Winnipeg Free Press – Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada

Learn more about Free Press Advertising solutions

Replica E-edition published Monday through Saturday Get the app Read your copy here

Top News

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
A recent bear spay attack on a city hall security guard left one city councillor concerned that no text message was sent to staff alerting them to the incident.

Councillors call for better communication, wands, metal detectors to protect staff

Joyanne Pursaga 6 minute read 6:00 AM CDT

Another Winnipeg workplace — this time the seat of civic government — is under a cloud of security concerns as the city’s largest union considers the next step of a grievance over staff safety at city hall.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500 filed the grievance about city hall in February 2024, noting staff had reported experiencing verbal abuse, racist remarks, threats and harassment at the property.

“The grievance is still open (now) because they haven’t shown us that there’s been any kind of adequate solution… We’re thinking if (the city hasn’t) done anything to redress (this), maybe we’ve got to move to the next step of the grievance process,” said Gord Delbridge, president of CUPE Local 500.

Delbridge said the union is discussing what its next step would be.

New

Family mourns couple struck on side of Kenaston, man charged with impaired driving

Erik Pindera and Scott Billeck 5 minute read Preview

Family mourns couple struck on side of Kenaston, man charged with impaired driving

Erik Pindera and Scott Billeck 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:19 PM CDT

A man with a prior conviction for drunk driving is accused of being impaired while behind the wheel in a high-speed collision that killed two people on Kenaston Boulevard Saturday night.

Winnipeg Police Service traffic officers were called to the vicinity of Kenaston and Enterprise Drive around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, where they found a 31-year-old man dead and a 25-year-old woman seriously injured, police spokesman Const. Pat Saydak said Monday.

“Two people are dead because of an impaired driver,” said Saydak.

Paramedics rushed the woman to hospital, in critical condition, but she later died.

Read

Updated: Yesterday at 5:19 PM CDT

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
“Two people are dead because of an impaired driver,” police spokesman Const. Pat Saydak said Monday.

‘A huge loss’: First Nation mourns deaths of two couples killed in northern float plane crash

Chris Kitching 5 minute read Preview

‘A huge loss’: First Nation mourns deaths of two couples killed in northern float plane crash

Chris Kitching 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:27 PM CDT

Four people who died in a float-plane crash near a remote lake in northeastern Manitoba on Saturday are being remembered as loving parents and outgoing community members.

The victims — identified by residents as Bradley and Rena Monias, and Nestor and Ella Monias — were flying from St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation to Makepeace Lake to camp and hunt.

“They were ready to support anybody. Anything that happened in our community, they were always there,” Chief Raymond Flett told the Free Press.

“It is a huge loss for our community and the kids they left behind. We need to give (their children) comfort, and give them hope at the same time.”

Read

Updated: Yesterday at 5:27 PM CDT

JOE BRYKSA / FREE PRESS FILES
An aerial view of St. Theresa Point First Nation, about 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

Liberals, Conservatives talk co-operation but trade jabs as Parliament returns

David Baxter, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

Liberals, Conservatives talk co-operation but trade jabs as Parliament returns

David Baxter, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 7:21 PM CDT

OTTAWA - After talking up the prospect of cross-party collaboration in the House of Commons, Liberal and Conservative MPs wasted little time after Parliament resumed Monday before reverting to partisan attacks over housing and the cost of living.

The tone was set early Monday afternoon, when the first-ever question period exchange between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre began cordially before turning belligerent.

"When I left, there was a Liberal prime minister who was making excuses about breaking promises, running massive deficits. Costs, crime, chaos were all out of control," Poilievre said. "Whereas today... we have a Liberal prime minister breaking promises, making excuses, running massive deficits with costs, crime and chaos out of control."

"I understand the leader of the opposition was busy," Carney said in reply — a reference to the Conservative leader losing his seat in the general election before securing another in an Alberta byelection.

Read

Updated: Yesterday at 7:21 PM CDT

People cross Wellington Street on their way to Parliament Hill, a day before the return of the House of Commons, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Bus overhaul leaves gaps in service to Grace Hospital, Assiniboine clinic

Malak Abas 3 minute read Preview

Bus overhaul leaves gaps in service to Grace Hospital, Assiniboine clinic

Malak Abas 3 minute read Yesterday at 5:00 PM CDT

Some St. James residents are up in arms after a shift in bus routes cut evening and weekend stops in front of Grace Hospital and nearby Assiniboine Medical Clinic.

