Editorials – Brandon Sun

Christmas spirit is all around us

5 minute read Yesterday at 10:40 PM CST

It can be easy for people to be discouraged these days.

For it’s easy to find the darkness. It pokes and prods at us daily as we bear witness to world events, serving only to remind us of the shadows that can dim our spirits if we’re not careful.

The Russia-Ukraine war rages on with more than a million people, many of them civilians, dead or wounded. While many European nations are becoming increasingly concerned about the growing threat of Russian military action against them in the foreseeable future, other deadly conflicts continue to claim lives and destabilize nations throughout the world.

So too, military action by the American armed forces against Venezuela appears imminent, despite no credible justification for the taking of such a step.

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A waste of time and tax dollars

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A waste of time and tax dollars

4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:51 AM CST

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says his government plans to order a public inquiry be held into the post-election actions of the former Progressive Conservative government regarding the failed Sio Silica sand mining proposal.

It’s a bad idea, dripping in partisan politics.

Manitobans will recall that former premier Heather Stefanson and two of her then-cabinet ministers, Cliff Cullen and Jeff Wharton, were accused in 2023 of exerting pressure on other government officials to have Sio Silica’s proposed environmental licence approved and issued during the “caretaker period” that existed between the Oct. 3, 2023 election and the swearing-in of the new NDP government led by Kinew two weeks later.

They will also recall that a member of the NDP caucus filed a complaint regarding the incident with Manitoba ethics commissioner Jeffery Schnoor regarding the matter and that, after conducting a lengthy investigation, Schnoor determined that Stefanson, Cullen and Wharton had each violated Manitoba’s conflict of interest laws by pushing to have the licence approved after losing the election.

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Updated: Yesterday at 11:51 AM CST

Premier of Manitoba Wab Kinew speaks to media prior to the First Minister’s Meeting in Saskatoon on Monday, June 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards

Riding the fiscal rollercoaster

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Riding the fiscal rollercoaster

4 minute read Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025

It was truly a fiscal roller coaster of emotions.

On Dec. 12, Manitoba learned it would be getting a $355-million increase to its federal equalization payment, bringing the total to just more than $5 billion. Equalization involves the redistribution of federal income tax revenue from provinces with bigger economies to those with smaller economies to ensure all Canadians have access to the same levels of government services.

Just three days later, the euphoria over the increase in equalization was dashed by news the budget deficit had grown exponentially. The province’s second-quarter fiscal update showed the budget is now forecast to have a $1.6-billion deficit, nearly twice what the NDP government had budgeted in the spring.

The fiscal backsliding was attributed to the impacts of a historic drought. The province faced $227 million dollars in unfunded costs to fight wildfires. At the same time, Manitoba Hydro went from forecasting a small net profit to a $464-million loss, all due to drought that has lowered water levels.

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Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025

Kinew provides details about the newly announced $100-million overpass in Carberry on Thursday. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

More nurses needed to deliver safer care

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More nurses needed to deliver safer care

4 minute read Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is making health-care promises that the Manitoba Nurses Union says he can’t deliver.

In a post last week by the premier on the X social media website, he said “If you wouldn’t get on a plane with a pilot forced into back-to-back shifts, why should it be any different in an ER — and this spring, legislation is coming to end mandatory overtime for nurses. We’ve already hired 3,500 more health-care workers, including 1,200 more nurses, we can make this change — and deliver better health care for Manitobans.”

He followed that up with another tweet earlier this week, in which he said “If you want safer care, you need enough nurses on every shift. It’s that simple. And this spring, legislation is coming to set nurse-to-patient ratios in key areas of our health-care system.”

The Manitoba Nurses Union does not share the premier’s confidence. In a post on its Facebook account two days ago, the union recounted a recent conversation between Kinew and a nurse, in which the nurse said she had heard about the ending of mandatory overtime, but added “I want to know how you plan to do it when there are not enough nurses.”

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Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says the removal of restrictive property covenants for grocery chains will help lower food prices, but it’s hard to see how the change will have any measurable impact in the near term, Tom Brodbeck writes. (Mikaela MacKenzie/Winnipeg Free Press)

PM facing hard choices in the very near future

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PM facing hard choices in the very near future

6 minute read Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025

“The old relationship we had with the United States, based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military co-operation, is over.”

— Prime Minister Mark Carney, March 2025

Mark Carney is playing the long game with Canada’s economic future. That much has been clear, ever since Canada’s prime minister uttered these words this past spring.

Whether he — and Canada — win that long game will much depend on Canadians’ ability to sustain some short-term pain.

