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

The election of our discontent: City at a crumbling crossroads, grumbling residents say in poll

Matthew Frank 6 minute read 2:37 PM CDT

There’s an undercurrent of unhappiness running through the Winnipeg electorate as the municipal election day approaches.

One-half of Winnipeggers believe the city is heading in the wrong direction, according to a new Abacus Data poll, with nearly one-third unsure if Winnipeg is regressing or progressing.

Only 21 per cent of residents believe the city is on the right track, the Free Press-commissioned poll found.

That discontentment extends to how the city spends its tax dollars, with four in 10 Winnipeggers believing they receive poor value for what they pay in property taxes.

New

Record participation, funds raised in 2026 breast cancer awareness race

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview

Record participation, funds raised in 2026 breast cancer awareness race

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read 2:23 PM CDT

It’s become a tradition for the West End Legends to gather, get dressed up in hot pink and gab about their late girlfriend on the first Sunday of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“Mary was a beauty, a brain, an athlete and a friend,” said Linda Opalko, a 67-year-old member of the fundraising team founded in honour of Mary Stawychny.

Stawychny’s last breath was taken the same day the group — made up of friends the career teacher maintained since she grew up on Ingersoll Street more than 50 years ago — got together for the 2022 CIBC Run for the Cure.

“We were walking as she was leaving us four years ago,” Opalko said as she and fellow fundraisers strolled down Wellington Crescent on Sunday morning.

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2:23 PM CDT

Faith

Representatives from Calgary Alliance for the Common Good gathered at Scarboro United Church in Calgary, Alta., on September 16, 2026, during the launch of their Get out The Vote Campaign. LEAH HENNEL

The idea of Alberta separation viewed through a faith lens shows further fracture lines

Josiah Neufeld 10 minute read Preview

The idea of Alberta separation viewed through a faith lens shows further fracture lines

Josiah Neufeld 10 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

CALGARY — One morning in May, John Pentland, a minister at Hillhurst United Church in Calgary, opened his newspaper and read about a group of Albertans who were trying to divide his country.

Something inside of him felt like it cracked open. He started to weep.

“I couldn’t stop, I couldn’t breathe,” he said. He called a friend and told him: “I think I’m losing my mind.”

Pentland has always believed in Canada — flawed as it might be — as a nation gifted with diversity and welcoming of asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants. But recently that belief has been shaken as he’s witnessed right-wing ideologies charged with anti-immigrant sentiment take root in his province. It makes him angry and embarrassed for the country he loves.

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Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Bomber Report

Bombers get ‘whopped’ in Montreal

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Preview

Bombers get ‘whopped’ in Montreal

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Yesterday at 11:32 PM CDT

MONTREAL — It’s hard to fathom that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers smacked these Montreal Alouettes five weeks ago.

The team that pulled off that 44-28 upset at Princess Auto Stadium was nowhere to be found in La Belle Province on Saturday night.

You can, however, now find them in the basement of the West Division at 7-8 after getting completely outmatched and outclassed by the Als in a 37-10 beatdown.

“This was bad,” left tackle Stanley Bryant told the Free Press postgame. “They basically had their way all around. They whopped our ass.”

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Yesterday at 11:32 PM CDT

Canada

The Central Intelligence Agency headquarters is seen from a commercial airliner as it files over the CIA campus in Langley, Va., July 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Canada must weigh creation of new spy service with ‘eyes wide open,’ study warns

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press 7 minute read Preview

Canada must weigh creation of new spy service with ‘eyes wide open,’ study warns

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press 7 minute read Updated: 9:26 AM CDT

OTTAWA - Espionage is a deadly serious and generally misunderstood business, and it's critical for Canadian politicians thinking about starting a foreign spy service to decide "with their eyes wide open," a new study says.

"Virtually no Canadian knows how espionage is actually done," says the paper by former Canadian intelligence officials Alan Barnes and Geoff St. John.

