Shawn Bailey
Helping out
Representatives of the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund and the Armstrong Family stop for a picture after discussing the Armstrong’s donation to the fund-raising drive to relocate families from war-torn Ukraine to the Parkland.
For those arriving in Winnipeg from Ukraine, the Armstrongs will provide lodging at the Best Western Plus Hotel in Headingly and following the trip to Dauphin will provide lodging at the local Super 8 Hotel.
“When they get to Winnipeg it shows them that somebody cares and when they get here it shows them that somebody cares here, too.
It was just the right thing to do,” Harvey Armstrong said. As well, through their Dauphin Decorating business, the family is providing materials for renovations and upgrades to the homes in which the relocated families will be living.
Pictured, from left, are Don Tarrant and Larry Hyrtsay from the Parkland Ukrainian Familty Fund, Laurie Armstrong, Harvey Armstrong, Christine Armstrong, Cory Armstrong, Hayden Armstrong and fund representative Jim Perchaluk.
Fire chief hopes to attract recruits
Dauphin Fire Department is hosting an open house in the hopes of bolstering its ranks.
“We are currently recruiting new members for Dauphin Fire Department and we plan on having an open house on Wednesday, May 4, which also happens to be International Firefighters Day,” Dauphin fire chief Cam Abrey said, adding the department is down six members from a full complement and has just recently lost three firefighters, two of whom left the community and one who decided firefighting was not a good fit for them.
“So we are doing a big push to try and get some new members on board.”
With a staffing shortage, extra pressure is put on existing firefighters, from covering for those exhibiting symptoms from illness to making sure the community is protected year round.
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Adding insult to injury
As if the 18 inches or more of snow which fell in the Dauphin Valley during the latest incident involving a Colorado Low, was not enough, Mother Nature decided to add in a little mayhem and destruction this past weekend.
This car on Seventh Street Southeast was clobbered by just one of the hundreds of trees around the community which dropped large branches or fell over completely under the weight of the heavy snow.
Thousands of Manitoba Hydro customers were without power Saturday evening and throughout the day Sunday with many having to wait until Monday to have their service restored.
Temperatures are expected to improve throughout the week, in time for another Colorado Low expected to hit on the weekend.
This one, hopefully, will just be a rain event.
Ebb and Flow First Nation breaks ground on $55 million educational complex project
With more than 800 students attending a school designed for 250, new education facilities were more than a ‘want” for the community of Ebb and Flow, it was an absolute necessity.
And efforts to relieve that educational pressure took a huge step forward, Apr. 21, when the community broke ground on a $55 million project which will see the construction of a new Kindergarten to Grade 6 school, renovation of the community’s existing school for Grades 7 to 12 classrooms and the construction of 23 new teacherages to house school staff.
“We talk about the kids that are here and we talk about the kids that are not born yet. We have to think about that. That’s the way the elders used to think a long time ago. We have to think about our kids. What are they going to have when they grow up, what are their grandkids or great grandkids going to have,” Chief Wayne Desjarlais said during a ceremony to break ground on the project. “The school is going to be built, we’re going to start it. We have the construction crews, as you can see the material around the community and the equipment it’s going to be done right here. We’re going to have local people working.”
Speaking directly to students gathered at the ceremony, Chief Desjarlais stressed how lucky they are to be getting such top-notch educational facilities.
“I know you’re too young to think about this right now, but most of you will have kids and your kids are going to go to school here,” he said. “So we have to take care of the schools that we’re going to have. We’re going to have to take care of the teachers.”
Desjarlais added he is pleased to see the years long journey toward a new school coming to an end.
“Many years ago our first school was made for 250 students. We passed that mark probably within the first five or six years after the school was finished in 1983,” he said. “Today we have close to 800 students. We have more students in Ebb and Flow School than five schools in Turtle River (School Division). So that’s why we’re getting a new school for the elementary grades.
”The budget has earmarked $30 million for construction of the new facility and $7 million for development of the teacherages with the remainder destined for renovations at the existing school. A project of that size takes a considerable amount of time and effort to get off the ground", said Praneeth Cherukuri, a senior engineer of Infrastructure and Housing Professional and Technical Services with Indigenous Services Canada.
“It’s been five years. It may seem like a long time, but to build a big school and then do a renovation to the existing school it is a big task and we need a good team in place. So to gather all the team and have all the funding in place, that’s unfortunately how long it takes,” he said. “Soon, before you know it, you’ll have a new school here and the old school will be like another new school and you’ll have teachers here. So this whole area will be hustling and bustling and I truly think this whole educational complex will be a shining example for what can be done in a First Nation and I do think it will be one of the best schools in Manitoba once it’s done. We didn’t leave any stone unturned.”
Part of what makes the new school special is when viewed from overhead the building is shaped like an eagle with its wings, a symbol of love in Indigenous cultures’ seven sacred teachings.
Seeing the vision come to life is exciting said Victor Kolynchuk of Architecture 49, who designed the new school.
“We’ve been on this project for five years to get here where we are here today. It’s a big achievement, but there’s yet an even bigger achievement over the next two years to construct the school,” Kolynchuk said. “I believe in education. Education is powerful, it has the power to elevate individuals, communities and cultures. So this is your opportunity two years from now to take advantage of this opportunity to increase your power and maintain your culture and work together with your children that have yet to come.”
Construction is set to begin immediately and the project is expected to take two years to complete, said project manager Phil Cesario of PM Associates, who act as project manager. The project, he said, offers tremendous opportunity for community involvement.
“We’re going to be making a lot of noise and mess for the next two years, but the end result will definitely be worth it,” Cesario said. “There’ll be lots of opportunities for the community to participate in terms of labour work, but even for the students, there’ll be lots of opportunities in the building for artwork to truly make this school your own and we look forward to sharing those opportunities with you. I’m looking forward to the ribbon cutting ceremony two years from now.”
Getting the community to that point is NDL Consruction, a Winnipeg-based company with experience working in northern and First Nations communities. Company president Peter Barg said his team is excited by the opportunity to bring the community’s vision to life.
“Not only are we excited to build a beautiful building which the architects have designed and to work with this team, but we love working in northern and First Nation communities,” he said. “It’s not just about building a big building or a beautiful building and doing business. Yes, those are wonderful things, but bringing integrity and trust and respect to that process is something that we value as a family-owned business and we’re looking very forward to working with your community with your chief, council and the workers that are going to be coming from this community.”
City secures $75,000 Trails Manitoba grant
The City of Dauphin will have up to an extra $75,000 to spend on active transportation infrastructure this year thanks to a Trails Manitoba grant.
Director of Public Works and Operations Mike VanAlstyne said the grant, secured through the rural stream of the program, is a two-to-one cost share agreement.
“So we would have to spend $150,000,” he said, adding the money will be allocated to projects planned for this year including expanding the trail system to include Assiniboine Community College (ACC) Parkland Campus “To provide access for them to a safe multi-use trail system.”
Plans are also in place to extend the First Avenue South trail to Second Street Southwest, VanAlstyne added.
The Trails Grant for Manitoba is an annual grant intended for trail associations, municipalities, or other not-for-profit groups, that have the means to provide continued stewardship of trails. The aim of the program is to provide new recreational trail opportunities which includes extending or improving existing trails, developing new trails, and addressing trail gaps and barriers. It also aims to improve the quality of an existing recreational trail network or the user’s experience including safety improvements, signage, way finding, and barriers to access. Funds can also be used for maintenance of a recreational trail network, including pruning, repairing holes, trail beautification, normal erosion/drainage repairs, clean-up, usual repairs to signage, barriers, fencing, surfacing and other maintenance tasks that are undertaken for upkeep of a trail.
Given those parameters, VanAlstyne expects the City will utilize the entire $75,000.
“We’re going to be close with our current plans. The trail will include some signage and some furnishings such as benches and maybe some planters along the way,” he said. “As well, the ACC trail will include some solar lighting and pathway lighting, because it is off the roadway, just to make it safer and more visible. It definitely allows us to add some more features.”
City council authorized the signing of the grant agreement at its Apr. 11 regular meeting.
Budget is just right: Michaleski
As he drills down on the specifics, Dauphin MLA Brad Michaleski is convinced last week’s budget tabled by the Stefanson government is just what the doctor ordered as the province moves out of the shadow of the COVID pandemic.
“I haven’t had an opportunity to get right into the nuts and bolts of the budget yet. What was presented was a high altitude overview and generalization of what we’re emphasizing,” Michaleski said. “I think it was a reasonable budget. It was a steady budget. We’re focusing more money on health care. I mean probably the key word is that it’s just a steady, steady budget for this time. We’re coming out of COVID, we’re starting to open things up. So there’s nothing overly surprising and that’s probably, I think, a really good tone for this budget.”
