Social Studies Grade 12

Please review each article prior to use: grade-level applicability and curricular alignment might not be obvious from the headline alone.

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Infill housing is not the enemy of nature

Emma Durand-Wood 5 minute read Preview
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Infill housing is not the enemy of nature

Emma Durand-Wood 5 minute read Thursday, Mar. 20, 2025

What do infill housing, rain gardens, backyard cottages, and the urban forest have in common?

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Thursday, Mar. 20, 2025

Russell Wangersky/Free Press

Just because a Winnipeg neighbourhood already exists, doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for the city’s environment.

Russell Wangersky/Free Press
                                Just because a Winnipeg neighbourhood already exists, doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for the city’s environment.
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Anti-racism activist hopes to make our communities mutually respectful

AV Kitching 7 minute read Preview
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Anti-racism activist hopes to make our communities mutually respectful

AV Kitching 7 minute read Monday, Feb. 24, 2025

Dr. Rehman Abdulrehman is a clinical and consulting psychologist at Clinic Psychology Manitoba. He has a consulting and coaching firm called Lead with Diversity, he is the assistant professor with the department of clinical health psychology at the University of Manitoba and he has just written his first book, Developing Anti-Racist Cultural Competence, which aims to help people develop practical skills, insight and better empathy when working with diverse groups.

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Monday, Feb. 24, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS

Rehman Abdulrehman believes we are seeing obvious examples of racism all over the world these days.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
                                Rehman Abdulrehman believes we are seeing obvious examples of racism all over the world these days.
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Peacemaking and Canada’s international reputation

John Longhurst 5 minute read Preview
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Peacemaking and Canada’s international reputation

John Longhurst 5 minute read Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024

For many years, Canada had a much-lauded and highly respected reputation for peacekeeping — it helped define our national identity.

It started back in 1956. That’s when Lester Pearson, then minister of external affairs, proposed the creation of a United Nations peacekeeping force to resolve a crisis in Egypt when Great Britain, France and Israel attacked that country after it nationalized the Suez Canal.

The introduction of peacekeeping troops, including from Canada, stabilized the situation and allowed the belligerents to work out an agreement to end the fighting. For his efforts, Pearson was awarded the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.

For decades after that crisis, Canada remained at the forefront of international peacekeeping operations. Altogether, the country sent about 125,000 trained peacekeepers on over 50 peacekeeping missions around the globe.

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Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024

JOHN LONGHURST / FREE PRESS

The Peace Train stopped in Winnipeg on Nov. 17.

JOHN LONGHURST / FREE PRESS
                                The Peace Train stopped in Winnipeg on Nov. 17.
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Riel’s vision grows stronger

Niigaan Sinclair 5 minute read Preview
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Riel’s vision grows stronger

Niigaan Sinclair 5 minute read Friday, Nov. 24, 2023

As the first visionary of Manitoba, Riel fought the rest of his life to stop British domination and destruction of Indigenous lives, while stubbornly maintain the independent and unique multicultural spirit that birthed this place.

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Friday, Nov. 24, 2023

Manitoba’s new government introduce its first bill: the Louis Riel Act, which would see Riel be given the honorary title of the province's first premier. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press files)

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
                                A new motion is calling for an image of Métis leader Louis Riel to be placed in Winnipeg city council chambers.
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Esports competitions motivating force for First Nations students, educators say

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview
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Esports competitions motivating force for First Nations students, educators say

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Monday, Oct. 30, 2023

Esports clubs are allowing First Nations students to play against peers from other on-reserve schools without the costly and time-intensive trips required for basketball, hockey and other traditional extracurriculars.

For teacher Karl Hildebrandt, one of the many motivators to grow Manitoba’s online gaming community is giving youth in rural and remote areas more competitive opportunities to represent their schools.

“When you tell kids they can play video games at school, their eyes open and when you tell them you can compete against another school in the province, their mouths drop,” said Hildebrandt, director of rural and northern esports for the Manitoba School Esports Association.

A handful of members of the Manitoba First Nations School System, including Lake Manitoba, Brokenhead, Fox Lake, Roseau River and York Landing, have started developing cybersport programs. Some teachers have also started integrating online games into their everyday lessons.

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Monday, Oct. 30, 2023

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Desjarlais shows one of her designs to her teacher, Vanessa Lathlin.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
                                Desjarlais shows one of her designs to her teacher, Vanessa Lathlin.
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Study shows ‘striking’ number who believe news misinforms

David Bauder, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview
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Study shows ‘striking’ number who believe news misinforms

David Bauder, The Associated Press 3 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — Half of Americans in a recent survey indicated they believe national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public to adopt a particular point of view through their reporting.

