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Marc Miller, federal Indigenous services minister, from left, Herb Redsky Jr. and Shoal Lake 40 Chief Vernon Redsky, stand in front of the Harvey Redsky Memorial School and toast safe tap water. Melissa Martin / Winnipeg Free Press
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Shoal Lake 40 toasts clean water

Melissa Martin 6 minute read Preview
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Shoal Lake 40 toasts clean water

Melissa Martin 6 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 15, 2021

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.

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Wednesday, Sep. 15, 2021
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES NDP Hydro Critic Adrien Sala: “It is taking far longer than anyone expected it to.

‘Ignominious anniversary’ of Hydro’s stalled broadband deal

Martin Cash 1 minute read Preview

‘Ignominious anniversary’ of Hydro’s stalled broadband deal

Martin Cash 1 minute read Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021

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.

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Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS About 50 people gathered outside a TD Bank at Notre Dame Avenue and Sherbrook Street Sunday.
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Protesters gather at corner to oppose funding of pipeline

Cody Sellar 4 minute read Preview
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Protesters gather at corner to oppose funding of pipeline

Cody Sellar 4 minute read Monday, Aug. 23, 2021

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.

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Monday, Aug. 23, 2021