The numbers don’t lie. We, as a nation, love our furry, four-legged friends. In fact, according to a survey done for Canadian Animal Health Institute in 2016, there are 8.8 million cats and 7.6 million dogs considered to be household pets across Canada. As a pet owner, there is often a lot of consideration taken into account as to where you are going to live especially if you are in the market to buy a condominium or if you are looking for an apartment to rent. Vionell Holdings, a property management company with property in Brandon and Thompson, allows pets (with restrictions) in well over half of the units that they have available. If you consider that they have just over 3,500 units, that is a lot of pet-friendly space available! Investors of rental property or the condominium board of directors typically set the restrictions regarding pets for the units that are under their control. While some may believe that best way to protect the value of the buildings is to offer a pet-free environment in these communities, others are more inclined to offer pet-friendly options, but with various restrictions. Most of these restrictions are just slightly less than the City of Brandon by-law that states that no person shall own more than two dogs or two cats over the age of six months. And there are sometimes requirements from the city relating to licensing for pets which includes proof of vaccination. The most typical restriction is limiting the condominium owner or apartment dweller to either one dog or one cat. As well, sometimes a size limit is placed on dogs (some residents may be afraid of large dogs) and animals may be restricted to certain areas of the complex. However, when it comes to service dogs they are welcome in any community. Service animals as defined by the Manitoba Human Rights Code are animals specifically trained to assist a person with a disability. The work or task(s) performed by a service animal must be directly related to a person’s physical or mental disability.  Animals that provide comfort and companionship and that are not trained to assist with a person’s disability are not service animals. While cases have been made by pet owners that their pet is an emotional support animal, this isn’t the same as a service animal. For most animal lovers, pets are indeed emotional support animals, however, they are still pets. Service animals have been specifically trained and have a serious job to do and that is why they are treated differently. It opens a giant can of worms if property investors and condominium boards were to allow emotional support animals into units where decisions have been made that pets are not welcome. Consider how you would react if you saw someone carrying a 25-foot python that could eat a small child into a condominium that prohibits pets? You can bet that the resident pushed the issue far enough to get allowances for an emotional support animal, but does that make it right for the other residents or for prospective residents? I have pets of my own, but I wouldn’t want my pets interfering with the lives of other tenants or potentially causing them allergy-related issues when they bought a condo or rented an apartment that was designated as a pet-free environment. For tenants on the opposite end of each spectrum, there is good news for all. Most of the complexes managed by Vionell Holdings have designated pet-friendly units. This means that the pet lovers can live in harmony beside other pet lovers; and for those who do not care to be around animals, particularly if they have allergies, they can steer clear of the pet-friendly units. Now, if we can all just be courteous and clean up after our pets, we can help to maintain the space around our complexes for everyone to enjoy and be proud of. Vionell Holdings Partnership (VHP) provides rental housing and property management for an array of residential and commercial customers, including Condominium Management. VHP currently has over 3,500 units under management in Manitoba.

Many people have often heard about a life lease community, however they don’t often know how they work and why people would choose a life lease community over a condo or traditional apartment.  A life lease community is a rental arrangement where a tenant makes a cash contribution called an entrance fee, these fees can range from as low as $10,000 to $200,000; when the tenancy ends the cash contribution is returned to the tenant (or to the estate in the event of death). The entrance fee is held in trust by a trust company, as the project reaches full occupancy; a Landlord can use the equity to fund construction.  The Landlord much keep a certain number of deposits with the trust company as a float to repay tenants moving out in the future in case a new tenant cannot be immediately found to take the vacant unit. While the tenant has put equity into the community, they still pay a monthly rental amount that is less than it would be in a traditional rental community.  This monthly rent covers the maintenance costs, property taxes, water and other common area costs for the community. In times of property appreciation, one might ask why someone wouldn’t buy a condo instead of choosing a life lease community.  The most common answer to this is while life lease holders do not gain equity in times of property appreciation, they do not have to worry about selling their unit in a down market and can be free and clear of their life lease commitment with 90 days’notice, rather than risking selling their condo in a down market should their lifestyle or health change. What are some other benefits of Life Lease Communities? Tenants find they are part of a community of likeminded people with common interests and of similar age and values The entrance fee generally allows for tenants who care for the property and take pride in the appearance of their community Although the entrance fee is not earning interest, the contribution itself helps by saving monthly rent as a portion of the equity required for the project is funded by the life lease holders. Brandon’s newest life lease community is being built on the North Hill just east Grand Valley Church.  The Summit will feature two 18 suite buildings with underground parking.  For more information please visit www.vhproperties.ca. Vionell Holdings Partnership (VHP) provides rental housing and property management for an array of residential and commercial customers, including Condominium Management. VHP currently has over 3,000 units under management in Manitoba.

