Building and Trades

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

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at a press conference in Mississauga, Ont., on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan
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Carney announces supports for sectors affected by U.S. tariffs

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Carney announces supports for sectors affected by U.S. tariffs

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Friday a suite of new measures to support sectors of the economy hit hardest by U.S. tariffs.

The announcement includes $5 billion for a fund to help companies pivot to new products and markets and keep skills and production in Canada, and to make them more competitive globally.

At a press conference at an aerospace plant in Mississauga, Ont. Friday morning, Carney said that the fund would be open to "all sectors, given the fact that the tariff impacts are wide-ranging across Canadian industries." He said that heavily affected sectors like steel, automobile, lumber and aluminum would have priority.

Carney also announced a “Buy Canadian” policy for the federal government.

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025
Signage marks the Statistics Canada offices in Ottawa on July 21, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
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Unemployment rate climbed to 7.1 per cent in August as economy lost 66,000 jobs

Craig Wong, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Unemployment rate climbed to 7.1 per cent in August as economy lost 66,000 jobs

Craig Wong, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

OTTAWA - The Canadian economy lost jobs for the second month in a row and the unemployment rate climbed to its highest level since May 2016, excluding the pandemic period, Statistics Canada reported on Friday.

The weaker-than-expected reading of the labour market prompted financial markets to increase the odds the Bank of Canada will cut its key interest rate target later this month.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 7.1 per cent in August as the economy lost 66,000 jobs for the month. The monthly jobs report comes after the July labour force survey that showed a loss of 41,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 6.9 per cent.

A poll of economists heading into the release had expected August to show a gain of 10,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to rise to seven per cent for the month, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025
photos by BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS ClearSecure Manufacturing & Distribution fabricator Braeden Hay measures a panel of RockGlass while working at the company’s headquarters at CentrePort Canada (8-3149 Red Fife Rd.) in the RM of Rosser.
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CentrePort Canada-based ClearSecure Manufacturing & Distribution pitches protection premier product RockGlass

Aaron Epp 6 minute read Preview
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CentrePort Canada-based ClearSecure Manufacturing & Distribution pitches protection premier product RockGlass

Aaron Epp 6 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 2, 2025

RURAL MUNICIPALITY OF ROSSER — It’s not unusual for staff at ClearSecure Manufacturing & Distribution to encourage people to take a baseball bat or sledgehammer to the company’s signature product.

As far as visuals go, it’s a striking one. The company manufactures and distributes crystal clear security panels for windows and doors known as RockGlass.

“We’re a solution for broken glass,” says Colleen Munro, the company’s founder and president. “That’s kind of our catchphrase.”

People who visit the company, located just north of Winnipeg in the Rural Municipality of Rosser, can don protective gear and swing a sledgehammer at a door-sized panel to see if they — like the legend of Arthur removing Excalibur from the stone — might be the first to successfully reduce RockGlass to pieces.

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Tuesday, Sep. 2, 2025
Supplied The remains of one of the covered players bench that was burnt in a fire started be a group of youths at the Bonivital Soccer Club.

Soccer facility closed after purposely set fire destroys $25,000 covered bench, damages turf

Tyler Searle 3 minute read Preview

Soccer facility closed after purposely set fire destroys $25,000 covered bench, damages turf

Tyler Searle 3 minute read Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

Police are searching for suspects after a group of people torched a players bench at the Bonivital Soccer Club in the early morning hours Thursday.

“It’s pretty disheartening,” Steven Gzebb, the club’s executive director, said by phone Friday.

“Certainly, a moment of disbelief that someone would go to that extent and do something like that.”

Winnipeg Police Service Const. Claude Chancy confirmed the incident is being investigated as arson. As of Friday afternoon, no arrests had been made, he said.

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Friday, Aug. 29, 2025
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Winnipeg cityscape from Fort Garry Place Monday, August 25, 2025. Reporter: ?
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Winnipeggers’ pride bruised by crime, broken infrastructure: poll

Tyler Searle 5 minute read Preview
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Winnipeggers’ pride bruised by crime, broken infrastructure: poll

Tyler Searle 5 minute read Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025

Life in the big city on the Prairies isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, suggests a new poll that shows Winnipeggers are much less positive about their community than other Manitobans are about theirs.

