Manitoba Ag Ex begins today at Brandon’s Keystone Centre. The four day show features the top cattle and sheep breeders from around North America, also an interactive trade show and ‘MooMania’ and EweMania’ school tours. It’s all free to attend, save for the 18-plus ‘Party in the Dirt’ on Friday.
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Those who run the Samaritan House Safe and Warm Shelter in Brandon are worried they’ll have to turn people away again this winter. They say 41 beds is not enough for the city’s growing homeless population. Life’s Journey drop-in centre is another option, but they don’t provide overnight beds. The city says it’s working with the province to try and expand affordable housing to get people off the streets.
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The United Way West Central Manitoba’s annual Coats for Kids and Coats for Seniors campaigns have seen an increase in donations this year, but there’s still an urgent need; more adults and seniors require winter wear.
The United Way will collect gently used and new winter coats, ski pants, mitts, hats and scarves until the end of this week, and then distribute them in November.
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Manitoba’s lieutenant-governor helped to officially kick-off this year’s Remembrance Day campaign. Anita Neville received the first poppy from the Royal Canadian Legion at Government House yesterday. The legion’s poppy campaign gets underway on Friday with proceeds from sales used to help veterans.
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New federal legislation aimed at protecting first responders is being welcomed by municipal and provincial leaders – and most importantly, by police, paramedics and firefighters. It includes tougher sentences for violence and other crimes committed against first responders while they’re working.
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The Bank of Canada cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point today. It now sits at 2.25%. Policymakers believe this keeps inflation close to their 2% target while supporting the economy through tariff disruptions. The bank expects Canada’s GDP to shrink by 1.5% by the end of 2026 because of American tariffs.
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Dozens of managers at Canada Post have reportedly been laid off as the corporation restructures amid an ongoing labour dispute. There’s no word on how many positions were eliminated. Meanwhile, CUPW, the union for 55-thousand workers, and Canada Post were expected to return to the bargaining table this week. Workers are currently on rotating strikes.
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Zellers is making a comeback – again. The discount retailer that’s died and been revived several times since it began in 1928, will relaunch Thursday at a mall in Edmonton. The new Zellers, in a much smaller space, will keep its original emphasis on affordable family offerings, but will ditch things like toys and pharmaceuticals.
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Here’s a sobering statistic related to wildfire smoke. A new global health report says every year from 2020 to 2024 about 1,400 deaths in Canada were associated with wildfire smoke pollution. Another key finding was that last year, Canadians were exposed to about six days of unexpected heat waves because of climate change. That resulted in an estimated $1.4-billion dollars in lost income.
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Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday, and as expected, the storm caused massive damage and flooding. Melissa is now making a second landfall in Cuba today.
