Assistant Administrator at the Library Lisa Goodfellow invites you to register your child for Story Time.  She says they encourage kids that are under school age to come and enjoy a story every Tuesday and Thursday from 10 o’clock until approximately 11 or so for about twelve and a half weeks starting on February 18^th and they’ll be doing crafts, having snacks, story time and play time.  She adds you can register by coming to the Library and you can sign up through a form there and they’ll put it in their file and they will be waiting for you on the 18^th.

Story Time is being run with assistance from a Winnipeg Foundation grant to encourage literacy in the province.  The deadline to register is February 7^th and if you need information you can call Lisa at the Library at 204-687-3397.

Nominations are being accepted until February 7^th for the Manitoba School Boards Association Student Citizenship Awards.  Their Director of Education and Communication Services Heather Demetrioff says nominations are made by schools through the school board and are open to all public school students Kindergarten to grade twelve.  She explains there’s a total of seven awards, six of those are individual awards and those are divided up by geographical regions up the province so for instance Flin Flon is in their Region Four which also includes Mystery Lake out of Thompson, Kelsey out of The Pas and Frontier School Division.  She says they also have one provincial award that is for a student group and that can be a group of two students up to an entire school or classroom.

Demetrioff adds each school board is allowed only one nomination so there will be a total of 37 nominations with winners for each region selected by a panel of elected school trustees.  Several Flin Flon students have won this region’s award in the past.

Last October the Recycling Centre decided to review its red bag curbside pickup recycling program in Flin Flon.  There were not enough people using the service to cover their costs.  Administrator Deb Odegaard says following the review they have decided to continue.  She explains when they reviewed it several people mentioned it was their only way to get recycling to the Centre, others really enjoyed the convenience, they had several new people join up and so looking at the deficit it wasn’t really significant enough to outweigh the fact that people still want the program so they decided to continue it.

For pick up you just put your recycling on the curb Wednesday morning and they’ll pick it up as long as you purchased a red bag for $3.50 which covers the cost for doing the pickup service.  Anyone interested can find information on their website www.flinflonrecycle.org and give them a call at 204-687-6169 so they can make sure you’re on the route where they are doing pickups.

This past Tuesday the School Board held their regular meeting where Amanda Link for the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba gave a presentation on the Division’s youth based programming.  Starting her role here in 2011 she focused on offering specialized counseling on an individual’s own personal use or someone else’s, students can come to her with any question in a non judgmental setting.  She is flexible in scheduling client centered meetings focusing in on clients goals.  Her schedule keeps her busy in our Division also counseling within Frontier School Division.  A variety of awareness and prevention initiatives and activities are available to those in need including the Awareness Program, the Breaking Away Program, the Challenges Program and more.  A violation of the Division’s alcohol and drug policy is an automatic referral to AFM programming to complete an assessment and receive awareness, education and harm reduction strategies before returning to school.

Churchill Keewatinook Aski Member of Parliament Niki Ashton reports action is needed over concerns from the Island Lake Communities.  She says they are approaching the combined population of Thompson but don’t have a hospital.  They report lives cut short and people unable to move back to their community because of a lack of adequate healthcare with hundreds of air ambulance flights that come in and out of their community that could be prevented if there was a hospital.

Ashton says she supports a call for a public inquiry into health care in their region to focus on solutions and action on the ground to improve northern and Indigenous healthcare.

The Northern Neighbors Foundation is accepting applications for grants they make available each year.  Their Chairperson Jane Robillard says they have over 100 thousand dollars available this year for grants in the communities of Flin Flon, Creighton, Denare Beach, Cranberry Portage, Snow Lake and Sherridon.  She says it’s open to anybody that’s a charitable organization and they need to have access to a charity number either through their organization or through the city.  The applications she adds are available at the Public Library and the deadline is February 15^th.

You can also apply on their website www.northernneighbors.com and the grants will be presented during their 25^th anniversary celebration being held on June 13^th.

Communications Coordinator Twyla Storey reports the Northern Health Region is looking for input from northern residents about the possibility of offering extended hours at Primary Care Clinics noting those are hours outside of the current clinic hours at all of their Primary Care Clinics in the region.  She explains Primary Care Clinics are where you go to see your Physician or Nurse Practitioner.  She says the survey is going to remain until January 30^th and then after that time results will be compiled and they’ll take that information to look at what residents would like to see as far as extended ours are concerned.

To complete the survey go to their website www.northernhealthregion.com, their Facebook page Northern Health Region or paper copies are available at the Flin Flon clinic.  (also the Thompson and The Pas clinics.)

The Town of Creighton is providing transportation between Creighton and Prince Albert starting next week.  Mayor Bruce Fidler explains the service will start Monday at 9 am and will be coming back the same day and there’ll be connections moving to Saskatoon once you get to Prince Albert.  He says they’re going to be having runs on Mondays and Thursdays, tickets will be available online or at the Town office, they have to be purchased ahead of time and the pickup point will be at the Creighton Tourism Office on Creighton Avenue.

Cost will be 80 dollars plus GST to Prince Albert and 115 plus GST if you’re taking the connection to Saskatoon.

Fidler adds they are happy to have the service going again and hope people will take advantage of it.

