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Former Cabinet Minister and NDP MLA Ron Kostyshyn will run again for the Manitoba NDP in the 2023 provincial election.

The party says that he will be nominated as the candidate in Dauphin this weekend, joined by Leader Wab Kinew and supporters.

Ron Kostyshyn says that he wants to make life better for families in the Parkland.

"Over the last few years, I’ve seen how PC cuts have damaged our health care system and how their changes to Crown land leases have hurt cattle ranchers. I’m ready to fight on behalf of my community, alongside Wab Kinew, to fix health care and make life more affordable for Dauphin families,” Kostyshyn adds.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew says that Kostyshyn brings years of experience and expertise to their team.

"He's committed to serving the people of Dauphin and Manitoba and he’s excited about what the next NDP government can do for families,” Kinew adds.

Ron Kostyshyn was first elected as MLA of Swan River in 2011 and served as Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, and Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation. Prior to and following his time with the provincial government, Kostyshyn served as the Reeve of the Mossey River Municipality. He finished his term prior to the most recent municipal elections.

Kostyshyn was born and raised in rural Manitoba, and his family has operated a cattle ranch for decades. He has sat on the board of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, the Manitoba Conservation Commission, and various other local organizations.

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A Winnipeg resident is facing major charges after he had more than three million contraband cigarettes confiscated. The number is the largest seizure from a single person in Manitoba's history.

After an investigation that was dubbed 'Project Shark', more than 3.4 million cigarettes were confiscated. The cigarettes represent more than $1 million in lost tobacco tax revenue to the province, according to a release.

Police also seized more than $3,000 in cash, a personal truck and a utility trailer from the person who had the bulk of the cigarettes. Five other adults face a variety of charges under the Tobacco Tax Act, the Tax Administration and Miscellaneous Taxes Act and the Criminal Code, the province says, and face more than $4 million in financial tax penalties.

Three Winnipeg convenience stores are also facing charges and they have had their retail tobacco licences suspended. They include Royal Supermarket on Wellington Avenue, Honey Convenience on Provencher Boulevard and Muncheez on Dufferin Avenue.

Fines under the tax acts are up to $10,000 and up to six months in jail, as well as a potential triple tax penalty. 

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Elder and Knowledge Keeper Clarence Nepinak, a member of Minegoziibe Anishinabe, also known as Pine Creek First Nation, has passed away at the age of 73, after a months-long battle with bone and colon cancer.

Nepinak, along with his wife Barbara, were known for their commitment to preserving and advancing indigenous culture. The couple was both inducted into the Order of Manitoba in 2019 for their work.

Nepinak was a member of the Standing Indigenous Advisory Council at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, which works to identify processes and ideas for more meaningful engagement.

According to Chief Derek Nepinak of Pine Creek First Nation, a distant relative of Clarence, he would still make regular trips to the community for teachings and ceremonies, even as his health deteriorated.

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The City of Dauphin received a rating of 5 Blooms and a special mention for Cultural Conservation: Celebration of Ukrainian Heritage during the 2022 Communities in Bloom (CiB) National/International Symposium and Awards Ceremonies in Victoria, B.C.

CiB Committee Chair Patti Eilers says that Dauphin earned a score of 83.55 out of 100 points.

"We gained another one-and-a-half points from our other competition that we were in... This is a high-level competition because it's international," she adds. 

The City of Dauphin participated in the CiB International Challenge Small category along with Glaslough, Ireland; Ingria, Italy; Lewisburg, W. Va., U.S.A.; Sussex, N.B., Canada; and Velika Polona, Slovenia.

Over the summer, trained volunteer judges travelled to participating communities to evaluate the overall contributions of municipal council and departments; industry; businesses, and the private sector – including volunteer efforts – regarding the following criteria: Community Appearance, Environmental Action, Heritage Conservation, Tree Management, Landscape, and Plant & Floral Displays.

CiB judges Susan Ellis and Alex Pearl say that Dauphin is very clearly a multi-cultural community, with its Ukrainian roots proudly preserved and honoured at Selo Ukraina and the Ukrainian Heritage Village.

