Thompson Local News Archives for 2016-03

Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries proposing new Liquor Mart in Thompson

 

Thompson’s Liquor Mart is finally getting a serious overhaul.

 

A presentation was made at Monday night’s City Council meeting by Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries that detailed their plan to build a new 12,000 square foot Liquor Mart in the northwest corner of the City Centre Mall parking lot.

 

They also held a public question and answer session at the TRCC on Tuesday night, where members of the public gathered to have their opinions heard.

 

Liquor Mart manager Jennifer Montgomery was pleased with the turnout, and was also glad that Thompsonites had genuine concerns that she knows Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries will take seriously.

 

“I know there was a comment that ‘they don’t live here’, but they are very aware of what goes on here. They talk to us all the time and they’re aware of what our concerns are at store level. Their number one concern is safety and security for customers as well as for staff, and for anyone who’s visiting Thompson. I think that’s very important to them.”

 

Montgomery also said that with the increased size, the new location will open up more jobs for salespeople, security, and cleaners.

Progressive Conservative MLA candidate speaks at Chamber of Commerce meeting

 

A candidate for the position of Thompson MLA had the floor at Wednesday’s Chamber of Commerce meeting.

 

Progressive Conservative candidate Kelly Bindle gave a presentation about his platform to the members present at the meeting Wednesday afternoon, as well as answered questions from the public.

 

Among the points of discussion were the PC government’s northern values, their plan to add 1,200 care home beds across Manitoba, and their proposed Open Government Bill.

 

“Manitoba’s first Open Government Bill will establish new higher stands for transparency, accountability, and MLA ethics, with open contracting procedures and give real authority to independent [Legislative] officers to investigate and report.”

 

NDP candidate Steve Ashton and Liberal candidate Inez Vystrcil-Spence will have presentation time in front of Chamber members in the coming weeks before the April 19th election.

RCMP Musical Ride confirmed to come to Thompson

 

RCMP officers will be riding into Thompson as part of their Musical Ride tour.

 

32 officers and their horses will take part in the performance at the TRCC, which is part of a tour of Manitoba and Southwest Ontario between May and October.

 

John Burrows, the Director of Recreation, Parks & Culture for the City of Thompson, talks about what the public can expect while the show is in town.

 

“The actual performance will be July 9th, and the other days there will be viewing of the horses in their stalls, which will be held in the [Gordon Beard] Arena, and there will also be viewings of the horses while they’re practicing.”

 

The Manitoba branch of the tour starts in Dauphin on July 7th and tours cities all across the province until August 2nd.

RCMP search appartment and arrest Thompsonite

 

An arrest was made by RCMP after an executed search warrant resulted in drugs found in a Thompson apartment.

 

22 year old Taylor Reid is now facing charges including two counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, as well as possession of the proceeds of crime.

 

Thompson RCMP seized nearly 1,500 grams of marijuana and just less than 200 grams of psilocybin, better known as “magic mushrooms” in the search made last week.

 

Reid was released on recognizance and is due back in court in May.

Hope North Committee getting ready for annual Hope Forum

 

The annual two-day forum that works to defeat the stigma around mental health will take place next month.

 

The HOPE North Committee will be holding their 7th annual HOPE Forum on April 15th and 16th, with guest speakers scheduled to be recording artist and motivational speaker Susan Aglukark and founder of Artbeat Studio Nigel Bart.

 

HOPE North Committee member Glenn Shatford explains the idea behind the Anti-Stigma Summit that runs on day two.

 

"The idea is to create action plans that communities and schools can use and take back to encourage change within their own community and put in place a plan for suicide prevention."

 

Day one activities will take place at the Letkemann Theatre, while day two will take place at the Legion.

Thompsonite teens return from Special Olympics Canada Winter Games

 

Two Thompson teenaged twins recently competed in the opportunity of a lifetime.

 

Jemiha and William Hart recently represented team Manitoba at the 2016 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games in Corner Brook, Newfoundland earlier this month, along with William’s coach and fellow Thompsonite Agnes Szabo.