"Romantic, facile notions predominate. Those bemused — or deceived — by the fictions of page and screen would benefit by learning how espionage is really done."

The study is being published this month on the website of the Policy Insights Forum, the research wing of the lobbying firm Samuel Associates.

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Updated: 9:26 AM CDT

Local

MORGAN MODJESKI / FREE PRESS
Sandra Shibata, vice-president with the Japanese Cultural Association of Manitoba, on Saturday stands next to a table displaying the names of people who were expelled to Manitoba after they were forcefully removed from the west coast in 1941. In the other room, the association was hosting a watch party for the unveiling of the Japanese Canadian Monument in Victoria B.C. one of 15 taking place across the country.

Winnipeggers witness unveiling of Japanese Canadian monument in B.C.

Morgan Modjeski 5 minute read Preview

Winnipeggers witness unveiling of Japanese Canadian monument in B.C.

Morgan Modjeski 5 minute read Yesterday at 8:39 PM CDT

As Miki Stewart gathered with her family at the Japanese Cultural Association of Manitoba on Saturday afternoon, she was thinking of her parents, Yoshimaru and Yoshi Abe.

Both Stewart, 80, and her sister Yumi Falk, 81, alongside an older brother, were born in the Tashme internment camp in British Columbia. They were among more than 2,600 Japanese Canadians who were forcefully removed and interred at the camp following the bombing of Pearl Harbour and Canada’s declaration of war on Japan in 1941.

“They didn’t talk much about how they suffered,” Stewart said of her parents. “But they did.”

She was amongst a group of more than 150 people who gathered at the association’s McPhillips headquarters on Saturday afternoon to watch the unveiling of the Japanese Canadian Monument in Victoria B.C.

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Yesterday at 8:39 PM CDT

Opinion

Broadening prediction-market gambling a bad idea Editorial Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT
Learning to win: a real problem for conservatives David McLaughlin Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT
Wet weather heats up feed grain availability Laura Rance-Unger Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Local

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS
Provincial justice officials are trying to seize a Dominion Street home that has been the source of neighbourhood consternation for years.

Province looks to seize notorious drug den

Erik Pindera 5 minute read Preview

Province looks to seize notorious drug den

Erik Pindera 5 minute read Yesterday at 12:00 PM CDT

Provincial justice officials are trying to seize a Dominion Street drug den that has been the source of trouble in the West End for years.

The owner of 982 Dominion St., 45-year-old Robert Edward Johnson, was most recently arrested in June along with several others after a lengthy Winnipeg Police investigation into thefts and illicit drug sales connected to the house.

“The residence has a reputation within the neighbourhood as being a location where individuals habitually attend for the purpose of purchasing and/or consuming controlled substances,” reads a statement of claim filed by the province’s director of civil forfeiture in the Court of King’s Bench last week.

“For several years, the residence has been associated with criminal activity, violence, and disorder, resulting in numerous police attendances and complaints from members of the surrounding community.”

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Yesterday at 12:00 PM CDT

Canada

From left, Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, Coalition Avenir Québec Leader Christine Fréchette, Quebec Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime and Quebec Liberal Leader Charles Milliard participate in a leaders debate in Montreal on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. Quebec votes in a provincial election on Oct. 5, 2026.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

Parti Québécois heads a crowded election field into provincial election vote

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Parti Québécois heads a crowded election field into provincial election vote

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: 9:29 AM CDT

MONTREAL - Quebec's campaign trail has been more crowded than ever in 2026, with five parties potentially in a position to have members elected to the legislature for the first time in 50 years.

But it's Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon who has appeared to pull away from the pack, at the tail end of a campaign that has been dominated by questions of economic uncertainty, cost of living and the looming prospect of a third sovereignty referendum.

While St-Pierre Plamondon has said he isn't taking the result for granted, his talk has turned in recent days towards asking voters to help his party reach a majority, and looking beyond the Oct. 5 vote.

"In my mind, it is very clear that once the election is over, if people give you the mandate to be premier, you have a moral obligation to be the premier for absolutely everyone," he said Friday in Quebec City.

