Unpredictable health-care costs a given, redundant health-system bureaucracy an unaffordable burden

It’s an annual ritual in Manitoba politics: the provincial government blows past its health-care budget, critics cry mismanagement and the government responds that the spending was unavoidable because people got sick, needed care and deserved treatment.

This year is no different. The NDP government last week approved an unbudgeted $200 million to cover health-care costs in the 2025-26 fiscal year. The province signed off on a special warrant declaring the spending is “required for the public good.”

That language sounds dramatic, but the reality is far less scandalous than critics would have people believe.

It’s not unusual for governments to exceed their health-care budgets. In fact, it happens virtually every year, no matter who’s in government.

Sustained scabies outbreak frustrates families of PCH residents

A months-long outbreak of scabies at a Selkirk personal care home has families upset and the local MLA urging health officials to do more to eradicate the problem.

Tudor House has confirmed it is battling an ongoing outbreak of scabies, which was first declared on Sept. 12.

Dave Ramsay says his 85-year-old father, Neil, moved into the 76-bed facility the day before the outbreak was declared. His dad, who suffers from dementia and is unable to stand or walk independently, contracted scabies several days later.

He has been in and out of isolation since, and was reinfected with the skin infestation in mid-December. His roommate has also been infected multiple times.

First Nations hopeful as Hydro’s first Indigenous chair eyes reversing years of enmity

Manitoba Hydro’s first Indigenous board chair says he has reconciliation on his mind as First Nations-driven lawsuits pile up against the Crown corporation and two of its major project licences are set to expire.

“I think there’s a lot of opportunity on the reconciliation side in Manitoba,” said Jamie Wilson, 58, a former treaty commissioner. “The more you understand the history, the more you understand the opportunity.”

Wilson, a member of Opaskwayak Cree Nation, grew up on a farm in The Pas. He remembered neighbours worked at Hydro but didn’t think much about the public utility — just enough to know it kept the house warm in the winter.

Opaskwayak recently took Ottawa to court over a Grand Rapids hydro dam and its impact on band members, CBC reported.

Councillors approve developer’s request to cut number of affordable units in new West Broadway apartment block

City councillors have approved a developer’s request to reduce the number of affordable housing units that will be included in the construction of a new Sherbrook Street apartment complex.

Eby says it looks like OpenAI could have prevented ‘horrific’ Tumbler Ridge killings

VICTORIA - British Columbia Premier David Eby said it "looks like" OpenAI had the opportunity to prevent the recent mass shootings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., in which nine people died, as pressure piled on the artificial intelligence firm over its handling of interactions with 18-year-old shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar.

The firm has been summoned to Ottawa on Tuesday to explain why it didn't go immediately to police after its internal safeguards flagged worrisome interactions between the shooter and its ChatGPT chatbot at least seven months ago.

Eby — who is also calling for national standards for AI companies on reporting potential threats — said Monday there would be a public accounting by the company to explain why it only reported its concerns to police after the Feb. 10 killings by Van Rootselaar, who shot dead her mother, half-brother, five school pupils and a teacher's aide, then herself.

"From the outside, it looks like OpenAI had the opportunity to prevent this tragedy, to prevent this horrific loss of life, to prevent there from being dead children in British Columbia," he said. "I'm angry about that."

Big rent hikes — a made-in-Manitoba problem

Premier Wab Kinew began 2026 by capping the price of milk in a bid to make life more affordable for Manitobans.

Now, Manitobans feeling the pinch of stagnant wages and inflation won’t have to swallow cost increases with their morning bowl of cereal. This spring, the premier has an opportunity to address one of the single largest monthly household expenses paid by Manitobans: rent.

Few provinces regulate milk prices, but most Canadian jurisdictions regulate rents. In Manitoba, rent increases are allowed once a year and capped based on changes in the consumer price index. This annual rent guideline is a fair process that accounts for increased costs while protecting tenants from rent gouging.

Despite these rules, each year thousands of tenants continue to face huge rent hikes — some well over 100 per cent.

