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Winnipeg Free Press
21-05-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Brandt Tractor completes renovations to more than double size of Winnipeg-area branch
For more than two years, the Winnipeg-area branch of an international construction equipment dealer has been a construction zone. Things are getting back to normal at Brandt Tractor Ltd. in the Rural Municipality of Macdonald, now that a $30 million renovation that more than doubled the size of the facility is complete. When it first opened in 2000, the facility — located at 3700 McGillivray Blvd. — was 29,450 square feet. Now it spans 65,190 sq. ft., more than doubling its showroom, office spaces, parts warehouse and repair shop. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS 'It's tough to express what it means to get this done. We're pretty excited for the whole thing,' says branch manager Peter Paulic at Brandt Tractor's newly renovated location in the RM of Macdonald. The business has also increased the size of its yard by 73 per cent, for a total of more than 12 acres. 'It's tough to express what it means to get this done,' said Peter Paulic, branch manager. 'We're pretty excited for the whole thing.' According to the company, which is the world's largest privately held dealer of John Deere equipment for the construction and forestry industries, customers will benefit from increased access to equipment, parts and service as a result of the renovation. The updated facility includes increased shop capacity, more service staff members, better parts availability and a larger showroom. The parts department has more than tripled in size, which the company says will ensure customers in central Canada will have easy access to parts. With the help of a small satellite branch in Brandon and a shop in Swan River, the Winnipeg-area facility effectively services all of Manitoba, Paulic said. Before construction started, the branch had 63 full-time employees. That number has grown to 85, and Paulic said it will reach 100 before the end of the year. (The Brandon location has eight staff members and the Swan River shop typically employs two.) Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. 'The size of the branch is critical in making sure you have enough sales people and techs to serve the whole province,' Paulic said. The branch is open six days a week, with a night shift that ends at 12:30 a.m. That means customers can use a machine all day, drop it off in the evening for servicing and then pick it up the next morning, Paulic said. Graders are one of the branch's best-selling pieces of equipment, but loaders, excavators, dozers and skid steers sell well, too, he said. 'It's a premium product that customers quite appreciate and love.' They're sold and maintained by staff members who undergo regular professional development, Paulic remarked, adding the branch has spent $500,000 on training in recent years. The renovations included a brand-new classroom just for that purpose. 'Whether it's the mechanics, the parts guys or the sales people, the training never ends for them,' he said. 'Any time there's a new line, they go to school, basically.' Located adjacent to the southwest side of Winnipeg, the RM of Macdonald is growing. The Free Press reported in September that in 2016, the RM's assessment (or estimated market value) was $770 million; in 2024, it was $1.19 billion. Meanwhile, its commercial assessment increased 4.12 per cent — to $277.3 million from $265.9 million — between 2023 and 2024. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Brandt Tractor's 3700 McGillivray Blvd. site features a repair shop with increased capacity. Reeve Brad Erb credits Brandt Tractor and Kleysen Group Ltd. with driving commercial development in the area. 'They were really the two big businesses that started the growth and the opportunities that we've had there,' he said. 'We appreciate … (Brandt's) commitment to our municipality and our region.' Brandt CEO Shaun Semple was not available for an interview before deadline, but expressed his excitement about the renovated branch in a news release. 'This new facility further demonstrates our deep investment in Canada,' Semple said. 'This isn't just a shop. It's a commitment to delivering the best possible service to our customers.' Paulic echoed those words. 'At the end of the day, our whole idea here is to make sure that our customers are successful,' he said. 'If our customers are successful, we'll be successful.' Brandt Tractor is part of the Brandt Group of Companies, a privately owned manufacturing and distribution company headquartered in Regina. The company serves numerous industries, including agriculture, construction, forestry, rail, mining, steel, transportation, material handling and energy. The Brandt Group of Companies has more than 6,000 employees and more than 180 locations in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Aaron EppReporter Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. He was previously the associate editor at Canadian Mennonite. Read more about Aaron. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Trustees criticized for missing school board meetings
