It’s decision time for the Dauphin Kings coaching staff.

The Kings ended the preseason with a 1-2-1-0 record as the team prepares for the Manitoba Junior Hockey League regular season.

The Kings lost 2-1 in overtime to the Swan Valley Stampeders, Sept. 6, then beat the Wisconsin Lumberjacks, 6-1, on home ice, Wednesday.

On the weekend, the Kings traveled west to play the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Melville Millionaires, Saturday, losing 5-0.

On Sunday, Dauphin dropped an 8-4 decision to the Yorkton Terriers in Melville.

The regular season opens Friday, with the Kings hosting the Neepawa Titans at 7:30 p.m.

Following Friday’s home opener, the Kings and Titans will meet in Neepawa on Saturday in a rematch at 7:30 p.m.

Dauphin made one deal last week, sending Ben Hackl to his hometown Dryden Ice Dogs of the Superior International Junior Hockey League for future considerations.

Hackl had four goals and 20 points in 40 games last season, adding one goal and two assists in 14 playoff contests in helping the Kings win the Turnbull Cup.

Kings court:

Former Kings defenceman Scott Gillingham is one of 15 candidates running for mayor of Winnipeg. Gillingham was first elected to council in 2014 and was re-elected four years later.

He played for the Kings in the 1987-88 season, scoring five goals and adding 34 assists for 39 points in 45 games.

Dauphin’s Ray Baker skipped his Manitoba team to a gold medal at the 2022 Canada Senior Games, in Kamloops, Aug. 23 to 26.

Joined by Dwight Bottrell, Bob Scales and Keith Pottle, the Dauphin foursome went 5-1 in the round-robin, before winning their semifinal game and beating the host team, 8-1 in the final.

Baker said it was a long week for the team, playing eight games in a round-robin format.

“We were actually down a player for all of the week, because one of our players got injured early on. So we were playing with three,” he added. “It was a one-game-at-a-time thing and we made it through it all.”

The final, Baker said, was a great game and was closer than the score would indicate.

“Really, it was a question of whoever was fortunate enough to get the first deuce in the game. An opportunity came up and we decided to go and we went around a corner guard. We were fortunate to generate a deuce and after that, they were chasing us and we were able to capitalize on it,” he said.

Being a national champion is a good feeling, Baker said, remembering the games four years ago, when they went undefeated in the round-robin only to lose in the final and settle for silver.

“So it was pretty awesome to be able to get back there and play again and actually win both of the playoff games and get the gold. Yeah, it was cool,” he said.

Baker knew they would be contenders going into the competition.

“And we were playing well. We had a good team. But you never know. It was August. We haven’t thrown a lot of curling rocks for a while. And it took us a little while to settle in,” he said. “Once the week went on, we got stronger and stronger and we were probably a little more positive, as well, as we got closer to the end,” he said, adding he enjoyed his time in Kamloops, noting the ice conditions were fantastic.

“Probably the fastest curling ice I’ve ever played on.”

Ecole Macneill principal Monique Lefebvre welcomes students back to the first day of school, last Wednesday.

There was an air of excitement among students, staff and parents at the French immersion school in Dauphin, to be returning to a “normal” school environment, free from many of the public health restrictions which guided education over the last two years.

There will be 193 instructional days in the MVSD 2022-23 school year.

This week’s “ask the mayor” segment focusses on the need for positive relationships outside of the municipal.

The question for candidates Kerri Riehl and David Bosiak specifically asked, “Considering no municipality can operate successfully as an island, what weight do you give to relationships with neighboring municipalities and the two senior levels of government?
Further, how would you nurture and evolve those relationships?”

Here are their answers.

Kerri Riehl

It is critical for the City of Dauphin to build and sustain strong relationships with other municipalities, as well as the other two levels of government. These connections are the lifeblood of our community.

How would I nurture and evolve these relationships?

