India police jail 21 Kashmiris amid pro-Palestinian rallies

Better wait for the next bus if a candidate promises quick, on-budget transit fixes

Winnipeg’s transit system needs fixing. But voters should be skeptical of municipal election candidates who promise to restore old routes, put hundreds of bus stops back where they used to be and somehow make everything better without spending substantially more money.

That’s not a transit plan. It’s wishful thinking.

Winnipeg’s transit network underwent a massive overhaul last year, fundamentally changing how people get around the city.

The new system has some real advantages, depending on where you live and where you need to go. It also has some serious shortcomings, including reduced service and less convenient connections for many riders.

A decision with potential for ‘distraction’ and ‘disrespect’ in Transcona

Transcona voters acknowledge they have a tough decision to make at the ballot box on election day.

The east Winnipeg working-class ward is replete with lawn signs and posters, but most of the people the Free Press spoke with said they were still undecided.

While Winnipeg is, historically, more likely to elect an incumbent, longtime councillor Russ Wyatt is seeking a sixth term while facing five criminal charges, including sexual assault and administering a noxious substance, after incidents alleged to have occurred in 2023 and 2025.

Residents are not without options. In addition to Wyatt, former councillor Shawn Nason — who occupied the city council seat from 2018-22 — is running for council (Wyatt chose not to run in the 2018 election after taking several months off to undergo addictions treatment), and there are three new faces on the ballot: Lora Meseman, Chris Giesbrecht and Nathine Dagdick.

Slain chef’s family infuriated by stayed charges

The family of a Ste. Anne chef who died after an altercation at a party says they are angry a manslaughter charge has been stayed against a 46-year-old man.

White-supremacist highway sign casts pall on Steinbach city council campaign

The RCMP is investigating a white-nationalist sign near Steinbach with racist messaging and alleged links to a known Canadian far-right group.

What's Up: Clara Hughes, Moving / Still: Animation, Rumble in the Burt, Send+Receive, Lotai as Chappell Roan, Scream & Halloween

Clara Hughes book launchMcNally Robinson Booksellers, Grant Park (1120 Grant Ave.)Tonight, 7 p.m.FreeOne of Canada’s most decorated Olympians returns to her hometown tonight to launch a new memoir about her healing journey, the roadblocks along the way and the search for new beginnings.Clara Hughes, who was born in Winnipeg and now lives on Vancouver Island, launches her new memoir Learning to Breathe at 7 p.m., when she’ll be joined in conversation by Shelagh Rogers, the former host of CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter.

Learning to Breathe is Hughes’s second memoir, following the publication of 2017’s Open Heart, Open Mind. Her latest sees the six-time Olympic medallist detail her use of psychedelic-assisted therapy to deal with physical and emotional ailments, navigating menopause, forging new relationships and more.

Hughes is the only athlete to win multiple medals in both the Summer and Winter Games (in cycling and speed skating, respectively), and is a member of both the Order of Manitoba and the Order of Canada. She’ll discuss Learning to Breathe with Rogers before signing copies at the store. The free event is also available to stream on McNally Robinson’s YouTube page.

— Ben Sigurdson

MPI leadership not fooling anyone by forcing PUB’s hand

It is not a question you will hear raised at Public Utilities Board hearings into Autopac rates, but you can bet it’s the one on most people’s minds.

When will the NDP government step in and repair leadership at Manitoba Public Insurance? For the third year in a row, MPI has limped into PUB hearings like a badly damaged vehicle that should have been written off years ago.

This week, the Crown corporation’s chief actuary admitted the 2.38-per-cent increase requested for the 2027-28 fiscal year was too low, in part because of the impact of last summer’s multiple hailstorms and the premiums MPI pays for re-insurance that protects the public insurer from surges in claims costs.

Chief actuary Cara Low said the rate application was not updated because of “uncertainty.” That is sort of like a firefighter complaining about not being able to do the job because there was too much smoke and flame.