Northern First Nation calls for voluntary ban of moose hunting as numbers dwindle

A northern Manitoba First Nation is calling for a voluntary closure of moose hunting in its traditional territory to protect the declining population and respond to what it sees is a lack of provincial intervention.

On Friday, Misipawistik Cree Nation issued a plea urging hunters to abstain from harvesting moose in provincial Game Hunting Area 10 — a 10,000-square-kilometre region of boreal forest north of Grand Rapids. The request applies to this year’s moose-hunting seasons, which open Monday.

According to the province’s 2025 aerial big-game survey, an estimated 281 moose reside in the area, roughly 60 of which are bull moose. That’s down from an estimated 346 moose in 2013, which the survey describes as a “relatively stable population” over the past decade.

This year, 124 licences and 62 bull moose tags were made available in the region during Manitoba’s annual hunting draw.

AFN invites premiers, Carney to ceremony ahead of October meeting

OTTAWA - The Assembly of First Nations has invited premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney to a daylong ceremony ahead of their October meeting.

The premiers, Carney and First Nations representatives are set to meet in Ottawa on Oct. 26 — the first such gathering in decades — just as tensions are rising over the federal and provincial governments' major projects agenda.

National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said First Nations leaders want to bring their own cultural practices to that meeting and she hopes all premiers accept the invitation.

"We're taught as First Nations people that ceremony and prayers change things," Woodhouse Nepinak told The Canadian Press.

Odds of an interest rate hike from Bank of Canada this year have jumped

OTTAWA - Traders are increasingly betting that the Bank of Canada could end its string of interest rate holds and deliver a hike as early as next month.

While many economists remain unconvinced that the central bank will raise the cost of borrowing this year, concerns that inflation could become a more persistent thorn than first thought have some pencilling in a tightening cycle to start in early 2027.

The U.S. Federal Reserve broke its own stand-pat stance and delivered the United States' first rate hike in more than three years on Wednesday in an effort to rein in inflationary pressures bubbling up south of the border.

The Bank of Canada has sat comfortably on the sidelines for nearly a year now, content to leave its policy rate unchanged at 2.25 per cent as it waits to see how the economy and inflation will adjust to a series of shocks.

United Way, other charities fight for dollars as donor base shrinks

Winnipeg’s charitable sector is being squeezed from both sides: demand for help is growing while the pool of donors to meet that need is shrinking.

The imbalance is increasingly being carried by a relatively small group of deep-pocketed donors. Last year, 600 people — about three per cent of United Way Winnipeg’s individual donors — accounted for roughly $8 million, or 55 per cent of individual donations.

The fundraising pitch isn’t getting any easier.

Homelessness and public drug use have become increasingly visible, household budgets remain strained and the problems charities are trying to address can seem so entrenched that donors may reasonably wonder what difference another contribution can make.

Fiddling and a jig mark ceremony to rename Wolseley-area school

Beckoned by a fiddle, students broke out into a jig behind Little Bluestem School on Thursday evening to mark the end of a multi-year renaming process.

“I couldn’t help myself. I just had to dance,” eight-year-old Stevie Morrison said at a ribbon-cutting event to celebrate the new signage at 511 Clifton St., formerly known as Wolseley School.

Stevie and Fallon Lovelace Sharkey, 7, were out of breath after bouncing up and down to the beat, attempting to execute the Red River Métis dance moves they were taught at school.

There were cheers and tears as adults watched jigging on school grounds once named after a man who did not believe in Métis peoples’ right to self-determination.

Kinew delivered what most of us wanted; now we’ll have to deal with the consequences

Premier Wab Kinew has decided to adopt permanent daylight savings time, which means a permanent end to the spring forward, fall back tradition of adjusting our clocks. And absolutely no one is surprised.

Province rips Bell over second 911 outage

A 911 outage that lasted about 90 minutes in Manitoba and other provinces early Thursday morning was caused by a problem with Bell’s next-generation network amid concerns about recurring disruptions.

Manitoba abandoning spring, fall clock changes

Manitobans won’t be setting their clocks back an hour in November. The province has decided to permanently stay on daylight time after surveying residents on the twice annual clock adjustment.

