Une nouvelle oeuvre pour raconter l’histoire autrement

Pendant des décennies, le parc La Vérendrye, situé sur l’avenue Taché, au cœur de Saint-Boniface, a raconté l’histoire de l’explorateur français du même nom à travers une seule statue. La Compagnie de La Vérendrye, un groupe de reconstitution historique, a piloté un projet de conception d’une nouvelle œuvre d’art qui pourrait raconter une autre partie de l’histoire.

Winnipeg fans celebrate Canada’s first point at World Cup — on home soil

Winnipeg soccer fans groaned as Bosnia and Herzegovina took the early lead against Canada at the FIFA World Cup Friday afternoon.

“It’s the way it goes” said Mark Seburn, 67, one of a few dozen footy fanatics who were getting their game on at X-Cues’ Café and Lounge.

It was Canada’s first match on home soil — at Toronto Stadium.

“It’s a special moment,” Seburn said, noting he got into the sport when his children played as youngsters. He said soccer has brought their family closer together.

Winkler hosts first LGBTTQ+ celebration Saturday

Sebastian Saunders is both excited and nervous about returning to Winkler to tell his story at his hometown’s first Pride event.

To get through his anxiety, he imagines a younger version of himself in the audience. “I’m just imagining that kid being like: ‘Oh, I can be happy and healthy and be myself and find community and be OK,’” he says.

Growing up attending church in Winkler, Saunders internalized a lot of homophobia and transphobia. “I was indoctrinated to believe I was a giant abomination,” he says. At times he thought about taking his own life.

Saunders was diagnosed with cancer when he was 19. The experience forced him to ask himself hard questions. When he finished chemotherapy, he told his family and friends he was queer. “I was ostracized by most of the people around me,” he says.

Supreme Court rules New Brunswick lieutenant-governor must be bilingual

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick must be able to perform their functions in both official languages.

As UFOs go mainstream, the jury is out on what the existence of alien life might mean for religion

Some religious adherents, as well as some nonbelievers, maintain that the existence of life on other planets might undermine many faiths because it would complicate assertions that humans are unique. But others argue the opposite.

First Nation in Manitoba declares state of emergency due to drugs, violence

THOMPSON - The chief of a northern Manitoba First Nation says her community is so overwhelmed by drugs and the resulting violence that her members are living in fear.

Sayisi Dene First Nation has declared a state of emergency and is calling on provincial and federal governments for better policing and mental health and addiction supports.

The fly-in community about 325 kilometres north of Thompson sees an RCMP presence about once a month, with two officers travelling there, often for less than a day.

Chief Kelly-Ann Thom‑Duck says recent violence has members scared to visit the band office or grocery store and that previous conversations with RCMP have led "nowhere."

HBC charter goes on display at Manitoba Museum

After months of petitions, legal scrutiny and political pressure, the 1670 Hudson’s Bay Company Royal Charter has formally arrived at the Manitoba Museum, marked by a ceremony including many notable Canadian and Indigenous political leaders.

“It’s with a profound sense of gratitude and humility that I stand before you today as we recognize the gifting of the HBC Royal Charter, together with our consortium partners,” said Dorota Blumczynska, CEO of the Manitoba Museum.

“Today marks an opportunity that is not to redefine the past, but to better understand it, and to help us use it to build a more just and inclusive future.”

The 356-year-old document, which not only birthed HBC, but effectively laid a foundation for colonial Canada itself, attracted new controversies in the last year or so. After years of bleeding at the bottom line, HBC announced in March 2025 that it would begin liquidating its stores across the country and selling off its assets to pay off creditors.

Manitoba makes Polaris long list

Four Manitoban artists — Begonia, Boy Golden, JayWood and Propagandhi — have a shot at becoming the first local musicians to win the prestigious Polaris Music Prize after earning a spot on the award’s official long list of 40 notable albums released last year.

With a 10 per cent chance at netting the $30,000 award, Manitoba is well-represented, trailing only Ontario (13 nominees) and Quebec (12). Of the 40 records that made the long list, 10 will be selected for the prize’s short list, which will be announced July 9.

The long list for the prize — presented annually to the Canadian album of the year, based solely on artistic merit — was announced Thursday in Toronto during the NXNE music festival.

In total, 202 albums were submitted for consideration by the 205-member national jury of critics and broadcasters.

