Gallery: HéHo! Let’s brave the cold By: Photography by John Woods / Free Press Posted: 7:55 PM CST Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025

An evening in the emergency room

This situation needs immediate intervention. Anything less means nothing.

Mayor’s flip-flop a welcome effect of campaign

Trees may not have a vote, but they are poised to become among the biggest winners from this fall’s municipal elections in Winnipeg.

At the start of the week, things didn’t look good for Winnipeg’s tree population. City staff issued a report recommending city council reduce the 2026 urban forest renewal program and divert the money to improvements to the Assiniboine Park Conservancy’s Journey to Churchill exhibition.

The recommendation was triggered by a directive from the provincial government to take the same sum of money out of a strategic infrastructure fund it provides to the city to support the conservancy exhibit. This left the city with a $1.2-million hole in its infrastructure program. Staff felt the money could come from the tree-planting budget.

Mayor Scott Gillingham — who is running for re-election this fall — initially endorsed the recommendation when it was put before the executive policy committee (which he chairs) earlier this week. Seventy-two hours later, however, Gillingham was having second thoughts.

Gallery: HéHo! Let’s brave the cold

Extreme cold warnings greeted the start of the 2025 edition of the Festival du Voyageur but visitors were undeterred. Dressed for the weather, festival goers were treated to snow sculptures, glimpses of the fur trade life, music, and maple taffy on Sunday. The weather forecast is calling for milder temperatures for the rest of the week as the festival finishes up next weekend.

Indigenous theatre founder gets nod for prestigious prize

For her work as the founding artistic director of Oshkagoojin Indigenous Theatre for Youth, Winnipeg’s Nova Courchene has been named the recipient of one of Manitoba theatre’s highest honours for emerging arts leaders.

Since 2023, the Cherry Karpyshin Arts Management Prize has been given out by Prairie Theatre Exchange to early-career or aspiring arts managers. Named for PTE’s longtime general manager, for whom the company’s mainstage is also named, the Cherry Prize is accompanied by professional supports and a $2,500 cash award.

Meaning “new moon” in Anishinaabemowin, Oshkagoojin runs a variety of initiatives in Winnipeg, including the teen-focused Rising Voices, the middle years Growing Voices, and the early years Young Voices programs. Through storytelling, movement, narrative games and guided play, the Young Voices program introduces Indigenous children aged five through nine to the fundamentals of collaborative and co-operative theatre with a curriculum devised through a cultural lens.

“As I continue to grow Oshkagoojin Indigenous Theatre for Youth, I look forward to strengthening the organization’s capacity, sustainability, and national reach so that more Indigenous young people can access theatre, cultural learning, and artistic leadership opportunities in their own communities,” says Courchene in a release. “I believe that when Indigenous youth are empowered to tell their stories, entire communities benefit, and I am excited to continue building these pathways for future generations.

As Canada’s newest top doc, Dr. Joss Reimer immediately had to confront two deadly global outbreaks

OTTAWA — The whirlwind that has been Dr. Joss Reimer’s career has officially touched down in Building 62.

A modern, non-descript complex in a suburban industrial park, Building 62 is the only name given to the headquarters of the Public Health Agency of Canada, and Reimer’s new home as the country’s chief public health officer.

For the record, whirlwind is hardly an exaggeration.

Seven years ago, Reimer was a well-respected, somewhat low-key obstetrician and medical educator in Winnipeg. Along the way, she spent time as a YouTube public-health influencer, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s medical director for public health, the provincial government’s medical officer of health and — in the role most familiar to Manitobans — the medical lead and official spokesperson for the provincial COVID-19 vaccine implementation task force.

Marla Somersall devoted her life to people in need

Whether it was helping women build businesses in rural Tunisia, leading homeless and addiction support organizations or delivering meals to vulnerable Manitobans, Marla Somersall spent her life dedicated to lessening other people’s suffering.

Over a career that took her from North Africa to Prince Edward Island and back to Manitoba, Somersall held leadership roles in a range of social service and non-profit organizations, always drawn to work that centred on supporting people in need.

Most recently, she served as executive director of Meals on Wheels Winnipeg — a non-profit organization that provides meals to people who are unable to prepare them for themselves.

Kelly Scrivener, client co-ordinator with Meals on Wheels, said Somersall was a very calm and respectful person who led with gentle direction and fostered a collaborative workplace.