The Leader of the Green Party of Quebec who is running for the leadership of the Green Party of Canada Alex Tyrell spoke to Arctic Radio recently.  He talked about some of his visions for a greener future in Canada.  Tyrell wants to solve the housing and drinking water crisis in First Nations communities in Canada and would like to link all major cities with high speed rail.  He says the goal is to get high speed rail to all major cities in the country so the priority sequence would be the big first and he definitely thinks that there should be a branch that goes up to northern Manitoba as this railway would develop.

Tyrell is planning to visit northern Manitoba this summer and the Federal Green Party will choose its new leader in the fall.

Rockcliff Metals Corporation has recently completed a technical report and a copper gold grab sampling program on their SLG Gold Property.

The SLG report states the viability of high resolution airborne and ground based geophysical surveys used to identify and map unknown structures that may potentially host prospective gold and base metal deposits has sufficient merit to warrant additional work on this ground.  It adds the local area infrastructure, population and expertise make a strong statement of support for the development of any significant mineable deposit to achieve production status and offer a suitable return on investment for investors and economic benefits to the regional communities.

Rockcliff says the property hosts multiple historical gold rich and copper gold rich zones and a winter program of line cutting and geophysics is planned over the exposed copper gold mineralization to determine its lateral and gold vertical conductive extent.

Membership in Hudbays Quarter Century Club climbed to 3144 Friday night with the presentation of watches to 3 employees who have completed 25 years of continuous service with the Company.  Safety awards were presented to 30 employees with 25 years, 25 employees with 30 years, 11 employees with 35 years and 5 employees with 40 years without a lost time accident.  Award recipients were congratulated by General Manager of Mines Rob Carter who stated one constant to achieving these milestones is safety as our families count on us, our friends count on us and our communities count on us to be safe. He said he knows that the people in this room are committed to safety and dedicated to Hudbay and we are here tonight to celebrate their success adding he can safely say you have made a difference at Hubay and you are a model for your fellow co-workers.

Health and Safety Manager Doug Peterson added those receiving safety awards represent 2085 years of safe work at Hudbay.  Also recognized were 55 employees who retired over the past year.

25 year watches

40 year safety 

35 year safety

30 year safety

25 year safety

Mine rescue team

The Flin Flon Arts Council is presenting a Celtic Cabaret Saturday night.  The Council’s Crystal Kolt says it will be a fun night.  She explains this is the second time they’ve had a cabaret in the middle of winter and they’re hosting a band called the Residuals from Saskatoon and they play the traditional Celtic music as well as a bit of a pop flare to some of them but it’s really your traditional Celtic band.  She adds it’s going to be set up in cabaret style so people can get a pop or drink a glass of wine or whatever and you can also bring whatever snacks you want for your table.

Doors open at 7 at the Flin Flon Community Hall Saturday night.  Tickets are available at Northern Rainbows End on Main Street at 30 dollars for adults and 15 for youth.

Manitoba Lieutenant Governor Janice Filmon has sent out a notice to remind you nominations are still being accepted for her Make a Difference Community Awards.  These are presented annually to six deserving individuals from across the province.  She explains the award recognizes individuals who embody the spirit of volunteerism and have made a lasting and meaningful contribution to the community.  As well the Lieutenant Governor’s Vice Regal Volunteer Award will be presented to one overall winner who best represents these qualities of volunteerism.  Filmon adds this year’s Manitoba 150 celebrations give even more reasons to celebrate outstanding citizens from the smallest community to the heart of our largest city.

To nominate an outstanding volunteer go to www.volunteermanitoba.ca/awards.  Nominations must be received by Friday.

Churchill Keewatinook Aski Member of Parliament Niki Ashton was recently appointed the NDP transportation critic. She says despite our vast distances in Canada we still have deficiencies in our transportation system including inadequate investment, a lack of competition and a reliance on profit driven infrastructure all at a time when we are facing huge challenges because of climate change.  She notes in our region this means limited choices and high costs especially for the 21 communities that don’t have all weather road access. She adds it also means that many of our communities have limited options because winter roads they rely on are more and more unreliable due to climate change

Ashton says what we need is a national transportation vision that recognizes the need for public investment, greater competition and improved regulation.

Hapnot Collegiate is nearing the end of their first semester.  Principal Steve Lytwyn explains their last day of classes is Monday with exams starting on Tuesday and running until Thursday so students have the exam schedule available online and it’s also posted throughout the school.  He notes school is closed on Friday January 31^st for admin day so that’s an opportunity for all the teachers to finalize all the grades, make sure all the report card comments and the report cards are ready to go and school will resume with semester two on Monday February 3^rd and its back to business as usual with new classes, some different teachers for students and a new timetable will take effect.

Any new students and students wishing to change their semester two timetable can do so Tuesday through Thursday next week in the office or with the Career Guidance Department.

Library Administrator Elizabeth Andres says the Library is going through a refreshing and rebranding process.  She says they are looking for a new logo that identifies what the Library means to Flin Flon and wants you to enter their design contest so you can email her at ffpladmin@mts.net and she can send you the rules and regulations.  She notes they have a page of them and people have to understand that if they’re designing this they can’t be taking ideas from other people or copyrighted ideas, it has to be an original idea and people that are minors their parents have to give permission for them to enter.  She adds they have to understand if they choose that logo it becomes their property to use in a commercial venue for example on bags, merchandise, their letterhead and pamphlets.

