Social Studies Grade 9: Canada in the Contemporary World

North Dakota missing its Manitobans

Chris Kitching 7 minute read Preview

North Dakota missing its Manitobans

Chris Kitching 7 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

Kay Rone used to spot plenty of Manitoba licence plates outside stores, hotels and restaurants throughout Grand Forks on weekends in past years.

There haven’t been nearly as many since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020.

“Now, you hardly see them in town,” said Rone, who owns Northern Roots Boutique, a women’s clothing store opposite Columbia Mall, which was once a big draw for cross-border shoppers.

She displays a window sign welcoming Canadians.

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

Kay Rone, who owns Northern Roots Boutique in Grand Forks, N.D., for years has displayed a sign in her window that welcomes Canadian shoppers. (Supplied)

Kay Rone, who owns Northern Roots Boutique in Grand Forks, N.D., for years has displayed a sign in her window that welcomes Canadian shoppers. (Supplied)

Province to reimburse Brandon school division for evacuee costs

Alex Lambert 2 minute read Preview

Province to reimburse Brandon school division for evacuee costs

Alex Lambert 2 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

BRANDON — The Brandon School Division will receive financial support from the province to cover the cost of hosting wildfire evacuees in its schools, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said Thursday.

“We encourage divisions to track… expenses and to be in touch with our department — many of them already have — and we will work with them to make sure that those expenses are covered,” Schmidt said.

In Brandon, 64 students from evacuated communities were enrolled in local schools on Thursday.

As a result, the division is paying for 8.5 additional substitute teachers, a bus driver and gas for a new route, and is buying extra equipment to take on the students, totalling a “rough estimate” of $100,000, the division said.

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

Acting Education Minister Tracy Schmidt. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)

Acting Education Minister Tracy Schmidt. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files)

After summer evacuation, northern students ready to hit the books

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Preview

After summer evacuation, northern students ready to hit the books

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

Hundreds of young wildfire-evacuees will be reunited with their peers and teachers on Sept. 29 for a belated, albeit welcome, first day of school on familiar campuses across northern Manitoba.

Frontier School Division plans to officially launch 2025-26 in South Indian Lake, Leaf Rapids and Lynn Lake before the end of the month.

Chief superintendent Tyson MacGillivray said he and his colleagues are looking forward to “opening day,” following months of emergency management and uncertainty.

Approximately 450 students are currently unable to attend regular classes at West Lynn Heights School (Lynn Lake), Leaf Rapids Education Centre (Leaf Rapids) and Thunderbird School (South Indian Lake).

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

SUPPLIED

View from Sherritt Ave of wildfires near Lynn Lake.Wednesday night, May 28, 2025.

SUPPLIED
                                View from Sherritt Ave of wildfires near Lynn Lake.Wednesday night, May 28, 2025.

Read and research, before engaging your rage

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Read and research, before engaging your rage

Editorial 4 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

It looked like Liberal arrogance of the first degree, deliberately blowing off a meeting of a major Parliamentary committee.

Conservative MP Larry Brock on X: “UNBELIEVABLE. Parliament is back, but Liberal members of the Justice Committee are MISSING IN ACTION. Crime is out of control, Canadians are terrified, but Conservatives are ready to restore safety to our streets.”

Ditto, Conservative MP Roman Babar: “It’s 3:30 pm on a Tuesday. The Standing Committee on Justice is supposed to be meeting right now. Crime is out of control and justice reform is desperately needed. The Committee’s Conservative members are ready to work, but Liberal members refuse to show up. Unbelievable!”

You get the point. Problem is, there was no meeting. No staff. No translators. Just four Conservative MPs.

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press

Conservative MP for Brantford-Brant South-Six Nations Larry Brock

Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press
                                Conservative MP for Brantford-Brant South-Six Nations Larry Brock

New session of Parliament, but similar to the past

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

New session of Parliament, but similar to the past

Editorial 4 minute read Thursday, Sep. 18, 2025

It might not exactly be business as usual, but this week’s long-awaited restart of Parliament doesn’t give one the impression that a whole lot has changed.

