Temporary foreign worker at crossroads without job, alleges immigration consultant misconduct

A temporary foreign worker says he was ensnared in an illegal system fraught with under-the-table payments, fake credentials and a firing.

“I was participating in a illegal process,” Liang Fang said. “But actually, I (didn’t) know it’s illegal before.”

Fang, 43, travelled to Winnipeg from Beijing in March. He came with a job offer to work at a Winnipeg restaurant as a marketing specialist.

However, by his account, he became a waiter. It was the latest change in a lengthy immigration process.

Law will curb e-scooter enthusiasts

For people concerned about safety on Manitoba’s sidewalks and roadways, the province’s announcement that new rules will be introduced next year regarding the use of e-scooters and other personal electric vehicles (PEVs) was no doubt met with an enthusiastic “It’s about time.”

Chief says minister offered money to remove highway checkstop

The chief of the Bloodvein River First Nation says a Manitoba cabinet minister offered up to $250,000 for economic development as he was trying to persuade her to remove a highway checkstop that has outraged hunters.

Education alone cannot combat residential school denialism

Premier Wab Kinew has triggered a lot of attention after stating that residential school denialism should not be criminalized.

His comments were made in response to a question about Winnipeg NDP MP Leah Gazan’s private member’s bill, which aims to make condoning, denying or minimizing the residential school system a crime under the Criminal Code.

First Nations leaders, residential school survivors, and organizations such as the Manitoba Teachers’ Society have endorsed the bill, but Kinew disagrees with it.

“I have a lot of respect for MP Gazan, but I don’t think we can criminalize this. I think we have to just do the continued work of educating people and trying to combat misinformation,” Kinew said.

Hoekstra says U.S. watching Canada for signs of interference in midterm elections

OTTAWA - U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra says American officials are "closely watching" Canadian politicians for signs of election interference ahead of pivotal midterm elections next month.

During an interview on "The Really Big Show" podcast that was posted last week, Hoekstra said political ads run by the province of Ontario last year could be interpreted as political interference.

U.S. President Donald Trump ended trade talks with Canada in October 2025 after Ontario aired an ad during the World Series using clips of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs and supporting free trade.

Hoekstra also cited recent comments by Industry Minister Mélanie Joly and former prime minister Justin Trudeau and suggested they also could amount to interference.

Halifax’s beloved 104-year-old tortoise is recovering after a successful surgery

Believed to be the oldest living gopher tortoise, Gus underwent a procedure to remove a bladder stone on Tuesday. The Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, where Gus lives, says he is now resting comfortably in private

Low-cost grocery store initiative in Elmwood neighbourhood seeks to fill accessibility, security gap

A new grocery store in Winnipeg’s Elmwood neighbourhood aims to improve the lives of community members by offering food at low prices.

The Chalmers Neighbourhood Renewal Corp. recently opened the CHARM Hub. Located at 301 Ottawa Ave., the store offers canned goods, dry goods, dairy, frozen foods and a limited amount of fresh produce.

Food security has long been a priority at the renewal corporation, said executive director Leilani Esteban-Villarba. She described Elmwood as “a food desert” and noted one of the grocery stores nearest to the community her organization serves is more than a kilometre away.

“(The distance makes it) harder to access, and especially hard to access for people who have mobility challenges or who are older,” she said. “It’s hard to take a bus or take a cab or find transportation … and if you have children in strollers, it’s even harder.”

Japanese journalist arrested in Russia’s Sakhalin region on spying charges

MOSCOW (AP) — A Japanese journalist suspected of spying has been arrested on Russia's Sakhalin Island, the top Russian domestic security agency said Tuesday.

The arrest comes amid a spike in tensions between Russia and Japan following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s August trip to the Kuril Islands, the Moscow-controlled Pacific archipelago that is claimed by both countries.

The Federal Security Service, or FSB, said in a statement that the Japanese man, who worked for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, was suspected of gathering information related to Russia’s defense capability on behalf of a Japanese intelligence agency.

The FSB, the main successor agency to the Soviet KGB, said the Japanese man, whom it didn’t name, was arrested as he was preparing to leave Russia. The agency said the suspect was flown to Moscow where he was put behind bars.

