The City of Brandon is inviting residents to attend an open house to further discuss expanding the community to the South.  Earlier this year, the City of Brandon started a proposal on behalf of a land owner to bring a large parcel of land (170-acre) in the RM of Cornwallis into Brandon boundaries.  The developer is seeking to develop the land for regional retail and residential developments, aimed at serving Brandon’s south end.  If you are looking to have your say on Brandon’s development to the south, you can attend the open house being held inside A.R. McDiarmid Civic Complex (638 Princess Ave) starting at 5:00 pm on Wednesday, August the 9th.  This is the second "South Brandon Annexation" open house and is the last piece in the public consultation process.

A 40 year old man has been arrested on multiple charges following an incident in Brandon on Monday evening, the 24th of July.  Police were initially called to a residence in the 400 block of Louise Avenue for a weapons complaint, after a male said that another man had threatened him with a firearm.  The male suspect was taken into custody at approximately 4:00 am by the Tactical Response Unit.  Police searched the building and found a firearm and a subsequent investigation lead to the following charges for the alleged suspect: Robbery with a Weapon Point a Firearm Uttering Threats to Cause Death Use Firearm Commit Offence Possession of Weapon for Dangerous Purpose to the Public, Careless Use of Firearm Unauthorized Possession of Firearm Knowledge of Unauthorized Possession of Firearm Possession Firearm while Prohibited x2. The suspect is being lodged at BCC until a court date at the end of July.  

Province of Manitoba News Release Brandon allocation/projects: Victoria Avenue East Rehabilitation - Park Street to Douglas Street (Contract A); Durum Drive Reconstruction - Prelude to Garnet (Contract A) The Manitoba government is investing $12 million for municipal roads, Indigenous and Municipal Relations Minister Eileen Clarke announced today, along with Chris Goertzen, president, Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM), and Reeve Jim Campbell, RM of Rockwood. “Investments in our road and transportation infrastructure ensure that both goods and services continue to flow efficiently throughout our province,” said Minister Clarke.  “Our government recognizes the importance of investing in our municipal infrastructure, which helps foster long-term, sustainable growth for our communities.” The Municipal Road Improvement Program was developed in partnership with the AMM and provides 50/50 cost-shared funding for municipal road projects including the cost of new road construction and road renewal projects to extend the useful life of a road.  A total of 188 projects were approved in 2017 in 99 municipalities, the minister noted. “The AMM is pleased to be a partner with the Province of Manitoba in selecting these critical infrastructure projects under the Municipal Road Improvement Program,” said Goertzen.  “While the projects range from main streets to back lanes, and from campground roads to industrial park corridors, all have one thing in common – they will positively impact the citizens in their respective communities.” “Rockwood is a large municipality with numerous infrastructure challenges,” said Campbell.  “Thanks to financial assistance from our provincial government, the RM of Rockwood will be able to attain some of these challenges.” Projects were evaluated against key outcomes that address increased economic activity, extended asset life, improved public safety, and regional or community impact, added Clarke. This funding is in addition to the $747 million that Manitoba Infrastructure has budgeted for roads, highways, bridges and flood protection outside of Winnipeg for capital maintenance and the preservation of provincial infrastructure assets, the minister said.

A 41 year old male has been arrested for Impaired Operation by Alcohol following a bizarre incident in the RM of Headingley on July 22, 2017. Police say that at 1:52 am they spotted a John Deere Riding Mower heading northbound towards HWY 1. The 41 year old male driver allegedly told police he was giving his 39-year old passenger a lift to get cigarettes and that he felt he was being “responsible” by not driving a car. He was released on a promise to appear in Winnipeg for court later in August and charges are pending. In their Facebook post regarding the incident the RCMP stated “In Canada it is illegal to operate any motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drug”.

