Last Sunday evening, The Pas RCMP received a report of a 12-year-old girl having been sprayed with bear spray while she was out with friends near the Kelsey Recreation Centre.

 

Officers met with the victim who was treated on scene by bystanders until EMS arrived and transported her to hospital in stable condition.

 

Witnesses advised police that the victim, and her group of friends, were approached by two girls and one boy, when a threat was made and the victim was sprayed with bear spray.

 

The suspects fled the scene on foot.

 

RCMP are asking anyone who may have information on this assault, or may have been in this area on Sunday evening, to contact the RCMP in The Pas at 204-627-6204.

 

The Pas RCMP continue to investigate.

The results are in for McHappy and the generosity of Northern Manitoba was once again on display. The Flin Flon McDonalds location raised $2152.38 on May 6th. That goes to support the Ronald McDonald House in Winnipeg which helped save families 4.4 million dollars in out of pocket expenses in 2025.  Nationally, McHappy day raised a grand total of 10.8 Million dollars.

 

This marked the 32^nd Annual McHappy Day that has raised a total of $122.1 million to date for Ronald McDonald house and other children’s charities across the country.

 

Ronald McDonald House provides accommodations, meals, mental and health and wellness programs for families who travel for children’s medical care.

AT THEIR MEETING LAST NIGHT THE TOWN COUNCIL OF CREIGHTON REPORTED RECEIVING A REQUEST FROM CREIGHTONS PIZZA FOR APPROVAL FOR AN OUTDOOR COMMUNITY EVENT IN JUNE. APPROVAL WOULD BE A STEP TOWARDS THEIR APPLICATION FOR A SPECIAL OCCASION LIQUOR LICENCE. THE REQUEST HAS BEEN REFERRED FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION.

COUNCIL APPROVED A REQUEST TO ADVERTISE IN THE 2026/27 PROVINCIAL SNOWMOBILE TRAIL MAP AT A COST OF $450 DOLLARS.

THEY ALSO AGREED TO DONATE $750 TOWARDS THE FLIN FLON FIREWORKS COMMITTEE IN THE AMOUNT OF $750 DOLLARS.

A REQUEST FOR SUPPORT FROM THE CRANBERRY PORTAGE WINTERFEST COMMITTEE HAS BEEN REFERRED FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION.

COUNCIL GAVE THIRD AND FINAL READING TO BY-LAW 3-2026 WHICH IS A BY-LAW TO ESTABLISH A FEE TO APPEAL ASSESSMENTS.  
 

MAYOR BRUCE FIDDLER COMMENTED ON HIS RECENT TRIP TO PRINCE ALBERT ATTENDING THE 2025 SASKATCHEWAN WILDFIRES EXPLORING RAPID RESPONSE RESEARCH EVENT SAYING THE MEETING WAS DEFINITELY NOT WHAT HE WAS ANTICIPATING AND SOMEWHAT DISAPPOINTING.

 

COUNCIL RECOGNIZED THE CO-OP AS THEY WILL BE DONATING ALL THE FOOD, DRINKS AND CONDIMENTS FOR THE COMMUNITY BBQ IN RECOGNITION OF THE FIREFIGHTERS WHICH WILL BE HELD AT THE MAIN BEACH IN DENARE ON JUNE 2nd.

The North of 53 CO-OP remains financially sound as per Tuesday Night’s Annual General Meeting. Total sales for 2025 were up with total $37,822,799 combined from grocery and petroleum departments. In terms of long term debt, the CO-OP now finds that figure at 0 as the building originally built nine years ago is now paid off. The board commended the efforts made by the staff and management during the wildfires.

 

President Dennis Whitbread discussed the toll of the evacuation but also the resiliency of Co-Ops Finances. “Well, with all the setbacks with the wildfire, we lost 2 million dollars over a 4 week period. Which we managed to get back through sales, our management team has done an awesome job of getting us back up and running very quickly after the wildfires. And we appreciate all the patronage that we’ve had from our customers.”

 

Overall, profit margins were down as a result sitting at 17.8 percent in 2025 down from 19.8 in 2024. The total membership sits at 4965. The Board of Directors is unchanged with Dennis Whitbread as President, Nevada Danis as Vice President, Secretary Linda Clarke, Manager Randy Dumenko, Finance Director Kelsey Horrocks and Directors James Johnson, Richard Klause and Chelsey Dionne. A special acknowledgement was made of the contribution of the late Scott Dallas who served as the North of 53 Co-op’s bulk petroleum manager.

Mennonite Disaster Service, an international charitable organization is in Denare Beach, working on the rebuild. The group has been around for over 75 years and handles natural disaster assistance across North America. They offer volunteer labour to areas that need it.