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Thursday, Sep. 18, 2025

Chris Young / The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Mark Carney

Chris Young / The Canadian Press
                                Prime Minister Mark Carney

Better protection needed for urban trees

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Better protection needed for urban trees

Editorial 4 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2025

While you might have stopped and thought about the poetry of the trees that are a constant in the city of Winnipeg — big and small, sometimes healthy and other times failing, you probably haven’t thought about the value of a tree.

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Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2025

Russell Wangersky/Free Press

A civic tree protection notice in Saskatoon.

Russell Wangersky/Free Press
                                A civic tree protection notice in Saskatoon.

Taking Reel Pride in transformation

Conrad Sweatman 5 minute read Preview

Taking Reel Pride in transformation

Conrad Sweatman 5 minute read Thursday, Sep. 18, 2025

Reel Pride isn’t entering a mid-life crisis.

At 40, the annual Winnipeg LGBTTQ+ film festival appears as forward-looking as ever — though at the moment, its president, Ray Desautels, is feeling reflective about its arc.

“The festival started at a time when … you didn’t see LGBTQ characters on television, and if you did, they were shown in a very poor light or very stereotypical way,” he says.

“It’s become more, I think, a gathering place for queer people and queer arts … It’s more of an arts festival, not necessarily just strictly the film festival that it used to be. So we’re a gathering place for the queer community and its allies and supporters.”

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Thursday, Sep. 18, 2025

Supplied

Odd Fish follows childhood friends Björn and Hjalti as they open a restaurant and as Björn transitions into Birna.

Supplied
                                Odd Fish follows childhood friends Björn and Hjalti as they open a restaurant and as Björn transitions into Birna.

Winnipeg vigil for Kirk draws 2,000 mourners

Nicole Buffie 3 minute read Preview

Winnipeg vigil for Kirk draws 2,000 mourners

Nicole Buffie 3 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2025

About 2,000 people held a vigil Tuesday evening to remember American conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot to death last week as he spoke to university students in Utah.

They gathered at the steps of the Manitoba legislature, holding lit candles and posters bearing Kirk’s name and photo. Several attendees wore T-shirts with the slogan “We are all Charlie Kirk now.”

Several speakers discussed Kirk and his imprint on U.S. politics; some recited Bible verses, including Collin Watson, who opened the night with a prayer and referred to Kirk as a martyr.

“We should all use Charlie as an example as how to discuss things with people we disagree with,” he told the crowd.

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Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2025

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Peoplemgather for a vigil in honour of Charlie Kirk at the Manitoba Legilature, Tuesday, September 16, 2025.

Reporter: ?

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Peoplemgather for a vigil in honour of Charlie Kirk at the Manitoba Legilature, Tuesday, September 16, 2025. 

Reporter: ?

Councillors call for better communication, wands, metal detectors to protect staff

Joyanne Pursaga 6 minute read Preview

Councillors call for better communication, wands, metal detectors to protect staff

Joyanne Pursaga 6 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2025

Another Winnipeg workplace — this time the seat of civic government — is under a cloud of security concerns as the city’s largest union considers the next step of a grievance over staff safety at city hall.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500 filed the grievance about city hall in February 2024, noting staff had reported experiencing verbal abuse, racist remarks, threats and harassment at the property.

“The grievance is still open (now) because they haven’t shown us that there’s been any kind of adequate solution… We’re thinking if (the city hasn’t) done anything to redress (this), maybe we’ve got to move to the next step of the grievance process,” said Gord Delbridge, president of CUPE Local 500.

Delbridge said the union is discussing what its next step would be.

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Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS

A recent bear spay attack on a city hall security guard left one city councillor concerned that no text message was sent to staff alerting them to the incident.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
                                A recent bear spay attack on a city hall security guard left one city councillor concerned that no text message was sent to staff alerting them to the incident.

Manitoba municipalities and financial controls

Deveryn Ross 4 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2025

Late last month, Manitoba Auditor General Tyson Shtykalo released a report aimed at ensuring the provincial government exercises greater oversight over spending by municipal governments across the province.

Following a yearlong investigation of allegations of financial mismanagement by several local governments, the AG discovered that the province does not currently have a comprehensive process to follow up on complaints regarding municipal governments, review financial submissions made by them, or even monitor the spending of provincial grants they receive.

