Simon the Scientist is back again in this year’s Pow Wow Pitch semi-finals and his platform for learning and teaching science has grown significantly in this last year. Simon Monteith, spent a good portion of his time teaching science experiments and lessons via YouTube, but now has branched out to a lot more teaching and demonstrating to a classroom audience.
“This year, I’ve done a variety of different things,” said Simon. “I reached out to school divisions in the north, like Frontier School Division, and done monthly STEM sessions during the school year. I also did some work with Let’s Talk Science.”

Oscar’s Place is providing a very much needed service in the tri-community as an emergency shelter. It has been faced with some challenges such as not enough space to meet all the demands for emergency shelter and finding casual and on-call staffing, which has not been uncommon for make organizations and work places.
“Oscar’s Place currently is a 12-hour overnight emergency shelter, which is open from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., 365 days per year and provides individuals who require safe overnight services with a warm space to sleep, a warm meal, laundry service, public washrooms, and shower facilities,” said Canadian Mental Health Parkland and The Pas Region Chief Executive Officer James Wigley. “As an overnight emergency shelter, both male and female clients can spend the night who are 18 years of age or older.

The Town of The Pas has completed their Asset Management Plan thanks to the assistance of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Recently a report about the Asset Management Plan was published on the town website; it is a report summarizing the process, not the actual study itself.
“We have some information out about our Asset Management Plan on our website,” said Town of The Pas Mayor Andre Murphy. “The thing about asset management plans is that they are complicated spreadsheets to understand if you are not working with or directly involved in the process. The study takes the assets in one’s community and determines the life left in these assets, what needs to be replaced and how a council can make those decisions going forward.

