PembinaValley

The Morden Chamber of Commerce and Winkler and District Chamber of Commerce hosted a Federal Election Forum Wednesday night at the Morden Activity Centre.

All five Portage-Lisgar candidates were invited, with Conservative Branden Leslie, Liberal Robert Kreis and People's Party of Canada candidate Kevin Larson participating. Also on the ballot are the Green Party's Janine Gibson and the NDP's Lisa Tessier, both of whom who did not participate in last night's event.

Some of the topics and questions asked by those in the crowd included:

Funeral For:  Henry Thiessen 
Funeral Date: April 27, 2025 
Henry Thiessen, 88, of Winnipeg formerly of Stuartburn, passed away Tuesday, April 22nd at Heritage Lodge. He is survived by his wife Susan, 1 daughter, 2 sons, 1 sister, 6 brothers and their families. He was predeceased by his parents Jacob and Ana Thiessen, 2 sons, 3 sisters and 6 brothers. 
The funeral service for Henry Thiessen will be held Sunday, 11am at Friends Funeral Service, 2146 Main Street, with burial at Reinfeld Cemetery. 
Viewing will be at the chapel one hour prior to the service. 

The second annual Canadian Wild Pig Summit is set to take place on April 29th. This virtual event will feature a morning of presentations focusing on wild pig monitoring programs and recommendations from Indigenous communities regarding the Canadian Invasive Wild Pig Strategy.

Organized by Manitoba Pork, Squeal on Pigs Manitoba, and Animal Health Canada, the summit aims to address the growing wild pig population in Western Canada. These animals pose significant dangers to people and livestock and cause considerable environmental damage.

The Western Dairy Expo begins today in Saskatoon, bringing together dairy producers from across Western Canada to showcase the best of the best in the dairy industry. 

The event runs through Saturday at Prairieland and is also being live-streamed.

The Expo starts at 2 pm today with junior events, featuring showmanship and a junior show where kids under 21 will present heifers.

If advance voting was any indication, it seems there is a lot more interest than usual in next week's federal election. 

Marie-France Kenny is Regional Media Advisor for Elections Canada. She says 7.3 million electors voted by advance voting nationwide. This represents an increase of 26 per cent compared to the last general election in 2021. 

Donald Bolen, the archbishop of Regina, is travelling to Vatican City for Saturday’s funeral of Pope Francis – a journey, he says, is to honour a pontiff who mirrored his vision and his compassion.

"When (Francis) put out a book called 'The Name of God is Mercy,' I smiled. Because my episcopal motto is 'mercy within mercy within mercy' — very much that same understanding,” Bolen said in an interview.

"I had enormous respect for Pope Francis through his pontificate.”

The Town of Altona is getting some help from the Manitoba Water Services Board (MWSB) to pay for a project that should help alleviate pressure on its wastewater system during high-volume situations, like heavy rains. 

Signs say Manitoba’s wild pigs aren’t headed for a population boom, says Wayne Lees, co-ordinator for Squeal on Pigs Manitoba.

“We’ve always heard that, you know, these pigs are going to explode in population,” Lees said. “Our field experience didn’t really support that, so we wanted to start challenging some of these assumptions.”

WHY IT MATTERS: A study from Squeal on Pigs Manitoba appears to show a slower population growth of wild pigs in Manitoba than originally expected.

The team has been made, the group has been working indoors and now the U18 South Central squad is set to get out onto the diamond and coach Paul Schaak couldn't be more excited to get things going. 

"We spent a lot of time inside and we're grateful for that facility, but we're ready to get outside," Schaak says with a smile. 

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, skip to the bottom of this article for resources. 

Lindsay Hainsworth is a community mental health worker with the Mental Health and Addictions Program run by Southern Health-Santé Sud.  

In practice, however, her career is much more — she provides hope and help to people in their darkest moments, and those who love them.