Members of the Parkland Pirates youth rugby program had the trip of a lifetime, recently, when they traveled to Ireland where they played three exhibition games against Irish teams.

According to program coach Aaron Miner, the team left Dauphin at midnight, Mar. 23, chartering a bus to Winnipeg. They flew out of Winnipeg at 7 a.m. for Toronto where, what was supposed to be a six-hour layover turned into a nine-hour wait before flying to Dublin.

“We landed in Dublin, hopped on a bus, drove across the country to Galway and had our first practice,” he added.

The boys and girls teams each played three games over the course of nine days. The girls did well, winning two of their three games.

“In the one game they lost, it was still very tight,” Miner said. “Girls rugby in Canada is very strong right now. We’re ranked in the top three in the world, almost at all times. So going over to Ireland, we knew we had a good chance with the girls. But they showed very well. We were just so strong. Good, old fashioned Parkland girls coming through strong, bullying through, pushing their way through rucks and mauls. It was beautiful to see.”

Miner feels the girls opened some eyes with their strong play, noting rugby in Ireland is like hockey in Canada.

“It’s their national sport,” he said, adding the men’s national team is ranked number one in the world. “I think they underestimated us by a long shot on the girls side. So happy for us to see, disappointing for them, for sure.”

The boys team lost all three games, but two were extremely close, Miner said, while the other was a blowout.

“The team had brought the captain of the under-18 national team to play on their side, not knowing what we had brought. And this kid was a phenom. He was like the Connor Bedard of Irish rugby,” Miner said. “He really showed us a thing or two. Rugby in Ireland is different from rugby in Canada, too. We have a bit of a hockey morale when we play rugby. You get tackled here, you take offence to it. You might swing or get upset. Over there, when you get tackled, it’s part of the game. There is no getting upset about a good tackle or things like that. It’s part of the game and they play like gentlemen over there from start to finish and even after the game.”

It reminded Miner of when he started playing with the Dauphin Mavericks. Road trips to Shilo or Winnipeg, ended with a dinner for the opposition team, with speeches.

“It was such a beautiful thing to see, the culture of the game that they were showing us, that we sometimes don’t get to see here because of our geography. The culture was amazing,” he said.

Besides rugby, the teams had the chance to do some sightseeing when they weren’t on the pitch.

They got to visit the Cliffs of Moher, Islands of Aran, as well as kissing the Blarney Stone.

“We took all that in, but there was always a practice or a game after a tour or before a tour. Parents and players alike were all made very aware that we’re going there for rugby and rugby is our primary thing. Anything else we get to do in between is bonus,” Miner said. “Our tour guide, George from Irish Rugby Tours, didn’t leave us a spare moment, which was good. It kept the group of 14 to 17-year-olds very busy. It didn’t leave them a whole lot of time for them to get into anything other than the culture and spirit of Ireland, which was great. It’s what we went for and we got more than we bargained for. It was fantastic.”

Many of the players play for the Dauphin Clippers high school teams and they began practicing for the trip at the end of January. So they will be in midseason form by the time the season gets underway, since most other teams haven’t started practicing yet.

“So we’re looking forward to this season. We feel as if we are very strong and we are going to be top contenders, not only in our league, but in the province,” Miner said. “The hope that all this hard work and dedication that the kids have put into it so far does pay off and we are provincial champions this year. Both on the girls and boys side. We’re feeling quite confident that the things that we’ve done will benefit us.”

Miner wishes to thank all the sponsors for their support in making the trip possible.

“The community of Dauphin stepped up once again. Dauphin is such a giving community that none of this would be possible without the community stepping up,” Miner said.

Unforeseen issues are threatening to delay the start of the Main Street South reconstruction project.

The city needs to purchase land to construct its drainage structures prior to the project kicking off, mayor David Bosiak said.

“There are still details that we still have to work on as a community to finalize a landowner agreement, which gets us ready for the actual construction, which has to be tendered really, really soon,” Bosiak said, adding he discussed the matter with Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation (MIT) Minister Doyle Piwniuk and Municipal Relations Minister Andrew Smith at the Association of Manitoba Municipalities convention, last week.

“So we’re behind the eight ball on a couple of issues related to that, but it sounded like the province was willing to discuss possibly helping.”

The original plan called for a project extending over two construction seasons with the bulk of the construction work taking place in year one and the finishing touches being added early in the second year.

“The initial plan was to have this tendered probably by now or by April, so that construction would begin in June, go through the summer and have most of the work done before freeze up in the fall,” Bosiak said. “And then have the contractors return next May or June to finish paving so that all would be complete by the summer games.”

