Building upon its brand, Adventure From Here on Out, the City of Dauphin has launched the Dauphin Adventure Fund, an initiative they hope strengthens the community’s position as a destination for events.

Funded through the accommodation tax, the Adventure Fund will provide financial assistance to organizations involved in the planning, execution, and hosting of regional, provincial, national, or international events within the City of Dauphin and the Rural Municipality of Dauphin.

The fund will focus on fostering overnight stays in the community, Dauphin Economic Development manager Martijn van Luijn said.

“If you are a local organization and you want to put on an event that, at least, has some sort of overnight stay attached to it, because that is really what feeds our economy, then you can apply for some funds and we will help you get this project going,” he said.

van Luijn said as a vibrant community that values the power of events to stimulate economic prosperity, Dauphin recognizes the importance of attracting and nurturing diverse events that draw visitors.

Financial assistance will be available for a wide range of events, including, but not limited to sports tournaments, cultural festivals, art exhibitions, conferences, and more.

“We firmly believe that investing in events is investing in our community’s future. By supporting event organizers through the Dauphin Adventure Fund, we are empowering them to create unique experiences that attract visitors, stimulate our local economy, and showcase all that Dauphin has to offer,” mayor David Bosiak said.

“We invite event organizers to seize this opportunity and partner with us in driving Dauphin’s success as a thriving event tourism destination.”

The fund started with a balance of $40,000. The allocation of funding will be administered by the Sports-Tourism subcommittee of the Dauphin Economic Development Committee, working in close collaboration with the Economic Development Manager.

Through a thorough evaluation process, funding amounts will be determined based on the potential impact of the event, its ability to attract overnight visitors, and its alignment with the city’s strategic goals, van Luijn said.

Funding requests exceeding $5,000 will require approval from city council.

“We’ve already received three applications. There is a need,” van Luijn said.

For more information on the Dauphin Adventure Fund and the application process, visit tourismdauphin.ca/meetings-special-events or contact van Luijn or Ember Kutcher by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at 204-622-3216.

Two female athletes from Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN) were on the First Nations Women’s team at the Saskatoon World Cup this month. Harmony Constant and Savanna Sayese have been playing soccer since they were girls and recently got to take their skills to a whole new level.
“Being that there isn't a lot of soccer in Manitoba, especially for women, this was a great opportunity,” said Harmony Constant. “For years we have taken teams to play in or went and hopped on teams in Saskatchewan. In doing this, it has lead to women asking us to come back and play for their teams. This is how I ended up playing on the First Nations team for the Saskatoon World Cup; I had previously played on a team with the woman who entered the team.
“I honestly can't remember when I started playing soccer, but I know for certain my first time playing in the women's division was at the age of 11. The position I play is usually wing-back or centre-back.”

It’s so close to the finish line for fundraising for the Unity Skate Park, after an influx of donations has come in over the last while. There’s $40,000 more to be raised in order to start construction.
“The total park cost originally was around $500,000,” said Jerome Conaty. “We faced two major hurdles. One was an overabundance of peat moss when doing our foundation; there were deeper and higher volumes than what our test holes showed. That, in combination with construction costs due to inflation, ballooned our costs to $751,000.
“However, we’re down to only looking for the final $40,000. To our knowledge, this will end up being the largest barrier-free youth project in northern Manitoba.

If you are a lover of classical and orchestra music, you won’t want to miss the upcoming performance by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra’s Fiddlers on the Loose coming to The Pas Regional Library.
“The MCO proudly presents an annual tour featuring our Fiddlers on the Loose outreach ensemble,” said MCO Director of Education and Community Engagement Suzu Enns. “The group is made up of six musicians playing violins, viola, cello, double bass and guitar/cajon. In my role as Director of Education and Community Engagement at the MCO, I design, plan, and manage our outreach tours, and I’m so excited to be visiting The Pas for the first time.

