The Weeknd will play in Winnipeg on Nov. 27

Canada resorting to its tried and true playbook

In 1846, Britain faced an emergency influenced by the Irish famine, so leaders repealed the country’s “Corn Laws” and restrictions on imported food and grain, transitioning to a system of free trade.

This created a crisis in the then Province of Canada, which had relied on British “preferential” status to prop up its agricultural and resource industries.

As a result, Canada looked south for new markets and eventually negotiated a free trade agreement with the United States.

This required land to be acquired and converted for industrial use quickly, so Canada quickly dispatched Commissioner William Robinson to negotiate with Indigenous communities along Lake Huron and Lake Superior for land.

Acquisition of former residential school grounds will help educate future generations: premier

Premier Wab Kinew says a former Brandon-area campground acquired by the province will help educate future generations about the horrors of residential schools.

“We live in an era where people are trying to deny what happened in residential schools,” Kinew said during a Tuesday afternoon visit to Turtle Crossing Campground, near the former Brandon Indian Residential School. “It’s an important part of our national history, and keeping that truth alive.”

Kinew officially announced the province’s plan Tuesday, in partnership with the City of Brandon, to acquire and protect the site where the bodies of more than 50 Indigenous children are located.

The premier said the property has “huge national significance” for education about residential school history because it is one of the “most documented” in the country. He carried photographs, and some 20th century newspaper clippings from the Brandon Sun around the site Tuesday.

Province to acquire campground near former residential school

A burial site for dozens of children who died while attending the Brandon Indian Residential School will be acquired by the province, the Free Press has learned.

Premier Wab Kinew will announce the province’s plan to protect Turtle Crossing Campground at a news conference in Brandon Wednesday to mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The move is in partnership with the City of Brandon.

The graves of at least 56 children are located at the campground, the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation has said, pointing to a geophysical study conducted by an archaeology firm in 2018.

There have been longstanding concerns from Indigenous leaders and community members that people were camping on the resting place of children victimized by colonialism.

Jets defenceman spent whole summer working on getting to the next level

Tyrel Bauer makes no apologies for the pugilistic piece of his path.

The Winnipeg Jets defenceman is ready to drop the gloves and throw down when the situation calls for it and he takes great pride in protecting his teammates.

It’s a big part of the reason Bauer will be among the 23 players submitted by the Jets on the opening-day roster on Monday.

“I’ve fought and clawed, both metaphorically and literally and now I just want to show that I can play as well,” Bauer said during a chat with the Free Press during training camp. “(Toughness) is always something that I have, it’s always something in my back pocket and something that I take a lot of pride in doing, for my teammates, for the city and the people who invest in this hockey club. That will never change.

What’s open, what’s closed, what’s up in Winnipeg on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Sept. 30, 2026

The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, or Orange Shirt Day, as it's known in Manitoba, happens Sept. 30 with many commemorative community events scheduled.