The Manitoba government has extended its moratorium on increases to park land lease and service fees for cottages in provincial parks for another two years, Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires announced today. “We believe cottagers are prepared to pay a fair price for the services they receive and for the value of using provincial park land for their vacation retreats,” Squires said.  “We are continuing to explore the development of a fair and sustainable fee structure, and are working in partnership with cottagers to ensure Manitobans can enjoy their cottages and be able to pass them on to future generations.” Cottage service fees cover a variety of services including garbage disposal, water and wastewater, and road maintenance.  Lease fees are based on a percentage of assessed land values.  Service fees are calculated annually based on the cost of delivering services over the previous season. “Cottagers derive great joy from the year-round beauty and tranquility of Manitoba’s wonderful provincial park system,” said Daniel Klass, of the Manitoba Provincial Parks Cabin Owners Association.  “The extension of the current freeze is a positive indication of faith on the minister’s part that will provide an additional period of cost certainty for cottagers. “Also, it will allow the continuation of current productive discussions we’ve had with the minister to reach a funding formula that will support the park system and benefit the province, Manitobans and cabin owners in the long run.” The moratorium, initially established in 2016, had been set to expire in July.  This extension means cottagers in provincial parks will pay the same fees in 2019 and 2020 as they did in 2017.  Cottage owners and associations will continue to be consulted and future changes will be developed with their input, Squires noted.

January 12, 2018 – With the constant push for better online access, the Provincial Exhibition has launched a new look and format for their website to kick off the 2018 event season. “It’s a matter of efficiency and great customer service.” Said Karen Burton, Marketing Coordinator at the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba. “Easy access to information and schedules is important to everyone, we hope our new ‘one-stop shop’ website will help exhibitors and visitors find everything they need for all of our annual fairs.” The Provincial Exhibition and Manitoba hosts the annual Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, Manitoba Summer Fair, Manitoba AG EX and coming up February 15, the President’s Dinner a fundraiser gala for education in agriculture at the Victoria Inn. “As a non-profit ag society, we are the behind the scenes of three of Brandon’s biggest events but there is still a lot of people that don’t realize who the Provincial Ex is or what we do.” Ron Kristjansson, General Manager of the Provincial of Manitoba. “The new website brings everything together; you can enter classes, buy tickets, get schedules and keep up on all our latest news.” The new website can be access by any of the URLS previously connected to the fairs. royalmanitobawinterfair.com manitobasummerfair.com manitobaagex.com provincialexbition.com Learn more about the Provincial Exhibition at their annual shareholder & election of directors meeting on January 25, 7:30 PM at the Keystone Centre’s Q-Country Hall. This is open to the public, purchased share required to vote.

Brandon Police Service Media Release As a result of ongoing investigations into incidents of business Break, Enter and Thefts, Police have arrested a 52-year-old man from Brandon. Forensic evidence and security video assisted investigators in identifying the suspect. The Break, Enters and Thefts occurred on November 7th 2017 at a business in the 2000 Block of Victoria Avenue, December 23rd 2017 at a business in the 600 Block of 9th Street, December 28th 2017 at a business in the 1300 Block of Princess Avenue and January 8th 2018 at a business in the 2400 Block of Victoria Avenue. In all four incidents, the suspect used an object to smash the businesses glass doors. In three of the incidents, cash was stolen from cash drawers and on one occasion, a laptop computer device was stolen.  The suspect was lodged at the Brandon Correctional Center and is scheduled to make a Court appearance on Thursday.

Winnipeg, January 11, 2018 - The numbers are in, and they indicate strong support amongst Manitobans for sharing of revenue from the sale of marijuana with municipalities. The Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) recently commissioned a Probe Research poll asking how much, if any, of the revenue from marijuana should be earmarked for municipalities. According to President Chris Goertzen, the AMM expects significant increases to policing and other costs to emerge from the legalization of cannabis. “We know there is some debate over where this new money should be spent,” he explains, “and we wanted to gauge how much Manitobans feel should go toward these increased costs for municipalities.” Out of 1,000 respondents, 59% indicated that municipalities should get between one-half and all of the revenue from the sale of marijuana. Only 24% of Manitobans felt municipalities should get less than one-half of the revenue, and 16% were unsure. Federation of Canadian Municipalities President Jenny Gerbasi was also on hand to discuss cannabis revenuesharing. Late last year, the FCM advocated that one-third of cannabis excise tax revenues flow to municipalities. In response, the federal government agreed to release half of its share to the provinces specifically to support municipal costs. That step began a dialogue among orders of government to ensure municipalities have the right tools to implement this federal commitment from day one. President Goertzen is encouraged by the results of the AMM’s poll. “These numbers show that Manitobans are concerned about the increased costs of cannabis legalization and their local government’s ability to pay for it,” he says. “This is just another example of how municipalities deserve a “fair share” of revenues, and our citizens support this.”

The Pension Commission of Manitobahas reviewed the province’s pension laws in an initiative to update and strengthen the existing pension system, Finance Minister Cameron Friesen announced today. “We know how important it is for Manitobans to have secure income and certainty in their retirement,” said Friesen.  “We look forward to receiving feedback on the proposed reforms, with a view toward improving pension benefits and building a stronger financial future for Manitobans.” The Pension Commission is required to complete a statutory review of The Pension Benefits Act (PBA) every five years, and report its findings and recommendations to the minister.  The latest review focused on new plan designs, solvency deficiency funding rules, locking-in provisions and access to locked-in pension funds, compulsory pension plan membership, division of pensions on relationship breakdown, clarification and legislative gaps. Highlights of the commission’s recommendations include: introducing a target benefit or shared risk plan framework for defined benefit pension plans as another option to encourage defined benefit pension plans; introducing a new funding regime based on enhanced going concern funding and a lower solvency funding threshold of 85 per cent; and allowing greater flexibility for individuals to access locked-in pension funds due to financial hardship. An online public consultation on the recommendations in the commission’s report will occur over a six-week period, the minister said.  For more information on the review and consultation visit www.gov.mb.ca/labour/pension. Electronic submissions can be sent to pensions@gov.mb.ca.  Written submissions can be sent to: The Office of the Superintendent – Pension Commission Room 1004 – 401 York Ave. Winnipeg, MB R3C 0P8 The closing date for submissions is Feb. 21. The minister noted the consultation will be followed by proposed legislation to reform and strengthen the province’s pension system and secure stable retirement income for Manitobans. The Manitoba government appoints members of the Pension Commission and the commission comprises not fewer than five and not more than nine members representing the views of organized labour, plan sponsors, the pension consulting industry and pensioners. The consultation paper and the commission’s recommendations for reforms to The Pension Benefits Act are attached.