The poll shows 76 per cent of Winnipeggers agree the city is a great place to live, but a contradictory finding is that they believe conditions in Manitoba’s capital are as bad as they have ever been. Those sentiments are highlighted in a Probe Research poll that found Winnipeggers are “proud, yet profoundly frustrated” about crime and aging infrastructure and their faith in public officials has dwindled.

“We definitely see that there is a palpable sense of frustration with some things, especially for younger folks,” Probe partner Curtis Brown said Tuesday

“This says that there’s work to do. The public expects work to be done to fix some of these big, ongoing challenges that Winnipeg — and all communities, frankly — have been grappling with for years.”

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Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Darrell Driedger, chief operating officer at Strong Electric, 906 King Edward Street, on the shop floor with a 2000amp breaker being assembled for an industrial building site. Strong Electric manufactures products for the electrical industry.
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Decade of pride in custom power products for Strong Electric

Aaron Epp 6 minute read Preview
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Decade of pride in custom power products for Strong Electric

Aaron Epp 6 minute read Monday, Jun. 23, 2025

If there’s one thing Darrell Driedger likes, it’s a challenge.

“I’m a custom guy all the way,” he says of his interest in creating unique products. “I’m in my glory when I get a set of plans from a client, can offer suggestions on the design and build and then figure out how we can make it work.”

Driedger is the chief operating officer at Strong Electric Manufacturing Inc., a Winnipeg business that provides standard and custom engineered solutions for the electrical industry.

Located at 906 King Edward St., beside its sister company, SCT Welding, Laser & Manufacturing Co., Strong Electric focuses on electrical distribution products of up to 25,000 volts for the commercial, industrial, utility and mining markets.

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Monday, Jun. 23, 2025
Quebec Minister for the Economy, Minister Responsible for the Fight Against Racism Christopher Skeete tables legislation at the legislature in Quebec City, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

Quebec tables bill to eliminate interprovincial trade barriers on sale of goods

Patrice Bergeron, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Quebec tables bill to eliminate interprovincial trade barriers on sale of goods

Patrice Bergeron, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

QUÉBEC - Quebec is moving to lower interprovincial trade barriers, as part of a push by provinces and the federal government to increase domestic trade in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Minister for the Economy Christopher Skeete tabled a bill on Friday to remove all restrictions on the use and sale of products from other provinces and to facilitate labour mobility – with some exceptions.

Skeete told reporters in Quebec City that the bill sends a message the province is ready to drop barriers and stimulate trade between regions.

"If you look at what Quebec is doing today, we're leading the charge," he said. "We have one of the most ambitious bills in the federation right now. It's something we're very proud of and it's something that will have lasting change going forward."

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Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk high-fives young fans during the grand opening of the expanded Smithers Skate Park in Smithers, B.C., in this Thursday, May 29, 2025 handout photo. Hawk and Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris visited the northern B.C. town of 5,000 to celebrate the community’s $1.8-million effort to grow the park. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Erica Chan *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Tony Hawk, Mark McMorris help open skateboard park expansion in Smithers, B.C.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Tony Hawk, Mark McMorris help open skateboard park expansion in Smithers, B.C.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Monday, Oct. 6, 2025

Tony Hawk and Mark McMorris wanted their presence at the Smithers Skate Park expansion unveiling to amplify skateboarding's importance in the remote, northern B.C. community.

Skateboarding icon Hawk and Canadian snowboarding star McMorris travelled to the town of 5,000 people for Thursday's opening. They lauded the community's pluck in raising $1.8 million to increase the size of the street park and build a bowl for skateboarders next to the Yellowhead Highway that runs from Winnipeg to the West Coast.

"I don't go to many grand openings, to be honest, but this seemed like a really unique situation," Hawk said. "I don't want to say it's the most remote area, but in remote areas, skateboarding is still a valid option for kids to choose, and they want to do it. We need to provide facilities for them."

McMorris, a three-time Olympic slopestyle bronze medallist whose 24 X Games medals is the most among snowboarders, has a special place in his heart for skateboarding.

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Monday, Oct. 6, 2025
Statistics Canada released real GDP figures for the first quarter of 2025 on Friday. A worker uses an angle grinder on a vessel under construction at Seaspan Shipyards, in North Vancouver, B.C., on Thursday, October 10, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Bank of Canada expected to hold key rate after surprise Q1 GDP jump

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Bank of Canada expected to hold key rate after surprise Q1 GDP jump

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

OTTAWA - The Canadian economy got a boost to start the year as businesses rushed to get ahead of tariffs, and some economists believe that lift will be enough to keep the Bank of Canada on the sidelines at its interest rate decision next week.

