Snowmobilers and others that like to traverse the north trails of the North Mountain Riders in the Porcupine Hills will soon have a brand new warm-up shack on one of the best look-out spots of that entire trail system.
A project that has taken two years to gain approval from relevant parties, such as Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation, Manitoba Conservation and Manitoba Historical Society, the North Mountain Riders have successfully fundraised for and are well on their way to building a warm-up shack at the Bellsite Look-out, only four miles from Hwy. No. 10 on their trail system, not far from the community of Bellsite.
“From there, you can see the community of Bellsite, all the farmland, all the way to Swan Lake and Lake Winnipegosis,” said North Mountain Riders President Bert Sutherland.
“This is an important shelter to have because it is in a pocket where we didn’t have anything else closeby for people to enjoy themselves. The next shack was at Olsen Lake and from Olsen Lake to Mafeking is an hour and 20 minutes. Now we have this gem in the middle of nowhere.”
The Bellsite Look-out shelter ended up costing the club only $66,000 in donations, sponsorships and grants to put it together, plus lots of donated materials. Labour to put it all together has been completely free and likely could have cost close to $90,000 if someone got paid to build it.
“I’ve probably put 80+ hours into it myself and I’m just one man,” said Sutherland.
Lots of the materials were hauled up prior to the spring melt, leaving the builders to get to work come spring time. As of the end of June, the exterior structure was done, with the next steps to be putting on the roofing material and weather wrapping the outside walls. Well on their way, the club’s plan is to have it weather sealed by fall and finished well before snowmobile season comes around.
And, this is not just some thrown-together shelter. In addition to the standard features of the warm-up shelter such as a wood stove, gas barbecue, AM/FM radio and a few places to sit down, the interior will be finished with tongue-and-groove pine boards, LED lights powered by solar panels, 110-volt electrical system that can be powered by a generator, fire pit and seating outside, and enough space to seat 30 people inside, roughly 480 square feet of room inside and another 480 square feet between the two attached decks.
“This will be our biggest shelter,” said Sutherland. “Our next biggest is our Whitefish Shack at 320 square feet.”
With the layout of the windows and doors on the front of the shelter, it will feel like it’s almost entirely glass, letting lots of light in.
“This has been something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time,” Sutherland added. “I know the community of Bellsite has a lot of interest in it. They’ve shown really good support. We’ve helped them with their poker derby before and this will bring a little more attention to their little town.”
While the project is coming along well, Sutherland also noted that more hands are always needed to do everything that needs to be done on the work. Even if you aren’t a carpenter, helping keep the place tidy or doing other tasks is appreciated.
“We can use all the help we can get,” he said. “We need bodies with gloves.”
If interested in volunteering for the project, contact Bert Sutherland at 204·734·0184.
Once the project is complete, the North Mountain Riders will plan a grand opening with any community members welcome to join, with a plan to provide a shuttle to the top of the hill for those that don’t have their own snowmobile. Keep an eye out in the late fall for an announcement for that.