A public hearing for the 2023 Financial Plan was held on May 24 in Council Chambers. It was an opportunity for the public to get information, learn about the financial situation, understand how tax dollars were spent and hear about the town’s short and long-term goals. Managers from various departments were in attendance to provide more information of what is going on in their departments.
The 2023 budget reveals a modest tax increase, but there have been some revenues, which have greatly helped to keep that increase as minimal as possible. The priorities in this year’s budget were to maintain and review levels of service in comparison to previous years; maintain create self-sustaining infrastructure and ensure available financial resources to participate in future federal, provincial and municipal grant programs when available.
For the 2023 budget, 1 mill will provide the Town of the Pas with $201,000 of revenue. Property tax values went up by $3 million, which is 1.52 percent increase in overall assessed property in the town.

Almost a decade of work came to fruition last week when ground was broken for the new Community Cancer Care unit in Russell.

“First of all, I want to thank everybody that is here today to show their support for this wonderful long awaited event,” Gloria Tibbatts, president of the Expanding Community Cancer Care Committee (ECCC) said.

“Our Expanding Community Cancer Care Committee has worked tirelessly for eight and a half years fundraising for this new chemotherapy building which is now happening.”

It’s been a long road for the committee which has been headed up by Gloria Tibbatts and Judy Forsyth as they navigated the changes over the years. “Over the years, ECCC has worked with three Ministers of Health, two different premiers, and two Prairie Mountain Health CEO’s,” Tibbatts said.

Read the full story in this week's Russell Banner!

The SVRSS 2023 graduate class worked together with the Swan Valley Consumers Co-op to fundraise for their upcoming Safe Grad celebration, with a barbe­cue lunch held on Thursday (May 25).

French Immersion students from Kindergarten to high school level participated in the ÉSRSS a un Incroyable Talent show held at the ÉSRSS on Thursday eve­ning (May 25). The event was presented by the Swan River chapter of the Canadian Parents for French. 

It was their’s to lose and has been all season.

From the first game to the last, the Dauphin Clippers rugby teams dominated the Westman High School Rugby and it culminated with both the girls and boys celebrating the first championship in team history.

After hammering Souris, 67-0 in their semifinal match, last Wednesday, the Clippers girls secured their first league title with a 36-3 win over Rivers.

Tanya Devos and Emma Fox each scored three tries to lead Dauphin past Souris, while Chloe Fletcher had a pair. Megan Thompson, Jana Manzano and Paityn Bourgouin each had a single try and Brooke Miner kicked six converts.

In the championship game, Fox again scored three tries with singles coming from Devos, Thompson and Bree Walker. Thompson added two converts and Ruth Evans had one.

For Clippers coach Shawn Sarkonak it was his first championship, as well, after coaching in the league since 2010. He said it felt amazing.

“The girls put in a great effort. There was a lot of building blocks that were put in place for the success of this program and it all starts back with the grassroots,” he said, adding the Clippers benefited from the efforts of the Parkland Pirates youth program coaches Gerald Lopez, Becky McGregor, Codi Harrigan, Mark Symchych and many others that have been involved.

“This year really is the harvest year of the first years of that youth program. And it goes to show what it means for the high school program,” Sarkonak said. “Now they’re graduating out of it and, hopefully, the Dauphin Mavericks men’s team and the Lady Mavericks, with them trying to get back and going again, that they’ll reap the fruits of the labour from that youth program.”

Dauphin led 17-3 at halftime, but the Clippers were their own worst enemy at times, getting called for a number of penalties. They were able to clean up their game in the second half and pulled away from their opponents.

“I told them, they earned the right to play in this game with the work that they put into this season. And, although it was a final, it’s still just another game. And you’ve got to go out there and play your game. Don’t take anybody for granted and just play together as a team. Not individuals. Don’t shoulder anything and work together. And if you do, good things will happen. And it did,” Sarkonak said.

Although he is unsure of what they may face next weekend in Winnipeg, Sarkonak likes his team’s chances at provincials.

“I’m very confident going into provincials with the squad that we have here,” he said.

The girls will open the provincial tournament, Friday at 4:15 p.m., against Winnipeg’s Vincent Massey in one semifinal, while the other will see Rivers battle St. Mary’s Collegiate.

The trip to Ireland earlier this year was a factor in the Clippers successful season. Although not all of the girls made the trip to the Emerald Isle, the ones that went got a leg up on the competition, Sarkonak said.

“They hit the ground running once they came back and they never looked back at all,” he said.

On the boy’s side, Guzman Garcia and Joseph Lopez each had two tries to lead Dauphin to a 38-0 win over Vincent Massey in their semifinal victory.