Shtykalo emphasized that the province provides millions of dollars in funding to municipalities annually and that, “With this funding comes a responsibility — both for municipalities and the Department of Municipal and Northern Relations — to ensure effective stewardship of public resources.”

To many Manitobans, that is likely regarded as nothing more than stating the obvious. All recipients of public funds must handle those monies with care and be both transparent and accountable for how the dollars are spent. And yet, the auditor general found that adequate controls are not currently in place to ensure that is happening.

Missed payments by Manitoba small businesses rise

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2025

Missed payments by Manitoba small businesses rose nearly 13 per cent earlier this year, new Equifax Canada data show.

The credit bureau counted 2,005 Manitoba businesses that didn’t meet at least one payment deadline between April and June, when looking at financial trade delinquencies. Construction, mining, transportation and wholesale trades were among the categories to see increased delinquency rates.

“Provinces that have been stable in the past are really showing areas where they’re starting to pull apart,” said Jeff Brown, Equifax Canada’s head of commercial solutions.

Manitoba’s financial trades delinquency rate year-over-year change outpaced the national average of 8.67 per cent.

City non-profit inks deal with subsidiary of leader in phosphate-based fertilizers

Aaron Epp 3 minute read Preview

City non-profit inks deal with subsidiary of leader in phosphate-based fertilizers

Aaron Epp 3 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

A Winnipeg non-profit committed to advancing digital agriculture has inked a deal with the North American subsidiary of a global leader in phosphate-based fertilizers.

Leaders from Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative and OCP North America signed a collaboration agreement last week. They said the collaboration will focus on advancing agricultural innovation through field-based research that will take place through EMILI’s Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert.

Innovation Farms spans more than 14,000 acres across two Manitoba farms to provide demonstrations, testing and validation of agriculture technology and production practices in commercial farm settings.

The partnership will allow EMILI to give Manitoba farmers a first-hand look at new innovations, said Jacqueline Keena, managing director.

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

SUPPLIED

Kevin Kimm, CEO of OCP North America, and Jacqueline Keena, managing director at EMILI, signed a collaboration agreement on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, at the Manitoba Club.

SUPPLIED
                                Kevin Kimm, CEO of OCP North America, and Jacqueline Keena, managing director at EMILI, signed a collaboration agreement on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, at the Manitoba Club.

Province creates hunting buffer zone on Bloodvein First Nation

Carol Sanders 3 minute read Preview

Province creates hunting buffer zone on Bloodvein First Nation

Carol Sanders 3 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

The Manitoba government is creating a buffer zone restricting where non-Indigenous hunters can harvest moose on Bloodvein First Nation’s traditional lands.

Manitoba Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures Minister Ian Bushie announced the change late Monday as moose season began for game hunting areas 17, 17A and 17B that includes the traditional areas of the First Nation, located 285 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

The community, which established a check stop to prevent illegal drugs and contraband from entering the First Nation, warned “outside hunters” on social media weeks ago that they’re not welcome to take moose on their traditional lands.

The Manitoba Wildlife Federation has questioned the First Nation’s authority to block licensed hunters with a moose tag from the area and called on the provincial government to intervene.

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

A moose grazes in a field of canola bordering the Trans-Canada Highway west of Brandon last year. On Monday, the Manitoba Wildlife Federation applied for a judicial review of the province’s decision to reduce the number of available moose tags for four hunting areas in northern Manitoba. (File)

A moose grazes in a field of canola bordering the Trans-Canada Highway west of Brandon last year. On Monday, the Manitoba Wildlife Federation applied for a judicial review of the province’s decision to reduce the number of available moose tags for four hunting areas in northern Manitoba. (File)

Key witness in Hells Angel trial became paid police informant after losing $400K in drug money, court told

Dean Pritchard 4 minute read Preview

Key witness in Hells Angel trial became paid police informant after losing $400K in drug money, court told

Dean Pritchard 4 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

A career criminal who helped police dismantle a massive drug-trafficking operation and bust a full-patch Hells Angels gangster became a paid police informant after he lost nearly $400,000 in a money-laundering scheme, a trial heard Monday.

The man, who is in witness protection and can be identified only as “Agent 66,” is the Crown’s star witness in the case against B.C. Hells Angel Damion Ryan, the alleged leader of one of five Canadian and international drug networks taken down by Manitoba RCMP in February 2022.

