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Yesterday, the Federal Government and the Department of National Defence put out a news release saying they've identified remains recovered in 2020 Loos-en-Gohelle, France from the First World War as Private Albert Henry Detmold of Roblin, Manitoba.
Dr. Sarah Lockyer, Casualty Identification Coordinator for the Department of National Defence, said identifying remains after this much time always has some hiccups.
"In the personnel files, while we do have a date of birth, many lied about their age. So there's a lot of historical research that needs to happen so that we can confirm their actual date of birth, because then that will correspond with their actual age at death, and very very often that date of birth that they put in their personnel file is in fact inaccurate...and in this particular case with Private Detmold, the list of candidates got quickly shortened to about 5 or 6, which is a very small number. Typically when we have a list of candidates that is more than 1, we then follow through with DNA analysys," said Dr. Lockyer.
Dr. Lockyer said DNA analysis typically analyzes surviving samples of both paternal and maternal DNA within the bones, but with Private Detmold's case, the first attempt at extracting DNA only yielded maternal DNA, which was found to have a weak link with one of the individuals on the short list. After another attempt at extracting DNA, the results were much more successful.
"The second time around, the paternal DNA was extracted, and created a profile that we could compare against DNA samples from the family, and then we quickly found a paternal DNA donor for that solider with no maternal DNA donor and a paternal DNA donor for Detmold, and Detmold came back with very very strong results, saying there was definitely a link," said Dr. Lockyer.
Looking back earlier in the process, Private Detmold's remains were found with several artifacts, namely a cap badge from the 107th Battalion from Winnipeg. Private Detmold's remains were found near the site of the Battle of Hill 70, which still has around 1300 Canadians missing.
"Because we had this 107th cap badge, they only had 11 missing from that battle. So immediately with just that 1 cap or collar badge from the 107th Overseas Battalion, that list of candidates rather than starting at 1300, starts at 11," said Dr. Lockyer.
Part of the initial identification process involved Dr. Lockyer going to France in person to conduct a preliminary analysis of the remains, as remains are not repatriated back to Canada.
"[The remains] are buried in the closest appropriate cemetry to where they fell, so in this case Private Detmold will be buried in Loos British Cemetery in Loos-en-Gohelle in France, which is the closest to where the Battle of Hill 70 happened," said Dr. Lockyer.
Dr. Lockyer said she feels very privileged to have a job that means this much to families across Canada her work has affected.
"Being able to return the name, return the face, but also return that person and the concept of that person to the familes, some of whom have never heard of their relative before we contacted them, and some of them on the complete opposite of the spectrum knew exactly who we were talking about as soon as we reached out, it's quite something special to be a part of, and I'm incredibly grateful that I get to do this every day," said Dr. Lockyer.
Since the official creation of the Canadian Armed Forces Casualty Identification Program, 48 sets of remains from the First and Second World Wars and others have been identified.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Dauphin RCMP are looking for Sheldon "Benny" Chartrand.
The 39-year-old from Dauphin is wanted on several charges including causing animals or birds unnecessary suffering, breaking and entering, assault on police with a weapon, and uttering threats, to name a few.
If you know where Sheldon is, call Dauphin RCMP at 622-5020 or 911.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
The Dauphin area was mentioned a few times in Tuesday's provincial budget.
The province has put aside $7 million towards construction of the new Justice Centre in Dauphin.
Shovels will hit the ground on that project this fall.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Canada's National Ukrainian Festival is releasing a 30-minute documentary on the 60-year history of the festival tonight at Countryfest Community Cinema.
Festival Board Member Henrich Langer said how long the festival has been going strong amazes him.
"It's amazing to see how long the people, the Ukrainian people, or the people with Ukrainian heritage, kept up the culture for such a long time, and to keep it so livid, so alive, it still is full every year, that we're selling tickets left right and centre like crazy," said Langer.
Langer said he was inspired to make the documentary from hearing stories about past years of the festival, including when the Queen was there in the 1980s.
"I got the idea to make this documentary when I was talking to old board members, and they told me anecdotes from throughout the years, and I thought these stories need to be preserved, ... you'll see how the site grew, and how it all kept running for 60 years," said Langer.
The film debuts at Countryfest Community Cinema at 7:00 PM today, and Langer said the cost to see it isn't very high.
