Education and Training Minister Kelvin Goertzen provided a progress report today on the construction of seven new schools in Manitoba, which are at various phases of the design, tender and build process. “Our government is building the most schools ever in Manitoba in such a short time period,” said Goertzen.  “Over the past two decades, we averaged one new public school per year, but we’ve had to change our approach to keep up with unprecedented growth in some divisions.  We’re happy to have found an innovative way to deliver the greatest value for money to Manitobans and ensure quality schools will be on time and on budget.” In June 2017, the province issued a request for proposals (RFP) for two new schools – a kindergarten to Grade 8 in Winkler (Garden Valley School Division) and a grade 9 to 12 in Niverville (Hanover School Division).  Construction is on schedule and expected to be complete Aug. 15, 2019, the minister said. As part of Budget 2018 in March, the province confirmed construction of five additional new schools.  It plans to issue a RFP Oct. 15 for the construction of a kindergarten to Grade 8 and a grade 9 to 12 school, which will be constructed together on the same site in Waverley West (Pembina Trails School Division).  The province is tendering both schools as one bundled package and will use a consolidated design-build procurement strategy to achieve design efficiencies and cost savings.  The province expects to complete the RFP process and award a contract in early 2019, Goertzen said. The province will also issue separate tenders for the construction of three schools under an enhanced version of the traditional design-bid-build procurement process to achieve a compressed design schedule and cost savings.  The minister said design work is already 66 per cent complete and the timing of the competitive tender process is as follows: Nov. 16 for a kindergarten to Grade 8 school in southeast Brandon (Brandon School Division); Nov. 30 for a kindergarten to Grade 8 school in Waterford Green (Winnipeg School Division); and Dec. 14 for a kindergarten to Grade 5 school on Templeton Avenue (Seven Oaks School Division). The province anticipates awarding those tenders in late 2018 or early 2019. The province had initially explored the feasibility and benefits of building four new schools using a public private partnership (P3) model and retained KPMG to prepare a P3 Business Case evaluation and report.  After a careful review, the province decided instead to enhance its conventional Public Schools Finance Board approach to apply many of the lessons learned through analysis of P3 principles, innovations and methodologies. “We will be achieving many of the advantages available through P3 school construction, which will allow us to bundle elements and build multiple schools at once through an accelerated process that saves money,” said Goertzen.  “Government as a whole still sees merit to exploring the P3 model on other projects, but we did our research in this particular area and developed our own innovative approach.” Goertzen noted the new approach is saving the province an estimated $18 million, which is allowing it to build one more school than initially planned. In order to preserve the integrity of the competitive bid process and maximize savings, the minister committed to release the full KPMG report immediately after all tenders have been awarded.

As the number of newcomers to Brandon only continues to rise, so too does the need for English language programs.  With the recent retirement of the previous and long-serving Language Program Manager, Westman Immigrant Services (WIS) is pleased to welcome Brandy Robertson into the position. Previously the Executive Director of the Women’s Resource Centre, Robertson comes to WIS with fifteen years of experience volunteering and working in the not-for-profit sector, a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of New Brunswick, and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certification.   WIS Executive Director Lois MacDonald states, “Brandy has a perfect combination of education and experience to contribute to this position. We look forward to strengthening the current classes that we offer and forging new partnerships within the community to assist our organization to grow into the future. Brandy will play a key role in moving many of these initiatives forward.”   “I’m incredibly happy to be here,” said Robertson on being asked how she was settling in. “The staff are very welcoming, and I’m really looking forward to working with folks from all over the world who have the most amazing stories to tell. This position allows me to combine two of my life’s passions: immigrant and refugee rights and English language and literature study.”   Robertson started in the position early in August and will also be responsible for managing the Language Centre where interpretation and language assistance are provided on a fee for service basis to community agencies and organizations.  Robertson will also oversee another unique language program, Welcome Here, which partners WIS with Elspeth Reid Family Resource Centre to provide a learning opportunity for parents with young children.  The 30 week program, running for two hours twice weekly, provides childcare for the children while the parents participate in language learning. The latter part of each class encourages participation in bonding activities between parents and children.   WIS provides English classes to approximately 400 individuals each year. Skills needed for speaking, listening, reading, and writing English are taught at the Canadian Language Benchmark Levels 1-4. A thriving aspect of Westman Immigrant Services, English language classes are offered free of charge to permanent residents.  Class registration opens on Monday, August 20th , and classes begin on September 10th, running until June 2019. A wide variety of class times are available to meet the needs of all students, including day, evening and weekend time slots. For more information on English language programming and all that WIS offers, visit 1001 Pacific Avenue, call 204-727-6031, or email info@wesmanimmigrantservices.ca.