The logo design contest ends at 4 pm February 21^st.

At the Flin Flon City Council meeting Tuesday night Councillor Colleen McKee urged people to complete the Retirement Living Survey available on the City of Flin Flon website or in person at City Hall. She noted 80 percent of the people who have completed the survey so far have indicated they plan to stay in Flin Flon adding as the City moves forward they need accurate up to date information on what people require to continue living here.  They would like the survey completed by January 31^st with plans for a community engagement session in the future.

Students from Hapnot Collegiate and Many Faces Education Centre sent a letter explaining their studies on the impact of climate change on our local area and what changes we can make locally.  The students indicated they fully support a ban on all single use plastic in Flin Flon sharing what they learned to support Council in preparing a bylaw banning single use plastic bags.

And Councillor Colleen McKee encouraged Council to form a team and challenge Councils in Creighton and Denare Beach to a game of turkey curling at the Denare Beach Winter Festival February 21^st to 23^rd.

A group of grade nine students at Hapnot Collegiate is taking part in 20 Time Projects and want to share their ideas with you.  Teacher Libby Stoker Lavelle says at the 20 Time Showcase this evening students will share highlights from their learning following a semester long independent project. She says it is project based learning where students get 20 minutes every Friday to work on a project based on their own interests and each project focuses on addressing a problem or doing or creating something useful and the student’s solutions and creations are as unique as each of them.  She gives some project examples including a comic strip about sea turtles, a video game, several websites, a little free library and a cat shelter.

Anyone interested can attend the 20 Time Showcase this evening starting at 6 in the Hapnot Collegiate Theatre.

Hudbay Minerals has announced the appointment of Peter Kukielski as their President and Chief Executive Officer.  He had been serving as Interim President and CEO since last July.

Hudbay’s Board Chair Stephen A. Lang explains the Board completed a thoughtful and robust process and they believe Peter’s 30 plus years of mining industry leadership together with his admirable performance while serving in the CEO role on a interim basis make him the right choice to lead Hudbay.

Commenting on the appointment Kukielski noted Hudbay has a high quality portfolio of operating assets and growth opportunities and they are well positioned to continue to unlock value within their own portfolio. He praised their management team as being second to none in their ability to explore, develop and operate as well as in their strong relationships with the communities in which they operate.  He adds they will continue to focus on being a leading base metals mining company to the benefit of all of their stakeholders.

President and CEO for Calm Air Gary Bell told the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce yesterday they take their community involvement seriously.  He reported in 2019 for this community they were able to donate 72 thousand dollars and change and that was actually down quite significantly from the year before as in 2018 it was 90 thousand.  He explained they are always looking to help with things you have going on in the community noting they always want to sponsor events and they sponsor the Flin Flon Bombers, Trout Festival and perhaps they can play a bigger role in those kinds of things and Flinty needs some repairs but they don’t do cash so what they could do if there is a group handling that is provide a ticket or two or gift certificates to be auctioned off or used as prizes for some of those fund raisers.

              Bell also outlined their discount air fares including their family plan, the student plan and connectors fare with some requirements to be met and engine and interior upgrades underway on their aircraft.

Bruce Reid a 63 year resident expressed concerns about the future of our community with the Hudbay shutdown in April 2022 and how little concern local taxpayers have over the day to day activities of our community.  He said with the reduction in the workforce and Hudbay’s involvement in the community we are going to be looking at paying much higher taxes and people need to understand some of the things we are facing.  He presented Mayor and Council with a package of related information and a questionnaire he wants to discuss with them and urged them to use the media to let people know what is happening in our community so we can all continue to move forward.

Greg East commented on the effect Hudbay’s closure will have including job losses stating we as a community have to plan our course in creating a sustainable future.  He referred Council to a study on the transition of communities losing their major industry and a study done in 1966 on an urban renewal program for Flin Flon which emphasized public participation in discussing our future which should be done now to find out what people want and what they need as we plan to be here for a long time.

              Mayor Cal Huntley thanked them for their perspective and looks forward to the community’s perspective as we go forward.

Two people have been charged in connection with a shooting on First Avenue in Flin Flon last Friday.  Two men were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries following the shooting.

On Saturday RCMP charged 24 year old David Ross of Flin Flon and 24 year old Nicholas Gunville of Denare Beach each with attempted murder with a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent, four counts of failing to comply and Ross also with possessing a firearm while prohibited.

The RCMP are not looking for any further suspects and the investigation continues.

Local resident Gail Baker has sent a letter to Northern Health Region CEO Helga Bryant regarding the departure of Physician Assistant Jan Drutz from the Flin Flon Clinic.  She says we have a shortage of doctors as everybody knows, waiting times are long and Jan was willing to do walk-in clinics as well as have his own clinics and he saw probably more patients than a lot of the doctors do. Baker invited Bryant to an information meeting planned within the next few weeks to discuss a way to rescind the decision and petitions have been placed around town to be presented to Premier Pallister.

