The new CT Scanner at the Swan River Hospital has been an investment well worth the while. It has been reducing both wait and travel times for people in the Valley to receive diagnostic services. The CT Scanner has been operational for just over a month and has completed over 200 scans.
“The new CT scanner in Swan River scanned its first patient on May 15, 2024, as part of training exercises, with the system formally coming online on June 17, 2024,” said a spokesperson for Shared Health. As of July 8, 2024, 283 patients had received CT scans in Swan River.
“In the first three weeks of operations, approximately a dozen scans per work day have been completed on patients who would have otherwise had to leave the Swan Valley area and travel to Dauphin, Brandon, The Pas or Winnipeg for care.”
Thanks to the local contributions, half of the costs of the CT Scanner was funded from the Valley, with the remainder from the provincial government.
“Community groups raised more than $1 million towards the $2-million-plus capital project, which includes equipment, installation and renovation of the space,” said a spokesperson for Shared Health. “Shared Health assumes ongoing operational costs.
An open house for the Swan River CT Scanner is being planned for the near future.

Swan River’s Tyler Petelski will be representing Team Saskatchewan again at the U18 Women’s Tackle Football Tournament in Fredericton, New Brunswick this summer. Teams from all across Canada will be competing for the championship title.
Petelski started playing football in 2021 with the Moosomin Generals when she was in grade 8 and was part of the team when they won the Inaugural Prairie Girls Football League Championship. Last year, she made the move to play with the Swan Valley Regional Secondary School Tigers Football Team and was the only female on the team.
“It was definitely different being the only female player on the SVRSS Tigers football team this year,” said Petelski. “A lot of teams were really shocked to see a girl on the team. My whole team is very welcoming and inviting. They included me in all the drills and never set me aside or made me feel excluded. They saw me as a player who was just as good as they are and that really motivated me this past season.”
Petelski tried out for the first time for U18 Women’s Tackle Football Team Saskatchewan. At that time, she just made the minimum age requirements to try out and was one of the youngest players to do so.
“At my first tryout for Team Saskatchewan, I thought I did very poorly because I was very nervous going into it,” said Petelski. “The youngest a player could be on that team was in grade 9. There were only a few of us in grade 9 going into the tryouts. The tryouts were overwhelming and had a lot going on.
“When I made the team, it was like we all melted together as a team. We had a couple of days of training camp in Regina. I got to know the rest of the players there really quickly as we were together every second. There were lots of practices out in the heat, meetings and team bonding, before the championship.”
Petelski experienced her first experience competing at a national level with Team Saskatchewan last year. It’s a different level of the game as well and the energy going into it is much more intense.
“Playing at nationals is so energetic and there are so many people there that love football,” said Petelski. “You can tell they love the game. Everyone there is focused on one thing only and you can feel that. This level of tackle football is totally different.
“A player has to be quicker and stronger. You have to be more mentally focused going into it and there is a lot more training to do a month before you go. It’s also more physically draining once you get there to play because the temperature is hotter out there and the level of competition is harder.”
Petelski went to tryouts in May and June of this year and was selected with 22 other female players to be a part of Team Saskatchewan again. She will report to prep camp in Regina on July 16, and then fly out two days later for the championship.
“Last year I was way more anxious when I tried out, as I didn’t know what to expect,” said Petelski. “This year I was way more confident with my skills and had a whole year with Team Saskatchewan already. I had my year with the SVRSS Tigers, so I felt stronger, quicker and more mentally prepared. I wasn’t going to be as hard on myself if I dropped the ball or missed a block during a play as I would have when I first started. I feel more mature as well going in.
“I felt more confident this time around and knew what I had to do to earn a spot again with Team Saskatchewan. I also knew other players and the coaches already from last year, so I knew what they expected from me.
“I’m super competitive, so I don’t mind being one of the boys in that aspect,” said Petelski. “Last season was a really good experience and made me a better player. Making the U18 women’s tackle football team for Saskatchewan again this year was a result of that.”
The U18 Women’s Tackle Football Tournament will be held from July 20 to 28. Petelski is looking forward to taking to the field and showing just how far she and her teammates have come since the last time they were there.
“I’m really looking forward to that atmosphere of game day again. That’s really when a team comes together. There is so much adrenaline and motivation. Last year we didn’t win any of our games, so this year we want to really clinch that one game and build off the momentum from that and continue on from there.

Swan River has achieved success when it comes to connecting youth with the desire to play baseball. The Swan River U11 Blue and Grey Royals Teams worked hard all season to Provincials on June 22.
“Both Swan River teams had a very successful regular season with the Blue Royals at 5-2 and the Grey Royals at 4-3,” said Swan River U11 Blue Royals Head Coach Aaron Goethe. “The baseball season is short, but it’s amazing to see how the kid’s knowledge of the game and skills progress in only a couple of months.
