Brandon Minute: Issue 66

Brandon Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Brandon politics

📅 This Week In Brandon: 📅

• Council has decided to reduce its playground replacement program, upgrading only one playground per year instead of two for the next two years, to redirect $550,000 from the parks reserve toward building a new clubhouse at the Maple Leaf Foods Sports Complex. The $3.8-million clubhouse is part of a larger $19.6-million project and will include change rooms, a canteen, washrooms, office space, and more. Councillors expressed concern over cutting playground funding, with specific questions about the delayed upgrade of Wilnor Playground, but City staff said difficult budget choices had to be made to move the project forward. Delaying the clubhouse was ruled out due to expected cost increases and government funding stipulations tied to the project. Construction is set to begin within weeks and aims to be ready for the 2026 season. The larger complex, including FIFA-sized soccer fields with lighting and cricket pitches, is expected to open next month.
  
  
• Over $900,000 to purchase and retrofit nine new police vehicles for the Brandon Police Service was approved by Council. The vehicles will be purchased from Kelleher Ford for $703,543, but the total cost will rise to $922,660 once they are outfitted with necessary police equipment like radios, computers, guards, and bumpers. According to Council, police vehicles require replacement every three years due to heavy use and high mileage. Five of the vehicles will arrive in December and be ready for service by March 2026, while the remaining four will be delivered next year. All nine vehicles are expected to be operational by early summer 2026. 
  
  
• Council has also approved a $3.5-million contract with Zenith Paving Ltd. to reconstruct 26th Street between Park and Victoria Avenues, with total project costs reaching $3.88 million. The work, which will begin in July, will occur in two phases to ensure completion in front of J.R. Reid School before the school year starts. The project includes upgrades to sidewalks, underground pipes, and the replacement of damaged trees, but does not include the Park or Victoria intersections, which are scheduled for later projects. Sidewalks will be widened to 1.8 metres, though active transportation features were dropped following public consultation. Some delays caused by those consultations added to the project's cost, but Councillors said the engagement was valuable. The final asphalt layer will be added in spring 2026 and a separate $700,000 project to upgrade the Park Avenue intersection is expected to go to tender this winter. The reconstruction follows 26th Street being named one of Manitoba’s worst roads in a recent CAA survey.
  
  
• A Brandon resident spoke at a recent City Council meeting to criticize the use of the title “His Worship” when addressing the Mayor, calling it outdated and undemocratic. He argued the term has imperial and religious overtones that are inconsistent with Canadian democratic values and suggested using “mayor” or “chair” instead. Current Council procedures require Councillors to use the title, though the public is not obligated to do so. The resident said such language elevates municipal leaders above the citizens they serve and called for changes in line with reconciliation efforts and modern democratic principles. He also raised concerns about the restrictive rules on public speech at Council meetings, arguing they can suppress free expression. No Councillors offered comments.
  
  
• Assiniboine College is cutting its culinary arts student intake in half and suspending its baking and hospitality programs due to federal immigration changes that have significantly reduced international student demand. The decision reduces culinary enrollment from 48 to 24 students - the maximum number eligible for government funding - while the other two programs, which trained over 40 students annually, are paused. The changes stem from the federal government’s removal of these programs from post-graduation work permit (PGWP) eligibility lists, making them less attractive to international applicants. This shift also impacts the College’s popular Grey Owl Dinner, which will be shortened from three weeks to two and restricted to donors who contribute $250 or more annually. College officials say the policy changes have introduced major uncertainty for future program planning and could affect the local hospitality industry, which relies on graduates from these programs. Brandon University, by contrast, remains largely unaffected due to its focus on PGWP-eligible degree programs. The Manitoba government has criticized Ottawa's approach as one-size-fits-all, saying it fails to meet the needs of smaller provinces and sectors like agriculture and food.

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

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