After 45 years, the Steinbach Arts Council has grown to offer nearly 100 subsidized concerts and programs each year, bursaries for those in need, and free youth programming in our community.

We invite you to join us on Friday, May 3, for the Steinbach Arts Council’s annual Fundraising Gala, because together, we keep can keep arts and culture recreation accessible for everyone.

Visit steinbacharts.ca or call 204-346-1077 to reserve your ticket today.

Buzz Brass comes to Steinbach

The number of speeding tickets issued in Steinbach has more than doubled according to statistics comparing 2022 to 2023 presented to city council on April 2.

Steinbach RCMP Staff Sgt. Guy Landreville told council speeding offences went from 155 in 2022 to 328 in 2023, up by 111 percent.

And he warned them, that’s not going to change any time soon.

“I will guarantee you when you see the 2024 comparison next year that number will be even higher,” he said.

Union Gospel Mission is letting the public know they don’t raise money by going door-to-door.Martin Chidwick, development manager for the Winnipeg mission, said they received a report from an Elm Street resident in Mitchell that someone had come to their door asking for donations.Described as a “tall blond guy,” the person presented credentials and told the homeowner he was representing the “Winnipeg chapter.”Chidwick said not only do they not conduct door-to-door campaigns, they also do not use language such as “Winnipeg chapter”.“That’s not how we work,” he said.In this instance, the homeowner donated and Chidwick hopes by spreading the word others won’t do the same thing.“I know the Steinbach area is a very giving area,” he said.Chidwick had not contacted the RCMP over what this case, but said he was planning to make them aware.

What makes 2024 a special year for Steinbach Regional Secondary School graduates is that this is the first prom these students will attend, having lost out on their Grade 8 prom due to COVID. And to make that evening even more special, the school’s grad committee is looking for donations from the public and the business community.

“We’re looking for donations because we need to supplement our ticket sales to be able to give the kids the best prom possible…as the head grad committee we’re trying really hard to build this experience to be the best prom that SRSS has seen,” said Mary Yoder who is head of the hospitality committee.

More than 450 students will graduate this year and what the committee is finding is that it’s not ticket sales that are lacking, rather it is the cost of supplies and services that is making grad hard this year.

“We can only charge a certain amount for those tickets and the price of everything just keeps going up. We can’t raise the ticket sales to the extent we would need to in order to cover all of our costs, because then it would just make it unfeasible for many of the students to go. So, to be able to keep the ticket (prices) at a price where the students can afford to attend, we need to be able to supplement it in other ways,” said Yoder.

Re: Clear thinking about Israel and Hamas (Think Again column by Michael Zwaagstra, April 6).

I could pick on MP Ted Falk again but why pick on low-hanging fruit when one of your regular contributors justifies the killing of innocent babies. Michael Zwaagstra does just that in his column. I’ll write that again. He justifies killing babies. I shouldn’t have to remind you but I will. There is no justification for infanticide.

Zwaagstra quotes an author who writes ‘…that it was Hamas that started this war. If Hamas really cared about the Palestinian people, they would never have intentionally slaughtered 1,200 Israeli civilians…” The latter part of that statement is certainly true - Hamas cares more about annihilating Jews than it does about its people - but please, Hamas that started the war? It’s Israel which has been systematically imposing its brand of apartheid on the Palestinians for years. It’s Israel which bulldozes neighbourhoods and claims them for itself, in direct violation of international law. And ironically, just like Hamas does not speak for its citizens, neither does Netanyahu and his government speak for theirs. It’s a last-ditch effort to stay in power and he’ll do anything to achieve it; even indiscriminately murder babies.

Zwaagstra goes on citing this author. “….Israel tries to avoid hitting civilian targets and warns Palestinian civilians to evacuate before engaging in a bombing campaign.” Hardly. Sure, Israel orders Palestinians to evacuate but wherever they go, they get bombed. There is no safe place in Gaza and Israel knows this. The IDF is also blockading humanitarian aid with the intention of starving Gazans to death. And most recently, Israel surgically bombed and killed 7 relief workers from World Central Kitchen - the charity funded by Jose Andres. Overall, more than 200 aid workers have been killed. That’s a lot of “accidents.”

A land purchase was discussed in camera at a March council meeting followed on April 2 with a resolution to purchase three Oakbank property titles (40 acres) for $1.6 million, rather than the advertised $1.8 million. The assessed value of these three titles is $344,700 over five times less than the purchase price but council passed the resolution 3-2.

The previous council sold public land without following the proper tender process and with no independent evaluation of its worth. Will this council be selling public land without the tender process and independent evaluation is to be seen. It was stated that a $1.3 million surplus would be used towards this purchase. These funds could have been used to decrease the borrowing amount for the water treatment plant. There was no public input on the use of the surplus funds.

Council is becoming a real estate agent and developer. This is not their mandate according to the Municipal Act or their expertise. Developers have staff to survey, draw up blueprints, etc. The RM would have to use consultants that adds to the cost. The free market should be in charge of development with the municipality ensuring that a development agreement contains the proper criteria to blend in with the surrounding environment and other guidelines required.

Council has created a division between rural and urban dwellers. This resolution drives a further wedge even among urban dwellers. Council needs to consider that they were elected to serve their residents not outside forces such as the Capital Region, John Q Corp. or other corporations.

A 25-year-old Steinbach man is facing charges after allegedly being found impaired following a single vehicle accident on April 6.

RCMP said that incident, which happened on Hanover Road south of Steinbach, was one of 48 calls for service that happened over the weekend.

Police responded to the accident from which two passengers were taken to hospital while the driver and a third passenger were released on the scene by EMS.

The driver is facing charges of driving while over .08 and impaired driving. He also had a 30-day vehicle impoundment.