 

The Hart siblings were two of 39 athletes that competed under the Manitoba banner at the Games, along with the roughly 630 other competitors from across the country.

 

William placed seventh in the figure skating competition, while Jemiha took the gold medal in the 200-metre snowshoe race and also placed fourth in the 100-metre race.

Canadian Federation of Independent Business not pleased with federal budget

 

The 2016 Federal budget is brutal to small business owners, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

 

Elliot Sims with the CFIB gives this example:

 

“It breaks the government’s commitment to lower the small business corporate tax rate from 10.5 percent to 9. Entrepreneurs will have $900 million per year less to invest in businesses and to use to create jobs in Manitoba and all other provinces.”

 

The CFIB is also disappointed that the government is committed to expanding the CPP payroll taxes and are abandoning the Youth Employment Hiring Credit.

Thompson RCMP investigate bomb threats; nothing found

 

In the wake of a bombing at the airport in the Belgium capital of Brussels, two bomb threats were called in to Thompson RCMP today.

 

The first threat was directed at the Thompson Regional Airport Authority, while the second was to the Thompson Provincial Building. RCMP thoroughly searched both locations, but no bombs were found.

 

The airport was re-opened later in the morning, while the provincial building remained closed for the rest of the day.

 

Staff Sergeant Lewis with the RCMP says that they investigate all threats seriously, and warns Thompsonites that calling in false threats is a waste of time and police resources, and can also land the caller in hot water.

 

“It relates back to Public Mischief, which could lead to fines if found guilty for it. So it’s a pretty stiff penalty that could also include [up to five] years of jail time.”

 

Lewis also said they are currently working with MTS to find out who made the calls and where they came from.

Women of Distinction Award nomination deadline extended

 

Submissions for the annual Women of Distinction Awards will now be accepted until March 29th.

 

The deadline was extended in order to give nominators the chance to finish any last minute nominations if they were missing critical information.

 

Nina Cordell, Women’s Programs Coordinator at the YWCA, explains the criteria for nominating someone for the award.

 

“Any woman who lives in Manitoba in a community that is north of the 53rd parallel, they have to give consent, and they have to be available for the awards dinner which is on April 23rd. And we have two categories; we have Woman of Distinction, which is 31 and over, and we have the Chantelle Chornoby Memorial Award, geared toward the young women, 30 years and younger.”

 

Cordell also say that on top of that criteria, nominees must also be of good standing and play an active role within the community.

Mystery shoppers needed to evaluate Thompson area businesses

 

An Ontario based company that hires mystery shoppers around the globe is looking to hire Thompsonites.

 

Sensors Quality Management is a company that is hired by a business to provide a mystery shopper to evaluate various aspects of the business to ensure the customer experience is a pleasant one.

 

SQM president and co-owner David Lipton says that the incentive for a mystery shopper depends on the business being evaluated.

 

“Some of the mystery shops we have are traditional mystery shops; that means the person gets paid a modest amount for their time and effort, but they also might get something in terms of a reimbursement. So I might send them to a restaurant, and they get paid, say, $10 for their time and effort, but they also get paid $50 to spend for food and beverage, tax and tip. That’s the way that most assignments are. Same thing with a retail store; they’ll get paid $10 or $20 for their time and effort and they’ll get $30-$50 to spend in the store.”

 

Lipton says another option is for shoppers evaluating airlines or travel companies to be reimbursed up to 50 percent of their travel costs, but those shoppers are, for the most part, people who were already scheduled to travel beforehand. Any interested applicants can follow the application process online at SQM.ca.

Manitoba PC leader Brian Pallister talks northern issues, endorses MLA candidate

 

One of Manitoba’s candidates for Premier made a stop in Thompson this past weekend.

 

Leader of Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative Party Brian Pallister spoke to roughly 30 Thompsonites at the Juniper Centre on Saturday afternoon about northern issues and to answer questions, as well as endorsing Kelly Bindle in his campaign to be Thompson’s next MLA.

