Winnipeg Free Press – Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada

Khan steps down as Tory leader

Free Press staff 1 minute read Updated: 6:02 PM CDT

Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan announced he is quitting caucus and will sit as an Independent, effective Tuesday.

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Kinew adds cabinet portfolio to focus on first responders

Carol Sanders and Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Preview

Kinew adds cabinet portfolio to focus on first responders

Carol Sanders and Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Updated: 6:40 PM CDT

Premier Wab Kinew shuffled his cabinet Monday and created a new ministerial position that will oversee first responders in the province.

Kinew appointed David Pankratz, the MLA for Waverley, as minister responsible for first responder initiatives.

Tuxedo MLA Carla Compton was appointed minister responsible for accessibility, taking over the role from Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine.

The new ministers were sworn in at a ceremony at the legislature Monday afternoon.

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Updated: 6:40 PM CDT

Bathhouse owner upset after judge grants bail to man accused in foiled bombing

Dean Pritchard and Morgan Modjeski 5 minute read Preview

Bathhouse owner upset after judge grants bail to man accused in foiled bombing

Dean Pritchard and Morgan Modjeski 5 minute read Updated: 5:00 PM CDT

The owner of a Notre Dame Avenue bathhouse is troubled after a man accused of planting a pipe bomb outside his club was granted bail.

Erik Lymen Olson, 59, was granted release following a contested bail hearing last Monday.

“I don’t think he should have got out with something like this — at all,” said Christopher Gregoire, owner of AQ Sauna.

Olson was arrested Sept. 12, one day after allegedly planting a pipe bomb outside the sex and lifestyle club.

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Updated: 5:00 PM CDT

Orange Shirt Day project fits students to a tee

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview

Orange Shirt Day project fits students to a tee

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read 6:57 PM CDT

On the eve of Orange Shirt Day, hundreds of black T-shirts will be handed out to teenagers at Elmwood High School — and there wasn’t a mixup in the clothing procurement process.

The student-run business behind the initiative wanted to make a statement about “truth and reconciliation” being a year-round activity, said Daniel Concepcion, a Grade 12 student.

Daniel said given that black is a staple in the wardrobe of teenagers, he hopes these shirts won’t sit on hangers for 364 days of the year.

“Every child matters, every part of the day, every day,” the 17-year-old said.

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6:57 PM CDT

Jets pick up netminder as relatively new 23-man roster announced

Mike McIntyre 6 minute read Preview

Jets pick up netminder as relatively new 23-man roster announced

Mike McIntyre 6 minute read Updated: 5:28 PM CDT

Let’s get the caveats out of the way: Nothing is set in stone, nor written in permanent ink, and what you see right now could change in the blink of an eye.

With that being said, allow us to introduce you to the 2026-27 Winnipeg Jets — where change is very much in the air.

The 23-man roster submitted to the NHL offices by Monday’s 4 p.m. deadline includes seven players who were not on the team at this time last year. In fact, there could be as many as 10 new faces in the opening-night lineup on Friday against Boston when you factor in three regulars didn’t start the 2025-26 campaign due to injury.

That’s a lot of turnover, which isn’t surprising for a team that finished 26th overall in the standings and was — to most fans and pundits — too old and too slow.

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Updated: 5:28 PM CDT

Local

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Micheal O’Malley, founder of La Parfumerie, has been ordered by the city of Winnipeg to close his retail store in Wolseley.

Perfumer battling city hall to keep his shop open

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview

Perfumer battling city hall to keep his shop open

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read 5:45 PM CDT

Michael O’Malley has been here before — fighting the City of Winnipeg to keep his business open.

He usually spends his days concocting scents. He’s owned La Parfumerie, a Wolseley shop, since 1993.

Twenty-seven natural perfumes line shelves on 145 Evanson St.’s bottom floor. O’Malley lives above the space.

Now, he’s required to change the home’s zoning or shut out walk-in customers. Either would kill the company, O’Malley said.

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5:45 PM CDT

Opinion

Canada resorting to its tried and true playbook Niigaan Sinclair Updated: 1:31 PM CDT
Wab Kinew as ‘communicator in chief’ Paul G. Thomas Updated: 1:11 PM CDT
Discrediting independent media is the game plan Editorial Updated: 1:27 PM CDT

Civic Election

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
Kevin Klein at a campaign for mayor event Friday at Four Crowns Restaurant, 1030 McPhillips Street. Klein was joined by supporter Robert-Falcon Ouellette who has agreed to be a part of a special committee on crime if Klein is elected mayor. Reporter: Joyanne Pursaga 260918 - Friday, September 18, 2026.

Mayoral candidates roll out pledges

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Preview

Mayoral candidates roll out pledges

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read 6:26 PM CDT

Mayoral contender Kevin Klein would seek new election rules to “level the playing field” for all future candidates, if elected.