Manitoba urges court to throw out First Nation’s moose-hunt lawsuit

The Manitoba government is arguing a northern First Nation’s lawsuit over moose hunting on its traditional territory should be tossed out of court.

Misipawistik Cree Nation filed its statement of claim in the Court of King’s Bench in September, arguing licensed moose hunting on its traditional lands northwest of Lake Winnipeg infringes on the community’s treaty rights to hunt moose for food amid dwindling populations of the big game animal.

But in a recently filed statement of defence, the province argues it has upheld its duties.

“Manitoba denies that there have been any unjustified infringements of Treaty No. 5, that it has failed to act honourably toward the plaintiff, or that any court intervention or other remedy is required,” reads the government court filing.

Four years after full-scale Ukraine invasion, Canada faces tough choices on defence

OTTAWA - As the world marks four years since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Tuesday, analysts say Moscow has contributed to global instability that will force Canadians to spend more — and more quickly — to defend their territory.

"People need to understand why defence is extremely important right now, and why we're going to have to make sacrifices financially to make sure that we stay protected and safe in the long run," said Anton Sestritsyn, a lobbyist who has helped to organize civil society support for Ukraine.

"It's time for world leaders to start talking to their people and explaining to them what kind of situation we really find ourselves in."

Sestritsyn was speaking at a panel last month staged by the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a think tank funded by German governments to promote transatlantic relations.

Albertans react to looming referendum during weekend rally, call-in radio show

EDMONTON - Some callers to Danielle Smith's provincewide radio show expressed support for a referendum the Alberta premier announced this week, while others at a rally outside the legislature said they're disheartened with the direction Smith is taking.

One caller congratulated Smith on her morning radio show for her speech on Thursday announcing the Oct. 19 referendum, which is to include questions about whether social services should be restricted for newcomers.

"It reflected what many Albertans wanted to hear," the caller told Smith.

"You're on the right track and I'm so thankful you're the premier at such a time as this," another caller told her.

Indigenous leaders outline priorities for spring sitting of Parliament

OTTAWA - Indigenous leaders were braced for change after the last federal election, when Prime Minister Mark Carney's win ushered in a new look for the Liberal government after 10 years under Justin Trudeau.

That change has compelled those leaders to build relationships with new cabinet ministers and a revolving cast of public servants working on Indigenous files.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders have a long list of priorities they want the federal government to work on, including the introduction of a series of bills on self-government and clean drinking water.

Here's what they'll be watching for.

Alberta premier asks voters to bypass Indigenous rights

There is a standard playbook that politicians use when they have mismanaged an economy, want to divert attention from a scandal, or violate citizen rights and the law: Blame the brown people.

Norway House files suit against Hydro, governments over Lake Winnipeg

Norway House Cree Nation is suing Manitoba Hydro and the provincial and federal governments over how the public utility manipulates the level of Lake Winnipeg.

It’s the latest litigation launched by a First Nation in relation to Hydro’s regulation of the outflow of the lake into the Nelson River, which it has done since the mid-1970s.

Norway House filed its claim in the Court of King’s Bench on Thursday. It alleges Hydro and the Manitoba government have misrepresented the severity and scope of the adverse effects to the community caused by the regulation operation and the construction of a channel from Lake Winnipeg to Playgreen Lake.

The community, which is about 460 kilometres north of Winnipeg, near the northern shore of Lake Winnipeg, hired engineering firm DHI Water and Environments Inc. to conduct a scientific assessment of the effects of the regulation project.

OpenAI contacted RCMP about Tumbler Ridge shooter’s ChatGPT account after attack

RCMP has confirmed artificial intelligence company OpenAI contacted its investigators after last week's mass shootings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., as a report says employees considered alerting authorities about the shooter's worrisome interactions with its chatbot months before.

The Wall Street Journal report says that despite the employees' concerns, the company didn't inform Canadian law enforcement before last week's attacks in which 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar shot dead eight people and then herself.

The report says Van Rootselaar made posts with ChatGPT about scenarios of gun violence that were flagged by OpenAI's automatic review system last June.

On Feb. 10, Van Rootselaar shot dead her mother and 11-year-old half-brother at their home, before killing five students, a teacher's aide and then herself at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

Social media companies face legal reckoning over mental health harms to children

For years, social media companies have disputed allegations that they harm children’s mental health through deliberate design choices that addict kids to their platforms and fail to protect them from sexual predators and dangerous content. Now, these tech giants are getting a chance to make their case in courtrooms around the country, including before a jury for the first time.

Some of the biggest players from Meta to TikTok are facing federal and state trials that seek to hold them responsible for harming children's mental health. The lawsuits have come from school districts, local, state and the federal government as well as thousands of families.

Two trials are now underway in Los Angeles and in New Mexico, with more to come. The courtroom showdowns are the culmination of years of scrutiny of the platforms over child safety, and whether deliberate design choices make them addictive and serve up content that leads to depression, eating disorders or suicide.

Experts see the reckoning as reminiscent of cases against tobacco and opioid markets, and the plaintiffs hope that social media platforms will see similar outcomes as cigarette makers and drug companies, pharmacies and distributors.

Food truck operating out of back lane shut down

A food truck that operated in a Tyndall Park neighbourhood back lane has been shut down for breaking multiple city bylaws.

Jaspi’s Recipes food truck had its health permit pulled and the vehicle was ordered to be towed from Dexter Street for contravening residential weight restrictions and not having the proper permits to operate a home-based business.

City spokesperson Pam McKenzie confirmed Thursday bylaw officers visited the property and ordered the truck removed from the alley on Tuesday.

Area resident Christine Mallari told the Free Press earlier this week the owner had been serving food out of the truck for months and, with it, came countless cars driving down the alley and litter pilling up against the adjacent fences.

Resident challenges Anne Oake centre variance

A resident has appealed a zoning variance for a women’s recovery centre, claiming the project’s parking lot will bring too much traffic and disruptive lighting to the neighbourhood.

Farhad Ghazizadeh-Ehsaei says the approval of 68 parking spaces for the Anne Oake Family Recovery Centre will cause disturbances in the Montcalm neighbourhood.

“This is likely to contribute to congestion, unsafe vehicle movements, and increased pressure on nearby residential streets not designed to accommodate this volume of traffic,” Ghazizadeh-Ehsaei said in an appeal application for a city variance granted for the project.

The applicant claims the expanded parking area will have noise impacts on the surrounding neighbourhood, as well as a loss of privacy and a disturbance from vehicle headlights.

Milei’s overhaul of Argentina labor law advances in Congress as unions strike in protest

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A general strike protesting Argentine President Javier Milei’s flagship overhaul of the country's labor law disrupted public transport, hospitals, ports and schools across Argentina on Thursday and intensified a standoff between the libertarian leader and long-powerful workers’ unions.

The lower house of Congress approved the bill, which grants employers greater flexibility in matters of hiring, firing, severance and collective bargaining, in a 135-115 vote early Friday.

The legislation won initial support from the Senate last week but must be sent back to senators for a final vote before becoming law. That's because the government was forced to scrap a clause that halves salaries for workers on leave due to injury or illness unrelated to work after an outcry from opposition lawmakers.

As lawmakers debated the reform, bus lines and subways ground to a halt. Factories paused production, banks closed, airlines canceled hundreds of flights and public hospitals postponed all but emergency surgeries. Uncollected garbage lined streets and shopping areas. A march to Congress by radical left-wing unions briefly turned violent as police fired water canons at protesters throwing stones and bottles.

Alberta’s Smith to put immigration, Constitution questions on fall referendum

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's government is putting nine questions to a provincewide referendum on Oct. 19, including proposals to restrict social services from some immigrants.

One question asks Albertans if non-permanent residents should be charged a "reasonable" fee to access health and education systems.

Another asks for approval to cut off newcomers from social services if they don't fall under "Alberta approved immigration status." The question doesn't define what that status means.

Other questions delve into the Constitution, asking whether Alberta should open negotiations with the rest of Canada to abolish the Senate and to give provinces the power to appoint superior court judges.