On March 3, 2023 at approximately 7:00 pm, police responded to a report of a male with a gun at an apartment in the 000 block of 10th street. Police learned that several individuals had been assaulted as well.   When police arrived in the area the suspect fled on foot, but the 35-year-old male was arrested after a short foot chase.   Further investigation revealed that the suspect stabbed a female victim with a pair of scissors, and struck a male victim with a CO2 handgun. Both victims were treated and released from the hospital for their injuries.   The suspect was lodged at Brandon Police Service and will appear in court today on charges of Aggravated Assault, Assault Cause Bodily Harm, Use Imitation Firearm in the Commission of an Offence, Break and Enter, Armed Robbery, Resist Arrest, Possess Weapon for Dangerous Purpose, Possession of Controlled Substance, and Fail to Comply with Release Order X6.

On March 2, 2023, at approximately 10:00 pm, police were patrolling in the 500 block of Louise Avenue when they observed two males run across the street and discard items underneath a parked car.  The officer recognized one of the males and was aware that he was on a Release Order with a curfew.  As a result, the officer arrested the 18-year-old male for Failing to comply with a Release Order.  During a search of the male, incidental to his arrest, police located a shotgun shell in his front pocket.  The male then attempted to run from police; however, he was already in handcuffs and not very stealthy. When police checked under the parked car they located a sawed off shotgun.  Both males were then arrested for numerous firearm offences.  The two males were lodged at the Brandon Police Service and they are scheduled to appear in court today. The 18-year-old male from Brandon is charged with the following offences: Careless transportation of a firearm Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose Unauthorized Possession of a Firearm Possession of a Firearm knowing it is Unauthorized Possession of a Prohibited Firearm with Ammo Possession of a Prohibited Weapon contrary to a Prohibition Order Possession of Firearm knowing the Serial # has been tampered Resist Arrest Fail to comply with a Release Order x 4 The 15-year-old male from Brandon is charged with the following offences: Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose Careless transportation of a firearm Unauthorized Possession of a Firearm Possession of a Firearm knowing it is Unauthorized Possession of a Firearm knowing the Serial # has been tampered

An integral role within the City of Brandon’s senior management team has been filled with the recent promotion of Mark Allard into the City of Brandon’s position of General Manager of Development Services, City Manager Ron Bowles has announced. Allard will oversee the City of Brandon’s Engineering & Water Resources and Planning & Building Safety Departments. Allard brings with him a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Manitoba and possesses a diverse skillset in several areas of development services. Allard has 30 years' experience with Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure and worked in Regional Operations before starting employment with the City of Brandon in August 2020 as the Director of Engineering Services. Development Services include city planning and land development, building inspection, asset management, municipal engineering, and utilities. “Mark is stepping into a big leadership role created when the prior general manager took over the City’s operations area,” states City Manager Ron Bowles. “We have numerous large-scale projects including the largest-ever, water treatment facility upgrade, and a highly active development and building industry. He is a strategic thinker whose skills will be a welcomed addition to the City’s senior executive team.” "I am excited for the opportunity to work with the staff of Development Services delivering sustainable growth and quality municipal infrastructure,” states Mark Allard. Allard began his role on Friday, February 24th and will work out of the A.R. McDiarmid Civic Complex at 638 Princess Avenue.