I own and operate an Incorporated business, Riehl Security Solutions. For the last seven years as an entrepreneur and sole owner of my company, I’ve examined revenue streams and expenses. I survived and pivoted during the covid era. I have a business mindset which requires analyses of markets and marketing, customers, finance, operations communication, information technology and business policies and strategies. The City of Dauphin is an incorporated business also bound by these same principles. The city financial audited revenue and expenses for the 2021 tax year:

Revenue
• Property taxes - $6,077,954
• Grants in lieu of taxation - $382,396
• User fees - $1,497,417
• Grants, Province of Manitoba - $2,098,450
Grants, Other - $849, 693
• Permits, licences and fees - $217,513
• Investment income - $67,830
• Other revenue - $421,130
• Water and sewer - $5,134,494.
• Total revenue - $16,746,877

Expenses
• General government services - $1,390,017
• Pretective services - $3,285,973
• Transportation services - $2,933,571
• Environmental health services - $977,681
• Public health and welfare services - $108,900
• Regional planning and development - $221,685
• Resource conservation and industrial development - $540,199
• Recreation and cultural services - $3,373,080
• Water and sewer services - $3,089,970
• Total expenses - $15,921,076
• Annual surplus - $825,801

In my opinion, we greatly need to increase revenue without relying solely on the taxpayer to “foot the bill” and bear the burden of increased taxation. Recent funding announcements:
• $9.1 million from the Provincial and Federal government for Dauphin’s lagoon expansion. We waited 10 years for this funding.
• $13 million to reconstruct Provincial Trunk Highway 5A.
• V15 million courthouse renovation.

The cities revenue was $16,746,877.00. Without funding from other levels of government the above infrastructure developments would not be possible. Therefore, it is imperative to work with these levels of government. The political system is designed for municipalities to capitalize on these opportunities.

The City of Dauphin is part of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. This organization represents 2,000 municipalities and 90 per cent of the population. FCM’s annual conference and tradeshow provide council the opportunity to attend and learn best practices. It also provides council the opportunity to bring back ideas to our community. For example, I spoke with a Mayor from Nova Scotia whose city hired a grant writer to access and obtain funds from all levels of government. They received many grants increasing their revenue drastically for their community. I brought this idea back from FCM to our municipality.

The City of Dauphin is also a part of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities. The AMM is comprised of 137 municipalities across Manitoba. They hold two conferences and tradeshows a year. They have an executive board which I, as deputy-mayor, ran for vice -president. Unfortunately, I was not successful at the time. Dauphin has not had representation on this board in its 124 years of municipal governance. I will try again as the mayor of Dauphin.

I believe Dauphin needs to greatly improve its relationship with other municipalities. This is one of the key reasons we have not been successful at growing our economy. The provincial government’s regional and economic profile for this area clearly indicates agriculture, health care and education opportunities are vital to our economic growth.

I believe opportunities come from within our region as a collective force who then leverage provincial and federal funding. We have all the data, studies, plans, information at our fingertips. We need an action plan and not another document to sit idle on the shelf.

I have demonstrated over the last five years that I am action in motion. I started and developed a successful business. I work with municipalities and various levels of government daily. I teach for the province of Manitoba and been in 30 different communities reaching over 300 students. I am a private investigator and hold a Manitoba security guard license. I am a member of the Dauphin Parkland Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

I am going to continue to do what I’ve done since returning home in 2015. Be active, energetic, involved, engaged, attend meetings, be prepared, and be a voice for all citizens in our community. Our city is not an island. We are part of the broader development area called the Parkland region.

David Bosiak

When I started thinking about this topic the question “where are you from” kept running through my mind.

Whenever I’m away from home I speak of the benefits of life in Dauphin and those benefits extend beyond the city limits.

The Rural Municipality of Dauphin and its people and amenities are knitted into the fabric of this community and we in theirs. Our families are their families, our kids play on teams together, we are co-workers, we go to the same schools and churches. When good things happen in the RM the City benefits, and vice versa.

A positive relationship with the Rural Municipality of Dauphin is key to our collective success. If elected mayor I will maintain this important bond by increasing the number of joint City/RM council meetings and continue the beneficial relationship that has been created by the City/RM liaison committee meetings that include the mayor and reeve, RM CAO and City manager. Neither council should ever be surprised by a project or issue in each other’s jurisdiction.

