Ritchot fire chief Scott Weir met with council at their public meeting held on February 4 to provide an update on departmental needs in the RM.

After months of threats by the American president to impose tariffs on Canadian goods, and an executive official order given on February 1, the plan ended up being paused just hours prior to implementation earlier this week.

Back in 1968, Shur-Gro Farm Services began in Brandon, Manitoba. Forty years later, in 2008, the future Niverville and Dugald branches of Shur-Gro started life as their own company, called South East Seeds, started by Jeromy Rempel. They began by selling corn, soybeans, and sunflowers.

Businesses in Ritchot can expect some additional help in the coming months when it comes to beefing up their labour force, thanks to the municipality’s collaborative relationships with the Association of Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (AMBM) and CDEM, Manitoba’s bilingual economic development council.

If not for the selfless dedication of small-town volunteer firefighters, residents in municipalities like Ritchot and Niverville would have one more reason to worry. These volunteers put in many hours of service to make us all safer. They train and educate in exchange for the opportunity to drop everything at a moment’s notice and rush out to save a life, home, or business.

Last September, the Town of Niverville provided an opportunity for residents to voice their opinions on what it would take to make their town a better place to live. More than 375 people responded to the online survey, all but five of whom currently live in Niverville. Two-thirds have lived in Niverville for ten years or less.