The survey, released Wednesday by Gallup and the Knight Foundation, goes beyond others that have shown a low level of trust in the media to the startling point where many believe there is an intent to deceive.

Asked whether they agreed with the statement that national news organizations do not intend to mislead, 50% said they disagreed. Only 25% agreed, the study found.

Similarly, 52% disagreed with a statement that disseminators of national news “care about the best interests of their readers, viewers and listeners,” the study found. It said 23% of respondents believed the journalists were acting in the public's best interests.

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

FILE - An electronic ticker displays news Wednesday, March 11, 2020, in New York's Times Square. A new survey released Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, shows fully half of Americans indicate they believe national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public to adopt a point of view. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

FILE - An electronic ticker displays news Wednesday, March 11, 2020, in New York's Times Square. A new survey released Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, shows fully half of Americans indicate they believe national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public to adopt a point of view. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
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Canadian demographics impact cultural shifts

Reviewed by Scott MacKay 3 minute read Preview
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Canadian demographics impact cultural shifts

Reviewed by Scott MacKay 3 minute read Saturday, May. 2, 2020

‘Here we go again” was the first thought while unsealing Darrell Bricker’s newest study from the envelope the Winnipeg Free Press had sent to my isolated home. Surely this new work — Next: Where to Live, What to Buy and Who Will Lead Canada’s Future — would suffer the same cruel invalidation that every other pre-pandemic prognostication must experience in these strange times.

But in a sense, Bricker has dodged a COVID-19 bullet, as his focus throughout this volume is on Canadian demographics, complete with its recurrent reminder of how these mighty, slow-moving and mostly irreversible forces affect society today and tomorrow. Take that, pandemic.

Bricker is CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs, a global marketing research company. This is Bricker’s third book on population trends and follows Empty Planet and The Big Shift, both of which he co-authored with the Globe and Mail’s former chief political writer John Ibbitson. (Disclosure: This reviewer crossed paths with Bricker in the early ’90s while working at what was then the Angus Reid Group.)

Much of the focus of Bricker’s new solo work is on generational groups, particularly on what he maintains are the miscalculated “Perennials” (basically anyone over 55). It is these comfortable silver-haired boomers who continue to dominate and shape our social values and consumer trends, mostly by the sheer potency of their numbers and their relative prosperity.

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Saturday, May. 2, 2020
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Chasser, pour avoir la conscience tranquille

Daniel Bahuaud de La Liberté pour le Winnipeg Free Press 4 minute read Preview
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Chasser, pour avoir la conscience tranquille

Daniel Bahuaud de La Liberté pour le Winnipeg Free Press 4 minute read Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017

Vanessa Ahing a été végétarienne pendant plus de quatre années. Par refus de l’industrie de la viande qui, à son avis, est cruelle et nuit à l’environnement. Pourtant, un bon steak lui manquait. Pour réconcilier conscience et palais, un choix nouveau s’imposait...

Un soir de septembre, 2013, Vanessa Ahing rentrait de la campagne, où elle avait abattu son premier chevreuil. Souvenir de l’enseignante de 31ans: “J’étais toute seule. J’avais suivi une formation de chasse pour femmes, organisée par la Manitoba Wildlife Foundation. Mon chevreuil, coupé en quarts, était dans un sac de hockey dans le coffre de ma Honda Civic. C’était mon premier animal. Je voulais vivre l’expérience complète de la chasse. Donc pas question pour moi d’aller chez un boucher. D’ailleurs, j’étais étudiante. Je n’avais pas le fric pour me payer un tel service.

“Je me demandais comment j’allais faire pour préparer cette viande. Je n’ai pas été élevée dans une famille de chasseurs, ou même de jardiniers. Mes parents n’étaient pas prêts à avoir un chevreuil chez eux. Et moi, je vivais dans un petit appartement pour célibataires au centre-ville de Winnipeg.

“Il était tard. Trop tard pour dépecer l’animal tout de suite. Alors, j’ai ouvert les fenêtres de mon appartement. Je me suis endormie dans mon sac de couchage. Le lendemain, j’ai tapé ‘Comment couper de la viande de chevreuil’ sur YouTube. Et je me suis mise à l’œuvre.”

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Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017

Daniel Bahuaud photo
Vanessa Ahing: ‘Je mange du chevreuil, de la bernache et du canard. C’est la viande la plus naturelle qui soit.’