“We even had several kids in the gym in April learning how to pitch. With the current pitch count regulations from Baseball Manitoba, you need a lot of players with the ability to pitch just to get through a tournament weekend.”
The weather has been less than cooperative for almost any league to play in Provincials. The wind gusts and rain led to the U11 Provincials having to be stretched out over the week, rather than the weekend.
“Unfortunately, the weather did impact the games on the weekend,” said Goethe. “The rain held off on Friday night and we were able to play, however, all the games were cancelled on Saturday due to rain, delaying the schedule. Saturday games were pushed to Sunday, and the Sunday semis and finals were pushed to Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
“The teams were excited going into regionals, looking forward to playing against teams that they hadn’t faced all year. The Blue Royals’ first game was against an undefeated Dauphin Cargill team. The kids played really well that game and were able to keep the game close until the fifth inning when Dauphin scored four runs, eventually winning the game 6-1. Our pitching and defence kept us in the game against Cargill, some of the best efforts we had seen from the kids this year.
“Our second game was against the Grey Royals, which was unfortunate because you hope to play teams outside of your division, it’s even worse when you’re playing your buddies from your hometown. It was an offensive battle, however the Blue Royals ended up with the win 22-8.
“The last game in our pool was against Dauphin Eastside, which all of our coaches agreed was the most memorable game of the entire season,” said Goethe. “We were able to hold the lead for most of the game until Dauphin made a late charge in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game 6-6. Jacob Sigurdson did a fantastic job on the mound shutting down the Dauphin bats and ending their late rally.
“In the bottom of the sixth, Carter Rosteski and Beckett Anderson were able to make their way onto the bases and would eventually put themselves into scoring position for Lily Ashcroft, who delivered a walk-off base hit to left field ending Dauphin’s season and putting us into the semifinals against the Grandview Lakers.
“The semifinal game was played on Monday evening, and despite the best efforts of the kids, the hot-hitting Lakers would eventually win the game 10-5,” said Goethe.
The Swan River U11 Grey Royals were eager to take the field at Provincials but had a hard time keeping their stamina. The Grey Royals put forth their best effort and will see five players move on to play baseball at a more competitive level.
“The Grey Royals had high expectations heading into regionals but they did not meet the desired outcome,” said Swan River U11 Grey Royals Head Coach Len Woitowicz. “They lost all three games. The first was the Eastside Dauphin by a score of 12-8. Sunday didn’t fare well for the Grey Royals either, losing to Blue Royals 22-8 and then losing to SFS Dauphin 13-8. It wasn’t their weekend for ball but, as a young squad, they gained valuable experience and will be ready for next year’s regionals.
“The kids played fantastic all weekend, with both great individual efforts and team play. The main goal at this age is to have fun and to build as a team, and then let the competitive nature of the players take over from there. You know it’s been a successful season when you have kids asking to play more baseball.”

Community members in Benito have teamed up to bring the dream of a splash park into reality. Earlier this year, a dedicated group of individuals formed the Benito Splash Park committee and began planning and fundraising for the project.
“Currently, we would be in phase 1 planning and fundraising,” said Benito Splash Park Committee Member Brad Kushniryk. “We have an outside organization assisting with grant applications to try and keep on top of those as more organizations need funding to complete projects than ever before.”
Just last week the Benito Splash Park Committee announced they finalized the design concepts and layouts for the splash park. The goal was to make this splash park accessible for people of all ages and abilities.
“We tried to keep the park user-friendly for all ages and abilities, so it will have structures aimed at toddlers to adults, should they choose to take part,” said Kushniryk. “There will be the giant bucket dumping water, which is a favourite, as well as a misting tower to keep parents cool on hot days if they choose not to be directly in the water features.
“It will be located on the rec grounds north of the playground. Most people know where the arena is, so just to the north of that building with the ball diamonds. There will be about 2,300 square feet covered by the actual spray area and just over 3,000 square feet for the pad itself.”
The Benito Splash Park Committee has been working hard at fundraising for the project and held a summer raffle at the beginning of June. Now they are still accepting donations towards the splash park and are hoping to reach their goal soon.
“The total cost has been quoted at $370,000,” said Kushniryk. “To date, we would be between 40 to 50 percent of that committed.
“There is still potential to break ground for this year, but without some more funding coming in before the contractors fill their schedule, we will have to aim for a spring start. The Municipality of Swan Valley West office will accept donations on behalf of the Benito Splash Park and can issue charitable receipts. You can also contact Holly at 204-281-2898 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..”

The Manitoba provincial government signed an agreement with three First Nations, Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation, Sapotaweyak Cree Nation and Minegoziibe Anishinabe, known as Pine Creek First Nation. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) extends Louisiana Pacific’s operating licence by five years, which allows all parties to work together to create a sustainable 20-year Forest Management Plan that addresses everyone’s needs.
The agreement ensures that the First Nations’ level of government will be directly involved in Manitoba’s Forestry Management Plans for the first time and will continue into the future. This allows First Nation communities to protect traditional lands and treaty rights. It’s been hailed as a precedent-setting agreement in terms of reconciliation.
