Provincial party leaders go head-to-head during a pre-election debate hosted by the Association of Manitoba Municipalities in April.

AMM puts heat on infrastructure as next week’s election looms

Municipal funding should be higher on the priority list, association says

Municipal leaders say all parties appear ready to provide steady funding for municipalities, but aren’t giving infrastructure enough airtime as the provincial election draws near. “We need to see more,” said Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett in a Sept. 20 news release. “Building and maintaining core infrastructure – from water and wastewater to broadband – is a

File photo of autumn colours around Lake Diefenbaker in Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park. (Nancy Anderson/iStock/Getty Images)

Prairie Forecast: Summer tries to hang on

Issued Sept. 27, covering Sept. 27 to Oct. 4

For being this far into fall, the weather models have been surprisingly accurate. Heck, I didn’t even need to send an update for the last issue! Not sure if I can be as optimistic for this forecast period, as we are moving deeper into fall and starting to see the first hints of winter trying


(PamWalker68/iStock/Getty Images)

COVID-19 isn’t over for white-tailed deer

The virus mutates rapidly in white-tailed deer, but here’s why we don’t need to worry — for now

At some point during the pandemic, Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spread from humans to white-tailed deer in North America. In 2021, scientists revealed that 40 per cent of white-tailed deer sampled in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois and New York state in the U.S. had antibodies for the virus. Surveillance of these deer continues, and

El Niño and chaos theory

Will Western Canada have the textbook warm and dry El Niño winter?

El Niño can affect the kind of weather we might expect this winter. The formation and movement of one system can impact how other systems behave around the world. This is called teleconnection, which refers to the long-distance relationships or connections between climate events that occur in different parts of the world. This fundamental concept


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Funding set to improve Ontario deadstock removal, disposal

Application intake open as of Sept. 21

Ontario’s livestock producers could see more and improved options for pickup and sustainable disposal of deadstock through a new federal/provincial program now on offer. The Ontario and federal governments on Thursday opened the intake for applications under what they’re calling the Increasing Deadstock Capacity Initiative, budgeted for $1.5 million over two years. The program, to

An initial swath in a canola crop north of St. Adolphe, Man. on Sept. 17, 2023. (Dave Bedard photo)

Prairie Forecast: Warm fall weather to continue

Issued Sept. 20, covering Sept. 20-27

Even with some uncertainty in the last forecast, the weather models did a surprisingly good job. At one point it looked like I was going to have to send out an update as the models started trending toward a cooler pattern, but they quickly reversed back to a warm pattern. This brought the expected heat


The U.S. National Hurricane Center’s forecast cone for the storm centre of Hurricane Lee, issued at 2 p.m. AT on Sept. 15, 2023. (NHC/USA Today Network via Reuters)

Hurricane Lee churns toward New England, Eastern Canada

Nova Scotia may see storm surge up to three feet

Reuters — Hurricane Lee barreled across the North Atlantic toward New England and Eastern Canada on Friday, threatening to bring drenching rains, powerful winds and a life-threatening storm surge to the region over the weekend. Lee is expected to weaken into a strong tropical storm before making landfall in southwestern Nova Scotia as a strong

File photo of seasonal agriculture workers from Jamaica at Suncrest Orchards near Simcoe, Ont. (Farmtario photo by Diana Martin)

UN rapporteur calls Canada’s TFW system ‘breeding ground for modern slavery’

Tomoya Obokata says government needs to better protect worker rights and provide better residency path

A United Nations special rapporteur on modern slavery has called out Canada’s temporary foreign worker (TFW) programs, including those in the agriculture sector. Tomoya Obokata, who was appointed by the UN’s Human Rights Council, spoke in Ottawa Sept. 6 following a 14-day visit to Canada. He called the programs “a breeding ground for contemporary forms



Water flows through a washed-out culvert on the CN rail mainline at Truro, N.S. on July 23, 2023. (Photo: Nigel Gloade/Millbrook First Nations/Handout via Reuters)

Nova Scotia farmers granted late AgriStability entry

Enrolment for 2023 now an option until Dec. 31, 2024

Nova Scotia farmers who aren’t in on AgriStability for 2023 and whose operations were hit hard by weather events this spring and/or summer now have until the end of next year to enroll. The Nova Scotia and federal governments on Friday announced enrolment for the ag income stabilization program, which ended on April 30, has