In response yesterday the Health Region stated as of January 24^th Mr. Drutz is no longer licensed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba and therefore cannot be employed by the Northern Health Region as a physician assistant. Regulated health professionals such as a Doctor, Physician Assistant or Nurse must have a license in good standing in order to practices their profession in Manitoba.  They add having said that licensing issues are matters between the regulated health professional and his or her licensing body, in most cases their College.  They conclude once Jan Drutz resolves his registration/licensing issues with the College of Physicians and Surgeons he will be employable.

At their meeting Sunday night the Aqua Centre Community Committee reported they have just over 300 thousand dollars in their fund raising account so far.  The city has applied for a grant towards the new pool through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program and expect to get a response in the spring once the federal and provincial government budgets are approved.

They also reported there’s a lot of entertainment coming up as fund raisers.  This Friday Flin Flon Recreation is sponsoring a Doc Walker concert at the Flin Flon Community Hall as a fund raiser for the Aqua Centre with advance tickets only at 35 dollars at Northern Rainbows End. As well on February 15^th Ann Ross and Doug McGregor at putting together a Local Roots Coffee House Benefit with a family friendly night of music at the Community Hall at 7 pm.  Tickets will be sold at the door for ten dollars for adults and 5 for 12 and under.  Plans are also underway for other fund raisers including another golf tournament in August.

The Lions Journey for Sight is a snowmobile ride that left Flin Flon last Wednesday finishing in Brandon Saturday.  It’s held to raise money for the Lions Eye Bank of Manitoba and Northwest Ontario.  Committee Chair Brad Henderson says the Journey went well.  He says it was rather cold the first couple of days and as they got further south towards Brandon it did warm up a little bit. He adds there were no serious breakdowns and they ended up with roughly 20 sleds they pretty well stated with in Flin Flon.

Henderson says so far around 34 thousand dollars has been turned in with money still to come from pledges made to the riders.  When all the money came in last year the Journey had raised 77 thousand dollars for the Lions Eye Bank.

Flin Flon School Division Bands will get together Wednesday night for a junior high winter band concert.  Band Director Anna Harrison says it will feature the grade six to eight band students from Ruth Betts and McIsaac Schools so there’ll be four grades six ensembles, grades seven and eight are both combined so Ruth Betts and McIsaac go together and they’ve got between 40 and 50 kids in each of those ensembles.  She adds they’ll be playing some sectional pieces and some full band stuff and then their grade eight jazz band will be playing some pieces as well.

The band concert starts at 7 Wednesday night at Ecole McIsaac School with a silver collection as admission.

Member of Parliament Niki Ashton is travelling our constituency in preparation for the next session of Parliament set to open next Monday.  She says it’s a chance for her to connect with communities about issues in the region.  She explains going back at the end of January she will be picking up on health care which is obviously a critical issue, it is provincial but it also is federal.  She says in order to build a better future in our north we need to be working with communities, with First Nations that are already pursuing a number of initiatives, we need to be supporting education and training in the north and we need to be making sure that good jobs stay in our north and that’s something where the federal government has a role to play.

Ashton urges people in the constituency to contact her office to discuss issues in our region that need to be addressed.

Every year thousands of Canadians receive a new smartphone for the holidays and their used ones ends up collecting dust on shelves even though they may still be very new.  The CNIB Foundation is asking you to donate them to people with sight loss through their Phone it Forward program.  The program takes modern gently used smartphones, refurbishes them and outfits them with accessible apps and puts them into the hands of people who are blind as well as providing training on how to use their refurbished phone.  These phones make it possible for blind and partially sighted users to do all kinds of things that may have seemed impossible before from travelling safely using GPS to shopping independently or taking the proper dosage of medicine.

To donate your smartphone, make a financial donation or learn more visit phoneitforward.ca.

At approximately 3:00 this morning  Flin Flon RCMP responded to a report of a shooting at a residence on 1^st Avenue.

Shortly afterwards, officers received a report that the local hospital had received two adult males suffering from gunshot wounds.

The men aged 52 and 24 both from Flin Flon, remain in hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The investigation is ongoing and officers have secured the residence on 1^st Avenue where the shooting occurred. RCMP Major Crime Unit is assisting with the investigation.

With the arrival of Manitoba’s 150^th anniversary year the Co-Chair of the Manitoba 150 Host Committee Stuart Murray reminds you about the upcoming nomination deadline of January 31^st for Honour 150.  He explains when you took at Manitoba it’s a fantastic province but it’s fantastic because of the people and the Honour 150 Program is really an opportunity for communities to recognize the men and women who have made their community a great place to work who probably have never been tapped on the shoulder before to be thanked for what they do.  He says these are people that do something because they love it and the committee wants to do the right thing and they want to make sure that they have a chance to reach out and really honour some amazing people who make this such a great province.                                  

More information is available online at manitoba150.com and the deadline for nominations again is January 31^st at midnight.  150 people from across the province will receive the award medal and 500 dollar grant made in their honour to a qualified organization in their community.

