Royal Manitoba Winter Fair Starts Monday

The Royal Manitoba Winter Fair is returning to the Keystone Centre in Brandon, from Monday to Saturday next week.

The fair is the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba's flagship event and features six days' worth of great activities. General Manager of Provincial Ex, Mark Humphries, says this year's event will feature past favourites and some new ones.

"We're offering a new food court this year, it's called the Royal Food Court, which will be in the Manitoba Room, which is a little different, it's new for us. Obviously most of the entertainment this year will be different from years gone by. We've got of course the standards there, everybody would like to see the canine display so Woof Jocks are back, and some of the real old favourites are there."

Humphries says ultimately, they're just excited to have everyone back for this year's event.

"Most of all we're looking forward to seeing smiles. This year our event slogan is 'Show Us Your Smiles.' We've had a couple of years with masks hiding all those beautiful shots of pearly whites, and kids grinning from ear to ear, so most of all we're looking forward to seeing everybody enjoy the show."

The full week's schedule can be found on Provincial Exhibitions website here.

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Mar 21, 2023 - 6:00 am

The Brandon Police Service responded to a disturbance Friday night, that ended with officers being spit on and kicked.

While at the scene, police attempted to arrest a 26-year-old man who was resisting, spit at them, and threatened them. He was charged with assaulting an officer, uttering threats, and resisting arrest.

At the same incident, police found a 32-year-old male and a 29-year-old female breaking release orders. Both were under conditions to not contact each other, and the female also had conditions to not consume alcohol.

He was arrested and charged with breaking a release order, while she was arrested for breaching a release order and failure to comply with an undertaking. While being arrested, she kicked one of the officers in the upper body and was also charged with assaulting an officer.

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Mar 20, 2023 - 1:21 pm

A community meeting will be taking place at 7 pm tonight at the Arts-Forward Art and Cultural Center in Neepawa to have organizations come together and synchronize their event schedules.

It's a great way for local groups to network and organize together to have a full and comprehensive schedule for everything going on in the community.

If you're in Neepawa, you may have seen QR codes posted around, as well as on this article. The code, when scanned by any cellphone camera, will be a direct link to the calendar that you can access day or night.

Arts-Forward Administrator Yvonne Sisley hopes to have lots of people in attendance.

"We're looking forward to having as many people as possible. there are a lot of positives that we're looking forward to sharing with everyone. anybody is welcome. if anybody wants to come and find out what this is about, we'd like to open this up to anyone who wants to come!"

You can contact Yvonne to RSVP by calling 204 476 3232 or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Details: Contributed by Michael Brossart; Published: Mar 20, 2023 - 6:00 am

The Jack Winters Trial Resumes in Dauphin today at 10 am and has moved to the courthouse.

The trial was in session for two weeks at the Parkland Rec Complex at the end of last October and will resume for four days this week. A verdict is anticipated later this week, but the trial could be extended if more time is needed.

Winters is facing a number of charges related to a fatal collision that took the life of four-year-old Quinn and six-year-old Oksana Dutchyshen in August 2019, in the RM of Dauphin. None of the charges have been proven in court at this time.

Winters Trial Day 1 Family members of Oksana and Quinn Dutchyshen on day one of the trial, October 17th, 2022.

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Mar 20, 2023 - 5:24 am

Planes and drones with specialized infrared cameras will be in the air over the next month as moose and elk numbers are going to be tallied.

Aerial game surveys are planned in the Porcupine Mountains, Duck Mountains, Turtle Mountains, and Nopiming areas.

Surveys will be conducted utilizing drones and fixed-wing aircraft equipped with infrared imaging and colour sensing cameras. A traditional method of helicopter survey is also being conducted in the Turtle Mountains to count elk and moose.

Natural Resources and Northern Development Minister Greg Nesbitt acknowledges how crucial well-monitored big game populations are.

"Big game are important to many Manitobans, whether for its natural value, as a source of food, cultural or traditional reasons or for wildlife viewing. With declining moose populations, it is important that we continue to survey and monitor big game populations to maintain a sustainable population for future generations of Manitoban’s and to maintain a heathy ecosystem."

The count began in late January but is heavily subject to weather conditions. This project will last until early April.

Details: Contributed by Michael Brossart; Published: Mar 18, 2023 - 8:07 am

Farm Credit Canada has released its 2022 Farmland Values Report, and Manitoba saw an average increase of 11.2%.

The Parkland saw the smallest percentage change in the province at 7.5%, but FCC Appraiser Peter Alder says that doesn't necessarily tell the whole story. He says while looking at farmland values, it's good to consider average change over a few years.

"If you look at the average between last year and this year it evens out, it gives us a little bit of a better picture. The snapshot that we had last year was certainly indicative of above-average increases, and it led to the fact that this year when we captured all the sales, it wasn't that significant increase anymore."

Alder says that despite what the lower increase this year, demand was still strong for farmland in the region.

"So in the Parkland area, we have an average increase of 7.5 percent, with very strong increases in the Gilbert Plains area between Dauphin and Grandview, and on the west side between Roblin and Inglis as well, and the Swan River area we had some significant increases."