"There is no admission. Admission is by donation, and all the donations go towards Countryfest Community Cinema, because they let us use their facilities," said Langer.
If you don't make the first showing, don't worry, there'll be back-to-back showings if the demand is high enough. For more information, click here to view the event's Facebook page.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
UPDATE:
Amaranth RCMP say Cleora Roulette has been found safe.
The Amaranth RCMP are searching for 13-year-old Cleora Roulette.
She was last seen at her residence at 4:30 on Tuesday morning.
It's believed she may be in Portage la Prairie or the Ebb and Flow First Nation.
Cleora is about 4’10”, slim build, with straight brown hair, brown eyes, has braces, and wears fake eyelashes. It is unknown what she was last wearing.
If you know where Cleora is, contact the Amaranth RCMP at 843-2691.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
UPDATE: On their Facebook page, Mossey River Municpality say they have turned off water due to the system failure. They say it's possible the water could be turned off for the next 24 to 48 hours.
They are currently working on making drinking water available and will inform residents once it is available. For updates, continue to monitor their Facebook page.
Manitoba Health has issued a boil water advisory for the Winnipegosis public water system.
The advisory says a major distribution failure has led to the loss of water pressure in the system, which can compromise the water supply's safety.
The advisory says until further notice, all water for consumption should be brought to a rolling boil for at least one minute before it is used to any consumption, including drinking, preparing food and beverages, and brushing teeth.
The boil water advisory will remain in effect until the water supply no longer presents a risk to health. Click here to view the province's Boil Water Advisory Fact Sheet.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
The Manitoba Government has released their 2026 Budget, focusing on jobs, healthcare, and grocery prices.
In his delivery of the budget, Finance Minister Adrien Sala announced that after July 1st, there will be no provincial sales tax on groceries in Manitoba.
"We can step in as your government to directly lower your cost. It started when we froze the price of milk, and our next important step is to take the PST off of all food at the grocery store...starting July 1st, there will be no PST on any food sold in a grocery store here in Manitoba," said Sala.
Another key priority of the budget was continuing to expand Manitoba's healthcare system. The province's news release on the budget says this year's focuses include investments in cardiac care, including a $22.1 million investment to re-establish the Cadriac Centre of Excellence at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, and funding to perform 200 more hip and knee surgeries at the Selkirk Regional Health Centre, in addition to 3250 more MRIs.
Focusing more towards rural Manitoba, the government has also announced a freeze on crown land leases once again.
"For farmers and producers, we're saving you money yet again with a freeze on crown land leases for the 3rd year in a row," said Sala.
Sala also spoke on the prioritzation of creating a stronger economy in Manitoba. The government announced they will be investing in several initiatives to get private sector companies to build in and around Churchill for the creation of an energy corridor from Husdon's Bay to the Atlantic.
He also said the government plans to increase the Homeowners Affordability Tax Credit by $1700 in an effort to lower costs for homeowners.
The government's news release on the budget says Manitoba has the lowest deficit-to-gross domestic product ratio in Canada, and this budget makes responsible investment that aligns with Manitobans' priorities. Click here to view the government's news release.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Earlier this month, the Treasury Board of Canada released their Departmental Plans, detailing job cuts for several government agencies, including Statistics Canada. 730 CKDM NewsNow reached out to StatCan to make sure that job cuts won't affect this year's census.
In an emailed statement, Carter Mann, Chief of Media Relations, said the 2026 census will be unaffected by job cuts.
"Throughout this transition, Statistics Canada remains committed to delivering our core functions for all Canadians and stakeholders. While efficiencies alone were not sufficient and some programs are being adjusted—including changes to frequency, format, or, in limited cases, discontinuation—the upcoming 2026 Census, essential services and data collection activities will continue without interruption," the statement read.
"The workforce adjustment has no impact on recruitment or work related to the 2026 Census in Manitoba, or elsewhere in Canada. As part of the Census, Statistics Canada plans to hire about 32,000 people. These temporary hires are workers recruited externally for operational functions, mainly in the field as enumerators or team leaders," read another part of the statement.
Though the census is unaffecetd by cuts, a large number of positions were eliminated at StatCan, so parts of the service other than the census will likely be affected.
"As was announced in January, Statistics Canada’s workforce was to be reduced by about 850 positions, and the size of the executive team decreased by 12%. With continued staffing controls, attrition, retirements, and risk-managed vacancies, the number of positions to reduce specifically through Workforce Adjustment is now 764," the statement read.