 

Bindle also spoke with the crowd after Pallister’s speech and noted he was quite pleased with the turnout.

 

“I think it went quite well. When I left to pick up Brian at the airport, the place was empty. And when I got back, there were 30 people there, so I was quite happy.”

 

The provincial election will take place on April 19th.

Open House Meet & Greet at North Central Development

 

There will be an Open House Meet & Greet at the North Central Development Office on March 31st, giving the public a chance to meet the new coordinator of one of their programs.

 

Tammy Cober has recently taken over the position of Program Coordinator for the Settlement Services Program.

 

The role Cober is taking on has her working with groups such as refugees and protected persons to help them establish lives for themselves in Thompson.

 

Those who register before March 25th will be entered into a draw. The Meet & Greet will run from 11 am-2 pm and will include snacks and door prizes.

March 21st recognized as Elimination of Racial Discrimination Day in Thompson

 

At last week’s City Council meeting, the Mayor of Thompson made a proclamation to commemorate today as a day to support racial equality.

 

Mayor Dennis Fenske proclaimed March 21st as Elimination of Racial Discrimination Day in the City of Thompson, which is also recognized annually by the United Nations with their International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

 

The proclamation was made during the same meeting that Council voted in favour of three separate motions that support the federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Registration for Relay for Life is open

 

Thompson's 14th annual Relay for Life is less than a month away.

 

Coral Bennet, registration chairperson, explains how you can register to participate:

 

"It's real easy, you can go online to relayforlife.ca and punch up the Thompson event. Or you can give me a call and I can get you a team package. Which I would do anyway, even if you did register online."

 

Bennet says those who register before March 31st are eligible to win $1,000 towards their team's pledges from the Canadian Cancer Society.

Women of Heart setting up informational display in Nelson House

 

There will be a display set up by the Women of Heart at this weekend’s Winter Festival in Nelson House.

 

The group’s display will be about bringing awareness about violence toward Aboriginal women, girls, and transgender women.

 

Founder of the group Hilda Anderson-Pyrz talks about how the group got started.

 

“We basically had a vision to start a grassroots movement in First Nation communities led by local community women, girls, and transgender women to create a circle of support. And basically the circle would be formed to bring awareness and to educate on the violence experienced by women, girls and transgender women in the First Nation, in addition to empowering everyone in the circle. And basically what we’re doing is focusing on sharing our skill sets with the local Indigenous women, girls, and transgender women to empower, educate, and basically carry the circle forward in the community.”

 

For information on the group, call 805-1884 or email WomenOfHeart@outlook.com.

 

CFIB marks Fraud Prevention Month with warnings to businesses

 

A first of its kind report on fraud was released yesterday by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. In it, it was found that not all victims of fraud or an attempted fraud reported it to law enforcement. Elliot Sims with the CFIB shares here why it’s important that they do.

 

“Right now, 40% of small businesses aren’t reporting fraud to either law enforcement officers or other organizations such as the Better Business Bureau to make sure that these types of fraud, the authorities are made aware of them and other businesses aren’t impacted by them.”

 

Sims says training staff to recognize various types of fraud is one of best ways businesses have to avoid becoming victims.

Councilors walk out of City Council meeting shortly after it starts

 

It was a startling beginning to Monday’s City Council meeting, as three city councilors abruptly walked out after the first motion.

 

Councilors Ron Matechuk, Duncan Wong, and Judy Kolada voted in favor of tabling Monday’s agenda for a later date after only being issued the agenda that morning. The Mayor and other councilors voted against, which led to the walkout.

 

In statements from all three councilors, they cited Section 44 of the City of Thompson Organizational and Procedural By-Law as the reason for the motion to table the agenda.

 

The by-law reads: “A draft agenda of each Regular Meeting of Council, together with copies of supporting materials shall be provided to the members of Council by 4:30 pm Friday preceding the Regular Meeting of Council. A copy of the draft Agenda shall also be posted at City Hall and on the City of Thompson Website not later than 4:30 pm Friday preceding the meeting in a location accessible for viewing by the Public.”

