Columns – Brandon Sun

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to the media during an announcement in Brampton, Ont., on Aug. 29. (The Canadian Press files)

Poilievre in strong position with Parliament resuming

By Deveryn Ross 5 minute read Yesterday at 10:57 PM CDT

If a federal election were held today, there is a good chance the Conservative Party would elect the greatest number of MPs and that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre would be our next prime minister.

That’s the conclusion to be drawn from three national polls released over the past three weeks, including two released earlier this week. On Aug. 17, Abacus Data released the results of its most recent poll, which found that the Conservatives held a 41-39 lead over the governing Liberals.

This past Tuesday, the Angus Reid Institute revealed that its latest poll found near-identical results, giving the Tories a 42-40 lead. On Thursday, however, Mainstreet Research revealed that its most-recent poll found the Liberals leading the Tories by that same 42-40 margin.

Given the margin of error for each of those three polls, the parties are statistically tied in nationwide support.

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Ottawa’s back-to-work powers undermining the right to strike

By Bethany Hastie and Keegan Nicol 6 minute read Preview

Ottawa’s back-to-work powers undermining the right to strike

By Bethany Hastie and Keegan Nicol 6 minute read Thursday, Sep. 4, 2025

The federal government’s recent use of Section 107 of the Canadian Labour Code to end the Air Canada flight attendant strike is a troubling development for Canadian workers and unions.

On Aug. 16, less than 12 hours after more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job, the federal jobs minister intervened.

Patty Hajdu invoked Section 107 to order the attendants back to work, and directed their union and Air Canada to binding arbitration — a process in which a neutral third party decides on the terms of a collective agreement after considering each party’s position.

Section 107 provides the jobs minister with the general power to “maintain or secure industrial peace” and to direct the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), which adjudicates workplace disputes, to also take similar actions.

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Thursday, Sep. 4, 2025

Air Canada flight attendants on strike picket at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Aug. 18. Bethany Hastie writes that the federal government's willingness to swiftly order strikers back to work is a troubling development. (The Canadian Press files)

Politics at play as NDP stalls supervised consumption site

By Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Preview

Politics at play as NDP stalls supervised consumption site

By Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 3, 2025

The Manitoba NDP made a big promise during the 2023 election campaign: to open the province’s first supervised consumption site. Nearly two years later, that promise remains just that — a promise.

Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith has said repeatedly since the NDP won government in October 2023 that the province will open one soon, but she has never offered a concrete timeline.

Last week wasn’t much different. When asked by reporters for an update on when the long-awaited facility will open, all she would say is it will happen before the end of the NDP’s first term in office.

That could mean another two years of waiting before Manitobans finally see an overdose prevention centre. In the meantime, more people will die unnecessarily from toxic drugs.

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Wednesday, Sep. 3, 2025

Since the NDP formed government in 2023, Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith has repeatedly said that the province will open its first supervised consumption site. (Ruth Bonneville/Winnipeg Free Press files)

Universities could bolster democracy by helping foster students’ AI literacy

By Larry Till 5 minute read Preview

Universities could bolster democracy by helping foster students’ AI literacy

By Larry Till 5 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 2, 2025

The fears are familiar: Artificial intelligence is going to eat our jobs, make our students weak and lazy and possibly destroy democracy for good measure.

As AI has become more accessible to the public, it has become closely (and probably not unreasonably) associated with academic misconduct, especially plagiarism and other forms of cheating.

For some time now, research has been suggesting that the future of AI and post-secondary education would be deeply intertwined.

What if, though, teaching students to use AI properly — ethically, responsibly and critically — could help make them better, more engaged citizens?

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Tuesday, Sep. 2, 2025

There’s a bit of a void in terms of institutional AI policies on the use or misuse of AI and how everyone understands them, which is understandable, given how new the technology is. (File)

Class divide grows at ballot box

By Matt Polacko 5 minute read Preview

Class divide grows at ballot box

By Matt Polacko 5 minute read Monday, Sep. 1, 2025

Canada’s recent federal election reversed a trend of declining voter turnout, increasing by more than six percentage points over 2021. Elections Canada reported a turnout of almost 70 per cent, the highest level in 32 years.

The predominant consensus as to why turnout surged this year is the increased stakes at play amid United States President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to Canadian sovereignty and his imposition of heavy tariffs on Canadian goods.

While this is certainly true, this explanation somewhat obscures the fact that the election was also heavily focused on the state of the Canadian economy. Ongoing tensions with the U.S. were front and centre, to be sure, but voters were also concerned about the rapidly rising cost of living as well as housing affordability and job precarity.