“This is meant to strengthen our democracy,” said Klein.

He would ask city council to approve several changes, including a municipal announcement blackout to start 30 days before each election, except when one is legally required or shares emergency/public safety notices.

City staff could also release information without elected officials present.

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6:26 PM CDT

Local

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine announces changes in provincial supports for youth aging out of Child and Family Services care, Monday.

Province helping youths leaving CFS system with three-month EIA ‘unconditional income’

Nicole Buffie 3 minute read Preview

Province helping youths leaving CFS system with three-month EIA ‘unconditional income’

Nicole Buffie 3 minute read 4:29 PM CDT

The province is making it easier for youths transitioning out of care to access employment income assistance.

Conditions on benefits will be waived for three months, to create a “time-limited, unconditional income,” Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said Monday.

The changes will allow for direct enrolment on income assistance upon aging out of care, Fontaine said.

“The data tells us young adults exiting care disproportionately experience homelessness and insecure housing,” she said. “Financial insecurity is a key contributor to housing insecurity.”

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4:29 PM CDT

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Local

Crown seeks two years for mother convicted of failing to provide necessaries of life

Erik Pindera 4 minute read Preview

Crown seeks two years for mother convicted of failing to provide necessaries of life

Erik Pindera 4 minute read 5:18 PM CDT

A mother whose infant child died with methamphetamine in her bloodstream should serve two years in jail, the Crown argued Monday.

Alison Kimberly Muise, 43, was found guilty in February of failing to provide the necessaries of life in the 2022 death of Layla Mattern-Muise after a trial last year.

On Feb. 2, 2022, Muise and the child’s father awoke to find Layla, three months, not breathing and called 911.

The child was rushed to hospital and pronounced dead that day. Her blood was later found to contain methamphetamine.

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5:18 PM CDT

The Arts

MISTHAVEN / SUPPLIED
For some, the world of Misthaven is a second home, though its dense lore and rulebook may intimidate a beginner.

For the LARPers of Misthaven, adventuring is serious business

Conrad Sweatman 7 minute read Preview

For the LARPers of Misthaven, adventuring is serious business

Conrad Sweatman 7 minute read 5:20 PM CDT

I’m about to have my ass handed to me by a burly man in his late 30s wielding a foam sword.

“Don’t hurt him,” a fellow Live Action Role Player (LARPer) tells my opponent before we spar.

“How could he hurt me?” I think. “It’s foam.”

He patiently explains every mistake I make while effortlessly beating me. It’s meant to be instructive, but inadvertently adds insult to injury. And, yes, I do get a little hurt, though it’s my fault: I smack myself in the face with my own shield, hiding the pain like a kid around older, stronger boys at recess.

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5:20 PM CDT

Local

An encampment on the front lawn of the Manitoba legislature building is shown on Wednesday Aug. 17, 2022 in Winnipeg. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kelly Malone

Cost of living front and centre as Manitoba legislators set to return Tuesday

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Cost of living front and centre as Manitoba legislators set to return Tuesday

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: 6:49 PM CDT

WINNIPEG - Manitoba politicians return to the house Tuesday for a sitting that is expected to focus on affordability, but will begin with questions surrounding the Opposition Progressive Conservatives.

Tory Leader Obby Khan announced Monday he is quitting the post, and the caucus, effective Tuesday and will sit as an Independent.

Khan cited internal fighting for his departure, saying “I will not sacrifice my principles to keep this title.”

The move means there will be 19 Progressive Conservatives facing Premier Wab Kinew’s 34 New Democrats. There is one Liberal and, with Khan, now three Independents.

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Updated: 6:49 PM CDT

Local

CAROL SANDERS / FREE PRESS
Linda Zak who lives doors down from 575 Furby St., right, and sees people coming and going from the boarded up house where there have been fires. Friday morning people were in the yard of the “vacant “ home calling out to people inside.

Furby Street residents fed up with inaction on drug houses

Carol Sanders 6 minute read Preview

Furby Street residents fed up with inaction on drug houses

Carol Sanders 6 minute read Updated: 8:39 AM CDT

Anxious Furby Street residents contacted the city and their elected officials Friday to — once again — report people coming and going from a boarded-up house they call a dangerous “drug centre” and “den of thieves” that’s just steps away from a house under construction.

Linda Zak, who was holding a yard sale with a group of neighbours Friday morning, described the trouble the home attracts, while a woman slumped on the front steps and a man standing in the yard yelled to someone inside it.

“It is a drug centre,” said Zak, 77. “We know that. A couple of days ago, a person lit the front on fire. Now, as you look at it, you can see where the facade was burning and they were trying to harm people inside.”

“We’re very concerned about it being next to the home this man is building,” she said, pointing to the two-storey that’s nearly completed. The boarded-up house is in the 500 block of Furby.

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Updated: 8:39 AM CDT