 

Mayor Dennis Fenske later countered that argument with Sections 51 and 52 of that same by-law.

 

“Through the Organization By-Law that we have in place, we can’t actually cancel a regularly scheduled meeting without serving 48 hours notice, so we wouldn’t have been able to cancel the meeting anyway.”

 

The next regularly scheduled council meeting will be held March 28th beginning at 7 pm.

Experiential Tourism Workshop hopes to have locals looking at tourism differently

 

If tourism is something that interests you, register for an Experiential Excellence tourism workshop at the TRCC on Friday.

 

Community Futures North Central Development will be holding the workshop in partnership with the Manitoba Tourism Education Council and Tourism North Manitoba.

 

One of the Development Officers for North Central Development Charlene Kissick explains what the participants will get out of attending this workshop.

 

“We look at elements of a great experience, what we already have here and what could be very interesting to a visitor. I think it’s kind of looking at things a little differently. I think we’re very used to what we have, but we don’t recognize that a visitor might think ‘That’s so cool, and I never get to do that at home, so let’s do that here.’ An example might be instead of watching dog sled races, participating; driving the team, working with the musher for an hour, or feeding the dogs. So adding that bit to it, instead of just watching something, you’re doing something, you’re experiencing it.”

 

The workshop will run Friday from 9 until 4 in the TRCC’s Mary Fenske Boardroom. Registration is free and lunch will be provided.

City council votes in favour of motions supporting Truth and Reconciliation Commission

 

Three motions were passed at Monday’s city council meeting that was noted by the mayor and some counselors as ‘historic’.

 

The motions were tied to the federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission that was completed in December 2015, which is a mandate to inform all Canadians about what happened in Indian Residential schools.

 

The first motion was to adopt six recommendations from the Commission that the city would be able to act upon as a municipality, while the second and third motions were to endorse the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery and the concept of Terra Nullius.

 

Mayor Dennis Fenske says that the city acting on recommendations will be a large step forward in keeping relations with Aboriginals and Indigenous people strong.

 

“The City of Winnipeg has declared that 2016 is the year of reconciliation, the City of Saskatoon has done the same. And so, as leaders of municipal government in our community, we feel it’s correct to step up to the plate and play a lead role in adopting some of the calls to action and moving our relationship forward with First Nations and Indigenous peoples in the north.”

 

The motions were passed unanimously by the counselors in attendance.

March contest day for Manitoba Quits approaching

 

The Lung Association of Manitoba is continuing their quest to try and get Manitobans to stop smoking with their Manitoba Quits contest.

 

The idea is for Manitobans to try and go for a 24 hour period a month without smoking, and if you can, you’ll be eligible to win a cash prize for each month.

 

Manitoba Quits coordinator Tracy Fehr is pleased with the number of participants that the contest has seen over the years, especially from Thompson.

 

“I know in the Thompson area, we’ve had a really good response. We actually had a couple of winners from Thompson, we had a woman, I think last year, was one of our winners. So we’ve had good involvement from Thompson because we’ve got people up there that are real champions of this and getting the word out.”

 

Anyone interested in applying for March’s contest day of March 24th can visit ManitobaQuits.ca.

Canadian Cancer Society suggests testing homes for radon levels

 

The Canadian Cancer Society is cautioning Thompsonites to check their homes for possible radon contamination.

 

Radon is a radioactive gas found in many homes across Canada, created naturally as uranium in the ground breaks down and travels up towards the surface. It can seep into your home through cracks in the foundation, pipe openings, and other places where the house is open to the ground.

 

Thompson’s Community Representative Judy Kolada explains that, while levels in Thompson compared to southern Manitoba are lower, it’s still important to have your home tested.

 

“Thompson is one of the lowest radon areas in Manitoba, less than 11% as opposed to up to 41% in some southern locations. The reason the radon problem is so low here is because our top soil is very shallow, and that causes a lower incidence of radon.”

 

Kolada also says that radon becomes more hazardous during times of year where your home is closed up, which makes November to April the best timeframe for testing.

