Help wobbly, warbling mom bask in limelight

‘No CUSMA, no booze-ma’: Kinew

With the next round of tariffs set to hit Canadian goods next week, and a new report suggesting Manitobans could be severely impacted if the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade breaks down, Premier Wab Kinew pledged Wednesday to keep working with the U.S. ambassador — and keep American booze off Manitoba shelves, for now.

Opaskwayak restorative justice court to give offenders opportunity to ‘heal’

The Manitoba government, provincial court and Opaskwayak Cree Nation are signing a memorandum of understanding today to establish a community-led court focused on Indigenous restorative justice principles.

Justice Minister Matt Wiebe is in the northern First Nation, which neighbours The Pas, to attend this week’s Opaskwayak Indigenous Days summer festival, ahead of the signing of the nation-to-nation agreement after a pipe ceremony today.

“This is really a pivotal marker on the path to reconciliation for our justice system and an incredible opportunity to begin the process of reconciling the two systems of justice, that being the traditional Indigenous justice system with our colonial system,” Wiebe told the Free Press on Wednesday.

“I’m just excited to be here to have the opportunity to formally mark the collaboration, but really to listen and to hear from community about the best ways, the best path forward.”

Inmate captured after escape from Manitoba jail

Manitoba RCMP have arrested an inmate who escaped from Milner Ridge Correctional Centre Wednesday.

Mounties apprehended Justin Paul at about 11 a.m. Thursday near Highway 11 and Minnewawa Street W in Lac du Bonnet.

Court records show Paul was in custody charged with multiple offences, including assault, uttering threats, robbery, theft and numerous weapon offences.

Last April, Paul pleaded guilty to failing to appear in court and was sentenced to six months probation.

It’s one thing to climb aboard rail-relocation train, quite another to pay for the ride

Anyone who wants a brighter, safer, healthier future for the city of Winnipeg should really want the renewed hopes of rail relocation to finally become reality. And the sooner, the better.

Premier Wab Kinew announced Wednesday the province was going to forge a plan to relocate the Canadian Pacific Kansas City central yards and many of other the lines that run through Winnipeg to a bypass that runs around the city.

This “plan to design a plan” strategy was devised by a task force headed up by former federal MP and cabinet minister Lloyd Axworthy, who in 2024 was given a two-year mandate to find the best way to rid the city of some or all of its rail infrastructure.

For the record, Kinew and Axworthy said a relocation would likely take 20 years to complete, which makes this week’s announcement an important statement of intent, but little more. The sobering reality is that this promising idea has been proposed by political leaders, and then abandoned, for decades.

PCs say Hutterite colonies singled out by Bill 21

SOURIS — Members of Hutterite colonies in the province took aim at the NDP government’s proposed changes to drinking water legislation during a public meeting Thursday in Souris.

The meeting was hosted by Progressive Conservative MLA Colleen Robbins (Spruce Woods) to hear from rural residents about their concerns over Bill 21, which the government says will improve oversight on wells and other water systems in the province.

“There’s not enough clarity, but I feel that the overreach that this bill will bring is not clearly defined, and it could have a lot of negative consequences,” attendee Gilbert Hofer, a member of Green Acres colony near Wawanesa, said after the meeting, which drew about 20 people.

The legislation would allow public health officers to designate the type of water source based on its intended use, water quality and use duration rather than solely the number of connections it has.

Rainbow Stage star relates to Elle Woods’ perseverance

Nearly 9,000 aspiring barristers and solicitors cross their fingers and send in their LSAT scores to Harvard University each year, but less than 10 per cent of applicants wind up on campus in Cambridge, Mass.

In Legally Blonde, the musical opening tonight at Rainbow Stage, Elle Woods (Claire Mac Master) defies the undercutting judgment of her blue-blood boyfriend Warner (Duncan Cox) to earn a spot in the Ivy League, leaving her doubters aghast and crimson-faced.

“What?” asked Elle — played by Reese Witherspoon in the 2001 film version — “Like it’s hard?”

The New York-born Mac Master never had any aspirations to pursue a law career, but can relate to her character’s plucky self-determination based on her experience at Toronto Metropolitan University’s undergraduate acting program, which accepts 25 applicants each year from an international pool of hundreds.