of Dauphin is claiming a piece of that moral high ground with a modernization of its Animal Services Bylaw.

The current bylaw, in force since 2020, was a significant improvement over the previous long-standing Animal Control Bylaw 3939 adopted in 1984, but the new guideline, which received first reading at city council’s Nov. 18 meeting, represents a giant step forward, said deputy city manager Lisa Gaudet, who has taken the lead on the issue.

“I am very excited about this bylaw, I think it was long overdue,” she said.

“We have completely overhauled and rewritten the bylaw to really reflect best practices and progressive approaches to animal care and management and we’ve done a tremendous amount of research looking into bylaws and practices from across North America to incorporate the best approach and the best wording into this document.”

With the bylaw having passed first reading, Gaudet is seeking public input prior to second and third reading, Dec. 9.

Those wanting to express their opinion can find the survey by following links on the City’s website at www.dauphin.ca under the “Services” tab.

“We’ll be reviewing all the feedback from the community engagement. I think 122 people have already completed the survey, so that is absolutely fantastic to see that engagement,” Gaudet said.

“People are really passionate about animals in our community and we’re really happy to see that. We are listening and we will take their responses into consideration as we send the bylaw for its final readings. We’ll make changes to reflect the input.”

While the bylaw has been completely revamped, there are a number of concepts in the new document that are a highlight for Gaudet, which are going to impact how people manage and care for their animals and the standards to which they will have to comply.

One of those is the rules around tethering, which has been proven to cause psychological distress and aggressive behaviour in animals. The bylaw currently states that a person cannot confine or yard an animal for more than 15 consecutive hours without food, water or attention.

“So that essentially means that you can confine, yard or contain an animal for more than 15 consecutive hours as long as those needs are met. We know that tethering, especially for long periods of time, is inhumane and we really want to shift the attitudes on that in our community,” Gaudet said, adding shifting attitudes takes time and small changes and she would like to see rules around tethering revisited in the next couple of years.

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

The benefit to Dauphin brought by the community’s two major festivals and the economic potential of the new Northgate Trails development are widely known . . . anecdotely.

But thanks to the City of Dauphin’s Economic Development (ED) department, there is now some hard data to back it up.

Utilizing some of the proceeds of last year’s accommodation tax, this past summer Dauphin ED, in partnership with Sport Tourism Canada  and The Data Jungle, conducted an economic impact assessment of Dauphin’s Countryfest, Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival and Northgate Trails.

The assessment looked at three factors: the spending of out-of-town visitors while they attend the events; the expenditures of the organizers in producing the events; and capital construction costs directly attributed to hosting.

Those numbers were used to extrapolate the impact on the regional, provincial and national economies.

That data was presented to the groups involved at a special meeting at city hall last week.

And the results are not surprising with it being revealed that through its $3,081,632, 2024 operational budget, Countryfest generated $5,577,610 worth of economic activity locally, $6,073,512 provincially and $9,453,100 nationally. The results are based on 452 responses to a survey conducted by ED staff and volunteers.

Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival, with a 2024 budget of $520,200, based on 200 survey responses, was shown to generate $2,579,557 of economic activity locally, $3,103,922 provincially and $4,481,878 nationally.

The numbers are not insignificant ED manager Martijn van Luijn said, when you consider that together, the total economic activity of Dauphin’s major festivals impact the local economy by $8,157,167, Manitoba’s economy by $9,177,434 and Canada’s by $13,934,978. You cannot forget that they also generate $2,490,000 in federal, provincial and municipal taxes, he added.

These numbers can be used to demonstrate the value of the festivals, while supporting funding and sponsorship programs, guiding strategic planning, advocating for community investment and promoting local engagement.

“The primary reason we did this was to help these organizations lobby for future funds and to help them build some evidence and data around how important this is to our community, so they can use that for future planning and for grant applications, etc,” van Luijn said.

