Investing for ourselves, and those downstream

We have invested large sums of money in infrastructure before.

You don’t often hear Winnipeggers complaining about the results: soft, clean drinking water thanks to the Shoal Lake aqueduct and flood protection thanks to the Red River Floodway.

A new city report outlines the importance of upgrading Winnipeg’s North End sewage treatment plant, which is responsible for treating 70 per cent of the city’s wastewater and all sewage sludge. The report focuses on the upgrades’ potential benefits to the city, including increased capacity to build new homes and businesses, and related economic growth.

It briefly mentions that upgrades to the plant are necessary in order to meet environmental regulations designed to protect waterways from the discharge of harmful materials that compromise the health of the Red River and Lake Winnipeg.

First Nations sue over oil-rich land

A pair of First Nations are suing the provincial and federal governments, claiming land and mineral rights to a swath of land in southwestern Manitoba that generates more than $1.3 billion annually from oil and gas production.

Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation and Dakota Tipi First Nation filed a statement of claim in Court of King’s Bench on Thursday calling for a declaration of title and subsurface rights over Manitoba’s portion of the Williston Basin.

The oil-rich basin stretches from southwestern Manitoba into southern Saskatchewan and over the U.S. border. The Manitoba portion hosts at least 14 identified oil fields and is home to all the current oil production in the province, the lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs are claiming rights over the entirety of the basin in Manitoba, including the “right to economically participate in the extraction, development and production of subsurface minerals.”

Winnipeg-based organization injects federal funds into innovative, women-powered business in Bolivia

With practised grace, Antonia Olpo slides down the bank of the long, shallow pond and plunges fully clothed into the muddy water. On the grass above, other women and their male helpers unfurl the net, stretching it across the pond from edge to edge, and let it sink below the surface.

Prairie harvest a mixed bag as tariff strife casts shadow over healthy crop

CALGARY - Gunter Jochum can easily tell which parts of his farm got rain and which parts the clouds passed over this year.

He and his brother-in-law grow wheat, canola, oats and soybeans on 2,500 hectares west of Winnipeg, much of that on long tracts hugging the Assiniboine River.

"Some showers that came through this summer during the growing season when things were really, really dry didn't even cover the whole field," said Jochum, president of the Wheat Growers Association.

The quality of the crop Jochum has harvested so far this year has been excellent, but yields for his oats and wheat have varied field to field.

Livestock producers mull support amid dry spell

Though rain has fallen, pockets of livestock producers continue to struggle for feed and water — and future government support is being considered.

“With climate change, it’s more than likely that this will not go away,” said Richard Chartrand, reeve of the RM of St. Laurent. “We have to look at being proactive.”

St. Laurent declared a state of agricultural emergency in July. Interlake municipalities including Armstrong, Coldwell and Woodlands enacted similar statuses as drought hit local farmers.

A group of municipal leaders met Manitoba government officials to discuss short- and long-term solutions last month. Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn attended.

Province’s mine assessment ‘shoddy,’ environmental group says

A group that opposed a sand mine ultimately nixed by the NDP government says the environmental assessment of an open pit mine that has been approved near Hollow Water First Nation is “shoddy.”

Locally produced renewable energy is the right call

At the start of Premier Wab Kinew’s government’s mandate, it signalled it would work to get Manitoba to a net-zero electricity grid by 2035. With 99 per cent of the province’s electricity already emissions-free, it is a small, but important gap to bridge.

A risky solution to a complex issue

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been widely criticized outside of her province, and widely praised within it, for her stance on how Canada should respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats against Canada.

First Nation out as partner in Manitoba’s first potash mine

A western Manitoba First Nation that had a one-fifth ownership stake in Manitoba’s first potash mine company near the town of Russell is no longer a stakeholder.

Winnipeg to consider study to phase out natural gas

The city could soon study how to phase out natural gas heat at all Winnipeg buildings and swap in greener alternatives.

A new motion seeks a city staff report to spell out tools and methods to ultimately replace fossil fuel use in existing and planned buildings, suggesting grants, bylaws and new zoning/permitting rules could be included in the plan.

The city’s Climate Action and Resilience Committee will debate the motion on Oct. 28.

“We have ambitious targets about cutting down our building heating use of natural gas but we don’t seem to be doing anything yet, so let’s do something,” said Coun. Brian Mayes, the committee’s chairman.

Nova Scotia group wants a court to declare a First Nation’s lobster fishery illegal

HALIFAX - A commercial lobster fishing group in southwestern Nova Scotia is seeking a court to have a lobster fishery run by a First Nations community declared illegal.

The United Fisheries Conservation Alliance says it also wants the court to define the scope and limits that should apply to a fishery operated by the Sipekne’katik First Nation in St. Mary’s Bay.

