Grace under pressure

Library opera shows let kids take control of the action

Virtually everyone would choose a treat over a mouldy sandwich. But the youngsters attending Rufus and Rita in Winnipeg libraries often choose the latter.

Thirteen accused in gun, drug trafficking network in rural Manitoba

RCMP and Winkler police have arrested more than a dozen people allegedly connected to a drug-and-gun trafficking network that operated in rural Manitoba.

The joint investigation began in December 2024, when officers from the Winkler Police Service asked the Mounties for help after learning kilograms of cocaine were being imported to a Winkler-area truck repair business, said RCMP Supt. Jeff Asmundson, who oversees the force’s Manitoba integrated law enforcement team.

Mounties and Winkler police gathered evidence for 19 months and expanded the probe, dubbed Project Dolor, as investigators learned other types of illicit substances and firearms were being trafficked by the network in a number of southern Manitoba communities, said Asmundson, whose team investigates serious and organized crime.

“It started as a cocaine trafficking investigation, and obviously, as we move along in a project or a file, evidence is gathered and an opportunity arose and we wanted to ensure public safety,” he told reporters Tuesday. “We were able to secure some firearms.”

‘I’m proud of our country right now’: Kinew on Canada’s counter-tariffs

Canada is showing the rest of the world you “don’t have to take a knee” to the United States, Premier Wab Kinew said Tuesday.

He spoke about Canada-U.S. trade at an unrelated news conference, hours after Ottawa announced $27.6 billion worth of tariffs on United States imports.

“I think it’s always a time to negotiate and engage,” Kinew said of reigniting trade talks ahead of the counter-tariffs’ Sept. 8 implementation date.

“But I think Canada is showing the rest of the world right now that you don’t have to take a knee. You don’t have to bow down. You can be proud, you can have backbone and you can stand up for your own economy and your own jobs.

Conservation officials investigate after polar bear shot near Churchill

Manitoba wildlife officials are investigating after a polar bear was shot and killed near the mouth of the Seal River on Friday by a paddler.

The province confirmed Tuesday the incident occurred along the Hudson Bay coast, roughly 50 kilometres west of Churchill.

Few details about the shooting have been released. Officials have not publicly identified the paddler involved or provided information about the circumstances leading up to the encounter.

Polar bears are designated as a threatened species in Manitoba and are protected under provincial legislation. It is illegal to hunt the bears in Manitoba.

Province provides $2.4M to build housing in Winkler for women, children fleeing violence

The province has pledged $2.4 million toward construction of a new transitional housing complex in Winkler offering safe, affordable housing for women and children leaving family violence.

Premier Wab Kinew and Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine, minister responsible for women and gender equity, announced the funding for Genesis House in Winkler.

“Every woman or family in Manitoba deserves to be safe,” Kinew said in a news release.

Genesis House currently runs a five-bedroom emergency shelter that provides accommodations and supportive services for women and their children, along with a stand-alone transitional housing unit owned by Manitoba Housing.

Transit drivers increasingly in peril, but city kicks safety upgrades down the road

Winnipeg Transit drivers are being assaulted with alarming frequency, yet the city continues to move at a glacial pace on a simple measure that could make their jobs safer.