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Local

JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
In a lawsuit filed in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench, an Ontario doctor has alleged recruiters negligently misrepresented a job at the Carberry hospital.

Manitoba doctor denies working to revive Carberry ER in response to recruitment lawsuit

Erik Pindera 3 minute read Yesterday at 9:40 AM CDT

A Manitoba doctor has denied he was working as a recruiter after an Ontario doctor accused him of misleading him about a position at the Carberry hospital.

Dr. Klevis Iliriani, who worked at the hospital in Carberry from May to August 2024, filed his statement of claim in Court of King’s Bench earlier this year.

Iliriani, who lives in an Ottawa suburb, has alleged recruiters negligently misrepresented the job at the Carberry hospital and breached the terms of his contract, which resulted in less pay than promised.

His court filing names defendants Dr. Dave Maharajh and Barry Banek as the recruiters.

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Local

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Members of Manitoba’s Sikh community gather to to celebrate its annual Nagar Kirtan procession and festival.

‘We belong… and we are giving back”: Sikh celebration enlivens downtown Winnipeg

Melissa Martin 3 minute read Preview

‘We belong… and we are giving back”: Sikh celebration enlivens downtown Winnipeg

Melissa Martin 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:59 PM CDT

Downtown Winnipeg came alive with vibrant sights, sounds, and scents on Sunday, as Manitoba’s Sikh community flocked to Memorial Park to celebrate its annual Nagar Kirtan procession and festival.

This year marked the 422nd anniversary of the completion of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture central to the Sikh faith. Shortly after 1 p.m., a palanquin bearing a copy of the scripture was led in parade through downtown Winnipeg, with musical accompaniment.

“This is a chance to tell the public and the whole community where we come from and who we are,” said volunteer Prabh Grewal shortly before the procession got underway. “In a community there are people from every race and every country, and our main objective is to have everybody live in peace and harmony together.”

Before, during, and after the procession, the park hummed with life. As many as 55,000 people converged on the site, with the majority dressed in festive traditional attire. Near the height of the day’s 30 C heat, families relaxed in patches of shade, enjoying plates of Punjabi cuisine dished out for free at dozens of tents sponsored by local businesses.

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Updated: Yesterday at 5:59 PM CDT

Bomber Report

Saskatchewan Roughriders running back Quali Conley (24) leaps in the air as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence closes in during the first half. (Kayle Neis / The Canadian Press)

Slow start but gritty play not enough in Bombers OT loss to Roughriders in Labour Day Classic

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Preview

Slow start but gritty play not enough in Bombers OT loss to Roughriders in Labour Day Classic

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Yesterday at 11:38 PM CDT

REGINA – Leave it to Brady Oliveira to succinctly describe that fine line between jubilation and the alternate.

In the aftermath of another Labour Day Classic that went down to the wire, Oliveira went through the joy of tying the game with no time left on the clock to the empty feeling that came moments later when the Saskatchewan Roughriders finished off a 32-26 victory on Sunday night before a raucous crowd of 34,352 at Mosaic Stadium.

“It’s terrible,” said Oliveira. “You just kind of feel all of the emotions. I’m pretty pissed right now. We were close, we were right there. We didn’t play our best football and we still gave ourselves a chance, which could be a silver lining.

“I don’t like to look at silver linings because the fact of the matter is we play this game to get positive results. We want to win the game and we didn’t win the game. So, I’m pissed.”

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Yesterday at 11:38 PM CDT

Local

NICOLE BUFFIE / FREE PRESS
Lab workers at Dynacare on Regent Avenue were turning patients away Saturday morning as hundreds of people scrambled to get bloodwork done before a planned strike on Tuesday.

Dynacare labs quickly reach capacity ahead of strike

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Preview

Dynacare labs quickly reach capacity ahead of strike

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Saturday, Sep. 5, 2026

Patients were being turned away from several Dynacare locations Saturday morning as people packed the labs in hopes of getting their blood collection done before workers strike.

By 10:30 a.m. the lobby at the Dynacare at 1581 Regent Ave. was standing-room only and walk-up patients were being turned away as the wait time for those lucky enough to get in creeped past two hours.

One woman got in right before workers cut off walk-ins at 10 a.m. after travelling to two other locations.