Rhett Tkachyk and Louis Prevot added singles and Prevot kicked four converts.

Matthew Zurba led the way in the championship game against Crocus Plains, scoring three tries, while Lopez had one in a 26-0 victory.

Prevot had three converts.

Minutes after the trophy presentation, Clippers coach Aaron Miner said it felt a bit surreal.

“It’s been 10 years in the making,” he said.

The Clippers boys were called for a number of penalties throughout the game, but they were unable to overcome them.

“When they took those penalties, they knew that they were legit penalties. They managed to maintain their composure and not talk back to the refs this time. And they kept it in line and made those tackles when they needed to,” Miner said.

Crocus Plains made it interesting several times, coming close to the goalline on a few occasions. But Dauphin’s defence came up strong and kept their opponents from scoring.

Miner credits that to the player’s commitment and dedication.

“I credit it to their going to the gym every day. Their training. Just the physical shape that they came into the season with this year has just been tremendous,” he said. “Each and every one of these guys goes to the gym or runs after practice or does whatever it takes to become a better player. And it was proven today. We’re champions for a reason.”

Like Sarkonak, Miner said the trip to Ireland was a huge factor in the team’s success.

“Over half of them went to Ireland and they were training quite heavily before we went to Ireland, during the Ireland trip and then the training just didn’t stop when we got back. We had another month before our first game once we returned from Ireland and the training intensified,” he said. “It just got even stronger, even harder. The boys knew what we had. They knew that this was our so-called harvest year, we like to call it in rugby, where you harvest, because we had a big group of Grade 12s. It’s just amazing to watch today.”

Although they will face some challenges at provincials, Miner likes his team’s chances.

“It’ll be a great tournament. We’re looking forward to it, this Friday and Saturday in Winnipeg,” he said.

The boys will open, Friday at 3 p.m., against Dakota Collegiate, while Crocus Plains will face St. Paul’s in the other semifinal.

All games will be livestreamed on the Veo Live app. Download the app and follow the link - veolive.page.link/APRZ or look for the Crusaders club logo.

Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa MP Dan Mazier is upping his efforts to tackle crime through reform of Canada’s bail system.

Mazier has dedicated a significant amount of his parliamentary work to promoting legislation, which gets tough on crime and draws attention to what he says is an increase in crime under the current Liberal government.

“The reality is that violent crime has increased by 32 per cent since Justin Trudeau took office,” Mazier said. “Violent repeat offenders are being released on bail because of the prime minister’s catch-and-release policies and now Canadians see the disastrous result.”

Mazier has spent the last year focusing his work on addressing crime, through meetings with law enforcement, initiating community townhalls, launching petitions, and opposing the government’s Bill C-5, which removed mandatory minimum sentences for multiple offences.

Now he is going one step further by working to change the law and formally adding his name to bills C-325 and C-313.

Bill C-325 seeks to reform Canada’s Criminal Code by creating a new offence for criminals who violate parole conditions. Pierre Paul-Hus, the Conservative MP who authored the legislation, highlighted the story of Myles Sanderson, who murdered 10 people in Saskatchewan in multiple knife attacks.

Despite being charged with 59 crimes before the murders, Sanderson was released on conditions.

Paul-Hus says a criminal like Sanderson should have never been on the streets, but the current legal system made it possible.

Additionally, Bill C-325 would require probation officers to report violent criminals who breach their release conditions, an action that is currently not required.

“Canadians are fed up with a failed justice system that allows dangerous repeat offenders to serve their sentences from the comfort of their home. One day a criminal is arrested, and the next day they’re back on the streets committing another crime,” Mazier said. “This isn’t fair to communities, and it’s certainly not fair to victims.”

The local MP is also working to pass additional bail reform laws by jointly seconding Bill C-313, which would amend the Criminal Code and result in a greater burden being placed on repeat offenders to justify why they should be granted bail.

By eliminating the wording that someone must pose a “substantial” likelihood to re-offend in order to be denied bail and replacing it with a ”minimal” likelihood to re-offend, the threshold for detention would be lower.

Mazier plans to continue his efforts in tackling crime by working with all members of the House of Commons to pass the bills.