Rain causing poor harvest conditions for farmers

BRANDON — Farmers are dealing with poor harvest conditions owing to the high amount of rain this month.

Brandon had received 74.7 millimetres of rain by Sept. 15, a spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada said Wednesday. The amount is equal to 173 per cent of average rainfall for Brandon.

The wet conditions are causing crop loss and delays in harvesting, several Westman farmers said this week.

“At this point, it (could be) six figures of loss. And that all happens in days,” Cassandra Lepp, a Rivers-area wheat and canola farmer, said. “We have good crops out there, and they are disappearing.”

‘Parental rights’ issue resurfaces

Trustee campaign material that condemns rainbow flags is being met with outrage of all kinds, written complaints and, in one case, a cease-and-desist order.

“Parental rights,” including questions about classroom diversity, equity and inclusion policies, are resurfacing heading into school board elections across Manitoba.

“People are trying to advance their politics and their issues while simultaneously calling teachers ideologues and brainwashers,” said Shannon Moore, an associate professor at the University of Manitoba who studies sexual health education. “And I find that rich.”

Moore said parents have a right to choose independent school or homeschool, but they do not have a right to dictate curriculum that is currently developed using research and mainstream morals.

A community brought the Trident Press home

A truck pulled up outside Oseredok a few weeks ago carrying more than an exhibition. Inside were the panels of Ukrainian Voice: A Legacy Mosaic, a monumental artwork built from the printing blocks once used to reproduce the photographs and illustrations in one of Canada’s longest-running Ukrainian newspapers.

A distant island and a European border

It’s at roughly 80°49′35″ North latitude and 66°27′30″West longitude. It’s Hans Island, an island that’s split between the Kingdom of Denmark and Canada.

Opaskwayak Cree Nation tabs up to $20 million to get into aerospace, defence manufacturing

Darryl Bauer arrived with open ears and a business plan: aims for Opaskwayak Cree Nation to enter aerospace and defence manufacturing, either through acquisition or partnership.

Paskwayak Business Development Corp.’s economic development director carried the physical plan through an aerospace procurement event Wednesday in Winnipeg. The day-long conference drew all levels of government and industry executives.

“There could be significant long-term benefits,” Bauer said of breaking into the sector. “The government’s committing a lot of financial resources.”

Ottawa released a $6.6-billion defence industrial strategy in February.

Gillingham pledges police, firefighter staffing increases to serve growing population

Scott Gillingham is promising to set long-term staffing targets to raise the ratio of firefighters and police officers to Winnipeg’s population, if re-elected as mayor next month.

Canada seeks full membership in U.K.-led military coalition

LIVERPOOL - Prime Minister Mark Carney met for the first time face-to-face with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Wednesday, bonding over common values, a love of sports and a shared loss of their fathers to Alzheimer's disease.

The two leaders watched the Wolverhampton Wanderers play the Everton Football Club — Burnham's favourite team — in a League Cup game in Liverpool, England.

When they had their first call in July, a readout from 10 Downing said Burnham told Carney he "hoped to be able to roll out the blue carpet" for him in the future — a reference to Everton's colours and the invitation to the game.

The two men sported the blue and yellow brooch of the Alzheimer Society on Wednesday, in recognition of Burham’s father who just recently died of the disease. In his own remarks, Carney noted that he too had lost his father to Alzheimer’s.

If Alberta leaves Canada, it will need up to $170B and 70,000 civil servants: report

EDMONTON - A report released Wednesday by the Alberta government says if the province wants to separate from Canada, it would need to shell out up to $170 billion and hire at least 70,000 civil servants to do it.

The report, which the province commissioned from the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, says the minimum cost over the first five years would be $50 billion and could top out at $170 billion.

The figure covers money to acquire infrastructure, supplies and property currently paid for by the federal government. It also covers the staff needed for the transition and debt payments made higher by Alberta taking on a portion of the federal debt.

There are other costs. About $69 billion would be needed to replicate programs currently run by Ottawa. The annual expenses to run an independent Alberta government would cost up to $67 billion. New tax revenue could cover the increases, but there’s also a risk of staggering annual deficits of at least $25 billion.

