PKF Lawyers, Manitoba’s law firm, delivers trustworthy, expert, real-world results. pkflawyers.com Winkler Morden THURSDAY, VOLUME 12 EDITION 35 SEPTEMBER 2, 2021 www.winklermordenvoice.ca VVLocally ownedoiceoice & operated - Dedicated to serving our communities Breaking ground on their new home The Derksen family joined representatives from Habitat for Humanity’s Winkler Morden chapter and local dignitar- ies in breaking ground on their new home last weekend. For the full story, see Pg. 2 PHOTO BY LORNE STELMACH/VOICE news > sports > opinion > community > people > entertainment > events > classifi eds > careers > everything you need to know 2 The Winkler Morden Voice Thursday, September 2, 2021 Getting to work on Morden’s fi rst Habitat build By Lorne Stelmach The family that will call the fi rst Morden build of the local Habitat for Humanity chapter home are a big step closer to seeing their dream of home ownership come true. Following a sod turning ceremony at the site Saturday morning, Pe- ter Derksen refl ected on what it will mean for himself, his wife Emily, and their two boys. “We can just make their rooms their room how they want it,” he said. “I dream about sitting on a patio and drinking coffee in the morning and watching the sunrise ... being able to put nails in every wall that I possibly want to without calling the landlord PHOTO BY LORNE STELMACH/VOICE fi rst. The Derksen family were joined by Habitat for Humanity volunteers and local dignitaries to break ground “This means being able to put down on their new home, going up on land on 6th St. in Morden donated by Triple E Developments. roots. It means not looking for anoth- er place to live at the end of our lease ing is worth struggling for. to work together ... we choose to do it repay a mortgage, their need for bet- ... now we can just put down roots “We’re really excited to be coming to with volunteers because that’s part of ter housing, and their willingness to here and stay here and it’s one school Morden for the fi rst time and build- making a community work together. participate by providing 500 hours of for our boys ... it’s just stability.” ing here. It’s been a dream of ours,” “Remember, as you watch this house “sweat equity” in the build. Christina Falk, secretary and public added chairperson Duane Falk. “We go up, it’s more than just a house. It’s “These families work hard to get a relations rep for the chapter, called it had this lot waiting for us so long ... community, and that’s important.” Habitat house. It’s not easy for them, a momentous day for them. it took awhile for the money to get The project began with a lot on Sixth and then they need to put in their 500 “It’s been a really rough year ... the together. We’re glad that this day has St. at the far north end of the city being sweat equity hours,” Christina said. obstacles that have come up in this come around and we’re excited to get donated by Triple E Developments. “They deserve this house; they work last year for Habitat has just been re- to work on this new house. Next came fundraising and then the hard to get there.” ally rough,” she observed, while not- “Habitat is not just about building process of fi nding a family who fi t the Families pay full market value for ing the words of committee member houses. We work in a certain way in criteria Habitat uses in its selection their homes, taking on a mortgage Sue Nelson that everything worth do- order to bring a community together process, which gauges their ability to with Habitat for Humanity that has zero per cent interest, no down pay- ment, and payments based on in- We design, manufacture, come. The organization then recycles mortgage payments back into build- deliver and install ing more affordable housing in the community. innovative windows and “It’s something that me and my wife custom exterior doors with had almost come to terms that we would never have,” refl ected Derksen. style and function across “It’s been so long that we’ve been waiting to see this actually get started North America. ... before this, it kind of almost seemed surreal, but now I can really see that we are going to have our own home,” he said. “It’s very exciting, especially We offer custom exterior and interior in the time that we’re in ... that we can work together and we can help each doors, windows and pleated blinds. other out and people can get together and we can still accomplish things.” Other speakers at the sod turning of- fered similar sentiments. “There’s been so much division and fear and uncertainty, and so to be able to come together around some- thing positive is special,” said Portage- Lisgar MP Candice Bergen, who also offered a message to the family. “You are blessing our community by letting Contact us to request a quote or more information at these people give to you this way, and it really shows the power of giving 1-800-249-1216 and receiving, and you’re going to be Or visit us at www.accesswd.ca then giving to others.” 565 Cargill Road Winkler, MB Continued on page 7 The Winkler Morden Voice Thursday, September 2, 2021 3 Hundreds gather at series of Winkler rallies to protest public health orders By Ashleigh Viveiros A trio of rallies held in Winkler over the weekend and on Mon- Manitoba’s decision to tighten pub- day drew big crowds upset at the government’s decision to lic health restrictions in advance of bring back the mask mandate and expand vaccine passport the expected fourth wave of the pan- demic prompted several large pro- benefi ts for the fully immunized. tests in Winkler in response. PHOTO BY ASHLEIGH VIVEIROS/VOICE On Saturday, a few hundred people gathered in the Winkler Parkland to speak out against the measures. Organizer Blaine Reimer stressed that he refuses to wear a mask and encouraged others to do the same, contrary to public health orders man- dating masks in public indoor spaces once again as of last weekend. “We the people have been weak, we have been naive, we have lacked courage, but not anymore,” he said He expressed doubt at the impact of used to treat livestock that has not Organizers of the back-to-back to cheers from the assembled crowd. the virus, the veracity of both the gov- been approved to treat COVID-19 in events are gathering signatures to pe- “We will rise up as one. We will stand ernment and the media in reporting either the U.S. or Canada. tition Winkler city council to declare together and say no. We will begin to on the pandemic, the effi cacy of lock- Meanwhile, a pair of “Stand Up Win- the community a “sanctuary city.” say in one voice, ‘Not in our town, Mr. downs, and the safety of the vaccines. kler” protests held Sunday and Mon- As such, they hope to make Winkler Pallister, not in our town.” Reimer also voiced his belief that the day nights at the south edge of town a safe haven to disregard public health “We will not comply. We will not medical community and government drew massive crowds, slowing down orders including mask and vaccine bow down to your tyrannical dictates are covering up the effi cacy of iver- traffi c on Hwy. 32 as participants ... your rules do not apply here.” mectin, an anti-parasitic commonly streamed in to take part. Continued on page 8 Province tightens restrictions ahead of expected fourth wave By Lorne Stelmach wave of COVID-19. ther lockdowns,” said Dr. Brent Rous- of our new cases are unvaccinated. “Currently there are more than sin, chief provincial public health of- These numbers are even higher if we Masks became mandatory in public 406,000 Manitobans who are not yet fi cer. “We want to do whatever we can look at ICU admissions. We see very spaces across the province again this vaccinated. Of these, nearly 230,000 to avoid further lockdowns, and en- few people who are immunized re- past weekend as part of measures that are children under the age of 12, and suring that only fully vaccinated peo- quiring ICU admission,” he continued also included COVID-19 immuniza- they are not eligible to be immunized. ple take part in some of these higher “We have to protect others in the tion requirements for people to at- We need to do everything we can to risk activities is one such method of community and the health care sys- tend a wide range of business, facili- protect them from COVID-19 espe- doing that. tem from delta. We can see in the ties, and events. cially as they return to school,” said “We can see that the great majority Continued on page 9 Provincial offi cials announcing the Gordon. changes last Friday defended the The measures came as Manitoba re- measures as being necessary now leased new COVID-19 case numbers with the threat of a fourth wave of that showed unvaccinated individuals the virus and particularly the dangers are accounting for a signifi cant pro- posed by the virus variants. portion of all new cases. with Flair “The emergence of the delta variant Of the 31 new cases identifi ed last has changed things signifi cantly.