The CEO of the Alzheimer’s Society of Manitoba Wendy Schettler says Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia.  She says it’s a brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills that can severely impact the way a person can live their life.  She explains the focus of this year’s awareness campaign is to address the stigma surrounding the disease by sharing people’s stories as every experience is different.  She says what they really want is for people to think about what are their preconceived notions about dementia and would like to challenge people to think more broadly.  She adds often times we think about our worst case scenarios around dementia and we think that this could be the worst thing that could happen to anybody and as a result it impacts how we treat people and how we look at people because we think everything is just so tragic when in fact people can live very well for a long time with dementia.

Schettler goes on to ask people to think about what dementia means to them and how they can support people with the disease to live well and be part of the community.

Rockcliff Metals Corporation has announced its ongoing fully funded 100 thousand meter drill program which began last year near Snow Lake is again underway.  Approximately 70 thousand meters is expected to be drilled throughout this year with a minimum of ten drills either at property sites now or in transition to various properties.

Rockcliff President and CEO Alistair Ross says the 2020 drill program’s primary focus will be to continue growing the confidence in their deposits at Rail and Tower properties and on progress with the joint venture talks with Hudbay on Talbot.  In addition he says this year they will take the opportunity to begin some preliminary exploration on some promising projects at Bur, Copperman, Freebeth and Pen where known historical deposits and copper bearing zones exist.  He notes of importance is the fact all properties to be drill tested are within trucking distance of their leased mill and tailings facility.

This past Tuesday night the Flin Flon School Board met for the first regular meeting of the new year.  Ecole McIsaac School Principal Miranda Bowman along with Vice-Principals Jodi and Pawlachuk and Sylvie Dufour were on hand with a presentation on the school’s goals and happenings for the year.  The ladies each took turns outlining the variety of programs such as numeracy, literacy, reading apprenticeship, truth and reconciliation, engagement and all the extras that are available for the students.  The breakfast program is very popular as well as the Bomber Buddies and students getting out of the classroom to sing at the Manor.  The staff has created a fun atmosphere for learning and has found success working together.

Former Trustee Angie Simpson also presented the Board with a proposal regarding a Voyageur canoe program for the Division’s students.  The pilot program would coincide with Manitoba 150 celebrations, Culture Days and is related to the Division’s curriculum.  Greg East and Crystal Kolt were mentioned as willing partners.  The Board thanked Ms. Simpson for her presentation saying they would be discussing the topic at a later date.

Churchill Keewatinook Aski Member of Parliament Niki Ashton says Campaign 2000’s most recent report reveals the Liberal government's refusal to act on measures like pharmacare and a national childcare program has left over one million children still living in poverty across the country. 
Ashton states successive Liberal and Conservative governments have ignored northern, Inuit, First Nation and Metis communities who are now living with the results as two-thirds of kids in our riding are living in poverty and this cannot go on.
She adds until we have leaders willing to do things differently, we’ll continue to see the same results and it’s our kids who will pay for it.
Ashton says New Democrats welcome Campaign 2000’s recommendations to address these inequalities and lift children and families out of poverty once and for all­. Among the recommended policy and program changes Campaign 2000 calls for increasing the Canada Child Benefit, implementing Pharmacare, establishing a National Childcare Program, and expanding employment insurance to help those who really need it.

Bell MTS has announced an expansion of its all-fibre broadband network in Flin Flon.  They state it will bring Gigabit Internet speeds and next generation Fibe TV service to approximately 28 hundred residences and businesses throughout the community.

They explain with direct connections to the Bell MTS fibre network beginning this summer Flin Flonners will have access Bell MTS Gigabit Fibe Internet, Whole Home Wi-Fi and Fibe TV as well as a path to future digital communications services enabled by their high capacity fibre links. They add construction of the Flin Flon fibre project starts in March.

Mayor Cal Huntley stated this investment will provide meaningful economic benefits for our community adding to our attractiveness when exploring new opportunities for diversification and services.

Manitoba Finance Minister Scott Fielding made a stop in Flin Flon as he travels the province holding budget consultations.  He says the top issue being raised for the budget is economic development which he says is a government priority as well.

Local issues raised with the Minister include more investment needed to attract exploration companies to Manitoba and moving the mines branch to Flin Flon so the focus is on the north, guaranteed  multi-year funding for Friendship Centres and their youth, cultural and support programs, funding and more resources to keep zebra mussels out of our waters, Hudbay’s concern about a carbon tax taking money away from exploration and operations, assisting the community of Flin Flon after Hudbay  shuts down, a Manitoba Saskatchewan emergency management office in the north, more co-operation between the two provinces on issues including Phantom Lake, personal care homes, health services and employment opportunities and Mayor Cal Huntley noted the need to have a base tax, to develop a way of working with outlying areas and rebates of the provincial sales tax to municipalities.

The Minister assured attendees they do listen to input from these sessions and it has resulted in changes in preparing past budgets. You can provide input on the budget online at engagemb.ca.

Manitoba Finance Minister Scott Fielding was in Flin Flon for a budget consultation yesterday.  Flin Flon MLA Tom Lindsey says it was too much talk about saving money and not enough about listening to the needs of people.  He explains the health care system in Flin Flon is a disaster as people aren’t able to see doctors, people aren’t able to receive health care, there’s communities north of us, Leaf Rapids and Lynn Lake in particular right now that are paying some of the highest water rates in the province and don’t have clean drinking water , they’re under boil water advisories so the government didn’t talk about any of those communities and what are they going to do to assist them and they didn’t talk anything about economic development for the north.