"From the warm, traditional welcome ceremonies by children who presented visitors with gifts of bread, salt and wheat, to an afternoon street fair where food, clothing, jewellery and crafts were on display amidst cultural music and dance performances, Dauphin proudly celebrates its history, and builds solidly on its strengths for the future,” they add.

A complete list of results can be found here.

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The federal government is sending out one-time GST credit payments to more than 11 million eligible Canadians today, to support those most affected by inflation.

Those who received the GST credit in October will be receiving the additional one-time payment. The one-time payment will double the GST credit amount that eligible individuals get in six months.

The amount received is based on each family's situation and adjusted family net income in 2021.

If you are single, payments will be up to:

  • $234 (no children)
  • $387 (with 1 child)
  • $467 (with 2 children)
  • $548 (with 3 children)
  • $628 (with 4 children)

If you are married or have a common-law partner, payments will be up to:

  • $306 (no children)
  • $387 (with 1 child)
  • $467 (with 2 children)
  • $548 (with 3 children)
  • $628 (with 4 children)
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The new Reeve and Council for the RM of Dauphin were sworn into their new roles at the RM office last night.

Ernie Sirski takes over the role of Reeve, winning a close election with 458 votes, to Tob Gibbs's 383. Sirski says he looks forward to getting to work with the new council, and he thinks the mix of experience and new councilors will help with the process.

"I have no problem at all thinking they're going to be a great asset to this municipality. Like I've said all along and I'll repeat this again we've got youth, we've got incumbents, and we've got experience, and that combination can be nothing but great for this municipality."

The experienced side of the council comes with former Reeve Ron Ryz, who was elected with 516 votes, and former Deputy Reeve Midge Sametz who collected 540 votes. The council is filled out with Tammy Koshowsky (596 votes), Todd Boguski (546 votes), Ken Shewchuk (431 votes), and Ken Plustwa (426 votes).

The council will have orientation next week, and their first Council Meeting will be Tuesday, November 15th. The new council will also be heading to the Association of Manitoba Municipalities Convention later this month.

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Health Canada has authorized an updated version of Moderna's COVID-19 booster vaccine.

The new bivalent shot targets the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants and is meant to be used as a booster dose for those aged 18 years and older.

It comes two months after Health Canada authorized a bivalent booster from Moderna that targeted the Omicron BA.1 subvariant and the original strain.

Health Canada says a bivalent booster triggers "a strong immune response" against both of the more recent Omicron subvariants, as well as the original SARS-CoV-2 virus strains.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) says Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 are the dominant strains in circulation.

They feature several key mutations from the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, leading NACI to strongly recommend bivalent boosters that target Omicron.

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The Manitoba RCMP have released the monthly police-reported crime statistics for September.

The statistics compare the number of crimes that were reported to police in September of this year with the number of those reported in September of last year.

According to a news release on the law enforcement agency's website, the Manitoba West District — which includes Dauphin — reported decreases in crimes against people and drug enforcement, while crimes against property and common police activities both increased.

Overall common police activities increased by 11% (650 to 724), with the largest increase being seen in reports of a suspicious person, vehicle, or property — up 51% (248 to 375). The largest decreases were in missing person reports, which were down 31% (86 to 59), and in breach of peace reports, which were down 20% (134 to 107).

Crimes against people decreased overall by 19% (410 to 332), with assaults decreasing by 23% (251 to 193) and reports of robbery, extortion, harassment, or threats falling by 16% (132 to 111). However, sexual assaults were up 21% (19 to 23).

There was a 33% increase in property crimes overall (720 to 961 occurrences), with reports of possession of stolen goods representing the largest increase at 140% (20 to 48), followed by reports of theft over $5,000 rising by 82% (67 to 122) and break and enters going up by 53% (92 to 141). The only decrease noted was in arsons, which fell by 7% (15 to 14).

Furthermore, drug enforcement was down by 25% overall (60 to 45).

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Ukrainian Folk Arts Centre President Jim Perchaluk gave an update Tuesday on behalf of the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund.

