Editorials – Brandon Sun

Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with President of China Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on Friday. (The Canadian Press)

Carney, ministers need to stay wary of China

4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026

Prairie farmers can be forgiven if they seem more than a little irritated at the slow pace of Canada’s government to address China’s tariffs. It has been nearly a year since China imposed a 100 per cent tariff on Canadian canola oil, canola meal and peas, in addition to a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian pork and seafood products.

And since August, producers have also had to deal with an added 76 per cent Chinese tariff on canola seed.

As it stands, Rick White of the Canadian Canola Growers Association told The Canadian Press this week that Beijing’s steep levies on canola will cost producers at least $2 billion this year if the issue isn’t resolved.

For provinces like Saskatchewan and Manitoba, which grow approximately 50 per cent and 14 per cent of Canada’s total canola acreage, respectively, these are difficult financial pressures that will impact many farm operations, particularly those who still have canola in the bin with spring seeding only a few months away.

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Unreasonable hypotheticals beginning to feel very real

4 minute read Preview

Unreasonable hypotheticals beginning to feel very real

4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026

“I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way.”

— U.S. President Donald Trump, talking of making Greenland part of the United States

“It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.”

— Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen

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Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026

President Donald Trump during a bill signing Wednesday in the Oval Office. MUST CREDIT: Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post

Unreasonable hypotheticals beginning to feel very real

4 minute read Preview

Unreasonable hypotheticals beginning to feel very real

4 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026

“I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way.” — U.S. President Donald Trump, talking of making Greenland part of the United States

“It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.” — Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen

What a surreal moment in history.

The world is watching in disbelief as a wayward American president talks openly of annexing Greenland, an autonomous territory, away from Denmark.

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Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026

A woman walks near a church in Nuuk, Greenland, in March 2025. (The Associated Press files)

Interference concerns cloud petition process

4 minute read Preview

Interference concerns cloud petition process

4 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026

As the Alberta independence effort appears to be gaining steam, so too does concern over the integrity of the process and the prospect of interference by forces from outside the province.

Under Alberta law, the expense limit for a citizen initiative petition proponent — the person who is leading a petition effort — is $572,200. If expenses exceed $350,000, audited financial statements must be filed, showing how the money was spent.

Also under Alberta law, the maximum contribution a proponent can receive from any eligible person or organization is $4,600 during the official petition period. Eligible contributors include individuals ordinarily residing in Alberta, most Alberta corporations (other than those specifically prohibited by law), as well as Alberta trade unions or employee organizations. Contributions can be in monetary form and/or in the form of in-kind donations of goods or services.

Those legal facts are important to bear in mind, given the rise in allegations that non-Alberta residents, Americans in particular, are donating funds to boost the effort to have that province leave Canada and become an independent nation.

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Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026

The view of the Alberta Legislature on Friday March 28, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Turbulent times in U.S. worth a travel advisory

4 minute read Preview

Turbulent times in U.S. worth a travel advisory

4 minute read Monday, Jan. 12, 2026

International sentiment regarding Donald Trump’s America has been growing increasingly negative over the last 12 months.

Widespread concern over the Don’s aggressive foreign policy actions — particularly toward historic U.S. allies such Denmark and Canada — coupled with the U.S. president’s self-inflicted economic instability through the imposition of tariffs on dozens of countries, has been driving much of that opinion.

Trump’s most recent comments regarding the pending invasion of Greenland, as well as Cuba and Mexico has put much of the world’s leadership on edge.

At the same time, there is growing domestic turmoil in the United States. Trump’s unhinged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have reportedly been involved in dozens of shooting incidents, with the most high profile being the death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis last Wednesday at the hands of an ICE agent.

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Monday, Jan. 12, 2026

Demonstrators march to the White House in Washington on Jan. 8 as they protest against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. (The Associated Press files))

To belt on schoolbuses — or not to belt

3 minute read Preview

To belt on schoolbuses — or not to belt

3 minute read Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026

To seatbelt or not to seatbelt?

That is the question that generations of school officials and transportation safety experts have tried to answer.

On first pass, the argument for mandatory seatbelts in school buses seems like a no-brainer. Seatbelts are, unequivocally, one of the greatest safety devices ever introduced to the world of transportation. Still, they are not universally used.