The Easter Bunny visiting the City Centre Mall throughout March

 

Santa Claus had his time in December, and now that spring is finally here, it’s the Easter Bunny’s turn.

 

Kids will have the chance to get their pictures taken with the lovable holiday mascot at the City Centre Mall on weekends all throughout the month of March.

 

Property Manager of the City Centre Mall Keith MacDonald has the details on where he is and when he’ll be there.

 

“We’re basically running it on weekends, Friday, Saturday and Sunday up to March 26th. We have various times in the mall; on Fridays, its 5-7, on Saturdays its 10-12 and 1-4, and Sundays are 12-3. We have it at South Court by The Corner Deli.”

 

Photos are $5 each with a one hour turnaround time thanks to Thompson Children’s World Daycare and Born to Dance.

Questions raised at waste water treatment public hearing

 

The Legion hall was full of concerned citizens with questions about the city’s plan for the new waste water management plant.

 

Thursday night’s public forum gave the mayor and city council a chance to speak to Thompson’s residents about how the city plans to pay the $12 million it owes for its share of the cost to build the facility.

 

It will do so by instituting a Local Improvement Tax to land owners connected to the sewage collection system over a 25 year span.

 

Mayor Dennis Fenske had positive thoughts about the forum and is optimistic for an outcome that is best for Thompson.

 

"I thought it went pretty good. Great turnout, 84 or 85 ratepayers turned up, and overall I think their questions were fair with lots of clarification. I think there's a better understanding of where we were at and where we are going to in regards to the need for it and what the options are for payment."

 

Council will send the information from the hearing to the Municipal Board and will wait on a response before discussing how to move forward with the by-law.

Thompson Recycling Centre finds live ammunition in sorting line

 

The Thompson Recycling Centre was surprised to find a live shotgun shell during filtering last week. They were even more surprised when they found approximately 29 more just like it, as well as the roughly 20 bullets.

 

Billie-Joe Thompson, the manager of the recycling centre, is urging Thompsonites to dispose of live ammunition safely, as it can pose a safety issue if they are set off at any point in the recycling process.

 

She also says that based on the time of day and the truck that dropped it off, she has a good idea of which area of the city they came from.

 

"We can tell by what the truck's dropping off, we were able to process the material that comes in daily from each area. We started recovering the bullets Tuesday at the end of the day, and continued to recover them until yesterday morning. So we're pretty certain that they would've been collected on Tuesday, I do believe it was the Burntwood area."

 

Although incidents like this don’t come up often, this is the second time ammunition has been found at the recycling centre.

New women's group in Thompson raises $10,000 for charity

 

One meeting, one hour, and $10,000 for a local Thompson charity.

 

It's the aim of 100 Women Who Care Thompson, a new women's fundraising group in the city.

 

Chairperson April Saunders explains how an organization can secure this funding:

"At each meeting, we'll have three charities come in that are nominated by active members. We listen to each charity for 3-5 minutes as to why they deserve the funds, we take a secret vote, and then whoever has the most votes, that's who's getting the funds. The only catch is that 100% of it has to stay in Thompson and it cannot be used for any admin fees."

The first recipient of the funds raised by 100 Women Who Care is the YWCA.

Red Cross looking for local volunteers for Disaster Management Team

 

The Canadian Red Cross was at the University College of the North campus in Thompson yesterday recruiting for their Disaster Management Program.

 

The Disaster Management Program takes Canadians and puts them through a training course in order to better service their community in the event of a disaster, whether it be a house fire or a community evacuation.

 

The head of the Manitoba Disaster Management Program, Cailin Hodder, says that new volunteers, especially in Thompson, are always necessary.

 

“Thompson is very unique in geographical location, but as well as risk. In the last year, we’ve seen, out of our larger scale disasters, four out of the five have required the activation of our Thompson team. So I call that risk pretty significant, and I think what’s important for us to do, in order to prepare, is to build our volunteer team.”