According to Perchaluk, the fund is now directly supporting 20 families from Ukraine and there are a number of citizens from Ukraine who have relocated to the Parkland to work on farms and/or reside with family.

"Our support to 20 families has definitely exceeded our initial expectations when the fund first started last April at which time we had planned to assist two or three families. With the generosity of the people throughout the Parkland and Province of Manitoba, we have received cash donations along with many donations in kind such as housing, household furniture, clothing, and bikes to support 20 families," he adds.

Perchaluk went on to say that their support group of volunteers has provided transportation to Dauphin from Winnipeg Richardson International Airport, along with rides to the grocery store, bank, work, medical appointments, and English classes.

"A great example of the excellent support services provided by the fund, with a financial contribution from the Dauphin and District Community Foundation, is the set-up and funding of English classes two evenings a week to assist in the learning of our language," he adds.

Jim Perchaluk says that they have been able to welcome and support 56 people from Ukraine and most of the 31 adults who have arrived and are able to work are finding jobs in Dauphin.

"There are 25 children who are either in our schools or day care and many [are] participating in dance or swimming lessons. All are quickly adapting to our Canadian life and are very appreciative of the support and opportunities that are being provided by the fund and community," he adds.

According to Perchaluk, total expenses to date from the fund for the Ukrainian families in the Parkland have been $133,000 and another $142,000 has been allocated to complete their commitment to the 20 families.

"When the fund first started accepting families, we made a commitment to the first 12 families to provide financial support for 12 months of housing, 6 months of transportation, and 3 months [of] food and incidentals. Once we went beyond acceptance of the first 12 families, we had to scale back our financial support to stay within our financial means, therefore our financial commitment to the latest families [was] for 3 months of food and housing, plus support services," he adds.

Perchaluk notes that the fund has been maxed out financially with regard to its commitment to help support the 20 families that have already settled in Dauphin.

"Support to additional families will depend upon new donations to the fund," he adds.

Receipts for income tax purposes will be provided in the next several weeks to all those who have made cash donations.

Anyone interested in learning more can call Larry Hrytsay at 204-648-5904.

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UPDATE (Nov. 2nd, 2:51 p.m.): The dangerous person alert that was issued in relation to a homicide that occurred in Melville, Sask. earlier today has been cancelled.

An update posted to the Saskatchewan RCMP's Twitter profile can be found below.

Update contributed by Nicholas Iatropoulos

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RCMP in Saskatchewan have released a Dangerous Person Alert regarding a homicide in Melville, Saskatchewan, which involved a firearm.

Two suspects are believed to be involved and there is no description of them available. The location and direction of travel of the suspects is currently unknown. A vehicle that may have been involved has been located abandoned on Highway 10 near Duff, Saskatchewan.

Authorities advise travellers to not pick up hitch hikers and be cautious of someone asking for a ride, or suspicious persons on a property. We will keep an eye out for updates as information becomes available.

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A week after election day, the has dust started to settle and Mayor-Elect David Bosiak joined me, Sam Brownell, and Al Gaines on the Al Morning Show today. Below are the questions, along with the answer that Mayor-Elect Bosiak gave.

Question: Throughout your campaign, your focus was moving forward together, I know you've already started meeting with some of the senior administration at City Hall, what's the next step in that process?

"It's just ensuring that we're all on the same page, we had a great meeting yesterday, an intro meeting, getting the new council and incumbents familiarized with all the rules and the protocols and everything that's involved with being a municipal government. We're just really excited to sort of hit the ground running, I know that both all the staff at city hall and the people that have been elected to the council are all really enthusiastic to get going. We've been in a big pause for a couple of years now and everybody's just ready to get going. That's the most interesting thing for me is we want to get something going and we're gonna do that as soon as we can be officially on the council."

Question: Now that you've had a chance to actually see who the council is and briefly meet with them, how do you think that the elected council will help with the process of moving forward together?