The Manitoba government is providing $2.1 million to Assiniboine Community College (ACC) to offer a one-time, 25-student cohort for its practical nursing diploma program in Neepawa, Advanced Education and Training Minister Sarah Guillemard and Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced today. “Our government continues to make strategic investments and work collaboratively with post-secondary institutions to help meet the need for nurse training in Manitoba and we look forward to welcoming these practical nurses into the profession,” said Guillemard. “Aligning Manitoba’s education and skills training systems with labour-market needs and economic priorities enhances the prosperity of our great province.” The Manitoba government plans to invest approximately $2.1 million of combined operating and capital funding in this important initiative, the minister said. “Investment in training practical nurses helps fulfil the Manitoba government’s goal to add 2,000 health-care providers as laid out in the Health Human Resource Action Plan,” said Gordon. “Getting more practical nurses into the health-care system means that more Manitobans will have access to care in hospitals and clinics.” The one-time offering in Neepawa will provide students with training close to home, allowing them to study, work and strengthen health care in the region, noted Guillemard, adding the investment aligns with Manitoba government’s Skills, Talent and Knowledge Strategy to increase post-secondary education participation rates for rural students. “We are pleased to be able to contribute to training people for careers in health care throughout the province. Nursing is Assiniboine’s largest single program and our graduates have a track record of getting jobs and staying in Manitoba.” said Mark Frison, president, ACC. “This welcome investment by the Manitoba government allows us to respond to needs in Neepawa and we look forward to working with the community to expand access in this growing region of the province.” Nurses from rural communities are more likely to stay or return to rural health settings and graduates of this program will be eligible to fill positions at the new hospital under construction in Neepawa scheduled for completion in 2025, added Gordon. At nearly four times the size of the existing Neepawa Health Centre, the new hospital will include: 63 acute care inpatient beds, an increase from 38 at the current site; an expanded emergency department designed to best practice standards that includes assessment and treatment rooms, a trauma room, stretcher bay and ambulance bay; and enhanced space for a number of programs such as surgery, diagnostics and palliative care, as well as various outpatient services including chemotherapy, ambulatory care and an eight-station dialysis unit. This investment aligns with the Health Human Resource Action Plan, which launched in November 2022 with a commitment to add 2,000 health-care providers, invest $200 million to retain, train and recruit health-care staff across the province, and eliminate mandated overtime.

There was a time when a federal Cabinet minister felt compelled to resign because of a food inspector failing to detect and prevent tainted tuna from entering the marketplace. You could easily argue that it is unrealistic for the senior elected official responsible for running a very large department from personally inspecting every tin of tuna to ensure it was free of contaminants. You could easily argue the inspector should have been held responsible, and maybe a supervisor in cases of gross negligence, and that the firings stop there. But no. John Fraser felt honour bound to fall in his sword and left the Cabinet table. Say what you will about politics, and politicians, but there was a time when ethics and reputation mattered. Fast forward 40 years, and you’d be forgiven for asking of you lived in the same democratic society. Now, at least in recent times, at least five government MPs have been caught in ethics violations, including the Prime Minister and his own Parliamentary Secretary. But they are sorry. Really double-dog sorry. They won’t ever do it again. Honest. They probably even took the time to have their communications teams draft those apologies for them, and practiced in front of a mirror. That’s how much they care. But resign? Laughable. There are differing schools of thought on how to deal with these situations. When Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister, several of his Cabinet ministers did resign when they were in the wrong, or took responsibility for faults in their department. While that was an honourable course of action, and in several cases, warranted, Mulroney later believed the resignations did more harm than good. So, in 1989, when Finance Minister Michael Wilson’s budget was leaked in advance of it being presented, Mulroney refused to accept Wilson’s resignation. Wilson was right to offer that resignation, as was the tradition when budgets were leaked to the press in advance of the Budget Speech. But Mulroney chose to stand by his minister and carry on. From that point on, slowly but surely, potholes which once proved fatal to politicians became survivable through excessive apologies and statements of regret. We have reached the point where the response isn’t, “I’m sorry”, but “So what?”. They get away with it because people aren’t paying attention, see it as a joke, and move on to what’s happened last night on Big Brother. So instead of Bev Oda having to resign her Cabinet post because she had the audacity to order a glass of $16 orange juice at the Ritz in London, we now have someone from the federal government booking a $6,000 per night hotel suite which came with a butler — without any consequences at all. I mean, there’s inflation and all. But there’s something fishy about all of that. Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/government-spent-nearly-400k-on-hotels-for-queen-s-funeral-including-6k-night-suite-1.6286113