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A day after Russ Wyatt announced he would run in the upcoming civic elections, other city councillors and labour leaders called on the incumbent Transcona councillor to reconsider his decision to seek re-election while facing sexual assault charges.

Labour leaders, councillors urge Wyatt to reconsider re-election bid

Malak Abas 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 7:29 PM CDT

City councillors and labour leaders called on incumbent Transcona councillor Russ Wyatt to reconsider his decision to seek re-election while facing sexual assault charges.

A day after the longtime councillor announced he would be running again, the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500 and the Winnipeg Labour Council, joined by Couns. Cindy Gilroy and Evan Duncan, told reporters Wyatt would not be able to serve Transcona while fighting multiple sexual assault charges in court and should step aside.

The community of Transcona, traditionally known for its working-class roots, has “been through enough drama,” the president of the city’s largest union said.

“I am not declaring him guilty of anything, the courts will decide that, and his lawyer says that he is innocent. I’m stating a plain fact about capacity. Every hour spent on legal defence is an hour not spent on Transcona,” CUPE 500 president Patrick Troughton said at city hall Tuesday afternoon.

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Local

Disgraced former law dean arrested, facing extradition to Canada: report

Morgan Modjeski 2 minute read Preview

Disgraced former law dean arrested, facing extradition to Canada: report

Morgan Modjeski 2 minute read Yesterday at 10:26 PM CDT

Jonathan Black-Branch, the disgraced former dean of law at the University of Manitoba, has been arrested in Europe and is awaiting extradition to Canada on fraud charges, according to a media report.

Black-Branch, who failed to defend himself in a lawsuit filed by the U of M and his disbarment proceedings, was ordered in May 2025 to repay more than $682,000 in misspent expense funds.

Winnipeg police confirmed his arrest and pending extradition, CTV Winnipeg reported Tuesday.

Black-Branch left the university in 2020 amid allegations he had misspent public dollars and schemed to evade oversight while running Robson Hall from 2016 to 2020.

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Yesterday at 10:26 PM CDT

Local

Gillingham promises to make north Main revitalization a second-term priority

Joyanne Pursaga 3 minute read Preview

Gillingham promises to make north Main revitalization a second-term priority

Joyanne Pursaga 3 minute read Yesterday at 6:19 PM CDT

Scott Gillingham says he will work to “reset and renew” north Main Street, if he wins a second term as mayor.

The incumbent candidate promised Tuesday to devise a long-term plan to rejuvenate that section of the thoroughfare, noting it has recently suffered from decay.

“It has a rich history, a deep and proud history. But the last couple of years, to say it’s been underperforming would be an understatement…. So many stretches of Main Street here, I see derelict buildings, boarded-up businesses, piles of rubble after fires that sit waiting to be cleaned up,” Gillingham said.

“We can disrupt what is going on and turn the tide on north Main Street.”

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Yesterday at 6:19 PM CDT

Winnipeg Jets

Oilers stymie Jets again

Ken Wiebe 5 minute read Preview

Oilers stymie Jets again

Ken Wiebe 5 minute read Yesterday at 10:46 PM CDT

Were this a game that actually counted in the standings, the reaction from Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel probably wouldn’t have been nearly as composed.

The video evidence suggests the Edmonton Oilers had at least four players on the ice during a line change that turned into a two-on-one rush that finished with Zack Hyman setting up Viljami Marjala for a goal at 1:26 of overtime.

That left the Jets on the receiving end of a 2-1 overtime loss to sit with a pre-season record of 1-1-1.

“It was a pretty good jump,” said Arniel, who was more concerned about the shot from defenceman Dylan Samberg that helped spring the Oilers on the odd-man rush. “I’m not real keen on the slapper missing the net and going all the way down. I’m more concerned about that. It is what it is. Tough one for (Jets goaltender) Dom (DiVincentiis), because he was fantastic.”

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Yesterday at 10:46 PM CDT

Civic Election

WAYNE GLOWACKI / FREE PRESS FILES
Winnipeg City Hall August 26 2016

Even dozen running for mayor as nomination deadline passes

Malak Abas 2 minute read Preview

Even dozen running for mayor as nomination deadline passes

Malak Abas 2 minute read Yesterday at 6:25 PM CDT

It’s official — a dozen people are running to become Winnipeg’s next mayor.

The deadline to both register to run as a candidate in October’s municipal election and file nomination papers was 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The final list of mayoral candidates includes: incumbent Scott Gillingham, Kevin Klein, Brad Gross, Mazher Alam, Mike Vogiatzakis, Christopher Clacio, Umar Hayat, Don Woodstock, Joshua Pagdato, Johnny Calderon, Noah Redden, and Tracey Drexler.

A total of 17 had registered to run but several either withdrew or did not meet the requirements to continue. Those included: Zachary Uminski, Ed Ackerman, Gagandeep Bawa, Abdel-Kareem Chehadi and Joaquin Sandul.