The document, Michaleski said, focuses the province’s investments in “all the right places.”
“I think we’re still on course for health care transformation. And there’s a more significant influence on indigenous and reconciliation efforts and that sounds really good. But again it’s steady as it goes and under the circumstance that’s most likely the best at this stage of the game,” he said.
The venture capital fund announced highlight the government’s efforts to rebuild the economy, he said, adding while cuts to the education property tax were not as robust as expected, they show the government’s commitment to making life more affordable for Manitobans.
“But you know it’s still a move in the right direction and, under the circumstances, that’s probably a cautious and smart approach. But we’re still going in that direction and all these things generally in the budget make Manitoba look very attractive for the next stage post-COVID,” Michaleski said. “There’s a lot of things that are changing in the world right now and we’ve really been in line with trying to make Manitoba attractive. (The budget is) still building on this, creating this positive environment for investment.”
In particular, Michaleski would like to see that investment come into the Parkland as growing and developing the area has been his focus during his time in government.
“Not only just in economic development, but in social development and aspects of that. When you start talking about family issues, education issues, K-12, all those things are a big part of the economic environment,” he said. “Of course, I’d like to see that grow in Manitoba, and in particular I’d like to see that focused energy on the Parkland region. I’m optimistic that the government is focusing on pretty broad growth strategies and I’m quite optimistic that Dauphin and the Parkland is in that scope.”
MVSD welcomes additional special needs funding
Mountain View School Division is still not sure what its share of $7 million in recently announced funding for students with special needs will be. But whatever the division gets it will make use of, said superintendent/CEO Dan Ward.
“We’re anticipating a letter that will hopefully arrive in the next week or so that will outline our amount,” Ward said. “We are anticipating that it will likely be a sufficient amount where we can increase staffing in the area of student services.”
Ward has had conversations with the division’s student services co-ordinator about potential proposals which could be brought to the board of trustees for discussions on how it might fit into recently passed 2022-23 budget.
Ward said the funding, announced by Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Wayne Ewasko last week, is directly tied to the division’s Level 2 and Level 3 funding, which would directly support students with student-specific plans around issues such as learning challenges, learning disabilities, mental health supports or behaviour plans.
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Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund captures public’s attention
Support for the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund has been tremendous.
The fund has raised more than $100,000 in cash so far.
“Right now we’ve contacted the federal government, the provincial government the Ukrainian Canadian Congress to give us a list of names and contact information of families that are wishing to come,” said Roman Panchenko, adding there are many who have fled Ukraine that have every intention of returning following the conflict.
However, the group’s priority is to fund families that intend to settle permanently in the Parkland
“So if they can identify those that are willing to come to our area with the intentions of settling permanently, then the selection committee will weed those out and make recommendations to the rest of the group, he said.
Committee member Jim Perchaluk added the group is remaining flexible, however.
“This is the first time we’ve done it and let’s just say nobody wants to settle here, but they’re looking for a place to reside for several years. Well then we certainly will review our mandate,” he said. “But our objective is to assist families, hopefully intending to reside in our community.”
Just how many families the group will be able to assist remains to be seen as donations are coming in daily and organizers really don’t know what level of support will be required.
Read the FULL STORY in this week's Dauphin Herald!
MVSD sets 2022-23 budget
Ratepayers in the Mountain View School Division (MVSD) will see a slight reduction in their tax bills as the board of trustees passed a 2022-23 budget focused on the learner and the learning environment, with a special emphasis on the classroom.
While this year’s budget saw an increase of almost $1.5 million in provincial funding for the coming year, an increase of 6.3 per cent, things were a little complicated because a lot of the increase did not flow through the funding formula, MVSD secretary-treasurer Bart Michaleski said.
“They gave us the money in kind of one-time payments because of all the inflationary pressures we’re dealing with,” he said, citing contract settlement costs, insurance and fuel costs as some examples. “But suffice it to say they gave us a fair bit of money in the current year, 2021-22, almost $1.3 million, and then gave us a little over $1.2 million in additional one-time funding for 2022-23.”
As a result, MVSD’s budget is 3.8 per cent higher than last year at $45,458,887, an increase of $1,657,844.