Daniel Bahuaud photo
Vanessa Ahing: ‘Je mange du chevreuil, de la bernache et du canard. C’est la viande la plus naturelle qui soit.’
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Riel, le lien entre les francos d’Amérique

Daniel Bahuaud de La Liberté pour le Winnipeg Free Press  5 minute read Preview
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Riel, le lien entre les francos d’Amérique

Daniel Bahuaud de La Liberté pour le Winnipeg Free Press  5 minute read Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017

Pour Jocelyn Jalette, bédéiste de Joliette, au Québec, pas besoin d’être métis, ou manitobain, ou encore francophone en milieu minoritaire pour apprécier le combat, le triomphe et la tragédie de Louis Riel. Et voici pourquoi.

Dans La République assassinée des Métis, la bande dessinée de Jocelyn Jalette qui vient tout juste d’être publiée aux Éditions du Phoenix (www.editionsduphoenix.com), des personnages fictifs côtoient Louis Riel et Gabriel Dumont, mais aussi les politiciens Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Louis-Joseph Papineau et Honoré Mercier.

Une palette de personnages pour mieux placer la résistance des Métis dans un contexte francophone plus large, comme le souligne l’auteur de 47 ans :

“Les liens sont étroits entre la résistance des Métis, Louis Riel et les francophones du Québec. Surtout quand on se rappelle que la lutte pour assurer un statut d’égalité entre le français, l’anglais, et les cultures francophone et anglophone, c’est l’affaire de tous les francophones.”

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Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017

Daniel Bahuaud photo
‘Toute la francophonie nord-américaine est liée’: Le bédéiste québécois Jocelyn Jalette a rendu hommage à Louis Riel en visitant, le 8 novembre dernier, la tombe du Père du Manitoba. Riel a été pendu le 16 novembre 1885.

Daniel Bahuaud photo
‘Toute la francophonie nord-américaine est liée’: Le bédéiste québécois Jocelyn Jalette a rendu hommage à Louis Riel en visitant, le 8 novembre dernier, la tombe du Père du Manitoba. Riel a été pendu le 16 novembre 1885.
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Book details 1953 Cold War experiments on Winnipeg

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Preview
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Book details 1953 Cold War experiments on Winnipeg

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Friday, Oct. 13, 2017

Winnipeg was duped into being a “guinea pig” for American chemical warfare experiments in 1953, but no one knows what effect it had on city residents, a University of Manitoba pharmacology professor emeritus says.

“It’s too late now to do anything about it or to know what health effects it had on people,” Frank LaBella said Thursday of the aerosol cloud of zinc cadmium sulphide that was sprayed in Winnipeg to test ways of distributing chemical and biological warfare agents.

The deceitful operation by the United States army came to light in 1980 and is back in the spotlight with the publication of a book by an American researcher that includes declassified information. Behind the Fog: How the U.S. Cold War Radiological Weapons Program Exposed Innocent Americans, by Lisa Martino-Taylor, details the testing carried out in cities in the U.S. and Winnipeg (which resembled target sites in the Soviet Union).

“Nobody knew what was going on,” LaBella said. In 1953, Winnipeg city council was told civil defence authorities were testing the effects of smoke over the city using “harmless fluorescent powder.”

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Friday, Oct. 13, 2017

Jeff Roberson / The Associated Press Files
In her book, Lisa Martino-Taylor writes about how the U.S. government secretly exposed people in Winnipeg to dangerous radiation.

Jeff Roberson / The Associated Press Files
In her book, Lisa Martino-Taylor writes about how the U.S. government secretly exposed people in Winnipeg to dangerous radiation.
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Traversant le Canada en 20 chansons

Manella Vila Nova 4 minute read Preview
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Traversant le Canada en 20 chansons

Manella Vila Nova 4 minute read Saturday, Jul. 8, 2017

De La Rochelle à la Colombie-Britannique en passant par l’Acadie, le Québec, l’Ontario et les Prairies, voici le voyage que proposera la chorale québécoise En Supplément’Air dans la Cathédrale de Saint-Boniface à l’occasion du 150e anniversaire de la Confédération canadienne, le 11 juillet.

Le Chœur En Supplément’Air a été fondé en 2015 par Carole Bellavance, la directrice artistique de la chorale. “Cette année, le chœur compte 300 choristes de toute la province du Québec. Tous les étés, nous organisons une tournée avec une quarantaine d’entre eux. Nous sommes partis le 3 juillet pour un premier concert à Ottawa, puis nous nous rendrons à North Bay, Sault Sainte-Marie, Thunder Bay. Nous terminerons à Winnipeg le 11 juillet,” Bellavance a dit.