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Yesterday at 6:25 PM CDT

Local

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Premier Wab Kinew speaks at a Kelvin High School press conference, Tuesday.

Manitoba students able to opt out of classes with sensitive lessons on sex, drug use

Maggie Macintosh 6 minute read Preview

Manitoba students able to opt out of classes with sensitive lessons on sex, drug use

Maggie Macintosh 6 minute read Yesterday at 7:08 PM CDT

Manitoba’s premier pledges to continue allowing parents to pull their kids from health class if content — be it related to human sexuality, substance use or otherwise — clashes with personal beliefs.

Wab Kinew said Tuesday the government’s overhaul of phys-ed and health curriculum in Manitoba schools won’t impact the ability for parents to opt-out of a lesson and deliver material as they see fit.

“As a parent, you are your child’s first and most important teacher and that will always be the case,” Kinew said, surrounded by hundreds of teenagers on the football field outside Kelvin High School during an announcement Tuesday.

More than 100 schools are taking part in a voluntary pilot project this fall. It’s the first systematic review of this curriculum in decades. The changes to kindergarten-to-Grade 12 courses will be mandated to all schools in September 2028.

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Yesterday at 7:08 PM CDT

Opinion

NDP will have to decide whether to make good on 2023 pledge or spend during election year Tom Brodbeck Yesterday at 1:12 PM CDT
Railways, costs and benefits — the long view Barry E. Prentice Updated: Yesterday at 7:19 AM CDT
North and east to Hudson Bay: Port Nelson Wally Daudrich Updated: Yesterday at 7:19 AM CDT

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Soccer

Decorated business vet Spiring announced as NSL Winnipeg president

Grace Anne Paizen 5 minute read Preview

Decorated business vet Spiring announced as NSL Winnipeg president

Grace Anne Paizen 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:30 PM CDT

Manitoba’s own Dayna Spiring is no stranger to the sports world, but her latest venture into the world of football — this time of the kick-about variety — is a whole new ball game.

“I’m getting up to speed on that as quickly as I can,” Spiring told the Free Press Tuesday, shortly after the accomplished business leader was announced as Northern Super League Winnipeg’s president.

Spiring joins an already stacked roster on the first women’s professional sports team in the Keystone province alongside the likes of NSL Winnipeg’s decorated co-founders Desiree Scott and Rob Gale.

And her own stats sheet is just as historic. Spiring was one of the first women to serve on the CFL’s Board of Governors and was the first woman to serve as chair of the Winnipeg Football Club’s board of directors. She is also the first woman to have her name engraved on the Grey Cup when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers captured back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2021.

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Updated: Yesterday at 12:30 PM CDT

The Arts

RWB’s Studio Series offers up-close ballet experience

Jen Zoratti 6 minute read Preview

RWB’s Studio Series offers up-close ballet experience

Jen Zoratti 6 minute read Yesterday at 4:46 PM CDT

If you’ve ever been curious about checking out the ballet, but have also felt like spending two or more hours at the concert hall is too big a commitment or too intimidating, Christopher Stowell gets it.

That’s just one of several reasons the artistic director of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet wanted to introduce the Studio Series, a black-box theatre series that offers a more intimate and approachable way to experience the art form.

The inaugural edition, which runs Thursday through Saturday at the RWB Founders Studio and Sunday at Desautels Concert Hall, features a performance of George Balanchine’s Who Cares?, set to George Gershwin’s songs as performed by a jazz musicians from the University of Manitoba’s Desautels faculty of music.

Audiences will be able to ask questions, meet the dancers and get an up-close look at their craft.

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Yesterday at 4:46 PM CDT

Local

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
Clarence Woodhouse leaves court in 2024 with his family and lawyers after being acquitted and declared innocent of the 1973 killing of Winnipeg restaurant worker Ting Fong Chan.

Province paid three men wrongfully convicted in 1973 Winnipeg homicide $4 million apiece

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Preview

Province paid three men wrongfully convicted in 1973 Winnipeg homicide $4 million apiece

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Yesterday at 6:57 PM CDT

More than five decades after their lives were derailed by a racist justice system, the provincial government has paid millions of dollars to three men who were wrongfully convicted in a 1973 Winnipeg homicide.

Clarence Woodhouse, Allan Woodhouse (no relation) and Brian Anderson were wrongfully convicted of murdering restaurant worker Ting Fong Chan in 1974.

The ruling was reversed in 2024 for Clarence Woodhouse, when he was acquitted by Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal, and in 2023 for both Allan Woodhouse and Anderson. Russell Woodhouse, Clarence’s brother, was also subjected to a miscarriage of justice — he was wrongfully convicted of manslaughter — but died in 2011.

Canada’s first post-mortem conviction review has since been called into his case.

