Manitoba-made technology earns faith of investors across Canada

Blue light flashed as a robotic arm welded the metal in front of it.

Unlike other robots of its kind, this one uses artificial intelligence. It’s supposed to see and adjust its movements if a part it’s working on doesn’t match the standard piece.

It’s Manitoba-made technology that investors across Canada are betting on. TetraGen Robotics, the technology’s creator, announced it had raised $1.8 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round.

It announced the funding Monday afternoon. Jim Richardson, from the family behind Richardson International, is among the investors listed online.

The right plan for reliable energy

Manitoba Hydro’s long-term energy plan is before the Public Utilities Board for public hearings. Debate is healthy, but not when critics ignore the facts.

City emergency crews to administer drug that stops opioid withdrawal symptoms

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service crews will soon give out a medication that stops withdrawal symptoms after someone is treated for an opioid overdose.

Emergency workers will be administering a drug called buprenorphine, after Health Canada granted WFPS permission to use the controlled substance.

“Buprenorphine is a medication that offers people who are in active addiction — so those people who have received naloxone as a result of an overdose and those that are experiencing significant and, at times, dangerous withdrawal symptoms — just a bit of a reprieve … (It) reduces cravings and prevents those immediate withdrawal symptoms, which allows more time to connect those patients to further care,” said Michelle Long, WFPS assistant chief of paramedic operations.

The treatment option is in response to a persistently high number of WFPS opioid calls.

Take a hike... or a bike ride on these Winnipeg trail options

We’re halfway through the 10-week summer holiday and if your family is anything like mine, it’s very likely you’ll be in full-blown survival mode at this point.

You’ve already visited all the popular ice-cream spots in the city (and if you haven’t then you’ll find a list of our faves here) , you’ve ticked every box in our Road Trip Bingo Card and answered every single question in the our How Well Do You Know Your Province Quiz (Part 1 and Part 2) … and there are still 29 days to go before school starts on Sept. 8.

If you’re running low on ideas, don’t worry — we’ve got you covered, with not one, not two, but three cycling/walking routes to help you squeeze a bit more fun from what’s left of the holidays. Grab your helmets, lace up your sneakers, pack water bottles and get outside to explore different neighbourhoods in the city.

NOTE: Check the Winnipeg Trails website before you leaving to make sure paths are open and in working order, especially if we’ve had a bout of nasty weather.

First Nations chiefs in B.C. call on Carney, Smith, to halt pipeline advancement

A group that represents numerous First Nations across British Columbia is calling on Ottawa and Alberta's government to halt efforts to advance the West Coast pipeline, saying expanding the oil industry will accelerate climate change and disasters.

"The destructive and disastrous consequences of expanding fossil fuel production extend far beyond any single territory," the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs said in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Danielle Smith.

"From catastrophic wildfires to destructive floods and rising seas, the impacts of climate change are already being felt across this country. Every new fossil fuel project deepens that crisis."

The letter is signed by the group's heads, including Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, and it said B.C. Premier David Eby also has a copy of it.

Does Wealthsimple want to add sports, politics to its new prediction markets product?

TORONTO - Wealthsimple’s newest product has given armchair economists and Canadians convinced they can predict Mother Nature a chance to put their skills to the test, but some say the business is likely after an even bigger audience.

The Toronto-based financial services company started offering prediction markets last month. The product lets customers make wagers of $1 or less on the outcome of economic, financial or climate matters like what will happen at the Bank of Canada's next interest rate announcement or how many major Atlantic hurricanes there will be this year.

But the first few weeks have some thinking Wealthsimple might have even bigger ambitions.

When Charles Martineau, an associate professor of finance at the University of Toronto, and Marius Zoican, the Canada Research Chair in financial technology, each logged onto Wealthsimple's Predict app, they found it displaying stakes in who will become the next James Bond, what the score will be at future football games and who will win the 2028 U.S. presidential election.

Vibrant Norwood apartment garden a labour of love to honour green thumb’s late partner

St. Vital resident Rob Duncan can’t pinpoint when he first noticed an award-winning garden blanketing the grounds of a two-storey St. Mary’s Road apartment block, near Coniston Street.

Perhaps he was on his way home from work and caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye. Or maybe he was running errands in the Norwood Flats area and paused to admire the array of annuals, perennials and potted plants that extends from the block’s doorway to the front curb.

