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So that’s it for local hockey. The Steinbach Pistons were stopped in their quest for the Centennial Cup, the Winnipeg Ice lost in the WHL finals and the Jets…well, we all know what happened to them and the disgusting way their season came to an inglorious end.

In the world of sports it typically goes like this: Amateur athletes learn from the pros. They model their behaviour, their work ethic, their tactics and, generally speaking, they try to play like the pros.

Given the disastrous way the Jets season ended it is beyond clear that things have been flipped on their head. The Jets have much to learn from the Pistons and Ice.

It seems counter-intuitive but after the Pistons and Ice lost in their respective bids to be national champions and the Jets were unceremoniously booted from their playoffs, it is the multi-millionaire Jets that need to learn from the Pistons and Ice, not the other way around.

Last summer as reports grew in Manitoba of victims of violent crime where the accused individual was on bail for a previous violent crime, our Manitoba government began a campaign for bail reform in Canada. Quite simply, we were seeing far too many individuals attacked with bear spray, knives, guns and other weapons by individuals who were on bail awaiting trial.

As bail provisions are part of the federal Criminal Code of Canada, these concerns required the federal government to be willing to make changes. As provincial Minister of Justice, I took these concerns directly to the federal government at meetings held last October in Halifax. Every province supported calls for change and a commitment was made for a subsequent meeting to specifically discuss bail.

Following further calls from Premiers and policing agencies across the country for bail reform, Ministers of Justice met in Ottawa in March of this year to work with the federal government on proposed bail changes. This past week, the federal government outlined what changes they are prepared to make.

While not as expansive as many (including Manitoba) would have liked, the changes do represent a good positive first step. The changes to bail laws would place a reverse onus on repeat violent offenders who use a weapon in the commission of a crimes if they have had a previous similar conviction in the past five years. This essentially means that a person who had been previously convicted of a violent offence using a weapon and is charged with a similar offence within five years, would have to meet a higher bar to obtain bail. As well, a reverse onus is also being applied to some cases of domestic violence and in certain prohibited weapons crimes.

RCMP are seeking the public’s assistance in finding someone they suspect set a fire six months ago in La Broquerie.

In a Tuesday press release, RCMP said a fire was set on the outside of a building home to a series of side by sides on Nov. 13 at about 2:30 a.m.

“The fire was extinguished by the La Broquerie Fire Department and was determined to be deliberately set,” they said.

Nobody was home at the time of the fire.

Proudly presenting our final visual arts exhibit of the season, we are exhibiting Human/Nature at the Steinbach Cultural Arts Centre, featuring artwork by Nicolas Narváez. The exhibit will close on June 23. The exhibit will also be made available for viewing online at steinbacharts.ca.

A huge thank-you to our Hall Gallery Sponsor, Good N’ Natural. We could not do this without you! Our sponsors help us provide our community with new and diverse art for the public to enjoy, provide a new platform for local and guest artists to show and sell their works and provide emerging artists with an opportunity to experience and learn how to prepare for, facilitate and exhibit.

Arts4Tots preschool registration now open

The Steinbach Arts Council is excited to announce that as of May 1, our Arts4Tots preschool registration opened for the 2023-2024 year! This is a great way to prepare your toddlers for kindergarten and get them excited about the arts. Immerse your children in music, theatre, arts, games. Introduce them to science, math, reading, and fine motor skills. Visit our website steinbacharts.ca for more information and to register.

A 29-year-old man pleaded guilty on May 18 at Steinbach Provincial Court to mischief and drunk driving following an incident on May 22, 2022.

According to the Crown, at 7:46 p.m., Casper Riley White, from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, was intoxicated when he and a friend drove the band’s Chevy Silverado into the front entrance of Lumber One in Falcon Lake. Not being able to get the truck back out of the building, White and his friend exited the car and threw the keys into the bush. The two were later discovered walking on a golf course, heading towards the highway, by police.

White was taken into custody and given a breathalyzer at 10:30 p.m. It registered 170 mg and 160 mg of alcohol in his blood; twice the legal limit.

