Kinew’s tolerance for Fontaine’s antics could set dangerous precedent for others in cabinet

What exactly does someone have to do to get fired from Premier Wab Kinew’s cabinet?

That question was left hanging in the air following the latest missteps by Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine, who drew a rebuke from Kinew and public criticism for sharing a social media post criticizing far-right activist Charlie Kirk following his assassination in Utah last week.

Kinew said he spoke directly with Fontaine and asked her to apologize. For now, she will remain in cabinet.

“It would be too easy to show her the door,” Kinew said. “It is a much harder task to say we’re going to work through this together and I am going to try to help you understand why we need to bring people together and not divide people at this time.”

New St. B ER great, but where are all the doctors to staff it?

When governments announce a major hospital expansion, it’s usually billed as a silver bullet solution to long wait times and overcrowding.

The latest example is St. Boniface Hospital’s newly expanded and renovated emergency department, expected to open officially on Oct. 2. (It was supposed to open next week, but there’s been a delay).

On paper, it looks impressive: more treatment spaces, updated facilities, a modern design intended to improve patient experience.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: the facelift won’t do much — if anything — to cut ER wait times. If history is any guide, the experience for patients at St. Boniface will look remarkably similar to what it’s been for years — hours-long waits, gurneys lined up in hallways and admitted patients languishing in the emergency department because there’s no staffed hospital bed to move them into.

Liberals, Conservatives talk co-operation but trade jabs as Parliament returns

OTTAWA - After talking up the prospect of cross-party collaboration in the House of Commons, Liberal and Conservative MPs wasted little time after Parliament resumed Monday before reverting to partisan attacks over housing and the cost of living.

The tone was set early Monday afternoon, when the first-ever question period exchange between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre began cordially before turning belligerent.

"When I left, there was a Liberal prime minister who was making excuses about breaking promises, running massive deficits. Costs, crime, chaos were all out of control," Poilievre said. "Whereas today... we have a Liberal prime minister breaking promises, making excuses, running massive deficits with costs, crime and chaos out of control."

"I understand the leader of the opposition was busy," Carney said in reply — a reference to the Conservative leader losing his seat in the general election before securing another in an Alberta byelection.

Qatar and Poland — one is the bigger story

I’ll get to the Russian drones shot down over Poland, but I’ll start with the Israeli air strikes on Qatar, because that’s a much bigger deal.

Winnipeg Catholics can pay tribute to ‘saint in sneakers’

WHEN Carlo Acutis was made a saint by Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 7, John Paul Marable was very excited.

“We need him more than ever,” Marable said of the Roman Catholic Church’s first millennial saint.

“He’s an example of who we are called to be,” added the third-year education student at the University of Manitoba. “His same desire for the Eucharist and for Christ can live in all of us.”

Marable, a member of the St. Alphonsus parish in East Kildonan, is also excited for another reason; from Sept. 17-29, he will join other Catholics in the province in seeing and venerating a relic of the newly canonized saint who loved playing video games and going to mass.

Letting the Millennium Library be what it can be

After yet another underwhelming response to a tragic incident, it’s fair to ask whether the City of Winnipeg wants to keep the Millennium Library open.

One man killed himself by jumping over the railing of the fourth floor of the Millennium Library — a railing that overlooks a spectacular glass wall and atrium that runs all the way to the main level — and another attempted a similar act of self harm. The city responded by installing foreboding metal construction fencing near the railings.

The city says the fencing is only a temporary measure until a more permanent safety solution can be found.

However, based on the fact the city has failed miserably to deliver meaningful safety upgrades at Millennium, one has to wonder whether that solution will ever come.

Manitobans raise more than $81,000 for cancer research at Terry Fox Run

Hundreds of runners, walkers and cyclists flooded Assiniboine Park Sunday to remember Terry Fox’s legacy and honour their own loved ones affected by cancer.

The 45th annual Terry Fox Run kicked off by the park pavilion at 10 a.m. Sunday. Manitoba donors raised more than $81,000 for cancer research this year.