Real gross domestic product rose 2.2 per cent annualized in the first quarter of 2025, Statistics Canada reported Friday, up a tick from 2.1 per cent in the fourth quarter.

The first quarter figures topped StatCan’s flash estimate for annualized growth of 1.5 per cent and beat calls for 1.7 per cent from a Reuters poll of economists.

"We did get a better number, overall," said CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld.

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Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025
Program offers a promising future
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Program offers a promising future

Jim Timlick 4 minute read Preview
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Program offers a promising future

Jim Timlick 4 minute read Friday, May. 23, 2025

As soon as Anfernee Clarke learned about the Pre-Apprentice Bricklayer Program being offered by First Peoples Development Inc. he was intrigued.

A decade ago an 18-year-old Clarke started working in the construction industry doing concrete work. He loved the physical nature of the work but a back injury he suffered five years ago forced him to temporarily put that career on hold and seek out other employment opportunities.

Now fully healed, he learned about FPDI’s bricklayer program late last year and wasted no time applying. He was one of 12 people who were part of the program’s initial cohort of students when it was launched this past January.

“I made up my mind pretty quickly (about applying),” he says.

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Friday, May. 23, 2025
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to depart Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Trump says US Steel will keep HQ in Pittsburgh in a sign he’ll approve bid by Japan-based Nippon

Marc Levy And Paul Wiseman, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Trump says US Steel will keep HQ in Pittsburgh in a sign he’ll approve bid by Japan-based Nippon

Marc Levy And Paul Wiseman, The Associated Press 5 minute read Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that U.S. Steel will keep its headquarters in Pittsburgh as part of what he called a “planned partnership” that seemed to signal that he’ll approve a bid by Japan-based Nippon Steel to make a big investment in the iconic American steelmaker, if not buy it outright.

Still, Trump's statement left it vague as to whether he is approving Nippon Steel's bid after he vowed repeatedly to block the deal to prevent U.S. Steel from being foreign-owned.

More recently, Trump suggested that Nippon Steel would invest in U.S. Steel, not buy it, and one union official suggested Friday that the federal government will have a role in the company's management going forward. But investors seemed to take Trump's statement as a sign that he's approving some sort of merger, sharply pushing up U.S. Steel's shares, and the companies issued approving statements.

Nippon Steel said the partnership is a “game changer — for U.S. Steel and all of its stakeholders, including the American steel industry, and the broader American manufacturing base.” U.S. Steel said it “will remain American, and we will grow bigger and stronger through a partnership with Nippon Steel that brings massive investment, new technologies and thousands of jobs over the next four years."

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Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025
A Blanding's turtle is shown in this undated handout photo provided by the Toronto Zoo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Toronto Zoo *MANDATORY CREDIT*
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Toronto Zoo warns of extinctions if Ontario mining bill becomes law

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview
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Toronto Zoo warns of extinctions if Ontario mining bill becomes law

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

TORONTO - Species could go extinct if Ontario passes a controversial mining bill that is set to transform its approach to endangered species and the environment, the Toronto Zoo warned the province.

Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, would strike a blow to the recovery of several species the institution has been trying to save, said Dolf DeJong, the zoo's CEO, at a committee hearing at Queen's Park on Thursday.

If and when the bill becomes law, DeJong wants the province to step up with funding so it can dramatically increase its biobank with Ontario species that could die off as a result of the legislation.

"We're concerned this act will result in the erosion of biodiversity and the loss of species at risk," DeJong said.

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Friday, Oct. 10, 2025
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Ethics Commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor found that former premier Heather Stefanson, then deputy premier Cliff Cullen and then economic development minister Jeff Wharton, violated the province’s Conflict of Interest Act.

Inquiry must be called to get answers on sand mine scandal

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Preview

Inquiry must be called to get answers on sand mine scandal

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Friday, May. 23, 2025

It’s pretty clear by now that an inquiry should be called into the Sio Silica scandal.

Ethics Commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor released his long-awaited report into the matter this week. He found that former premier Heather Stefanson, then deputy premier Cliff Cullen and then economic development minister Jeff Wharton, violated the province’s Conflict of Interest Act by attempting to approve a licence for a controversial silica sand mining project after their government was defeated in the Oct. 3, 2023 provincial election.

