Last summer, Manitoba’s wildfire season wasn’t as devastating as others across the country, but the numbers were still significant.

The fires peaked in June with 116, about a month earlier than usual, and the province had three wildfires of note.   

 They were the Cross Lake fire which began May 15th; the Leaf Rapids Fire which started on June 12th, followed by the Grand Rapids fire June 29th.   

Adam Ladouceur with the Manitoba Wildfire Service had this advice, particularly for remote areas.

“We look after wildfires and not structure fires so the best thing for remote communities and residents to do would be to fire smart around their house, cabin or community to help lessen the impact of an approaching fire and making sure firefighting equipment, or if they have a fire truck, is serviceable and ready to go when needed.”

Ladouceur said they employ over 300 seasonal staff which break out into 40 initial attack fire crews spread out across the province.

He said the province has a pool of 500 Emergency fire fighters who offset the initial attack crews.

Ladouceur says there has also been an uptick in recruiting this year.

Catch more about the Manitoba Wildfire Service and the outlook for the coming summer on Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10.

On April 12, 2024, at approximately 4:30 am, Nelson House RCMP received a report that a youth had pointed a firearm at another youth before running off in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation. Officers obtained a warrant for the youth’s residence.

A search of the residence located a rifle and ammunition.

The 16-year-old male suspect was arrested and charged with Possession of a Firearm, Possession of a Firearm in the Commission of an Offence, and Pointing a Firearm. The youth had been on conditions that included a curfew and not owning, possessing, or carrying any weapon. He is also charged with Breach of Release Order. He remains in custody.

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CancerCare Manitoba’s First Nations Webinar Series features its fourth webinar on Tuesday, April 23rd.

The series is aimed at supporting First Nations People living with cancer and their families.

This next webinar, titled “Caring for the Caregivers”,  runs from 1:30 to 3 pm and will feature Donna Head, Indigenous Health Coordinator in the Northern Regional Health Authority.

Information will be shared for how to care for caregivers and Miriam Duff, a psycho-social oncology clinician will offer resources to support caregivers.

This free webinar is open to clinicians, their patients and the general public.  Go to northern health region dot com to register.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School’s Professional Division will perform at Westwood School this Monday.

It’s part of the RWB’s “On the Edge” Tour which is set to visit 10 communities throughout Manitoba and Ontario.

The tour began on April 9th and runs until April 21st.

The Westwood School students and staff will be treated to excerpts from the classical ballet, Don Quixote (Kee-hoe-tee), as well as modern creations by RWB’s choreographer, Gabriela Rehak (Ree-hack), some fiery flamenco dancing and other new works.

The “On the Edge” tour model was adopted by the School in the early 1970s, taking inspiration from the “one-night-only” style of touring that was pioneered by the RWB in 1945.

The Association of Manitoba Municipalities spring meeting wrapped up yesterday in Brandon.

Mayor Colleen Smook and other city representatives were on hand to discuss various topics with a crowd of around 600 people, representing 137 provincial municipalities.

Smook says the collaboration with AMM members and the province is proving successful.

“We have, in the last few years, really gained momentum as our cities have come together and shown that we basically all have the same issue just maybe in a different scope. By working together and going to the province, we really feel that they are listening.”

The mayor says key items like health care and policing were front and centre and that many provincial ministers were on hand to meet with convention attendees.

As a result of conversations at the AMM meeting, some Shared Health officials  have committed to come to Thompson May 6th and 7th to see firsthand what is needed for health care in Thompson and the surrounding area.

A partnership between University College of the North and Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario, aims to use technology to teach Indigenous language and culture.

Georgian College will share their immersive and interactive teaching tools with UCN.

Those tools include virtual, mixed, and augmented reality to teach Indigenous languages, culture, treaties and more.

The agreement makes UCN an ally in Georgia’s Indigenous Peoples in XR Project. The project addresses and provides context-based language learning for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada and abroad.

“XR” refers to the use of virtual, hybrid, and augmented reality technology.

Doug Lauvstad, UCN’s President and Vice-Chancellor said the partnership will help them leverage best practices for teaching Indigenous languages to help ensure the continuance of those languages.

The tax deadline is looming and the Canada Revenue Agency wants Canadians to be aware that with it comes the potential for scams.

David Nunes, a spokesperson for the CRA says scams come at us in many forms.

