Pistons set to play Winkler in first round of MJHL playoffs

by CASSIDY DANKOCHIK

COLUMN: Ask the Money Lady – Saving on groceries

Dear Money Lady: I can’t believe the high price of groceries nowadays. Any advice? Grace.

Dear Grace, you are so right – the cost of groceries has gone up 12.4 percent according to Stats Canada from January 2022 and with the continued trend that we are to experience a “mild recession” this year, we can expect the costs to rise a little more. Let’s go through five quick tips that will help lower your food expenses.

1. Go back to the old way of shopping – clip those coupons.

There are many coupons on-line that you can print off and use from retailers or product manufacturers. I just went on-line to: “Kellogg’s Coupons Canada” and found many printable coupons for all their products. Why not try this with other items you always buy. It’s like getting free money with a few clicks on your laptop.

More cash for Tache after census recount

The RM of Tache may be eligible for more federal and provincial cash after successfully appealing census numbers the municipality called “understated.”

Updated counts shared with the RM by Statistics Canada found 189 more residents and 63 more occupied private dwellings than initially thought.

“They didn’t correlate with the numbers we had,” Tache CAO Christine Hutlet said of the initial census numbers released last summer.

The RM appealed the numbers with the federal agency last year after results came in under what was expected. Hutlet formulated estimated population sizes by collecting building permits from 2016-2020 and doing the math based on the average number of people per household.

COLUMN: Eye on the Arts – Busy concert season continues

Upcoming concerts

Jayme Giesbrecht Combo – Soul and Gospel

Sponsored by Oak Leaf Promotions

7:30 p.m. Friday, March 24, 2023

MJHL all-stars announced

Travis Hensrud and Warren Clark continue to rack up the accolades this season in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL).

The two Steinbach Pistons earned all-star honours, with Hensrud named to the second-team, and Clark making the rookie team. Carson Reed of the Niverville Nighthawks joined Clark on the all-rookie team. The teams were voted on by MJHL coaches and general managers.

Hensrud, a 2002-born forward from Thunder Bay, Ont., leads the Pistons in scoring, and is tied for second in total league scoring heading into the weekend’s action. The Northern Michigan University commitment has 33 goals and 35 assists in 50 games played this season.

“(Hensrud) has been so consistent all year and definitely deserves the recognition,” Steinbach head coach and general manager Paul Dyck said.

Four Southeast events earn provincial grants

About six percent of the total funding announced through the December intake of the Community Celebrations program of the Arts, Culture and Sport in Community fund will be distributed to four events in the Southeast.

The announcement was made last Thursday, as 67 community events across the province were awarded a total of $323,000 in funding.

Springfield Chickendaze, Springfield Polo Club 50th anniversary celebration, the St Adolphe Community Club’s winter carnival and the Whiteshell Community Club’s Beaver Days were each awarded $5,000, the maximum presented under that fund.

Funding is distributed through three programs including large capital projects, small capital projects and special initiatives and community celebrations.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Silica sand project risky

The United Nations General Assembly has recognized “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right; that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.”

Too often, we hear the outcry for economic development and resurrection of employment for human salvation, with no mention or concerns whatsoever for the water sources and environment.

Without water, there is no economy! Without water, there is nothing!

Undoubtedly, the accumulation of wealth is the driving force behind the major corporations that are willfully killing our environment. Money rewards those whose scruples are non-existent.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Disappointed in Springfield leadership

Sio Silica’s experimental extraction process, that possibly could contaminate our water supply, was not addressed by Springfield leadership to protect our citizens or those of adjoining municipalities.

A $20,000 report requested by Springfield was issued by S.S. Papadopulos Assoc. Inc. Jan. 10, 2023. It was presented to the new council close to the deadline for submissions to CEC. Instead, the CAO sent a letter to CEC stating that Springfield wouldn’t be submitting anything. In other words, Springfield had no concerns even though the scientific report received did have some and stated potential risks.

Obviously this report didn’t suit the narrative that was expected. If Springfield leadership hadn’t totally discounted this report, it could have requested to present it at the CEC hearing with exclamation as to why they missed the deadline by a few days.

This report can now be viewed on the RM of Springfield website under Water and Waste.

Eastman Selects grads spark Winkler Flyers

Former members of the Eastman ‘AAA’ Selects played an instrumental role in leading the Winkler Flyers to a convincing four-games-to-one series win over the Melfort Mustangs, on the way to capturing the Anavet Cup, and a berth in the Canadian Junior Hockey Championships in Winnipeg early in May.