Writing and publishing a novel is something that a few people dream of, but sometimes never find the actual time to do. A former Valley resident, despite his extremely intense schedule and career, has found an opportunity to achieve that very thing he has dreamed of. Dale Fedorchuk has a career that is beyond impressive; one that really sounds like it’s out of a book all its own.
“I was born in Swan River and my parents are Bill and Rose Fedorchuk,” said Dale Fedorchuk. “I grew up on a farm in the Big Woody District. After I graduated from the Swan Valley Regional Secondary School (SVRSS) in 1977, I started at the University of Manitoba in the same year. I obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1980, and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the U of M in 1983. I was called to the Bar in Manitoba in 1984. I practiced law in Manitoba from 1984 to 2001.
“In 1994 I participated as a Controller in a joint military, intelligence and police field training counter-terrorism exercise in advance of the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, B.C.. Three years later, I was offered a contract to develop military exercises and provide instruction part-time for the United States Air Force Special Operations School. United States Special Operations Command – Joint Special Operations University picked up my contract and I became part of a team briefing Special Operations Forces, which is mostly Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets before they were deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.
“I served in this capacity part-time for 16 years from 1997 to 2013, while I continued to practice law,” said Fedorchuk. “In May 2001, my wife, Anika, and I moved to Calgary. I was called to the Bar in Calgary in 2001 and I have practiced criminal law here since that time. In 2010, I was appointed a Queen’s Counsel. After King Charles was crowned, I became a King’s Counsel. I am a criminal defence lawyer and I litigate most of my cases before a jury. I live in Cochrane with Anika and our pets, and I practice law in Calgary and its surrounding regions, with no plans to retire.”
The dream of writing and publishing his own book was something that had intrigued Fedorchuk at an early age. He had a love for reading books that turned into a flare for writing, but it wasn’t until much later that he took the plunge and wrote his first novel.
“Since I was a teenager, I wanted to write science fiction stories,” said Fedorchuk. “I was an avid comic book and science fiction reader from the age of 10. I spent many hours as a youth devouring a hamburger nip, a cold Pepsi in a glass bottle, and numerous comic books at Dick’s Café in Swan River. The owners of Dick’s Café had been so kind to me; they would allow me to sit and read comics for hours while Mom and Aunt Jean Fedorchuk shopped.
“In high school, my English teacher challenged me to write a science fiction short story and publish it in the Star and Times. I wrote it and, to my surprise, the Star and Times printed it in its entirety. I still have the article buried somewhere in my personal papers. After I left high school, though, the pursuit of a legal career swept my ambition to write under the carpet, until last year.
“I had attended a family wedding in Swan River, where I sat with my nieces, Micayla and Nadia Krahn,” said Fedorchuk. “In the 1980s, I wrote poetry, including a series of poems about a fictional character called Tul’ran the Sword. I gave a copy of my poetry to my sister, Connie, many years ago, and my nieces read the poems. At the wedding, Micayla and Nadia told me how much they enjoyed Tul’ran’s poems and asked me why I never wrote a story about Tul’ran. They challenged me to write a novel and I accepted the challenge.
“Writing my novels is one of the strangest experiences I’ve had. When I sat down to start writing my first novel, the words poured out of my mind, through my fingertips, and onto the keyboard. I couldn’t type fast enough to keep up with my thoughts sometimes. I see passages of the book like scenes from a movie in my mind. I try to record those scenes as accurately as possible.”
The storyline of Fedorchuk’s book has an ironic sense of what he has experienced in his career but with a more Sci-Fi/Fantasy twist.
“The novel starts in an oasis in the desert near the city of Ur in Mesopotamia in 2005 BC,” said Fedorchuk. “The lead male character, Tul’ran az Nostrom, known as Tul’ran the Sword, is brooding under a palm tree about his life. Although Tul’ran is wealthy and legendary, there is no peace within him. He hears a woman’s scream, and rides his stallion, Darkshadow, to the aid of Erianne of Kabolon. Erianne is an intelligent and courageous woman running from assassins.
“Together, they flee and fight various assassin groups, as they try to rejoin her fellow travellers. As they do so, they learn truths about one another that take this story far beyond the ordinary. This is not a typical fantasy, historical romance novel; it has twists and turns drawing the reader into an unexpected journey. The series is centred around Tul’ran and Erianne, and their efforts to administer justice against violent crimes perpetrated against men and women alike. As the books go on, other characters join them.”
Fedorchuk wrote his first novel in record time, but the real challenge was determining the best course of action to get it published.
“It took only eight weeks to complete the first draft of the first book, The Ballad of Tul’ran the Sword,” said Fedorchuk. “My wife, Anika, is also my paralegal. I turned the draft over to her for editing and she did an excellent job of it. Once she edited the first draft, I created a second draft and emailed it to my beta reading group.
“The group consisted of men and women ranging in age from 14 years old to 72 years old. I received an enthusiastic response and suggestions for edits. After incorporating the edits, I began the process of trying to get the first book published.
“All the articles I read about publishing suggested a traditional publisher would not entertain a manuscript submission unless I had an agent,” said Fedorchuk. “I prepared a query letter and approached several agents, who either rejected my proposal or ignored it. On the last weekend of April 2023, I attended the Calgary Expo. I met Amanda Muratoff there, who co-authored a fantasy series. She was kind enough to speak to me at length about her experience with self-publishing, more commonly described as indie publishing.
“I formatted my manuscript to meet the requirements of Kindle Direct Publishing. Using Artificial Intelligence drawing programs, I created images for Tul’ran and Erianne, as well as a desert scene. I manipulated the images with Corel Photoshop and created the covers. The first novel was then published on July 13. It is being distributed through Amazon worldwide. Since publication, I’ve learned the bookseller, Barnes & Noble, has picked up my book and is selling it in the United States.”
Since his first novel, Fedorchuk has actually written a series from The Ballad of Tul’ran the Sword.
“The series currently consists of The Ballad of Tul’ran the Sword (Book I), A Time, and Times, Half a Time (Book II), and Abandon Hope (Book III),” said Fedorchuk. “I have written two-thirds of the fourth book, Wolf’s Den. The second book, A Time, and Times, and Half a Time, will be published on Nov. 6.
“I will publish the third book, Abandon Hope, on March 24, to coincide with my mom’s 85th birthday. There is no set publication date for Wolf’s Den just yet, but I anticipate it will be published in the summer of 2024. I’ve sketched the concepts for the fifth book, When the Sky Falls, but I haven’t started writing it.”
Fedorchuk has found writing the easiest part of the process, but when it came to finding ways to publish his novel, that proved to be more trying.
“I am blessed in that writing, so far, has been the easiest part of the process,” said Fedorchuk. “As I’ve said, the passages in the book appear as scenes from a movie in my head: all I must do is record them. The most challenging part has been the attempt to engage a traditional publisher.
“The advantage to having a traditional publisher is their expansive ability to market a novel. In my experience, it was as difficult to secure an agent as it was to secure a traditional publisher. I hope my books are regarded well enough to engage the interest of a traditional publisher. Sometimes a traditional publisher will sign an author who is an indie publisher.
“The most enjoyable part of the experience has been sharing it with my wife, Anika, my 14-year-old niece, Payton Goller, and my 72-year-old military brother, Mike Bennett,” said Fedorchuk. “Mike is a retired Green Beret, having left the US Army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He wrote the Foreword to the book.
“These three people have read all the manuscripts and commented on them, giving the books a much richer depth. I’ve spent hours talking to each of them about the nuances of the characters I’ve created in the novels, and the emotional waves the reader will coast as they progress through the series.”
Fedorchuk’s books are available to purchase on Amazon, but he is currently exploring other retail platforms.
“My books are available on Amazon worldwide, although only the first has been published to this date,” said Fedorchuk. “As well, my American friends can purchase them from Barnes & Noble. I am currently in discussions with Chapters/Indigo bookstores for the distribution of my novels in Canada.”
Fedorchuk is working to finished writing his fourth book and has now moved on to writing the fifth, with no shortage of ideas or writer’s block stopping him.
“I’ve completed 225 pages of the fourth book, Wolf’s Den, which means it is two-thirds complete. All my novels are over 350 pages long. I have plans to start writing the fifth novel, When the Sky Falls, as soon as Anika has begun editing the publisher’s proof copy of Wolf’s Den.”

