Groups irked by lack of consultation over seniors advocate role

The NDP is being accused of failing to live up to its commitment to consult organizations that lobby on behalf of seniors about the role and powers of the incoming seniors advocate, whose office is expected to open Nov. 1.

Northern First Nation sues province over moose hunting rights

A northern First Nation is suing the Manitoba government, arguing licensed moose hunting on its traditional territory infringes on its rights — the latest conflict over land use and hunting in the province.

Misipawistik Cree Nation filed the lawsuit Wednesday in the Court of King’s Bench, asking the court to cancel licences issued for three game hunting areas on its traditional land northwest of Lake Winnipeg. The suit says the harvesting infringes on the community’s right to hunt moose for food amid dwindling populations.

“What we’re trying to do is force the province into a better moose management system. And our treaty rights that are constitutionally protected need to have the top priority after conservation before any licences can be issued,” Chief Heidi Cook said Thursday.

Manitoba’s natural resources minister said he wants to work with Indigenous and non-Indigenous hunters and fishers alike to develop fair wildlife management strategies across the province.

Carney, Sheinbaum sign deal to deepen economic, security ties

MEXICO CITY - Canada and Mexico have signed a pact to deepen economic and security ties ahead of what is expected to be a challenging round of negotiations with the United States on a trilateral trade deal.

The agreement — billed as a comprehensive strategic partnership — was signed by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico City Thursday.

It includes a plan to build infrastructure such as ports, rail and energy corridors while tackling crime and protecting the environment.

"Today, we're beginning a new era of elevated co-operation with a comprehensive strategic partnership," Carney said at a joint press conference in Mexico City Thursday evening. 

Ottawa building affordable housing on former Kapyong Barracks land it still owns

The former Kapyong Barracks site — known as Naawi-Oodena — has been identified as one of the locations where the federal government plans to build thousands of affordable housing units under its newly created Build Canada Homes agency.

Winnipeg is among six cities — alongside Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Dartmouth, N.S., and Longueuil, Que. — where federal land will be used to “supercharge” construction, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced.

Canada Lands Company, a federal Crown corporation, has 32 per cent of the 160-acre property, abandoned in 2004, which runs on the west side of Kenaston Boulevard between Grant and Taylor avenues and a portion of the east side, as well.

The remaining 111 acres, or 68 per cent of the site, was repatriated by a consortium of seven First Nations. Following a 2019 land transfer agreement, the group formally established Naawi-Oodena as Canada’s largest urban reserve in 2022.

Court hears recording of key meeting between RCMP informant and Hells Angel on trial for role in massive drug-trafficking ring

A year after infiltrating a massive drug-trafficking network, the informant known as Agent 66 was finally face-to-face with one of the organized-crime group’s alleged leaders, full-patch Hells Angel Damion Ryan.

It had been a long road to this lunchtime meeting at a Montreal restaurant, Dec . 9, 2021, a journey secretly recorded by RCMP every step of the way.

“Mr. Wolf, how’s it going?” the agent said by way of greeting, referencing one of Ryan’s many criminal aliases used in his alleged role within the Wolf Pack Alliance, an organized-crime group comprised of various high-level Canadian gangsters and drug traffickers.

“Nice to meet you, bud,” the man alleged to be Ryan replied.

Police target heroin-meth ‘chitta’ traffickers in separate investigations

More than a dozen people have been charged after Winnipeg police busted two sophisticated drug-trafficking rings selling a mixture of heroin and methamphetamine called “chitta.”

The first investigation, “Project Khallas,” began in May 2024 and ended in October. A second probe dubbed Project “Black Dragon” operated this year between June and September.

Project Khallas involved mobile traffickers — also called “dial-a-dealers” — selling the drugs, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Thursday.

After obtaining search warrants, the drug-enforcement unit raided homes on Oakburn Place in the Maples, Peter Sosiak Bay in Transcona and Daylan Marshall Gate in the Leila North neighbourhood, and on Lewin Lane in West St. Paul, on Oct. 30.

Puck set to drop on race for the Turnbull Cup

As the puck drops on the 2025-26 Manitoba Junior Hockey League season on Friday, it will be hard to outdo last season’s ending when the Northern Manitoba Blizzard defeated the Dauphin Kings on the road in a three-overtime thriller.

While the defending Turnbull Cup champions don’t hit the ice until next Saturday, here’s a breakdown of all 13 teams season storylines to follow.

Dauphin KingsThe Dauphin Kings were one goal away from a league championship last season and are coming back on a mission to score that final goal of the season. The Kings lost game seven of the final in triple-overtime to the Norman Blizzard.

The team will have a new look this season, not only on the ice thanks to player movement, but behind the bench, as long-time St. Malo Warriors assistant Patrick Trudeau joined Dauphin to help give the team a boost. Trudeau, who is from Ile des Chenes, had been working as a scout for the team before joining as an assistant.

Homecoming for Fust

It was Christmas break of 2024 when Kyu Fust found herself in a familiar setting, wrestling with an unfamiliar feeling.

Fust, who was Manitoba’s top-ranked high school women’s basketball recruit in 2023, had returned home to play in the annual Wesmen Classic at the University of Winnipeg’s Duckworth Centre. While sitting in the stands, it fully sank in that she no longer loved the game.

The feeling had been percolating for a while during her second year at the University of Regina, as she grew unhappy with her fit within the Cougars program, and her enjoyment on the court began to fade.

Fust tried working with mental performance coach Jon Giesbrecht in the second semester, but that didn’t move the needle. After the season, she distanced herself from coaches and several teammates and hardly touched a basketball or stepped on the court.

Trump’s moves against the media mirror approaches by authoritarian leaders to silence dissent

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has waged an aggressive campaign against the media unlike any in modern U.S. history, making moves similar to those of authoritarian leaders that he has often praised.

On Wednesday, Trump cheered ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show after the comedian made remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk that criticized the president's MAGA movement: “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

It was the latest in a string of attacks against news outlets and media figures he believes are overly critical of him. Trump has filed lawsuits against outlets whose coverage he dislikes, threatened to revoke TV broadcast licenses and sought to bend news organizations and social media companies to his will.

The tactics are similar to those used by leaders in other countries who have chipped away at speech freedoms and independent media while consolidating political power, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a close Trump ally whose leadership style is revered by many conservatives in the U.S.