Minister promises $14M more for corrections after union complains about overcrowding

Manitoba’s justice minister has promised more resources after the union for corrections officers said Friday inmate overcrowding and chronic short staffing is putting lives at risk.

“Help’s on the way, our government has focused on hiring up as many new corrections officers as we can and we want to continue to build on that work,” Matt Wiebe told reporters.

Wiebe revealed the province will spend an additional $14 million on corrections in the 2026-27 budget, which is to be unveiled next week.

On Friday, the union released the results of a survey of corrections officers and other jail staff that suggests there’s widespread discontent and concern about inmate overcrowding and short staffing.

Family says teen re-victimized by school’s lax response after reporting sexual assault

With its soft lighting and cosy couches, the classroom hangout at the River East-Transcona School Division high school is supposed to be a safe space for students to decompress.

But that changed one Monday in January.

That day, after the supervising teacher had left the room, a teenage girl says she was sitting on the floor with her back against a love seat when a much larger male student sat down on the cushion directly behind her, boxing her in between his knees.

She said he reached over and forced his hands beneath her shirt, grabbing her breasts for several minutes while she froze and did not speak or move.

Winnipeg and ground squirrels

In a move shocking to many local animal lovers, the City of Winnipeg has opted to go ahead with its plan to kill ground squirrels at nine city parks and fields via methods that animal advocates say will cause prolonged pain and suffering.

Shopping bill is a good pre-emptive strike

On the face of it, it looks like a solution desperately hunting for a problem.

But that’s sometimes the way proactive legislation looks.

As first salvos go, Manitoba’s Bill 49 should probably be viewed not an effort not to deal with an imaginary problem, but one being put in place to ensure that the problem doesn’t arrive.

What the bill does is to add individual pricing to the province’s collection of improper business practices.

Teenagers sue Musk’s xAI claiming image-generator made sexually explicit images of them as minors

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Three teenagers in Tennessee sued Elon Musk's xAI this week, claiming the company's image-generation tools were used to morph real photos of them into explicitly sexual images.

The high school students, who are seeking to proceed under pseudonyms, filed the lawsuit in California, where xAI — Musk's artificial intelligence company — has its headquarters. They are seeking class-action status in order to represent what the lawsuit says are thousands of victims like themselves who either are minors or were minors when sexually explicit images of them were created.

According to the lawsuit, Jane Doe 1 was alerted anonymously in December that someone was distributing sexually explicit images of her on a social media website.

“At least five of these files, one video and four images, depicted her actual face and body in settings with which she was familiar, but morphed into sexually explicit poses," the lawsuit states. It claims the person distributing the images knew Doe and used xAI's image generation tools to turn real photos of her into sexually abusive ones. One of the images was taken from a homecoming photo. Another was taken from a high school yearbook.

PUB locks in Hydro rate increases, warns more on way

Manitoba Hydro customers can expect further upward pressure in rates as the Public Utilities Board has finalized a four per cent general rate increase — effective Jan. 1, 2026 — and approved general revenue increases of 3.5 per cent Jan. 1, 2027, and three per cent Jan. 1, 2028.

The board noted short-term financial pressure due to severe drought conditions, according to a news release late Thursday.

In 2025, water flows approached the second-lowest levels in 112 years, the release said.

Between filing the application in March 2025 and oral hearings in November, Hydro’s outloook worsened by more than $600 million — from a projected net income of $218 million to a projected loss of $409 million, the board’s release said.

Downtown mulls uncertain impact of Fairmont downtime

As the Fairmont Winnipeg hotel prepares to close its doors this summer for a months-long renovation project, surrounding businesses say they’re waiting to see what the impact will be on Winnipeg’s downtown.

Any time Palomino Club owner Christian Stringer books an act outside of the province, he’ll set them up at the Fairmont — most recently, DJ Pauly D of Jersey Shore fame — and a chunk of his customer base is out-of-towners staying at the nearby hotel looking for a bit of fun.

“(The Fairmont) has always been the five-star (hotel) for us,” Stringer said Thursday.

He said he’s not sure how much the hotel closing from July until spring of 2027 will affect business. He worries it might complicate bringing in performers from outside of Canada — a practice he’s already had to cut back on as the Canadian dollar has made it harder to meet the asking price of U.S. acts.

Construction groups miffed by new fee on public-sector projects

Three large construction associations in Manitoba say the cost of huge public projects will soar thanks to a new fee implemented by the province, and they want the auditor general to investigate it.

