It was years in development, but even though it was only officially adopted at the City’s last regular meeting, Feb. 12, Dauphin’s new development plan is already proving it’s worth.

City manager Sharla Griffiths said administration has already referred to the document last week when answering a query from a ratepayer regarding beautification of a boulevard space.

“A request came to us a week or so before we knew that the document was going to be approved and so we said, ‘can you just hang on a week?’ We got the document approved on Feb. 12, and then later that week we were able to approve the request,” she said.

Required under the Municipal Act, the plan, which replaces one adopted in 2012, serves as a framework for formulating development policies and decisions, identifying factors relevant to the use and development of land, identifying critical problems and opportunities concerning the development of land, setting forth desired timing patterns and characteristics of future development of land, establishing and specifying the programs and actions necessary for the implementation of a development plan, outlining the methods whereby the best use and development of land and other resources in adjacent municipalities, districts or affected areas may be co-ordinated and identifying those matters of government concern which affect the use and development of land and other resources within the municipality.

“It’s an overarching document of how we operate our community. It’s more than just a development plan. The title is City Plan,” Griffiths said. “Usually a development plan looks about five or so years into the future. This looks 20 plus years into the future. I don’t want to say it’s part of a strategic plan or partly strategic plan, but it’s definitely a longer term thinking for us.”

The 112-page document will serve as a framework to move the community ahead in six identified areas - community and innovation, climate leadership and resilience, health and well-being, housing and neighbourhoods, local economy and tourism, and truth and reconciliation.

“Those are really big goals that talk more than just what our neighbourhoods look like, but really what our community will look like or what we want it to look like. It really does set the tone and set the vision of our community, of where we want to go,” Griffiths said. “Some of the goals, or the action items, or objectives in the report help us to actually quantify and take action.”

And beyond that, Griffiths said, the process itself proved to be extremely beneficial.

“I think that there’s nothing new here it’s just more formalized. But going through the process of developing the city plan allowed us to talk in a more structured format about some of these things, so that’s a real benefit,” she said.

To push the process further down the road, Griffiths said the City will now examine its Zoning Bylaw to ensure there are no conflicts.

“To make sure that the development plan, or the city plan, and the zoning bylaw are talking and have the same goals.” she said. “If you’re looking at it, the city plan is one level above and the zoning bylaw feeds into it.”

The process will be similar to the one used to formulate the city plan, with an outside consultant contracted to lead the process.

“We did it in-house back in 2014-15 and now we’re going to look for some outside expertise,” Griffiths said. “And make sure that we get into the community and hear what people have to say.”

Women waiting to get checked for breast cancer in the Parkland are facing even longer waiting times.

Reports indicate that several women in the region have received anothe phone call to yet again reschedule their BreastCheck appointments to a later date, and this time, a location even farther away and right out of the Prairie Mountain Health region.

Find out more in this week’s paper.

Local women are gearing up to celebrate with their Christian counterparts in Palestine and all over the world in the 2024 World Day of Prayer service.

This year’s service in Roblin, prepared by the Christian women of Palestine, takes place this Friday at the Free Methodist Church

Read more about the day in this issue.

Did you know, that in order for police to enforce family custody agreements it needs to be signed by a judge? Did you know that if you breach that order, you may be charged with breach of court order?

Roblin RCMP get a lot of calls from angry parents saying the other parent is not following the order.

More in this week’s RCMP report.

The arts and culinary world is coming to University College of the North (UCN) in the form of a workshop opened to participants of varying skill level. It will serve as a collaboration for people to build off of and grow.
“The Northern Arts and Food Workshop brings together folks from all levels for one reason, to boost northern Manitoba’s creative sector and food sector,” said UCN Communications and Events Coordinator Jackie Rechenmacher. “It’s a conference for all artists and food makers at any point in their journey. It's also a conference for all types of organizations involved in the creative economy, and government bodies with funding for arts, culture, food, and heritage projects.

This year Louis Riel Day is going to be given more recognition in terms of celebrating. This past November, Premier Wab Kinew set in motion a law to right a 153-year-old wrong and declared Louis Riel as Manitoba’s first premier through the Louis Riel Act. The Louis Riel Act will come into force on the day it receives royal assent.
“This is significant because it reaffirms what we have always said, that Louis Riel was our first premier and should be acknowledged as such,” said Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF) The Pas Region Vice President Judy Mayer. “This has been coming for over 153 years now and we’ve always known this. It’s historic for us and for the Premier to reaffirm that for us has been huge too.