Designated encampment debate returns to city hall

A city councillor is renewing efforts to identify potential locations for designated encampment sites following an Ontario court decision that could impact how homeless people are relocated in Winnipeg.

The motion, introduced by Coun. Cindy Gilroy is scheduled to go before the executive policy committee next week. It calls on the public service to examine multiple locations across Winnipeg that could be considered suitable to host encampments.

Speaking to the Free Press on Thursday, Gilroy said a recent court decision in southern Ontario has renewed the case for designated encampment sites in Winnipeg. Last month, a judge barred the Region of Waterloo from clearing an encampment in Kitchener, Ont., unless alternative housing options were made available to those living there.

“The laws are changing so dramatically,” the chair of the community safety committee said, adding she’s unsure if the city is prepared for a similar legal challenge in Winnipeg.

HBC Royal Charter welcomed in ceremony at Manitoba Museum

WINNIPEG - A 356-year-old document that granted the Hudson's Bay Co. control over roughly one-third of Canada is now in public hands.

The HBC Royal Charter was unveiled Thursday at the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg in a ceremony that was both a celebration of the new life of the document and a reflection on the troubled legacy it created.

"In 1670, a king, sitting across the ocean, claimed authority over our lands," said Ovide Mercredi, former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

"Through the so-called right of discovery, vast territories were granted to the Hudson's Bay Co., as if our lands and territories were empty. But our lands were not empty, our nations were here."

Northern First Nation purchases popular tourist lodge in Seal River watershed

The Sayisi Dene First Nation has purchased one of the largest hunting and fishing lodges in Manitoba’s Seal River Watershed, marking a return to the community’s traditional lands and an economic development opportunity for the northern nation.

The Lodge at Little Duck is nestled between Neganilini and Little Duck lakes, more than 1,000 kilometres north of Winnipeg. It is located in the Seal River watershed, a 50,000-square-kilometre subarctic ecosystem relatively untouched by industrial development, and centred on the last major river in northern Manitoba without a hydroelectric dam. A network of provincial and federal parks has been proposed to protect the region.

“The Sayisi Dene people have a real connection to the lands, especially around where the lodge sits,” Chief Kelly-Ann Thom-Duck said in an interview. “We have plans to use the area and see where it goes.”

The fly-in hunting, fishing and eco-tourism destination has its own airstrip, lounge and cabins. Manager Shawn Paul said it regularly welcomes more than 100 guests every summer and fall for guided caribou hunts and fishing trips.

WAG-Qaumajuq exhibition offers fresh perspective on history of Indigenous representation in art

A new exhibition at WAG-Qaumajuq invites viewers to grapple with two simultaneous histories of Indigenous presence in art.

Reframed, which opened Wednesday, takes settler art of Indigenous people shaped by colonial perspectives of the time and contrasts it with modern-day contemporary work from Indigenous artists who challenge those perspectives.

Many historical paintings create a vague representation of Indigenous people by homogenizing the culture and erasing historical presence, says Marie-Anne Redhead, assistant curator of Indigenous and contemporary art.

“I wanted to highlight Indigenous perspectives on these artworks to really see these people as people,” she said.

Tory MP says 4,000 letters sent urging Carney to amend Indian Act status rules

OTTAWA - A Conservative MP says more than 4,000 letters have been sent to the House of Commons committee on Indigenous issues demanding that the federal government immediately change the way First Nations status works under the Indian Act.

MP Billy Morin, the former chief of Enoch Cree Nation who serves as the Conservative party's critic of Indigenous Services, echoed those calls in a letter he sent to Prime Minister Mark Carney this week.

The committee, known as INAN, is studying legislation that would change the rules establishing who is entitled to First Nations status under the Indian Act. It was introduced in the Senate as S-2 and initially had support from the governing Liberals.

The legislation was drafted to eliminate some gender inequities in the Indian Act and allow some 3,500 people to become eligible for First Nations status.

At 356, the HBC charter is about to get a Manitoba Museum welcome

When Hudson's Bay faltered last year, Manitoba Museum CEO Dorota Blumczynska didn't even need to look at the institution's bank accounts to know it couldn't afford to buy the royal charter that formed Canada's oldest business.

Yiddish fest highlights comfort of knish crafting

For Sara Kasdan, the author of the mid-century ethnic best-seller Love and Knishes, the titular dough pocket was a pathway to everlasting romance via the stomach, assured to get the cook’s name into a man’s heart “faster … and stay longer.”