“The cost of these studies was $15,000 and that’s probably something that they would not have done on their own. But after meeting with them, this was something that they needed.”

While the study of Northgate Trails did not follow the same format, user data collected through geo-fencing data with permission from user smart devices through Trails Canada Propulso Data Collection was used to create character profiles.

The results of the less than 1,000 user sample size showed that between January 2021 and December 2023, the facility has more than 600 visitors monthly, with October and January being the peak months.

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

The City of Dauphin is currently working out how two recent announcements are going to affect the cost of policing in the municipality.

A two per cent increase in funding for policing will ease the burden somewhat on the city’s largest budget line item, while a new directive outlining that all frontline RCMP officers must now wear body cameras will add some expense for the City.

In terms of the increase in funding, city manager Sharla Griffiths is pleased to see the province move the needle. Funding for policing was frozen at slightly more than $900,000 for six years, she said, so any increase is welcome. This year, the City budgetted $1.24 million for it’s 70 per cent share of policing costs, Griffiths added.

“We’re anticipating in 2025 we’re going to get a little bit more money,” she said, adding it is sometimes difficult to determine the timing of provincial grants.

“They work on fiscal years and we work on calendar years, so sometimes they’ll say 2023-24 and they’ll mean the 2024 payment, and sometimes they’ll say the 2024-25, but we get it in 2024, as well.”

Whenever it comes, the bulk of that grant increase will be used to outfit local officers with the new body cameras.

“We would pay for 70 per cent of the cost to outfit our police members. The best information that I have is approximately $3,500 per camera, per member,” Griffiths said.

“We authorize 15 officers so that’s $36,750.”

The cameras are part of the RCMP’s ongoing efforts to be transparent and accountable to the communities in which they operate.

The use of these cameras will be complemented by a digital evidence management system that will be used to store and manage body-worn video.

The Steinbach detachment was the first in Manitoba to receive the camera going online on Nov. 22. They will be followed by  detachments in Portage la Prairie, Amaranth and Treherne on Dec. 4; East St. Paul, Grand Marais and Selkirk on Jan. 7, 2025; and St-Pierre-Jolys on Jan. 22, 2025.

Griffiths said the Dauphin Detachment will be begin using the cameras on Feb. 25, 2025.

In total, between Nov. 22 and April 2025, it is expected that more than 490 Manitoba RCMP officers in 44 detachments will be equipped with body-worn cameras.

That number includes detachments which service Ebb and Flow First Nation, Peguis First Nation, Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, Chemawawin Cree Nation, O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation, as well as a number of other First Nation communities.

All other detachments throughout Manitoba will have body-worn cameras and the digital evidence management system rolled out to them in a phased approach over the next 18 months.

“Communities have been asking for more accountability and transparency in policing. We are very pleased to say that the RCMP has listened and is deploying body-worn cameras throughout Manitoba,” said  Assistant Commissioner Scott McMurchy, Commanding Officer of the Manitoba RCMP.

“With today’s launch, it truly demonstrates our commitment to enhancing the trust between the Manitoba RCMP and the communities we so proudly serve throughout the province.”

Body-worn cameras can help increase trust between police and the communities they serve because the video evidence collected will provide an independent, unbiased, and objective way to capture interactions between the public and police officers.

The video evidence will also help resolve public complaints more quickly, and improve evidence gathering.

RCMP officers will usually be wearing their body-worn cameras on their chest and the public will know it’s recording when a red light is visible and flashing below the lens of the camera.

The Parkland Chamber of Commerce was among successful applicants as the province announced over $800,000 in funding to 37 organizations to remove barriers and improve accessibility across Manitoba.

The chamber will use the $32,250 awarded to an accessibility audit of all marketing materials and resources, as well as provide educational resources, training workshops and guidance to members on how to make their businesses more accessible.