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Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Rising costs are hitting residents from all sides

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Rising costs are hitting residents from all sides

5 minute read Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025

The year 2026 is shaping up to be a financially unpalatable one for both Manitoba residents and governments alike. The signs are unmistakable.

Last month, the Brandon School Division warned that local property taxes could rise as much as 10 per cent for the owner of a typical $301,000 home, thanks in large part to the teacher salary harmonization that has taken place across Manitoba.

According to board chair Linda Ross, the shift to provincewide teacher bargaining has disproportionately hurt smaller and rural school divisions.

“The cost to divisions in Winnipeg will be negligible,” she said. “But for the rest of the province, it’s going to be a lot. The province has said all along they’re not going to pay for harmonization costs, and that creates a really uneven situation.”

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Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025

Manitoba Hydro has asked the Public Utilities Board for an electricity rate hike of nearly 11 per cent over the next three years. That's just one example of how life in Manitoba and Brandon is getting more expensive, fast. (File)

The rising threat of antisemitic violence

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The rising threat of antisemitic violence

4 minute read Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025

This can’t keep happening.

Members of the Jewish community in Australia faced a horrific attack at a religious holiday event, with two gunmen — a father and son — opening fire on families and children at Australia’s famed Bondi Beach.

It didn’t matter to the attackers who they were shooting — the dead include a Holocaust survivor who died shielding his wife from bullets, two rabbis, a 10-year-old girl, and a 62-year-old businessman and philanthropist who tried to draw the attackers’ fire to save others. An older couple who were both killed as they tried, but failed, to disarm one of the shooters early in the attack.

All that mattered to the shooters was that their targets were Jews celebrating the start of Hanukkah.

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Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

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Rebate helps businesses, but larger issue remains

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Rebate helps businesses, but larger issue remains

4 minute read Monday, Dec. 15, 2025

“We had cameras, we had all the security measures, but nothing could be done … and the next week it was a bigger theft. For the same person to come again shows how bold they’ve become.”

— Winnipeg Coffee Culture owner Bibban Rekhi

A new $10-million security rebate announced by the Kinew government last week has been hailed by business owners as a welcome step to help offset costs from theft and vandalism.

The rebate, which allows eligible businesses to receive up to $2,500 per location for security-related expenses, is retroactive to Aug. 23, 2024, and applies to items ranging from alarm systems and cameras to repairs for smashed windows, damaged doors and graffiti removal.

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Monday, Dec. 15, 2025

Chez Angela co-owner James Chambers says the government’s rebate is definitely needed for crime-affected businesses. (The Brandon Sun files)

A temporary move that we shouldn’t plan to continue

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A temporary move that we shouldn’t plan to continue

4 minute read Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025

Apparently, there are two vastly different definitions of “elbows up,” the ubiquitous rallying cry of patriotic Canadians outraged over injuries and insults inflicted by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The first definition, of course, is a reference to the hockey-style elbow shiver we are prepared to inflict on anyone who threatens our sovereignty.

More recently, however, “elbows up” has developed a parallel connotation: as a description of the posture some Canadians assume as they raise an elbow to quaff an American wine or whiskey.

The latter group of elbows-up activists were in abundance this week when the NDP government announced it would start selling off the $8-million stockpile of American alcohol it pulled off the shelves earlier this year to protest Trump’s tariffs and annexation fantasies.

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Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025

The Liquor Mart at the corner of 10th Street and Victoria Avenue in Brandon is one of 12 Liquor Marts across the province to put U.S. booze back on the shelves in a bid to fundraise for charity this Christmas season. (Connor McDowell/The Brandon Sun files)

Canadians show appetite for the moderate middle ground

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Canadians show appetite for the moderate middle ground

5 minute read Friday, Dec. 12, 2025

“Toute nation a le gouvernement qu’elle mérite. (Every nation gets the government it deserves).”

— French philosopher Joseph de Maistre

Every once in blue moon, columnists and editors like to trot out variations of this quote and bat the idea around on the op-ed page, usually with an eye to show that the voting public lacked character in choosing that guy or this party.

Or, more often, it’s used as a way to slam an unengaged public that failed to show up at the ballot box.

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Friday, Dec. 12, 2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney raises the hand of Michael Ma, Member of Parliament for Markham-Unionville, who crossed the floor from the Conservatives to the Liberals this week. Carney seems to be benefitting from occupying the middle of the political spectrum. (The Canadian Press files)

U.S travel policy boosts Canadian tourism gains

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U.S travel policy boosts Canadian tourism gains

4 minute read Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025

If international travellers needed yet another reason to not visit the United States, this is it.