Anglophones hail Quebec ruling ordering elections agency to send bilingual documents

MONTREAL - Members of Quebec's anglophone community are hailing a Quebec Superior Court ruling that ordered Élections Québec to mail voting reminder cards in both French and English.

The ruling provides a temporary resolution to a controversy triggered by the adoption of legislation in 2022 that required public institutions to communicate with citizens in French, with few exceptions.

The ruling suspends provisions of Quebec's Charter of the French language for 10 days so that the provincial agency overseeing the elections can send out the reminder cards for voters in both languages.

"This is an important victory for English-speaking Quebecers and for democratic participation in Quebec," said Eva Ludvig, president of anglophone advocacy group TALQ.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen says she wants Canada to become the bloc’s 1st associate member

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed Wednesday making Canada the European Union’s first associate member, a striking overture as U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats drive Ottawa closer to Europe.

Speaking in Charlotte, North Carolina, Trump suggested that allowing Canada to become an associate EU member could be a “hostile act” and threatened to respond to the proposed move by imposing more tariffs on the bloc.

Trump conditioned his threat on the “intention” of European leaders, saying that, “If it’s a good intention, that’s fine. If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe.” He also suggested the U.S. could cut off trade with Europe in certain areas.

Trump called the prospect of Canada joining the EU “laughable” and called America’s neighbor a “terrible trade partner.” He also on Wednesday ratcheted up his trade war by signing an order restricting the U.S. government's purchases of Canadian goods.

From investment buzz to building: Canada’s major projects face hurdles, experts say

OTTAWA - Canada’s inaugural investment summit created a buzz that the country is open for business, but experts say the real test will be whether that momentum can translate into major projects that overcome labour shortages, community concerns, environmental hurdles and lengthy approvals.

The two-day summit in Toronto hosted by Prime Minister Mark Carney and two of Canada’s largest pension investors aims to create a sustained pipeline of private investment for major Canadian projects.

It included a flurry of multi-billion dollar funding announcements that Ottawa says are part of its broader goal of attracting $1 trillion in total investment to Canada over five years.

At the summit, Carney said the world’s largest investors, who manage more than $120 trillion in assets, would come to "peer into our shop window" as global interest in Canada grows.

Winnipeg, police and downtown crime

A safer downtown is not much use if people are still afraid to walk there.

That is the uncomfortable message from Winnipeg’s latest police citizen survey, and one city council should take seriously.

Downtown crime has fallen this year, according to the most recent police statistics. Violent crime is down even more. But for most Winnipeggers, the downtown still feels like a place to avoid, particularly after dark.

Only 44 per cent of survey respondents said they feel very or reasonably safe walking alone downtown during the day. At night, that number plunges to just eight per cent. Among women, it is an appalling three per cent, compared with 14 per cent of men.

Putting together annual fashion show takes many hard-working hands

A frenzy of activity is taking place behind the closed doors of WAG-Qaumajuq on Monday. It’s the day before Crafted on the Catwalk, the gallery’s annual fashion and design show, and the clock is ticking.

There’s less than 30 hours before the big event and it’s all hands on deck.

A steady stream of people walk in and out of the Memorial Boulevard entrance towards the main hall, which glows in soft hues as technicians test out lighting equipment.

The ground floor is teeming with people lugging chairs and pushing trolleys. A stream of white material unravelling from its roll prompts a shouted “OK to step on this?” and receives an equally loud ‘No!” in reply, voices raised above the metallic buzz of a drill as staff from a local production company put together seats.

EU head tells Carney she wants Canada as bloc’s first ‘associate member’

STRASBOURG, FRANCE - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday she wants Canada to become the first "associate member" of the European Union, though Canadian officials downplayed the significance of that term.

Prime Minister Mark Carney listened in the front row as von der Leyen laid out key pillars for stronger co-operation between Europe and Canada in her state of the union address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

She said the two sides must "urgently reimagine" their partnership and move beyond a free-trade agreement to bring the relationship to the "highest level possible."

"I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU," von der Leyen said, drawing a standing ovation from most members in the chamber.