Westman Lumber Supply marks 10 years

Westman Lumber Supply marked a decade in business with a customer appreciation event on Friday afternoon.

The event featured free food, giveaways supplied by the company’s vendors and suppliers, and sales. Customers dropped in throughout the event to grab food and take part in the anniversary.

“It’s our second annual customer appreciation,” said general manager Kevin Fast. “We prepared enough food for about 600 people for the event, after about 420 customers attended last year’s customer appreciation event.”

Fast, who has been with the company since 2016, said the company has built its business around customer service and satisfaction.

Inflation holds at 3% in August as high oil prices not spilling over: economists

OTTAWA - Canada's inflation rate held steady in August, suggesting higher energy costs have yet to spill over significantly into broader consumer prices.

The consumer price index report released Monday by Statistics Canada showed the annual rate of inflation was unchanged at three per cent last month.

The inflation reading was in line with economists’ forecasts and could ease speculation of a Bank of Canada rate hike next month, said Benjamin Reitzes, BMO's managing director of Canadian rates and macro strategist.

He said there was little in the inflation report to push the central bank toward an interest rate increase, potentially cooling market expectations of an October hike.

Ottawa offers faster access to tax rulings as Carney kicks off investment summit

OTTAWA - Ottawa is tweaking tax policy to make Canada more attractive to international investors just as Prime Minister Mark Carney is welcoming scores of global asset managers to Toronto.

The federal government said in a press release Monday that investors putting $1 billion or more into the Canadian economy will now get priority access to a program that offers binding decisions from the Canada Revenue Agency.

Through the existing Advance Income Tax Rulings (AITR) program, qualifying investors can get clarity on how income tax law will apply before they commit capital.

"When investors are considering major projects, certainty matters," Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in a media statement.

Workshop gives Black students tools to succeed

Loy Excellentia Initiative hosted its first “Beyond The Classroom” to help post-secondary students navigate life, school and careers in Canada on Saturday.

The event, held in Brandon University’s Faculty of Education, was a professional development and community-building workshop designed to help Black, African and Caribbean post-secondary students navigate life in Canada.

The full-day event brought together professionals from areas that included banking, writing, academic success, career development and mental health to share their knowledge with students.

The workshop was created to give international students practical information about systems and resources they may not be familiar with after arriving in Canada, founder Aloy Anyichie said.

Gossip in the Graveyard brings history to life

There was plenty of gossip in the graveyard Saturday evening— but none of it came from the living.

Instead, visitors to Brandon Municipal Cemetery were invited to step back in time as actors portraying some of Brandon’s prominent historical residents emerged from among the gravestones to tell stories of the people, businesses and events that helped shape the city.

The annual Gossip in the Graveyard event uses historical research and theatrical performances to bring some of the city’s early residents back to life, with performers speaking in character beside, or in connection with, the graves of those whose stories they portrayed.

Among them was Margaret “Maggie” Stewart McMillan, portrayed by Sarah Hay, who told visitors about her husband, Archibald McMillan, Brandon’s first chief of police.

All fur a good cause

Pet owners and animal lovers alike gathered at Kin Park on Sunday morning to support the Brandon Humane Society, and to hang with a bunch of four-legged friends.

Dozens of breeds of dogs were on display at the annual fundraising event, from the very large to the very small. And as they have done for several years now, members of the Wheat Kings were out in force on Sunday to support the Humane Society by barbecuing hot dogs and mingling with the public.

» Photos by Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada wants ‘unique alliance’ with EU, not membership

TORONTO - Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada is not looking to become a member of the European Union, but is seeking a "unique alliance" with the economic bloc.

Carney was asked Sunday about a Wall Street Journal report that suggested he was exploring whether Canada could become an "associate member" of the European Union.

Speaking at a Toronto International Film Festival event, Carney says Canada will begin discussions with the European Union forged on common values, priorities and strengths.

The prime minister says the world has become more dangerous and divided and that "friends need to stick together in these times."

Google to begin using age assurance tech to identify underage accounts in Canada

OTTAWA - Google is bringing its age assurance technology — which uses artificial intelligence to detect underage users — to Canada.

"Our age estimation model uses machine learning to interpret a variety of signals already associated with a user's account, such as the types of information a user has searched for or the categories of videos they've watched on YouTube," the company said in a blog post Monday.

The company says that if the technology identifies someone as underage, their Google account will be changed to include additional protections, such as safeguards on content recommendations.

If it mistakenly identifies an adult as being under 18, the company says that person will be able to prove their age using things like a government ID or a selfie.

Trump calls on Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian diesel fuel, saying attacks are causing a shortage

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure used to produce and distribute diesel, saying the attacks are causing a global shortage. He spoke after diesel prices in the U.S. hit a record on Friday, soaring past $6 a gallon on average.

Ukraine has for months been targeting Russia’s oil and gas industry with long-range strikes, prompting fuel rationing across the country and causing Moscow to ban diesel exports in July, removing supplies from the already tight global market.

But the global crunch also came after the war on Iran curtailed oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Fuel prices are weighing on Americans as they prepare to vote in midterm elections in November.

This Week on Campus — Sept. 14, 2026

BRANDON UNIVERSITY

Faculty from the school of music will take the stage for the season debut of the pro series on Tuesday at the Lorne Watson Recital Hall. The eclectic program will include newly commissioned solo works and faculty collaborations of Brazilian songs, tango arrangements, French gems and jazz standards. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m., and tickets will be available at the door for $20.

A new exhibition, titled “What Were You Wearing?” will be on display this week in the He Oyate Tawapi Ceremony Room (Room 141 of the Health Studies complex). The exhibition, drawn from the Rural, Remote and Northern Gendered Violence Research Program, explores rape myth on a university campus, with local artists TJ Southam, Renata Truelove and April Bone turning the voices of victims/survivors into visual displays. Opening night will take place on Tuesday, from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibition will be open from Wednesday through Friday, from 11 a.m., to 4:30 p.m., and on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. All are welcome to attend.

The Bobcats women’s rugby team will take on the University of Regina in their season opener on Saturday. The match will begin at 1 p.m, at John Reilly Field. The Bobcat soccer teams are on the road this weekend.