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Updated: 9:29 AM CDT

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Canada

Angel Houle Municipal Affairs Coordinator for the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, poses for a photo in Edmonton, on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Ulan

‘Silence could be consent’: Alberta First Nations push to get out vote for referendum

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

‘Silence could be consent’: Alberta First Nations push to get out vote for referendum

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: 1:08 PM CDT

EDMONTON - Angel Houle says she's never voted in an Alberta provincial election, but this month's referendum is different.

Not only is she casting a ballot, Houle is helping outfit First Nations' leaders with everything they need to get out the vote on Oct. 19.

That's when Albertans decide whether the province should stay within Canada, or hold a second, binding referendum on breaking away.

Houle, along with other staff at the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, has been organizing workshops to build teams among member nations. Those teams are boots on the ground, spreading the word on where and how to vote.

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Updated: 1:08 PM CDT

Local

’Disgusting’ posters being investigated by police

Morgan Modjeski 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:22 PM CDT

The Winnipeg Police Service major crimes unit is investigating what some have labelled offensive and hateful posters on full-display at a Winnipeg home.

One of the people irked by the display is Gracie Garrett. She’s has lived on Ashburn Street in Winnipeg’s Minto neighbourhood for almost ten years. She’s never felt unsafe in the neighbourhood before, but now, a set of posters plastered on a nearby house are making her feel uneasy.

The five signs, posted facing the street prominently on a front window, contain a slur, refer to Nazis as “heroes” and call Muslims, Christians and other groups “evil.”

Learning of the signs Friday, Garrett said she’ll be reporting the posters to police, as she worries they incite and promote violence.

Civic Election

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Scott and Marla Gillingham have breakfast at home on Saturday morning.

A day on the campaign trail: Winnipeg's mayor, seeking a second term, does double duty

Malak Abas 11 minute read Preview

A day on the campaign trail: Winnipeg's mayor, seeking a second term, does double duty

Malak Abas 11 minute read Friday, Oct. 2, 2026

In the weeks leading up to the civic election, Scott Gillingham has been performing a juggling act: he’s running to be Winnipeg’s 45th mayor, while still serving as its 44th.

“If someone asks me about the campaign, I’m going to answer them. But I think for most people, I’m the mayor of Winnipeg, even if I’m showing up as a candidate,” Gillingham, 58, says. “I try to do all I can to maintain that distinction.”

The Free Press joined Gillingham on a recent rainy September Saturday on the campaign trail, where he served in both roles during an event-laden day. City council’s final meeting before the Oct. 28 election was days earlier.

In Winnipeg, it’s rare for an incumbent to be defeated. But Gillingham knows his win in 2022 wasn’t exactly a landslide — he won with 27.5 per cent of the vote — and he’s been thinking about his second term ever since.

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Friday, Oct. 2, 2026

Winnipeg Jets

Winnipeg Jet Tyrel Bauer (77) and Boston Bruin Mark Kastelic (47) fight during the first period in Winnipeg on Friday.

Living the dream

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Preview

Living the dream

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Yesterday at 4:48 PM CDT

DETROIT – As Tyrel Bauer took a left turn out of the tunnel from the Winnipeg Jets dressing room and into the stands, he was met with a hearty round of applause from the 25 friends and family members who had made the trek from various points around North America.

Bauer had just realized a childhood dream and the significance of the moment was not lost on some of his biggest supporters.

“It was a special walk, for sure. A special walk,” Bauer said on Saturday afternoon before the Jets departed for a two-game road trip that begins on Sunday in Detroit against the Red Wings. “Those people who came – and many more that weren’t there and were cheering on from afar – they’ve always been there.

“I wanted that for my family, maybe even more than I wanted it for me. They’ve been through thick and thin. I’ve stressed mom out quite a bit over the years doing my job. That meant a lot for them and I’m really happy they could be there for it.”

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Yesterday at 4:48 PM CDT