C’est la première fois que le chœur se déplace aussi loin à l’ouest du Canada. “Avec notre spectacle Le périple de la chanson francophone en Haute-Amérique, nous voulons faire valoir l’histoire de la chanson francophone au Canada à travers le temps. Nous avons choisi des chansons de partout pour mettre en valeur les régions. Le propos se prête bien à la grande aventure de la francophonie canadienne. J’ai profité du 150e anniversaire de la Confédération pour faire vivre aux choristes les chansons francophones canadiennes, et pas seulement québécoises.”

Harmonisé et orchestré par François Couture, le spectacle met la culture francophone au premier plan. “La culture francophone a été apportée de l’Europe. Pour illustrer cela, notre première chanson s’intitule Je pars à l’autre bout du monde. Au début du spectacle, on se sent vraiment à La Rochelle. Ensuite, on arrive dans les Maritimes avec des chansons qui reflètent l’histoire de l’Acadie, puis du Québec, et le développement de l’Ontario. Nous suivons le trajet de la chanson francophone, d’est en ouest.”

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Saturday, Jul. 8, 2017

Photo gracieuseté Carole Bellavance
Le Choeur En Supplément’Air lors d’un concert au Grand Théâtre de Québec.

Photo gracieuseté Carole Bellavance
Le Choeur En Supplément’Air lors d’un concert au Grand Théâtre de Québec.

News publishers’ copyright lawsuit against OpenAI cleared to go ahead in Ontario

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

News publishers’ copyright lawsuit against OpenAI cleared to go ahead in Ontario

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: 9:08 AM CST

OTTAWA - An Ontario court has decided a copyright lawsuit filed by Canadian news publishers against OpenAI will proceed in that province.

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, had put forward a jurisdictional challenge and argued the case should be heard in a U.S. courtroom instead.

OpenAI said the company isn’t located in Ontario and doesn’t do business in the province, and that the alleged conduct — the AI model training and crawling of web content — took place outside of Ontario.

But the decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice concludes the court does have jurisdiction to hear the case.

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Updated: 9:08 AM CST

The Chat GPT app icon appears on a smartphone screen on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

The Chat GPT app icon appears on a smartphone screen on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Sexual extortion of children for money is on the rise: financial intelligence agency

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Sexual extortion of children for money is on the rise: financial intelligence agency

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: 9:06 AM CST

OTTAWA - Canada's financial intelligence agency is warning of an increase in cases of sexual extortion of children for profit — acts that often are linked to organized crime.

This type of online blackmail involves threats to distribute sexual images or videos of a victim if they don't send the perpetrators cash or, in some cases, more pictures.

In a newly published alert, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada advises banks and other businesses to be on the lookout for specific dealings and patterns that could point to extortion or other forms of child sexual exploitation.

The federal centre, known as Fintrac, identifies cash linked to money laundering by analyzing millions of pieces of information each year from banks, insurance companies, securities dealers, money service businesses, real estate brokers, casinos and others.

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Updated: 9:06 AM CST

A man uses a computer keyboard in Toronto in this Sunday, Oct. 9, 2023, photo illustration. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

A man uses a computer keyboard in Toronto in this Sunday, Oct. 9, 2023, photo illustration. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

Investing for ourselves, and those downstream

Jocelyn Thorpe and Adele Perry 5 minute read Preview

Investing for ourselves, and those downstream

Jocelyn Thorpe and Adele Perry 5 minute read Monday, Nov. 24, 2025

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.

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Monday, Nov. 24, 2025

SUPPLIED

An undated archival photo shows the aqueduct construction that brought Shoal Lake water to Winnipeg. Manitoba has great need of new infrastructure investment.

SUPPLIED
                                An undated archival photo shows the aqueduct construction that brought Shoal Lake water to Winnipeg. Manitoba has great need of new infrastructure investment.

City councillor found to have harassed city CAO fears ‘chilling effect’ on politicians if court won’t overturn judgment

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Preview

City councillor found to have harassed city CAO fears ‘chilling effect’ on politicians if court won’t overturn judgment

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Friday, Nov. 21, 2025

Coun. Russ Wyatt’s requests that a court overturn a finding he harassed the city’s top bureaucrat, and order city council to apologize for a reprimand that followed, could affect politicians far beyond Winnipeg, his lawyer argued Friday.