“I was driving by at 7:15 this morning and there was already a line-up to the road, so I was like ‘nope, not going there’ so I went to the one on Sterling Lyon (Parkway) and it was closed, and then I went to the one at St. Vital Mall and there had a line zig-zagging all the way through the corridors so I gave up and came back,” said Joanna, who declined to give her last name.

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Saturday, Sep. 5, 2026

Business

City Councillor Renaldo Agostino looks at the Detroit skyline across the Detroit River Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, in Windsor, Ontario (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

US tourism groups want to win Canadian visitors back. A testy trade war isn’t helping

Rio Yamat, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

US tourism groups want to win Canadian visitors back. A testy trade war isn’t helping

Rio Yamat, The Associated Press 7 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:03 PM CDT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Appeals from American tourism organizations seemed to be everywhere Josh Loewen looked over the last year. Billboards and banners proclaimed a state or city's love for Canada. Online and social media ads offered special deals for travelers from north of the border.

As a Vancouver resident and marketing executive himself, Loewen said he understands the conciliatory overtures. The number of Canadians traveling to the United States plunged after President Donald Trump returned to office with remarks about making Canada the 51st state. An acrimonious trade war between the two countries now is threatening to reinforce the informal boycott just as it appeared to be easing slightly.

"It’s such a big ask right now,” Loewen, 45, said of the U.S. tourism industry's attempts to woo Canadians like him back before a new president occupies the White House. “It’s just a wasted effort.”

Relations between the U.S. and Canadian governments have deteriorated sharply since their trade negotiations collapsed last month. Trump imposed import taxes of up to 50% on a range of Canadian products. Canada’s government responded in kind. Trump ordered the U.S. government to change the name of border-spanning Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney dismissed insults from members of Trump's Cabinet as childish and undignified.

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Updated: Yesterday at 5:03 PM CDT

Canada

Former Canadian Olympians Otto Jelinek (L-R) Catriona le May Doan and Charmaine Crooks attend a news conference in Prague, Czech Republic Monday, June 30, 2003, as a part of the 2010 Olympic bid for Vancouver. (CP PHOTO/Jonathan Hayward)

Otto Jelinek, a former cabinet minister and world-champion figure skater, dead at 86

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Otto Jelinek, a former cabinet minister and world-champion figure skater, dead at 86

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 4:51 PM CDT

OTTAWA - Otto Jelinek, a former world-champion figure skater and federal cabinet minister, has died at the age of 86.

"He was quite the ambitious guy," his younger brother Henry said Sunday, a day after Jelinek's death. "He was also sincerely and strongly a Canadian guy, who did everything he could to help this country."

Jelinek was born in Prague in 1940, and his family fled Czechoslovakia's communist government, arriving in Canada in 1952.

His father owned a successful cork factory in Prague and later rebuilt it in Oakville, Ont., a town between Toronto and Hamilton.

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Updated: Yesterday at 4:51 PM CDT

Opinion

How to make National Day for Truth and Reconciliation personal Niigaan Sinclair Saturday, Sep. 5, 2026
Politicians who harp on Klein’s history with Nygard do so at their own peril Tom Brodbeck Friday, Sep. 4, 2026
Culture, language confront the almighty algorithm Rebecca Chambers Saturday, Sep. 5, 2026

Business

At least 5 dead after Amazon cargo plane barreled off runway at Miami airport

Anthony Izaguirre, David Fischer And Josh Funk, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

At least 5 dead after Amazon cargo plane barreled off runway at Miami airport

Anthony Izaguirre, David Fischer And Josh Funk, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 8:57 PM CDT

MIAMI (AP) — An Amazon cargo plane barreled off a runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday, killing at least five people and injuring five others as it struck vehicles and was engulfed in flames, authorities said.

The aircraft overran the runway around 2 p.m. after arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and plowed across a road used by warehouse workers and other businesses that surround the airport. Five people were killed, three critically injured and two others hospitalized with less severe injuries, Miami-Dade County officials told a news conference.

It wasn't immediately clear if the pilots survived or those killed were all in vehicles when the plane struck.

The crash, which sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky, trapped the pilot and copilot in the cockpit and some occupants in cars, said Miami-Dade Rescue Fire Chief Ray Jadallah. The agency said crews also had to extricate a person who was trapped under a vehicle.