The fee is applied to projects covered by Manitoba Jobs Agreements, which launched last year to try to ensure more local workers and contractors benefit from big public-sector projects. Builders must pay 85 cents per hour, per worker.

The Winnipeg Construction Association, Manitoba Heavy Construction Association and the Construction Association of Rural Manitoba attacked the fee in a joint letter Thursday.

“The 85 cents per hour has nothing to do with wages of workers on site,” said Darryl Harrison, director of the Winnipeg association. “Every cent… (could) be spent in other ways that help the Manitoba taxpayer.

Manitoba Opera season features reimagined Scott Joplin work and Puccini classic

Manitoba Opera’s 54th season will feature a once-forgotten masterpiece and a returning classic.

The 2026-27 season opens with the local première of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha: A Musical Reimagining (Nov. 21, 25, 27) and closes with Madama Butterfly (April 17, 21, 23, 2027), both performed at the Centennial Concert Hall.

Treemonisha was published in 1911 by Scott Joplin, the celebrated African-American pianist and composer often referred to as the King of Ragtime. Set during the Reconstruction era in the United States, the three-act opera focuses on the story of its title character, a young freedwoman, and fuses Western classical music with blues, gospel and ragtime.

The work proved too groundbreaking for the Euro-centric opera establishment and was produced for the first time in 1970, more than 50 years after Joplin’s death. The composer was awarded a Pulitzer Prize posthumously for his contributions to American music.

Residents pigeonhole hobbyist’s backyard aviary as health risk, nuisance

Some Winnipeg residents will flock to city hall next week, aiming to oppose a racing-pigeon aviary in their neighbourhood.

However, supporters of the practice say the birds should ruffle few feathers.

The city’s urban planning and design division approved the construction of a 3.9-square-metre (42-square-foot) structure to house racing pigeons in a Strathcona Street backyard.

“The relatively small structure is significantly smaller than a vehicle garage, and would not be out of character on the lot,” writes city planner Dylan Chyz-Lund, in a city report.

Local TV stations ask regulator to force Meta to pay for posting some news content

OTTAWA - Some local and independent TV stations are asking the federal broadcast regulator to start a process to force Meta to pay for allowing some news content on Facebook and Instagram.

They say that despite Meta’s move in 2023 to pull news from its platforms in response to the Online News Act, some content remains available.

The Online News Act requires Meta and Google to compensate media outlets for displaying their content. While Meta pulled news from its platforms in response and has not been required to pay news outlets, Google has been making payments under the act.

In a submission to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the stations cite examples of online posts that included news content, such as text and screenshots of stories and video clips.

Unusual atmospheric river will impact B.C. for days, even after it ends, says expert

VANCOUVER - Emergency officials say residents stranded by an early morning mudslide in Coquitlam, B.C., on Thursday have been safely extracted by helicopter, but a meteorologist warns such slides remain a possibility as an atmospheric river continues to drench the province.

RCMP say they were called to a rural area near the Upper Coquitlam River just after 5:30 a.m. following reports of a mudslide north of the Upper Coquitlam River Park. Coquitlam Search and Rescue said in a social media post that its crews started to rescue residents, who were stranded on the north end of Pipeline Road, just before 10 a.m.

The post said all eight residents, two dogs and one cat living in the area were extracted by a helicopter by 2:45 p.m.

BC Hydro said the slide knocked down a power line, temporarily leaving some 5,000 people without power. The utility expected power to be restored to all affected customers late Thursday or early Friday, but noted crews were having difficulty accessing the damage due to the unstable ground.

Consumers favouring combustion engine cars as interest in EVs wanes: report

TORONTO - A new report shows consumers are increasingly favouring internal combustion engine cars for their next car purchase rather than an electric vehicle.

The latest EY mobility consumer index for 2025 shows only seven per cent of those planning to buy a car in the next 24 months intended to buy an EV, down from 15 per cent in the previous report from 2024.

Meanwhile, 58 per cent said they preferred an internal combustion engine vehicle, up from 44 per cent in 2024.

The report, published on Thursday, found 30 per cent of Canadians hoping to buy a car soon are delaying or reconsidering an EV purchase in light of recent geopolitical issues.

Poilievre pitches Canadian kindness on ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast

OTTAWA - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre laughed off a conspiracy theory about Justin Trudeau in the opening minutes of his 2.5-hour sit-down with podcaster Joe Rogan, where he made a case for Canadians being America's nice-guy neighbours.