All three ministers pushed to have a Class 2 licence under the Environment Act approved for Sio Silica, days before the new NDP government was sworn into office.

They did so even though they knew, or ought to have known, that it violated the “caretaker convention,” a longstanding constitutional principle in Canada that prohibits governments from making major policy decisions once a general election is called (unless it’s related to an urgent matter of public importance).

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Friday, May. 23, 2025
FILE - A Home Depot logo sign hands on its facade, Friday, May 14, 2021, in North Miami, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
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Homeowners spend on renovations and repairs despite the uncertain economy and higher prices

Alex Veiga, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview
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Homeowners spend on renovations and repairs despite the uncertain economy and higher prices

Alex Veiga, The Associated Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

LOS ANGELES (AP) — U.S. homeowners are spending more on home renovation projects, bucking a broader pullback by consumers amid diminished confidence in the economy.

Sales at building materials and garden supply retailers rose 0.8% last month from March, the biggest gain since 2022, and were up 3.2% from April last year. At the same time, U.S. retail sales overall rose 0.1%, a sharp slowdown from March.

The trend comes even as prices for home improvement products have been rising.

The cost of home repairs and remodeling climbed by nearly 4% in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to Verisk’s Remodel Index. The strategic data analytics firm tracks costs for more than 10,000 home repair items, from appliances to windows.

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025
More than 150 people gathered to protest proposed changes for the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5, where 17 people died in a crash in June 2023.

Demonstrators demand overpass at dangerous Carberry intersection

Alex Lambert 5 minute read Preview

Demonstrators demand overpass at dangerous Carberry intersection

Alex Lambert 5 minute read Friday, May. 23, 2025

CARBERRY — More than 150 people stood near the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5 to denounce the preferred option for a redesign of the intersection in response to a collision two years ago that killed 17 people.

They carried signs that read “safety not shortcuts,” and “how many more accidents before they listen.” The group opposes a U-turn option, which is called an RCUT.

Jordan Dickson, 31, one of the organizers, said the RCUT model isn’t safe for the farmers and truckers who live in the area.

“There’s hundreds, if not thousands of trucks … plus all the other everyday passenger traffic coming through here,” she said.

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Friday, May. 23, 2025
Gracieuseté La Maison Hourie, à Portage-la-Prairie. Supplied La Maison Hourie de Portage-la-Prairie
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Sauver la Maison Hourie, le vote est ouvert

Marie Wielgocki 4 minute read Preview
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Sauver la Maison Hourie, le vote est ouvert

Marie Wielgocki 4 minute read Saturday, Apr. 12, 2025

Organisée par la Fiducie nationale du Canada, la compétition Next Great Save offre un financement et de la visibilité aux lieux historiques menacés partout dans le pays. Cette année, la maison Hourie de Portage-la-Prairie fait partie des douze finalistes. Les gagnants sont choisis par vote du public, qui est ouvert jusqu’au 17 avril.

Sauver l’un des bâtiments emblématiques de l’histoire du Manitoba. Voilà l’objectif du musée de Fort la Reine à Portage-la-Prairie, qui a inscrit au concours l’une de ses bâtisses: la Maison Hourie. C’est sur le site nextgreatsave.ca que le public, seul juge de la finale de cette compétition nationale, est invité à voter pour sauver son patrimoine favori. Parmi les finalistes, la Maison Hourie est le seul édifice situé au Manitoba.

Restaurer la maison Hourie

Les règles sont simples: pour sauver son patrimoine, chaque finaliste mène sa campagne de sensibilisation pour récolter le maximum de soutien. Parrainé par Ecclesiastical Insurance, ce concours s’inscrit dans les missions de la Fiducie nationale du Canada, créée en 1973. Principal organisme de bienfaisance national, la Fiducie a contribué depuis sa création à la protection de plus de 835 lieux partout au Canada.

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Saturday, Apr. 12, 2025
Marta Guerrero photo Paul-Guy Lavack est le président du musée Pointe-des-Chênes.
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Bientôt un petit musée pour une grande réouverture

Hugo Beaucamp 5 minute read Preview
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Bientôt un petit musée pour une grande réouverture

Hugo Beaucamp 5 minute read Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024

Le musée Pointe-des-Chênes, situé dans le parc des Rédemptoristes dans la petite ville de Sainte-Anne, pourrait renaître de ses cendres plus de 10 ans après avoir été ravagé par un incendie.