As part of the city’s recent Transit overhaul, there are now three feeder routes that stop directly in front of the Booth Drive hospital and within a block of the Lodge Avenue clinic. But they don’t run on weekends and stop in the early evening on weekdays, leaving an unacceptable gap in service, said St. James Coun. Shawn Dobson.

“I can’t fathom you walking in the rain or the cold, all that distance from Portage Avenue up to the hospital, it makes no sense,” he said Monday.

A city spokesperson said an on-request route is now in service in the area, meaning bussers with the Winnipeg Transit Plus app can request a ride and be dropped off in front of the hospital or at a feeder stop near Assiniboine Clinic.

Read

Yesterday at 5:00 PM CDT

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS
Some Winnipeg Transit’s Routes no longer serves the Grace Hospital due to the city’s recent transit network overhaul, the Primary Transit Network, which began service on June 29, 2025. Sept 15th, 2025

Province creates hunting buffer zone on Bloodvein First Nation

Carol Sanders 3 minute read Preview

Province creates hunting buffer zone on Bloodvein First Nation

Carol Sanders 3 minute read Yesterday at 6:57 PM CDT

The Manitoba government is creating a buffer zone restricting where non-Indigenous hunters can harvest moose on Bloodvein First Nation’s traditional lands.

Manitoba Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures Minister Ian Bushie announced the change late Monday as moose season began for game hunting areas 17, 17A and 17B that includes the traditional areas of the First Nation, located 285 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

The community, which established a check stop to prevent illegal drugs and contraband from entering the First Nation, warned “outside hunters” on social media weeks ago that they’re not welcome to take moose on their traditional lands.

The Manitoba Wildlife Federation has questioned the First Nation’s authority to block licensed hunters with a moose tag from the area and called on the provincial government to intervene.

Read

Yesterday at 6:57 PM CDT

A moose grazes in a field of canola bordering the Trans-Canada Highway west of Brandon last year. On Monday, the Manitoba Wildlife Federation applied for a judicial review of the province’s decision to reduce the number of available moose tags for four hunting areas in northern Manitoba. (File)

Opinion

Kinew’s tolerance for Fontaine’s antics could set dangerous precedent for others in cabinet Dan Lett 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 1:32 PM CDT
New St. B ER great, but where are all the doctors to staff it? Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT
Qatar and Poland — one is the bigger story Gwynne Dyer 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Learn more about Free Press Advertising solutions

Key witness in Hells Angel trial became paid police informant after losing $400K in drug money, court told

Dean Pritchard 5 minute read Preview

Key witness in Hells Angel trial became paid police informant after losing $400K in drug money, court told

Dean Pritchard 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 7:46 PM CDT

A career criminal who helped police dismantle a massive drug-trafficking operation and bust a full-patch Hells Angels gangster became a paid police informant after he lost nearly $400,000 in a money-laundering scheme, a trial heard Monday.

The man, who is in witness protection and can be identified only as “Agent 66,” is the Crown’s star witness in the case against B.C. Hells Angel Damion Ryan, the alleged leader of one of five Canadian and international drug networks taken down by Manitoba RCMP in February 2022.

Agent 66 — who court heard is in his 40s and has been involved in the drug trade since he was 12 — said he enlisted his drug supplier to “clean” $368,000 in drug proceeds and “never got it back.”

“I was angry,” he told court. “The whole point of cleaning it was I wanted out of (drug dealing).”

Read

Updated: Yesterday at 7:46 PM CDT

The Manitoba Law Courts building in Winnipeg on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Crystal Heald Photo
Lilith Fair finale show in 1998, feauring Diana Krall, Sarah McLachlan, Angelique Kidjo, Lisa Loeb, Sam Bettens, Tara Maclean

Ladies’ night

New documentary Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery revisits touring festival, gives it the overdue kudos it deserves

Jen Zoratti 8 minute read Yesterday at 4:10 PM CDT

Supercraft Cannabis in Ste. Anne taps unique business to answer customers’ marijuana questions

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview

Supercraft Cannabis in Ste. Anne taps unique business to answer customers’ marijuana questions

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Yesterday at 7:26 PM CDT

There are some things budtenders can’t answer.

Weed shop employees can’t tell customers, for example, how their prescriptions will mesh with cannabis. One Manitoba retailer has begun funnelling patrons to a private pharmacist-led business for advice.

“We can act somewhat with anecdotal evidence… but you can’t really guarantee anything,” said Sean Stewart, owner of Supercraft Cannabis.