Agent 66 — who court heard is in his 40s and has been involved in the drug trade since he was 12 — said he enlisted his drug supplier to “clean” $368,000 in drug proceeds and “never got it back.”

“I was angry,” he told court. “The whole point of cleaning it was I wanted out of (drug dealing).”

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

The Manitoba Law Courts building in Winnipeg on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

The Manitoba Law Courts building in Winnipeg on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Province accuses mining company of negligence in Lynn Lake wildfire

Tyler Searle 3 minute read Preview

Province accuses mining company of negligence in Lynn Lake wildfire

Tyler Searle 3 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

Manitoba Conservation investigators believe a massive wildfire that prompted an evacuation of Lynn Lake started at the nearby Alamos Gold Inc. mining site, accusing the company of negligence because it did not use water to extinguish burn piles.

The allegations are outlined in court documents filed by a sergeant working for the conservation service. They stem from an investigation into the wildfire, which is said to have started May 7 after a burn pile reignited at the Toronto-based gold producer’s MacLellan mine site, located about 7.5 kilometres northeast of Lynn Lake.

The blaze burned more than 85,000 hectares and got to within five kilometres of Lynn Lake later that month. The community, home to nearly 600 residents and located about 800 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, was evacuated and dozens of properties were destroyed.

“The investigation showed that Alamos Gold Inc. was negligent in ensuring that the fires that occurred on May 7, 2025, from burn piles on the MacLellan Mine site set on earlier dates were properly extinguished,” allege the documents, obtained by the Free Press.

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

SUPPLIED

View from Sherritt Ave of wildfires near Lynn Lake.Wednesday night, May 28, 2025.

SUPPLIED
                                View from Sherritt Ave of wildfires near Lynn Lake.Wednesday night, May 28, 2025.

Bus overhaul leaves gaps in service to Grace Hospital, Assiniboine clinic

Malak Abas 5 minute read Preview

Bus overhaul leaves gaps in service to Grace Hospital, Assiniboine clinic

Malak Abas 5 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2025

Some St. James residents are up in arms after a shift in bus routes cut evening and weekend stops in front of Grace Hospital and nearby Assiniboine Medical Clinic.

As part of the city’s recent Transit overhaul, there are now three feeder routes that stop directly in front of the Booth Drive hospital and within a block of the Lodge Avenue clinic. But they don’t run on weekends and stop in the early evening on weekdays, leaving an unacceptable gap in service, said St. James Coun. Shawn Dobson.

“I can’t fathom you walking in the rain or the cold, all that distance from Portage Avenue up to the hospital, it makes no sense,” he said Monday.

"A frequent express route, the FX3, stops at the nearby Sturgeon Road into the night all week, it’s too far of a walk for seniors and people with medically complex needs, and will only get more difficult for everyone in winter," Dobson said.

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Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2025

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS

Some Winnipeg Transit’s Routes no longer serves the Grace Hospital due to the city’s recent transit network overhaul, the Primary Transit Network, which began service on June 29, 2025. Sept 15th, 2025

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS
                                Some Winnipeg Transit’s Routes no longer serves the Grace Hospital due to the city’s recent transit network overhaul, the Primary Transit Network, which began service on June 29, 2025. Sept 15th, 2025

New documentary revisits Lilith Fair, gives it the overdue kudos it deserves

Jen Zoratti 8 minute read Preview

New documentary revisits Lilith Fair, gives it the overdue kudos it deserves

Jen Zoratti 8 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

In the opening moments of Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, a new documentary about the pioneering all-women touring festival co-founded by Canadian icon Sarah McLachlan in the late 1990s, there’s a series of TikTok videos fronted by gen Z women expressing wonder and astonishment that something like that ever even existed.

“There was an all-female music festival from 1997 to 1999 — and I am shook to my core,” one woman says.

Ally Pankiw, the film’s director, is not surprised younger generations have never heard of Lilith Fair.

“It was not celebrated for how massive it was,” says the Canadian film/TV writer and director (Feel Good, Shrill). “It was so commercially successful. It changed so many artists’ trajectories and careers. It raised so much money for charity.

