The Buzz

Winnipeg: Home of IG’s past and future

Shortly after IG Wealth Management was established in Canada, our founders chose Winnipeg as the home of our young, ambitious company.

De Havilland calls for national water bomber fleet as it scrambles to meet demand

MONTREAL - On July 13, a pair of Canadair water bombers touched down on the Seine River, skimming along its surface to refill their water tanks as they battled a wildfire south of Paris.

The "super scoopers," with their signature ketchup-red wing tips on a mustard-yellow body, sucked up 6,000-plus litres from France’s most famous waterway in one go as part of a fight against the flames then rampaging across Europe.

The event in north-central France underscored how wildfires are ranging even farther from their traditional grounds and fuelling an urgent need for water bombers to fend off climate disasters.

The iconic Canadair turboprops serve as the only amphibious firefighting aircraft currently in production built from the outset for that purpose, rather than being retrofitted to douse flames.

Team president locked out, day after speaking out on arena’s closure

A longtime team official in Manitoba’s hockey community says he’s being punished by the City of Winnipeg for speaking out about the poor condition of one of its rinks.

Barry Bonni, president of the River East Royal Knights, has occupied an office at Terry Sawchuk Memorial Arena for more than four decades.

On Friday, he was locked out.

“They’re on the war path,” Bonni said.

Rematch one year in the making in Elmwood-East Kildonan

Elmwood-East Kildonan voters may get a sense of deja vu at the ballot box next week.

Almost a year ago, incumbent Coun. Emma Durand-Wood won a byelection triggered by the death of former councillor Jason Schreyer with 31 per cent of the vote. She defeated six other candidates.

Two of those candidates have returned for a rematch: project manager Abel Gutierrez, who came in second last October, and Chris Sweryda, the former executive assistant for Schreyer, who finished fourth.

A pair of new faces have also entered the race: plumber Adam Dudek and cosmetics business owner Jessica Wiebe.

Officials say catastrophic base fire was known ahead of time, allowed to burn

Canada's military says a grass fire that killed four soldiers and sent scores more to hospital with bad burns was known well beforehand but not considered a threat.

Maj.-Gen. Wade Rutland, commander of 1st Canadian Division, says the grass fire was a kilometre away and considered sufficiently under control that training exercises were allowed to continue Saturday afternoon at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in central Alberta.

However, he said conditions — including a violent, sudden windstorm — sent those flames racing over the Prairie landscape at lightning speed, landing right on top of the soldiers.

"This was a very uncommon occurrence," Rutland told a news conference Sunday.