While that remains the plan at this point, Bosiak said unless there is some movement soon, there is a chance the schedule will shift.

“We’re just risking that the final paving and painting and everything that needs to be done to finish it will probably be occurring later into spring and summer of next year. Maybe it doesn’t make us look as beautiful for the summer games, but the project is not in jeopardy. It’s just a timing thing,” he said.

Having worked for the provincial government, Bosiak understands that projects involving the province can move slowly as they work through the checks and balances to ensure no one is unfairly benefitting personally or professionally because of the contract.

“All of those checks and balances do have a tendency to slow things down. Because this is a project that involves MIT, there’s provincial jurisdiction, as well, and that is the complicated part,” he said, adding he hopes things will progress steadily now that he has been able to make the ministers aware of the situation.

“They’re saying, ‘you get your stuff done, we’ll get our stuff done and everything will be good.’”

Leave your green bins safely tucked away for the time being.

The City of Dauphin has delayed the start of the 2023 yard waste collection program for two weeks. The program is now slated to begin the week of Apr. 24.

“With the cold, most people wouldn’t have anything (to pick up), so it’s kind of a waste of resources for this first week,” director of Pubic Works and Operations Mike VanAlstyne said. “So it will pick up on Apr. 25 and we’ll resume normal collection, assuming the snow is gone by then.”

VanAlstyne added plans are coming together for the City’s annual Spring Cleanup Campaign, which is set to begin the week of May 15.

Crews will make one pass through the city starting in the Day 1 area on the waste schedule and progress through the regular four-day cycle.

Crews will only be collecting accumulated garden waste, grass clippings, leaves and shrubs and tree branches less than six inches in diameter and a maximum of eight feet in length. They must be piled parallel.

Items must be free of household waste, hazardous waste and recyclable materials. They must be in a clearly identifiable pile or packaged in biodegradable bags or boxes. Crews will not sort through the items.

The spring clean-up campaign will occur in back lanes. Those residences that do not have a back lane can place items on the boulevard near the curb. Large equipment will be used so it’s important to place the items close to the lane or curb to avoid property damage.

Yard waste bins will still be collected at the curb every two weeks. Compost material can be dropped off anytime at the Dauphin Waste Disposal site.

If you require a yard waste bin or more information, contact the City Shop at 204-622-3202.

Dauphin city councillors and senior administrators attended the Association of Manitoba Municipalities Spring Convention in Winnipeg, last week.

And even if they got nothing else out of the event, the Conference served to reinforce the idea that Dauphin is not alone in the challenges it is facing.

“There was some interesting comments regarding some of the big issues facing all of the communities,” Dauphin mayor David Bosiak said, adding the Cities Caucus meetings served to drive that point home.

“Every community is dealing with the issues that we are - homelessness, addictions, mental health challenges, health shortfalls, crime and community safety variables and factors. So it was, I guess, reassuring in one sense that we’re not having problems that other communities aren’t, but also troubling on the other side that all of us collectively are having these issues.”

Crime in particular was highlighted as not only a local or provincial problem, but an international one, Bosiak said, in a plenary address from former Winnipeg Police Service chief turned international safety consultant, Devon Clunis.

“He said the world is in a rough place. He’s doing police consulting all over the world and this isn’t just a North America or Canadian problem, it’s happening everywhere,” Bosiak said, adding Clunis pointed to a general change in societal values. “Eight police officers killed on duty in Canada already this year. You hope it’s an anomaly, but he’s saying, no, it unfortunately appears to be a trend.”

Along that theme, Bosiak was able to meet one-on-one with Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen to discuss some of the specific crime and justice initiatives the province is implementing and how they impact Dauphin.

“We reinforced the challenges we have with the RCMP,” Bosiak said. “We also were able to talk about the Community Wellness and Safety Plan that, again, has been delayed for another couple of weeks in terms of an announcement.”

Meetings were also held with Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Doyle Piwniuk and Minister of Municipal Relations Andrew Smith.

“These meetings that we had were to introduce myself to some of the ministers, but also the province is spending a lot of money all over the province on water and wastewater and sewer and other infrastructure projects, so it was more of a, ‘what about us?’ presentation. That, I think, went relatively well,” Bosiak said adding he also had chance encounters with MLAs Rick Wowchuk, Eileen Clarke and Cliff Cullen. For Bosiak, the first session of the conference proved to be the most interesting. That session featured Premier Heather Stefanson, NDP leader Wab Kinew and Liberal leader Dugald Lamont in the first leader’s debate of the election year.

Coming out in election mode and pitching their plans should they form government, the three leaders also answered questions formulated by the AMM through its regional meetings held with municipalities around the province.

