Father and daughter found dead in Mexico

A father and daughter from Roblin have been identified as the two Canadians that were found dead in Mexico last week.

CBC News says they have received confirmation from a family member that 78-year-old Marcel Gregoire and his 47-year-old daughter KAnene were found inside a rented apartment in Mazatlan.

Marcel's son Joel told CBC that autopsies have determined that his father and sister died from pre-existing medical conditions while they were staying in Mexico.

Details: Contributed by Jeff Henson; Published: Mar 7, 2025 - 2:00 pm

The lineup for this year's edition of Rockin the Fields of Minnedosa is now set.

Organizers announced the final round of lineup additions today, which includes the likes of Honeymoon Suite, Wide Mouth Mason, Lee Aaron, Kates Outlaw, and triute bands to Bon Jovi, Journey and Fleetwood Mac.

They join a lineup that already includes Loverboy, Glass Tiger, Headstones, I Moher Earth, Trooper, and Streetheart.

Tickets for the August 1-3 show can be purchased online at rockinthefields.ca or by calling 1-888-330-8333.

Details: Contributed by Jeff Henson; Published: Mar 7, 2025 - 1:05 pm

The Dauphin Friendship now has a new executive director.

According to a post on the DFC Facebook page, Crystal Amyotte has taken up this role, after many years of service with the friendship center.

The post continues, saying her knowledge of the various DFC programs, and her dedicated leadership make her an excellent choice to take on this position.

The Dauphin Friendship Center is always doing something new and exciting so come on down, congratulate Crystal on her new role, and see what we have to offer.

Details: Contributed by Michael Brossart; Published: Mar 6, 2025 - 6:38 pm

Roughly 7000 allied healthcare professionals could take to strike action tomorrow if the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals do not reach a new agreement.

MAHCP President Jason Linklater issued a statement today saying “We are still hoping to achieve a deal today that can address the allied health staffing crisis and avoid the first Manitoba health-care strike in 30 years”

Linklater also commented on the treatment of staff leading up to this strike, saying the way some employers are treating frontline workers in the lead-up to a potential strike is already causing real and lasting damage, and expects a loss of more specialized professionals because of it.

It's estimated that strike action would cause significant delays and service disruptions across the province in areas including surgeries, lab and diagnostic tests, radiation treatments at CancerCare, home care and other services.

Negotiations between MAHCP and employer organizations are ongoing in an attempt to avert the strike. However, at this point no agreement has been reached.

Details: Contributed by Michael Brossart; Published: Mar 6, 2025 - 6:31 pm

The Compound Long Loop Trail area in RIding Mountain National Park is now closed until further notice.

Parks Canada says the closure is so forest fire risk reduction work can take place in that area, which includes the removal of old tree plantations.

They reminds visitors to the park that violating this closure could lead to you being charged under the Canadian National Parks Act, with a maximum penalty of $25,000.

Details: Contributed by Jeff Henson; Published: Mar 6, 2025 - 4:00 pm

Amendments to the Municipal Councils and School Boards Elections Amendment and Public Schools Amendment Act are being introduced during the current session of the Manitoba Legislature.

Those changes will open the door for residents of First Nations to vote in school board elections.

MVSD trustee Scott Lynxleg lobbied for these changes once he found out people on his home reserve in Valley River were not allowed to vote in the last MVSD by-election last October.

"It was a surprise. I got there and thought it would be an easy thing as I had a lot of support back home. But I started the process and the first thing was getting nominated, but I could not use the list and could not be nominated by them because they could not vote. So it was very tough up until now but it is good to get some good news."

Lynxleg says he was very happy and surprised by the news, as he was anticipating it would be a long drawn-out process to get these voting rights for people on his home reserve.

Details: Contributed by Jeff Henson; Published: Mar 6, 2025 - 2:30 pm

Two local school divisions are set to hold public budget meetings tonight.

Turtle River School Division is holding their meeting at 7:30 at the division office in McCreary.

Residents within the TRSD boundaries are invited to attend the meeting, which will include a review of the proposed budget for the 2025-26 school year, as well as an opportunity for questions and feedback.

Mountainview School Division's gathering goes at their administration office west of Dauphin.

To be able to participate in that meeting, you had to have pre-registered with the office earlier this week.

Details: Contributed by Jeff Henson; Published: Mar 6, 2025 - 1:01 pm

He sums it up in two words, Disappointed and Concerned.

Manitoba Pork Executive Director Cam Dahl joins the noon hour edition of Agriview today, talking about the Tariffs' substantial effect on the pork sector.

He mentions that MB Pork is hosting a webinar at 2 p.m. today if CKDM listeners have further questions.

"We're putting this on to answer producers' questions. We'll have a trucking representative to answer questions about the border, and we'll talk a bit about our advocacy work, but really this is about answering questions from producers"

You can get a link to join this webinar by calling MB Pork at 204-237-7447

Details: Contributed by Michael Brossart; Published: Mar 6, 2025 - 5:57 am

Bills associated with the province's new school nutrition program and making it harder for landlords to raise rents above provincial guidelines are expected to be introduced in the coming weeks as a new session of the Manitoba Legislature opens today.

Preparations for the spring budget will also ramp up in the coming weeks, which Premier Wab Kinew says will face a "serious economic headwind" brought on by tariffs imposed earlier this week by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The province has run deficits in every year but two since 2009, and the government has promised to balance the budget before the next election in 2027.

That plan though has already been challenged because some departments, most notably Health, are running over budget this fiscal year.

Kinew added one priority is protecting jobs during the uncertainty and that tax deferrals for businesses announced this week will help.

Details: Contributed by Jeff Henson; Published: Mar 5, 2025 - 5:00 pm

With U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canadian imports now firmly in place - as well as some counter-tariffs by the Canadian government - CKDM News Now continues to talk to local businesses about how those tariffs will impact them.

Today we talk with Dean Cooley, the owner/operator of Dean Cooley GM.

He says vehicle buyers will not see any difference right now as all of the vehicles in their lot are tariff-free.

As for the future, there is a lot of uncertainty.

"Right now, the tariffs are for vehicles produced in Canada and exported to the United States. So that does not affect us either. However, later in the month, potentially the Canadian government is going to impose reciprocal tariffs, and that may be on the auto industry. We are not sure about that as they have not announced that yet so we do not know."

"All of the manufacturers and parts supply people are all talking to the U-S government about why this is something that will hurt both their side and our side. With the flow of parts and vehicles back and forth, it is imperative that we have a free trade agreement."

Cooley added that a number of manufacturing jobs in Ontario could be impacted if the tariffs impact the flow of auto parts from both sides of the border.

He says the best advice for now is to be patient and to let this situation settle out.