Derrière l’église de la petite ville de Sainte-Anne, par-delà le petit pont piéton qui traverse la Seine, près du grand pavillon métis, quatre piquets ont été plantés dans le sol.

“C’est là que l’on coulera la dalle de béton, indique Paul-Guy Lavack, président du Musée Pointe-des-Chênes. Le nouvel emplacement sera un petit peu plus grand, car l’on prévoit de faire un espace à l’entrée et de le rendre accessible pour les fauteuils roulants.”

Pour rappel, le Musée Pointe-des-Chênes se dressait autrefois de l’autre côté du préau, près de la Villa Youville. En mai 2013, un incendie était venu détruire la bâtisse qui ne sera jamais reconstruite. Depuis cet évènement, Paul-Guy Lavack et le Comité du Musée Pointe-des-Chênes n’ont eu de cesse que de chercher un nouvel endroit où exposer les quelque 2,000 artéfacts qui ont été sauvés des flammes. Ces artefacts consistent principalement en des meubles, des tableaux, des livres, des objets du quotidien des pionniers comme des lampes à huile, mais aussi des outils.

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Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Andy Baranowski, owner of J.W. McDonald Auto Service, by one of his cars, a 66 Thunderbird Landau.
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Leaving auto repair life in the rear-view

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview
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Leaving auto repair life in the rear-view

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Thursday, Jul. 7, 2022

For decades, Cadillacs, Mustangs and Audis have overnighted in the Exchange District for repairs and transformations.

Now, a Winnipeg mechanic envisions a new use for his shop — one that sees it filled with milk and produce instead of wrenches and tires.

“There’s no groceries down here,” said Andy Baranowski, owner of J.W. McDonald Auto Service. “Where are you going to get your milk?”

The 189 Bannatyne Ave. building has been an auto repair garage for almost a century — since 1923, according to the Manitoba Historical Society.

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Thursday, Jul. 7, 2022
The Homes for Heroes Foundation is building a tiny home village for veterans in Kingston, Ont. (seen in rendering). It is eyeing Winnipeg next.
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Short-term housing, on-site counselling seek to address veteran homelessness

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Preview
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Short-term housing, on-site counselling seek to address veteran homelessness

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021

A property in Transcona is being eyed to create a village of tiny homes for unsheltered veterans.

The Homes for Heroes Foundation wants to buy two acres of city land just north of Transcona Boulevard and west of the Transcona Library, where it hopes to build 20 tiny homes and a resource centre. That site would offer short-term housing and on-site counselling, with the ultimate goal of helping its residents secure stable jobs and permanent homes.

“We actually have the ability to end the issue of veteran homelessness in the City of Winnipeg,” said David Howard, the foundation’s chief executive officer.

Howard said such villages are either under construction, or have already proven successful, in many other Canadian cities.

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Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021
City Couns. Brian Mayes and Devi Sharma run on the rubberized track, along with members of the Garden City Collegiate cross-country team, at the official opening of the school's new track Wednesday. Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press
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Runners’ high: School opens rubberized track

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Preview
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Runners’ high: School opens rubberized track

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 22, 2021

The burgundy race track Marlee Bragg's phys-ed students run on is unique in north Winnipeg.

Teens pounded Garden City Collegiate's 400-metre rubberized track, with Bragg's whistle sounding in the background, as city councillors Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan) and Brian Mayes (St. Vital) viewed the new upgrades they had helped spur.

"We feel very privileged," Bragg told the councillors Wednesday.

The Jefferson Avenue high school is one of three rubberized full-size tracks in the city. The University of Manitoba and Victor Mager School, in St. Vital, host the others.

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Wednesday, Sep. 22, 2021
Marc Miller, federal Indigenous services minister, from left, Herb Redsky Jr. and Shoal Lake 40 Chief Vernon Redsky, stand in front of the Harvey Redsky Memorial School and toast safe tap water. Melissa Martin / Winnipeg Free Press
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Shoal Lake 40 toasts clean water

Melissa Martin 6 minute read Preview
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Shoal Lake 40 toasts clean water

Melissa Martin 6 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 15, 2021

SHOAL LAKE 40 FIRST NATION – As he raised his glass, Chief Vernon Redsky looked at the water and a memory came rushing back. It reminded him of when he was a kid, he said, and the water in Shoal Lake was crystal-clear like that, back when he and his friends would splash along the shore, drinking from the lake when they got thirsty.

