As Brandon City Council prepares to deliberate the proposed 2021 municipal budget, the community is invited to provide feedback on the draft financial plan.   For an overview of the draft financial plan, please watch this video from Mayor Rick Chrest and Acting City Manager Dean Hammond.   Questions or comments can be sent by email to budget@brandon.ca, or by filling out the form on brandon.ca/budget/2021-budget​ (this form will be open for questions until Friday, January 22, 2021). Residents may also contact members of City Council at any time during the municipal budget process to share their thoughts on the proposed spending plan.   Prior to Council’s deliberations, the proposed 2021 budget is representative of a 3.15% municipal tax increase. All proposed budget documents can be viewed on the City of Brandon website at brandon.ca/budget/2021-budget. Brandon City Council will deliberate the 2021 proposed budget on Friday, January 29, 2021 and Saturday, January 30, 2021. Deliberations will be held in the City of Brandon Council Chamber* on the 2nd floor of Brandon City Hall and will be livestreamed for the public via the City of Brandon YouTube channel.    *The Council Chamber will be closed to the public because of COVID-19 restrictions.  (City of Brandon PSA)

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release At approx. 1:45 AM today, officers were called to a disturbance on Cornell Bay, upon arrival child and a woman could be heard crying from within the apartment. Officers entered the apartment and located a 23-year-old Brandon male who was the cause of the disturbance. A check of the male revealed he is currently bound by a court order not to communicate with the female that resides there. While arresting the suspect the male became argumentative and spit in the face of one of the officers. He has been charged with failing to comply with a court order and assault peace officer. He will appear in court today.

BRANDON—Today, Heather Stefanson, Minister of Health and Seniors Care, and I had the opportunity to tour the province’s second super-site which has been set up to begin administering life-saving vaccines to Manitobans in the prairie mountain region next week. Located in the Keystone Centre, this super-site will open its doors on Monday, Jan. 18 and will be ready vaccinate 4,100 priority health-care workers in its first week of operations. It is designed with capacity to ramp up to meet the demands of the region as supply of the vaccine increases. This is a significant step in our commitment to establish super-sites in urban areas to reach as many Manitobans as possible with life-saving vaccines. In addition to the RBC Convention Centre site in Winnipeg, which launched on Jan 4, a third super-site is scheduled to open at the Thompson airport on Feb.1. Additional fixed vaccination sites are also planned throughout the province, as more vaccines arrive in Manitoba. The province’s 28-day campaign to immunize all eligible personal care home residents in the province is now also underway. Hillcrest Place in Brandon will be the first site in the region to be visited by a Focused Immunization Team, so that vulnerable residents can receive the vaccine in a familiar setting. In total, more than 1,150 personal care home residents will receive their first dose of a vaccine by end of this week. I want to thank the hardworking and dedicated members of Manitoba’s Vaccine Implementation Task Force and our regional health partners for their work on these critical elements of Manitoba’s vaccine rollout. (News Release - Manitoba)

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release On January 9 police received a report of a shoplifter from a retail outlet in the 900 block of Victoria Ave. The female suspect had stolen approx. $200 worth of cosmetics. The theft was recorded on the in-store video system, which allowed Police to identify her. On Tuesday evening, the 30-year-old Brandon female was located and arrested for theft. She has been released with a court date of April 1.

The Manitoba government is extending the Manitoba Bridge Grant application deadline until Jan. 31 and expanding eligibility to offer financial support and protection for more small businesses through the current public health orders, Premier Brian Pallister announced today.“Small businesses, charities and not-for-profit organizations continue to do their part to protect the health and safety of Manitobans and follow the restrictions under the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System,” said Pallister. “As expanded public health restrictions are necessary to protect Manitobans and reduce COVID-19 cases, we are extending the Manitoba Bridge Grant to help more businesses make it through this critical time and eases some of their financial pressures.”To reflect the extension of the public health orders announced Jan. 8 and to ensure small and medium-sized businesses, not-for-profits and charities get the support they need, the province is inviting businesses to apply for the Manitoba Bridge Grant until Jan. 31, 2021.   Pallister also confirmed eligibility has been expanded for hotels, resorts, lodges and outfitters, travel agencies, janitorial services companies and owner/operators of licensed passenger transportation businesses that have seen demand for their services impacted by the public health orders.The province first announced the Manitoba Bridge Grant Nov. 10, 2020, to provide $5,000 up-front to businesses, not-for-profits and charities directly impacted by the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System and temporarily ordered to close their storefronts to the public. The province announced a program expansion Dec. 8, 2020 to support home-based businesses indirectly impacted by Manitoba COVID-19 public health orders, with up to $5,000 based on 10 per cent of their most recent calendar year revenues.The province had committed to providing an equal second payment if public health orders remained in place past Jan. 1, 2021. Those payments were made between Jan. 8 and 10 and recipients notified of the deposit via email.To date, the Manitoba Bridge Grant program has paid approximately $104 million to 10,740 eligible applicants, which includes the first payment Nov. 16 to Dec. 31 and second deposits this past week. The total includes approximately $94 million to over 9,400 store-front businesses that received two $5,000 up-front payments. It also includes approximately $10 million to more than 1,300 home-based businesses in two equal payments of up to $5,000. The average payment to home-based businesses is $3,605, or a total of $7,210 on average to each business.Beginning Jan. 12, new applicants to the Manitoba Bridge Grant that were ordered to close their premises will be entitled to a one-time payment of $10,000, whereas eligible home-based business applicants will receive a maximum payment of $10,000.   “Our government remains committed to delivering the right programs at the right times in response to the COVID-19 outbreak to help individual Manitobans and businesses through these challenges,” said Pallister. “Manitoba is providing one of the most broad-based, accessible and generous business support programs in Canada.”Pallister noted the province has committed approximately $420 million in COVID-19 supports to Manitoba businesses this fiscal year through programs such as the Manitoba Bridge Grant, Manitoba Gap Protection Plan, Back to Work in Manitoba Wage Subsidy and measures such as the elimination of the provincial sales tax (PST) on property insurance and Manitoba Public Insurance rebates.This also includes initial supporting funds of up to $50 million for business groups such as the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce and Economic Development Winnipeg to provide a detailed plan to government on long-term recovery funding this month.More information about the Manitoba Bridge Grant is available at https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/programs/bridge-grant.html. Businesses that require assistance in completing the online form can contact Manitoba Government Inquiry at 204-945-3744 or 1-866-MANITOBA (1-866-626-4862).Manitobans can learn more about COVID-19 supports for businesses at https://manitoba.ca/supportsforbusiness. (News Release - Manitoba)