Winnipeg Free Press Jets Report

City rescinds Balmoral Street property owner’s order to clean up encampment

A West Broadway landlord is off the hook for clearing a large riverbank encampment after the City of Winnipeg rescinded an order threatening to stick him with the cleanup bill.

Marvin Sharp, CEO of Astroid Management Ltd., which operates the Pen-Eve Apartments at 35 Balmoral St., said he received a call from the city Tuesday letting him know the order has been cancelled.

In a statement from the city, an official said the order was shelved due to an existing and active easement on the property.

“We have been communicating with the property owner throughout this process and they have been informed of this development,” a spokesperson said.

Winnipeg Free Press Jets Report

In the first edition of the Winnipeg Free Press Jets Report, sports editor Steve Lyons and reporter Paul Wiecek break down what's ailed the Jets in recent weeks.

‘Useful starting point’: Manitoba teacher commissioner received 94 complaints in 15 months, report reveals

Ninety-four complaints about teacher misconduct were flagged in the 15 months after Manitoba set up an independent office to regulate the profession.

Commissioner Noni Classen has released a summary of the allegations brought to her attention and findings of investigations undertaken between January 2025 and March 2026.

A new disciplinary system, as well as an online registry where members of the public can look up the education level and standing of teachers and school clinicians, came into effect Jan. 6, 2025.

“These processes can be difficult and deeply personal for everyone involved, including students, families, teachers and school administrators,” Classen wrote in a 24-page report published this week.

Men accused in commercial break-in spree were wearing ankle bracelets

Two men in electric ankle bracelets who were being monitored by justice officials have been accused in a two-month spree of commercial break-ins, vehicle thefts and other property crimes.

City police have charged one of the suspects and are searching for the second.

About $140,000 worth of property, including trailers, lawn equipment, motorcycles and bicycles, was reported stolen in 13 incidents in Winnipeg and the Rural Municipality of Headingley between April 20 and June 28, the Winnipeg Police Service said.

Both suspects were wearing electronic monitoring bracelets during that time.

‘Frustrated’ Selkirk nurses plead for help

The province must take immediate action to increase low staffing levels that are putting Selkirk emergency room nurses at risk, a letter sent to the premier and health minister says.

The letter, sent by the Manitoba Nurses Union and signed by 35 ER nurses, detailed multiple recent incidents at the Selkirk Regional Health Centre. In one case, a nurse was stabbed with a pen by a patient who had been waiting 24 hours for care. In another case, a nurse was bitten by a patient.

“Nurses in that emergency department are extremely frustrated,” said Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson. “This is not something that happened in the last month — or overnight — these are problems that have been growing.”

The five-page letter was sent Tuesday to Premier Wab Kinew, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara and leaders of the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority. It contained 10 requests to improve safety inside the emergency department, including establishing safer nurse-to-patient staffing levels, eliminating the practice of “single physician coverage” in the emergency department and implementing an institutional safety officer around the clock.

Elections Alberta asks Elections Manitoba staffers to help during referendum

Manitoba’s non-partisan elections management agency could play a role in Alberta’s fall referendum.

“Elections Alberta has asked Elections Manitoba to send staff to assist with the referendum taking place there in October,” said Tessa Vanderhart, a spokesperson with the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Manitoba.

The Oct. 19 referendum will ask Albertans 10 questions, including “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada, or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”

Each of the referendum questions will be on separate numbered and colour-coded ballots. They will be counted by hand, the Elections Alberta website says. With an estimated 2,966,192 voters in the province — registered as of May 2025 — there could be as many as 30 million ballots to count.