 

Operations Manager Moses Falco talks about how they got started in our area and the project they are working on. “Right after the fires, that week we went up to investigate and see, meet some of the people, meet the Village Council, and from there have been working to identify folks who could use assistance and then also partner together with the Village Office. So we’re actually...they gave us the use of the Denareplex, so we’ve set up camp there and are bringing in probably around 25 to 30 volunteers a week from all over Canada and building 4 new homes and 1 foundation.”

 

They have volunteers from British Columbia to New Brunswick, many with vast skilled trades backgrounds. MDS will be working in Denare Beach until September in conjunction with the Red Cross. To donate, volunteer, and find out more about the organization, visit MDS.org.

The 2328 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps held their annual ceremonial review at the Flin Flon Community Hall on Monday Night. Awards were handed out in recognition of the cadets achievements. Warrant Officer Rory Ford received the Capt. W.A. Trophy for Senior Cadet General Proficiency. The Major MJ Naylor Trophy for dedication and commitment. The Royal Canadian Legion Medal of Excellence and the best attendance award. Other honours went to Lance Corporal Laney Morell, who won the CWO Fisher Trophy for Junior Cadet General Proficiency and best first year cadet, Sergeant Lily Kendrick who received the Sgt J.A Horrocks Award for dress and deportment and the Lt Col. F.S. Gira trophy for citizenship. The 2^nd Lt M. Beauchamp Trophy for Most Improved Cadet went to Sgt. Antonio Cianflone.

 

The Capt. P. Popp CD Trophy for rile team went to Ward Officer Rory Ford, Sgt Antonio Cianflone, Sgt. Nolan Fitzpatrick, Master Corporal Alani Highfield, Lance Corporal Laney Morell, and Lance Corporal Alianna Cowan.

 

The evening featured an address by Mayor George Fontaine and a donation from the Branch #73 Royal Canadian Legion for $1000 to the cadet program.

 

Captain Justin Cowan talked about how the evening went and plans for the future. “It’s mainly just to show what the cadets have accomplished this year. Training’s not done though; this is just our last formal event. But we are going to start leading into our adventure training, do more of our outside stuff. We want the community to know that we still have a strong Army Cadet Corps in this town, and, if you know of anyone that’s younger let’s say 12 to 18 years old. But, there’s a lot of people in this town that don’t realize that we’re here, so, I want to get the name out that we have a strong Army Cadet Corps here in town, 2328 Flin Flon. And the group we have here is amazing.”

 

To find out more about the cadet program you can email justin.cowan@cadets.gc.ca

Flin Flon’s new pool will be known as the Hudbay Aquatic Centre - as was unveiled during a ceremony yesterday. The new facility has strong focus on accessibility and inclusion. It features like ramps and easy-entry with the goals being that everyone—families, seniors, children, and individuals of all abilities—can participate and feel welcome.

 

“Flin Flon is the heart of our history, and we remain deeply committed to the families who call this region home” said John O’Shaughnessy, Vice President of Hudbay’s Manitoba Business Unit. He went to on to say “Investing in this new aquatic centre is a significant milestone in our century-long partnership. We are proud to help bring this project to life, providing a lasting space for recreation and swimming that will serve the community for generations”

 

The opening of the Hudbay Aquatic centre to the public will be announced at a later date.

Mayor George Fontaine was on the CFAR’s City Beat last week where he went into detail about the upcoming wildfire season.

 

The City has acquired asset protection trailers that cover up to 500 homes. There is also now a revamped emergency preparedness plan that has been updated not only to deal with wild fires, but extended power outages, and severe snow storms.

 

Fontaine also shared the latest wildfire forecast update from the provincial government and the office of the fire commissioner. He says to expect conditions to be at least as severe as last year.

 

Fontaine further talked about infrastructure funding that will be making its way to our streets. “Some of our roads and infrastructure was deemed damaged by some of the heavy vehicles, the heavy water trucks and things that were here during the last emergency, during the fire. So, we’re getting some funding, through the emergency process for that. And that’s going to allow for somewhere between two and three-million dollars worth of road work. Which is more than this community has seen in a long time.”

 

The complete city beat show can be found on the Flin Flon Today section of flinflonline.com.

The Flin Flon Neighbourhood Revitalization Corporation has received its provincial funding for the upcoming year.  That allows the FFNRC to operate its small grant program. These are community focused projects that do not require the applicants to be incorporated as a as charity. Funding can be up to $5000. The goal of the small grant is bring people together through culture, wellness, the promotion of community safety, capacity-building, empowerment and beautification. Director Lawrence Gillespie lets us know what the corporation can fund and the process to receive the money.