It’s a year of infrastructure changes and more on the Swan River Valley Agricultural Society (SRVAS) Grounds as the board and volunteers prepare for this year’s upcoming NorthWest Round-up and Exhibition, taking place from July 25-28.
In addition to the previously announced repainting and refurbishment of the main grandstand – which also includes repair of the fencing at the top and installment of a new wheelchair ramp on the south side – one of the big projects this year is a brand new light horse arena to replace the old one. The costs were covered by a yet-to-be-announced corporate sponsor.
“We’ve had lots of volunteers come in to tear down the old one and put the new one in,” said SRVAS President Lesley Sembaluk. “The new design has more of a multi-purpose use which can be used for 4-H events, gymkhana and different activities.”
Sembaluk added that the posts and gates of the arena will be painted to match that of their corporate sponsor.
Some other upgrades and improvements will be to the heavy horse barn, to accommodate the horses and riders that will be arriving for the Musical Ride of the RCMP.
“They won’t be here in time for the parade on Friday morning, but they will be arriving Friday and performing Saturday and Sunday afternoons after the rodeo,” said Sembaluk.
Because costs of things like providing hay for the horses needs to yet be covered, people are able to Adopt a Horse for the Musical Ride and have their pictures taken to be displayed in the stalls of the heavy horse barn.
Sembaluk also noted that the Musical Ride of the RCMP is something that some of her committee members have been working on for several years, and is pleased they were able to bring it to this year’s event.
Relating to that theme, this year’s Swan Valley Chamber of Commerce parade will also be themed RCMP Musical Ride. The parade starts at 10 a.m. on Friday (June 26) and usually includes dozens of businesses, families and organizations driving their vehicles and floats down Main Street and back up Second Street North towards the SRVAS Grounds.
There will not be bouncy castles this year, due to the need to accommodate the Musical Ride of the RCMP, but Sembaluk added that they have brought in an outfit that will be providing a pony ride ring and a petting zoo, a new addition to the grounds this year.
There will be no Saturday night dance or musical performance this year, and the Friday night dance will see a departure away from Ken Thompson’s usual talents, as he was unavailable this year. Instead, Friday night will be more of a coffeehouse style event.
“We’re making it into a community showcase,” said Sembaluk, adding that a band will still be available, and liquor will still be served, but it will have more of that coffeehouse vibe, which proves to be a popular event in the area, often held at various locations in the Swan Valley.
Those that would like to sign up for the Friday night coffeehouse are welcome to contact 204·734·0940. Performers can also sign up at the door. It will take place at 8 p.m. at the Veterans Community Hall. Tickets are $10.
And, what often proves to be the biggest show of all and one of the biggest attractions of the NorthWest Round-up and Exhibition, this year will see the second ever Western Canadian Chuckwagon Championship and Western Canadian Junior Chariot Championship, which sees some of the best wagon and chariot riders in Western Canada competing every evening during the four-day event. Chariots are scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. every day, with chuckwagons at 6 p.m..
Entry to the grandstands is included with the one-pay gate admission to the Grounds.
Tickets to the North-West Round-up and Exhibition are $25 for adults, $15 for youth ages 6-17 and free for children five and under.
Adult and youth weekend passes are also available for $75 and $45.
Until July 19, early bird pricing is also available with discount code SAVE2024 at eventbrite.com or by purchasing at the SRVAS office located on the Grounds.
A historic noteworthy thing about this year as well is Sembaluk is the first ever Indigenous president of the SRVAS. As such, a Metis flag that was presented to last year’s president Austen Anderson by Northwest Metis Council Vice President Frances Chartrand will be erected on the grounds to fly all weekend long. The Metis flag, along with the Treaty 4 flag, the Manitoba flag and the Canadian flag will be flown during the opening ceremonies.
“Cree Star Gifts is going to be on site again this year,” said Sembaluk. “They were here last year and they were a big thing.”
Sembaluk also noted that a local organization will be starting up the Bingo booth again for the first time in a few years, highlighting that the money will be staying within the community.
More information on the NorthWest Round-up and Exhibition can be found on northwestroundup.ca or on the Swan River Valley Agricultural Society Facebook page.
“We’ll see how this year rolls out,” Sembaluk concluded. “There’s a lot of good changes.”

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.