The Trump administration is planning to require visitors from dozens of nations — including allies such as Australia, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the United Kingdom — to provide personal information about themselves and their relatives prior to entering America.

According to a notice posted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security earlier this week, the additional information that would have to be disclosed prior to entry would include five years of each traveller’s social media history, their past 10 years of emails, as well as the personal information of immediate family members, including phone numbers and residences.

The new scheme is part of a planned overhaul of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, which permits citizens of 42 nations enrolled in the program to visit America for up to 90 days for tourism or business travel reasons without requiring them to apply for a visa prior to entry.

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Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025

A line of vehicles wait to enter Canada at the Peace Arch border crossing Monday, Aug. 9, 2021, in Blaine, Wash. Border-city mayors, tourism industry leaders and an opposition MP say it’s time to bid a less-than-fond farewell to the ArriveCan app. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Community support needed for new pool

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Community support needed for new pool

5 minute read Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025

“Any of the options are great for the community. It is a big investment for about four or five months … of the year. But we are a growing city, we want to make sure that there is things for people to do inside the community.”

— Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett

A second pool. At the Keystone. With a six-lane lap pool. And a pair of waterslides instead of just one. At least that appears to be the best option from our standpoint.

No doubt councillors around the city hall table had a little sticker shock at the price of the proposed pool options presented to them by Todd Burton this week.

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Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025

A swimmer leaps off the diving board at the Kinsmen Centennial Pool in Brandon’s Rideau Park in this 2024 file shot. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun files)

U.S. booze appears to be finding a warm welcome

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U.S. booze appears to be finding a warm welcome

5 minute read Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025

While this may go against ongoing anti-Trump sentiment and tread upon our Canadian sensibilities a little, it looks like more than a few of us are ready and willing to buy American.

At least for the next few weeks.

Since last March, a large stockpile of U.S.-made alcohol and spirits has been gathering dust in Liquor Mart warehouses after Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and other Canadian premiers decided to pull American booze off the shelves as a tariff retaliation measure.

At the same time, Kinew ordered Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries to stop making new orders of American alcohol as well.

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Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025

Wider representation needed on city council

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Wider representation needed on city council

5 minute read Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025

A recently assembled group that has dedicated itself to getting more women elected around the Brandon council table has been making headlines in the province in the past few weeks as it encourages more women to get politically engaged.

Just last week, Her Seat at the Table hosted a two-hour “come-and-go” event to introduce interested women to the ins and outs of running for city council. The event, by all accounts, was quite successful, with at least 65 people of all ages and persuasions in attendance.

With the next municipal election a little more than 10 months away, it’s the right time for potential candidates who are kicking the tires at a run for office to start taking a more serious look.

Our current council sports but one woman out of the 11 available seats, and it’s well known that only one woman has ever served as mayor of this city. So there’s definitely a need — and apparently a desire — to balance out the gender equation when it comes to our city councillors.

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Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025

Visitors mingle at the Her Seat at the Table open house at The Backyard On Aberdeen in Brandon on Wednesday evening. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Food prices are only going to get worse

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Food prices are only going to get worse

4 minute read Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025

Headlines this week reveal a food economy that appears to be starving producers while bestowing nearly unlimited riches on grocery retailers.

Caught in the middle are consumers who face skyrocketing prices that show no sign of slowing down.

The Canada Food Report predicted this week that food prices will rise by four to six per cent over the next year, driven largely by the cost of meat products. In case you were wondering, the rate of food inflation is two to four times higher than overall inflation.

Some premium products, like steak, continue to drive the increase in price. The spike in beef prices is well documented and explained.

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Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025

Soaring grocery bills have been a major concern for Canadians long before Donald Trump’s presidency, while major grocery chains have posted record profits. (File)

An undeserved award

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An undeserved award

4 minute read Friday, Dec. 5, 2025

This is a joke. An insult to nations around the globe, including Canada, and an indelible stain on an event that should encourage world unity.

Yesterday afternoon, United States President Donald Trump was awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize at the World Cup draw ceremony in Washington. Next year’s event, which brings 48 of the planet’s top male soccer teams together in competition to be crowned world champion, is being co-hosted by Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, is composed of 211 member nations and serves as soccer’s global governing body. It oversees and promotes the development of soccer at every level, from grassroots initiatives to elite international competitions such as World Cup.

How that has anything to do with diplomacy and world peace is a mystery, as is the reasoning behind giving Trump any kind of “peace prize.” According to FIFA, the prize is meant to “reward individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and by doing so have united people across the world.” But that description does not apply to the actions of the U.S. president.

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Friday, Dec. 5, 2025

December 24, 2025

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