Manitoba government plans steps toward reducing nurse overtime, improving care

Bombers look to write one more post-season chapter with veteran core

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are inching towards the end of an era.

There’s no guarantee their veteran core — names like Zach Collaros, Stanley Bryant, Patrick Neufeld and Willie Jefferson — will be back next year, or even if they’ll want to continue playing.

They’re all in their mid-to-late 30s, or in Bryant’s case, 40, and in the final year of their contracts. If the Bombers can’t save their season, significant changes could be coming, and getting younger would likely be part of the plan.

That adds another layer of importance to Friday’s regular-season finale in Vancouver. The Bombers (8-9) need to beat the B.C. Lions (10-7) to make the playoffs and write at least one more chapter with this group.

Katz ‘violated public trust,’ Sheegl lacked ‘moral compass,’ police HQ inquiry commissioner concludes

The final report from the public inquiry into the scandal-plagued Winnipeg Police Service headquarters construction project concludes that former mayor Sam Katz and former city CAO Phil Sheegl broke public trust and engaged in unethical conduct.

And the report, released Monday by inquiry commissioner Garth Smorang, says the cost of the project — transforming a downtown Canada Post office tower and warehouse into the police HQ — soared, in part, because main contractor Caspian Projects overcharged the city by more than $40 million in expenses.

The project’s initial $135-million initial price tag rose to about $209 million in the end. The city purchased the complex in 2009; construction was completed in 2016.

Smorang’s report concludes Katz “violated the public trust” and council code of conduct, and Sheegl suffered from a “complete lack of a moral compass.”

Klein calls union’s attack ads ‘dirty politics,’ urges Gillingham to reject support

Mayoral candidate Kevin Klein said attack ads from Winnipeg’s largest union are an example of “dirty politics” and verge on United States-style campaigning.

The pamphlets, signed by the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500, show a United States flag draped behind Klein, with text stating he has sided with “the broader alt-right political movement” and defends the U.S.

“As Canadians we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard. This is not the politics that we have experienced in the City of Winnipeg. This is not the type of politics we want to experience in Canada,” he said during a Tuesday news conference at his campaign headquarters.

He called on incumbent candidate Scott Gillingham to denounce the ads and reject the union’s campaign support.

Old Kildonan candidates say growing ward not getting share of city resources

Old Kildonan’s three candidates for councillor all agree on one thing: their ward’s communities are growing quickly, and they want to see city investments keep up.

Incumbent Coun. Devi Sharma has represented Old Kildonan since 2010, and has been city council’s speaker since 2013, the first woman in Winnipeg’s history to hold the role.

While she ran unopposed and was acclaimed in 2022, this time around, longtime school trustee Greg McFarlane and mechanical engineer Love Randhawa are also in the running.

Sharma said she’s seeking a fifth term because there are some long-term projects underway in Old Kildonan that she believes need an experienced councillor to see through.

Policy change gives Manitoba renters a break from proposed hikes

Aidan Wilson said he was reduced to tears after getting a call from Premier Wab Kinew’s office.

He’d just learned tenants of a West Broadway apartment, including himself, would no longer pay a hundreds-of-dollars monthly rent increase as of Nov. 1.

“It’s been a lot to deal with, it’s a lot to push for, and it’s a lot to speak up. All of these emotions just kind of came flooding out,” Wilson said Tuesday at a news conference alongside Kinew.

The premier announced that renters will not have to pay the increases until the provincial Residential Tenancies Branch hears landlords’ arguments and issues its decisions.

Surprising announcement opens door slightly for accountability in police HQ saga

Early Monday afternoon, it looked as if former Mayor Sam Katz, former chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl and contractor Armik Babakhanians were going to finally and successfully escape the long arm of the law for their roles in the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters scandal.