What Duncan does know for certain is that after spying the urban oasis, twice fêted in Take Pride Winnipeg’s annual Winnipeg in Bloom competition, he couldn’t unsee it.

“First of all, the pink building really stands out,” Duncan says, referring to the brightly painted California Apartments complex at 268 St. Mary’s Rd. “But then you have the pergola, the rock garden, the flowers and trees… a sea of colour on a very busy street.”

Minago mining project under review with First Nation seeking funding options

A MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR mining project in northern Manitoba is under review as its First Nation owner undergoes mass restructuring.

“All options are on the table” for the Minago Critical Minerals Project, said Blake Russell, senior adviser to Norway House Cree Nation’s chief.

The First Nation, north of Lake Winnipeg, had a leadership change following a May election. Chief Season Roulette pledged that all the nation’s programs would be reviewed to ensure they’re in-budget and providing value.

Norway House bought the Minago project for $10 million in 2024. The mining venture spans a swath of land along Highway 6, south of Ponton and north of Grand Rapids.

Farm to table is better, friendlier, tastier

Every year without fail, when the ground starts to thaw and temperatures begin to rise, Manitobans start calling Scott Schriemer.

“I’ll have people already phone me in the beginning of May asking if the local strawberries are ready yet,” says the proprietor of Vic’s Market (1049 Pembina Hwy.).

“Generally speaking, most people know strawberries don’t start until the end of June, but they get to a point where they have a real craving for something that’s been produced here, that’s fresh and that’s new.”

There are plenty of positives for those with access to locally grown, seasonal produce, especially when it comes to how something tastes.

Trucking operation linked to fatality in Brandon shut down by Alberta government

The Alberta government has shut down Conquer Transport Inc., the trucking company linked to a crash near Brandon in which a 49-year-old woman, who had the right of way, was killed.

Devin Dreeshen, Alberta’s transport minister, said the province launched an investigation into Conquer Transport after one of its semi-trucks ran a stop sign on May 27, 2026 at Highway 110 at Richmond Avenue East.

The semi hit an SUV driven by Xiaoyun Zhang, a Chinese immigrant who worked at the nearby pork processing plant. She died at the scene and the truck driver, 35-year-old Brijpal Panwar, has been charged with dangerous driving causing death.

“Our investigative team went out and … saw numerous non-compliance issues, whether it was hours of service with their drivers not being recorded properly, vehicle maintenance and inspections being insufficient, their safety program also being insufficient.”

Dairy farmers warn against concessions as U.S. tariff deadline looms

OTTAWA - Canadian dairy farmers are warning against any concessions involving their sector as trade talks intensify with the United States ahead of President Donald Trump's tariff deadline.

A new round of 50 per cent American tariffs on a range of Canadian goods is set to take effect on Aug. 19. Unlike most of Trump’s other tariffs, these would have no exemptions for goods that comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade.

The supply management system that protects Canadian dairy has been cited by the U.S. as a key irritant in trade negotiations and Trump has complained repeatedly about the level of U.S. dairy farmers' access to Canada's market.

Dairy Farmers of Canada says it's urging the federal government not to offer any more concessions on dairy or supply management in talks with the United States.

Old military transport aircraft to get new lease on life as waterbombers

OTTAWA - The federal government said Friday it is selling 10 of its used CC-130H Hercules aircraft to B.C.-based aerospace company Coulson Aviation, which will convert them into firefighting aircraft.

They're part of a fleet of 12 retired by the Royal Canadian Air Force back in January. The remaining two Hercs will be put on public display at bases and museums.

Secretary of State for Defence Procurement Stephen Fuhr announced the conditional sale of the recently retired aircraft in Abbotsford, B.C., where an international air show is being held.

Fuhr called the sale a "gold standard" divestment project that will give the military assets a new lease on life.

After centuries in India, the last Cochin Jews try to keep their history alive

KOCHI, India (AP) — As the sun set over Kochi’s historic Jew Town neighborhood, Keith Hallegua donned a gray kippah and began a solitary walk to the synagogue at the end of his cobbled street.

It was Shavuot, the Jewish holiday commemorating God giving the Torah to Moses. Hallegua reached the 458-year-old Paradesi Synagogue where he knew he would pray alone — without a minyan, the quorum of 10 males required for a communal service there.

Hallegua is the synagogue's last local congregant — the only Jew left in Jew Town.

