Manitoba’s 2018 budget will be presented on Monday, March 12 when the provincial legislature has resumed sitting, Finance Minister Cameron Friesen announced today. “Two years ago, we committed to Manitobans to fix the finances, repair the services and rebuild our economy,” said Friesen.  “We are facing these challenges, keeping our promises and getting results.” Friesen noted the province continues to make important progress on expenditure management.  The second quarter report for the 2017-18 fiscal year cited Manitoba’s forecast summary deficit at $827 million, an improvement of $13 million from the projected $840 million deficit in Budget 2017. “I look forward to updating Manitobans on the tremendous progress we have made and the next steps we will take to make Manitoba the most improved province in Canada,” said Friesen.  “It’s our priority to keep more money in the pockets of Manitobans and build a brighter future for all of us.”

Brandon, MB – An inventory of developable industrial and commercial properties in Brandon is now available online at www.economicdevelopmentbrandon.com, a move that is anticipated will better position Brandon “on the radar” of potential  investors and developers worldwide. A key action under the “Organizing for Competitiveness” pillar within Brandon’s Prosperity by Design Economic Growth Strategy, the online inventory was developed by Economic Development Brandon, which worked with the City of Brandon’s Development Services Division, area realtors, and landowners themselves to gather and compile the information. Properties now listed within the inventory on Economic Development Brandon’s website range from large greenfield parcels in Brandon’s East Industrial Development Zone, to mid-sized vacant infill properties, to smaller, developed sites in the City’s historic downtown. The site features two separate categories of developable land in Brandon: commercial and industrial. Each land category allows for the review of available opportunities in map format to show development opportunities in proximity to others, or via a searchable table to allow the user to narrow the options based on desired site attributes. Each property listing also includes a profile in PDF format, containing relevant information such as parcel size, property taxes, and land assessment. Mapping layers that show a property’s associated utility sizes and locations will be added in the near future. City of Brandon Director of Economic Development Sandy Trudel says their main goal in developing the inventory was to simplify the process of connecting development opportunities with those looking to invest and or develop, whether it be for growth of existing businesses or the attraction of new industries. “Among the sites listed within the inventory are those that otherwise wouldn’t have an online presence, and we know that many site selectors do much of their searching online prior to reaching out to potential markets,” says Trudel. “The inventory will help ensure Brandon is ‘in the game’ at the outset of such a search, and make it as easy as possible for interested parties looking to invest to find what they need.” Trudel notes that the online inventory builds on the extensive internal property listing already maintained by Economic Development Brandon, which allows them to respond to investment opportunities in a timely fashion. “Our online inventory will truly be a living list, with development opportunities added and removed in real time,” adds Trudel. “Economic Development Brandon will continue to facilitate the connection between investors and property owners, with property negotiations occurring directly between the buyer and seller.”

February 9. 2018 – The Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba held it’s annual executive director election at the Keystone Centre on Wednesday evening. Brent Miller was acclaimed as President, and Greg Crisanti was acclaimed as Vice-President. “I’m very excited for this opportunity,” Said Brent Miller, President of the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba. “Kathy has given me a lot of mentorship over the last year. It’s a pivotal time for the Provincial Ex as well as for agriculture and entertainment. We have a lot of important things to work on and our primary focus is to deliver great fairs to this community.” Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba Executive Board 2018/2019. Full list of directors available at www.provincialexhibition.com/news Brent Miller, President Greg Crisanti, Vice President Stan Cochrane Don Mitchell Gary Schott Dick Scott Shirley Neudorf Wayne Buhr Dayle Hughson Ellen Murray Kathy Cleaver, Ex-Officio Out-going President, Kathy Cleaver told us that stepping down from the role of President does not mean that her work with the Provincial Ex will come to an end. “It’s been a good two years; I’ve really enjoyed the people I have worked with and now I’m looking forward to putting my energy back into the Horse Show committee and being there for the final stages of the Dome building. I have a lot of confidence in the new executive, I’m sure they will work hard to strengthen this organization and the fairs.” Said Cleaver.

A semi-trailer has crashed into the railway bridge over Highway 1A near Kemnay.  The latest incident happened on Thursday afternoon around 5:00 pm when a driver misjudged the height of the bridge despite several warning signs.  There is no word of any injuries or damage done to the bridge at this time.

The Manitoba government is maintaining a balanced approach to providing students a quality education while creating efficiency and controlling costs within the public education system, Education and Training Minister Ian Wishart announced today.  The province will invest $1.323 billion in public school divisions for the 2018-19 school year, an increase of $6.6 million. “We continue to provide significant funding to give students the best education possible while we carefully steer Manitoba back onto a responsible fiscal track,” said Wishart.  “When school divisions create their budgets for the year ahead, we expect them to manage their expenditures accordingly.  This means making decisions that best suit students’ needs, and consider the impact on local ratepayers and Manitoba taxpayers.” The minister signalled the intention to move to a streamlined, single provincial bargaining table for public school teachers from the existing 38 collective bargaining units.  The last round of contracts is set to expire June 30. Manitoba is the only province where teacher collective bargaining is conducted exclusively at the local level, negotiated separately between each school board and its local teachers’ association. “We want to put teachers back in the classroom, where they want to be and where students need them most, instead of being at the bargaining table,” said Wishart.  “We want to give trustees more time to focus on the quality of learning for students and free up resources currently tied up by negotiations.” The province will hold a consultation process with affected stakeholders to shape the transition to a more efficient system. For the 2018-19 school year, the minister directed school divisions to limit any increases to their local education property tax to two per cent.  Wishart pointed out The Public Services Sustainability Act wage freeze would alleviate some expenditure pressure on divisions. As well, Wishart announced a 15 per cent reduction to the existing administration cost caps, effective July 1.  School division administration costs, which include the board of trustees, superintendent’s and secretary treasurer’s departments, have increased by $5.6 million or nine per cent in the past three years. “It is imperative we reduce administrative costs while protecting front line services,” said the minister.  “This new approach does not unfairly penalize divisions who have already made the effort to streamline administrative costs, as budgets show all divisions were below their respective caps in the past three years, and many spent well below the limit on administration.” Manitoba will phase out the Tax Incentive Grant (TIG) over the next six years.  The grant will be adjusted to ensure school divisions do not receive less than 98 per cent of last year’s operating and TIG support combined.  TIG was a voluntary program that ended in 2011, intended to assist school divisions that held the line on taxes. Intensive Newcomers Support Contingency funding will increase by $40,000 to help divisions with new arrivals of refugees and other high-needs English as an additional language students. Education financing will come under further examination in early 2019, when the province launches its review of the kindergarten to Grade 12 education system, the minister added.  The process will include public consultation and consider a wide range of issues, such as the quality of education, role of school boards and taxation power.