Indigenous groups invest $65.3 million in Coastal GasLink pipeline in B.C.

CALGARY - A group representing five First Nations says it has invested $65.3 million for an interest in the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which brings natural gas from northeastern B.C. to the LNG Canada plant in Kitimat — and is set for a big expansion.

FN CGL Pipeline Ltd. Partnership said in a news release Tuesday that members are putting up their own funds.

"Our Nations are making this investment with their own capital. No government loan guarantees, no borrowed money,” said Chief Harley Chingee of McLeod Lake Indian Band.

"It was a deliberate choice, the best way to secure maximum benefits from what we believe to be a sound commercial investment. The returns will now belong entirely to the communities, as will decisions as to how they are used."

More damaging AI hacking incidents to come unless changes are made, scientists warn

OTTAWA - Dozens of Canadian academics are among an international group of scientists calling for better containment measures for AI models.

"Multiple organizations have disclosed high-profile security failures: their AI models bypassed insufficiently sandboxed environments to compromise the systems of external organizations," they say in an open letter.

The letter, released Tuesday, says that unless immediate changes are made to how AI is developed and deployed, "such incidents will continue to occur, and future incidents will be far more damaging to our exposed critical infrastructure."

They say there is a need for more research on AI safety as well as emphasis on containment technologies and procedures. The scientists also want to see an international body that standardizes best practices.

Indigenous offenders need a new path to justice

Indigenous peoples – and Indigenous men in particular – are incarcerated at a rate higher than any other group in Canada.

As Canada’s own Department of Justice reports from data last collected in 2024: “Indigenous adults make up roughly 4 per cent to 5 per cent of Canada’s general population, yet account for about 32 per cent to 33 per cent of federal custodial populations and a higher share in provincial and territorial facilities.”

According to Statistics Canada during the 2023-2024 year 2.6 per cent of all Indigenous adults in Canada were incarcerated (25,640 people) with that rate doubling for the total amount of Indigenous men (7.3 per cent).

And things are getting worse.

Landlords will face fines for breaching confidentiality

The province is amending legislation to allow landlords to be penalized if they breach the confidentiality of tenants who break their lease by obtaining a domestic violence certificate.

“Hopefully, now there’s going to be measures in place so that if this happens again, and God forbid it happens again to anyone else, that there would be penalties imposed on landlords who do that,” said one victim whose concerns were published on the front page of the Free Press last month.

Under current legislation, landlords must ensure that any information received from those tenants regarding the termination of the tenancy is kept confidential, but there are no penalties for landlords who violate that section of the act. After hearing from victims put at risk when landlords broke the law by violating their confidentiality, the government announced Monday that it is amending the Residential Tenancies Act to allow for penalties.

The young woman who spoke to the Free Press showed that her landlord copied her alleged abuser in email correspondence that included her personal email address and the domestic violence certificate she obtained in 2025 to end a tenancy agreement early and leave an abusive relationship.

Special House committee votes to push forward major projects bill

OTTAWA - A special House of Commons committee created to study the Liberals' new economic bill agreed Friday to limit the period it can receive submissions and hear from witnesses.

Members of Parliament passed a motion to begin clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-39 in mid-November. The House is set to sit until mid-December.

The committee agreed to invite Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon, Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu and Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc to appear before the committee.

It also agreed to issue a press release asking interested stakeholders to submit briefs to the committee by Oct. 26.

Longtime voice of the Blue and Gold marks major milestone

Bob McGregor made his debut as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ public-address announcer on June 7, 1997, during a pre-season game at Winnipeg Stadium between the hometown Blue Bombers and their western rivals, the Calgary Stampeders.

McGregor will be behind the microphone again this Saturday, detailing the action on the field in addition to leading a boisterous Princess Auto Stadium crowd through what has become his signature call, “And that is another Winnipeg Blue Bombers first down!”

The Bombers’ final home date of the 2026 regular season will mark a major milestone for McGregor, and the former newscaster feels it’s only fitting the same two teams as 10,717 days ago — the Bombers and Stampeders — will be the ones butting helmets.

“I knew at the start of the season I was closing in on 300 games as the PA guy, only it wasn’t until I went through the schedule that I realized my 300th would be Winnipeg-Calgary, which struck me as kind of cool,” McGregor says, seated in a St. James breakfast nook, dressed in dark trousers and a blue-and-gold Blue Bombers golf shirt.