These economic anxieties were simply magnified by the U.S.-Canada trade war and its perceived pocketbook threats to jobs and inflation.

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Monday, Sep. 1, 2025

Voters in lower socioeconomic groups are focused on the economy, new research suggests. When politicians don’t prioritize the economy, they don’t turn out to vote. (The Canadian Press files)

Higher debt means higher taxes

By Deveryn Ross 5 minute read Preview

Higher debt means higher taxes

By Deveryn Ross 5 minute read Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

The City of Brandon is taking on massive new levels of debt, and it will be decades before that obligation is paid off. During the time those payments are being made, the city will struggle to fund other pressing needs, let alone address the city’s mushrooming infrastructure deficit.

That’s the upshot of a report in yesterday’s Sun, which revealed that the city is expected to have more than $173 million of authorized debt by the end of this year — and that it won’t be paid off until a staggering 33 years from now.

For comparison, the total authorized debt was just $47,712,524 just four years ago, while the outstanding debt was just $36,212,524.

The city is doing all that new borrowing in order to pay for big projects such as the water treatment facility upgrade, southeast drainage improvements and the southwest wastewater expansion, along with a number of smaller items.

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Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

Deveryn Ross writes that the most galling part of the debt situation the City of Brandon finds itself in “is that many of the same councillors who made those poor budgetary decisions back then are still sitting at the council table today, including Mayor Jeff Fawcett.” (Alex Lambert/The Brandon Sun files)

Canada’s news industry needs more than CBC to thrive

By Peter Menzies 5 minute read Preview

Canada’s news industry needs more than CBC to thrive

By Peter Menzies 5 minute read Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

One of the Justin Trudeau government’s most notable failures was its inability to understand the internet and how it continues to change the way people consume information.

Mark Carney may have restored an aura of adult supervision to the nation, but there are hints the new prime minister — who often comes across as more #okboomer than Gen X — doesn’t “get” the internet any better than the last one did. And he doesn’t understand the news media ecosystem as well as he should.

This is why I worry.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Carney responded to a Kelowna reporter’s question about the lack of news links on Facebook by suggesting he might be open to scrapping the Online News Act. In case you missed it, that 2023 legislation was designed to force Meta to pay publishers for posting links for free. Rather than face a shakedown based on a false premise, Facebook chose to no longer carry news links. Google, for its part, paid what amounted to a ransom by setting up a $100-million fund for news organizations to squabble over and, in return, got exempted from the act.

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Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney answers questions during a press conference in Riga, Latvia, on Tuesday. Peter Menzies says Carney doesn’t appear to understand the internet any better than his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, and he “doesn’t understand the news media ecosystem as well as he should.” (The Canadian Press)
Prime Minister Mark Carney answers questions during a press conference in Riga, Latvia, on Tuesday. Peter Menzies says Carney doesn’t appear to understand the internet any better than his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, and he “doesn’t understand the news media ecosystem as well as he should.” (The Canadian Press)

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Immigration must be top priority for Ottawa

By Kumaran Nadesan 5 minute read Preview

Immigration must be top priority for Ottawa

By Kumaran Nadesan 5 minute read Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

This fall, the federal government is expected to release its 2026-2028 immigration levels when its 2025 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration is tabled. Ottawa must show that immigration, including its goals, is a priority as the country looks to meet domestic and international challenges.

Canada is facing a slowing growth. Labour shortages have been reported for months and with increasing competition for talent on the global stage, we cannot afford to treat immigration as a secondary issue. Decisions made this fall will shape our economic and demographic trajectory for years to come.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in March 2020, the Trudeau government increased the number of foreign students, temporary workers and skilled immigrants coming to Canada. The government at that time believed increasing immigration numbers would jumpstart the economy. However, infrastructure, including homes and health care, failed to meet the increased demand for services.

This led to Trudeau announcing last fall a reduction in immigration. The new targets were set at 395,000 permanent residents in 2025, 380,000 in 2026, and 365,000 in 2027. While those numbers represented a reduction from the previous record-high admissions since COVID, the good news was that the numbers reflected a need for continued immigration to meet new challenges.

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Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

Ontario Premier Doug Ford (top centre) speaks during the meeting of Canada’s premiers in Huntsville, Ont., last month. Premiers and territorial leaders made it clear that they want more say on immigration, urging Ottawa “to restore provincial nominee program (PNP) allocations, which were cut in half, and to expand the provinces’ role in selecting economic immigrants.” (The Canadian Press files)
Ontario Premier Doug Ford (top centre) speaks during the meeting of Canada’s premiers in Huntsville, Ont., last month. Premiers and territorial leaders made it clear that they want more say on immigration, urging Ottawa in a joint statement “to restore provincial nominee program (PNP) allocations, which were cut in half, and to expand the provinces’ role in selecting economic immigrants.” (The Canadian Press files)

Was lifting some tariffs against U.S. wise?