Municipalities and governments are systems - systems I am familiar with. My previous work experiences took me throughout the province to most municipalities and many First Nations. I worked with mayors and reeves, chiefs, councillors, CAOs and city managers. I’ve seen relationships that work and those that didn’t. Things that don’t work? Bullying. Being a know-it-all. I guard against those instincts.

I remember the advice of a friend early in my career. While attending a national conference he said “attend as many sessions as you can, but make sure you put great effort into networking. Get to know people who know things you don’t. The connections you make will help you in the future.” I took that advice and applied it in literally everything I have done since. The advice to be curious about other perspectives and humble enough to admit there will always be things you don’t know was sound and continues to benefit me as a leader.

I am more interested in moving forward than being the person who comes up with the best idea first and consider myself an optimist and a bridge-builder.

I have never asked anyone to do anything I wasn’t prepared to do myself. I truly believe that anything is possible when people work together and relationships have to be respected for that to happen. A culture of relationship development and retention is the most important indicator in an organization that things will get done. I would set this expectation on council by never leaving a table of discussion if I didn’t get my way.

Relationships with other levels of government are also key to our success. My years of experience dealing with ministers, deputy-ministers, assistant deputy-ministers and program directors in a variety of departments and portfolios was an education in government relations.

I would continue these conversations for the benefit of the citizens of Dauphin, and would ensure that council is never blindsided by a decision like the closure of the jail again. I will further ensure that council members and city staff also develop working relationships with appropriate government representatives.

The work of building relationships with other governments is evolving in Dauphin. First Nation and Metis government organizations are making significant infrastructure and other investments in our community. These investments are key to our continued growth and prosperity.

Be it with the RM, our neighbouring municipalities or other levels of government, I will make sure we are ready and able to work together and that we are never an island unto ourselves.

When a RCMP officer meets with tragedy on the job, they leave behind family, friends and colleagues who mourn their loss. A newly formed foundation has created an annual fundraiser called Move to Remember Challenge, to help provide support to those RCMP members’ families who have lost a loved one serving in the line of duty.
“The National Police Federation Benevolent Foundation (NPFBF) is an organization’s sole purpose is to support the families of fallen RCMP officers,” said NPFBF Chair Kevin Halwa. “It was recently designated by Royal Canadian Mounted Police Federation as the sole charitable foundation that collects donations for the families of fallen RCMP officers.
“When one of our members is tragically killed in the line of duty, it’s not just devastating to the community, their colleagues and the force, but it’s unbelievably overwhelming to the family. We’re there to provide immediate financial and other support for the member’s family as needed.
“We also provide some post-secondary funding for bursaries for students across the country,” said Halwa. “Those bursaries are open to all students that are going into any kind of public safety field for post-secondary learning.
“The Move to Remember Challenge is for the month of September. Members register and collect pledges for any kind of physical activity that allows them to reach a goal of 246 km. The reason for 246 plus km is to represent the number of fallen officers in the line of duty, as well as those members whose work-related injuries led to suicide. Those circumstances are incredibly tragic and this is a way we can keep those colleagues and their loved ones in our hearts and minds.”
Swan River RCMP Detachment Constable Briana Blencowe is more than taking the cause to heart; she’s stepping up to the challenge.
“I personally did the Move to Remember Challenge on my own last year, but because of my involvement with Ride for Refuge, I didn’t seek community support,” said Constable Blencowe. “The NPFBF raises money to help support those families in different ways. This challenge helps us as RCMP to also remember and honour those members who we have served with that are no longer with us as a result of a tragedy on the job.”
The cause is personal for Blencowe for she feels the potential that tragedy could befall any of her previous or current co-workers on the job. For Blencowe, those co-workers are a form of family.
“I’ve been in Swan River for four years and in that time, I’ve worked with so many amazing members and got to know the community,” said Constable Blencowe. “Most, if not all of us, have come from across Canada to serve in Swan River and to become members. We have left our extended families and close friends to become part of a new community.
“I don’t know if the general public realizes how much a member sacrifices personally when it comes to that. Because we leave our extended families, we develop a bond with our co-workers and their families and it means that much more if something were to happen to them. Just knowing that the Benevolent Fund is there to help take care of those families, should a tragedy befall their loved one on the line of duty, means a lot to me.”
Although Blencowe has participated in Move to Remember before, this time she’s enlisting a team consisting of members from the Swan River Detachment and has set a fundraising goal along with a personal physical activity goal to raise funds.
“I’m hoping to get our full detachment together to do the Move to Remember Challenge,” said Blencowe. “There’s going to be a couple of ways people can donate to our team’s involvement for the Move to Remember Challenge. Next week there will be donation sheets at some of the local businesses. We also have a QR code that will connect directly to our online donation page for our team. I’m hoping we can raise $3,000.
“The Move to Remember Challenge goes from Sept. 1 to 30, and the idea is to get as many kilometres as possible over the 30 days with a minimum being 247 km, which represents the 246 plus fallen members. Personally, the goal for myself is to swim 247 laps, bike for 247 minutes and aqua run 247 loops. My hope is as a team we can surpass my combined distance of 680 km from last year or at least get to 247 km as a total.”