Sometimes, getting a front-row seat to a major moment in sports is just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Just ask Swan Valley’s Will Munro.
When Tij Iginla was drafted sixth overall by the (newly relocated) Utah hockey team at last month’s NHL entry draft, Munro was there to share in the moment.
Iginla, son of NHL great Jarome Iginla, was a teammate of Munro’s last year with the Kelowna Rockets, and the two clicked almost immediately. This paved the way for Munro to be at the high profile hockey event in Las Vegas.
“When Tij first got traded from Seattle (back in 2022), they (the Kelowna Rockets management) put us together as we have a lot of the same interests,” said Munro. “We don’t do too much outside of hockey, and kept a low profile. Then we started to become fast friends, rode the bus together, and we started to hang out.”
Munro says with having such a high-profile father, Tij much preferred to keep a low profile, and stay out of the spotlight.
“But he’s serious about his hockey,” said Munro about Iginla, who put up 47 goals and 84 points in 64 games last year. “And if he wanted someone to talk to about things, I was there for him.”
Which led to last month’s NHL draft, which has become more elaborate as years have gone by. This year the league held the draft in the Sphere, the newest entertainment destination which includes a 360 degree video experience that has to be seen to believe. And as it happens, the Iginla family had one extra ticket for this year’s event.
“So Tij called me and said I have an extra ticket if you want to come down,” said Munro. Talk about a no-brainer.
“It was a chance to be part of an experience of a lifetime, so I hopped in on that,” he said.
As for draft day, Munro called it a “crazy experience”.
“You look behind you and there’s video – it’s 360,” he said. “We all sat down, and I met his father and his family. So when Tij was drafted, there was a big picture up on the screens of all of us. And there was one of me and him together on the screen, so that was a cool experience.”
Munro also got the chance to meet several hockey greats past and present at the draft.
“When we were on the plane coming back from Calgary I looked back and there was Adam Lowry, the Jets’ captain, on the plane,” he said. “I also got to the meet the owner (Ryan Smith) and general manager (Bill Armstrong) of Utah, so that was pretty cool.”
The three-day trip to Vegas was a bit of a whirlwind for the entire party. But of course being under the age of 21, Munro and Iginla couldn’t quite go everywhere in Las Vegas.
“I just kept a low profile, hung out at the hotel and enjoyed the hot weather – it’s a lot different from Swan River,” says Munro.
But, being part of the draft day experience with his friend was just the start of his adventure. The day he was to fly home, WestJet employees went on strike, leading to a bit of a diversion.
“I got the call around 5 a.m. from my mom saying your flights are cancelled except the one to Calgary, so we hopped on the flight to Calgary, and got stuck there for a minute as our connecting flight was to Kelowna,” he said. “Then we had to go downtown to rent a car (as the airport was sold out) and made the eight hour drive to Kelowna.
“When we got there I was able to see my billet family, which was good,” he added.
Munro then waited while WestJet dealt with their backlog, and ended up driving back to Calgary, only arriving back home in the Valley this past Saturday.
As for Munro’s hockey futures, that remains a bit of an unknown as his rights were released by the Rockets last week.
“I’m not too sure what I’m doing right now – I’m just waiting to see where everything falls into place,” says the 19-year-old. “I’m just going to keep doing my regular regiment and working hard. And when I find a place to play I’ll move forward with that. And what I really wanted was a fresh start and that’s what I’m going to get.”

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.

Crystal Zamzow continued her season this past weekend (July 5-7) in Minnedosa at the Manitoba Women’s Golf Championships, finishing in the top three, which propels her for Team Manitoba for the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship from July 30 to Aug. 2 at Royal Colwood Golf Club in Victoria, BC.
“I shot 74-74-80 for a +12 finish and good enough for third place,” said Zamzow. “I made a birdie on the 17th hole of the final round to have a stroke lead over the competitor in fourth, who was Cala Korman. It was probably the biggest putt and highlight of the weekend to maintain the top three in the tournament.”
Zamzow had been playing some good golf prior to the abrupt lightning delay that happened on Saturday. This led to the tournament carrying onto Sunday morning into the afternoon, which affected the many golfers having to play 27 holes in the same day. However, it didn’t seem to falter the Swan River product.
“My competitive spirit definitely comes out when it comes down to the wire,” said Zamzow. “I need to find that throughout a whole round going forward. My next tournament will be in Winnipeg for the Manitoba Junior Championship July 10-12 at Niakwa Golf and Country Club.”