Turtle River School Division was also successful in its application under the educational institution stream for a project, which includes the development of an accessible website that complies with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 standards. The project will also focus on raising awareness and promoting a culture of accessibility within the broader community. This may involve organizing awareness campaigns, hosting workshops or seminars on disability rights and inclusive design and collaborating with advocacy organizations to amplify messaging around digital accessibility.

The division received $7,500.

“Our government is committed to making Manitoba more accessible for everyone, and I’m proud of the many groups across the province who have stepped up to join us in this work,” Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine, minister responsible for accessibility, said.

“The Manitoba Accessibility Fund helps to make sure a wide variety of organizations can take on a wide variety of projects to remove barriers and enhance access for the people they serve.”

The Manitoba Accessibility Fund, managed by The Winnipeg Foundation, provides grant funding to help Manitoba organizations remove barriers, create awareness and support compliance with the Accessibility for Manitobans Act and its standards.

Funded projects must fulfill one of three objectives including:

• raising awareness about the prevention and removal of barriers;
• developing tools, resources and training to support compliance with legislated standards; or
• removing barriers to information and communication electronically, in print and in person.

This is the third year the Manitoba government has funded accessibility projects through the Manitoba Accessibility Fund grant program. Since its inception, nearly $2.5 million has been awarded.

Dauphin’s Utility Fund is trending toward a deficit in 2024.

City manager Sharla Griffiths informered councillors of the situation at their regular meeting Nov. 18.

“One of the reasons that we’re looking at a possible deficit is that the City of Dauphin last September, so over a year ago now, applied for a rate study with the Public Utilities Board (PUB) and we anticipated, we knew that it was going to take a long time. So we gave them basically a year and anticipated that we would have received approval of the increased utility rates by Oct. 1,” Griffiths said, adding they have been told the review will start soon.

“We’re well into November, so fingers crossed for January 1. But that’s the primary reason that we may be running a deficit for 2024.”

Griffiths added there was some capital work that was not completed this year which might help the situation, but on the flip side there was extra capital when they were doing the Lagoon sludging.

“So we are really kind of waiting for the numbers to come in as to where are we are,” she said.

“We’re going to evaluate at the end of November and probably there’s not a lot of room to cancel things in December, all of our projects are done. So we’ll know in a couple of weeks where we’re at.”

The City requested the water rate review as a result of inflationary pressures. While the last review included a built-in inflation factor, it only covered a set number of years.

“After that we can’t inflate the rates, so we just have to keep them stagnant,” Griffiths said,

“So there was at least one year where there, 2023 I believe, did not see an increase and neither did 2024. We were hoping that three-quarters of the way through 2024 we would see an increase and then continue on from there.”

In its application, the City was seeking an 11.7 per cent increase in 2024,  along with a 4.2 per cent in 2025 and 2.3 per cent in 2026.

When the new rates will kick in depends on when the PUB decision comes down as the City prefers not to change rates in the middle of a billing cycle.

“It would be great if we could get it started for Jan. 1, but if we can’t then it won’t be until Apr. 1,” Griffiths said.

“It’s tougher to get the kind of messaging out for people to understand that their rate changed halfway through. It’s a cleaner process when it’s at the beginning of a quarter.”

The request before the PUB is for a short term, Griffiths said, acting as a bridge with the lagoon expansion project looming. Once construction costs are firmed up and operating estimates are determined, the City will ask for another rate review to ensure the utility is a strong position to finance the project.

“We have had hugely fluctuating estimates for the project. When we applied for the grant way back in 2019 it was $13 million. During the pandemic, when we got awarded the grant, it was thought that the project could be upwards of $17 million,” Griffiths said adding the grant requirements were that any expenditures over the original $13 million had to be covered by the municipality.

“But as we’re coming out of that high inflation time, we’re finding that the costs are coming down, not quite down to $13 million, but it’s not as high as $17 million. Once we have a more solid idea of what those costs are, then we can determine if (the project will be covered) 100 per cent by water rates or if there’s some on taxation, as well.”