Manitoba's education minister is being urged to look into spotty attendance records among school trustees in southeast Winnipeg. Two elected officials in the Louis Riel School Division — both of whom represent residents of Ward 4 — have missed a third or more of all public board meetings in 2024-2025. A parent who lives in the constituency penned a letter to provincial officials on Tuesday to express concerns about 'alarmingly high' absenteeism and call for stronger accountability measures. Free Press Files Manitoba Education Minister Tracy Schmidt. 'School staff and administrators are held to strict attendance expectations,' wrote Sia Erlendson, a mother who is raising two children in the ward encompassing Southdale, Island Lakes and surrounding communities. 'Unfortunately, a governance loophole allows trustees to avoid consequences as long as they do not exceed the consecutive absences threshold, enabling some to accumulate high absentee rates while still receiving their indemnities or remunerations.' Meeting minutes show Pamela Kolochuk and Chipalo Simunyola, her two representatives on the nine-seat board, have sent regrets for seven and six meetings, respectively. Ward 1 trustee Cindy Turner and Ward 2 trustee Irene Nordheim have each missed four meetings. Ryan Palmquist, a representative for Ward 3, was absent once. The remaining active board members, Ian Walker, Chris Sigurdson and Sandy Nemeth, have perfect attendance records. There has only been full attendance at three meetings, or 17 per cent of them, since the school year got underway. 'Trustees unwilling or unable to meet their obligations should reconsider their position, step aside, or face termination by the board so that a more dedicated representative can take their place,' Erlendson wrote in her letter to Education Minister Tracy Schmidt and cabinet colleagues. The Public Schools Act requires a board declare a seat vacant only if an elected official is absent from four consecutive regular meetings or for a period of three months without authorization. Erlendson requested the minister's office intervene to ensure trustees are meeting their obligations to constituents and actively engaging in decision-making, be it by introducing legislation to adjust compensation based on attendance or otherwise. LRSD trustees earned a combined $246,883 during the 2023 calendar year. Winnipeg-area school board members are paid about $25,000 annually. Chairpeople and vice-chairpeople receive additional stipends. Schmidt indicated that representatives from her office reached out to division administration Tuesday to followup on attendance concerns. 'We trust school boards and board chairs to govern their boards accordingly, to develop policies and bylaws that would govern these types of concerns,' said the lawyer who practised labour and employment law before entering politics in 2023. The minister added: 'I would caution folks — and I'm putting on my lawyer and employment lawyer hat — that we don't always know why people are absent from their workplace.' Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. Simunyola, a rookie trustee and father of four, said public attendance data only sheds partial light on member activities, given the board has many in-camera meetings. The Ward 4 representative has missed recent meetings to care for sick children and do business travel related to his other job, he said. While saying he's proud of his track record as a trustee, Simunyola said he will do some self-reflection. 'You always have to find balance,' he said. Kolochuk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
06-05-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Butcher shops not pleased to meat fraudster who left them chewing on bad cheques
A group of Winnipeg-area butcher shops allege they've been bilked out of thousands of dollars by a fraudster who posed as a restaurant owner and paid for large amounts of meat with bad cheques. Police confirmed they've launched an investigation into the spree of apparent frauds, which may have targeted up to 10 different stores over the span of several months. The allegations came to light Tuesday when Frig's Natural Meats & More issued a news release identifying the suspect and warning other businesses not to deal with him. The Free Press is not naming the accused because he has not been criminally charged. BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS Michelle Mansell, manager of West St. Paul butcher shop Frig's Natural Meats & More, says they sold $2,700 worth of choice cuts of meat like rib eye and New York steaks to a man that wrote two cheques that later bounced. 