The Town of the Pas held their council meeting on February 12, in council chambers. Val Berscheid, President of the Opasquia Agricultural Society did a presentation on the organization’s activities and goals for the future of their event. Their mission is to provide agricultural events for the community.
In 2012, the Opasquia Ag Society built the 500-seat grandstand that cost approximately $200,000. The Town of The Pas was the first investor and then others followed. In 2018, opened their RV Park with 20 sites, that included water, electricity and 30-amp service. It’s been fairly busy and there have been long term stays booked as well.
Last year, the Opasquia Ag Society upgraded the track. Before, If it rained, the events would be cancelled, and originally the track was built on the railbed, so rocks come up and people had to pick the rocks off the track every year. Initially, they had just enough money to do a little bit of the track, but Strilkiwski Construction gave them enough to do the whole track. Now it is an all-weather track that allows the events to happen rain or shine.

After losing two of their previous three games, the Dauphin Kings rebounded in a big way.

After killing off a four-minute power-play early, the Kings came back with a solid effort in scoring a 3-2 victory over the league-leading Steinbach Pistons, Friday in Dauphin.

The next night, six different players found the back of the net, including Alex Senf scoring what has become known as a Michigan goal, in a 6-1 win over the Swan Valley Stampeders, in Swan River.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley liked the team’s work ethic against the Pistons.

“We were hard on pucks. We were relentless in the D zone. Our battles in the corners, they got better as the game went on and we started winning stick battles,” he said, adding the Kings limited Steinbach’s opportunities in front of the net. “They’re a team that really goes to the net and funnels and makes short plays. In fact the play they got to tie the game was a small play in front of the net that they go to hard,” he said. “So I thought overall, our game was good. And then we found a way to rebound, get a goal and really shut it down.”

Just seven seconds into the game, defenceman Karson Raymond was assessed a double minor for high sticking, but the Kings were able to kill off Steinbach’s four-minute power play.

“It’s always tough on a team at the start of a game because you’re not into your rhythm and timing. So if you’re going to be down four minutes, I guess that’s one of the better times to be shorthanded,” Hedley said. “But that was a big kill by our penalty kill units. They did a great job all weekend.”

It took the offence a while to get going on Saturday in Swan River.

After skating to a 1-1 tie after the first period, Dauphin’s offence exploded for four goals in the middle frame, including a highlight reel “Michigan” goal by Alex Senf.

With the Stampeders out of playoff contention, Hedley said it is always tough when playing a team that is loose.

“They want to go out and play for next year. So they’re playing loose, their sticks are loose and they’re working hard. In the first period, we started okay, we just didn’t finish real strong in the first and then got better in the second,” he said, adding the team’s work ethic took over in the latter stages of the game. According to Hedley, the players were all jumping up and down when Senf scored his goal.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen it live. But good for Senfy. It’s a tough thing to do and definitely not easy or a lot more people would do it,” he said. “But he had time. There wasn’t a lot of pressure behind the net, so he had some time and kind of surprised everybody.”

The Kings are home to the Stampeders, tonight, before heading out on the road, Friday, to play the Terriers in Portage.

On Saturday, the Kings are back home to host the Niverville Nighthawks, who recently fired their first-ever head coach and general manager Kelvin Cech.

All three games begin at 7:30 p.m.

Hedley is looking for more of the same kind of effort in the three contests.

“We’ve just got to focus on what we do and our good habits and stay consistent and try to keep that work ethic, that compete level and be hard on pucks up. It doesn’t matter regardless of who we’re playing, we’re focusing on what we do and where we’re going. That’s the key to our success, is the consistency and the work ethic,” he said.

The Parkland Rangers are left to play for next year after they were officially eliminated from playoff contention over the weekend.

The Rangers hosted the Winnipeg Bruins in a weekend twinbill at Credit Union Place, losing both games, 4-1, Saturday, and 6-0 on Sunday.

With little left to play for, Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot said the players are now playing for pride, with an eye on the future, as well.

“They’re playing for the unconditional support that they got from their families over the last many years,” he said.

Sunday’s game featured several oddman rushes for the Bruins, which resulted in several goals.

“This particular game there was just far too many oddman attacks. I think they had three or four three-on-0s, one four-on-one and then you add up all the other two-on-ones,” Carefoot said.

Although the playoffs are now out of the question, there is still something to play for in the final three games of the season.

“If they aspire to play higher levels of hockey, there’s always somebody watching. But most importantly, as young men, think about the dedication and the commitment you’ve had for the program and, over and above that, the unconditional support that they got from their families,” Carefoot said. “That’s what it’s about. It’s a very hard league to play in, which is very evident. I’ve always said that I respected the grind for the kids from out of town. And I believe in the program. But in saying that, there needs to be some self-reflection from players that you can’t wait for someone else to do your job. You’ve got to go out and do it yourself.”

The Rangers end the season with three games on the road.

On Wednesday, they are in Brandon to face the league-leading Wheat Kings, who have yet to lose in regulation this season with an overtime loss the only blemish on their 40-0-1-0 record.

On the weekend, Parkland are in Beausejour to play the Eastman Selects, Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

The decline in calls for service when comparing the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2023 is to be expected, RCMP Staff-Sgt. Scott Linklater told Dauphin city councillors as he updated them on police activities, last week.

As part of his presentation during council’s regular meeting, Feb. 12, Linklater said total calls for service at the local detachment during the period covering Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023, was 1,261 compared to 1,740 during the previous quarter, a drop of 28 per cent.

“This is typical. In summertime most people are out there moving around and as cooler months start settling in people stay in and are a little bit quieter,” he said. “So this is a normal trend that we see.”

In fact, decreases were seen across all statistical categories, Linklater said. From October to December, there were 96 reports of offenses against people compared to 129 the previous quarter, a drop of 26 per cent. Total property offenses in the fourth quarter came in at 254 compared to 260, a decrease of two per cent while enforcement of provincial statutes for the fourth quarter was 179 compared to 227 from July to September, a drop of 22 per cent. Criminal Code charges classified under the “other” heading totalled 139 in the fourth quarter compared to 177 the previous quarter, a decrease of 21 per cent.

Call to assist the public in other types of files amounted 251, down 14 per cent from the 293 in the previous quarter, while prisoners held during the last quarter totalled 102, down from 136 over the summer.

“Out of RCMP West District, which includes Portage to the Saskatchewan border and from the US border all the way up to and including Swan River, we tend to be one of the busiest detachments in that area,” Linklater told councillors. “Our busiest month was November, where we had 46 total files per member and the average for the whole district was 26. So it’s almost twice as much. Our members do a lot of work and carry a big workload, but they get the job done.”

Traffic enforcement in the area has scaled up, Linklater added, and has resulted in the seizure of more guns and drugs than normal as criminals passing through the area are targetted.

From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023, police recovered four illegal firearms and seized 432 grams of cocaine, 4-1/2 grams of methamphetamine and 118 grams of Psilocybin (magic mushrooms). Gun seizures included three long guns, two of which were sawed off and one handgun.

“That is all due to the proactive efforts of our members going out there and doing traffic enforcement and actually using the laws available to interdict these things,” Linklater said.

Traffic enforcement in the fourth quarter also saw 340 traffic infractions with 248 tickets issued. Police laid three charges for impaired operation of a vehicle, two charges of refusing to provide a breath sample and six other Criminal Code related traffic offenses. There were 34 collisions during the period, 30 of which were reportable for property damage.

“I think overall we’re doing well,” Linklater said, adding he has recently heard comments that Dauphin is a dangerous city. “I don’t think we are. I don’t think we’re any more dangerous than any other city in Canada. We do have violence like every other community, but most of the violence that we’re dealing with, it’s people that are known to each other. There’s not a lot of just random violence."

Property offenses are a different story, he added, as it seems people are willing to pick up anything that is not nailed down. Phone scams are also on the rise, he said.

“We’ve had several of them over the last few months where I think victims have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s amazing how much people are losing and that’s only what’s been reported. There’s a lot that doesn’t get reported because people are embarrassed,” Linklater said.

When it comes to staffing, the chronic shortages that have plagued the local detachment, along with many detachments across the country, are starting to subside.

In fact, there are four corporals, all active duty, working out the local detachment, one over the normal allotment. And while the detachment is supposed to have 18 constables, there are two soft vacancies with people away on leave and two open positions, which should be filled by early summer.

Finally, with Linklater’s recent promotion, a new sergeant has been identified to replace him and should be in place sometime this coming summer.

“So our staffing situation looks really well. We have a good blend of members who are proactive and out in the community,” Linklater said.