Queen Elizabeth II won’t attend climate conference in person

Man who killed truck passenger handed new 12-year sentence

Manitoba’s highest court has given a man who shot at a passing truck and killed a 20-year-old woman a 12-year prison sentence for manslaughter.

William Ryerson Thomas Comber, now in his mid 20s, was found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury in December 2022 for the killing of Hailey Dugay on Nov. 17, 2018. Comber was later sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 12 years.

Dugay died after the truck she was travelling in was struck by gunfire late at night on a gravel road near Fraserwood, 90 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

The Court of Appeal struck down Comber’s murder conviction earlier this year and ruled he was instead guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter.

Foreign workers at Manitoba hotel are owed $138K in unpaid wages and fees, labour board rules

BRANDON — The Manitoba Labour Board has ordered the Western Star All Suites Hotel to pay nearly $138,000 in unpaid wages and administrative fees after it dismissed the appeals involving three foreign workers employed by the company.

In a decision dated Aug. 25, the board ordered 6692452 Manitoba Ltd. (doing business as Western Star All Suites Hotel), 1638185 Alberta Ltd. and company director P.X. to pay a total of $137,915.79 to the Employment Standards Branch for wages owed to foreign workers S.J., J.B. and G.R.

The decision was edited to protect the personal information of the employees, who worked at a hotel, reportedly in Melita, at different times and also lived there during their employment.

The board stated the employees were owed wages after hearing evidence about long working hours, irregular payments, inadequate employment records and working conditions.

Mayoral rematch between Gillingham, Klein gets ugly on Day 1

Former city councillor and provincial cabinet minister Kevin Klein says he will soon enter the race to become Winnipeg’s next mayor — prompting an immediate war of words with incumbent Scott Gillingham.

Gillingham quickly responded to the announcement by calling Klein “toxic” and a “fixer” for Peter Nygard.

Klein said Tuesday he had decided not to enter the mayoral race weeks ago due to an unspecified health scare that required surgery. After recovering, he decided to run.

“The future of the city means a lot to me. I believe that we have so much untapped potential that I felt I should do something about it,” said Klein, noting he felt compelled to run because key city issues, such as perceptions of public safety in the downtown, have grown worse over the past four years.

Klein’s entrance adds spark to ho-hum mayoral race

Until this week, Winnipeg’s mayoral race looked less like a democratic contest and more like a coronation.

Renewed spirit and life: Indigenous treatment centre expands with $21-M revamp

Don Robinson knows first-hand that many people don’t get sober by themselves.

In late June 1984, Robinson downed his last drink. His recovery began at Pritchard House in Winnipeg’s North End, a 22-bed treatment facility run by the Native Addictions Council of Manitoba.

“I didn’t get sober by myself,” said Robinson, a member of Bunibonibee Cree Nation who now works in grief and trauma counselling and traditional knowledge as an elder at Ka Ni Kanichihk Inc.

More than four decades later, Robinson was back at the council on Monday, crowded into a room at its newly renovated treatment centre at 160 Salter St. — a place he once turned to for help and where he helps others now.

In the footsteps of a refugee

I used to have a meaningful job, a loving family and a strong community. All that changed overnight.

There was a regime change.

I lost my job and found myself targeted by the new military government. One day I came home to find my father and brother had been beaten by police for refusing to reveal my whereabouts.

I used all my cash to pay a taxi driver to smuggle me over a border into the neighbouring country.