'There's part of me that is so pissed off at myself for allowing this to happen to us and allowing this guy to come into our store and write a cheque. What was I thinking? But then, I seriously — I trusted him,' said Michelle Mansell, manager of the West St. Paul butcher shop. 'As far as I was concerned, he was a guy who was getting his business going… and I wanted to help him.' Mansell said the suspect seemed to be 'quite in a panic' when he called her store on April 17 and asked the butcher to fulfil a last-minute order. 'He said that he owned two restaurants and he had some big catering events going on that weekend and his supplier had shorted him, and he really needed to get his hands on some more meat,' she said. The suspect showed up within an hour, carrying a manilla envelope filled with what Mansell believes were forged order sheets and other documents. 'It all looked very legitimate… he basically showed me his business number, the orders that he has to fill, what his supplier gave him and what he was shorted. It was all very well thought out,' she said. He left with about $1,700 worth of product — primarily choice cuts of meat like rib eye and New York steaks. Two days later, the man returned for another order and wrote a second cheque for approximately $1,000. Both cheques later bounced, Mansell said. The amount of product taken from Frig's was equivalent to about two days worth of sales, she said. Mansell called many of her competitors in the meat industry to warn them about what happened. She connected with 10 businesses that suffered similar losses, but none had filed police reports, she said. 'I died a little inside with every person telling me they already knew,' she said. 'It was heartbreaking, to be honest. It kind of squashes your faith in humanity.' She compiled information from other affected butchers and urged them to file police reports before she did so herself. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Melanie Roussel confirmed officers from the Red River North detachment received her complaint on April 22 and launched an investigation. While no other reports have been received within the Mounties' jurisdiction, investigators believe 'there may be multiple businesses within the city that were affected,' Roussel said in an email statement. The Winnipeg Police Service said it is investigating similar fraud reports from at least three other meat suppliers, including Pratts Wholesale Ltd., Central Products & Foods Ltd. and C & G Meat Depot. Other businesses may be linked to the investigation, but police cannot provide further information while that process is ongoing, spokesperson Ally Cox said via email. Christine Glover, who works for C & G, said the company lost about $730 worth of product on Feb. 14 after receiving a bad cheque. Glover recognized the suspect as a client who had previously ordered meat from the business and paid without issue. Multiple attempts to reach the man went unanswered, she said. Rob Bayles, manager at European Meats, said he avoided being duped by a scammer who showed up at the Burrows Avenue store on March 21 and ordered about $955 worth of meat. The suspect had been popping into the butcher store periodically for more than a month to inquire about wholesale prices. He told staff he worked at Silver Heights Restaurant, Bayles said. The man sent Bayles a screenshot of an e-transfer payment in the amount of the order, but the money wasn't received and the butcher refused to turn over the meat, he said. Tony Siwicki, owner of Silver Heights Restaurant and chairman of the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association, confirmed the alleged fraudster was a former employee at his Portage Avenue eatery. The man worked there for at least five years. When he left, he said he was going to help his sister open Kalan Restaurant and Catering Services on Arlington Street, Siwicki said. Siwicki described him as a 'great guy' and hard worker who sometimes filled in as a chef when needed. 'It was a big loss when he left,' he said. Lee, the owner of Kalan Restaurant and the suspect's brother-in-law, said the man worked there between August and December last year. Lee, who asked that his last name not be published, said he has not spoken with the suspect in months and the man is not associated with his restaurant. As early as January, Lee's meat suppliers began raising alarms that the suspect had been ordering from them while claiming to still work for Kalan, he said. Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Sign up for The Warm-Up 'It's heartbreaking to hear about these stories,' Lee said. 'I told them to report it to police.' Lee said the man suffers from bipolar disorder and his family is concerned about his behaviour. As he spoke, a woman Lee identified as his wife (the suspect's sister) was heard sobbing in the background. 'He really needs some professional help,' Lee said. The Manitoba Court registry shows the man was named in seven small claims lawsuits, including one from Pratt's, between Jan. 10 and March 19. Tyler Searle Reporter Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press 's city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic's creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune , Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler. Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press 's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press 's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