“Scams can come from anywhere; they can be coming from emails, from phone calls and lately, something that was just reported to us by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, are these new text messages coming to Canadians with their full names and their social insurance numbers.”

Nunes said this latest scam is coming as the result of an undetermined data breach.

He advises people to be careful to change out their passwords often and not use the same password for multiple sites.    If your password is compromised in one place, it could then be used to access other ones.

Nunes says if you are the victim of a scam, contact your local police, set up alerts with your credit bureau and contact the anti-fraud department with the federal government.

For more on the Canada Revenue Agency, scams and tax tips, catch Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10.

If you’re a grade 7 to 12 student here in Thompson, the Adolescent Health Education Committee could use your input.

They will be holding a Youth Forum in response to a youth survey conducted with students from all 7 schools in the School district of Mystery Lake.

Jolene Brown with AHEC (A-heck) shares the purpose of the forum here.

“In an effort to reach our youth, we are hosting a youth conference on April 25th. We are inviting 100 students from grades 7 to 12 to a gathering at Ma-Mow-We-Tak Friendship Centre. Our plan is to share resources and information gained from the 2022 survey while promoting student voice in leading the path towards positive change.”  
There are limited spots available for students wishing to participate.

If you’re interested in attending, contact your school counsellor or principal as soon as possible.

To find out more about AHEC and the youth forum, listen to Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10.

On April 7, 2024, at approximately 4:15 pm, Norway House RCMP, along with assistance of the D Division Emergency Response Team (ERT), executed a Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) Search Warrant at a residence located in the community of Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation.

As a result of this search, officers seized over 800 ¼ gram rocks of crack cocaine, with an estimated street value in the community of over $20,000, approximately 400 grams of cannabis, over $23,000 in cash, a machete and other drug related paraphernalia.

RCMP have arrested and charged Beverley Chubb, 53, Bobby Chubb, 29, Wain Forbister, 36, and Eethan Scribe, 20, all from Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation, with Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking, Possession of Property Obtained by Crime, Possession of Illicit Cannabis and Possessing Cannabis for the Purpose of Selling. They were remanded into custody.

Juliet Chubb, 27, from Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation, was also arrested on scene and later released from police custody for a future court date where she will face the same charges.

RCMP continue to investigate.

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Artificial intelligence or AI is present in our lives, whether we’re always aware of it or not.

CDW Canada recently released a report on the status of AI adoption in Canadian businesses.

KJ Burke, a Field CTO with CDW, had this to say about AI.

“It’s accessible to everybody. It’s going to have an impact on everybody and I think it’s natural, especially where people have their livelihood, their family, for us to be skeptical.”

Burke says that skepticism is evident in their report which states that while 61 per cent of organizations are open to AI, comfort levels have yet to catch up as only 51 per cent of I-T decision-makers feel comfortable with its current use within their operation.

Learn more about AI and its applications in business, education and your personal life.  Catch Thompson Today this afternoon at 12:40 and 5:10.

Students from here in the School District of Mystery Lake will compete this weekend in the Regional Science Fair.

Grades 4 to 8 students will showcase around 35 science projects in all to a panel of judges today and tomorrow.

Public viewing on the projects will take place at 1:15 on Saturday at Ecole Riverside School, with awards to follow at 2:30.

If eligible, one project could go to the Canada Wide Science Fair taking place May 25th to June 1st at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Yesterday on City Beat, Mayor Colleen Smook provided an update on projects being done in Thompson this summer.

Water and waste-water main renewal continues, as does road renewal.    Roads planned for work in 2024 include Westwood Drive, Mallard, Pintail and Sandpiper Crescents and Seal Road.

Work will be completed on Thompson Drive and Juniper Drive as part of 2023's projects.

Smook also outlined some indoor work that will happen.

“The lighting will be replaced in both the CA Nesbitt and the Wellness Centre, the gym. It will be a month to replace the lights in each facility. The CA Nesbitt Arena is scheduled for July and the gym in August.”

The funding to replace the lights came from the Efficiency Manitoba Grant, the same grant that paid for the lighting in the Gordon Beard Arena last year.

Between July 30 and August 27, 2023, Norway House RCMP responded to nine separate complaints of break & enters and thefts that occurred throughout the community.

Over this time period, between the approximate hours of 3:30 am and 5:00 am, suspects broke into buildings located at the community maintenance yard and airport on multiple occasions. Numerous residences and a church were also targeted.