First Nation Chiefs spoke about how this has been a long-standing issue and how it impacts them and their communities.
“Today marks the first time that the Manitoba government has agreed to move forward collaboratively with First Nations in this province to support immediate and long-term measures to protect treaty rights in commercial forestry licensing agreements,” said WSFN Chief Elwood Zastre. “It further shows a willingness to engage in joint decision-making about forest stewardship in our traditional homelands. We see this as the beginning of a hopeful new relationship with the Manitoba government which supports the exercise of our treaty rights and aims to achieve a sustainable forest over the long term for future generations.
“For more than a decade, we’ve been raising concerns about Manitoba’s failure to consider the protection of our treaty rights and fair resource sharing when making decisions about Louisiana Pacific’s ability to cut trees from our ancestorial lands. For many years we were shut out of the conversations, which had a direct impact on our territories.
“Since 2006, Manitoba allowed LP to operate in the territories without approval from the forest management plan, contrary to what is in Manitoba’s licencing process. The draft produced by LP in 2019 and submitted to Manitoba, was reviewed by experts retained by First Nations. Our experts found that the Forestry Management Plan was significantly flawed and couldn’t be relied upon to assess risks and address factors of forest sustainability.
“Of great importance to WSFN, Manitoba commits to this agreement to protect and preserve culturally significant areas as identified by the First Nations including the Kettle Hills area that was identified by our Elder Buddy Brass. Buddy Brass was an elder in our community for many years and he cared about our lands. He spoke of how we have to protect the land and animals because the land can’t speak for themselves. He was always there to help guide us in a good way.
“The Kettle Hills is a beautiful untouched area which is critical to WSFN and other First Nations as a place to exercise our rights, gather and harvest. The Kettle Hills is one of the best places to get blueberries and we have to protect things like that. We are proud that after many years of advocacy the Kettle Hills area will be given the protection it deserves, and Buddy will be happy.”
“150 years has come and gone for Treaty 4, with outstanding promises left aside and we’re still battling,” said Sapotaweyak Cree Nation Chief Nelson Genaille. “This is only one fight that is being acknowledged right now. Going to court is a waste of time. I acknowledge our lawyers and legal team for putting up a good fight, listening to us, and penning the paper of what we needed to do; without them, we wouldn’t be here. We would still be spinning in circles trying to find a way to move forward.
“The court system is not our court system. Our court system is the pipe we used to open the signing of this agreement. That sets truth and reconciliation. It took a while for this pipe to start smoking because we need that within ourselves, for it sees right through us. We need to do that more often because it doesn’t happen today, but it’s supposed to happen tomorrow and the next day after that. So, when working together, let’s achieve things that we need to do.”
The Province has acted as the mediator in this situation to bring both parties to an agreement. It helps to ensure both needs of each party are being met, with the First Nations communities having a fair seat at the table and input to protect their traditional lands, and then LP to be able to become a strong industry providing jobs and helping the economy to grow in the Valley and Manitoba.
“For me, this is all about ensuring that there is long-term security and predictability for people who work at LP,” said Premier Wab Kinew. “There is a path forward here that shows how we’re going to protect jobs in the resource sector and it’s by having a good relationship with Indigenous nations and taking the environmental concerns seriously. The thing I’m always keeping at the top of my mind is when I visited the LP plant in Swan River and I noted how the workers took pride in the work they do there. Some of them are multigenerational families working there, and some of the plant workers are First Nations and Metis, and from other areas like Ukraine as well. At the end of the day, they just want to have a good job, a paycheck and be proud of the work they do.
“I understand there have been ups and downs, and concerns with what is going to happen with the long-term plans for LP. What we’re doing as the provincial government is bringing predictability and reducing the risk. As a government, we’re going to do some heavy lifting in terms of sharing resources and decision-making with the Indigenous Nations, but when it comes to LP’s operations, things are going to move forward in a good way and people will be able to go to work and earn a good paycheque.
“I’m optimistic that this could move us forward through this initial five-year period to a 20-year licence extension after that, and hopefully in other forestry regions, mining projects, Manitoba Hydro projects, wherever that is, we can make sure that union workers, people who work in hard hats and hi-visibility gear can have stable good jobs in the long term,” said Premier Kinew. “For us on the government side, it’s about us taking care of business and making sure we have good respectful relationships with the First Nations communities and making sure there’s a healthy clean environment.”
In a statement from LP, “Responsible forest management is at the core of our business model, ensuring the long-term health of forests, the well-being of nearby communities, and the livelihood of our 235 local team members and approximately 400 local contract loggers and haulers. Since opening LP Swan Valley in 1996, we have sustainably sourced 100 percent of our harvested fibre, adhering to the stringent standards of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. Collaboration with Indigenous communities and the provincial government on sustainable forest management is a key part of this work, and we remain committed to this partnership.”