Trains, for example, do not normally offer seatbelts. The same goes for most forms of public transit: buses, street cars and light rail. And then there are school buses.

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Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026

A student boards a school bus at École New Era School in Brandon. (The Brandon Sun files)

No easy fix for staffing shortage

5 minute read Preview

No easy fix for staffing shortage

5 minute read Friday, Jan. 9, 2026

“Had the previous government focused on building capacity instead of cutting it, Brandon would be in a much better position.”

— Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara, November 2024

In late 2024, the staffing situation at Brandon’s emergency department was so dire that doctors at the hospital took the drastic step of pleading for help from Manitoba’s health minister.

They penned a letter outlining an emergency room with a “dire staffing crisis” that had put the operation “on the brink of collapse.”

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Friday, Jan. 9, 2026

The ER entrance to the Brandon Regional Health Centre, where a nurse was assaulted on April 28. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun files)

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Clean water a growing concern for communities

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Clean water a growing concern for communities

4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026

The Town of Virden’s ongoing arsenic troubles are leaving a bad taste in the mouths of area residents, many of whom have resorted to purchasing bottled water for their daily household needs.

But the difficult nature of the groundwater in the region — and the fact that low water levels in a more recently tapped aquifer necessitated a return to the arsenic-contaminated wells — should raise some questions.

The problem of arsenic for Virden residents first arose in 1993, when Canadian Drinking Water Standards reduced the acceptable level of arsenic from .05 parts per million to .025. Tests conducted by the town in 1994 showed consistent readings of slightly above .05.

After spending millions of federal, provincial and local taxpayer dollars for a remedy, the community hoped its arsenic troubles were over in 1998, when a new water treatment plant came into operation.

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Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026

The historic water tower in Virden looms above the town on a sunny Wednesday.

PM makes progress, but obstacles remain

5 minute read 2:00 AM CST

What a difference a day makes.

Just yesterday on this page we were talking about how Canadian producers were unlikely to see much — if any — movement on the issue of Chinese tariffs on canola, peas, pork and seafood. Until now, China had been firm in stating that tariffs on these commodities would remain in place until Ottawa dropped its 100 per cent tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles.

And in the week leading up to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to China on Thursday and Friday, the federal Liberals were trying to curb expectations within the industry.

For the sake of local canola and pulse crop producers, we’re glad our expectations proved incorrect.

Sala losing credibility over unsound election promise

4 minute read Preview

Sala losing credibility over unsound election promise

4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026

“We’ll cross those bridges when we get there. I remain completely focused on ensuring we deliver on that goal, and I’m excited about bringing forward our next budget so we can show Manitoba the progress we’ve made.”

— Finance Minister Adrien Sala

As we were saying just six days ago …

Manitobans will be paying the price for a government decision that had more to do with populism than good governance. And the minister in charge can’t find a defensible excuse for his lack of accountability.

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Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026

Finance Minister Adrien Sala says the NDP government has taken steps to spur more investment in the province. (Mike Deal/Winnipeg Free Press files)

Trump’s next steps also worrisome

4 minute read Preview

Trump’s next steps also worrisome

4 minute read Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026

“We are really happy the United States intervened because the person responsible for all the miserable things that happened in the country is finally being taken care of.”

— Venezuelan-born Saidith Harrington, who now lives in Brandon

No doubt a great number of Canadians feel sympathetic to the feelings expressed by Venezuelan nationals like Saidith Harrington. Many Venezuelans cheered the removal of its president, Nicolás Maduro, by the U.S. military last Friday.

And rightfully so.

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Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026

President Donald Trump speaks during a Mexican Border Defense Medal presentation in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Shift to Venezuelan oil by no means a sure bet

5 minute read Preview

Shift to Venezuelan oil by no means a sure bet

5 minute read Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026

“Just because they have oil in the ground doesn’t mean that they can get it out logistically, so I don’t think anyone in this (sector) is immediately panicking.”

— Heather Exner-Piro, Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Canadians are questioning what the repercussions will be for this country in the wake of the forced removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife by American forces late last week.