MIKE STACKHOUSE I don’t usually spend two straight weeks on the same topic, but the Omar Khadr matter remains in the limelight as I continue to be amazed at the number of people I have encountered who are okay with Canada supporting terrorism and harboring a terrorist. I think what disgusts me the most are the Canadian people who show tremendous sympathy for Khadr and absolutely none for the families of the two people (one a fatality and one a serious, permanent injury) Khadr struck when he lobbed a grenade at them during a firefight in Afghanistan when Khadr was a 15-year-old. I don’t have enough space to provide a complete timeline of the Khadr matter, but the guy spent precious little time in Canada even though he was born here. My son was born in Brandon, but moved to Yorkton within two weeks. If he goes on to do something famous, is he recognized by Brandon or Yorkton? That’s Omar Khadr. He was born here, but never lived here to any point that he would recall it. When Omar was 15, he was already in the company of Osama Bin Laden. The two broke bread together (figure of speech). Think about that. We paid $10.5 million to a guy who was at the right hand of Osama Bin Laden. Khadr, who was badly injured in the firefight where the American medic was killed, expressed happiness when learning he had killed an American and signed a statement of facts confessing as such. Khadr later claimed that confession was made as a result of torture, but a judge ruled the confession came after investigators provided video evidence to Khadr of him building IEDs (bombs). Khadr would go on to spend ten years at Guantanamo and Canada was under pressure by the American government to take him back and have his time served here, something the Stephen Harper government wanted no part of. By 2012, he was repatriated back to Canada and then released from custody in 2015 altogether. Meanwhile, back in 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the federal government infringed on Khadr’s rights when it sent its own interrogators (this was back when Chretien/Martin ran the country) to question Khadr after the poor lad was deprived of sleep (not allowed to snooze for more than 3 hours at a time). He also did not have a lawyer present. At first, Khadr sought $100,000. He, later, raised the amount to $20 million and the Supreme Court ruled financial compensation, “left to government to decide how best to respond”, but the Court also noted the original remedy sought by Khadr was his return to Canada; which was granted. Khadr supporters hang their hat on two things: him being a child soldier and his confession was gleaned through torture. Mainstream media has even just accepted the term child soldier for Khadr, yet you see legal matters all the time where a 15 year-old who commits murder is tried as an adult. It’s not like he was 6. Khadr even persuaded his father to let him fight. The intent when he threw the grenade really can’t be disputed. Al Qaeda doesn’t even meet the standard of a legal army, so Khadr is an unlawful combatant (terrorist) by legal jargon. His claims of torture are also not necessarily fact. One court ruled he was treated ‘humanely’. Be careful before you label these court decisions as a joke (if you support Khadr) because it’s a court’s decision that you are so quick to agree with when it comes to accepting this gross payout to him. Also, former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff called Khadr’s treatment to be ‘an acceptable form of duress’. The only court to ever rule on torture, determined there was ‘no credible evidence the accused (Khadr) was ever tortured...even using a liberal interpretation considering the accused’s age’. In another instance where Khadr claimed to have been tortured, there was video tape evidence that supported the contrary and the court said, ‘he was not abused or mistreated in any way by any of the guards’. So, why pay him? Clearly, our very liberal justice system felt Khadr’s rights were violated (but our legal system has also allowed a cannibal to change his name and walk free and, most recently, allowed a mother who killed her six kids to do just eight years of hard time). It was Justin Trudeau’s government’s call to decide how much dough to give this terrorist. The Supreme Court even said so. Trudeau decided $10.5 million. And, for that he’s either nuts or a supporter of terror. Either way, he should pay when we go to vote in 2019. Don’t get me wrong. I believe in ensuring a Canadian’s rights are never breached. But, there has to be balance between compensation for when breaches are made and allowing someone to profit from crime. Fast fact - you may have seen the story of the Canadian man who took his pregnant wife back packing through Afghanistan, only to be kidnapped and now he and his wife are raising their family as captors of al Qaeda. Well, that guy was once married to Omar Khadr’s sister. That sister is in jail in Turkey for terror related accusations. Omar, when asked in 2015 about violent jihad says, “It’s not something I believe in right now.” Like, as in he may believe in it at some point down the road? And, we just paid him $10.5 million for potential recruiting efforts? I’ve never been more ashamed to say I’m Canadian.