 

“We’re very eager to talk anybody, any group, in Flin Flon that’s got a project where there could be like a community event, some kind of thing to help out kids or people in the community, recreation programs. Anything that’s set in Flin Flon, Manitoba we’d be more than happy to help with that. And again, people shouldn’t worry about the paperwork, we can help you fill out the paperwork, we want to be a one stop shop, if you’ve got an idea that could deserve funding, we’d like to help.”

 

If you have a project in mind please contact 204-687-6972 or email ffnrc@mymts.net.

AT THEIR MEETING EARLIER THIS WEEK FLIN FLON MAYOR GEORGE FONTAINE PROCLAIMED MAY 12th 2026 AS ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITIES/MULTIPLE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY AWARENESS DAY IN THE CITY.

 

HE ALSO MADE THE OFFICIAL PROCLAMATION IN HONOUR OF THE FLIN FLON BOMBERS WINNING THE SJHL CANTERRA SEEDS CUP THAT APRIL 26 TO BE RECOGNIZED TO BE FLIN FLON JUNIOR BOMBERS DAY.

 

COUNCIL GAVE FINAL READING TO BY-LAW 2026-09 THAT THE CITY OF FLIN FLON PROVIDE FOR RAISING MONEYS BY A SPECIAL TAX TO AUGMENT THE EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT RESERVE FUND CREATED BY BY-LAW #2376.

 

FINAL READING WAS GIVEN TO BY-LAW #2026-06 BEING A BY-LAW GOVERNING ESTIMATES AND TO SET THE MILL RATE FOR 2026, FOR GENERAL PURPOSE, SCHOOL PURPOSES,AND UNCONTROLLABLE PURPOSES.

 

COUNCIL ALSO PASSED A MOTION THAT THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY AND MANITOBA WILDFIRE SERVICE-WESTERN REGION NATURAL RESOURCES AND INDIGENOUS FUTURES BE RATIFIED BY THE PROPER OFFICERS OF THE CITY OF FLIN FLON.

Illicit drugs, weapons, and drug trafficking paraphernalia were seized by Sandy Bay RCMP during a traffic stop last Saturday

An SUV with four occupants on suspicion of impairment saw the RCMP observe weapons and illicit drugs in plain view. After further investigation, all four occupants were arrested.

During a search of the vehicle and suspects, police found weapons, 53 grams of methamphetamine, 172 grams of cocaine, 20 grams of amphetamine, 155 grams of crack cocaine, cash and drug trafficking paraphernalia.

 27-year-old Totteana Johnson from Prince Albert, 29-year-old Theresa Linklater from Pelican Narrows and 23-year-old Elizabeth Sanderson from Prince Albert have been charged with multiple counts of weapons violations and drug trafficking .

They appeared in Sandy Bay Provincial Court on Monday 

The fourth occupant of the vehicle was released without charge. 

Sandy Bay RCMP continue to investigate.

Five people are facing charges following a months-long RCMP investigation into an illegal drug trafficking network shipping narcotics from Winnipeg to remote northern Manitoba communities.

Project Darling launched in January 2026 and targeted drug shipments between Winnipeg and several northern communities including Island Lake, Split Lake, Oxford House, and Thompson.

The investigation led officers to a residence in the 3000 block of Pembina Highway in Winnipeg, where officers executed a search warrant on April 29. Approximately $58,000 in cash was seized from inside the home, and five people were arrested.

Carlita Vasquez, 28, of Winnipeg, Natneal Arefaine, 26, of Calgary, and three Ontario men — Ayub Abdi, 24, Jabril Farah, 27, and Alex Keng, 22 — face multiple charges.

Flin Flon MLA and The Speaker of the Manitoba legislature, Tom Lindsey addressed the chamber on Monday in the latest attempt to restore order following  an often-chaotic spring sitting that has seen heckling reach high levels of volume and, according to Lindsey, increasingly low levels of quality discourse.

“There’s been an increase in unparliamentary language, spoken in the house, sometimes repeatedly. Members of the public are stopping me on the street and saying you’ve got to do something. We have also heard many comments and concerns from school groups, in the public gallery we’ve had teachers ask our visitor services staff if their group could leave the gallery early because they didn’t want their students to see any more of the proceedings. Some teachers have also told the assembly staff that they do not want to bring their students into the public gallery at all during sessions because they are trying to teach their students to behave respectfully.”