Families old and young took to the 2.5-kilometre route all morning, some with shirts bearing Fox’s iconic visage, others carrying signs and mementos of the people they were running for.

Some came in recognition of someone currently battling cancer, like Jason Wells, who ran for his father.

Manitoba cabinet briefing on landfill search for murder victims not being released

WINNIPEG - A report that could shed more light on why Manitoba's former Progressive Conservative government rejected calls to search a landfill for the remains of two murder victims is being withheld under the province's freedom of information law.

Records obtained by The Canadian Press show senior bureaucrats assembled a presentation for cabinet ministers on a potential search in the weeks before the government decided not to proceed with the idea in 2023.

The contents of that presentation — a 13-page digital slide deck that would reveal for the first time what civil servants told politicians — are not being released under Manitoba's freedom of information law, which one expert says is among the most secretive in the country.

Families of the victims and Indigenous leaders had called on the government of the time to search the Prairie Green landfill, a private operation north of Winnipeg, for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran.

‘Safety is our ultimate goal’: Steinbach cancels annual Pride event

Saturday’s annual Pride rally and march in Steinbach was called off after multiple threats prompted concerns about the safety of attendees, an organizer told the Free Press.

Chris Plett, president of Steinbach Pride, declined to disclose the nature of the threats and where they were made, but said they were reported to RCMP when organizers became aware of them Friday.

“One of the (event’s) entertainers contacted us and requested to remove themselves from the program because they heard some credible information about some threats that could be happening at the event,” Plett said. “It wasn’t clear if it was going to be a physical situation or if it was just going to be a disturbance. The unknowns were too great, and safety is our ultimate goal.”

Plett said the threats were reactive to Wednesday’s assassination of U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk during an event at a Utah university.

Premier, chiefs question lack of Manitoba First Nation voice on major project council

Premier Wab Kinew and chiefs across the province have raised concerns that no Manitoba First Nation representative was appointed to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Indigenous advisory council for major projects.

“I think it is a missed opportunity,” Kinew said after the list of advisers was announced Thursday.

“The First Nations have to be given that opportunity to engage,” the premier said.

On Thursday, Carney unveiled the first five major projects of national importance that his government plans to fast-track through the approvals process, as well as the Indigenous council he appointed to offer advice.

The reality of the Canadian criminal justice system

If you are anything like our family and have never been involved with the criminal justice system, I think you will be as shocked as we have been to learn some of this.

It is a rude and cruel exposure to a reality that no one wants to learn during your darkest time of grief.

Jordyn Reimer, a 24-year-old vibrant and innocent victim, was acting as a designated driver on the night of May 1, 2022, when she was killed by Tyler Scott Goodman.

On Nov. 22, 2023, Judge Kael McKenzie handed down a six-year sentence to Goodman for the impaired driving causing death charge and an additional one-year consecutive sentence for failing to stop at the scene. At the time, McKenzie said that no sentence the court can impose would be enough to match the value of a life, that the taking of a life by crime is immeasurable.

Stop the online world, I want to get off

One day, I won’t need to keep up.

I look forward to that. When I won’t need to know what is happening with tariffs and governments, when I won’t have to fill my morning cup with a daily dose of man’s inhumanity to man, when I don’t have to dig through dross.

I’m just back at work after a few weeks out in a non-media world, realizing after several days I felt like I was coming up from underwater — and that, crucially, I was actually thinking about things beyond the regular churn of news. That I was having thoughts not directly connected to work purposes, that delightful meanderings of mind were still possibly in my weary head.

Thoughts about the domed shape of a sea urchin’s pale-green shell once all of its spines have fallen away; about the feel of small smooth beach rocks as you hold them in place against your index finger and rub them with you thumb. About the distance and weight of the horizon on a grey day, and the slap and lop of small waves on a beach protected by offshore rocks.

Day of free services, entertainment offers heartwarming helping hand to city’s homeless

After three years of homelessness and endless hours walking Winnipeg’s streets, Vineet got a rare chance to put his feet up Friday.

