Legal aid underfunding violates Charter, lawsuit claims

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is taking the provincial and federal government to court, alleging that decades of underfunding for criminal legal aid violates Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“Whether you are rich or poor should never determine whether you are found guilty of a crime,” Shakir Rahim, co-counsel in the case and director of the CCLA criminal justice program, said in a news release.

“Legal aid is supposed to protect that principle, ensuring that every person receives adequate legal representation.”

Funding for legal aid is woefully insufficient and has been for decades, the non-profit organization said.

Wolseley residents put down roots to save elms

A neighbourhood group that raised thousands of dollars to inoculate publicly owned trees against Dutch elm disease hopes others will follow their lead.

Man pleads guilty to shotgun slaying

A Winnipeg drug dealer has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a March 2025 killing that saw the body of a 30-year-old man dumped in a garbage bin and dragged to a West End alleyway.

Frederick Francis Mathias Baker, who was 28 upon his arrest early last year, shot Bronson Emery Dale Kequahtooway once in the thigh with a sawed-off shotgun and left him with a fatal wound, Crown prosecutor Matt Armstrong told Court of King’s Bench Justice Brian Bowman on Wednesday.

A split second after Baker shot Kequahtooway in the thigh, the victim was shot in the head with a sawed-off .22 rifle. The man accused of being armed with the rifle, Eric Matthew Morrissette, remains before the court on a second-degree murder charge.

“Either wound would have been fatal on its own,” said Armstrong.

Downtown outage caused by construction mishap: Bell MTS

Some customers in downtown Winnipeg are experiencing a Bell MTS service interruption after telecommunications infrastructure was damaged Tuesday.

Bell MTS said on social media that a third-party construction crew accidentally cut a copper cable, causing the outage.

Contractors drilled through multiple underground ducts, causing significant damage to several cables and requiring extensive repairs.

A small number of buildings, mainly concentrated on Fort Street, Garry Street and York Avenue, may be experiencing landline or internet issues because of the damage, said Bell spokesperson Elise von Scheel.

Demolition ordered after fire in vacant city home

A Winnipeg firefighter was assessed by paramedics and an emergency demolition was ordered after a vacant house caught fire Thursday morning for the second time in less than three months.

The two-storey home, at Argyle Street and Disraeli Freeway, in South Point Douglas, was boarded up following a blaze that occurred June 1.

Firefighters returned to the house after flames were reported shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday. The house was engulfed when crews arrived.

“Due to heavy fire conditions, crews were unable to enter the structure,” a Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service spokesperson wrote in an email to the Free Press.

Allen misses out on league MVP award

Winnipeg Sea Bears guard Teddy Allen has come up short in his bid to win a second career CEBL Most Valuable Player award — and he’s not happy about it.

The league revealed its award winners Thursday, with Scarborough Shooting Stars guard Myles Powell taking home the MVP honours over Allen who was the finalist out of the Western Conference.

Powell, who was also named the Clutch Player of the Year with nine target score winners, averaged 22.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists while leading Scarborough to a historic 20-4 record.

“A dude who averaged 23 on 38 per cent. You will never see me again. Lost ya credibility,” Allen commented on Instagram.

Somali refugee admits he helped to smuggle African migrants into Manitoba for money

A Somali refugee who was twice caught by RCMP assisting in the smuggling of desperate African migrants into Manitoba during the frigid winter — including while out on bail, months after he was first arrested with eight foreign nationals in his vehicle — has admitted he did so for money.

U.S. tariffs pause elicits relief, frustration in Manitoba

Fifty per cent tariffs weren’t the only thing paused in the Canada-U.S. trade dispute.

‘Frustrated’ Selkirk nurses plead for help

The province must take immediate action to increase low staffing levels that are putting Selkirk emergency room nurses at risk, a letter sent to the premier and health minister says.

The letter, sent by the Manitoba Nurses Union and signed by 35 ER nurses, detailed multiple recent incidents at the Selkirk Regional Health Centre. In one case, a nurse was stabbed with a pen by a patient who had been waiting 24 hours for care. In another case, a nurse was bitten by a patient.

“Nurses in that emergency department are extremely frustrated,” said Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson. “This is not something that happened in the last month — or overnight — these are problems that have been growing.”

The five-page letter was sent Tuesday to Premier Wab Kinew, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara and leaders of the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority. It contained 10 requests to improve safety inside the emergency department, including establishing safer nurse-to-patient staffing levels, eliminating the practice of “single physician coverage” in the emergency department and implementing an institutional safety officer around the clock.

Tachinski helps punch men’s flag football ticket to Los Angeles Games

Jackson Tachinski: future Olympian?

Those prospects got a lot brighter for the Winnipegger on Sunday when the Canadian men’s flag football team won bronze at the IFAF World Flag Football Championships in Germany.

Tachinski was a key cog throughout a run that ended with a thrilling 34-26 overtime victory over Mexico that secured Canada’s spot at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, where flag football will debut on the biggest stage in sports.

“It was awesome. We were in overtime, and we got the ball first, and we ended up scoring and getting a two-point convert. We knew the defence just had to make a few plays and get a stop and we’d (win). Just seeing the ball go up in the air and (Montreal’s Guillaume Béland) came down with the interception, it was an unreal feeling. Just straight euphoria,” Tachinski told the Free Press shortly after returning home.