Manitoba Federation of Labour calls for independent review of Workers Compensation Board

A major labour association is calling for an independent Workers Compensation Board review as Manitoba leads the country in workplace injury rates.

Last year, 2.5 employees in every 100 reported a workplace injury serious enough to take time off, WCB tracking shows. The number is higher than any other province — just as it has been for the past three years, according to the Manitoba Federation of Labour.

(In 2025, the next highest time loss injury rate was in British Columbia: 2.04 people for every 100.)

“Our prevention work in Manitoba is failing Manitobans,” said Kevin Rebeck, president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour. “We need an independent review to help shine a light on, ‘What is happening on the prevention front of WCB?’”

Klein claims he was offered PC party position to exit 2022 mayoral race to help Gillingham win

Mayoral candidate Kevin Klein said he was offered a position with the provincial Tories if he pulled out of the 2022 mayoral race that saw then-city councillor Scott Gillingham defeat former mayor Glen Murray.

Province takes aim at ER wait times by adding community-care capacity to free up hospital beds

The province is aiming to free up hospital beds and cut wait times by adding 103 community-based care spaces in Winnipeg for patients who need shelter or specialized supports in order to be discharged.

Government to exclude people who solely suffer from mental illness from MAID

OTTAWA - The Liberal government says it will table legislation in the fall to indefinitely exclude people who solely suffer from mental illness from medical assistance in dying. 

Justice Minister Sean Fraser said there is a lack of consensus within the medical community on when mental illness is irremediable, and concern around a lack of access to mental health supports. 

"While there is not a perfect consensus on this issue, we believe this is the correct approach at this particular time," Fraser said. 

The government also says that legislation will decriminalize advanced requests for people who are diagnosed with a serious illness, who may lose the capacity to consent to medical assistance in dying in the future.

Duo accused in random Osborne Village attacks no strangers to police

A man arrested following a violent, random attack on two men in Osborne Village late Sunday night was released from jail a week earlier after a dozen charges, including crimes of violence, were stayed against him, court records show.

A man in his 40s was sent to hospital in critical condition and another man in his 20s in stable condition following separate attacks shortly before midnight in the vicinity of River Avenue and Osborne Street.

Police have charged Reginald Owen, 26, and Meaghan Owen, 32, both from Little Grand Rapids, with assault with a weapon and aggravated assault. They both remain in custody.

Court records show Reginald Owen was sentenced Sept. 24 to 30 days time served after pleading guilty to simple possession of magic mushrooms. Owen remained in custody until the following day when he was set to apply for bail on charges including assault, sexual assault, choking to overcome resistance, pointing a firearm, and carrying a concealed weapon.

U.S. court denies man’s appeal in human smuggling case where family died near Emerson

A United States court of appeal has upheld the conviction and sentence for a man found guilty of smuggling Indian nationals into Minnesota from Manitoba, which resulted in the deaths of a family in 2022.

Sky is the limit for multi-sport talent Quinn Lavoie

Anisha Kinnarath Salam is gearing up for an important week.

AK Soccer Academy, the Winnipeg-based club Kinnarath Salam and her father started in 2019, is in Surrey, B.C., this week for the Canada Soccer National Championships — a first for the 15U girls team — and Kinnarath Salam believes her side has a legitimate shot at winning it all.

“We’ve had the squad, but this is a very talented group,” said Kinnarath Salam. “A few of these girls have been with us since they were five years old. A few have been with us since they were like 10. But we got some powerhouses last year.”

One of those new headlining talents is winger Quinn Lavoie, a product of West St. Paul who has brought a tantalizing blend of speed, technical skill and high IQ on the pitch.

FBI depicts Tumbler Ridge shooter’s guns, including ‘SKS’ once confiscated by RCMP

An FBI complaint against a Washington state suspect accused of conspiring with the Tumbler Ridge mass shooter for months provides extensive new details about the guns that may have been used in the attack, and how the teenage killer may have obtained them.

The complaint sworn by an FBI agent in Seattle says James Bryant, who is charged with conspiracy to murder in a foreign country, told officers that Jesse Van Rootselaar stole firearms and ammunition from her family’s gun safe and hid them in her room "in preparation for a mass shooting."

It also says in claims not tested in court that 18-year-old Van Rootselaar told Bryant in online chats that she had convinced another person to purchase ammunition on her behalf, and that one of the weapons she intended to use had been returned after previously being confiscated by the RCMP.

Van Rootselaar killed eight victims on Feb. 10, including her mother and brother at their home, and five students and an educational assistant at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

Christa Pike’s first words after surviving execution: ‘Where am I?’ attorney says

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Christa Pike, who regained consciousness almost six days after Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her, is aware of what happened and “angry and confused,” one of her attorneys said Wednesday.

Pike, 50, survived despite receiving two lethal doses of pentobarbital on Sept. 30. She was sentenced to death for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer.

“She is very aware of what they did to her up to a point,” attorney Randy Spivey said following a court hearing in Nashville where a judge told the state to save evidence from the execution attempt.

“On Monday night, it was our understanding that Christa was brain dead and that life support would be removed the next day,” Spivey said. “But on Tuesday, to the shock of everyone ... Christa woke up and began talking.”