The 49-year-old immigrant from India was one of hundreds of people without homes who received free, hands-on care from volunteers at the Gizhe Waa Ti‑Sii‑Win Service Delivery Expo.

A nurse was checking, cleaning and treating blisters, calluses and toenail issues — small irritants that can quickly become big problems if they get infected, a worry for people exposed to the elements who don’t have regular access to medical care.

“This is something good for me… we walk all day,” said Vineet, who offered only his first name.

Neighbours complain of crime, drugs, trash near supportive housing units

Residents and business owners say they’re concerned supportive housing complexes for the homeless are bringing further crime and drug use to their neighbourhoods.

Main Street Project, which operates a pair of supportive housing buildings in the West End, has initiated an “action plan” after receiving repeated complaints about drug use, reckless behaviour and litter near the buildings.

Two housing units at 777 Sargent Ave. and 583 Furby St., which are run by Main Street Project under the province’s Your Way Home strategy, are guided by plans that aim to “promote safety for residents, staff and neighbours.”

Executive director Jamil Mahmood said he received complaints from Coun. Cindy Gilroy and several residents and businesses that prompted the acceleration of the strategy.

Judge dismisses convicted mail bomber’s second bid for release in past month

Convicted mail bomber Guido Amsel has lost his second bid for release in the past month after his motion, claiming he was being unlawfully detained, was dismissed by a judge Thursday.

Amsel, 59, was convicted after trial in 2018 of four counts of attempted murder and sentenced to life in prison for mailing a series of explosives in 2015. One of the explosive packages was mailed to his ex-wife and another to her lawyer Maria Mitousis, who lost a hand and was severely injured when a booby-trapped tape recorder exploded.

Amsel, who represented himself in court, filed the motion arguing he was being detained in custody illegally.

“This is all fraud,” Amsel told Court of King’s Bench Justice Jeffrey Harris, claiming evidence was withheld at his trial and DNA evidence tying him to the bombs was “planted.”

Widespread availability of graphic Charlie Kirk shooting video shows content moderation challenges

Immediately after Charlie Kirk was shot during a college event in Utah, graphic video of what happened was available almost instantly online, from several angles, in slow-motion and real-time speed. Millions of people watched — sometimes whether they wanted to or not — as the videos autoplayed on social media platforms.

Video was easy to find on X, on Facebook, on TikTok, on Instagram, on YouTube — even on President Donald Trump's Truth Social. The platforms, generally, said they were removing at least some of the videos if they violated their policies, for instance if the person was glorifying the killing in any way. In other cases, warning screens were applied to caution people they were about to see graphic content.

Two days after Kirk's death, videos were still easily found on social media, despite calls to remove them.

“It was not immediately obvious whether Instagram for example was just failing to remove some of the graphic videos of Charlie Kirk being shot or whether they had made a conscious choice to leave them up. And the reason that it that was so hard to tell is that, obviously, those videos were circulating really widely,” said Laura Edelson, an assistant professor of computer science at Northeastern University.

Grey Cup week could feature game-changing economic score for Churchill, political triumph for Kinew

It is an incredible economic and political gift that could keep giving to Manitoba’s NDP government for years, if not decades, to come.

This week, Prime Minister Mark Carney released a list of five major projects that his government would fast-track to give Canada more economic independence from the United States. No Manitoba projects made that first short list, but something called “Churchill Plus” was identified as being under consideration for approval in the second round.

Churchill Plus includes improvements to the Port of Churchill in Manitoba’s North, including the provision of an icebreaker ship and possibly an all-weather road, to allow greater access to the port and provide improved transportation links for northern and Indigenous communities.

There is no way to exaggerate the economic and political dividends that could flow from Churchill Plus.

Steinbach, nearby communities flooded in massive overnight deluge

Some residents of Steinbach were mopping up and assessing damage Friday after the southeastern Manitoba city was swamped by two months’ worth of rain in about four hours.