Lindsey adds there has been no information yet on the fund that replaces the Community Mining Reserve Fund or on plans for the Community Economic Development Fund.

The Central Canada Film Group is presenting a Toronto International Film Festival Film tomorrow as part of their Films Up North Series. The group’s Tom Heine says they will be showing the Great Buster a look at the career of Buster Keaton who he explains was one of the pioneers of the silent movie era in the same generation as Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin.  He adds Peter Bogdanovich directed this movie and it won quite a number or awards.  Heine notes folks under 18 can get in for free because he thinks this is kind of an important film if you enjoy the history of the stars of the past and Keaton is a touchstone in that realm.

The Great Buster will be shown tomorrow night at 7:30 in the Hapnot Collegiate Theatre.  Because this is a Toronto Film Festival Film admission will be ten dollars for those 18 and over.

The Town of Creighton is in the final stages of developing transportation between Creighton and Prince Albert.  Mayor Bruce Fidler explains they’ve created a Development Corporation and their first project is supplying a bus service from Creighton to PA with connections available with another bus service from there to different destinations out of PA.  He says they are going to have service twice a week to Prince Albert and back and hopefully the service is well used and is successful.

Fidler adds they are in the process of getting signage for the van and hiring a couple of drivers and should be ready to go in early February.

Denare Beach artist Catherine Joa has a display of her work and an artist talk and reception at the Norva Centre.  Centre Manager Mike Spencer says her work is on display at the Centre all this month. He explains the exhibition has several paintings from Catherine’s new work and they’re really excited about it.  He says its good Flin Flon scenes and they’re interesting sort of highway scenes and a lot about travel and taking time to look at all those things that you’re passing and really reflect on those.  He adds it’s a really interesting body of work and they’d like to see people come out on the 15^th and have a look at that and listen to Catherine.

You’re invited to attend an artist talk and reception tomorrow night at 7 at the Norva Centre at 177 Green Street.

The Lions Journey for Sight starts in Flin Flon Wednesday morning. The Journey is an annual fundraiser for the Lions Eye Bank of Manitoba and Northwest Ontario.  One of the organizers Dean Lounsbury from the Dauphin Lions Club says snowmobiles from across the province will start the northern leg at the Walmart Parking lot Wednesday morning about 10 o’clock off to Cranberry Portage for dinner and day number one will conclude in The Pas.  He explains after The Pas they go to Overflowing River for dinner and day number two will take them to Swan River where they will split with half the group going highway 83 toward Russell, Roblin, Birtle and the rest will go to Dauphin to spend the night then they all get dinner in Neepawa and head off to Brandon for the conclusion on Saturday.

The Journey for Sight raised 77 thousand dollars for the Lions Eye Bank last year. To make a donation locally contact Andy or Melissa Wasylciw.

Hometown Green Team grant applications are available for organizations to hire youth for jobs this summer. 

Green Team grants allow communities to hire youth aged 15 to 29 to work on community projects between May 1^st and August 31^st.  Eligible recipients include non-profit organizations. Priority is given to child and youth recreation and volunteer projects as well as projects that hire Indigenous youth, visible minority youth and youth with disabilities and projects located in northern Manitoba.  Non-profit organizations received 100 percent of wage costs and 250 dollars per position for support costs.  Municipal governments receive 50 percent of wage costs and 125 dollars per position for support costs on a cost shared basis.

The deadline for applications is January 22^nd. For more information on Green Team applications visit www.manitoba.ca/greenteam.

The Norva Centre is presenting an Intro to 3D Form and Sculpture for eight weeks starting January 23^rd.  Instructor Avery Ascher explains they are going to be using a number of different kinds of materials to explore and make different kinds of sculpture so they will be playing with sticks, clay, wire, found objects, all kinds of things learning about the principles of what makes a sculpture work structurally as well as making it look good and have a lot of fun doing it and they’re going to end up with a pot luck supper and presentation of their work at the end of the class.

The classes are open to six participants on Thursdays from 6:30 to 9 from January 23^rd to March 12^th.  The cost for the 8 classes and supplies is 230 dollars.  To register contact the Norva Centre at 177 Green Street, call 204-687-4237 or email norvacentre@gmail.com.

The year end totals are in for last year at the Flin Flon Recycling Center.  Administrator Deb Odegaard says it was an excellent year.  She explains in 2019 they actually set a new record of 519 metric tonnes beating last year’s record of 510 and most of that growth was in corrugated cardboard.  She adds they also recycled 20 metric tonnes of ewaste, 875 kilograms of batteries which is up 200 kilograms and 62 boxes of fluorescent bulbs so they’re quite pleased on how that went.

For information on recycling you can contact the Recycling Center at 204-687-6169 or visit their website www.flinflonrecycling.org.

At approximately 9:00 pm January 8th RCMP responded to a robbery at a business on Main Street in Flin Flon.

A male suspect holding a knife, entered the business and approached the employee. The employee told the male to leave the store multiple times, and the suspect left empty-handed. No injuries were reported.