By Nargess Kayhani 4 minute read Preview

Was lifting some tariffs against U.S. wise?

By Nargess Kayhani 4 minute read Yesterday at 10:54 PM CDT

Trade disputes between the United States and Canada are nothing new. They date back as far as the late 19th century.

What began as two neighbouring countries seeking to expand their markets and assert economic sovereignty has evolved into a broad range of conflicts.

These historical trade disputes have included accusations of unfair subsidies, protectionist tariffs, and, more recently, concerns over national security, fentanyl and border security.

Softwood lumber, one of the most important items on the list of Canadian exports to the U.S., has been consistently under attack by different American administrations. The disputes go back to as early as 1980s and are still one of the major sources of trade interruptions between the two countries.

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Yesterday at 10:54 PM CDT

Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump participate in a session of the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alta., in June. (The Associated Press files)

NDP fail to overcome Tory tide

By Deveryn Ross 4 minute read Preview

NDP fail to overcome Tory tide

By Deveryn Ross 4 minute read Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025

I have worked on dozens of election campaigns over the past 50-plus years and have learned a number of lessons from those experiences.

Near the top of the list is the realization that the campaigns that hurt the most are the ones in which you thought you had no hope of winning when the campaign begun, but ended up losing by a very small margin.

Within that group, even more painful are the campaigns where you had led at various times while the votes were being counted, but ultimately came up short by a handful of votes.

Those ones really sting because you — both the candidate and members of the campaign team — fall into the trap of second-guessing every aspect of the campaign.

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Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025

Flanked by Brandon East MLA Glen Simard and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, Spruce Woods NDP candidate Ray Berthelette addresses his supporters following his narrow second-place byelection finish to PC candidate Colleen Robbins on Tuesday night at The Backyard on Aberdeen in Brandon. (Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun)

Age-gating laws threaten free speech

By Neil McArthur 5 minute read Preview

Age-gating laws threaten free speech

By Neil McArthur 5 minute read Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025

The United Kingdom recently launched a broad system of age verification that requires any platforms that host pornography or other “harmful” content to ensure their users are 18 or older.

Around the world, large swathes of the open web are being replaced by walled gardens. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Texas’s age restriction law. Twenty-one other states have similar laws in place, and more have been proposed.

Australia restricts young people’s access not just to specific websites, but to all social media, and it will soon extend this to search engines.

In Canada, Bill S-209, which would require age verification for adult websites, could soon become law. It is at the reporting stage in Parliament, the final stage before it comes to a vote.

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Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025

A man uses a computer keyboard in Toronto in October 2023 in this photo illustration. Columnist Neil McArthur questions the effectiveness of age verification laws and their impact on free speech. (The Canadian Press files)

Africa — by size and numbers

5 minute read Preview

Africa — by size and numbers

5 minute read Monday, Aug. 25, 2025

Two Africa-based advocacy groups, Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa, launched a “Change the Map” campaign in April.

“When whole generations, in Africa and elsewhere, learn from a distorted map, they develop a biased view of Africa’s role in the world,” said Speak Up founder Fara Ndiaye — but hardly anybody outside Africa noticed.

That may be changing, because earlier this month the 55-member African Union endorsed the campaign, making it a diplomatic issue as well. The claim is that the traditional Mercator map of the world shows the African continent as hardly any bigger than Europe, whereas in reality it is at least four times as big.

That’s all very well, and it’s true that Mercator’s map projection dates from the 16th century, when European ocean-going ships were expanding and transforming everybody’s view of the world. But it’s also true that all flat maps distort the surface of a sphere (like the Earth) one way or another. Choose your poison, but you can’t have it all.

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Monday, Aug. 25, 2025

People shop in a street market in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. After meeting with members of the Congolese Bishops Conference today, Pope Francis is due to travel to South Sudan on the second leg of a six-day trip that started in Congo, hoping to bring comfort and encouragement to two countries that have been riven by poverty, conflicts and what he calls a

How businesses avoid dealing with modern slavery

By Kam Phung 6 minute read Preview

How businesses avoid dealing with modern slavery

By Kam Phung 6 minute read Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025

Despite growing awareness and legislation aimed at eradicating modern slavery — including forced labour, bonded labour and other extreme forms of human exploitation — efforts to combat the issue remain largely ineffective.