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Yesterday at 6:57 PM CDT

Local

THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
The CTRC has given Montreal-based Bell two weeks to provide a report explaining the cause, and steps taken to resolve the outage.

Kinew ‘open to everything’ after Bell’s 911 failures

Chris Kitching 4 minute read Preview

Kinew ‘open to everything’ after Bell’s 911 failures

Chris Kitching 4 minute read Yesterday at 4:32 PM CDT

Premier Wab Kinew signalled Tuesday he’s open to all potential options, including switching 911 providers, if feasible, after a series of outages in Manitoba.

Kinew, who’s spoken to Bell Canada CEO Mirko Bibic and Prime Minister Mark Carney about Manitoba’s 911 service, said the government and the telecom continue to have a “back and forth.”

“At this stage, we’re open to everything,” Kinew said of potential steps to ensure the service is reliable. “The No. 1, I think, baseline is that when you dial 911, you’re going to get through to the help you need, whether that’s an ambulance or fire truck or police.”

Kinew said he’s looking forward to receiving Bell’s draft report to learn the cause of the most recent outage, which occurred Thursday and affected five other provinces where the telecom provides 911 service.

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Yesterday at 4:32 PM CDT

Local

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES
The summer storm that rolled into Winnipeg and the surrounding area on June 9 set a record for MPI claim volume, making it the largest single claim event in the insurer’s history.

‘Wild, wild summer’: storms produce all-time number of damage claims at MPI

Nicole Buffie 4 minute read Preview

‘Wild, wild summer’: storms produce all-time number of damage claims at MPI

Nicole Buffie 4 minute read Yesterday at 6:34 PM CDT

More than 40,000 storm-related claims have been opened with Manitoba Public Insurance stemming from summer storms, marking a historic high.

The June 9 storm in Winnipeg and the surrounding area drove a record-setting volume, making it the largest single claim event in MPI’s history.

The data is still rolling in, but the losses from the weather are likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to MPI’s vice-president and chief claims officer John Bowering.

“In my career here a storm in 5,000 to 10,000 (claims) was considered a major storm… so to have a single storm at 34,000 and a summer where we’re going to exceed 40,000 is monumental and quite hard to wrap my head around,” he said Tuesday.

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Yesterday at 6:34 PM CDT

Local

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
Coun. Brian Mayes called a motion to change the employee status for Winnipeg Transit Plus drivers a “ridiculous anti-worker provision.”

Changing Transit Plus drivers’ status a ‘ridiculous anti-worker provision,’ councillor says

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Preview

Changing Transit Plus drivers’ status a ‘ridiculous anti-worker provision,’ councillor says

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Yesterday at 5:32 PM CDT

Some fear a change of status for Winnipeg Transit Plus drivers could allow them to be paid less and receive fewer benefits.

However, council’s public works chairwoman said pay protections are now embedded in contracts and the change is needed to attract enough workers.

Three years ago, city council passed a motion that required Winnipeg Transit Plus drivers to be employees of companies the city hires to provide accessible transit service.

Coun. Brian Mayes said that clause prevents “sub-minimum wages” from being permitted for subcontracted drivers and ensures drivers can access multiple benefits.

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Yesterday at 5:32 PM CDT

Local

WAYNE GLOWACKI / FREE PRESS FILES
Last week’s visit came just weeks after the Federal Court on Sept. 3 ordered Ottawa pay Opaskwayak Cree Nation $27 million over damages suffered due to the construction of the Grand Rapids hydro dam in the 1960s.
WAYNE GLOWACKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS GRAND RAPIDS, MANITOBA…Settlement reached with the Grand Rapids Fishers. Aerial of Manitoba Hydro Dam at Grand Rapids. April 27 2000

Hydro board members visit First Nation communities to discuss damage from past developments

Free Press staff 3 minute read Preview

Hydro board members visit First Nation communities to discuss damage from past developments

Free Press staff 3 minute read Yesterday at 1:18 PM CDT

Members of the Manitoba Hydro board visited Misipawistik Cree Nation and Chemawawin Cree Nation last week to learn more about the impacts of the Grand Rapids Generating Station and strengthen relationships with communities affected by hydroelectric development.

The two-day visit included spending time at culturally significant sites and discussions with leadership and community members, and a tour of generating stations and Grand Rapids fish hatchery, a Manitoba Hydro news release said.

The visit is part of Manitoba Hydro’s ongoing engagement with Indigenous communities affected by hydroelectric development, the release said. In 2024, the Manitoba Hydro board visited Gillam and met with First Nations that partner in the Keeyask Generating Station.

Last week’s visit to Misipawistik and Chemawawin came just weeks after the Federal Court on Sept. 3 ordered Ottawa pay Opaskwayak Cree Nation $27 million over damages suffered due to the construction of the Grand Rapids hydro dam in the 1960s.

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Yesterday at 1:18 PM CDT