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Mayoral candidates focus on public safety at Indigenous forum

Mayoral hopefuls made their pitch to Winnipeg’s Indigenous community Tuesday at a forum hosted by chiefs organizations.

“Public safety must include trust between police and First Nations,” said candidate Kevin Klein, a former chair of the police board. “Winnipeg needs a policing approach that protects Indigenous residents, supports victims, prevents crime and builds lasting relationships with Indigenous communities.”

The former city councillor and Tory cabinet minister promised harsher penalties for drug dealers and said he’d work to create a community safety task force that would include Indigenous leadership.

He also said the police service must recruit more Indigenous officers to change its culture.

Limited visibility, radio communication among safety issues cited in mid-air collision

An investigative report into a mid-air plane crash that killed two student pilots in southeastern Manitoba cited concerns about radio communication, situational awareness and visual detection methods.

Two small planes collided twice and crashed into a field after one aircraft ended up flying above the other while both approached a runway at Steinbach South Airport the morning of July 8, 2025, a Transportation Safety Board report said Wednesday. The planes belonged to the Harv’s Air Service flight school.

“Once they’re on final (approach), the ability to see each other would have been very limited,” said Eric Vermette, a TSB regional manager in Winnipeg.

Mayoral candidates snipe over safety during radio debate

Public safety took centre stage during a sometimes fiery mayoral debate Wednesday in which Kevin Klein revealed he would have to raise property taxes to fund his plan to make Winnipeg safer.

The CJOB debate also included candidates Scott Gillingham and Mike Vogiatzakis, who were selected as the top contenders in the race based on polling data.

Klein noted he has promised to strike a task force on public safety and to hire more police, if he’s elected Oct. 28.

“We are 100 police officers short of the very bare minimum of the per capita (number) right now. We have to replace those officers,” said Klein, a former city councillor and Tory cabinet minister.

Only two contenders for one seat in three city wards — Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood, Point Douglas, Daniel McIntyre

Unlike previous civic elections, there’s no free space on the bingo card this time around.

Every council candidate in the city’s 15 wards faces at least one challenger as Winnipeggers go to the polls on Oct. 28.

During the last vote in 2022, Couns. Markus Chambers and Devi Sharma ran unopposed in their respective St. Norbert-Seine River and Old Kildonan wards. In 2018, Coun. Janice Lukes was acclaimed in Waverley West.

While seven of the wards boast at least four candidates, three others — Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood, Point Douglas and Daniel McIntyre — have only two each.

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.

Katie Zacharia and the telling of lies

U.S. President Donald Trump’s new press secretary made her debut last week and was almost universally panned and parodied, lasting just five days before being fired.