While talking about his early interest in politics, Poilievre mentioned that he read a biography of Fidel Castro.

"Justin's dad!" Rogan interjected.

The Conservative leader shook his head and laughed, "No, no, not Justin's dad," adding later that it's "a hell of a (conspiracy theory). I don't think it's a true one though."

Canada drops down to 25th place in world happiness rankings: report

TORONTO - Canada's happiness ranking slipped again last year, continuing a decade-long trend that's seen the country plummet from the 5th happiest in the world in 2014 to 25th in 2026.

The annual World Happiness Report from the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford looked at how social media use might be affecting happiness on a population level, and found in some cases it was having an impact.

"There's probably no simple explanation as to why Canadians' view of happiness has been dropping. What this report suggests is that social media could be one part of this puzzle, but it doesn't seem like it's the full picture," said Felix Cheung, a happiness researcher at the University of Toronto, who reviewed two chapters in the report but did not write it.

Between 2023 and 2025, the timeframe the researchers used for this report, Canadians' life evaluations averaged at 6.741 out of 10. In Finland, the happiest country in the world for nine years running, the average was 7.764.

A sanctuary for the city — and its future

On Saturday mornings during my Grade 12 year, I would head downtown to the Eaton’s department store on Portage Avenue.

I was part of the Eaton’s Junior Executive program, which brought together students from high schools across Winnipeg to host events and represent Eaton’s at community gatherings.

I also had a part-time job in the store’s sporting goods department.

Downtown Winnipeg in those days felt like the centre of my universe. Eaton’s — now the site of Canada Life Centre — was a bustling hub, and on my lunch breaks I would wander outside to explore the neighbourhood.

Health minister accuses Tory leader of ‘derogatory, disgusting’ bigotry uttered in the legislative chamber

Decorum unravelled at the Manitoba legislature this week with accusations of bigotry and “behaviour that’s out of control.”

Province intends to create registry of Manitoba-certified Red Seal tradespeople

The Manitoba government plans to create an online public registry of certified tradespeople.

Squirrel skirmish: animal groups fight province’s pesticide approval

Animal rights groups are protesting a decision by the province to allow the city to use two chemicals to control its ground squirrel populations at some parks.

The city received permission from the province to use Rozol RTU field rodent bait and RoCon concentrate rodenticide for a year in an effort to control squirrels at nine parks.

“It’s disappointing,” said Danae Tonge of Manitoba Animal Save. “The city had a year to come up with something else but they didn’t. Why would the province have approved this?”

The group is set to hold a noon-hour rally outside city hall on Thursday followed by a protest at the Legislature starting at 1:15 p.m.

Councillors brace for impact when provincial education property tax hikes crash into Winnipeggers’ mailboxes

The despondency in the voices of Winnipeg city councillors Jeff Browaty and Evan Duncan was palpable.

The two suburban councillors took the opportunity this week to slam the provincial NDP government for increases in the education portion of property taxes that many Winnipeg property owners will see later this spring when they receive their tax bills.

According to Browaty (North Kildonan) and Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood), even though the tax increases are mostly due to provincial policies and school division decisions, the city will end up bearing the brunt of criticism.

“I’d like to see them take accountability and ownership of it,” said Duncan, pointing south from city hall to the Manitoba legislature.

Alberta government moves to drastically reduce access to medically assisted dying

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's government took steps Wednesday to drastically restrict who's eligible for medical assistance in dying.

Smith’s United Conservative Party government introduced a bill that, if passed, would limit medical assistance in dying, better known as MAID, to those likely to die of natural causes within a year.

Those under 18 would still be prohibited regardless of condition, in line with current federal rules.

But Smith said Ottawa's framework is largely missing the mark.

Most Canadians want to ban or regulate algorithmic pricing, poll shows

OTTAWA - Most Canadians want the government to ban or regulate the use of algorithms to set prices, a new poll suggests — with half of respondents saying the practice is unfair because it can result in people paying different prices for the same product.

The Abacus Data poll, which was conducted online and can't be assigned a margin of error, surveyed 1,931 Canadians on algorithmic pricing.

The poll defined algorithmic pricing as the adjustment of prices in real time based on such factors as who is buying, the time of day and browsing behaviour.

Algorithmic pricing is already established in sectors like travel but has been expanding into other markets, such as retail and rental housing. It could, for example, lead to a retailer charging different prices for diapers online, depending on what it can glean about a shopper's habits.