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

Crystal Heald Photo

Lilith Fair finale show in 1998, feauring Diana Krall, Sarah McLachlan, Angelique Kidjo, Lisa Loeb, Sam Bettens, Tara Maclean

Crystal Heald Photo
                                Lilith Fair finale show in 1998, feauring Diana Krall, Sarah McLachlan, Angelique Kidjo, Lisa Loeb, Sam Bettens, Tara Maclean

Kinew’s tolerance for Fontaine’s antics could set dangerous precedent for others in cabinet

Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

Kinew’s tolerance for Fontaine’s antics could set dangerous precedent for others in cabinet

Dan Lett 5 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

What exactly does someone have to do to get fired from Premier Wab Kinew’s cabinet?

That question was left hanging in the air following the latest missteps by Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine, who drew a rebuke from Kinew and public criticism for sharing a social media post criticizing far-right activist Charlie Kirk following his assassination in Utah last week.

Kinew said he spoke directly with Fontaine and asked her to apologize. For now, she will remain in cabinet.

“It would be too easy to show her the door,” Kinew said. “It is a much harder task to say we’re going to work through this together and I am going to try to help you understand why we need to bring people together and not divide people at this time.”

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine drew a rebuke from Premier Wab Kinew and public criticism for sharing a social media post criticizing far-right activist Charlie Kirk following his assassination in Utah last week.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
                                Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine drew a rebuke from Premier Wab Kinew and public criticism for sharing a social media post criticizing far-right activist Charlie Kirk following his assassination in Utah last week.

New St. B ER great, but where are all the doctors to staff it?

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Preview

New St. B ER great, but where are all the doctors to staff it?

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

When governments announce a major hospital expansion, it’s usually billed as a silver bullet solution to long wait times and overcrowding.

The latest example is St. Boniface Hospital’s newly expanded and renovated emergency department, expected to open officially on Oct. 2. (It was supposed to open next week, but there’s been a delay).

On paper, it looks impressive: more treatment spaces, updated facilities, a modern design intended to improve patient experience.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: the facelift won’t do much — if anything — to cut ER wait times. If history is any guide, the experience for patients at St. Boniface will look remarkably similar to what it’s been for years — hours-long waits, gurneys lined up in hallways and admitted patients languishing in the emergency department because there’s no staffed hospital bed to move them into.

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES

The new emergency entrance to the St. Boniface Hospital includes a ramp that goes down to a garage for ambulances, but it looks like a very tight and possibly impossible turning radius for ambulances to go through the door. Reporter: Maggie Macintosh 241206 - Friday, December 06, 2024.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
                                The new emergency entrance to the St. Boniface Hospital includes a ramp that goes down to a garage for ambulances, but it looks like a very tight and possibly impossible turning radius for ambulances to go through the door. Reporter: Maggie Macintosh 241206 - Friday, December 06, 2024.

‘As we grow, our roots only grow deeper’: Red River Mutual insurance company celebrates 150 years

Aaron Epp 6 minute read Preview

‘As we grow, our roots only grow deeper’: Red River Mutual insurance company celebrates 150 years

Aaron Epp 6 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

If Red River Mutual was an ice cream flavour, it would be rhubarb.

Scratch that. Red River Mutual has an ice cream flavour — and it is rhubarb.

Earlier this year, the mutual insurance company — which is headquartered in Altona and has a regional office in Winnipeg — partnered with Chaeban Ice Cream to create a special, limited edition flavour. Red River Mutual Rhubarb includes fresh pieces of the titular vegetable along with crisp clusters made using rolled oats, flour, brown sugar, butter and almonds.

The collaboration is part of Red River Mutual’s ongoing 150th anniversary celebrations, and the rhubarb is a nod to the company’s roots in southern Manitoba’s Pembina Valley.

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS

Red River Mutual president/CEO Brenda Gibson in their Winnipeg offices on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. For Aaron story. Free Press 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
                                Red River Mutual president/CEO Brenda Gibson in their Winnipeg offices on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. For Aaron story. Free Press 2025

Liberals, Conservatives talk co-operation but trade jabs as Parliament returns

David Baxter, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Liberals, Conservatives talk co-operation but trade jabs as Parliament returns

David Baxter, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

OTTAWA - After talking up the prospect of cross-party collaboration in the House of Commons, Liberal and Conservative MPs wasted little time after Parliament resumed Monday before reverting to partisan attacks over housing and the cost of living.

