Canticos creators on leveraging culture for global brands

Manitoba Hydro’s energy plan set to be scrutinized

Manitoba Hydro is set to face questions and concerns over its plan for the province’s future energy needs, which includes proposed natural gas-powered turbines in Brandon and Indigenous-owned wind farms.

The Public Utilities Board, an arm’s-length regulator, will begin six weeks of hearings Monday into the 10-year blueprint and potential ways to satisfy electricity demand, while Hydro grapples with a projected energy shortfall, debt of $25 billion and aging infrastructure.

“The development plan reflects the best available information and analysis of how Manitoba Hydro can meet growing energy demand, while balancing factors we know are important to our customers, including cost, reliability and the environment,” Peter Chura, a spokesman for the Crown corporation, told the Free Press.

“We are confident in our analysis and that we’ve appropriately balanced reliability, affordability, safety and risk.”

CMHR ‘fans flames of antisemitism,’ Asper says, ending support from family that led effort to create it

The Winnipeg family that led the effort to build the Canadian Museum for Human Rights will not provide support going forward, philanthropist and honorary board member Gail Asper says.

Pricey bronze plaques pilfered from Steinbach parks, city hall

The City of Steinbach is asking the public for help to find six expensive bronze plaques stolen from around the city, which it believes were lifted by scrap metal thieves.

City employees had noticed the commemorative plaques were missing from parks and gardens, as well as one installed beside the flag pole at city hall, beginning in April.

Removing the plaques would have been no easy task since they were affixed to boulders and benches, said parks and recreation manager Russ Dyck.

“The ones that were on big rocks were drilled and mortared in and somehow they ripped them out of there,” he said. “Others had tamper-proof screws, but somehow they had a tool. They weren’t the easiest things to get off.”

Cash injection will help women’s centre grow

Janice Lavellee grew up in a large family rife with substance abuse and domestic violence. She ran away from home at age 14.

When she found the North End Women’s Centre, it was a godsend.

“I never knew the North End Women’s Centre was there, because I never knew where to get help,” she said.

After having a child at 16, Lavellee said the centre gave her a job on the weekends. It was a stepping stone to finishing high school, and she later returned to the centre to work as a receptionist for 27 years before recently retiring.

Lawsuit targets pontoon boat operator, Sea-Doo driver, owner in fatal Whitemud River crash

The father of a 39-year-old Portage la Prairie woman killed in a boat crash on the Whitemud River is suing the men who were operating the involved watercraft, claiming they were negligent when navigating the winding waterway.

Ashley Danielle Rodgers died Aug. 10, 2024, when the Sea-Doo on which she was a passenger rounded a curve in the river and collided with an oncoming pontoon boat. She suffered blunt injuries and died, leaving behind two children.

“She was a vulnerable passenger on the back of a Sea-Doo which had no protection,” said lawyer Martin Pollock.

“It’s a very interesting case because it addresses water safety, it addresses boating safety, it’s an absolute nightmare to parents and loved ones when people are out on waterways. Rules have to be respected, especially going around blind curves.”

Anishinaabe Days teepee poles vandalized

An act of vandalism to a teepee at the Treaty One Development Corp’s Anishinaabe Days did not stop the celebrations from continuing over the weekend.

Someone deliberately cut the poles used to erect the site’s teepee before the event began, Treaty One executive director Jason Whitford said Sunday.

The family responsible for overseeing the teepee and its construction at the site, Naawi-Oodena  on Kenaston Boulevard, went to the site on Friday to erect the teepee when they noticed someone had taken a saw and cut all 15 of its poles in half.

“They were stored in a safe place, and they were stored properly as per protocol,” Whitford said. “They were in an area where there was no construction so they were isolated from any activity.”