What was the international legal basis for the Trump administration’s unilateral extraction of a foreign head of state? And how will this affect Canadian sovereignty — particularly after Trump’s public musings regarding the annexation of Greenland and his talk of Canada as the 51st state.

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Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026

In this Feb. 19, 2015 file photo, the sun sets behind an oil well in a field near El Tigre, a town within Venezuela's Hugo Chavez oil belt, formally known as the Orinoco Belt. Analysts say U.S. sanctions against Venezuelan national oil company PDVSA will support higher prices for western Canadian heavy oil but it's unlikely to result in much of an increase in crude from Canada being shipped into the U.S. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Fernando Llano, File

A new chance to get water protection right

3 minute read Preview

A new chance to get water protection right

3 minute read Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026

It is a new year, and with that comes an opportunity to put right what has gone wrong in the past.

It’s especially true as the federal government works on its relationships with First Nations.

As it struggles to make good on former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s old promise to put an end to boil-water advisories on First Nations, the Carney Liberals find themselves caught between their own ambitions and the needs and rights of the people with whom they must co-operate. Carney, in his push for nation-building projects, has overseen the passage of legislation that makes it easier for major projects to get underway with somewhat less regard for environmental laws.

That’s a problem for residents and leaders of First Nations, who have long struggled to be heard regarding their right to preserve their own environment while Ottawa and other powers dig up the ground around them, particularly when it comes to water supplies.

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Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026

Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias gets a selfie with Mark Carney at a federal election campaign rally in Winnipeg, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Brandon vulnerable to new immigration levels

4 minute read Preview

Brandon vulnerable to new immigration levels

4 minute read Friday, Jan. 2, 2026

The Government of Canada has lowered the number of new residents, students and temporary workers that will be permitted to enter the country over the next three years. That change is likely to have an impact on the economies of communities across the country, including Brandon.

After several years of increased immigration levels in order to address an aging workforce and post-pandemic labour shortages — more than 483,000 were admitted into Canada in 2024 — the lower target levels appear to reflect the conclusion that the higher admission levels may have been larger than necessary.

The new strategy calls for a cut in overall permanent resident admissions from 395,000 last year to 380,000 this year and 365,000 next year.

The federal government says the lower limits are intended to reduce the unemployment rate, address the nationwide housing shortage and affordability issues, and also ease the strain on the nation’s health-care and education systems.

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Friday, Jan. 2, 2026

A Canadian citizenship ceremony is shown on Canada Day at the Pavilion at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, on July 1, 2024. (Brook Jones/Winnipeg Free Press files)

We’re paying the price for political promises

4 minute read Preview

We’re paying the price for political promises

4 minute read Friday, Jan. 2, 2026

If Manitobans didn’t see this coming, they haven’t been paying attention.

On Tuesday, the Manitoba Public Utilities Board ordered that rates charged by Manitoba Hydro for electricity would rise by four per cent, effective yesterday, as part of an interim general rate increase.

Hydro had been seeking just a 3.5 per cent increase for the coming year, along with same-sized increases for 2027 and 2028, but the PUB has taken the unusual step of imposing a rate hike that is higher than the increase Hydro was seeking.

The PUB justifies that higher increase on the basis that “The increase is necessary, on an urgent basis, to protect the financial health of Manitoba Hydro in light of the current drought.” It says that “Water inflows into Manitoba Hydro’s watershed are currently near the second-lowest level in 112 years.”

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Friday, Jan. 2, 2026

Two years of drought means Manitoba has lost $63 million for the fiscal year that ended March 31, atop the $157 million loss it recorded last year. (Mikaela MacKenzie/Winnipeg Free Press files)

A brighter future is always up to us

4 minute read Preview

A brighter future is always up to us

4 minute read Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

— Abraham Lincoln

Those words, spoken by the former U.S. president more than a century ago, ring just as true today. As we count the final hours of 2025 and look toward a new year, there are many reasons to feel a sense of trepidation for the future, but even more reasons for optimism.

We may be worried about the rising cost of various items, groceries in particular, but there are encouraging signs that prices are stabilizing for some items and dropping for others. The price of gasoline is now lower than in a good while.

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Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025

January 17, 2026

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