He says that even the areas in the region that didn't perform as well as others still saw good demand.

"A bit more steady in the Ste. Rose area and the Eddystone areas, but again, overall, strong demand for Farmland in the Parkland area as well."

The Farmland Values Report also breaks down the country by province and region with an interactive map that can be found here, and the full report can be found here.

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Mar 17, 2023 - 1:52 pm

Scimar, a Bioscience company in Dauphin has been making some revolutionary discoveries as they've found what's being called "the missing link" in type-two diabetes research.

Mick Lautt, CEO of Scimar, spoke with us about the groundbreaking research into the mechanism behind type-two diabetes that the company has been working on.

"What we discovered was that there is actually a hormone that comes from the liver, that we've named Hepatalin, and it works alongside Insulin, and together, Hepatalin and Insulin are responsible for nutrient partitioning, the long-term storage of sugars in fats and muscles. Insulin is doing about a third of that partitioning and storing that glucose into fat, whereas Hepatalin is responsible for two-thirds of partitioning and it stores its portion in muscle."

The discovery of the hormone Hepatalin is one of the largest breakthroughs in diabetes research since Insulin was first discovered in 1921.

The results of these findings have already led to 3 products that could help hundreds of millions of people with type-two diabetes, and preventative solutions are also a very real possibility.

Mick hopes to see a future people can take their health into their own hands, and where type-two diabetes no longer has to exist.

"We do not want the next generation of kids ever needing to take one of our products. We want to solve this problem in this generation. It's a big ask, but just because something is hard doesn't mean we shouldn't be trying to do it"

The Bioscience Association Manitoba awarded Scimar with the Emerging Biotech Company of the Year award, and the research this company has been doing is well deserving of an award.

To learn more about the incredible work of your local Biotech company, you can visit Scimar's website for a full overview of their work.

Details: Contributed by Michael Brossart; Published: Mar 17, 2023 - 6:00 am

Keystone Agricultural Producers(KAP) is helping organize a Discover Agriculture in the City event this weekend, to teach urban Manitobans about the importance of agriculture.

Discover Ag in the City has been around for nearly two decades but hasn't had an in-person event for a couple of years because of COVID-19. The event returns this Saturday, March 18th from 9-3 at the forks in Winnipeg.

KAP Manager of Communications and Stakeholder Relations, Colin Hornby, says they're working to bridge the gap between rural and urban Manitobans.

"Agriculture is all around us, and it's more than just people that work on the farm. It's HVAC technicians, it's data scientists, it's financial advisors. People aren't necessarily always aware of the role that agriculture plays. We drive eleven billion dollars into the economy every year in this province."

Hornby says that there are 35,000 jobs in Manitoba in Agriculture and that one in eight people in Canada work in agriculture, so it's important that everyone knows about the industry.

"The other part of this is knowing where their food comes from, and the affordable, nutritious, safe food that we have access to in Canada. Not every country has this, and for us, it's right in our own backyard, so we just want people to be aware of how lucky we are, and the role that agriculture plays in their lives, whether they're aware of it or not."

Discover Agriculture in the City is a partnership with a number of industry groups that will have exhibits at the event, with interactive displays like crushing made-in-Manitoba Canola.

Details: Contributed by Sam Brownell; Published: Mar 16, 2023 - 2:00 pm

The Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program (MFWP) opened its doors on March 1, 2022. Now more than one year later, it has been announced that the program will continue moving forward.

Farmers and their immediate family members can access six free, confidential one on one (one-hour) counselling sessions with a registered counsellor with a background in agriculture. Appointments are available during the morning, at night, or anything in between.

Roberta Galbraith with the program says year one was an extreme success.

"We started with the one-year pilot to test the waters to see if there was an appetite for it and there certainly has been," said Galbraith. "We have pushed the needle a little bit on talking about farmer mental health and wellness and raising awareness."

Roberta was also at Dauphin's Farm Outlook last week and there was a great reception when she made her presentation. Galbraith adds that if you or your family members are in the agriculture industry and may be struggling with mental health, the Farmer Wellness program is here.

"As a farmer myself, I understand the challenges of the industry and working on a farm," ended Galbraith. "It's great that you can talk to someone and there will be no judgment and it's free, so that's a nice bonus as well."

If you are interested in using the Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program, you can book an appointment at MFWP.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Mar 16, 2023 - 5:00 am

A 21-year-old man who had several items seized by Dauphin RCMP will not face any charges.

Last August, officers saw three men on bicycles who they believed to be in the process of conducting a drug deal. Collin Pruden was caught and arrested and a search of his backpack resulted in the seizure of a sawed-off shotgun, a handgun, bear spray, and break-in instruments.

Ultimately, Pruden's charges were stayed by the Crown on Tuesday.

Details: Contributed by Darnell Duff; Published: Mar 15, 2023 - 12:29 pm

Honda has recalled 50,000 cars in Canada and another 500,000 in the United States due to a potential safety issue with the front channel for the seatbelt buckles.

The surface coating on it can deteriorate over time, and the release button can shrink against the channel at lower temperatures. This increases friction and stops the buckle from latching.

The recall was issued for the following models: