My Money is on Dauphin
The people behind this closure have well reasoned arguments and they literally are fighting for the town they love. The love that people have for Dauphin is a passion that can not be measured. These passionate people are fighting for their City of Sunshine. They think if these jobs leave, it will lead to more jobs leaving, etc, etc.
I love Dauphin and I worry about its future as well, and I can tell you Dauphin is definitely worth saving.
One thing I can tell you about Dauphin is that if you grow up there, you definitely believe that anything is possible. For one thing, when I was growing up in Dauphin, we were "the friendly town of progress and beauty" except no one told me that I was living in a small town. I thought I was living in a metropolis after all, people drove from 60 miles away to shop in our town. There were country kids and there were city kids and I was one of the city kids. For whatever reason, it gave me think that I was street savvy. Before I started preschool, my mother and I used to go walk the three blocks to downtown every week day. We stopped in almost every store because my mom knew everyone so I also knew everyone. And, I don't remember us going down the side street to the butcher shop but somehow I seem to remember seeing Mayor Andy Newton every day. And, when I grew up in Dauphin, girls ruled the schools. As I girl, I never felt that I wasn't equal to boys, in fact, truth be told, I felt girls were superior. But, if you look at the boys that grew up in Dauphin, well, I don't know of any that haven't grown up to be the nicest men ever. (Ok, there is probably two exceptions, which is not that bad.)
When I used to do stand-up and I would get heckled, I would always say, "hey, I'm from Dauphin, I can take you." The heckler would always shut up. For the record, I was in one physical fight and I was attacked and had to defend myself. It wasn't a win, My ex used to say I was weak as a kitten. Perhaps, but when I say, "hey, I'm from Dauphin, I can take you" it works just because people know that people from Dauphin are tough, passionate, and don't back down. Dauphinites don't start fights that they don't think they can win.
And, Dauphin taught me incredible life lessons that I think people need to remember. When I was four years old, I walked by the jail almost every day. It was between my Nursery School and a playground. I remember the huge garden behind the jail which the inmates tended. A group of preschoolers would walk by and no one was worried. I remember specifically the tall corn. I think the vegetables were used to feed the inmates and some was donated. Maybe we need to come back to those community ideas. Maybe having the jail population contribute something to their community is one of the keys to making it work.
The jail is very old and likely needs extensive work to make it worthwhile. Appealing to Pallister is a waste of time. He believes in austerity politics and won't be convinced of anything else. To him, this is purely an economic decision. I know the MLA Michaleski and he is a good man, however, he has no influence in the Legislature. If you watched the election ads prior to the vote, you didn't see any from the PC Party other than "Pallister's Manitoba." The only people featured in PC ads were Brian and Esther Pallister. A back-bencher from Dauphin has no power. I truly feel sorry for Brad Michaleski but it is probably true that the only way for Dauphin to have a voice is to force a recall or a resignation. That will get people's attention.
I admire the spirit of the many Dauphinites who don't believe this fight is over and are going to continue to fight for our community. And, until I see the jail demolished, I know they will keep the fight alive. And, my money is on Dauphin.
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