CBC picks up Men With Brooms

Ottawa renews commitment, provides funding, for Lake Winnipeg watershed protection

The federal government has renewed its memorandum of understanding with the province to protect the Lake Winnipeg watershed and is contributing more than $2 million for several projects to protect the basin.

Ottawa and the province have agreed to extend the current MOU for an additional five-year term, to August 21, 2031. The understanding has been in place since 2010.

“Lake Winnipeg is not only an environmental treasure, it’s also an economic treasure. But we also know that Lake Winnipeg is under pressure. Too many nutrients, particularly phosphorus, are entering the lake, contributing to harmful algae blooms and affecting water quality and ecosystem health,” said Terry Duguid, MP for Winnipeg South.

Lake Winnipeg is one of the largest freshwater bodies in the world and its watershed spans parts of four provinces and four American states. It is vulnerable to high levels of nutrients caused by agricultural runoff, sewage and other contaminants that create large algae blooms and affect fisheries.

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?

‘Dynacare sucks:’ premier muses about bringing lab services back into public system after strike halted

Manitoba’s premier said the province is looking at bringing diagnostic lab services back into the public system rather than continuing to contract Dynacare, declaring the for-profit company “sucks.”

“Maybe we’ll take over the whole system… we’re working on it, we’re looking at it, the situation is not great, this company’s making a mess — I think it’s pretty clear I’m not happy with them,” Premier Wab Kinew told CBC Radio Wednesday morning. “At the same time, nobody should be trying to use people’s health care as leverage.”

Kinew made the comments the day after the Manitoba Labour Board cut short a strike by 350 lab technicians and technologists employed by Dynacare, which administers blood, urine and other medical tests for patients in Winnipeg, Brandon and surrounding communities.

Dynacare, which is contracted by the provincial government, performs the majority of non-emergency blood and urine tests in the province.

Letters, Sept. 9

As River Heights residents caught in a swath of rain and wind on Sunday evening, we survived 10 hours with no power after a big boom and an electric arc favoured us with a strike in our back lane. So far, we have had two brief additional outages (Monday) and in the early hours of (Tuesday) morning. This doesn’t begin to compare with the damage on Mathers Avenue, which is still under repair.

Labour board ruling halts Dynacare strike

The Manitoba Labour Board has cut short a strike by 350 lab workers employed by Dynacare who administer blood and urine tests for patients in Winnipeg, Brandon and surrounding communities.

The board ruled late Tuesday afternoon that the workers, who hit the picket line at 6 a.m., must return to work Wednesday.

Jason Linklater, president of their union, the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, slammed the board’s decision.

“The Manitoba Labour Board is doing exactly what the government asked them to do: they are taking away our members’ right to fight for fairness,” he said in a statement.

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.