The Flyers won the first two games of the best of seven series, on the road, at the home of Melfort Mustangs, the champions of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

The Flyers edged the SJHL champions 2-1 in that game, and a decisive win in the second game gave the Flyers the opportunity to win the series at home, with the next three games of the series slated for Winkler.

Dave Martin, a native of Niverville, scored three goals in Winkler’s decisive 9-1 win in Game Two. Yvan St Vincent of Ste Anne was in the Winkler net, stopping all but one of the 42 shots he faced.

AS I SEE IT COLUMN: Soccer announcer riles up all of Britain

In the latest example of a sports story becoming a front-page hard news story, we travel across the ocean to Britain.

As the inventors of soccer, Brits are extremely passionate about the game, just as Canadians are intensely passionate about hockey. They take their “football” very, very seriously.

So when the top soccer broadcaster was taken off the air on BBC (the country’s public broadcaster) for criticizing the British government’s harsh stance on immigration and asylum-seekers, it was above-the-fold news and sparked a fury all across England.

While not as vile and cruel as former President Trump’s immigration policy where he ripped babies from their parent’s arms, put young children in cages and made sure the documentation process was purposefully and intentionally lax to make family reunifications as hard as possible – basically the personification of pure evil and reason number one why no moral person can justify supporting such a disgusting person – Britain is proposing tough new laws where asylum-seekers would be detained, deported back to their country of origin and banned from ever re-entering Britain.

COLUMN: View from the Legislature – Progress made on bail reform

Last Friday, Ministers of Justice and Attorney Generals from across Canada were in Ottawa to meet with the federal Minister of Justice seeking changes to make bail more difficult for repeat violent offenders. Since 2019 when the federal Liberal government made changes to the Criminal Code regarding bail (Bill C-75), it has been increasingly difficult to deny bail for even the most violent accused offenders.

Last summer, Manitoba began advocating for changes to bail as more and more violent offences were happening with weapons such as knives and bear spray. We asked the federal government to reverse the onus for those who were accused of committing violent offences with these weapons or who are repeat offenders so that they would have to demonstrate why it would be safe to grant them bail as opposed to it being given almost automatically.

In fall of last year, I raised this issue with Ministers of Justice at a meeting in Halifax and every province agreed with this concern. Following that meeting, Premiers from across Canada made a similar plea to the Prime Minister. These concerns were echoed by law enforcement agencies and by municipal leaders across the country who have been seeing an increase in violent crime, often by offenders who are on bail accused of other violent crimes.

After an intense day of discussions, the federal Minister of Justice committed to quickly introducing amendments to the Criminal Code that will make it more difficult for repeat violent offenders to obtain bail if they are accused of another violent offence. For Manitoba, it was important that this commitment included violent offences that involved knives and bear spray among other weapons. Also, there was a commitment to changes that will require a broader consideration by judges for the safety of the community when considering bail.

COLUMN: Viewpoint – Costume designer shares process

Last Wednesday night after watching the Oscar winning film Women Talking at Steinbach’s Keystone Cinema I was privileged to attend a special event featuring Quita Alfred the talented Winnipeg woman who was the movie’s costume designer.

The film’s script is based on the book Women Talking by celebrated Canadian author Miriam Toews who grew up in Steinbach.

On March 8 film fans packed The Public Brewhouse and Gallery just a few minutes’ walk from the Keystone where a sold-out audience had just seen Women Talking. As we sipped cold glasses of beer and ate pieces of delicious platz local writers Erin and Andrew Unger interviewed Quita about her experience as the costume designer for the movie.

I’d read several articles about Quita but hearing her talk in person with such passion and enthusiasm about her work on Women Talking was certainly a treat.

Rising property values buoy SRSD budget

Increasing property assessments are reducing budgetary constraints in Seine River School Division heading into the upcoming 2023-24 school year, even as the division continues to grapple with the twin pressures of enrolment growth and economic inflation.

During a Tuesday board meeting in Lorette, trustees adopted a $62.6-million budget that includes a spending increase of $2.8 million or 4.8 percent coupled with a $194 decrease in education property taxes for the average homeowner.

That’s made possible by a 7.1 percent increase in provincial funding and a 10 percent increase in property assessments, trustees were told two weeks ago at a public budget presentation.

The budget includes the purchase of three new school buses. Secretary-treasurer Scott Carleton said a fourth school bus may be purchased using the division’s $3 million surplus. The growing division typically buys four to six school buses per year.