CBC
29-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Raquel Dancho holds on to Kildonan-St. Paul seat for Conservatives after tight race with Liberals
Liberal Thomas Naaykens, a political novice, lost to Dancho by just over 1,500 votes in Winnipeg-area riding Kildonan-St. Paul will be held by incumbent Conservative candidate Raquel Dancho, in a race that stretched out into the day after Canada's 2025 election, as final votes were counted in the Winnipeg-area riding. With all 208 polls reporting by about 3 p.m. CT Tuesday afternoon, Dancho came out ahead of Liberal challenger Thomas Naaykens by 1,548 votes, marking her third victory in the riding she was first elected to in 2019. Kildonan-St. Paul has voted Conservative six times during the past seven elections. Naaykens, who studied accounting and served in the Canadian military as an armour officer, was one of several political novices who won a Liberal Party nomination by acclamation this past winter, when the polls suggested the Liberals faced electoral disaster under then-leader Justin Trudeau. The election comes after new boundaries were drawn for ridings including Kildonan-St. Paul, where the changes appear to favour the Conservatives. 3 Manitoba seats change hands as Liberals take 2, Conservatives win Elmwood-Transcona, CBC projects Since the 2021 election, the riding has been extended to the east and now encompasses Conservative-leaning polling areas inside the rural municipality of Springfield, including the Winnipeg bedroom community of Oakbank. Kildonan-St. Paul was among a number of ridings across Canada where results were too close to call on Monday's election night, as ballots continued to be counted into Tuesday afternoon — including ridings that would decide whether Prime Minister Mark Carney's re-elected Liberals would form a majority or minority government. By Tuesday afternoon, CBC News had projected the Liberals will form a minority government. Manitoba's premier congratulated Carney and his party on their election victory in a social media post on Tuesday, saying he looks forward to "building up this country" with Carney's federal government. The results in Kildonan-St. Paul were the last of the 14 ridings in Manitoba to be called, with the Conservatives coming out of the election with seven seats — the same number the party went in with. Meanwhile, the Liberals improved from four Manitoba seats to six, and the NDP dwindled from three seats to just one. The Conservative seats are concentrated largely in rural Manitoba, while the Liberals' seats are in Winnipeg and northern Manitoba. The province's lone NDP seat is in the inner-city Winnipeg Centre riding.
CBC
08-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Strike at Métis, Michif child and family services agencies ends, members back to work Tuesday: MGEU
Social Sharing After just under two weeks in the picket lines, workers at two Métis and Michif child and family services agencies will go back to work on Tuesday, after their union says it's reached an agreement with the employer to resolve outstanding contract negotiations through arbitration. More than 330 employees of the two agencies — the Winnipeg-area Métis Child, Family and Community Services, and Michif Child and Family Services, serving the Dauphin, The Pas and Brandon areas — went on strike on March 25. The employees, who are represented by the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union (MGEU), have been without a contract since the previous agreements expired on Jan. 31, 2023. Workers had been asking for a new agreement that matched the four-year, 14 per cent wage increase members represented by the MGEU in other civil services got last year. Late Monday evening, the union announced it has reached an agreement with the agencies to resolve outstanding contract negotiations through interest arbitration, effectively bringing the strike to an end. In a statement, MGEU president Kyle Ross said the resolution "is an important step forward in our efforts to achieve wage parity for CFS members." "We will continue to advocate for that outcome in arbitration," he said. Last week, MGEU applied to the Manitoba Labour Board to have the current contract dispute with the agencies resolved by an independent arbitrator. On Monday, the union said it would withdraw that application, after the employer agreed to voluntary arbitration. As part of the agreement, the parties are scheduled for a hearing on April 22, with the arbitrator committing to deliver a ruling within four weeks. Union members from both agencies will return to work on Tuesday, MGEU said.
