Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN) celebrated Cultural Week last week and at the beginning, they held Chief Maureen Brown’s Headdress Ceremony at the Veteran’s Hall. This is the first time in OCN’s history that a female has been elected as chief and presented a headdress.
“The event was so incredible and inspiring,” said OCN Chief Maureen Brown. “What I found amazing was my actual headdress. I didn’t know how it was going to look. It was absolutely beautiful and so symbolic to me. Everything that is on it is significant. Les and Ester Thompson designed my headdress.
“Les did the feathers on my headdress and he didn’t know my name was Minosowin Iskwew, which means Shining Woman, and the tips of the feathers were yellow and represented that. I was given that Ojibwe name by the former Grand Chief of the Southern Chiefs Organization, Morris Shannacappo.

With Pat Berry being hired as Margaret Barber Collegiate Institute’s (MBCI) new principal, Kelsey School Division has hired Michelle Sabet as the new assistant principal. Sabet grew up in The Pas and knew quite early on that teaching in some capacity was going to be of interest to her.
“I was born and raised in The Pas and my parents were Mike and Val Chartrand,” said Sabet. “I have lots of great memories growing up on Ralls Island, with my brother John, my many cousins and neighbours. After graduating from MBCI, I moved to Winnipeg and attended the University of Manitoba for both my undergrad and my Education degree.

The future certainly looks bright for the city of Dauphin with everything that is going on this year.
That was the message delivered by mayor David Bosiak at the Parkland Chamber of Commerce’s State of the City Address, May 14, at the Watson Arts Centre.
“I wanted to focus on the future. I know that the future is, obviously, now and going forward, but I wrapped up my statement with everybody has issues. Everybody has stuff. I want a sustainable growth in our community,” he said.
“I’d love to have large growth, but sustainable is what we’re really aiming for. Blending the strength we have around the council table with the staff at city hall is a real benefit for us.”
The relationship with the province also helps the city as it moves forward, Bosiak added, leaving him optimistic about the future.
“I’ve always been an optimist. But I’ve never been this optimistic. Because I do think that we’re on the cusp of some really great stuff. And not just my doing or our doing now, but it’s taken some years to develop and build this. But when we have the momentum, I want to strike when the iron is hot, so to speak. And that’s what we’re working on,” he said.
Bosiak emphasized during his speech that council can only set policies. It is the work of the city staff and residents that contributes to the city’s success.
“We don’t get development here because we do development. Developers want to be here for a reason. So if we can create an environment that’s good for them, it’s also good for us. And that’s what we’re working on,” he said.
The city, Bosiak said, is staying in its own lanes, with council doing policy work, while city staff does most of the hands-on work.
“But the communication is tremendous. And I’m so proud of our ability to work together. We are spending literally no time or energy dealing with issues that are based on personality or diverging opinions. We are all on the same page. All pulling in the same direction. And we’re so happy that that then allows us to do good things, because we’re lined up well with the province right now. And who knows what the potential outcomes could be,” he said.
But there are always issues to deal with. Top of mind for Bosiak is recreation funding involving the Rural Municipality of Dauphin.
Bosiak said the city has been dealing with the RM council for more than a year on the RM’s contribution to recreation.
“All of our residents benefit. They can’t quite get their head around some of the justifications, but we’re continuing to work on it,” he said.
“I’ll be honest, it’s a little bit frustrating. But we have a dialogue with them and we’re continuing to try and get them to understand the value and the benefits. We’re putting our money in. We want just a proportionate share from them. But if we take that approach with all of the relationships we have, I think we’ll be in good shape.”

