Policing, MAID among issues on Writers’ Trust short list for $60K policy book prize

Brandonmeat packer thriving on its own

BRANDON — Canada Packers has strengthened its business and laid the foundation for future growth during its first year as an independent company, its president says.

The Brandon-based pork producer, separated from Maple Leaf Foods in October 2025, established its own leadership, strategy, systems, culture and identity while continuing operations across its hog production farms and regional hog barns in southern and eastern Manitoba.

The company’s first year was focused on building a successful standalone business while continuing to serve customers, communities and shareholders, president Dennis Organ said.

“Market conditions over the past year have been more challenging than we anticipated when we became a separate entity,” he said in an email. “Despite that, we continued to execute against our priorities, including increasing processing volumes, maintaining disciplined operations and strengthening the business.”

Creative powerhouse Perry Rosemond never lost Winnipeg roots

He created King of Kensington, directed the troops in the Royal Canadian Air Farce, and his creative eye was behind the lens for television shows starring Johnny Cash, Tom Jones, Mr. Dress-Up and the Friendly Giant.

He also wrote and developed the Canadian version of Sesame Street during his time as the head of school and preschool programming for CBC in Toronto, and directed a televised special in 2002 for Winnipeg sketch comedy troupe Royal Liechtenstein Theatre Company.

But before his name featured in the credits of some of the most iconic and influential pieces of the Cancon canon, Perry Rosemond was an only child living in a crammed, multi-generational home in Winnipeg’s North End, racing each day to beat the morning bell next door at William Whyte School.

In memoirs that have yet to be published, the late television producer recalled his childhood. “(T)here were 14 of us in the house at 193 Andrews St., and it wasn’t that big of a house,” he writes.

Retired guidance counsellor defends explicit 2025 sex-ed presentation to high school football team in disciplinary hearing

Gus Watanabe, a former employee of Oak Park High School in Winnipeg, was the subject of a public disciplinary hearing on Thursday.

Moving drama at MTYP gives voice to boy who changed law

The heroic true tale of Norway House Cree Nation-born Jordan River Anderson came home Friday night, as Manitoba Theatre for Young People presented Yvette Nolan’s Jordan.

The touring production, a collaboration with Geordie Theatre, runs weekends through Oct. 11, with additional stops in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa’s National Arts Centre.

Having several of Anderson’s family members witness the local première underscored the evening with poignancy. Elder and Pine Creek First Nation member Barbara Nepinak added her own dignified presence and prayers following MTYP artistic director Pablo Felices-Luna’s welcoming remarks.

The season-opener also marks the Winnipeg-raised playwright’s homecoming; the Algonquin playwright, director, dramaturg, actor and educator was a fixture in our local theatre community for many years before going on to serve as artistic director for Native Earth Performing Arts from 2003 to ‘11, among other contributions.

Gordon Bell rings in a century

Mischka Valencia had gotten used to the hum of heavy machinery at Gordon Bell High School.

“Ever since I’ve been here, it’s all been under construction,” the Grade 12 student said, standing on the sidelines of the brightly painted revamped outdoor basketball court. “I had no idea this was a court.”

The Filipina teenager landed in Winnipeg several months after the inner-city campus had transformed into a construction site.

It was the fall of 2023 and Mischka’s priorities were fitting in, befriending classmates and learning a third language via first-period French.

Living the dream

DETROIT – As Tyrel Bauer took a left turn out of the tunnel from the Winnipeg Jets dressing room and into the stands, he was met with a hearty round of applause from the 25 friends and family members who had made the trek from various points around North America.

Bauer had just realized a childhood dream and the significance of the moment was not lost on some of his biggest supporters.

“It was a special walk, for sure. A special walk,” Bauer said on Saturday afternoon before the Jets departed for a two-game road trip that begins on Sunday in Detroit against the Red Wings. “Those people who came – and many more that weren’t there and were cheering on from afar – they’ve always been there.

“I wanted that for my family, maybe even more than I wanted it for me. They’ve been through thick and thin. I’ve stressed mom out quite a bit over the years doing my job. That meant a lot for them and I’m really happy they could be there for it.”