Suspects stole numerous vehicles, ATVs, bicycles, a canoe, and they caused considerable damage to multiple properties. Most of the stolen property has since been recovered.

In September of 2023, the investigation led to the arrest of a 14-year-old male youth, from Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation, who was charged with Breaking & Entering, Possession of Property Obtained by Crime and Mischief over $5000.

As a result of the ongoing investigation, on April 2, 2024, Kristofferson James Keam, 29, of Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation, was arrested and remanded into custody on numerous charges including Theft, Possession of Property Obtained by Crime, Breaking and Entering with Intent and Mischief.

Norway House RCMP continue to investigate.

April is National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Month and the David Foster Foundation is working to encourage Canadians to sign up as organ donors.

Currently, over 4-thousand Canadians are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, with 5 patients dying each week because there are not enough donors.

Mike Ravenhill, CEO of the David Foster Foundation explains here.

“Canada, right now, has one of the worst organ and tissue donor registry rates in all developing countries. We sit just around 30 percent of Canadians are registered organ and tissue donors.”    

Ravenhill says the David Foster Foundation has existed for 38 years and helped over 1400 families with millions of dollars to help them offset the costs of non-medical expenses.

For information on how to become an organ donor, go to DavidFosterFoundation.com.

You can also listen to Thompson Today this afternoon at 12:40 and 5:10.

Last week, the Manitoba government announced 21.5 million dollars in funding for upgrades to provincially owned roads for a pair of northern communities.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor said the project focuses on repaving approximately 30 kilometers of provincial roads that traverse through and connect both Norway House Cree Nation and the Norway House community.

The project also includes the restoration of Provincial Road 373.

Chief Larson Anderson of  Norway House Cree Nation said these essential infrastructure initiatives  will improve the safety of community members.

Additionally, Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure is advancing a joint cost-shared feasibility study with the Government of Canada to replace the nearby Sea Falls Ferry with a permanent bridge.

A man from Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation is facing charges after a traffic stop by Norway House RCMP on Sunday afternoon.

They stopped a vehicle on Highway 373 and found a 21-year-old woman without a valid driver’s licence driving an unregistered vehicle.

A 20-year-old male passenger had an outstanding arrest warrant and was also found breaching conditions of a recent Release Order.

He was placed under arrest and a search of the vehicle located a small backpack under his seat containing a large quantity of pills, believed to be Ecstasy, and over $2500 in cash.

Dustin Chubb, 20, was remanded into custody on charges including Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking, Possession of Property Obtained by Crime and Fail to Comply with Release Order.

Norway House RCMP continue to investigate.

Tomorrow, there’s a deadline for around 50-thousand businesses who took advantage of the Canadian Emergency Business Account or CEBA loan during the pandemic.

It’s their last day to qualify for a special extension the federal government allowed for them to refinance their loan to qualify for the forgivable portion of the CEBA loan.

Brianna Solberg, Director of Legislative Affairs for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business has more.

“Roughly 700 businesses are still trying to refinance on time to qualify for that forgiveness and unfortunately 1400 small businesses missed the repayment deadline and therefore lost that $20,000 forgivable portion.”

Two-hundred thousand small businesses, or 23 per cent, were forced to take on new debt to refinance their CEBA loans.

Dan Kelly, CFIB President, said many businesses that had to borrow to repay their loans are facing high interest rates in a business environment that is far from being back to normal.

To hear more about the CEBA loan deadlines, catch Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10.

A 29-year-old man has been charged with Aggravated Assault, forcible confinement, and robbery after an incident in Thompson.

Early last Friday morning, Thompson RCMP received a report of a disturbance at an apartment building on Copper Road.

Officers arrived and found a 22-year-old man suffering from multiple stab wounds.  They provided life-saving first aid to him until Emergency medical services arrived.

He was transported to Thompson General Hospital in critical condition and remains there.

Samuel Miles, from Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation, had been staying with the victim when Miles held him against his will and robbed him. Miles then stabbed the victim multiple times before fleeing the scene.

Miles was located later that morning at a residence in Thompson.    He remains in custody.

On Thursday, NDP deputy critic for Indigenous Services Niki Ashton, called for the federal government to extend funding for searches at residential school sites beyond 2025.

Ashton had this to say about the situation.

“Communities have located evidence of more than 2,300 children in suspected unmarked graves at or near former residential schools and Indian hospitals. Communities need answers, they need to be able to bring their children home. Unfortunately, Canada’s response has been less then acceptable.”

Pimicikamak Chief David Monias, along with Dene National Chief Gerald Antoine, encouraged the federal government to fund the International Commission on Missing Persons beyond the present two-million dollars.

ICMP presented an interim report last week that covers the work done so far and suggests next steps.

Antoine said residential schools amounted to genocide and a crime, and that families deserve justice.

Today, the Northern Health Region opens its new Community Care Clinic at the Thompson General Hospital.

The clinic,  located in Room M-170 on the main floor of the Hospital, will operate 7 days a week from 7:15 am to 7:30 pm.

It will be staffed by two nurses and a nurse practitioner.

The NHR created the clinic in order to take the pressure off the Emergency Room and to help patients avoid long wait times in the ER.

Patients to the new clinic will have to be referred there by their healthcare provider.

Services provided by the clinic will include I-V infusions, blood work, wound care and, in the future, cast care.

The clinic won’t provide primary care services or care for minor ailments.   Those can still be handled at the Thompson Clinic in the Thompson Plaza or by using Q-DOC.

Northern artists are showcasing their talents this weekend in The Pas.

Today is the start of the 48th Northern Juried Art Show, which takes place in the gymnasium at the University College of the North.

Artists from around the north are showcasing their talents in a number of disciplines.  They include painting, watercolour, drawing and printmaking, fibre art, 3-dimensional art and photography.

There is also a separate category for youth ages 9 to 17.

Today’s hours are from 9 am to 8 pm.  Saturday the show will be open from 10 am to 3 pm and on Sunday from 1 to 3 pm.

There will be a silver collection at the door.

Last June, the City of Thompson received 60-thousand dollars from the Building Sustainable Communities grant.

This money will be used toward the updating of the Zoning By-Law and Development Plan for the city.

Mayor Colleen Smook shares details about the project.

“The last time that Thompson’s district development plan was approved was 2012 and 2013 so it’s definitely in need of updating. This project will create two new documents incorporating amendments that have been made and been making over the last few years.”

The project, which is estimated to take between 10 to 12 months to complete, will cost 120-thousand dollars in total.

It must be wrapped up by March 31st, 2025, or the province’s money will have to be returned.

At Monday’s Committee of the Whole Meeting, it was recommended that the city approve the city’s portion of 60-thousand dollars to come from the General Reserve account in order to get the project underway.

On March 18, 2024, at 11:45 pm, Thompson RCMP received a report of a missing 40-year-old male from Thompson.

Adolph Dumas, 40, was last seen earlier that evening near a business located on Churchill Drive in Thompson and RCMP are concerned for his wellbeing.

RCMP have conducted numerous enquiries at several addresses of interest in Thompson without success. It is believed he is still in the community.

If you’ve seen Adolph or have any information on his whereabouts, please call Thompson RCMP at 204-677-6909/6911, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

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On March 19, 2024, as a result of an ongoing investigation, officers from the Grand Rapids RCMP Detachment executed a search warrant at a residence, located on River Road, in Misipawistik Cree Nation.

Upon entry into the home, officers arrested two suspects who were taken into police custody.

As a result of the search, officers seized over 140 grams of cocaine, crack cocaine, illicit pills, cash and drug related paraphernalia.

RCMP have charged Vernon Lee Turner, 42, from Misipawistik Cree Nation, with Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Property Obtained by Crime and Disobeying Order of Court. He was remanded into custody.

A 38-year-old female, from Misipawistik Cree Nation, was later released from custody without charge.

The Manitoba RCMP is committed to working with First Nation communities that have asked to make drug enforcement a priority.  These enforcement actions will continue as per the expressed wishes of community leadership.

The investigation continues.

This week, many of us were excited to celebrate the change of seasons from winter to spring.

Here, Bruce Krentz, Health Promotion Director with the Northern Health Region shares some information about the spring equinox.

“Spring equinox, in the Indigenous culture, spring is a time of rebirth and renewal. The teaching of elders tells us that the Spring Equinox is the understanding of balance, it’s the teaching of a natural world in which we live. It helps to create and take care of us in a spiritual way.”

The Northern Health Region invites the community to a pipe ceremony, smudging and feast today at 1 pm in the Thompson Cultural Room at the Thompson General Hospital.

Elder Isabelle Morris will lead the event.