"Since the beginning of the process, many voluntary departures have been approved, as well as several job swaps, early retirements, and staff movements. As a result, there are currently 244 remaining required reductions within Statistics Canada," read another part of the statement.
Census-related hires are not connected to job cuts within StatCan. Census personnel are hired under the Statistics Act as temporary workers with the goal of completing the census, exempting their positions from workforce adjustments.
Each Census year, data collection usually starts in May, and continues into the summer. The detailed report for the 2021 census was released in stages, with the first stage released on February 9th, 2022.
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The Manitoba First Nations Police Service has launched their Crime Reduction and Enforcement Unit, or CREU, as a 1 year pilot project.
Darryl Hunter, Inspector of Operations, said the CREU's goals are to target specific issues within the 12 First Nations communities they police.
"So our main goal is to be proactive in reducing the amount of drug trafficking and other criminal threats such as gun violence and gangs, which is a huge public safety concern in our communities. That means we are developing enforcement strategies that result in arrests, drug seizures, gun seizures, at the same time we're connecting with our partners in our communities to address the health crisis substance abuse represents, and make our communities safer," said Hunter.
A news release from the Manitoba First Nations Police Service lists "intelligence-led policing and targeted enforcement" as a main focus of the CREU. Hunter said a main part of these strategies focus around communicating with other law enforcement agencies.
"Target enforcement model is based on gathering actual information and working with law enforcement partners by sharing intelligence on criminal activities and organizations," said Hunter.
The CREU was launched as a 1 year pilot project, Hunter said to hopefully prove the need for a CREU within the communities the MFNP serves.
"Our priority is to demonstrate [the CREU's] impact on public safety for our communities that we serve and the province overall. So during this time we're going to be gathering data, documenting our success stories, to demonstrate the benefit of having the CREU," said Hunter.
Since the launch of the CREU earlier this month, they have already assisted in several operations within the MFNP. Click here to view their news releases.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Services to Seniors Swan River is gearing up to host another Coffee & a Chat, an event where seniors can get out and have fun with other seniors, all while learning important things.
Connie Beaudry, Community Resource Coordinator, said their presentations are a big part of the events, and that they usually have presenters that can have conversations about the topics with the seniors.
"We choose to have somebody that can field questions on the fly, not just somebody who stands in front of the crowd and does a PowerPoint presentation. We've had people like the funeral home come in, we've had exercises, we've had massage therapists come in, we've had mental health people come in," said Beaudry.
Beaudry also said the social side of the meetings is a huge help to seniors.
"It's a known fact that seniors who get out and about more than their counterparts who stay home and are socially isolated live longer and healthier lives...[the meetings are] an opportunity for people to leave, because it's very easy to stay home and say I don't want to go see my friend even though I love my friend, but this is a reason to leave your home, come out once a month and learn something," said Beaudry.
She also said in the time Coffee & a Chat has been running, they noticed a key area they could improve on: apartments. They've since made great strides to get seniors in apartments access to their services.
"During our 3 and a half years of Coffee & a Chat, we felt like we were missing some demographics, so we have a worker who goes to the apartment complexes, does games and exercises, and general chatting," said Beaudry.
The next session is at the Birch River Drop-in Centre today from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, with another in Swan River on Thursday. For more information about Services to Seniors Swan River and what they do, click here to visit their Facebook page.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
The risk of spring flooding is low to moderate for most Manitoba rivers heading into the spring runoff period, according to the latest Manitoba Flood Outlook.
According to the update, the spring flood risk is low for the Assiniboine River and its tributaries.
The province says spring flood risk remains largely dependent on weather conditions from now through the melt period, including additional snowfall, spring rainfall and the timing and rate of snow melt.
Soil moisture at freeze-up was near-to below-normal across most of Manitoba, winter precipitation has ranged from near-to below-normal in many regions and soil frost depths are generally normal to shallower than normal, allowing normal to above-normal infiltration of melt water.
Snow-water content across Manitoba basins indicated snow accumulations are generally within the normal range, except for parts of southern Manitoba where snow accumulation remains below typical values for this time of year.
The Shellmouth Reservoir is being operated in consultation with the Shellmouth Liaison Committee to reduce downstream flood risk to the Assiniboine, while maintaining water supply and recreation objectives.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