An animal rescue charity was hit by catastrophe again when basements and streets flooded almost a year to the day a deluge inundated buildings.

“Last year, they told us it was a one-in-1oo-year event, and here we are 11 months later with the same event,” said Graham Pollock, vice-president of Steinbach and Area Animal Rescue.

He said the organization moved almost two dozen cats and kittens to foster homes after nearly 2.1 metres (seven feet) of floodwater filled the shelter’s basement overnight Thursday.

Kinew stands by cabinet minister dogged by controversy

Premier Wab Kinew says he won’t remove a cabinet minister over a social-media post she shared that slammed American right-wing activist Charlie Kirk following his assassination on a university campus Wednesday.

Nahanni Fontaine, who recently had to apologize over her criticism that an ASL interpreter had shared a stage with her and blocked her view of the audience, will remain families minister, the premier said Friday.

“It would be too easy to show her the door,” Kinew said, adding he doesn’t believe in cancel culture. “People need to be brought along and shown… we need to be showing empathy and compassion to people even when we don’t agree with them.”

Kinew said he spoke to Fontaine earlier in the day and asked her to apologize after she shared another person’s post on Instagram one day earlier that said: “Charlie Kirk was a racist, xenophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, sexist, white nationalist mouthpiece who made millions of dollars inciting hatred in this country.”

Mayor to launch weekly bulletin on bail offenders

Mayor Scott Gillingham has announced he will launch a weekly “repeat offender bulletin” to pressure the federal government to reform laws that govern the bail system.

“This is about the safety of Winnipeg. It’s about Winnipeggers who are tired and fed up with all the crime going on committed by repeat offenders,” he said.

The bulletin will “highlight local examples of habitual offenders and their impact on safety in Winnipeg” without naming them, the mayor said.

“We can talk about calls for bail reform… but by giving real examples of real individuals, it shows where the system, in my mind, is broken and needs to be changed.”

Road through popular dog park proving divisive

Users of a large and popular city dog park fear renovations that will cut a road through the expansive property will transform the serene space into a busy traffic route.

By contrast, the city expects the updated park would serve more people and make better use of its entire property.

Frequent visitors to the 48-hectare off-leash dog area in Kilcona Park, adjacent to Highway 59 in the northeast quadrant of the city, say it’s a well-loved spot that the road would disrupt.

“Putting a big road through that… park, it just seems so intrusive. It’s beautiful just the way it is, there’s prairie wildflowers, there’s wildlife,” said Tom Moody.

Mom of inmate who died from overdose files lawsuit

The mother of a Stony Mountain inmate who overdosed has filed a lawsuit that alleges his death was caused by the deterioration of his mental health after he was placed in isolation following a deadly riot weeks earlier.

Ricardo Pereira, 23, was serving an eight-year sentence for break-and-enter and aggravated assault, among other offences, when he overdosed on methadone in the federal prison north of Winnipeg on Sept. 5, 2023.

Dawna La Rose filed a lawsuit this month on behalf of her son’s estate in which she names the Correctional Services of Canada and the federal attorney general as defendants. Neither defendant has responded in court.

“In the time leading up to Ricardo’s death and ongoing to the present, (Stony Mountain) had been in the throes of a long period of violence, contraband and several inmate deaths,” the lawsuit says.

Bewildered and ‘in horror,’ Toronto man fights fake news that he shot U.S. influencer Charlie Kirk

TORONTO - Michael Mallinson had never met Charlie Kirk, nor had he ever heard the name of the American right-wing commentator who was shot dead in broad daylight at a Utah college event on Wednesday.

But the retired Torontonian has done some research about him after his death.

"I gather that he appeals to young conservatives. I'm an old socialist. I guess that's the best way I could put it," Mallinson said in a phone interview.

They would never have come across each other, but a piece of viral online misinformation has tied Mallinson to Kirk's story. Now the former banker, 77, is fighting to make the truth understood: he is decidedly not the person who put a bullet in the controversial commentator's neck.