Lindsey has tried to clamp down on heckling repeatedly in recent months to little effect. He issued a new warning Monday that he will now be more likely to eject people for the day if they disregard his orders. He also revealed words that are being added to the list of unparliamentary language forbidden in the chamber. Bigot, racist, misogynist, homophobe and transphobe will join existing banned words such as liar Lindsey said other jurisdictions have already banned the words.

Today is McHappy Day, an annual fundraiser in support of Ronald McDonald House, now in its 33rd year. The event takes place across the country and in Flin Flon. Proceeds from the local McDonalds franchise from all food and beverage menu items contribute to families' access to accommodations, meals, and wellness programming - when having to travel with youth for medical purposes.

 

Susan Gun Saray and her family used the Ronald McDonald House in Winnipeg earlier this year and discussed the service that they provide. “Like a lot of families from the north, we found ourselves in a medical situation where we were being flown down to Winnipeg to help find a children's hospital and the Ronald McDonald house is absolutely essential, especially in our northern community, where we're having to travel so much for healthcare. They absolutely do everything they possibly can to accommodate people. The staff, I can not say enough about the staff, they're...above and beyond, like literally they treat you like family.”

 

The Flin Flon McDonalds at the Walmart location supports the Winnipeg Ronald McDonald House that in 2025 supported 300 different communities and saved families 4.4 million dollars in out of pocket expenses. They are open today until 9pm.

On May 1^st, La Ronge RCMP received a report of a single vehicle rollover on Highway #102, just north of La Ronge.

 

Officers responded immediately, along with local fire and EMS.

 

The vehicle had four occupants. One passenger was declared deceased by EMS at the scene. They have been identified as a 31-year-old female from La Ronge. Their family has been notified. The driver and two additional passengers were taken to hospital by EMS with injuries described as serious in nature.

 

La Ronge RCMP continue to investigate with the assistance of a Saskatchewan RCMP collision reconstructionist.

 

The highway is currently closed for an undetermined amount of time. Motorists should expect delays in the area. Please slow down and follow the instructions of emergency personnel on scene. 

The rock band Days on Land based out of Churchill will be going on a provincial tour which will include a stop in Flin Flon later this month.

 

Drummer Eric Robb talks about how the band came together and how this tour came about. “It started with just me and Roy at a local bar playing at an open mic night. And we just liked to play and then we remembered oh, that guy Joe over there, he plays bass! So, we got Joe to join in, and then local plumber Jeremy, turns out he is an absolute shredder on the keyboard, so, we brought him in. And we just started playing a little more and more together, a couple local shows, and then, Roy eventually decided to put in a couple of grant proposals. And we’re super lucky we got two grand for this coming up tour, one from the Canada Council for the Arts and one from the Manitoba Arts Council. Which is the reason we’ve been able to put this whole tour together, so, we’re really thankful for those two organizations and we’re really excited.”

 

The show will take place in Flin Flon at Johnny’s Social Club on Saturday, May the 16^th. Tickets will go on sale at the Orange Toad on Tuesday, May the 12^th. A lot of their music is based on their life experiences in the North and they try to share those experiences with the world including songs about dog sledding and an old ship wreck in Hudson Bay.

 

You can follow the band Days on Land on all the social media channels including Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Following the installation of billboards and posters in the community of Thompson, RCMP Major Crime Services is releasing new details in the ongoing investigation into the murder of Steven Seela.

 

Investigators were in the community April 20th to the 22nd, canvassing numerous residences as part of the investigation where they spoke with over 110 residents.

 

Police are now releasing images of two trucks, both dark in colour, that were in the vicinity of the shooting that occurred on Pipe Road, in the trailer park area of Thompson, on November 24, 2024. 

 

Individuals in these vehicles are believed to have information related to the investigation and police are urging the public to come forward with any information which may help identify who was in these vehicles on November 24, 2024.

  

If anyone has any information regarding the two trucks including who was in them, or the Steven Seela case, they are asked to contact the RCMP Tipline at: 431-489-8106.

The Flin Flon Creighton area SPCA are holding a fundraiser called Rescue Rally which is going to be a great night of music and fun which will help raise money to keep the shelter open, taking place at Johnny’s Social Club.

 

Tiffany Falk on behalf of the fundraising committee mentions some of the things that will be happening throughout the evening. “We will have a painting from Many Rainbow that she’s painted and donated. We’ve got raffle tickets on that, we’ve got 50/50 going on as well. I’ve got still half the tickets available. We will have, on May the 7th, I will have at Johnny’s Social Club from 5:30 to 6:30, we will be selling the rest of the tickets.”

