Canadians join global protests in solidarity with Iranian uprising

MONTREAL - Demonstrations were held in several Canadian cities on Saturday to voice support for the Iranian people as a popular uprising sweeping across Iran marked the end of its second week.

Protesters in Toronto and Montreal demanded the fall of the Islamic regime and the return of Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah of Iran who has been in exile in the United States for 47 years.

"We are here to be the voice of the Iranian people, who are currently in the streets of Iran and are being tortured and killed by the Iranian regime while they demand regime change to bring back King Reza Pahlavi," said Katayoon Haghzadeh during the Montreal event.

Demonstrations were also held Saturday in Ottawa, as well as other cities in around the world.

Finding housing for encampment residents remains challenge: city

There have been 12 encampments cleared by city staff since the implementation of new protocols in November, but finding housing or shelter for people staying in them remains a “key struggle,” councillors heard Friday.

Winnipeg’s encampment response protocol, which brings enforcement officers, Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service staff, outreach organizations and other groups together to clear out people and connect them to housing and other supports, was put in place Nov. 17.

Since then, the city has inspected 72 sites and enforcement officers have put up 117 signs warning of bylaw violations.

“We have quite a large number of sites we’re working on presently, just monitoring and working with outreach teams to make contact and, hopefully, find housing for people at those sites,” Greg MacPherson, he city’s acting manager of community development, told councillors at Friday’s community services committee meeting.

Members of armed forces headed to help in Pimicikamak

Canadian soldiers are headed to a northern Manitoba First Nation devastated by the aftermath of a prolonged power outage, including damage to water and sewer systems.

Most rooming houses fail fire inspection: WFPS

Nearly every Winnipeg rooming house visited by fire prevention officers in 2024 failed its initial inspection, a new report tabled by the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service shows.

The fire service inspected 141 rooming houses that year, finding just 27 per cent were in compliance with fire prevention bylaws, WFPS Chief Christian Schmidt told the city’s community service committee Friday.

“Those are relatively low compliance percentages, and speak to the importance of this work,” Schmidt said.

“The good news is, through the work of the inspection unit and the relationships that they have developed with property owners over time, the inspection compliance on second inspection rises dramatically.”

Plowing shows city refuses to burn bridge with Arlington

Vehicles haven’t had access to it for two years due to severe structural issues, but the city continues to plow the Arlington Bridge.

A spokesperson said Thursday the city plows the bridge to facilitate inspections and reduce weight on the structure.

“We have to keep this weight — also called dead load — down to minimize further deterioration until we are able to decommission the bridge,” the spokesperson said in an email.

The bridge, which opened in 1912, closed suddenly on Nov. 21, 2023, due to structural concerns, raising questions about its future.

‘Profound physical and emotional suffering’: woman who injected son with saltwater sentenced to time in treatment centre

A Winnipeg woman whose untreated mental illness drove her to poison her young son with salt water and other substances for more than eight months has been sentenced to four and a half years custody.

“The resulting harm was severe, placing the child’s life in danger on multiple occasions, causing profound physical and emotional suffering,” provincial court Judge Jerilee Ryle said at a sentencing hearing Thursday, describing the 30-year-old woman’s actions as “sustained and deliberate.”

The woman previously pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault. She cannot be named to protect the identify of her now eight-year-old son.

The woman has been diagnosed with factitious disorder imposed on another, a mental disorder previously referred to as Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

Pair of Manitobans named to women’s Olympic hockey roster

A pair of Manitobans are heading to the Winter Olympics as members of the Canadian women’s hockey team.

Ste. Anne’s Jocelyne Larocque and Winnipegger Kati Tabin were included in the 23-person roster announced on Friday afternoon. Canada will look to repeat as gold medallists when the 10-nation tournament gets underway in Milan Feb. 5.

This will be the fourth straight Games for the 37-year-old Larocque, who currently patrols the blue line for the Ottawa Charge of the PWHL. She has gold medals from Beijing (2022) and Sochi (2014) and a silver from Pyeongchang (2018).

Tabin, 28, gets to compete on the biggest stage in sports for the first time. She is in her third season of playing defence with the Montreal Victoire of the PWHL.

Data on violence in Manitoba schools released

A new study suggests that one in two teachers in Manitoba is experiencing violence on the job.

“It is, unfortunately, not shocking — it should be, but it’s not,” resource teacher Julie Braaksma said about the findings of her doctoral research project.

“Hopefully, it’s a wake-up call for employers.”

Concerned about how often she’s been subject to verbal and physical attacks, Braaksma designed her PhD in organizational leadership to determine whether she was an outlier.