Top court sets sentencing framework for cases involving Indigenous offenders, victims

OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada says in cases where an Indigenous offender commits an offence against an intimate partner who is an Indigenous woman, a judge must apply sentencing principles related to both Indigenous offenders and victims of crime in a harmonious way.

In a 5-4 judgment Friday, the top court provided guidance and set out a new framework for determining an appropriate sentence in such cases.

The court said Indigenous people are disproportionately and excessively imprisoned, while Indigenous women and girls suffer from unacceptably high levels of violence and abuse.

"Both of these pressing issues have been shaped by the experiences of colonization, and addressing them together is central to the ongoing process of reconciliation," Justice Michelle O'Bonsawin wrote on behalf of the majority.

Diesel-fuelled price hikes could stoke food inflation this fall, experts warn

Food experts and economists expect the global run-up in diesel prices will have consumers bracing for a tough winter at the grocery store.

The ongoing war in Iran has driven a global energy shock that has spurred higher prices on regular gasoline as well as diesel. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is disrupting oil shipments from the Gulf region, as well as other critical inputs such as fertilizer.

The diesel that fuels trucks and ships is a key input for Canada's food supply chain, where high transportation costs feed directly into the price consumers see on store shelves.

Statistics Canada's dashboard tracking cost hikes across the food supply chain shows that diesel prices were up 75 per cent year-over-year in August.

Orphaned polar bear cub has new home at Winnipeg zoo, but life in captivity speaks to complicated challenges facing species

It’s a grey September afternoon and a small group is gathered for a special behind-the-scenes visit with Assiniboine Park Zoo’s newest resident.

“Heeeeere, bubba,” animal-care specialist Caitlin Gordon-Hall hollers from between a double layer of chain-link fencing.

After a beat, a small white face appears at the entrance of the private enclosure. The polar bear cub sniffs the air before trundling toward the fence, where his keepers have been working to encourage calm behaviour around humans ahead of his public debut on Thursday.

Gordon-Hall offers sing-song affirmations while the cub, who is nearly 200 pounds and 10 or 11 months old, observes the fawning strangers with guarded curiosity.

Manitoba tourism reached new heights in 2025

Despite a devastating wildfire season, tourism in Manitoba hit record highs in 2025.

Alberta separatists see an ally in Quebec premier-designate St-Pierre Plamondon

EDMONTON - Leading figures in the push for Alberta separation are celebrating the election of Quebec premier-designate Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

Jeff Rath said Tuesday that St-Pierre Plamondon's election victory could change the political dynamic of Canada, especially since the premier-designate has already shown willingness to support Alberta's separatist movement.

"For the first time in Canadian history we have a government in Quebec that supports Alberta independence," Rath said in an interview.

"That's huge."

Justice minister to announce next steps for MAID in Canada

Justice Minister Sean Fraser says the government is nearly ready to reveal its long-awaited decision on the next steps for medical assistance in dying in Canada, which is expected to address whether the procedure will be available to people who solely suffer from mental illness.

A press release from the Justice Department said the announcement will be made with Health Minister Marjorie Michel in Ottawa on Wednesday at noon.

It will be the first time the federal government communicates the direction it plans to take on MAID in the wake of a parliamentary committee recommending in June that it should "indefinitely pause" an expansion of the end of life procedure to people with mental disorders.

Fraser said he will be putting the "final touches on the path forward" over the next 24 hours, and that his office solicited a variety of views in the wake of the report's release.

PQ leader says referendum isn’t immediate priority after his party’s election victory

QUÉBEC - Quebec's premier-designate says a referendum on sovereignty is not among his immediate priorities as he focuses instead on homelessness, government spending and attempting to sever the province's ties to the monarchy as his first acts in office.

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon outlined his plans on Tuesday, one day after Quebecers chose to hand his party a minority government in the provincial legislature.

He has promised to call an independence referendum in his first term in government, but not until after U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office in 2029.

"We’ve got time and we’ve got plenty of urgencies and problems to solve," he said. "I think the upcoming months will be more about topics I mentioned, things that are urgent."