New health curriculum puts emphasis on harm reduction

Manitoba is revamping how students are taught about drugs with an emphasis on harm reduction, the complexities of substance use disorders and the role of ceremonial tobacco in Indigenous cultures.

For the first time this century, physical education and health curriculum is undergoing a systematic overhaul set to debut in September 2028.

Drafts released this back-to-school season have “substances and patterns of behaviour” units across kindergarten to Grade 12.

Grade 6 has been updated so students learn about the short- and long-term effects and risks of using and misusing cannabis products, as well as caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and vaping.

Elmwood–East Kildonan candidate promises to tackle ‘inefficiency’ in government

The former assistant of late Elmwood–East Kildonan councillor Jason Schreyer is again running for the seat.

Chris Sweryda officially launched his campaign Saturday. He did so with the backdrop of a grocery program he runs, where food is sold near-cost out of St. Gerard School’s gym.

Rows of cereal, pasta sauce and chips filled tables ahead of the program’s afternoon opening. Sweryda created the pop-up with Schreyer months ahead of the former councillor’s April 2025 death.

The program sees roughly 500 people each day it’s open (which is every other week on Saturday), Sweryda said.

Gillingham in lead with decided voters

A cloud of uncertainty is hanging over Winnipeg as October’s municipal election nears.

Three months after a poll showed more than 40 per cent of Winnipeggers wanted to see someone other than current mayor Scott Gillingham elected, a new Abacus Data poll indicates more than half of Winnipeg voters are undecided heading into next month’s civic election.

Of decided voters, 55 per cent favour Gillingham compared to 23 per cent for former councillor and provincial cabinet minister Kevin Klein and 11 per cent for funeral director Mike Vogiatzakis.

Of all respondents, just over 50 per cent said they were unsure while 13 per cent said they will not vote.

Mayor honours pair who rescued little girl, father from Red River in August

A “proud and thankful” Mayor Scott Gillingham honoured two Winnipeggers Friday who rescued a young girl who fell into the Red River last month.

Gillingham said he was humbled to meet Jayclyn Morrissette and Brady Saunders before he presented them with the Mayor’s Award of Valour for saving the child and her father, who jumped into the water in an attempt to help his daughter and nearly drowned.

“These are the kind of people who we have in our city,” he said. “When someone is in need, they’ll step up, risk their own lives, to help someone they’ve never met in their life.”

Morrissette and Saunders were at St. John’s Park in the evening on Aug. 24, when they saw the man and child in the river.

Klein has burned bridges with PM, Gillingham says

One mayoral candidate accused another of writing a column so critical it could compromise his ability to work with the federal government.

Steinbach Credit Union member warns others after scammer steals $10K

A Winnipeg single mother whose bank account was drained of nearly $10,000 says Steinbach Credit Union needs to warn its members about what she believes is a broader security problem.

The woman, who is not being named to protect her identity, said a scammer gained access to her account earlier this week after calling SCU’s contact centre, claiming to be her and successfully completing the credit union’s authentication process.

She said she knows of at least six others who have experienced similar incidents in which callers impersonate SCU account holders and pass the authentication checks.

The woman discovered something was wrong when her minor son asked why money had been transferred out of an account they jointly hold.

American Hostage stars recall warmth of Winnipeggers during brutal winter

TORONTO — When you stream the eight-part series American Hostage, a sense of familiarity may strike.

That’s because the show was shot in Winnipeg — especially in the Exchange District — from November of last year to the beginning of February, with Winnipeg portraying Indianapolis circa 1977.

The whole world seemed to be watching that midwest American city that year as a hostage crisis unfolded involving one Tony Kiritsis, an angry man who goes ballistic when a mortgage brokerage was poised to foreclose on property he had dreamed of developing into a shopping centre.

Kiritsis kidnapped his mortgage broker, Richard Hall, wiring a shotgun to the back of his head, and demanded a public airing of his grievances, with the reluctant help of popular radio broadcaster Fred Heckman.

Former Bombers linebacker Gauthier enjoying career as electrician

Most professional football players don’t ride off into the sunset on their own terms.

Shayne Gauthier was well aware of that, but it didn’t make it sting any less when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers informed the veteran linebacker that they weren’t bringing him back for 2026.

“I was really hoping to play one more (season) because it would have been my 10th season, so, I’d say it didn’t really end the way I wanted,” Gauthier recently told the Free Press.

“It left a little sour taste in my mouth, but that’s part of pro sports. If everybody got the ending that they wanted, then it wouldn’t really work.”

Safety review calls for improved security at Siloam Mission

A safety review of Winnipeg’s largest homeless shelter is recommending improvements to security for staff, volunteers and community members after what its leadership acknowledged has been a challenging year.

The Siloam Mission report, which has not been made public, was discussed during a town hall Thursday night at the Millennium Centre on Main Street, where shelter leaders laid out what they described as a road forward for the organization.

Interim CEO Lisa Cefali, who was brought in at the end of May following the departure of Sonia Prevost-Derbecker after three tumultuous months in the job, said she could see the toll turmoil had taken when she arrived.

Employees alleged Prevost-Derbecker made derogatory remarks about Indigenous people, people struggling with substance use and the downtown neighbourhood surrounding the mission’s Princess Street headquarters.