White had just received his driver’s licence two months prior to the accident.

Summer time has come, and with that brings a sense of renewal and optimism for the months ahead. Our government is strengthening our communities through recently announced Building Sustainable Communities (BSC) funding. I am proud to say that our constituency of La Vérendrye is receiving $1,030,731 across fourteen projects.

These projects range from facility upgrades, to upgrading our community rinks and halls, and creating active transportation plans. This funding will go a long way towards improving our communities so that they can continue to grow and remain excellent locations to live, work and play.

The full list of projects includes:

• Hanover Agricultural Society Facility Upgrades - $212,625

A Steinbach driver, attempting to avoid debris on the highway, was killed when her vehicle collided with a pickup on Tuesday morning.

RCMP say the 26-year-old woman was eastbound on Highway 52 in the RM of La Broquerie when she attempted to avoid what was likely a tarp on the road.

“She lost control of her vehicle and collided with a westbound pickup truck, with four occupants,” they said in a Wednesday morning press release.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Village of St Pierre approved the 2023 budget with the mill rate rising to 17.345.

“It would mean a 2.7 percent increase in mill rate,” CAP Tina Bubenzer said. “This mill rate includes two debentures. So, the at-large mill rate is actually 16.999 without the debentures if you want to compare apples to apples to other municipalities as well as our utility is part of this operating mill rate where others are billed separate.”

In real terms, owners of a home valued at $87,000 will see an increase of $100 on their property tax.

“This two percent increase is just to allow for inflation for fuel and cost for parts, repairs for equipment. That’s what we’re off-setting this year because we’re preparing for the inflation, where as last year, we didn’t know that the gas was going to go up,” said Bubenzer.

Dear Money Lady Readers,

I read a study that asked kindergartners if they considered themselves artists, and 100 percent said yes. When they asked kids in Grade 5 if they thought of themselves as an artist, only 10 percent said yes. That’s very interesting – somewhere in those first five years of school, children are getting cues from their peers, parents, teachers, or even society and social media that they aren’t that creative anymore. Now add in 25 years or even 50 years and it’s easy to see how we are shaped by our friends, family, and society to be nervous, apprehensive, and reluctant to try new things, with sometimes only ourselves as a cheerleader to improve our lives.

To change your circumstances and to improve your life we all know we must set goals. When you set goals, remember they are to challenge you out of that comfort you so want to wallow in. Goals are to be on-going throughout your life. You can’t just set a goal, reach it, and then stay there. That’s not how it works. Once you reach one goal, you must make another, and another, and another. The goal is not the end. Instead, they are designed to force you to reach for more, to be happier, and hopefully live a life full of great adventures, meeting wonderful people, and having glorious experiences. Here are five tips on how to get started on those personal goals to improve your life.

1. Set a goal that motivates you – choose something you can accomplish over a set time frame.

We’re super excited to announce that we’re back for the 2023 season! We’ve got a new location, a new website (labike.ca), and more ambitions!

Our grand opening will take place on Saturday May 27th, and we’re sending this information for three reasons:

1. We’re looking for volunteers who’d like to hang out with us Tuesdays 6:00pm to 9:00pm while we’re open to the public. You don’t need to be a professional bike mechanic – just willing to help out. We’re all learning together!

2. We’re looking for volunteers for the day of our Grand Opening (Sat May 27th). Do you know how to flip burgers? Would you enjoy refereeing a bicycle obstacle course? Just want to come and have a hotdog with us?

Basic math and logic seems to have eluded Health Minister Audrey Gordon when she made a triumphant announcement on May 4.

A provincial press release celebrated 900 new hires, marking what they said was “significant progress” toward the goal of adding 2,000 more health-care providers to Manitoba.

“The Manitoba government is pleased to announce substantial hiring increases across health-care provider groups including health-care aides, allied-health providers, nurses and physicians, and we know there is more work to do,” she said.

It appeared to be good news indeed, and those who heard the news had one natural question.