The Swan Valley has been known for turning out some of the best and most recognized physicians in Manitoba. At the start of the year, former Valley physician Dr. Adrian Fung started as Prairie Mountain Health’s (PMH) new Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Fung was drawn into medicine due to his love of helping people.
“I was attracted to medicine, and becoming a physician specifically because I wanted to help make a difference to those who I felt needed it most,” said PMH Chief Medical Officer Dr. Fung. “I spent time volunteering at the children’s hospital in Edmonton during my university training and loved being able to be there to help the patients as much as possible, even in my limited capacity at the time of being a volunteer.
“As you can probably guess from my volunteering experience, I initially went into medicine intending to become a pediatrician. After spending time in each specialty while at school I discovered that I actually liked all of them, and so ended up choosing to do as many specialties as I could at once; I decided to become a rural general practitioner.
“I went to university at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and then to medical school at University College Cork in Cork, Ireland,” said Dr. Fung.
Working in a rural setting was instrumental in the experience, training and knowledge that Dr. Fung had acquired at the start of his career. Not only did he become trained in different aspects of healthcare, but it also set him up for leadership as well.
“I think that there is a lot to be said for gaining experience as a rural physician,” said Dr. Fung. “Practicing in a rural area requires a physician to use all of their knowledge, and to rely heavily on clinical skills and acumen, rather than on having every investigation and specialty available nearby. When I started my practice in Swan River, I wished to fulfill my original goal as a rural physician who could do a bit of every specialty as part of my practice.
“What I gained beyond this was an opportunity to be a physician leader and an appreciation for the incredible amount of community collaboration towards improved healthcare that occurs in rural communities. I was able to see what advocating as a group of physicians can accomplish with the help of strong community support to improve healthcare delivery.
“Overall, living and working in Swan River helped me become a well-rounded physician, gave me experience in physician leadership, and built-in me an understanding and appreciation for how much positive change we can make when we work collaboratively together as physicians, health care workers, communities, and as a region,” said Dr. Fung.
Dr. Fung accredits his time in the Valley to fostering his leadership skills. Once he had left the area, it opened the doors to big roles in leadership within the RHA.
“I gained my first experience in physician leadership in Swan River,” said Dr. Fung. “I was in that role for about six years total, and while in that role I gained a better understanding of how community needs are addressed, what we can do as physicians to help advocate for our communities, and how we as a community fit into the larger picture of our entire health region.
“After I moved to Brandon, an opportunity arose to take on a larger leadership role as the Interim Associate Chief Medical Officer for PMH. I thought I may be able to use the skills and experience I gained from Swan River to help advocate for my rural physician colleagues and the rural communities within PMH. In this position, I found the needs of our region to be complex and generally desperate. I had a lot to learn about every community in a short time, but I enjoyed learning.
“During this short period, I thought that the Chief Medical Officer position would benefit from a rural physician’s experience and perspective, and it seemed that PMH agreed,” said Dr. Fung.“I officially became the Chief Medical Officer for PMH on January 1, 2024. I’m new to the role, and most looking forward to creating discussion and dialogue to create positive change within not just PMH but Manitoba as a whole.”
Dr. Fung finds that being the Chief Medical Officer is just a heightened aspect of being a physician. He now finds himself thinking about staffing and the care of patients on a much broader level, rather than one patient at a time.
“The responsibilities largely differ in scope rather than in principle,” said Dr. Fung. “The Chief Medical Officer is required to be a physician, and as such always views decisions from the lens of improving patient care, and advocating for your patients. The added largest complexity is that the scale is at the size of an entire health region rather than that of an individual practice, and representing these interests at provincial level discussions.
“To further add to this complexity, the needs of the patient need to be well balanced with the needs of the physicians, and how this fits with the rest of the provincial picture, especially in this time of staffing shortages. There is a very high risk of physician burnout at this time, and hospital visits are increasing as the ability to access primary care has decreased. This is certainly a challenging time for everyone, and I commend our physicians and our communities for all that they have done and continue to do.”

Tim Hortons ran their annual Smile Cookie campaign from April 29 to May 5 with various community groups coming out to decorate the nearly 10,000 cookies that were sold throughout the week. Last Thursday (May 16) Swan River Tim Horton’s Owner Upendra Patel (left) presented the proceeds of $15,150.45 from the cookie sales and other donations to the Swan Valley Health Facilities Foundation. The funds will be used to purchase needed equipment in all Valley health facilities.

A local family is hoping for your support in helping them provide a better life for three orphans from Bulgaria.

James and Jessica Frey, along with their sons Ari and Jude, are set to welcome three Bulgarian children into their midst, as soon as their adoptions are finalized.

Read the rest of the story in this week’s Review.

The issue of discarded sharps in the tri-community has been plaguing the area for some time and with the snow melted, there is always debris to be picked up. A committee was formed with members from the Town of The Pas, R.M. of Kelsey, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, OCN Health Authority, OCN Safety, Norman Region Health Authority (NRHA), Manitoba Metis Federation, Play it Safer Committee and peers; The Pas Friendship Centre and the Town of the Pas public works and community safety departments, known as the Sharps Management Committee.
“Under the Play It Safer Network, there are peers going out on a regular basis to collect and survey the areas as part of their program,” said Town of The Pas Mayor Andre Murphy. “At the same time, there are other groups from various organizations going out and doing tours of the areas to help clean up as well.”

Kelsey School Division announced last week their new hire for principal at Margaret Barbour Collegiate Institute (MBCI). Vice principal Pat Berry will move into the position of principal on September 3. Berry had established his teaching career before he moved to northern Manitoba. He fell in love with everything The Pas had to offer and has spent 15 years calling the north his home.
“I grew up in Saskatoon and then attended the University of Saskatchewan,” said Berry. “I spent my first six years teaching middle school in Calgary. Then I moved with my two sons and wife to Swift Current and spent the next 12 years teaching and in leadership roles at Swift Current Comprehensive High School.
“My oldest son Jordan moved away to play hockey in British Columbia and my youngest son Luke went on scholarship to play baseball in North Carolina. My wife and I always dreamed of living on a lake in the north. We are avid paddlers and ended up exploring the rivers and lakes around The Pas.

The Manitoba Wildfire Service, the Office of the Fire Commissioner (OFC), Manitoba Emergency Management Organization (EMO) and the Manitoba Fire Service are currently responding to a significant number of active fires in the area around Flin Flon and The Pas. There is extreme fire behaviour in the area caused by drought conditions and high winds.
As of Monday, fire WE010 near Flin Flon is approximately 31,600 hectares based on updated mapping and continues to impact the cottage subdivisions of Sourdough Bay, Whitefish Lake, Twin Lakes, Schist Lake North and Cranberry Portage.
The fire is approximately 1.5 kilometres away from Cranberry Portage and the community has now been evacuated to The Pas. Provincial Emergency Social Services is available to residents. The Rural Municipality of Kelsey has established a reception centre at the Wescana Inn in The Pas to register evacuees and to arrange for accommodations.
A reception centre has been established at the Victoria Inn in Flin Flon to support evacuees and assist with accommodations for residents affected by evacuation orders from Sourdough Bay Subdivision, Twin Lakes Cottage Subdivision, Whitefish Lake Cottage Subdivision, Schist Lake North Cottage Subdivision, Bakers Cottage Subdivision and Bakers Narrows Provincial Park.

Jordan’s Principle is a child-first principle to ensure First Nations children get the services they need when they need them.

Jordan’s Principle was established by First Nations in response to the death of five-year-old Jordan River Anderson, a child from Norway House Cree Nation, who suffered from Carey Fineman Ziter syndrome, a rare muscular disorder that required years of medical treatment in a Winnipeg hospital.

After spending the first two years of his life in a hospital, doctors cleared Jordan to live in a family home near the hospital in Winnipeg.

However, the federal and provincial governments could not resolve who was financially responsible for the necessary home care.

For over two years, the Government of Canada and Manitoba provincial government continued to argue, while Jordan remained in the hospital.

In 2005, at the age of five, Jordan died in the hospital; he never had the opportunity to live in a family home.

Private Members Motion 296 in support of Jordan’s principle passed in the House of Commons, on Dec. 12, 2007.

May 10 is Bear Witness Day, an annual observance dedicated to Jordan’s Principle.