The suspect is described as 5’10”, 190 lbs, wearing a black jacket with “family forever” written on the back, camouflage pants and white and black shoes.  Pictures are attached to this story at www.flinflononline.com.

If you recognize the suspect, please call Flin Flon RCMP at 204-687-1423, call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

At their meeting Tuesday night Flin Flon City Council approved a funding request from the Flin Flon Arts Council for help in sponsoring the Inspiration Series 3.0 Developing Northern Visions Workshop in the amount of two thousand dollars.  The Arts Council will host Hazel Borys President and CEO of PlaceMakers along with Stephen Borys CEO of the Winnipeg Art Gallery March 2^nd to 4th.  Their visit could include workshops, information meetings, a meeting with local organizations including the Main Street Revitalization Committee and a community presentation and panel discussion.

And Mayor Cal Huntley officially proclaimed the week of February 16^th to 22^nd Kin Canada Week and Thursday February 20^th as Kin Canada Day which is their 100^th anniversary.. The proclamation notes Kin Canada has been a vibrant, responsible, all Canadian association of service clubs devoted to the concept of serving its communities throughout Canada since it’s founding in Hamilton, Ontario on February 20^th, 1920.

Ashton says 2019 was an eventful year with Canadians electing a very different Parliament with a minority government.  During the election she heard people in our region want real change on housing, health and education.  She says we need real change in terms of economic opportunities ensuring that we in the north get the benefit of the wealth that comes from our region and real action on climate change that is already impacting our north.

Ashton notes a minority government means there is a real opportunity for the government and all parties to make a commitment to the real change Canadians want and need.

In a release to employees Hudbay confirmed their plans to shut down or place on care and maintenance most Flin Flon operations in 2022.  The Triple Seven Mine, zinc plant and oxygen plant will cease operations as of April 2022 citing lower zinc and copper prices with exploration spending around Flin Flon ending this year.  Their mill and tailings facilities will be placed on care and maintenance.

Hudbay plans to focus their exploration plans around the Snow Lake region.  They also confirmed plans to restart the gold mill at the New Britannia site in Snow Lake with refurbishment taking place this year and in 2021.

At the City Council meeting Tuesday night Mayor Cal Huntley says the news is disappointing but not unexpected and they will continue to work to minimize the impact on our community.

Flin Flon’s congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses will be holding an open house for their new Kingdom Hall Saturday.  Regional Spokesperson Brad Pramberg says the open house will give local residents an opportunity to see inside the newly constructed building and enjoy refreshments with individuals from the local congregation.

Construction of the new building at 120 Alder Avenue began last August and was completed in November.  More than 200 volunteers from several provinces travelled to Flin Flon to assist in the construction.  Bramberg notes the project was financed entirely by voluntary donations.  He adds the building features an auditorium and auxiliary room with ample seating for the hundred people on average who attend the group’s two weekly meetings.

The open house will be held Saturday from 10 to noon.

At their meeting Council reported they have sent a letter to the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce advising them the City has been working on the development of a bylaw which would ban single use plastic bags throughout the community. They asked for the Chamber’s response as to the impact this would have on the community. It was noted the Manitoba government is looking into a province wide ban and Council has received several requests mainly from local students to move forward on a ban.

Council passed on final reading a bylaw to rezone the portion of Main Street from the former Co-p building down to Super K from Residential Family Dwelling to Central Commercial Zone.  Council had advertised a public hearing on the rezoning asking for people with concerns to attend but no one attended and they proceeded to pass the bylaw.  At first reading Mayor Cal Huntley had said this does not change things for residential buildings already in that area but opens up opportunities for business properties to be developed in the area should the opportunity arise.

During the month long Holiday Checkstop Program the RCMP checked just over 11 thousand vehicles during 386 checkstops across the province.  80 people were charged with impaired driving, 67 for alcohol, 2 for drugs and 11 refusals.  They issued 24 alcohol related and 3 drug related tiered suspensions and issued 17 immediate roadside prohibitions including 6 warns, 9 fails and 2 refusals.

The RCMP add unfortunately 11 people lost their lives in 9 traffic related collisions during this period.

During the same time last year the RCMP checked just under 12 thousand vehicles during 262 checkstops charging 105 people with impaired driving.

Operation Red Nose reports for 25 years they have helped Manitobans and their vehicles get home safely over the holidays.  During the 2019 holiday season 2370 volunteers gave 4443 rides in eleven communities across Manitoba raising over 95 thousand dollars for a variety of youth organizations in the province.  In this region Thompson reported 355 rides with 195 volunteers raising just over 8 thousand dollars, The Pas had 330 rides with 133 volunteers raising just over 5 thousand dollars and as we reported yesterday Flin Flon had 216 rides with 116 volunteers raising just under 4 thousand dollars.

The President of Safety Services Manitoba Judy Murphy thanked the host communities and everyone who volunteered or used the service making Manitoba streets and communities safer.

 Flin Flon School Division invites you to submit your opinions through a budget consultation survey.  Secretary Treasurer Heather Fleming explains the Board of Trustees are just looking for community feedback prior to the public budget meeting which is held later in February.  She says it’s just a great opportunity for everyone to give them feedback on school programs as well as any other areas they believe the School Division should be focusing on.