The aurora borealis lit up the skies across the province this past week with a show happening on varying levels every single night.

Training camp is over and done with and now the players trying to impress the Dauphin Kings coaching staff will have four opportunities to show what they can do in game situations this week.

Camp ended with Team White scoring a 4-3 win over Team navy in the annual JoFo Cup intrasquad game, Sunday afternoon.

Madden Murray scored twice to lead Team White to the victory. Tyson Pauze and Anthony Tudino had the other goals, while Keaton Woolsey and Kristjan Johnson combined to make 39 saves in goal.

Nolan Wickham, Ethan Williment and Aiden Brook had the goals for Team Navy. Cole Sheffield and Nathan Braun teamed up to make 18 saves in goal.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley liked what he saw throughout the weekend.

“The guys that we brought in, we knew they were good. I think we’ve got some decent speed. Our backend is mobile,” he said.

The Kings will embark on a busy week with four preseason games in six days, beginning tonight in Swan Valley against the Stampeders at 7 p.m.

On Wednesday, Dauphin plays its only home game of the preseason when they host the Superior International Junior Hockey League’s Wisconsin Lumberjacks at 7:30 p.m.

The Kings will then head west for a pair of tilts against Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League opponents in Melville, first against the Melville Millionaires on Saturday at 6 p.m., followed by a Sunday contest against the Yorkton Terriers at 2:30 p.m. These four games, Hedley said, will be key for a lot of players, noting there is competition for every spot on the roster.

“It’s going to be a good battle. I’m looking forward to some good intensity, good compete in practice and games this week,” he said.

Hedley felt each of the three teams had a really good work ethic and compete level in their practices.

“The speed that they had and the compete in the drills was very good. I think there have been times in the games where they got a little bit tired. But at the same time, overall, I think the compete and the speed and the intensity has been okay,” he said.

Hedley hopes to see a willingness to battle in the preseason games and play within a structure.

“We’re going to do some teaching this week and, hopefully, we can get guys buying in. The sooner we do that, the better we’re going to be,” he said.

Last season, the Kings relied on scoring by committee and this season will be no different.

“There are guys here that we think have potential to be some top end guys as far as scoring. But until we get the combinations together and get the right guys in the right places, it’s probably going to be scoring by committee,” Hedley said.

Like last year, Hedley expects the blueline to lead the way when it comes to producing offence.

“I think our backend is going to be one of our major driving forces again, with guys like (Nicholas) Hatton and (Anthony) Bax that can jump in the play. And (Rhys) Maksimow, (Ryan) Kieber and those kinds of kids that can jump in the play and create some until we get our feet under us up front and try to spread out,” he said. “But I think the biggest thing is probably our depth. The fact that we can throw speed out on every line. We might not be top scorers, but we’ve got guys that work by committee and hopefully, will score the same way.”