“Our five-year average (increase) is about one per cent, so the budget itself is up quite a bit,” Michaleski said, adding local taxation remains the same at the direction of the province as some of the money received from the government was to offset any tax increases. “So the special levy will remain at the same dollar amount it has for a third year in a row now. Our mill rate will actually drop a little bit from 14.62 to 14.54 and that’s just because we had a little bit of a property assessment increase.”
Residential property within the division has seen a .9 per cent increase in total assessed values since 2021. With the drop in the mill rate residential property valued at $150,000 will see a decrease of $5.24 on this year’s tax bills. Farmland has seen a .3 per cent increase in total assessed values resulting in a $3.03 reduction per $150,000, while commercial property increased in value by .1 per cent resulting in a $7.57 tax reduction per $150,000.
In terms of expenditures, MVSD’s largest increase was in staffing as trustees focused on maintaining staffing levels.
“And, in fact, we actually had in budget, an increase of one teaching position and that was to support the business program at the (Dauphin) high school, the Applied Commerce program,” Michaleski said, adding there were other minor changes in staffing that really did not affect the budget. “Eighty per cent of our increase in budget, $1,375,000, is in staffing costs.”
The remaining $283,256 in increased expenditures for non-salary related budgets primarily included technology infrastructure, insurance, fuel and utilities costs.
The result is expenditures will outpace revenue by approximately $171,000 in 2022-23. It is only the second time in Michaleski’s career with the division that the board has approved a deficit budget.
“I’m not a big proponent of deficit budgeting, nor is the board,” Michaleski said.
Michaleski said the decision to run a deficit was made after meeting with the province where the division indicated the $1.3 million increase received for 2021-22 was more than what was needed, while the $1.2 million received for the coming year was not enough.
“The department basically said because every division is in the same boat with all these costs . . . if you needed more of that money in 2022-23 than in the current year just designate some of that (2021-22) money as surplus in your financial statements and carry it forward to next year and use it to offset your budget,” he said, adding the province is planning to have a new funding formula in place in 2023-24. “Based on how this new formula is supposed to work for us, it shouldn’t be an issue. So that’s why we agreed to do a deficit budget. Obviously, they’re going to have to manage things just to make sure that they can mitigate that deficit as much as they can next year.”
Board chair Floyd Martens said the transition that is occurring in education highlights that the majority of available resources are being prescribed to school divisions, providing budget revenue totals that are finite, including the dollars generated through local taxation.
MVSD worked hard to make the tough decisions on where those resources are best used, he added.
“The deliberations required to prepare and finalize the 2022-23 operating budget become increasingly more difficult as greater restrictions are placed on available funding. These restrictions impact how we can address what our communities want for their educational system,” Martens said. “We are confident in our budget decisions as they prioritize the needs of the learner and the classroom.”
Return to the Hill features a new sign at site entrance
Countryfest organizers are looking forward to a “Return to the Hill.”
And as part of a promotional concert tour of the same name, Doc Walker and Don Amero, festival directors and organizers gathered at Selo Ukraina last week to unveil a new sign that will greet those attending Canada’s longest running country music, July 1 to 3.
The unveiling followed a relaunch of the festival lineup originally disclosed last October.
The all-Canadian bill for the July 1 to 3 festival features headliners Paul Brandt, Johnny Reid, Dallas Smith, Dean Brody and Terri Clark. They will be backed up by some first rate supporting acts including Gord Bamford, The Washboard Union, The Road Hammers, Madeline Merlo, Aaron Pritchett, The Reklaws, Chad Brownlee, Michelle Wright, Doc Walker, JoJo Mason, Hunter Brothers, Jess Moskaluke, Jade Eagleson, Tyler Joe Miller, David James, Don Amero, Clayton Bellamy and the Congregation, Nate Haller, Toque, Snake Oil, Tyler Del Pino, Kendra Kay, Jade Turner, Desiree Dorion, Shantaia, Boy Golden, Past the Perimeter, Bullrider, Ryan Keown, Melissa Livingstone, Kates Outlaw, Jake Yaadeland, Banned and Outlawed, Chris Mitchell, Brandi Yezina, Karissa Hoffart, School of Rock Winnipeg and DJ Johnny Rivex.
“We’ve been resting for a little while, I guess a couple years now so we decided to relaunch the whole lineup and add all the rest of the bands into it that we’re going to have and it went over very well,” Countryfest general manager Rob Waloschuk said.
The full story can be found in this week's Dauphin Herald!