The band Rock-kut will be performing and the show will take place on Saturday May the 23rd and tickets are $25.00 each and can be picked up at Johnny’s this Thursday between 5:30 and 6:30pm and the Orange Toad this Friday. Cash only and doors will open at 7:30pm.

The City of Flin Flon hosted their annual Budget meeting Tuesday night at Council Chambers.

 

City Treasurer Lynn Brown chaired the meeting and prepared the presentation.

 

The City will be spending just over 1.5 million dollars on Capital projects this year including public transportation, tourist park upgrades, library upgrades, the Uptown Curling Club, water truck, Tourist Park, Camp Whitney and cemeteries.

 

The City will also be replacing the Pine Avenue Bridge which is going to cost over a million dollars. The good news is they got a grant from the provincial government which will cover over $600,000.00 of the cost, meaning the city will only have to pay a third of the cost.

 

The Mill Rate will go up slightly for people who have an assessed home at $60,000.00 to roughly $72.00 more for taxes this year,  while a person with an assessed home of $400,000.00 will pay roughly $400.00 more in taxes for this year.

The Town of Creighton is ready to get the community all spruced up for the summer season later this month as we hear more from Creighton Rec Director Lindsay Shirran.

 

“Creighton will be hosting the Spring Clean Up Week, on May 19^th to May 22^nd. If you have any larger items they will be reviewed per circumstances from the town office at 306-688-8253 and then they can make arrangements for pick-up to assist Creighton residents with their yard clean ups. And there will be no dumping fees from May 12^th to May 25^th. And that leads up to our Community Yard Sale, is also on the, May 23^rd.”

 

The Town of Creighton will be looking for volunteers to help with the Community Yard Sale to help with the set up the day before and clean up after the event. If you can help out send a message to Creighton Recreation and Tourism Facebook page.

May is here and the Town of Creighton are planning a lot of events for families and residents  to kick off the summer season in Northern Saskatchewan.

 

Creighton Rec Director Lindsay Shirran tells us about the first event that they have planned. " This year we will be doing a Creighton Community Yard Sale and it will be held on May the 23rd, just like the past households can call and register their sale with me at the Rec Office at 306-688-3538. The sale will be included on our community sale list and we will have a map available to show everyone where the sales are for the day. It is a good time to clean everything out, declutter a bit and do some Spring cleaning and have stuff available."

 

You can also sign up on the Town of Creighton Facebook page and once again any questions or comments can be directed to Lindsay at 306-688-3538.

The City of Flin Flon have announced some changes for the delivery of water to Channing and Wally Heights.

 

Starting today water delivery services for Channing and Wally Heights will be handled by Oulett’s Septic and Snow Removal.

 

The delivery schedules will remain the same.

 

For service inquiries or scheduling you can call 204-271-3779. The City of Flin Flon and Oulett’s Septic Service appreciate the community’s cooperation during this transition.

If you were impacted by the 2025 Saskatchewan Wildfires,  the Canadian Red Cross will be  offering in person support at the Creighton Sportex Lounge.

 

The dates are May the 5^th to the 8^th and the 11^th to the 15^th between 9am and 4pm.

 

Virtual Case   Management is available Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm closed weekends and holidays.

 

For more information you can call 1-800-863-6582, e-mail skrecoverysupport@redcross.ca or go to the website at redcross.ca/2025saskatchewanwildfires.

The investigation into the shooting of two adult males in Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation continues.

 On April 28^th, one of the victims, a 25-year-old male, succumbed to his injuries. The second victim, a 38-year-old male, has been treated and released from hospital. Both are from the community.

Additional RCMP resources are being deployed to Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation to bring the suspect safely into custody and residents can expect heavy police presence throughout the day.

Residents are reminded to remain vigilant and to immediately report any information related to the shooting to the Norway House RCMP at 204-359-6715.

The suspect is considered is ARMED and DANGEROUS and should not be approached.  

Tuesday April the 28^th was the National Day Of Mourning in honor of workers who have lost their lives in Canada.

 

It was recognized in both Flin Flon and Snow Lake by the local Steelworkers 7106 . Health and Safety Representative Shaleen Lycan mentions what happened at the ceremonies in Flin Flon and Snow Lake.

 

" What we typically do is we go to Snow Lake and hold a ceremony there with members of the community and workers invited to the ceremony. People are welcome to bring a wreath to lay for a family member, co-worker, someone who has lost their life at work in some form of life changing incident. We also have a ceremony in Flin Flon that takes place at 7pm. It takes place at the Day Of Mourning Monument over by the Victoria Inn with the flag."

 

Both services were attended by members of the RCMP, Firefighters, Mayors, different members of the communities as well as members of the local unions who all came out to lay wreaths.