Lac du Bonnet water project flows from new spirit of co-operation between town and RM, say councillors
CBC
After years of discord and rivalries, the councils of the Town of Lac du Bonnet and the surrounding rural municipality say they're setting aside their differences in an effort to attract more economic opportunities to the area.
"We've made some steps to eliminate that type of attitude," said Ken Lodge, the mayor of the town of about 1,100, approximately 90 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
"We're effectively one community and we want to be able to utilize our assets to the best advantage of the entire community."
Among the most notable examples of that previous inability to get along is the local water system. The town opened its revamped water treatment plant in 2004, with financial help from the province.
It was meant to serve the surrounding area as well, but 20 years later, that still hasn't happened. Residents of the RM of Lac du Bonnet, which has a population of around 3,600, have largely been living with boil water advisories and trucking in water for decades.
But now, the two governments are finally planning to run lines into the rural municipality, bringing people there clean water while also bringing the town more revenue.
"We recognize that running our water plant at less than 20 per cent capacity is probably not really particularly efficient," said the mayor.
A provincial spokesperson confirmed the Manitoba Water Services Board currently works under separate cost-sharing agreements with the town and RM.
But engineering staff "have completed a conceptual study on servicing rural customers from the town's water treatment plant," and are now working to determine if any upgrades are needed, the spokesperson said.
Lodge, who has served on town council for 14 years and was elected mayor in 2022, described the past relationship between his government and the RM's as "combative" and riddled with animosity.
"There was much less of a collaborative approach in respect to what we need to do to support and strengthen our community," said Lodge. "And that's changed recently."
Case in point is a thriving new recreational equipment dealership on the edge of town — an enterprise that likely wouldn't be there if local politicians hadn't set aside their differences and started working together, says one of its co-owners.
"It's been beyond overwhelming and incredible," said Craig Becker, co-owner of Lake Life Powersports, which he says has done brisk business since the showroom and repair shop opened in February.
But Becker and his partner, Glen Hart, had a number of hurdles to clear before they could break ground on their sizeable building.
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.