Restaurant bridges Ethiopian-Eritrean divide at the dinner table

Riverine origins matter at Baro, an eatery just west of the Health Sciences Centre on Notre Dame Avenue, but don’t overlook the connective power of the hyphen on the street-facing sign at chef Tammy Fekadu’s Ethiopian-Eritrean cuisine.

A waterway that rolls for more than 300 kilometres in the Ethiopian highlands, serving as a major cultural and economic thoroughfare for the nearby Gambella region as well as the South Sudanese state to the west, the Baro River is a reminder of communal reliance on precious natural resources, says Fekadu’s eldest daughter, Samra Solomon.

The hyphen is a bridge spanning political divides for Winnipeggers whose homelands have been engaged in decades of ongoing territorial tensions and civil war.

“My mom almost hesitated to call it ‘Baro Ethiopian-Eritrean Cuisine,’ just because some people might not be happy with that politically and maybe even morally,” says the 26-year-old Solomon, who manages the restaurant on top of a full-time job in the insurance business.

Inuit group calls for overhaul of Nutrition North, poverty reduction frameworks

OTTAWA - The organization representing Inuit in Canada says the federal government program meant to subsidize the high cost of food in the North isn't working and should be scrapped.

The call to shut down Nutrition North is part of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami's new poverty reduction strategy, released Tuesday.

The report says the program has failed to improve food security in Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homelands, and that its fragmented approach is not fully aligned with Inuit priorities.

"It's a scattershot approach in a policy environment that is begging for specific intervention," ITK president Natan Obed told The Canadian Press.

Campers, canoes or loons: vote on provincial park licence plate

Manitobans are invited to vote on the design for a new licence plate promoting Manitoba’s provincial parks.

The new licence plates featuring the chosen design will be made available next year.

The provincial park-themed plate was promised in the Nov. 18 throne speech.

“Manitobans love our parks, and so we want to hear from you on the best design to represent that pride in our parks as a new provincial licence plate,” Premier Wab Kinew said in a news release Monday.

Bike-to-school day initiative features fun pit stops across city, encourages families to ride

Bike Week Winnipeg is piloting new student-friendly pit stops Tuesday as part of its signature event.

This year, for the first time, bike-to-work day is also being branded as bike-to-school day.

“When students ride, their families ride,” said Andraea Sartison, event producer for the volunteer-run organization promoting cycling with activities scheduled through Sunday.

“(This initiative) is a really good way for us to reach more people, I think. School communities are much larger than the student population, so this is a really nice way to get into neighbourhoods.”

Nursing grad hopes to drive change for Indigenous patients

A Cree student who graduated from the University of Manitoba nursing program said she’s striving to make the health-care system a more welcoming place for Indigenous patients.

Kaydence Morgado Thomas, who was raised in Winnipeg and has ties to Norway House Cree Nation, officially graduated from the UM Pathways to Indigenous Nursing Education program earlier this month.

She is set to begin work at Health Sciences Centre next month and will pick up shifts at Percy E Moore Hospital in Hodgson, whose patients also come from Peguis First Nation and Fisher River Cree Nation.

“I want to create an environment where patients feel respected and valued,” said Morgado Thomas.

Legislation to create Manitoba-Indigenous Crown corporation pending as some First Nations express concerns

Legislation to create a new Crown corporation is hung up, in part, on First Nations’ concerns the entity would override the government’s duty to consult individual nations before launching projects.

“We’re having challenges, I think, creating an endorsement or support for… the draft legislation,” said Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization that represents 33 First Nations.

Negotiations are underway on legislation to create the Manitoba Crown-Indigenous Corp., which will work with Ottawa’s Major Projects Office and Arctic Gateway Group on the proposed expansion of the Port of Churchill.

The southern chiefs group is part of a board that meets regularly with the provincial government; Indigenous Futures Minister Ian Bushie deemed the group the interim Manitoba Crown-Indigenous Corp.

A raucous Copenhagen crowd cheers Denmark’s 2026 Mullet Championship

Denmark’s raucous 2026 Mullet Championship, presented on an outdoor stage in central Copenhagen, attracted 12 well-coiffed competitors and more than a thousand spectators to the evening’s “mane” event.