Dauphin opens the season, Sept. 16, when they host the Neepawa Titans at 7:30 p.m.

Sully Fox leaps to knock down a pass right before the quarterback is sacked as the Dauphin Clippers beat the Winnipeg Falcons, 33-20, in an exhibition game, Friday.

The Falcons and St. Vital Mustangs are playing a series of exhibition games against teams in the Rural Manitoba Football League as a means of gauging their competitiveness before joining the league next season at the earliest.

The Clippers open the regular season, Thursday, when they host the defending RMFL champion Swan Valley Tigers in a rematch of last year’s final. Game time is 4:30 p.m.

Editor’s note: In an effort to help city of Dauphin voters make an informed decision when choosing a new mayor this fall, the Herald provide an opportunity for candidates David Bosiak and Kerri Riehl to share their platforms, priorities and plans in their own words through a series of questions and answers.

The first question, answered here this week was “What do you see as the biggest issue facing Dauphin and how would you like to see it addressed?”

David Bosiak

On the campaign trail I’ve asked voters the same question posed to me by the Dauphin Herald: “What is the biggest issue facing our community?” The responses I received were varied to say the least. When I thought about each and every (different) response, I realized there was a critical theme relating to each one.

All issues presented to me could be addressed by following through on a well-developed plan. The City does not currently have a fully complete strategic plan. A completed plan will allow us to tackle problems and issues transparently, proactively and move us forward together.

As you can imagine, I received a multitude of responses. There were common themes, like community safety and crime, the lack of affordable housing and the condition of Main Street (and other streets and back lanes for that matter). I was also told the biggest issue was a lack of big box retailers, a lack of development in our industrial park, and a lack of new housing sub-divisions. I also heard about our incomplete trail and bike path system, the wavering strength of our relationship with other levels of government and the lingering impacts related to the closing of the jail.

The lack of incentives and barriers to industrial and business development were common among those looking to develop property in our community. I was told more than once that Dauphin needed good paying jobs that would attract and keep young people here.

What I found was that it was hard to pinpoint the one “biggest” issue facing Dauphin. What I did conclude was that the biggest issue wasn’t a singular issue at all – but a lack of a collective vision for our future.

What this means to me is this, our community needs a clear and concise plan that identifies, quantifies and prioritizes all the “biggest” issues presented to me by the public. Our last Council developed a strategic plan in 2021. That plan identified five major goals, with the third being public engagement and awareness. However, the planning process used by the City did not actually engage the community to include their input, or provide them with any awareness of their activity, thus it is incomplete.

If elected Mayor the first step I will take is to bring Council, staff and the public together to revise and complete our strategic plan. This will be achieved by holding a community consultation meeting where Council hears and engages the public. As a new Council, prioritizing community initiatives should be our primary focus.

The current plan outlines the City’s vision, mission and mandate but it does not include specifics on how any of the objectives would be achieved. Newly elected Council members will hold their own beliefs of what should happen in the next four years, but I believe it is equally important that public input be included to validate future actions we take together as a community.

We need a completed strategic plan that clearly outlines what we want as a community and how we are going to achieve it. Elect me on Oct. 26th and I’ll make sure it happens.

Kerri Riehl

The biggest issue facing Dauphin is the lack of efficient and principled municipal governance.

The City of Dauphin is an incorporated business. Municipalities are bound by laws and legislation. Under the Manitoba Municipal Act, councils are democratically accountable to the citizens they serve despite any differences of opinions, beliefs, or their socioeconomic status. All citizens are equal stakeholders in our community.

A role of council is to listen and engage with the public while considering the best interests of the entire community. Nepotism has no place on councils.

All councillors must have the opportunity to have an equal voice, and only all of council can make decisions for the municipality.

Council is the decisionmaker of policy while administration implements the policies decided upon by council. In other words, “council steers the boat and administration rows.”

Realistically, this is a system closest to the people where citizens can have the greatest impact. I believe the system and the Act to be efficient and effective. My experience, however, having served on Dauphin city council, was not as described above.