So he thought about that as he clinked his glass against two others, and took a sip. A toast, to the first officially safe tap drinking water in Shoal Lake 40: on Wednesday, after 24 years, the Treaty Three First Nation’s boil water advisory officially ended.

“It’s surreal to be at this moment,” Redsky said at a ceremony to celebrate the achievement, as well as the opening of the community’s new school.

One day earlier, a government official in Kenora, Ont., had officially approved the latest test results from Shoal Lake 40’s new water treatment plant, which started pumping this summer. That night, Redsky couldn’t sleep; he called a former chief to talk about the long road they had travelled to get to this point.

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Wednesday, Sep. 15, 2021
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Callie shows how roomy her kennel is outside her home in Selkirk Wednesday, September 8, 2021. Matt and Kaelyn Proutt have started M+K Wood Co., a business that started as a cabinet supplier but now turns out custom, wooden kennels for dogs. Reporter: ?
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Custom-crafted dog kennels more plush than penal

David Sanderson  8 minute read Preview
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Custom-crafted dog kennels more plush than penal

David Sanderson  8 minute read Friday, Sep. 10, 2021

SELKIRK — One of late, standup comedian George Carlin’s best-loved shticks revolved around how, as a kid, his parents would command him to his bedroom for hours on end whenever he misbehaved. That never seemed like much of a punishment, he’d explain in his trademark, wry tone, given that’s where all his “stuff” was, the punch line being if his mom and dad really wanted to teach him a lesson, they would have banished him to their room, instead.

Carlin’s bit came to mind recently during an interview with Matt and Kaelyn Proutt, owners of M+K Wood Co., a Selkirk-based enterprise that turns out hand-crafted, wooden dog kennels that, at first glance, could easily be mistaken for a fashionable end table or armoire.

Three years ago, the married couple brought home Callie, a Labrador-English bulldog mix. They purchased a conventional, wire crate during her puppy phase, which they placed her inside as a form of discipline if she nabbed something from a dinner plate or destroyed a throw pillow. Except after they replaced her metal lair with one Matt fashioned out of spruce wood, which Kaelyn subsequently stained to match their living room decor, they discovered it no longer served its intended, penal purpose.

“Originally, the kennel was for when she was naughty. But because she seemed to enjoy the new one so much, we had to start leaving the door open all the time, so she could go inside whenever she felt like it,” Kaelyn says with a chuckle, seated next to Matt on a couch steps away from their pooch’s hideaway.

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Friday, Sep. 10, 2021
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City eyes bird-friendly buildings

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Thursday, Sep. 9, 2021

GLAZED windows and limits on lighting are options the City of Winnipeg is considering to save birds from flying into buildings.

Approximately 25 million birds die in Canada annually by colliding with windows, according to a study used as part of the city’s research into the problem.

“We’re losing our birds, especially our migratory birds, at a really fast rate,” said Kevin Fraser, a University of Manitoba associate professor who studies the species. “Light and windows are huge threats.”

Winnipeg is part of the Mississippi flyway, a major migration route for birds.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES NDP Hydro Critic Adrien Sala: “It is taking far longer than anyone expected it to.

‘Ignominious anniversary’ of Hydro’s stalled broadband deal

Martin Cash 1 minute read Preview

‘Ignominious anniversary’ of Hydro’s stalled broadband deal

Martin Cash 1 minute read Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021

A year after Manitoba Hydro stopped taking on new contracts for broadband network access, and three months after Xplornet won the bid to manage that network, critics are complaining the continuing moratorium has left would-be customers in the lurch.

Adrien Sala, NDP critic for Hydro, is calling on the Progressive Conservative government to end the stop sell order and disclose the revenue losses suffered from the disruption.

“It is taking far longer than anyone expected it to and it is creating further and further delays for a lot of ISPs (Internet service providers), school divisions and regional health authorities that have asked for service upgrades,” Sala said.

A spokesperson for Reg Helwer, minister of central services, confirmed that the Xplornet agreement has yet to be finalized but is expected to be soon.

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Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021