You can access the survey on their website www.ffsd.mb.ca or paper copies are available at the Division office at 9 Terrace Avenue.  The survey closes January 17.

Operation Red Nose has wrapped up another holiday season of getting people and their vehicles home safely.  The Rotary Club’s Committee Chair Ted Hewitt says they provided service for 9 nights.  He explains this year they provided a total of 216 rides and received nearly 4 thousand dollars in client donations.  In addition to ridership donations they also received about 4 thousand dollars in local business sponsorship donations and in March they expect to receive an additional 4 thousand dollars plus in provincial corporate donations.  He adds this should allow them to provide between 12 to 13 thousand dollars for children’s activities with preference in organized sports within the community during 2020.

Hewitt notes Operation Red Nose could not be a success without the support of area businesses, all the volunteers and the many people who use the service.

Manitoba Finance will hold a public engagement meeting in Flin Flon next week to give you a say in shaping the 2020-21 budget.  The meeting will be held next Tuesday, January 14^th in Flin Flon City Hall from 10:30 to noon.  The province is welcoming suggestions on how government spending and revenue should be prioritized as well as suggested efficiencies and ideas for innovative ways to save money while ensuring services are available.

Along with the meeting they have launched a Build a Budget feature at engagemb.ca that gives you the opportunity to create a provincial budget based on your priorities and the site also offers an online survey. The province will also reach out to a random selection of Manitobans through telephone town halls and written submissions can be emailed to budget2020@gov.mb.ca or mailed to Minister of Finance c/o Budget Consultations, Room 103-450 Broadway, Winnipeg, MB R3C 0V8.

Operation Red Nose completed its final night of getting people and their vehicles home safely New Year’s Eve.  The Rotary Club’s Committee Chair Ted Hewitt says they had a successful night.  He explains New Year’s Eve was slower than in the recent past but still kept the five teams of volunteers busy especially after midnight.  He adds those receiving the service were very generous with their donations with all rider donations given for children’s activities with preference in organized sports in the community.

Hewitt adds they provided 27 rides down from 40 on New Year’s Eve last year.

We’ll wrap up the full season of Operation Red Nose on Monday’s news.

The first baby of the new year born at The Pas Health Complex is from Flin Flon.  Baby boy Caleb Cyril Laliberte arrived at 2:49 new year’s morning weighing in at 7 pounds 15 ounces.

His parents are Danielle Rosenberger of Flin Flon and Phillip Laliberte of Snow Lake.

It’s been just over a year since obstetric services were closed at Flin Flon General Hospital requiring moms to travel to The Pas or other locations to have their babies.

The RCMP have released the results of the third week of their Holiday Checkstop Program.  During the week of December 16^th to 22^nd over 3480 vehicles were checked across the province during 97 checkstops.  18 people were charged with a Criminal Code Impaired Driving Offence with 16 for alcohol and 2 refusals.  The highest blood alcohol reading reported was 0.280.  4 alcohol or drug related tiered administrative roadside suspensions were issued.

Last year during week three RCMP members conducted 68 checkstops checking around 4 thousand vehicles and charging 23 people with Criminal Code impaired driving offences.

The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre is coming to Flin Flon with a new production January 11^th.  The Flin Flon Arts Council’s Crystal Kolt says she’s excited they are performing the New Canadian Curling Club here.  She explains it will be hosting its tour in rural Manitoba before it hits the main stage in Winnipeg so we have a chance to see it before everybody else and it’s a really lovely story about immigrants who are coming to Canada and deciding to get into a Canadian sport which is curling so it’s hilarious and of course the Manitoba Theatre Centre is always top notch professionally so we are super excited to have it visit Flin Flon.

The New Canadian Curling Club will be performed Saturday January 11^th at 7:30 in the Flin Flon Community Hall.  Tickets are available at Northern Rainbows End on Main Street at 25 dollars for adults and 15 for youth.

 Finance Minister Scott Fielding has announced the Manitoba government is ringing in the new year with tax relief for Manitobans. He says the 2020 Tax Rollback Guarantee will save Manitobans an average of 2,020 dollars over the next four years.

Measures will include eliminating the sales tax on home insurance, personal services such as haircuts and on professional personal income tax return preparation as well as phasing out education property taxes once the budget is balanced.  In 2020 by indexing the basic personal amount and personal income tax brackets the province estimates another 33 hundred Manitobans will be removed from the tax roll and sales tax will be eliminated from the preparation of wills, health care directives and powers of attorney.  To assist businesses the province is committed to reducing interest rates on provincial tax debts from the current prime plus six percent decreasing by one percent over the next three years to prime plus three percent in January 2022.

A number of initiatives are now in place to help Manitoba communities take part in those celebrations.  

One is Celebrate 150 where groups were invited to share their ideas on how they could mark this anniversary.    Monique Lacoste, co-chair for Manitoba 150 says they got close to 450 applications for funding, people from the north and south, projects that are culturally specific like the Philippine community that had an interesting project.  She adds some are more history based, there’s talk of a really interesting canoe race up in the north, there’s a Metis Red River cart project that is an MMF project so it’s really a beautiful mix of projects large and small.

New initiatives are being added all the time including Learn 150 and Mural 150.   To learn more about these go to manitoba 150 dot com.