Play hopes to dispel myths about refugees

Seniors, consumers seek promises from council candidates to transfer water, sewer rate decisions to PUB

Groups representing seniors, consumers and people living in poverty say a provincial oversight agency should gain the power to set Winnipeg water and sewer rates, partly to ensure future fees are affordable.

On Wednesday, the Manitoba Seniors Equity Action Coalition and Harvest Manitoba, as well as provincial branches of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons and Consumers Association of Canada, called on all 2026 city council candidates to push for that change.

Specifically, the groups want all candidates to publicly promise they would support a motion that asks the province to shift that responsibility from the city to the Public Utilities Board, if they’re elected.

One supporter said some Winnipeggers are struggling to pay their utility bills.

Quintex absorbs Mat Master in family-friendly transaction

Two longtime competitors in Winnipeg’s industrial laundry sector have come together after making a deal neither company had to go to the mat for.

Quintex Services Ltd., a family-owned business founded in 1911, has acquired Mat Master, a mat and linen supplier that’s serviced Manitoba for more than 40 years.

Financial terms of the transaction, which closed at the end of July, were not disclosed.

“We loved the fact that they were family-owned,” said David Quinton, owner and president at Quintex. “We knew how they operated. They were great competitors, which told you a lot, and we thought if we could get the synergies of both of them, it would be fabulous.”

Manitoba students able to opt out of classes with sensitive lessons on sex, drug use

Manitoba’s premier pledges to continue allowing parents to pull their kids from health class if content — be it related to human sexuality, substance use or otherwise — clashes with personal beliefs.

Wab Kinew said Tuesday the government’s overhaul of phys-ed and health curriculum in Manitoba schools won’t impact the ability for parents to opt-out of a lesson and deliver material as they see fit.

“As a parent, you are your child’s first and most important teacher and that will always be the case,” Kinew said, surrounded by hundreds of teenagers on the football field outside Kelvin High School during an announcement Tuesday.

More than 100 schools are taking part in a voluntary pilot project this fall. It’s the first systematic review of this curriculum in decades. The changes to kindergarten-to-Grade 12 courses will be mandated to all schools in September 2028.

Safety officers responded to three assaults in first 4 1/2 months at downtown Hydro HQ

Manitoba Hydro Place beefed up its security after an employee was assaulted in the main-floor gallery while leaving work in January leading the Crown corporation to close the building to the public for several weeks while it hired and trained institutional safety officers.

Disgraced former law dean arrested, facing extradition to Canada

Jonathan Black-Branch, the disgraced former dean of law at the University of Manitoba, has been arrested in Europe and is awaiting extradition to Canada on fraud charges, Winnipeg police say.

Black-Branch, who failed to defend himself in a lawsuit filed by the U of M and his disbarment proceedings, was ordered in May 2025 to repay more than $682,000 in misspent expense funds.

Winnipeg police confirmed his arrest and pending extradition Wednesday morning. “The extradition process is ongoing,” police said.

Black-Branch left the university in 2020 amid allegations he had misspent public dollars and schemed to evade oversight while running Robson Hall from 2016 to 2020.

Even dozen running for mayor as nomination deadline passes

It’s official — a dozen people are running to become Winnipeg’s next mayor.

The deadline to both register to run as a candidate in October’s municipal election and file nomination papers was 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The final list of mayoral candidates includes: incumbent Scott Gillingham, Kevin Klein, Brad Gross, Mazher Alam, Mike Vogiatzakis, Christopher Clacio, Umar Hayat, Don Woodstock, Joshua Pagdato, Johnny Calderon, Noah Redden, and Tracey Drexler.

A total of 17 had registered to run but several either withdrew or did not meet the requirements to continue. Those included: Zachary Uminski, Ed Ackerman, Gagandeep Bawa, Abdel-Kareem Chehadi and Joaquin Sandul.