The tone was set early Monday afternoon, when the first-ever question period exchange between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre began cordially before turning belligerent.

"When I left, there was a Liberal prime minister who was making excuses about breaking promises, running massive deficits. Costs, crime, chaos were all out of control," Poilievre said. "Whereas today... we have a Liberal prime minister breaking promises, making excuses, running massive deficits with costs, crime and chaos out of control."

"I understand the leader of the opposition was busy," Carney said in reply — a reference to the Conservative leader losing his seat in the general election before securing another in an Alberta byelection.

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

People cross Wellington Street on their way to Parliament Hill, a day before the return of the House of Commons, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

People cross Wellington Street on their way to Parliament Hill, a day before the return of the House of Commons, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Letting the Millennium Library be what it can be

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Letting the Millennium Library be what it can be

Editorial 4 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

After yet another underwhelming response to a tragic incident, it’s fair to ask whether the City of Winnipeg wants to keep the Millennium Library open.

One man killed himself by jumping over the railing of the fourth floor of the Millennium Library — a railing that overlooks a spectacular glass wall and atrium that runs all the way to the main level — and another attempted a similar act of self harm. The city responded by installing foreboding metal construction fencing near the railings.

The city says the fencing is only a temporary measure until a more permanent safety solution can be found.

However, based on the fact the city has failed miserably to deliver meaningful safety upgrades at Millennium, one has to wonder whether that solution will ever come.

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES

Security checkpoint at the Millennium Library.

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES
                                Security checkpoint at the Millennium Library.

Manitobans raise more than $81,000 for cancer research at Terry Fox Run

Malak Abas 4 minute read Preview

Manitobans raise more than $81,000 for cancer research at Terry Fox Run

Malak Abas 4 minute read Sunday, Sep. 14, 2025

Hundreds of runners, walkers and cyclists flooded Assiniboine Park Sunday to remember Terry Fox’s legacy and honour their own loved ones affected by cancer.

The 45th annual Terry Fox Run kicked off by the park pavilion at 10 a.m. Sunday. Manitoba donors raised more than $81,000 for cancer research this year.

Families old and young took to the 2.5-kilometre route all morning, some with shirts bearing Fox’s iconic visage, others carrying signs and mementos of the people they were running for.

Some came in recognition of someone currently battling cancer, like Jason Wells, who ran for his father.

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Sunday, Sep. 14, 2025

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS

People take part in the 45th annual Terry Fox Run at Assiniboine Park Sunday.

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
                                People take part in the 45th annual Terry Fox Run at Assiniboine Park Sunday.

First Anishinaabe woman Bar Association president prioritizes mentorship, protecting the rule of law

Melissa Martin 8 minute read Preview

First Anishinaabe woman Bar Association president prioritizes mentorship, protecting the rule of law

Melissa Martin 8 minute read Sunday, Sep. 14, 2025

In 1991, when Stacey Soldier was just 15 years old, Manitoba marked a watershed moment. After three years of hearings, the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry released its final report, a searing reckoning with how the province’s police and justice system had failed Indigenous people.

At home in Thompson, Soldier watched news of the inquiry unfold on TV. (“We were only allowed to watch the news in our house,” she says with a laugh.) The Anishinaabe teen was inspired to see an Indigenous judge, then-Justice Murray Sinclair, co-presiding over the proceedings, and was transfixed by the findings.

It felt “thrilling for justice,” she recalls. But it was also a stark lesson in the challenges her people faced to obtain it.

“One thing that the AJI made clear is that this is a system that wasn’t designed to help Indigenous communities and people in any way,” she says, chatting at her law firm Cochrane Sinclair’s Exchange District offices last week.

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Sunday, Sep. 14, 2025

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS

Stacey Soldier, the first Anishinaabe woman to serve as president of the Manitoba Bar Association, has been mentoring young Indigenous law students.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS 
                                Stacey Soldier, the first Anishinaabe woman to serve as president of the Manitoba Bar Association, has been mentoring young Indigenous law students.