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Updated: Yesterday at 8:57 PM CDT

Business

Export supports, loans part of Manitoba efforts to back businesses amid U.S. trade war

Gabrielle Piché 6 minute read Preview

Export supports, loans part of Manitoba efforts to back businesses amid U.S. trade war

Gabrielle Piché 6 minute read Friday, Sep. 4, 2026

The Manitoba government announced more than $100 million in tariff relief as companies brace for an escalation in the Canada-U.S. trade war. Canadian counter-tariffs ranging from 15 to 50 per cent are set to take effect Tuesday. Similar levies from the United States began in August.

A swath of businesses are hit: roughly $42 billion in two-way trade crosses the Manitoba-U.S. border annually.

The Free Press compiled information about the province’s business-focused tariff relief measures from the government and program facilitators.

Tariff workforce stabilization and youth employment programThe Business Council of Manitoba will administer this $13.7 million wage subsidy program.

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Friday, Sep. 4, 2026

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Canada

Chris Kubinski is shown in this undated photo. - THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Chris Kubinski (Mandatory Credit)

‘It’s childish’: Americans in Canada react to Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario

Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

‘It’s childish’: Americans in Canada react to Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario

Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 10:39 AM CDT

If you’re angered by U.S. President Donald Trump's renaming of Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” chances are that an American living in your neighbourhood might be just as outraged — if not more.

Many Americans who've made Canada their home are calling it an embarrassing, even "childish," stunt.

Ben Davis, a retired law professor, said Trump’s executive order to change the lake’s name is "so beneath the office of the United States president."

"And obviously it's another one of his distractions of the day, but it's just pitiful,” Davis said.

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Updated: Yesterday at 10:39 AM CDT

Local

Woman died while getting wisdom teeth out; case raises questions about transparency of dental association

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Preview

Woman died while getting wisdom teeth out; case raises questions about transparency of dental association

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Friday, Sep. 4, 2026

The parents of a 23-year-old southwestern Manitoba woman who died after receiving a local anesthetic during a wisdom tooth extraction say they are in the dark about the investigation into their daughter’s death.

Dulaney and Victoria Blatz say the Manitoba Dental Association has been unwilling to give them information about the probe into their daughter’s death, saying the self-governing regulatory body must be more transparent with the public.

“We have pushed through various channels trying to get information, but it’s nothing but stalling and sidelining,” Victoria said Friday. “This has crashed our world to pieces and we just want answers.”

Virginia Blatz went to Boundary Trails Dental Centre in Morden on Nov. 27, 2024, to have her wisdom teeth removed, but never returned home.

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Friday, Sep. 4, 2026

Bomber Report

MIKE SUDOMA/FREE PRESS FILES
Willie Jefferson prior to a game against the B.C. Lions in Winnipeg in July.

(Un)friendly competition

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Preview

(Un)friendly competition

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Saturday, Sep. 5, 2026

REGINA – Jermarcus Hardrick knows exactly what kind of battle he is in for on Sunday in the 61st edition of the Labour Day Classic.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders right tackle has ample experience lining up opposite Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive end Willie Jefferson, both as teammates and opponents during the past decade and change.

In this pivotal matchup between Prairie rivals jockeying for position in the CFL West Division, this head-to-head battle in the trenches figures to be must-see TV.

“Willie is one of my best friends, one of the best players in the league. It’s amazing to see what he’s doing on film, what he’s always done on film,” said Hardrick, who spent eight seasons with the Blue Bombers before joining the Roughriders in 2024 as a free agent. “With the way that you know he plays and what he can do to a team with his energy and knowing that’s on the other side from you all game, that’s a big challenge that you look forward to.

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Saturday, Sep. 5, 2026

Canada

Warning signage is seen in front of a washed out road near Marble Mountain, in Cape Breton, N.S., Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Steve Wadden

Nova Scotia mourning woman who died during flooding, premier says

Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Nova Scotia mourning woman who died during flooding, premier says

Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 3:28 PM CDT

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says the province is mourning a Cape Breton Island woman who died during widespread flooding across the region caused by torrential rain.

RCMP say the body of a 46-year-old woman from Cleveland, N.S., was recovered Saturday afternoon after she was reported missing earlier that day.

The Mounties say their Richmond County office received a report the woman was missing after her vehicle was found parked near her residence on the far side of a flooded bridge.

Police, volunteers and local fire services started searching for the woman, and her body was later recovered in the area at about 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, according to a news release.

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Updated: Yesterday at 3:28 PM CDT