The second Prairie Organics Conference and Trade Show will reprise its successful 2016 format of pairing leading edge science with the best organic farmers in Canada. With 26,000 square feet of exhibit space, the free trade show features its own Ag Innovation Stage, the largest organic trade show in western Canada and free customized meetings for buyers and growers of organic grain. Below are some of the highlights from the conference stream. Gillian Flies and Brent Preston Building a Profitable Organic Vegetable Enterprise Brent and Gillian share valuable lessons learned the hard way over a decade spent building their Ontario organic market garden into a profitable and environmentally viable farm enterprise. These lessons are detailed in Brent’s new book The New Farm: Our Ten Years on the Front Lines of the Good Food Revolution published by Random House in 2016. Dr. Jonathan Lundgren Putting the Diversity back into Organic Jonathan Lundgren is an insect ecologist from South Dakota. Jonathan’s talk will help farmers to better understand the role of insects in ecosystem functioning and how they can benefit the Whole Farm. Jay Fuhrer What’s on your Landscape? Jay is a Conservationist with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Bismarck, North Dakota. He will cover foundation principles to restore and maintain life in the soil, including resource concerns such as erosion, salinity, plant and animal diversity, carbon and water quality. Ian Cushon, Loic Dewavrin and Steven Snider Producer Panel: Managing Perennial Weeds Long time organic producers from Saskatchewan, Quebec and Alberta will share what they have learned over the years about how to manage perennial weeds in an organic farming system. Dr. Martin Entz and Ryan Boyd Integrating Crops and Livestock for Optimal Production Martin is one of Canada’s leading researchers with an organic and natural systems focus. He runs Canada’s longest running organic-conventional cropping system trial. Ryan is a young farmer from Rapid City, Manitoba who is putting leading edge thinking on crop-livestock integration into action. The conference and trade show will take place in the Keystone Centre in Brandon. Visit www.prairieorganics.org for the complete program and to register.

Just like any other place in the world, online slots are hugely popular in Canada too. In fact, there are hardly any casino players who don’t love playing these amazingly entertaining casino games. It’s not without any reason that slots are widely considered as the most popular of all casino games, both at brick-and-mortar establishments as well as online casinos. Go through any of the online slots Canada reviews from time to time, and you’d hardly hear anything negative about them. Let’s look at the top 5 reasons why online slots are so popular in Canada and far surpass sports betting and other types of gambling: Even small deposits can deliver huge wins The great thing about online slots is that you don’t need to invest hefty sums to win big. Some of the biggest online slot jackpots have been won by making tiny deposits. Although it might seem that the odds are stacked against you, don’t forget that the more is the number of people who play these online slots, the bigger their jackpot amount becomes. Hence, with the lady luck on your side, you could potentially win life changing sums! You don’t need to be a scientist! Unlike as in case of table games that require a certain degree of skill and knowledge, there is hardly any effort involved in winning online slot games. There is no such thing as an online slots strategy. All you need to do is press some buttons and if it’s your day, you could win wads of cash. Play at your own pace A good number of online and off-line casino games make it mandatory for you to make quick yet well-thought-out decisions, implying that you face a lot of pressure while playing them. Online slots are pretty different as you can play them as per your convenience. You have the option of playing the simplest kinds – the 3 row and 5 reel slots, or you can play slightly more complicated kinds - with around 30 pay lines. You are also allowed to try a good number of these online slots for free, before playing them with real money. Valuable me-time Most of the times when you’d play such online slots, you’d be alone, yet have a great time! As you would not be competing against anyone (as is the case of casino table games), you’d be able to play at ease and get valuable me-time. There will be no one pressuring you to make instant decisions and your fate would be totally in your own hands! Great fun! Any time you feel that you have had a bad day at work, you could switch everything off and let off some steam by playing these online slots! These games serve as the perfect means to not only take your mind off your current troubles, but also give you a chance to transform a bad day into a highly profitable one! Furthermore, as online gambling is still a grey area in Canada, you’d most likely not find yourself in any kind of legal trouble.  

This year the Brandon University Chinese Students and Scholars Association (BUCSSA) will be hosting the 2018 Chinese New Year celebration on Feb.17th in the Westman Manitoba Centennial Auditorium. It will be a great chance to learn more about Chinese culture, and enjoy the Chinese New Year together. They are expecting several hundred people to attend the event which includes performances and a Chinese dinner. Local Chinese talent will provide the performances and most of them are Chinese students from BU. Also, they will have several prize draws during the celebration.  The entire evening will be a great opportunity to experience the folk customs. The 2018 Chinese New Year falls on Feb. 16 and it is the Year of the Dog according to the Chinese Zodiac.  Chinese New Year, also called Spring Festival, has more than 4,000 years of history. It is the grandest and the most important annual event for Chinese people. The Brandon University Chinese Students and Scholars Association (BUCSSA) is a non-political, non-religious, and non-profit organization of Chinese students and scholars studying and working in Brandon and is officially registered in BUSU since 2004. Pre-sale tickets can be purchased at the following locations: Living Delight, Sushi Hut, Neo Tea, and Princess Grocery for only $10. Tickets at the door will be $15, and children under 6 will be free. Dinner stats at 5pm and the performances start at 7pm.