"Before I answer that I would just like to thank everybody who ran, I think that the democratic process is truly important and I think for us to have a contested election is valuable because it allows people to make a choice. I think that your question related to those six councilors that got elected, I know them all personally, and I've worked with several of them quite closely in the past on various projects. We have a great mix of incumbents who understand municipal government and can help the newbies get up to speed quickly. I'm just enthusiastic about their approach. Many of them have reached out to me since the election and congratulated me on the approach that we took, let's not look back. We have issues, obviously, every community does, but let's focus on what we can do, what are the solutions, what are the things we can work on, and I think collectively that's what the six councilors will be bringing. Obviously, they have varied interests and skill sets, and experiences, and all of those will blend together as we get on the same page. I hate to use so many cliches but they're relevant, they apply, and I'm just happy that we have a group that apparently wants to work together, and is willing to work together on the list of priorities that we'll identify very soon and get to work at."

Question: Do you think there will be any growing pains when it comes to a new Mayor with three new Councilors and everyone having to learn how to work together?

 "Probably but I hope not. Only because of the attitude that these folks bring. We've already had an informal meeting last night, just to get up to speed on the rules and the regulations and the municipal protocols and all those things that are incumbent upon new council members to understand and appreciate and use going forward. There was just a positive vibe throughout the whole meeting and everybody was looking forward to working together. The discussions that we had were collegial, in the sense that with the incumbent councilors we have some that have been on existing subcommittees and other committees external and internal to the city, and there were very cordial discussions about who should be on what, and how do we blend that, and how do we mix the new in with the old, in the sense of the new council versus the incumbents who have been there. There's just a wealth of experience with the three that are around the table, and their understanding and my appreciation for them, they've all acted as deputy mayor, so they all understand what that role entails, and they're all willing to pitch in where necessary. That's the sense I got from the meeting yesterday, and from my discussions with them since the election. I can't tell you all of the definitives right now but I can tell you that my initial intent of being a team and working together, so far so good, it's only been a few short days, but the feeling is positive, and that's the only thing I could hope for and the outcome was that, so that was great."

 Question: How important is it for the city to build and then maintain relationships with all the surrounding municipalities, as well as both the provincial and federal governments?

"It's absolutely crucial, and I think that wow we'll move forward on the projects, and the things that we'll have to deal with as a community are incumbent upon working with other people. No one person can really do much on their own, they obviously can put in the effort and try and make change happen and sometimes it does, but for the most part, it requires relationships and the relationships that I've developed over the years, and others around the table who have, I think that we're well suited to understand the value of those relationships. I've had so many calls, I can't even tell you exactly how many, from people from other municipalities, other municipal leaders, other people in government who have congratulated me on becoming the mayor and then them suggesting let's continue to talk, let's work together, let's meet, or when they're back in town they want to meet. We've got an AMM convention coming up at the end of the month and we're all looking forward to participating and seeing other people from other municipalities and the provincial government together, and then getting our priorities lined up and getting at them."

Question: Throughout your campaign, you talked about the help you had from your team, is there anything you want to say to everyone who's been by your side throughout that campaign over the last several months?

"I've had steadfast support from a small group of people who are very dedicated to the cause and to what I and we collectively believe in, but beyond that, I have an amazing wife who's been tremendously supportive quietly. She's my rock, and she's so honest with me and that's been truly the most meaningful to me throughout my campaign. Same thing, my sister and my dad are in town and just diehard Bosiak supporters, and so I just can't thank them enough for their support of me and their willingness to tell me the truth and say 'hey David hello? how about...' and I truly appreciate that. Then the small group of people that I had around me were absolutely dedicated, and probably the best thing I can say Sam to conclude is that we were honest with each other, and the response after the election, obviously we were happy with the victory, but just the notion that to a person they said 'it was great working together with these other people I learned so much,' or 'wow that person is so skilled in this area and by watching that they did it made me better,' so that was tremendous. Then just the broader community came out, I was really pleased that our turnout was about a third more, I talked to Kirk Dawson and he did the exact numbers, you guys probably know the numbers better than I do, but there was a greater turnout and that people showed that they cared about our city and that's really important."

The new council will be sworn in at the Inaugural Council Meeting on Monday November 7th, and their first Regular Council Meeting will be on Monday November 14th. Both start at 5 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall.

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