“Your decision has the prospect of having an impact on municipal councils right across the country,” Kevin Toyne said during a hearing in the matter.

In January, city council formally reprimanded Wyatt (Transcona) after an integrity commissioner found he violated the city’s code of conduct by harassing former chief administrative officer Michael Jack.

Since most municipal governments now have similar codes of conduct and/or integrity commissioners, the decision could have wide-reaching implications on how elected officials communicate, Toyne said.

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Friday, Nov. 21, 2025

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES

Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona) was reprimanded in January after an integrity commissioner found he violated the city’s code of conduct.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
                                Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona) was reprimanded in January after an integrity commissioner found he violated the city’s code of conduct.

Key elements in Trump’s 28-point peace proposal and why much of it is unacceptable for Ukraine

Isobel Koshiw, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Key elements in Trump’s 28-point peace proposal and why much of it is unacceptable for Ukraine

Isobel Koshiw, The Associated Press 6 minute read Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An American proposal to end the war in Ukraine puts the country in a delicate diplomatic position — caught between placating its most important ally, the United States, and not capitulating to Russia, its much larger neighbor that launched a full-scale invasion nearly four years ago.

The 28-point peace plan was crafted by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and the Kremlin, without Ukraine's involvement. It acquiesces to many Russian demands that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has categorically rejected on dozens of occasions, including giving up large pieces of territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the proposal late Friday, saying it “could form the basis of a final peace settlement” if the U.S. can get Ukraine and its European allies to agree.

Striking a diplomatic tone Thursday in his nightly address to the nation, Zelenskyy said his country needs a peace that ensures Russia does not invade again. He said he would work with the European Union and the Americans.

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Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025

In this photo provided by the Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine on Nov. 21, 2025, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks into the camera while delivering a video address to the nation in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine via AP)

In this photo provided by the Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine on Nov. 21, 2025, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks into the camera while delivering a video address to the nation in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Press Service Of The President Of Ukraine via AP)

Climate activists award Canada satirical ‘fossil of the day’ title at COP30

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Climate activists award Canada satirical ‘fossil of the day’ title at COP30

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025

OTTAWA - Canada's reputation as a global climate leader took a hit Tuesday when it was awarded the "fossil of the day" title at the UN Climate Conference in Brazil.

Climate Action Network International, which has handed out the satirical award since 1999, said Canada was singled out for the first time in more than a decade for "flushing years of climate action down the drain."

While Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday said Canada respects its commitments under the Paris Agreement and intends to achieve them, that was the first time in months the government issued a clear statement on its climate policy.

The commitment caused Green Party Leader Elizabeth May to change her mind and vote with the government to pass the budget.

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Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025

People participate in a climate protest on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

People participate in a climate protest on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

A Kansas county agrees to pay $3 million and apologize over a raid on a small-town newspaper

John Hanna And Heather Hollingsworth, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

A Kansas county agrees to pay $3 million and apologize over a raid on a small-town newspaper

John Hanna And Heather Hollingsworth, The Associated Press 6 minute read Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A rural Kansas county has agreed to pay a little more than $3 million and apologize over a law enforcement raid on a small-town weekly newspaper in August 2023 that sparked an outcry over press freedom.

Marion County sheriff's officers were involved in the raid on the Marion County Record and helped draft search warrants used by Marion city police to enter the newspaper's offices, the publisher's home and the home of a local city council member.

“They intentionally wanted to harass us for reporting the news, and you’re not supposed to do that in a democracy,” the editor and publisher, Eric Meyer, said Tuesday. He added he hoped the payment was large enough to discourage similar actions against other news organizations in the future.

The raid prompted five federal lawsuits against the county, the city of Marion and local officials. Meyer's 98-year-old mother Joan, the paper's co-owner, died of a heart attack the next day, something he blames on the stress of the raid.

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Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025

FILE - The offices of the Marion County Record weekly newspaper are seen in Marion, Kan., on Aug. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/John Hanna, File)

FILE - The offices of the Marion County Record weekly newspaper are seen in Marion, Kan., on Aug. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/John Hanna, File)

Manitoba teenagers honour war victims during trip to Europe

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview

Manitoba teenagers honour war victims during trip to Europe

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025

A group of Manitoba teens are honouring veterans and victims of the world wars overseas as part of a new provincial program that pays for them to visit historic and commemorative sites in Europe.

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Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025

A group of roughly 30 students from Manitoba arrived in Amsterdam late last week to begin their 10-day trip to world war sites and museums across Europe. (Supplied)

A group of roughly 30 students from Manitoba arrived in Amsterdam late last week to begin their 10-day trip to world war sites and museums across Europe. (Supplied)

Top BBC bosses resign after criticism of the broadcaster’s editing of a Trump speech

The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Top BBC bosses resign after criticism of the broadcaster’s editing of a Trump speech

The Associated Press 5 minute read Monday, Nov. 10, 2025

LONDON (AP) — The head of the BBC and the British broadcaster's top news executive both resigned Sunday after criticism of the way the organization edited a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The BBC said Director-General Tim Davie and news CEO Deborah Turness had both decided to leave the corporation.

Britain’s publicly funded national broadcaster has been criticized for editing a speech Trump made on Jan. 6, 2021, before protesters attacked the Capitol in Washington.

Critics said the way the speech was edited for a BBC documentary last year was misleading and cut out a section where Trump said he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully.

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Monday, Nov. 10, 2025

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters during a meeting with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters during a meeting with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Other encampment options possible

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Other encampment options possible

Editorial 4 minute read Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025

Authorities in Winnipeg will soon launch their latest response to homeless encampments, though sadly actual solutions to the problem remain elusive.

Beginning in mid-November, the city will roll out its new policy for dealing with the encampments, in an effort to prevent them from being established and presenting risks near sensitive sites and public spaces. The system outlines three different levels of encampment response, each calling for a different degree of involvement from police, fire-paramedics and support workers. Some responses call only for outreach, rather than removal of encampments.

The new policy is sure to bring relief to Winnipeggers who have been alarmed by the emergence of homeless encampments in public spaces, near schools, or other at other locations where they may present unwanted risks to residents in the area.

What it does not do, however, is get the city any closer to a long-term solution to its homelessness crisis. The number of homeless people in Winnipeg nearly doubled last year — End Homelessness Winnipeg’s annual street census reported that about 2,469 people are homeless in the city. The Manitoba government has implemented a strategy to get people into housing, but the process has been slow and the results to date underwhelming. About 100 people had been successfully placed in housing as of the end of October, but that still leaves more than 2,000 people living rough.

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Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press files

An encampment near St. John’s Park this summer.

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press files 
                                An encampment near St. John’s Park this summer.

Amid bail-reform debate, some argue court orders must suit low literacy levels

Toni De Guzman 8 minute read Preview

Amid bail-reform debate, some argue court orders must suit low literacy levels

Toni De Guzman 8 minute read Friday, Nov. 7, 2025

Several red flags jump off the page when literacy expert Margaret Banasiak examines a Manitoba provincial court bail form.

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Friday, Nov. 7, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS

Open Doors Adult Literacy Program director Margaret Banasiak says the legal language on bail forms is impenetrable to many applicants: ‘Very few people have the guts to say, “I do not (understand)”.’

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS 
                                Open Doors Adult Literacy Program director Margaret Banasiak says the legal language on bail forms is impenetrable to many applicants: ‘Very few people have the guts to say, “I do not (understand)”.’

Province hires teens to ensure merchants check IDs

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

Province hires teens to ensure merchants check IDs

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Monday, Nov. 3, 2025

Minors are being paid to try buying lottery tickets, cannabis and liquor from Manitoba retailers.

The Liquor Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba that regulates those sales launched the “minors as agents” program two years ago, with undercover 16- to 18-year-olds trying to buy lottery tickets from licensed retailers.

The minors work alongside LGCA inspectors to test how licensees check identification.

The youths try to buy regulated products, allowing inspectors to monitor licensees’ compliance with prohibitions on underage sales. The purpose is to ensure sellers check for identification that proves a buyer’s age.

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Monday, Nov. 3, 2025

‘We have to call it out’: Souris responds to anti-LGBTTQ+ vandalism

Chris Kitching 4 minute read Preview

‘We have to call it out’: Souris responds to anti-LGBTTQ+ vandalism

Chris Kitching 4 minute read Monday, Nov. 3, 2025

A Pride crosswalk in a southwestern Manitoba community was vandalized over the weekend, leaving its creators upset but unbowed in their efforts to foster inclusive and safe spaces for LGBTTQ+ people.

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Monday, Nov. 3, 2025

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The mayor of the Municipality of Souris-Glenwood called the vandalism “disappointing.”

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                                The mayor of the Municipality of Souris-Glenwood called the vandalism “disappointing.”