Staff field dozens of health-related inquiries weekly, Stewart continued. Workers are legally prohibited from giving medical advice.

Read

Yesterday at 7:26 PM CDT

SUPPLIED
Pharmacists Anushya Vijayaraghevan and Ajay Chahal lead Apothecare, a Toronto-based company that answers customers questions about cannabis.

Hellebuyck, Morrissey tee up season as Jets vets tee off at annual charity tourney

Mike McIntyre 7 minute read Preview

Hellebuyck, Morrissey tee up season as Jets vets tee off at annual charity tourney

Mike McIntyre 7 minute read Yesterday at 5:53 PM CDT

Connor Hellebuyck admits his golf game is nowhere near trophy-winning form. When it comes to leisurely pursuits, the decorated Winnipeg Jets goaltender is much more comfortable with a fishing rod in his hands than a driver or putter.

“Way better. I put way more time in on the water,” he told the Free Press with a laugh.

Still, the NHL’s reigning MVP — and well-known master angler — was happy to spend a few hours away from the rink on Monday at St. Charles Country Club, teeing it up with teammates and local hockey fans as part of the Jets’ annual charity tournament.

“I just got in (to Winnipeg) a couple of days ago, so catching up with everyone is nice. This allows me to see everyone in the same area,” Hellebuyck said before hitting the course for the scramble.

Read

Yesterday at 5:53 PM CDT

Province accuses mining company of negligence in Lynn Lake wildfire

Tyler Searle 4 minute read Preview

Province accuses mining company of negligence in Lynn Lake wildfire

Tyler Searle 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 8:21 PM CDT

Manitoba Conservation investigators believe a massive wildfire that prompted an evacuation of Lynn Lake started at the nearby Alamos Gold Inc. mining site, accusing the company of negligence because it did not use water to extinguish burn piles.

The allegations are outlined in court documents filed by a sergeant working for the conservation service. They stem from an investigation into the wildfire, which is said to have started May 7 after a burn pile reignited at the Toronto-based gold producer’s MacLellan mine site, located about 7.5 kilometres northeast of Lynn Lake.

The blaze burned more than 85,000 hectares and got to within five kilometres of Lynn Lake later that month. The community, home to nearly 600 residents and located about 800 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, was evacuated and dozens of properties were destroyed.

“The investigation showed that Alamos Gold Inc. was negligent in ensuring that the fires that occurred on May 7, 2025, from burn piles on the MacLellan Mine site set on earlier dates were properly extinguished,” allege the documents, obtained by the Free Press.

Read

Updated: Yesterday at 8:21 PM CDT

SUPPLIED
View from Sherritt Ave of wildfires near Lynn Lake.Wednesday night, May 28, 2025.

‘Prolific shoplifter’ facing nearly 40 charges in spree that began in March

Tyler Searle 3 minute read Preview

‘Prolific shoplifter’ facing nearly 40 charges in spree that began in March

Tyler Searle 3 minute read Yesterday at 1:00 PM CDT

A 44-year-old man, described by police as a “prolific shoplifter,” is in custody after investigators identified him as a suspect in multiple thefts and robberies dating back to March.

The man is accused of stealing in at least eight incidents that began March 21, resulting in dozens of charges. The total value of stolen goods is estimated at $3,000, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Monday.

The spree ended in a pursuit just before 10:30 a.m. Saturday, when officers patrolling on the 800 block of Main Street spotted the man on a bicycle, and he tried to flee, the release said. He was arrested after a chase.

Police said $700 in store merchandise was seized.

Read

Yesterday at 1:00 PM CDT

City non-profit inks deal with subsidiary of leader in phosphate-based fertilizers

Aaron Epp 3 minute read Preview

City non-profit inks deal with subsidiary of leader in phosphate-based fertilizers

Aaron Epp 3 minute read Yesterday at 7:30 PM CDT

A Winnipeg non-profit committed to advancing digital agriculture has inked a deal with the North American subsidiary of a global leader in phosphate-based fertilizers.

Leaders from Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative and OCP North America signed a collaboration agreement last week. They said the collaboration will focus on advancing agricultural innovation through field-based research that will take place through EMILI’s Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert.

Innovation Farms spans more than 14,000 acres across two Manitoba farms to provide demonstrations, testing and validation of agriculture technology and production practices in commercial farm settings.

The partnership will allow EMILI to give Manitoba farmers a first-hand look at new innovations, said Jacqueline Keena, managing director.

Read

Yesterday at 7:30 PM CDT