Source:  Brandon Police Service Media Release At approximately 8:09 p.m. Wednesday evening, Police responded to a 911 call indicating that a window had just been broken at a residence in the 300 block of 11th street. A second 911 call was received stating that a male said he was being chased by someone with a gun. Once on scene Police made contact with the male in the residence and he exited when requested to do so. He indicated to Police that he broke into the residence to get away from those that were chasing him. The 23-year-old male was found to be intoxicated by a drug and found to be in possession of a small quantity of Methamphetamine. The investigation at this time indicates that this was a drug induced hallucination. Nobody was in the residence at the time of this incident. The Brandon man was lodged at the Correctional Centre and will appear in Court today.

The Manitoba government has presented its proposed budget implementation and tax statutes amendment act that would bring into effect important tax relief for individuals and businesses, Finance Minister Scott Fielding announced today. “Manitobans deserve a break,” said Fielding.  “We are giving Manitobans a break by putting money back on the kitchen table for families, seniors and households across the province.” In Budget 2018 the province confirmed it would increase the threshold under which individuals pay no income tax by $2,020 over the next two years, taking more than 30,000 lower income Manitobans off the tax rolls. Fielding noted the proposed legislation would implement key tax measures announced in the budget and others including: providing an innovative new Child Care Centre Development Tax Credit that would give businesses an incentive of up to $10,000 over five years to create licensed child-care centres in communities for working families; simplifying the process for claiming the Primary Caregiver Tax Credit by removing complicated paperwork and allowing caregivers to self-assess their eligibility and register instead of applying for pre-approval; raising the small business income tax threshold to $500,000 from $450,000, saving individual businesses up to $6,000 a year and injecting $7 million back into the economy annually beginning in 2019; eliminating the one per cent profit tax on credit unions and caisses populaires starting in 2019; and exempting fertilizer bins purchased by farmers for farm use and drill bits designed specifically for oil or gas drilling rigs from the retail sales tax. The minister noted the proposed legislation also includes technical amendments and other measures such as: amending The Fuel Tax Act to provide a carbon tax exemption for inter-jurisdictional commercial passenger and cargo flights, to ensure Manitobans and businesses would continue to have competitive access to air service to other parts of Canada and the world; amending various acts to allow chiropractors to provide services through a professional corporation like in other provinces and other self-regulated professions in Manitoba; implementing a financial component of Manitoba’s non-medicinal cannabis regulatory system, which is designed to help drive out the illegal market by keeping prices low and promote public safety as the province’s top priority; and updating The Health Sector Bargaining Unit Review Act to reflect the creation of Shared Health Services as the provincewide health employer. “We made a promise to fix the finances, repair the services and rebuild the economy,” said Fielding.  “We are keeping the promises we’ve made to Manitobans.” Learn more about Budget 2018 at www.gov.mb.ca/budget2018/index.html. View a copy of the proposed legislation at https://web2.gov.mb.ca/bills/41-3/pdf/b034.pdf.

Source: Brandon Police Service Media Release At approximately 8 p.m. Police attended a Business located at the Coral Centre in the 900 Block of 18thstreet North, after receiving a call of a male attempting to steal some items and was currently swinging a hatchet around while still inside the store. The suspect was observed walking out of the store and when Police attempted to stop him, he fled on foot discarding the hatchet in the process. After a brief foot pursuit and a warning that the Taser would be deployed the suspect stopped. The 33-year-old male from Brandon was lodged at the Correctional Centre and will appear in Court today after being charged with Possession of a Weapon Dangerous, Resist Arrest and Theft Under $5000. No one was injured or directly threatened during this incident.