Crown corps’ hybrid work options ending this fall

Manitoba Public Insurance managers and directors who are allowed to work remotely some days will be required in the office full time starting Oct. 5.

President and CEO Satvir Jatana announced changes to the Crown corporation’s hybrid work program in an email to MPI’s workforce Thursday.

“Being in the office creates opportunities for quick conversations, faster alignment and more effective problem-solving,” Jatana wrote in the email, which was obtained by the Free Press.

“This is harder to replicate in a hybrid environment. Improving our ability to execute will be supported by more in-person collaboration.”

Winnipeg acknowledges ‘generous, philanthropic’ family with honorary road renaming

A stretch of Panet Road has been honorarily named after long-time local business Princess Auto.

Naming Panet Road from Nairn Avenue to Mission Street — along the former Princess Auto location and the new, expanded flagship centre will open Tuesday — “Princess Auto Way” was one way to recognize the generations-long family business and its impact on the city, said Mayor Scott Gillingham.

Gillingham said he reached out to Princess Auto with the idea for the nomination.

“It’s not just the fact that they’ve been a key business family in their community,” Gillingham said at an event at the new Princess Auto at 500 Panet Road Saturday.

Trucking firm linked to fatal crash failed to comply with safety laws: province

Conquer Transport, the firm whose truck is connected to a fatal crash near Brandon, had its safety certificate pulled by Manitoba in 2021 for “ongoing deficiencies in safe operation and non-compliance with highway safety laws,” the provincial government said Friday.

A Conquer semi-truck blew through a stop sign on Highway 110 at Richmond Avenue East Wednesday, hitting an SUV driven by a 49-year-old female driver who had the right of way, Brandon police said. The woman, who worked at a nearby meat-packing plant, was pronounced dead at the scene. Brijpal Panwar, 35, has been charged with dangerous driving causing death.

Transportation Minister Lisa Naylor said Thursday the truck shouldn’t have been operating in Manitoba, but after its certificate was yanked here, the company was given a safety certificate from the Alberta government.

On Friday, a Manitoba government spokesman said the safety certificate was removed in late 2021 for non-compliance with highway safety laws and truck-specific regulations. The Winnipeg-based business is listed as permanently closed online.

After years of living in encampments, Lawrence is slowly adjusting to life with a roof, instead of a tarp, over his head

Just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic upended daily life in early 2020, Lawrence had a steady job, reliable income and a roof over his head. Within months, it was all gone.

After burning through his savings to keep paying rent, the 58-year-old from Sagkeeng First Nation spent the next 4 1/2 years homeless, living in an encampment along Waterfront Drive.

“At first, I couldn’t believe it,” he said while sitting in an office chair inside a low-barrier apartment complex in the city’s West End. “I was sitting at a drop-in centre trying to figure out ‘how did I end up here?’ It was too quick for me to absorb at the time.”

Lawrence, who didn’t want his last name used, has now been housed for three months through the province’s Your Way Home strategy, which aims to move roughly 700 Manitobans from encampments into stable housing.

North End puts its best foot forward with Culture Fest

Fostering friendship is one of the most important parts of Melanie McKay’s day.

At the Winnipeg Indigenous Friendship Centre, she serves as a program co-ordinator, where she organizes bingo nights, drop-ins for elders and craft sessions. She spent Saturday afternoon at the third annual North End Neighbours Culture Fest, where a dozen organizations serving the neighbourhood gathered at the Ukrainian Labour Temple to share food, watch performances and celebrate each other.

“These are the people that we represent, and these are the people that we want to help out,” McKay said Saturday. “I think being here shows that we’re out there in the community, and we’re willing to help any way we can.”

The Indigenous Friendship Centre began operating out of 410 McGregor St., May 1, while they renovate their former home at 45 Robinson St. They’re holding an open house June 5 in hopes of letting more people know their resources are available to the North End, regardless of their cultural background.

Three political leaders weigh in on western alienation and the spectre of a fall independence referendum in Alberta

The Free Press spoke with three Manitoba political veterans from the era who reflect on Charlottetown’s ripple effects and where Manitoba and Canada may be headed as another separatist movement brews.

A cache to crow about: Collector feathers nest with just about anything related to Robin’s Donuts

Ronald Moore’s personal association with Robin’s Donuts began when he was a grade schooler.

Better showing for Bombers backup Elgersma

Thank goodness that’s over with.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, featuring a roster of newcomers, up-and-comers and the soon to be unemployed, closed out the pre-season Friday night at Princess Auto Stadium with a 30-19 loss to the B.C. Lions.

The Blue and Gold finish tune-up time at 0-2 after falling 31-27 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Saskatoon last weekend.

The Bombers will make their final cuts in the next 24 hours before shifting gears to Week 1,where they open the 2026 campaign on the road against the Calgary Stampeders on Friday (8 p.m. CT kickoff).

Heat dome shatters weather records across province

This week’s heat wave is breaking records across Manitoba, including some that stood for more than 100 years, while some northern communities spend time as Canada’s hot spot.

Environment and Climate Change Canada, which issued a heat warning for most of Manitoba, said 24 communities set daily maximum temperature records for May 28 when temperatures soared Thursday, preliminary data show.

Brandon’s daytime high of 36 C eclipsed the record of 33.3 C set in 1901. Records have been kept in the western Manitoba city since 1890.

Five communities — Carman, Dauphin, Morden, Portage la Prairie and Winkler — broke records that were set in 1919. Thompson and Lynn Lake were among the northern communities to set new marks.

Fairmont Hotel in Winnipeg to donate beds, chairs, tables, lamps ahead of renovations

Homeless people set to move into transitional housing will get a suite treatment later this year thanks to a donation from a Winnipeg hotel making its own transition.

The Fairmont Winnipeg will donate its room furnishings, including more than 760 beds and box springs, before it undergoes a multimillion-dollar renovation this summer.

Anything that isn’t nailed down in the 340 guest rooms will be donated to Linking Hope, a non-profit that will dole the items out to its 120 partner agencies across Manitoba.

“We had always had the donation intent top of mind, we did not want all of this to just find its way into a landfill,” said Ian Taylor, general manager of Fairmont Winnipeg. “There are needs within the community and the province abroad that we needed to look at.”

Canada’s lengthy Stanley Cup drought continues as Habs fall to Hurricanes

RALEIGH - Hockey might be considered Canada's game, but its most iconic trophy has extended its decades-long residency in the United States for at least another year.

Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven and Eric Robinson scored in a dominating first period that helped push the Hurricanes past the Montreal Canadiens 6-1 on Friday night, closing a five-game series.

That sets up a Stanley Cup final between the Hurricanes and the Vegas Golden Knights, and guarantees an American team will hoist hockey's Holy Grail for a 32nd straight season.

When the Montreal Canadiens won the Cup in the 1992-93 campaign, they became the eighth Canadian champion in 10 seasons.