 

The Thompson volunteer team currently has 15 volunteers, but Hodder is hoping to increase that number by 10. If you want to sign up to volunteer, send an email to MB.volunteer@redcross.ca.

City of Thompson releases compensation disclosure report

 

The City of Thompson released their compensation disclosure report from 2014 earlier this week, and it’s left the opinion of some Thompsonites split right down the middle.

 

Bill 57, otherwise known as the Public Sector Compensation Disclosure Act, requires all Manitoba municipalities to disclose the amount of compensation it pays to officers and employees who were paid $50,000 or more.

 

An opinion poll on ThompsonOnline.ca where we asked if the city employee’s names and salaries should be posted online yielded 50-50 results. Half of those voters consider salaries to be personal information, whereas the other half believes that by doing this, the city is being accountable to the taxpayers.

 

City Manager Gary Ceppetelli says that while Bill 57 has been in effect since 1996, this was the first time they had posted the report online.

 

“The city of Thompson has, every year, complied with Bill 57 and had that information. It’s just that, in the last few weeks, we’ve been getting questions in regards to city employees.”

 

Cepetelli also says that the $50,000 gross minimum is a calculation of regular wage, overtime pay, and other sources, and not necessarily strictly salary.

RD Parker music students jamming at the Riverview tonight

 

Music students from RD Parker will be jamming tonight at Riverview Restaurant.

 

The first Jam at the Riverview starts at 7 pm and will feature both students and local musicians with a love for jazz music.

 

Kevin Lewis, one of the directors of the RD Parker Music program, says that events like this are what help the students connect with other artists and continue to learn.

 

“It’s geared primarily towards the students, but the whole idea here is we’re trying to provide an opportunity for our students to get out and play and interact and communicate. We often talk about music being a language; conversation is such an important part of language, so it’s an opportunity for our students to get out and converse musically with some of our community musicians.”

 

Anyone that wants to bring an instrument and join in is welcome to do so. The music the students will be playing is posted online at RDParkerMusic.com

Public forum for waste water treatment plant tonight

 

Thompsonites will have the chance to address their concerns about the city’s new waste water treatment plant at a public hearing tonight.

 

The first reading of a proposed by-law was passed at last week’s city council meeting, which details the city’s plan to borrow $12 million to pay for their share of the cost to build the facility.

 

Mayor Dennis Fenske says that giving the public a chance to ask questions is an important step in the process.

 

“Once the public hearing is heard, then, if there are any issues raised at the time that council needs to address, we can amend the first reading of the by-law at second reading, or we can go ahead with the second reading as the by-law is proposed.”

 

The hearing will take place at the Royal Canadian Legion beginning at 7 pm.

Musician Andy Cohen visiting Thompson for Home Routes concert

 

Musician Andy Cohen will be bringing his particular brand of folk music mixed with traditional blues when he visits Thompson tonight.

 

The concert is part of the Home Routes concert series, which sees communities across Canada holding shows for artists in the comfort of someone’s living room.

 

The Tennessee native Cohen will continue his northern Manitoba circuit with a show in Thompson at 42 Wekusko Street starting at 7:30. Tickets are $20 at the door.

Mystery Lake students participating in provincial mental health survey

 

The school board of the Mystery Lake School District recently voted in favour of allowing five grade five classes to participate in a provincial survey on mental health.

 

The first of its kind survey is being issued by Healthy Child Manitoba, a program run by the province that works with families to support their children within strong communities.

 

Superintendent of Education Services and Programming Lorie Henderson supports the survey, saying that the province being as involved as it is in the welfare of children is a good thing.

 

No official word yet on when the survey will be taking place.

Northern Juried Art Show deadline approaching

 

The 40th annual Northern Juried Art Show is being held in The Pas from April 7th to 9th. It’s open to Manitoba residents north of 53, as well as artists from Creighton and Denare Beach.

 

The Committee’s Elma Dean says the categories include painting, drawing, photography, jewelry, stained glass, and more. There are two youth categories, one for those aged 9 to 12, and other for those aged 13 to 17. There’s also a special award category for art work that depicts the theme ‘Call of the North’.

 

The entry deadline is March 18th. A full list of categories and entry forms are available at their website, thepasartscouncil.ca. Art work from local artists must be dropped off at the TRCC by March 21st to be shipped to The Pas.

Thompson Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation public forum tomorrow

 

The Thompson Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation needs your help in establishing their next five-year plan.

 

A community forum is being held tomorrow evening, where Thompsonites will be given the chance to have their voices heard regarding what they want to see in terms or community development.

 

TNRC Housing Coordinator Delia Chartrand talks about the amount of work that has gone into the lead-up to this forum.

 

“We did a round of data collection from December 2015 to January 2016, and what we were able to collect was about 304 surveys where citizens answered what areas of development within the city were important to them. So what we did with those surveys was we went to different community events, different community organizations, we used targeted low income neighbourhoods and things like that to determine a really good sample scope of everybody in Thompson.”

 

The forum will start at 6 pm at the TNRC office on Selkirk Avenue with door prizes and refreshments available.

Thompson students sweep Culinary Arts competition

 

Thompson was very well represented at last week’s Northern Manitoba Skills Challenge.

 

The competition, put on by Skills Manitoba, was hosted by the University College of the North, with eight students from Thompson competing against other students from the northern region.

 

Taking the bronze medal in Culinary Arts was John Chubb from UCN. Winning silver was fellow UCN student Coralee Halcrow. And the winner of the gold medal was Harmony Ross from RD Parker.

 

With her win, Ross now advances to the Skills Manitoba provincial competition at Winnipeg’s Red River College on April 14th.

Thompson Chamber of Commerce AGM scheduled for this week

 

The Thompson Chamber of Commerce will be holding their annual general meeting Wednesday afternoon.

 

The Chamber will run their business meeting featuring the executive elections, as well as a look back at the past year and planning the year ahead.

 

There will also be the AGM cocktail party later that night, which will feature Manitoba Chambers of Commerce Board Chairman and owner of Frontiers North Merv Gunter as their guest speaker.

World Day of Prayer recognized in Thompson

 

The first Friday of March is recognized internationally as World Day of Prayer.

 

The initiative that started in New York in the late 1880s is now recognized in over 170 countries, with more than 2,000 communities across Canada having a Day of Prayer service.

 

The goal with the annual event is to bring together Christian women of various races, cultures and traditions from around the world in a common day of prayer.

 

A World Day of Prayer service is being held locally at St James the Apostle Anglican Church beginning tonight at 7:30.

Ride for Dad fundraiser kicks off this weekend

 

Get out the snowmobile and ride for a good cause.

 

The Telus Snowmobile Ride for Dad is this Sunday, with proceeds from the event going toward prostate cancer research.

 

Kelly Martens from the Thompson Trailbreakers is helping organize the event because he wanted to try something different than the typical fundraisers.

 

“We were looking for something different to do, rather than fundraising for our own club. We were looking to do something for the community, and we were put in contact with these people. And we looked into it and we decided it was something that we wanted to try and do. Last year we tried it out, we did a chapter agreement with them, where we weren’t directly affiliated with them, but it worked out pretty well so we thought we’d try doing a full-on Ride for Dad event.”

 

The Ride for Dad will start at 10 am from the Quality Inn & Suites, with registration opening at 8.

Minister of Status of Women acknowledges City of Thompson's support

 

On the heels of a roundtable led by Premier Greg Selinger, the city of Thompson has made its support known for the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.

 

A letter was read during Monday night’s city council meeting from the Minister of Status of Women Patty Hajdu, thanking Mayor Dennis Fenske for a letter he had written to her about the federal government’s national inquiry.

 

“Basically [our letter said] we support the inquiry for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. And so she being one of the Ministers that’s involved with that, we said that we support the inquiry and if there’s anything that the city of Thompson can do to assist in gathering information or whatever that may be, then we would support that.”

 

Minister Hajdu’s letter noted that she is currently working with the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, as well as the Minister of Justice, to engage with family members of the missing and murdered women, National Aboriginal Organizations, and provinces and territories to seek input on the inquiry.

Northern Manitoba Skills Challenge comes to Thompson

 

Select students in Thompson will have the opportunity to show off a particular set of skills.

 

Skills Manitoba is holding part two of their annual Northern Manitoba Skills Challenge today at the University College of the North. Seven UCN students and one RD Parker student will be taking part in the Culinary Arts portion of the competition, while students from Norway House will be participating in the Cosmetology competition.

 

Northern In-School Liaison Officer for Skills Manitoba Michelle Pruder explains a little bit about what the students can expect in a competition setting.

 

"At the competitions, the students are demonstrating the skills that they have. So for example, in the Culinary Arts, it wasn’t just about the taste of their food; it was about the presentation, it was about sanitation, and it was about how they conducted themselves throughout that hour.”

 

Part one of the competition was held in The Pas last week. The events happening this morning are open to the public and the results will be finalized this afternoon.

"Manitobans don't want new municipal tax powers," says CFIB

 

Manitobans have said no to new municipal tax powers.

 

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says Manitobans are opposed to an idea being presented by the Association of Manitoba Municipalities to give municipalities new taxing powers.

 

The CFIB’s Director of Provincial Affairs Elliot Sims says six in ten Manitobans are against the idea, and they’re urging municipalities to get their operating expenses under control.

 

Sims also says the CFIB wants the provincial government to know that small business owners in particular believe that municipalities are getting a significant amount of money already. They say it needs to be spent more carefully before the provincial government considers giving additional resources to municipalities.

 

Their poll found 62 percent of Manitobans and 81 percent of businesses oppose new tax powers for municipalities.

Waste water treatment facility by-law passes first reading

 

This past Monday, city council voted to pass the first reading of a proposed by-law regarding the city's plan for their new waste water treatment facility.

 

The by-law outlines a plan for the city to borrow over $12 million to fund one-third of the cost to build the new facility, to be paid off in annual installments over 25 years beginning in 2018. The remaining two-thirds will be funded by the provincial and federal governments.

 

The city will be holding a public hearing about the plan for the facility, something Mayor Dennis Fenske says will give the city the chance to clarify a lot of things.

 

"We've been mandated by the province of Manitoba to upgrade the waste water management plant to the current standards. We want to clarify as to why we're doing this, we want to clarify the borrowing process that we're mandated to follow, why we're going this route as opposed to putting it on the quarterly water bills. And then we want to explain the numbers to the residents in regards to what the options are, whether it's a lump sum payment or whether it's payments over 25 years."

 

The hearing will be held at the Royal Canadian Legion on March 10th, and will begin at 7 pm.

City accepting nominations for annual Volunteer Awards

 

Nominations are currently being accepted for the 2016 Annual Volunteer Recognition Awards.

 

The awards are part of a ceremony recognizing Thompsonites who consistently donate their time to causes around the city, and work to make Thompson a safe and vibrant community.

 

Nominations are to be sent to the City of Thompson’s Recreation Parks & Culture Department no later than March 31st, with the ceremony scheduled for April 12th at the TRCC.

RD Parker music students head to Dauphin for music festival

 

Students from the RD Parker Music Program will be taking part in this year’s Parkland Norman Honour Band Festival.

 

Over 40 students from Thompson will be heading down to Dauphin tomorrow to join the roughly 200 other students from across Northern Manitoba and the Parkland regions to spend an intensive three days learning about music.

 

One of the RD Parker music directors Kevin Lewis talked about the process for determining who’s chosen to go.

 

“It’s an honour band, so it’s based on selected students. Students who are interested let us know and we try to get as many students in from our region as we can. And there are quite a few different regions, quite a few programs and bands. We get together, sit down, look at what we have for instrumentation and size, and then we send out invitations to the students. They’re provided the material in advance, they prepare it, and if it’s up to snuff, then they get the invitation and they get to go.”

 

The festival runs from March 3rd to the 5th.

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