The United Kingdom, the first to enact a modern slavery act in 2015, is a case in point. The latest government figures show 5,690 potential victims in the U.K. were referred to the Home Office between April and June. This is the highest quarterly figure since the national referral mechanism began in 2009.

This could be attributed to a multitude of reasons, including an actual rise in exploitation, growing awareness of the issue and more training being provided for frontline services. But the effectiveness of transparency and disclosure laws in achieving substantive change in businesses’ behaviours has long been questioned.

Canada also has a modern slavery act, Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act, which came into effect in 2024. It requires certain private-sector and government entities to report on efforts to prevent and reduce the risk.

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Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025

Workers stitch garments at a factory run by the Bangladesh based Urmi Group in Narayanganj, Bangladesh, on April 8. Garment workers in Bangladesh have long been fighting for fairer wages and safer working conditions. (The Associated Press files)

Energy efficiency a better bet than pipelines

By James Wilt 5 minute read Preview

Energy efficiency a better bet than pipelines

By James Wilt 5 minute read Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025

Against the backdrop of the deadly, devastating inferno engulfing northern Manitoba, and escalating belligerence from the U.S., a lively debate is playing out over the future of domestic economies and potential nation-building projects in the province and beyond. Some have argued that the province needs more fossil fuel infrastructure, to expand Canadian export markets and profit from remaining oil and gas demand.

But a provincial economic strategy based on increased fossil fuel exports would do nothing to address crises of affordability and resilience, and would instead likely worsen them. The dire realities of the climate crisis and trends in global energy transition have changed dramatically in the last few years, undermining claims that doubling down on the status quo is realistic and practical. Investments in climate solutions like upgrading building energy efficiency and heating offer an alternative to resource extraction and export, with potential to create more local jobs while adapting our indoor spaces for a more volatile climate.

Investing now in new fossil fuel infrastructure for growing exports is a risky gamble. The International Energy Agency, far from a radical voice, forecasts that global oil and gas demand will peak by 2030, in large part due to China’s rapid and unprecedented electrification which has accelerated dramatically in the last three years. There are now major concerns about looming oversupply and potential price collapses for both oil and gas, which would undercut marginal high-cost producers first, leading to stranded assets and public bailouts.

This trajectory would also risk further entrenching high-polluting exports at a moment when emissions need to be reduced as quickly as possible to reach international targets, with wealthy countries doing their fair share.

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Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025

Pipes lead to an Imperial Oil Ltd. refinery near the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline in Sarnia, Ontario in May 2021. Some argue more fossil fuel infrastructure is needed by the province and country to build their economies, but James Wilt argues that’s not the way to go. (Bloomberg files)

The gamification of everything?

By David McConkey 5 minute read Preview

The gamification of everything?

By David McConkey 5 minute read Monday, Aug. 25, 2025

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry after reading a recent opinion piece here: “How a lottery-style refund system could boost recycling.”

Two university researchers described their experiment to find out if recyclers wanted to gamble. Yes, they would. This reflects a growing trend and there is a word for it: gamification.

The researchers conducted their experiment in Alberta and B.C. To increase recycling rates, these provinces have adopted beverage container deposit refund systems. As the researchers explain: “you pay a small deposit, say 10 cents, when you buy an eligible beverage container and get this deposit back when you return it to a local depot.”

The researchers set up public displays. They invited recyclers to pocket their 10 cents or to take a chance at winning $1,000. Most chose the thrill of gambling.

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Monday, Aug. 25, 2025

The people of Spruce Woods deserve better

By Deveryn Ross 5 minute read Preview

The people of Spruce Woods deserve better

By Deveryn Ross 5 minute read Friday, Aug. 22, 2025

On Wednesday night, The Brandon Sun, Brandon University and Westman Communications hosted a debate between the three candidates in the Spruce Woods byelection. Over the course of 85 minutes, the audience in attendance (and those who have subsequently viewed a recording of the event on WCGtv) were able to see a lot of what’s wrong with Manitoba politics these days.

The byelection is a contest between New Democrat Ray Berthelette, Progressive Conservative Colleen Robbins and Liberal Stephen Reid, and they were each present for the debate. I was a panellist for the debate, along with Brandon University political science professor Dr. Kelly Saunders and Brandon Sun political reporter Alex Lambert.

Yesterday’s editorial in this newspaper (“Not an easy choice for Spruce Woods voters”) expressed the view of many who attended the event or have watched a recording of it. It reminded readers that not everyone has what it takes to be a successful campaigner, let alone an effective elected representative.

In particular, the editorial argued that neither Robbins nor Berthelette appear to satisfy the standard Spruce Woods voters should expect of their MLA.

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Friday, Aug. 22, 2025

September 6, 2025

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