More than 20 per cent of Manitobans think the U.S. could invade Canada in the next two years, poll conducted for the Free Press reveals

It has been more than two centuries since American troops crossed the international border in 1812 and invaded what was then the British colony of Canada — but that feeling of everlasting peace is fading.

Against the backdrop of the U.S. war with Iran, its forced removal of Venezuela’s president and President Donald Trump’s musing about annexing Greenland and making Canada the 51st state, some Manitobans are beginning to fear the spectre of armed conflict between this country and its neighbour to the south.

More than one out of five Manitobans believe an American invasion of Canada is possible in the next two years, according to a new Probe Research poll commissioned by the Free Press. Of those, 18 per cent of respondents said the prospect was somewhat likely, and four per cent felt it was very likely.

“The idea of the U.S. invading, for a long time, seemed preposterous. This certainly isn’t a question that we would’ve expected to ask people even a couple of years ago, but we wanted to understand with all of the things that have been happening in the last few months… if this is something that people think is a possibility,” said Curtis Brown, principal of Probe Research.

Ottawa contributes $91M to 10-storey Naawi-Oodena apartment block

The federal government has announced $91 million to support the development of a 10-storey apartment building that’s under construction at the former Kapyong Barracks site.

“This is an exciting day, but it really marks the doors opening for future with a lot more affordable homes for people who need them the most,” said federal Housing Minister Gregor Robertson.

The project — named Endayaan Omaa, meaning “home is here” in the Anishinaabemowin language — will create 260 housing units in southwest Winnipeg; 109 units will offer affordable rents below median market value.

It is part of the larger plan to transform the former military site into Canada’s largest urban reserve. The overall project, led by a consortium of seven Treaty One Nations and dubbed Naawi-Oodena, is expected to provide about 5,000 homes.

David Suzuki is turning 90. Environmentalists may have ‘lost, big time,’ but he still has hope

David Suzuki admits defeat — at least in some respects.

The geneticist-turned-environmentalist, who is days away from his 90th birthday, reflected on his legacy as he prepared to release his latest book, "Lessons from a Lifetime," which compiles photos and stories from his life, as well as testimonials written by those he inspired.

"To me, the important legacy that I want to tell my grandchildren is, look, I tried. I love you. I did the best I could for you. And I tried," he said on a video call last month.

"The measure of a person is not whether they succeeded — because we've lost, environmentalists have lost, big time — but that we tried."

Ducks Unlimited provides $1-M pasture for farming research

A Manitoba farming research non-profit will have more space to let cattle roam and graze on prairie grasslands — and study how that foraging affects biodiversity — through a partnership with Ducks Unlimited Canada.

Churchill port could further stunt polar bear growth: U of M researcher

Manitoba’s bold plan to transform the Port of Churchill into a shipping powerhouse could have a negative effect on the area’s treasured polar bear population, which fuels its tourism trade, new research shows.

Indigenous partnerships key to wildfire preparation

More than 5.3 million acres in Manitoba burned — second only to Saskatchewan — as wildfires raged across Western Canada last summer, and 32,000-plus residents, most of whom were Indigenous, were evacuated from their communities.

In Winnipeg, air quality due to the smoke was so terrible that by August, the year’s poor conditions had broken a 65-year record.

In northern places such as Thompson, the smoke was life-threatening. For most of the summer the city was engulfed in smoke, causing wide-scale lung irritation. Anyone with respiratory conditions like asthma and heart disease was forced to stay indoors.

The fires began after the May 10-11 weekend, when temperatures rose above 35 C, drying the underbrush and creating dangerous conditions.

Proposed quarry threatens Manitoba’s bear cub rescue, operator says

Manitoba’s only black bear rescue says a proposed limestone quarry less than a kilometre away from their sanctuary would have devastating effects on the cubs in their care.

Judy Stearns says the sound of constant rock blasting and gravel trucks driving in and out of the site near Stonewall would stress out the orphan cubs, who tend to be anxious anyway.

“There’s not a tree or hill between us,” said Stearns, who runs the rescue with her husband, Roger. “The project is just not conducive to being beside a wildlife sanctuary with noise-sensitive, timid animals.”

The rescue and rehabilitation centre has been in the RM of Rockwood, located northwest of Winnipeg, since 2018, but the Stearns family has lived in the municipality for more than 20 years.

Canada, Manitoba lagging behind promise to meet 2030 target of protecting more land and water

There are just four years left on the clock for Manitoba — and the rest of the country — to meet a promise to conserve 30 per cent of land and water by 2030.

But halfway through the timeline adopted at the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity in 2022, Canada has made little progress, adding less than one percentage point to its protected land tally and three points to its protected waters.

The country needs to double its protected areas to meet its target, known as 30-by-30. But conservation groups, including the Wilderness Committee and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, warn progress could stall even further as federal funding for conservation initiatives is set to run out at the end of the month — and there’s no indication it will be renewed.

“We have a conservation economy that we can build on, that gives local jobs, that helps honour our Indigenous reconciliation commitments,” Sandra Schwartz, national executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, said.

Non-profit to operate home for young moms in River Heights

A home in River Heights will soon be filled with Indigenous mothers and mothers-to-be receiving care and wraparound supports.

Come this summer, a six-bedroom home on Lindsay Street will provide three to six months of pre- and post-natal care and programs.

Hillary Thompson, an 18-year-old who is in her third trimester, has already picked her bedroom.