The group’s lawyer, Michel Samson, says a notice of action was filed Thursday with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

Samson says the alliance is suing because a separate court case — filed by Sipekne’katik First Nation against the federal and Nova Scotia governments — was paused in order to mediate a resolution.

Fossil fuel fouls clean-grid future

Despite its reputation as one of Canada’s cleanest electric grids, Manitoba Hydro used more natural gas-fuelled electricity in the last 12 months than it has in a decade.

A perfect storm of drought conditions and high electricity import costs resulted in the province firing up its backup natural gas power earlier and significantly more often to keep up with demand.

From 2013 to 2023, the utility has run its natural gas generators for an average 54 gigawatt-hours of power; this year, the province has used 122 GWh, according to data provided by Manitoba Hydro.

The drought conditions took a toll on the province’s hydroelectric reserves this year, prompting the utility to import electricity as well as running its backup thermal generators.

Reserve files suit over logging in western Manitoba

A second Manitoba First Nation is taking the province and lumber giant Louisiana-Pacific Canada Ltd. to court over commercial logging activity in western Manitoba.

Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation filed a lawsuit Wednesday that seeks a moratorium on all logging and forestry development activities in Porcupine Mountain Provincial Forest and Kettle Hills, and an order that the province complete “a process of meaningful consultation” with the First Nation before it can resume.

Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation’s two reserves are located north of Birch River and along the western shore of Swan Lake.

The province extended its licence agreement with Louisiana-Pacific in December, allowing it to build more roads, harvest more timber “and further erode the rights” of its members,” the first nation said in a news release Wednesday.

First Nation seeking review into logging practices

WINNIPEG - A First Nation in Manitoba says it has not been properly included in sustainable forest management practices and is asking for a judicial review into commercial logging in a provincial park.

Minegoziibe Anishinabe, also known as Pine Creek First Nation, is asking Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench to quash the government's decision to extend a timber-cutting licence to Louisiana-Pacific Canada.

"Manitoba did not consult with Pine Creek before authorizing Louisiana-Pacific to continue logging in the Duck Mountain Park forest and surrounding areas," said Jeremy McKay, a policy analyst for the community.

The U.S.-based building company submitted a 20-year forest management plan in 2006 to obtain logging rights for an area in Duck Mountain Provincial Park near the Saskatchewan boundary.

Shoal Lake 40 toasts clean water

SHOAL LAKE 40 FIRST NATION – As he raised his glass, Chief Vernon Redsky looked at the water and a memory came rushing back. It reminded him of when he was a kid, he said, and the water in Shoal Lake was crystal-clear like that, back when he and his friends would splash along the shore, drinking from the lake when they got thirsty.

So he thought about that as he clinked his glass against two others, and took a sip. A toast, to the first officially safe tap drinking water in Shoal Lake 40: on Wednesday, after 24 years, the Treaty Three First Nation’s boil water advisory officially ended.

“It’s surreal to be at this moment,” Redsky said at a ceremony to celebrate the achievement, as well as the opening of the community’s new school.

One day earlier, a government official in Kenora, Ont., had officially approved the latest test results from Shoal Lake 40’s new water treatment plant, which started pumping this summer. That night, Redsky couldn’t sleep; he called a former chief to talk about the long road they had travelled to get to this point.

‘Ignominious anniversary’ of Hydro’s stalled broadband deal

A year after Manitoba Hydro stopped taking on new contracts for broadband network access, and three months after Xplornet won the bid to manage that network, critics are complaining the continuing moratorium has left would-be customers in the lurch.

Adrien Sala, NDP critic for Hydro, is calling on the Progressive Conservative government to end the stop sell order and disclose the revenue losses suffered from the disruption.

“It is taking far longer than anyone expected it to and it is creating further and further delays for a lot of ISPs (Internet service providers), school divisions and regional health authorities that have asked for service upgrades,” Sala said.

A spokesperson for Reg Helwer, minister of central services, confirmed that the Xplornet agreement has yet to be finalized but is expected to be soon.

Protesters gather at corner to oppose funding of pipeline

About 50 people from Winnipeg’s Mennonite community gathered Sunday at a TD Bank at the corner of Notre Dame Avenue and Sherbrook Street to protest the bank’s funding of the Line 3 pipeline replacement.

As rain pelted down on a canopy of umbrellas, one man cut his TD Bank card into pieces while the crowd cheered. After some minutes of song and prayer, the group took non-permanent markers and wrote messages over the windows of the bank.

“Stop fossil fuel funding,” one man wrote on the door. The red ink ran in long streaks from the rain down over the bank’s hours.

Organizer Steve Heinrichs said he drew inspiration from Indigenous communities leading protests in Minnesota.