The Manitoba government is making a historic investment in support of hunter education and safety, which will enhance sustainable wildlife management and support the safe enjoyment of Manitoba’s great hunting opportunities, Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Blaine Pedersen announced today. “Manitobans are bringing new-found passion and appreciation for the world-class wildlife and fish resources this province has to offer,” said Pedersen. “This endowment will provide perpetual funding for hunter education and safety programming, and ensure that resources are available to sustain and improve this programming for generations of Manitobans to come.” The province will be committing a gift of $2 million to endow the Hunter Education and Safety Fund, to be administered by The Winnipeg Foundation. The new Hunter Education and Safety Fund will support the Manitoba Wildlife Federation in activities that educate, train and recruit hunters, and enhance safe and sustainable hunting and trapping of wildlife populations within Manitoba. The Manitoba Wildlife Federation delivers hunter education programming and provides instruction on hunter ethics and responsibilities, hunting laws and regulations, firearm safety, as well as other topics that promote safe and lawful hunting in Manitoba by all resource users. “We are thrilled to see the province making this investment into hunter education and safety,” said Carly Deacon, managing director of the Manitoba Wildlife Federation. “It is critical that we work together with hunters to help understand the importance of the role they play in wildlife management and conservation, and safe and ethical hunting.” For more information on hunter education programming in Manitoba, visit:https://mwf.mb.ca/hunter-ed. (Province of MB News Release)

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release At 855 am, security at a store in the 900 block of Victoria Ave reported a man entered the store and stole grocery items.  The man appeared agitated as he left.  A short time later, the same man returned and spray painted the side of the store and a fence. He ran away but was located by officers in the area.   He was arrested and appeared for remand on Saturday afternoon on charges of Mischief to Property, Theft Under $5000 x 2 and Breach of a Release Order.

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release On April 29, 2021 at approximately 9:00 pm, police responded to a report of a hit and run motor vehicle collision in the 200 block of 5th street.  The suspect vehicle had been reported stolen out of Portage la Prairie and contained several individuals at the time. Police located the vehicle in the area of the 600 block of Pacific and observed one of the suspects fleeing on foot from it.  The 15-year-old male suspect was stopped and arrested by police.  He was lodged at Brandon Police Service and will be released to an adult today.  He will appear in court on June 8, 2021 on a charge of Possession of Property Obtained by Crime. Investigation led police to discover the identity of other individuals who were involved. A 13-year-old male suspect and a 16-year-old male suspect were arrested and lodged at Brandon Police Service.  They will each appear in court this morning on charges of Possession of Property Obtained by Crime and Fail to Comply with Release Order X2.

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release On April 28, 2021, police attended to a report of the theft of merchandise from a business in the 1600 block of 18th street shortly after 2:00 pm.  There were several individuals involved in the incident.  One of the suspects, a 30-year-old male struck an employee in the hand, knocking a cell phone to the ground as he tried to flee.  He was arrested at the business and lodged at Brandon Police Service due to his level of intoxication.  He will be released when sober to appear in court on June 24, 2021 on a charge of Assault. A second suspect, a 28-year-old female was found to be in breach of her 24-hour curfew from a Conditional Sentence Order.  She too was arrested at the business and lodged at Brandon Police Service. A third suspect, a 40-year-old male, managed to flee and was located several hours later going through yards in the area of Queens Cres and Violet Cres.  He was arrested for the theft of merchandise from the business.  He was also the suspect in a separate theft from a Corral Centre business on March 1, 2021.  Due to his level of intoxication, he was lodged at Brandon Police Service to be released when sober on charges of Theft Under $5000 X2.

The Manitoba government will provide more than $25 million that will support more than 8,000 youth employment opportunities this summer through the new Manitoba Youth Jobs Program and existing Green Team grants, Premier Brian Pallister and Municipal Relations Minister Derek Johnson announced today. “Our government is working to protect Manitoba’s youth from the health and economic impacts of the pandemic, as they have been hit particularly hard and face unemployment rates of nearly double the rest of the population,” said Pallister. “Our new wage subsidy program will directly contribute to our government’s growth and jobs agenda outlined in Budget 2021 by supporting our businesses and organizations that will be the drivers of Manitoba’s economic recovery.” The new $15-million Manitoba Youth Jobs Program will provide employers a 50 per cent subsidy on wages paid to eligible employees during the program period of May to September 2021, with a maximum of up to $25,000 per employer. The premier said he anticipates the program will support more than 2,000 Manitoba employers recover from the pandemic and create sustainable long-term, seasonal and short-term employment opportunities for more than 6,000 Manitoba youth. The Manitoba Youth Jobs Program builds upon and streamlines the Manitoba Summer Student Recovery Jobs and Back to Work This Summer programs, which helped create and sustain more than 6,000 jobs for young Manitobans in 2020. The new program:• gets money to businesses faster, as employers will be eligible to apply for an advance payment of up to $750 per eligible employee, up to $7,500;• broadens eligibility criteria to include all Manitoba youth under the age of 30;• allows employers to claim employees hired as early as April 1, 2021;• aligns the program’s eligible wage subsidy period to the employer’s own pay schedule to cover full pay periods between May 1 and Sept. 5; and• provides a 50 per cent wage subsidy on all regular, overtime and statutory wages earned during the 18-week period as opposed to a flat per-hour wage subsidy. The province is also investing more than $10 million in Green Team grant programs to help an estimated 2,000 young Manitobans find summer employment and gain valuable work experience. This includes nearly $9 million for the Urban and Hometown Green Team Program and more than $1 million for the Manitoba Parks Green Team. “These have been challenging times and now more than ever, we need to support local projects and give our youth the work experience they need to take advantage of future career opportunities,” said Johnson. “We also recognize the critical role of Manitoba’s community-based organizations as they help shape sustainable and thriving neighbourhoods and communities.” Urban and Hometown Green Team grants allow communities to hire youth aged 15 to 29 to work on community projects between May 1 and Sept. 30. Non-profit organizations in Winnipeg and rural Manitoba are eligible to receive 100 per cent of wage costs and $250 per position for support costs, while eligible municipal governments in rural Manitoba receive 50 per cent of wage costs and $125 per position for support costs, on a cost-shared basis. Johnson noted priorities for the 2021 summer season are focused on community-based organizations and municipal governments that can offer full-time employment opportunities for youth, and projects that support COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.  The province is maintaining its 2020 funding level for Green Teams, which had doubled from 2019 to stimulate youth job creation during the pandemic, to meet significant program demand. At the Feb. 15 application intake deadline for the Urban and Hometown Green Team Program, the province had received record funding requests. The province has completed its review of project applications and will begin to notify applicants of funding decisions today. More information is available online for the Green Team program at www.manitobago.ca and Manitoba Youth Jobs Program at https://manitoba.ca/covid19/programs/youth-jobs.html. (Province of MB News Release)