The Munro Smashball League continued their season schedule by hosting Festival Du Spikageur in Legion Park on June 23, where eight teams battled for the ultimate prize in the second tournament of season four.
With original partners absent, some players were playing with teammates they have never played with before. The least surprising of the bunch, was Will Munro moving on from ex-partner Kash Henkelman, replacing him with Andrew Pidskalny, making it his fourth new partner in a span of the last two seasons. Another shocker was the brother duo Kieran and Aidan Maksymchuk teaming up, due to the usually heated rivalry between the siblings.
Round Robin got underway with a ton of upsets, for example, heavyweight contenders Tyan Mykula and Ali Kujanpaa were knocked off the rails after a hot 3-0 start by the sibling duo of Alex and Hannah Campbell, falling 11-2 in a match that seemed like the shortest in Munro Smashball history, or when Munro and Pidskalny were defeated by Mykula and Kujanpaa. The round-robin ended with a four-way tie for last, in which the teams collaborated for about 10 minutes before making a decision on how to figure things out, but once they found out, playoffs were well underway.
Ethan Campbell and Chad Brightnose finished in first, facing the eight-seeded Nate Immerkar and Wyatt Rose; Mykula and Kujanpaa finished second and faced the Campbells; Munro and Pidskalny faced the Maksymchuk brothers; while the Eisners faced off against Rylee Cockburn and Jada Kujanpaa.
The playoffs got well underway with teams ready to put their bodies on the line. The higher seeds all took care of their matchups with some struggle but not like Munro and Pidskalny faced with the Maksymchuk duo. They battled to the end and held the lead at one point against the heavily favoured Golden Arrows, but Munro and Pidskalny pulled through to move on, facing up against former teammate of Munro’s, Tyan Mykula and his partner Ali Kujanpaa, while the Boombastics faced the Eisner Brothers.
The semi-finals got hot underway and left no shortage of controversy, while the Campbell, Brightnose and Eisners matchup was civil, the Mykula versus Munro battle was one for the ages. A ton of arguing and controversial calls went through the game but Mykula beat his former teammate in all fairness, after an apparent missed call happened on the field.
Leading to some fresh new faces in the finals, with the matchup being Mykula and Kujanpaa, versus the Eisner brothers. A final that had spectators happy with some new competitors rather than having a Munro win once again. The finals were an absolute dogfight, with both teams having their ups and downs while competing. But the duo of Mykula and Kujanpaa came out on top.
Next up on the schedule for Munro Smashball is the Spike Series in July 16 in Legion Park.

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..”

Maybe not a lot of tangible work gets done at an Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) convention, but the semi-annual get together of municipal officials from around the province is a networking opportunity that is second to none, said Dauphin deputy-mayor Christian Laughland.

This year’s fall convention took place, Nov. 25 to 27, at the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg.

“I think the City of Dauphin is pretty well respected at the AMM level. There’s a lot of people there that we all know, not just myself, but the staff and the other councillors that go and it’s a really good event to go and see what everybody else has got going on,” Laughland said.

And a lot of people like to hear about what Dauphin has got going on, especially at the City Caucus.”

The new recreation deal between the City and the Rural Municipality of Dauphin was a hot topic at the Cities Caucus meeting, as was the fallout from this past summer’s wildfires and the extensive infrastructure projects most communities are working on or are facing.

“It’s always good to go and hear the stories,” Laughland said.

“Thompson talked a lot about the fires they had up there. They’re also hosting the winter games, so they are really excited for that. There was a lot of wastewater conversation, which Dauphin is ahead of the game there. We’re working on ours. But places like Winkler and Steinbach are dealing with that.

“It’s unfortunate that there’s an election in a year and some of those people might not be around, but it’s still fun to go to the fall convention and talk to all those people.”

On top of the plenary sessions and keynote speakers, the convention also provides an opportunity for some face time with provincial officials.

This year the City met with Minister of Labour and Immigration Malaya Marcelino, as well as with  Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning Tracy Schmidt.

“(Marcelino)  was great to meet with,” Laughland said.

“(Schmidt) talked really highly of the Dauphin area and everything going on here. We obviously discussed the new day care, Prairie Park Place. She was really happy to help us there. The next step there is staffing, so we talked about that. And she heard about the Dauphin Kings hosting a Countryfest game this weekend and she wanted to see the jerseys. So it was a really good conversation with her, as well.”

Finally, City officials met with the deputy minister of Housing, Addictions and Homelessness.

“They had nothing but compliments about how Dauphin is handling the (housing) the situation especially at the highrise, and how good we’ve been to work with,” Laughland said, addling on top of the formal meetings, there were several impromptu conversations with provincials officials in the hallways  such as Agriculture Minister and Dauphin MLA Ron Kostyshyn, as well as Premier Wab Kinew, who, Laughland added reiterated the promise that physical work on the new community justice centre will get underway in 2026 in his keynote address.

“You pass these people going through the hall ways and they’ll stop for some quick conversations. Those relationships, we didn’t have that with the previous government. Those guys wouldn’t come up to us and talk to us, they would more so avoid us in the hallways,” Laughland said.

“These current ministers and MLAs, and the premier, they’ll walk out of their way when they see people from Dauphin to strike up a conversation. It’s a nice breath of fresh air.”