Prime Minister Stephen Harper Tours the Flood Zone in Manitoba

Jul 07, 2014

Prime Minister Stephen Harper took a 40-minute helicopter ride to survey the flood zone in Brandon Manitoba, near the Assiniboine River on Sunday.

The air tour took Harper, Premier Greg Selinger and several local MPs over flooded farmland, washed out homes and roads. The worst of the flood damage has been concentrated in the rural community of Pierson, Manitoba, located south west of the city of Brandon, about 5 miles east of the Saskatchewan border. No evacuations have been ordered so far in Brandon.

Harper said he wanted to express his solidarity with the people who have been affected by the floods. In an interview with CTV News, Harper made a point to thank the military and explained that the Portage la Prairie area is expected to pose the greatest challenge if flooding continues.

Floodwater coming from the neighbouring province of Saskatchewan forced Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger to declare a state of emergency on Friday, requesting military assistance to help prepare communities for flooding. There are 500 soldiers who are working on the ground setting up sandbags in the region to deal with the flood dangers.

While the crest is currently below the 2011 flood level, water levels downstream of Brandon are projected to be about one foot higher than the 2011 devastating flood, which was one of Manitoba’s worst floods on record.

After the 2011 floods, the province began to work on improving the infrastructure to better prepare for future floods, including reinforcing dikes and raising bridges and other structures. Some of that work is still ongoing, as political leaders didn’t expect to see another flood occur within three years.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.