Older people need to talk comfortably with their MD

Hero fought to remember children lost at residential school

The story of the gravesites of students who attended the Brandon Indian Residential School underneath the Turtle Crossing Campground is truly a Manitoba tragedy.

Port of Churchill signs agreement with Dutch port

Arctic Gateway Group, operator of the Port of Churchill, has signed an agreement with the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands to attract business and strengthen supply chains linking Western Canada and Europe.

The agreement enables the two ports to work together to develop new trade in critical minerals and energy products, connect Canadian producers with European buyers, and identify opportunities to improve the supply chain from Western Canadian resource projects through Churchill and into European markets.

The Port of Rotterdam is Europe’s largest port and home to more than 3,000 businesses across its industrial complex, serving as a major gateway for critical raw materials and energy.

Meanwhile, the Port of Churchill has been identified as a transformative national strategy for Canada and is emerging as a northern trade corridor connecting Western Canada’s resources to global markets.

Klein vows to freeze water, sewer rate for next two years

Mayoral candidate Kevin Klein is promising to cancel a water and sewer rate hike proposed for next year and freeze the fee for two years.

Klein said Winnipeggers are simply paying far too much for the utility.

“I think we have to freeze them right now because we’ve seen (a substantial increase) in the last four years. We are facing some of the most difficult financial times for families right now,” he said.

He would also ask the provincial Public Utilities Board to set Winnipeg’s future water and sewer rates, a power currently held by city council.

Billions of dollars spent on health, but scattershot financial reporting leaves decision-makers, Manitobans in the dark, auditor general says

Manitoba’s auditor general says significant gaps in health-sector financial reporting make it difficult to understand how billions of dollars in public funds are spent.

Auditor General Tyson Shtykalo is calling for clearer, more transparent reporting in his latest report, titled Observations on Health Sector Financial Reporting and Accountability in Manitoba.

“Manitoba spends nearly $10 billion annually on health care, but current financial reporting does not provide a clear picture of how that money is spent, what services cost, or the financial pressures facing the system,” Shtykalo said in a news release.

While some financial information is available, the reports do not provide a “complete, consistent, or easily understood” picture of how health-care funds are spent, the report said.

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.