Across the city at the centuries-old Kadavumbagam Synagogue, Elias “Babu” Josephai remembered the “chukkunda" — fried dough balls his grandmother used to make for Shavuot.

California tech company sees Manitoba as strategic gateway to dairy market

GROSSE ISLE — An AI-first California-based company that creates software for the dairy industry is establishing its Canadian headquarters in Winnipeg.

Spade Technologies announced Thursday it will build a team in Manitoba, positioning the province as the centre of its Canadian operations and a strategic gateway to the broader North American dairy market.

The company’s Canadian expansion is backed by SVG Ventures Thrive, a global agrifood innovation and investment platform. The Silicon Valley-based organization is investing $1.4 million into Spade via its Pioneer Fund, which invests in high-growth, early-stage agrifood technology companies.

The fund is backed by Farm Credit Canada as its anchor investor, alongside strategic limited partners including the Manitoba First Fund.

PM says Ottawa is ‘loyal’ to supply management system protecting dairy sector

CHICOUTIMI - Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government is "loyal" to the supply management system protecting Canada's dairy sector and is pointing to the Liberals' choice of candidate in an upcoming byelection as proof of that commitment.

Supply management has been cited by the U.S. as a key irritant in trade negotiations and President Donald Trump has complained repeatedly about the level of U.S. dairy farmers' access to Canada's market.

Taking questions from reporters Thursday after touring an aluminum facility in Saguenay, Que., Carney said the Liberals' choice of former dairy producer Daniel Gobeil to run in the Chicoutimi-Le Fjord byelection shows the government is "loyal" to supply management.

"I've been clear since the start of my campaign for the Liberal leadership … because I believe in supply management. It's important to stabilize prices for Canadian consumers and protect a way of life for small farms," Carney said in French.

Water-bus service relaunches with bigger boat

After staying docked last summer, the water-bus service stationed at The Forks is once again ferrying people up and down the Red and Assiniboine rivers.

Razed tree canopy leaves Selkirk Avenue stretch noisier, dirtier: resident

Selkirk Avenue resident Gail Allard sits on her front steps, looking at a row of tree stumps.

Until last fall, Allard would have opened her front door to a lush canopy of mature trees. Now, she has an unobstructed view of a freight terminal — the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. intermodal yard.

Although the residential street is quiet on this August afternoon, the steady beeping of machinery moving shipping containers carries throughout the neighbourhood.

It’s the first summer since Manitoba Hydro cut down 262 mature trees — most of them Siberian elms — along Selkirk Avenue between Keewatin and Railway streets.

Manitoba Hydro’s $3 billion fossil fuel bet

Manitoba Hydro plans to spend $3 billion to build three new fossil fuel power generation turbines in 2030. This big bet on fossil fuel generation would be a big mistake for both the planet and Manitoban’s pocketbooks.

City seeking proposals to lease, manage, program St. Boniface heritage buildings

The future of three key St. Boniface heritage buildings should soon become clearer, following years of debate over what to do with them.

The city is seeking proposals to lease, program and manage the Carré Civique de Saint-Boniface (St. Boniface Civic Square), which includes the former St. Boniface city hall (219 Provencher Blvd.), former St. Boniface fire hall (212 Dumoulin St.) and the former St. Boniface health unit building (233 Provencher Blvd.)

The city would continue to own the buildings.

“Promotion of francophone art, language, culture and history are all things that I’d like to see continue and thrive and prosper (through this lease),” said St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard.

Homegrown grub: Resto turns to the Leaf for freshest ingredients

The term “eat local” has taken on a whole new meaning at Gather Craft Kitchen and Bar, where the journey from plot to plate is measured in footsteps rather than miles.

Head chef Mike Licharson has expanded the restaurant’s focus on local sourcing by incorporating fruit and vegetables grown in The Leaf’s biomes and outdoor kitchen garden into his menu.

Bananas from the tropical biomes star in his banana-bread French toast and accompanying banana compote. Leeks, braised slowly and paired with Manitoba-grown beluga lentils, and Swiss chard — which takes the place of grape leaves in Licharson’s play on classic meze dolmades, a nod to the chef’s Greek-Ukrainian-Irish heritage — are both grown in the outdoor kitchen garden.

The park’s produce complements the restaurant’s other locally sourced ingredients, Licharson says.