The spacious room on the main floor has plenty of space for her and a crib, and she can decorate it the way she wants. It’s a far cry from the homes she grew up in as a foster child, she said.

Some B.C. appraisers adding land-claims clause after Aboriginal title court case

VICTORIA - An organization representing about 1,200 appraisers in British Columbia says some of its members are adding clauses to their reports noting that current, past, and potential future land claims have not been considered in their valuations.

Allan Beatty, president of the B.C. branch of the Appraisal Institute of Canada, says in a statement that the recent Cowichan Aboriginal title court ruling in B.C. is contributing to speculation that private property rights could be affected.

Beatty says the organization is preparing advice for its members on the appropriate limitation clauses, but discourages the use of "unsubstantiated adjustments that do not reflect the most relevant market data."

In an August 2025 ruling, a B.C. Supreme Court judge confirmed the Cowichan Tribes hold Aboriginal title over about 300 hectares of land on the Fraser River in Richmond, B.C.

B.C. chiefs tell MP Aaron Gunn to ‘chillax’ about land acknowledgments

VANCOUVER - The chiefs of four British Columbia First Nations have told Conservative member of Parliament Aaron Gunn to "chillax" after he criticized land acknowledgments referring to "unceded territory" at the start of public events.

In a joint statement, the chiefs from the Tla'amin, Homalco, K'omoks and Klahoose nations said that "harmless" land acknowledgments only recognized "the history of the place" where people held events.

The nations said that land acknowledgments "have never seized private property, cancelled a mortgage, repossessed a pickup truck or altered a single title deed anywhere in Canada."

"Chiefs from four First Nations communities are urging the public to please approach Aaron Gunn with no caution whatsoever," their statement issued on Wednesday said.

King Charles ‘expressed his concern’ over Alberta separatism in meeting: grand chief

EDMONTON - The grand chief of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations says King Charles "expressed his concern" after hearing about Alberta's separatist push in a face-to-face meeting with Indigenous leaders on Wednesday.

Grand Chief Joey Pete, who was part of a delegation of Treaty 6 chiefs who went to Buckingham Palace, said in a news release that the King was "very interested" in what the Indigenous leaders had to say.

"We made him aware of the separatism issue in Alberta and the threat to treaty it represents," the chief said.

"He expressed his concern and committed to learning more."

Indigenous chiefs go to Alberta legislature, pressure province to nip separatism push

EDMONTON - More than a dozen First Nations chiefs and even more band councillors and elders were at Alberta's legislature Monday, calling on Premier Danielle Smith's government to stomp out the push for the province to quit Canada.

"Our rights are being minimized," Confederacy of Treaty 8 First Nations Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi told reporters.

"Our people are being minimized at every level."

The comments came after First Nations chiefs across the province unanimously called on members of the legislature to hold a non-confidence vote against the government in part for how it has handled the budding separatist movement.

Marc Miller says Musqueam deal has ‘nothing to do with’ private property

OTTAWA - Culture Minister Marc Miller says a rights acknowledgment agreement between the federal government and the Musqueam First Nation has "nothing to do with" private property.

He says instead that the agreement signed last month is a small step forward for a First Nation that has been fighting for its rights ever since British Columbia was settled.

The government says the agreement recognizes Musqueam Aboriginal rights "including title within their traditional territory," which the nation asserts is an area encompassing much of Metro Vancouver.

Critics have suggested the agreement could affect private property ownership, but Miller says right-wing parties have been using the issue in a "cynical attempt to try to whip up votes."

Transfer program adds to Manitoba First Nation’s bison population

The herd of bison that calls Chitek Lake Anishinaabe Provincial Park in Manitoba home just grew a little larger.

Wounded wombs: Indigenous women who were involuntarily sterilized still grieving their losses

Grace Whiteway is still haunted by memories of feeling helpless and alone, even 30 years later.

As the delivery of her fifth child neared, she had already spent a month in Winnipeg, separated from her family in remote Berens River First Nation.

She remembers being exhausted and barely awake after the birth of her daughter when a nurse placed a piece of paper in front of her and told her to sign it.

The decision fills Whiteway with regret. She had always wanted a big family, but the document she signed in her vulnerable state gave permission for her fallopian tubes to be tied — an irreversible surgical procedure that renders a woman sterile.

Dollarama violence, online video spark Indigenous group’s call for probe into security firms’ training, policies

An Indigenous advocacy group — including former NDP deputy premier Eric Robinson — is calling for a thorough investigation after a video surfaced online appearing to show a store security guard using brass knuckles to beat an Indigenous man suspected of shoplifting.

The 23-year-old security guard is facing several charges, including assault with a weapon and unauthorized possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon.

The Indigenous Peoples Alliance of Manitoba is seeking a broad examination of private security practices affecting Indigenous people in Winnipeg.

“The incident has brought long-standing concerns to a head,” Robinson said.

Chief says more funding needed to repair homes after power outage, flooding

A northern First Nation hit by a days-long power outage and subsequent water crisis is seeking additional government funds to cover the cost of mould and asbestos removal in homes.

Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias said Friday there is a shortage of funding to remediate the hazards and bring homes with damage up to code so they are habitable.

“We can’t have (residents) return to a situation where there might be some bacteria or moulding issues that will affect their safety, that affect their health, and possibly cause medical issues that will be made worse because they already have existing health issues,” he said during a virtual call.

Pimicikamak’s leaders said an estimated 1,300 homes were damaged after pipes froze and burst two months ago. Water leaked into basements and crawl spaces. The community’s water and sewage plants were also affected.