Funeral held for Quebec baseball broadcaster Rodger Brulotte

Trump ramps up retaliation against Canada, banning imports of booze, other products

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump signed new executive orders on Tuesday, ramping up retaliation after Canada imposed its latest set of duties on the United States. 

The five orders, which will take effect later this month, will completely bar imports of certain Canadian goods, including motorcycles, some dairy products and alcoholic beverages.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, in a statement later Tuesday, said the decision was a "natural consequence" of Canada's "discriminatory" treatment of American exports.

"After weeks of good faith and intensive efforts between U.S. and Canadian negotiators, Canada walked away from a near-final trade deal that offered better treatment than any other trading partner, and instead Canada chose to embark on senseless retaliation against the United States," Greer said in the statement.

Flash, bang … oops: police raid leads to lawsuit

A couple suing the city allege Winnipeg Police Service officers trying to execute a search warrant at their condominium complex rappelled down the side of the building, broke in their glass patio door and fired off a stun grenade before realizing they were in the wrong unit.

Saeid Ghavami and Shahla Shojaei, a married couple who are academics and scientific researchers at the University of Manitoba, filed the lawsuit in Court of King’s Bench last month over the Jan. 31, 2025 incident.

The claim names the City of Winnipeg and several officers involved in the operation, whose identities are, at this point, unknown to the couple, and are referred to as “John Does.”

Officers were attempting to execute the warrant on the third floor of the eight-storey Pembina Highway building, the court filing says. The couple lives on the fourth floor.

Winkler-based internet provider delivering high-speed service to 30 rural and First Nations Manitoba communities

Valley Fiber says it is undertaking one of its largest fibre optic projects and is building infrastructure that will deliver internet to 10,000 homes and businesses in rural and First Nations communities across Manitoba.

“These communities will now have access to the fastest internet network in Manitoba, and it will power their lives and their business,” Ryan Klassen, chief executive officer of the Winkler-based internet provider, said Tuesday from Fisher River Cree Nation.

The province has granted Valley Fiber use of two of its underused cables on the existing Manitoba Hydro fibre optic network for up to 20 years as part of the project, which will connect nearly 30 communities — including Buffalo Point, Hollow Water, Black River and Peguis First Nations, along with Fisher River and Fox Lake Cree Nations — to high-speed internet.

Construction should be finished by 2027.

City exceeds housing targets as millions in federal funds set to roll in

The City of Winnipeg has exceeded several homebuilding targets tied to its share of the federal Housing Accelerator Fund, with permits issued for 14,833 new housing units since December 2023.

The agreement to claim $126.5 million from the fund since the end of 2023 required the city to approve at least 14,251 new dwellings before Dec. 5.

“We set aggressive targets for new building permits in the Housing Accelerator Fund and we have exceeded the targets that we set three months before the deadline… (It) is very good news for Winnipeg at a time when we need more housing,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham.

The city expects to receive its final $32.6-million federal payment in early 2027, after its results are reviewed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Battling agencies would have far greater impact on homeless crisis by working together

In the midst of one of the most concerted efforts to reduce, if not eliminate, homelessness, why are two of Winnipeg’s more prominent social service agencies fighting each other?