There is a historical stagnant culture of saying “this is the way things are and the way it’s always been done.” I believe this is often a justification for doing little or nothing. Those councillors who do not engage have abandoned their responsibility to advance real change. In 1986 when I went to the U of M to study Criminology, Dauphin’s population was 8,875. In 2016 the population was 8,457. In 2021 our population was 8,368. The data is quite clear. The status quo has not worked.

How would I address this?

My council experience, my term as deputy-mayor, and filling in for the mayor during his absence has given me the experience and understanding necessary to lead our city.

I have studied to become proficient in the Manitoba Municipal Act and will promote accountability, transparency, and guarantee efficient and principled politics.

I will set regular office hours at city hall ensuring accessibility to the public. Quarterly town hall meetings will be held. The citizens of Dauphin will have many opportunities to become involved in the decision making process.

Council will receive orientation training. Ongoing training opportunities will be provided to ensure competency. My expectations are that all of council will have an equal voice without exception.

Advocacy to gain funding at the provincial and federal levels will be sought at every opportunity.

My goal is to achieve effective services, financial stewardship, and use of resources.

I have a long-term vision for our community and am committed to seeing that vision become a reality as mayor of Dauphin.

I believe good governance increases Dauphin’s chances of “effectively meeting the needs of its people thereby creating conditions where all citizens can lead meaningful, prosperous and happy lives.”

Set to embark on a school year that will more closely resemble a prepandemic environment, there is no shortage of excitement among the educators at Mountain View School Division (MVSD).

“It’s such an air of positivity that’s out there amongst staff and amongst administrators,” MVSD superintendent, CEO Stephen Jaddock said. “I just met with our admin council group yesterday . . . we had lots of optimism surrounding the type of startup that we’ve got going this year.”

Students return to MVSD classrooms tomorrow (Sept. 7) and Jaddock said everything is in place to ensure a smooth start to the school year.

“We’re at more relaxed COVID-19 protocols. So we’re not under a mask mandate nor are we under any sort of distancing requirements,” Jaddock said. “So we’re hoping that it’s probably one of the most normal startups we’ve had in the last number of years.” Jaddock added their will be some health measures left in place such as opportunities for frequent hand washing, hand sanitizer placed strategically throughout schools and frequent cleaning of high touch surfaces.

As well, school staff will work closely with parents to ensure children who are displaying symptoms stay home. “The kind of things that we’ve had in place through the pandemic, some of those will not be disappearing,” Jaddock said. “And I think that extra vigilance on making sure that everyone was healthy at school had an effect on the overall numbers of colds and flus that we had. We saw a reduction in that.” Jaddock added the early part of the year will be used to evaluate where there might be a need for MVSD to invest some extra money received from the province to support needs surrounding post-pandemic academic needs. The division received a share of $11 million allocated by the province at the end of the last school year, as well as a yet-to-be-determined share of an additional $6.5 million announced last week.

“We’ve got some ideas as to how we might spend that and we shared that with our board of trustees. We’re just now waiting to see what happens when startup actually is occurring in all of our schools,” Jaddock said. The second allotment, Jaddock added, is more focused on students who left the public school system during the pandemic and are now returning and the need for additional staffing which might be required. Weight was also given to the social economic status of families based on Statistics Canada data. “What they were recognizing there is those families that had lower SES, had more struggles even when we were in the remote learning phase,” Jaddock said. “Maybe some of them didn’t even have the luxury of having a computer, or if they had a computer, they didn’t have internet access. I think this was more of an attempt to bring equity to the allotment that was going out to school divisions.”

A third factor in determining the allotment is considering children in care.

“Again recognizing that those children were more challenged to accomplish the learning goals that they’d want to accomplish in the last two-and-a-half-years,” Jaddock said. “Part of this, too, is to look at student well-being and mental health. It’s not a huge amount of money.

“I guess what we’d really like to do is just look at where we’ve got some hot spots and where we’ve got some additional challenges that we would like to address through that additional funding.”