The RCMP Musical Ride is celebrating its 150th Anniversary this year and has been touring across Canada to celebrate. A former resident from The Pas and RCMP member, Constable Katherine Hansen, is a part of the RCMP Musical Ride and on this commemorative anniversary tour.
“I was born and raised in The Pas,” said Constable Katherine Hansen. “I lived in The Pas up until I turned 30 years old and went into the RCMP. I worked on The Pas Fire Department and The Pas EMS, with the focus on going into nursing, when I then decided to join the RCMP instead. I was accepted into training in 2009, and always wanted to be a police officer. I knew a lot of the police officers in The Pas and decided it was the best fit for me.
“I worked for the RCMP sine 2009 to 2019, then I joined the RCMP Musical Ride. I was stationed in Alberta in the communities of Fort McMurray and Viking, before I went into the training for the RCMP Musical Ride. I’ve been with the RCMP Musical Ride ever since.”

Experiencing a new country and culture is a life changing experience that everyone should embark on at some point in their lives. Recently The Pas Helping Hands 4-H have had a visitor from Japan come and experience live in the north. An exchange student, as part of a 4-H program, has been in The Pas for a couple of weeks, taking in all the sights and wonders of both the area and the province as well.
“This is the 36th year the Manitoba 4-H Council has partnered with the York Benimaru Foundation in Japan to host exchange students,” said The Pas Helping Hands 4-H Leader Cheryl Antonio. “Each year, 20 students travel from Japan to the USA for two weeks to learn English. This year, they were in Seattle, Washington, at the university.
“Then they come to Manitoba and spend two weeks with a 4-H host family. There are many wonderful sponsors for the program. Families are encouraged to welcome the students into their homes as one of their own, include them in the chores, encourage them to follow the same rules as their own children, and to also engage them with the ways of everyday life. Of course, we also love to show them the highlights of our province and hometowns.”

Recently some University of Saskatchewan students, led by Dr. Alex Wilson, finished up their final trek of an Indigenous land-based education program. This program is the only one of its kind and garners interest from all over North America.
“The University of Saskatchewan Masters of Indigenous Land-based Education is a graduate program, which I’m a part of teaching, for educators doing land-based education in K to 12 schools and also in community organizations,” said Dr. Wilson. “They are in co-horts and there is one co-hort of 19 students that is just finishing their degree. This particular co-hort was one that I took on a canoe trip that started in Nipawin, Saskatchewan and finished up in Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN) as part of their last course.