“So they talked about the crime, about homelessness, about the poverty initiatives that the province is trying to institute. So it was interesting to see the different perspectives,” he said, adding Lamont gave those present something to think about. “Lamont had, I think, a fairly appealing point of view. He said,“you’ve trusted these guys for the last 30 or 40 years alternately, and if you really want change in the province, what about us?”

The real highlight of the debate for Dauphin, Bosiak said, came when Kinew, unsolicited, said his party, if elected, would build a healing centre in Dauphin.

“I had heard rumours that they were figuring out when and how they would announce it. There was conjecture that maybe the Conservatives might even announce something leading up to the election, too, but we hadn’t heard anything official,” Bosiak said, adding Kinew was speaking about infrastructure at the time.

“And then he said, ‘we will ensure that there is a healing center in Dauphin.’ All of us in our section, we sat up, we looked at each other went, ‘well there it is, it’s now on the public record.’ And whether people follow up on it or not, it was stated in the room, publicly on stage.”

All in all, Bosiak was pleased with the time spent at the convention. It is especially beneficial for the newer members of council to interact with their peers from around the province, he said.

“I chatted with Thompson’s mayor and I talked with Brandon’s mayor and had a chat with Winkler’s mayor and Selkirk’s mayor and the Portage mayor. So the networking opportunities are probably the biggest thing,” Bosiak said. “And just to get a sense when you’re sitting in a room and someone says, ‘this is our issue or this is our concern,’ and you go, ‘yeah it’s kind of related to us,’ or, and I’ll be honest, in most of the cases we’re going. ‘oh it’s not as bad in Dauphin.’ As bad as some of the things are for some people, it’s not as bad as it is in some other places.”

Maybe it’s because it’s been so long since we’ve seen them dance.

Possibly it’s because it’s really been a long while since we’ve had events that brought so many people out to fill up the hall.

Or possibly it’s the fact that we have so many wonderful families choosing to come here as they escape the war in Ukraine and now call this area home....

Whatever the reason there were certainly a lot of smiles at the Yachminka Ukrainian Dance Ensembles Spring Concert held last weekend.

After the disruption caused by Covid, Masters of Ceremony Tyla Betke and Feron Lovas - both alumni of Yachminka - took a look back at the ensembles beginnings while explaining the significance of each of the regional dances.

Get the full story in this week's Russell Banner!

As spring approaches, Swan Valley Sport Fishing Enhancement (SVSFE) is more excited than usual. Back in February, SVSFE technicians and volunteers partnered with Manitoba Fisheries staff to complete a “one of a kind” fish habitat improvement project at Glad Lake.

“Glad Lake is an oligotrophic lake (lakes which generally host very little or no aquatic vegetation and are relatively clear) in the Duck Mountains lacking high-quality fish cover in multiple areas,” noted SVSFE Technician Brock Koutecky. “The creation of underwater fish structures will benefit the
various species within this fishery.

Two local musicians will have a chance to play at one of Canada’s largest country musical festivals this year.

Kris Paul and Becky Lou Martin are set to play at Countryfest this summer. Both artists have been finding the balance between everyday life and music.

Read all about it in this issue.

A descendant of the Red River Métis and a spokesperson for the Métis Rights Coalition (MRC) says he has some serious concerns about the so-called Manitoba Métis Federation “government” and where the organization is headed.

“Maybe to some people this is not serious but to me, it’s very serious,” said a concerned Charlie Vermeylen.

Vermeylen says he has a lot of questions about this government but unfortunately, he’s not

Find out what he’s concerned about in this week’s Review.

It’s a tough time for most school divisions in Manitoba as they finalize their upcoming school year budgets. Each school division is struggling to do more with less funding and Kelsey School Division is no different. Some tough decisions had to be made to minimize the amount of cutbacks that could have occurred.
Kelsey School Division put a great emphasis in this year’s budget on ensuring that staffing levels were maintained.
“Our main focus was to prevent losing any staff through budget cuts,” said Kelsey School Division Chair Cheryl Sinclair. “We wanted to hold staffing levels to where they are and that was one of our main questions asked by the public.

The annual Storyteller’s Film Festival is coming up in April and this year there are some excellent documentaries being showcased that represent life in northern Manitoba.
“First we have a film called Sam Waller's Museum, which is a short documentary about Sam Waller, his life in the area, and his museum,” said Cheryl Antonio. “The next one is Gift to Give and it’s a short documentary about a family whose father is ill and in need of a transplant. We The Artists of the North is a documentary about artists in Thompson, Manitoba. Then our feature length film is called Beans and is a film set in the Oka Crisis of 1990, coming from the perspective of a young girl.”