Gallery: Whiteout parties in Winnipeg’s downtown By: Photography by Brook Jones Posted: 12:30 PM CDT Thursday, May. 1, 2025

Manitoba premier open to lifting U.S. booze ban but hopes Canadians won’t buy it

WINNIPEG - Manitoba's premier says he is reluctantly open to returning U.S. booze to provincial shelves as part of a trade deal, but hopes Canadians won't buy it.

Wab Kinew said Thursday he's still waiting for key details, including what the final tariff rates will be, before making any commitments. 

He said Prime Minister Mark Carney has all but begged the provinces to agree to allow U.S. alcohol sales, as Canada and the United States work to finalize a new trade deal to ward off further punishing tariffs on Canadian goods.

While he hasn't agreed to it yet, Kinew said if the province does agree, he hopes Canadians still buy locally.

Low-income residents of 114-year-old downtown block staggered by proposed rent hikes

Marcel Blanchette’s life has not travelled down a smooth road.

In 2014, he was violently assaulted in his home, an unprovoked attack that left him with severe injuries, including permanent brain damage. He underwent months of hospitalization and rehabilitation. During that time, he learned his possessions had been sold off when the Office of The Public Guardian and Trustee took over his affairs.

Twelve years later, he finds himself in another fight. This time, it comes in the form of a proposal from the new owners of the Conway Court apartment block that would nearly double his monthly rent. While he’s been able to live in the Kennedy Street unit with the support of disability income assistance for nearly five years, the sudden spike, he said, could leave him homeless.

“To go through that, and now I’m going through this, it’s another obstacle,” Blanchette told the Free Press. “I fought the Public Guardian and Trustee, and I’ll fight this too, with whatever I have.”

Downtown outage caused by construction mishap: Bell MTS

Some customers in downtown Winnipeg are experiencing a Bell MTS service interruption after telecommunications infrastructure was damaged Tuesday.

Bell MTS said on social media that a third-party construction crew accidentally cut a copper cable, causing the outage.

Contractors drilled through multiple underground ducts, causing significant damage to several cables and requiring extensive repairs.

A small number of buildings, mainly concentrated on Fort Street, Garry Street and York Avenue, may be experiencing landline or internet issues because of the damage, said Bell spokesperson Elise von Scheel.

Planned Elmwood Hub project combines 115 mixed-income housing units, social supports, programs

A long-awaited project will aim to add 115 new homes in Elmwood, with on-site social programs to support some of its more vulnerable residents.

Costco breaks ground on new West St. Paul store

Construction has begun on the American retailer's newest Manitoba location which developers expect will open in August 2027.

Time for a stronger all-Canadian grid

The kneebone is connected to … non-contiguously, pretty much every other bone in your body.

Unfortunately.

But more on that later.

The New York Times published a quite terrifying story on the U.S. electrical grid this week, one that points out that, with a few simple directed attacks on nine of 10 major U.S. substations, the entire U.S. power grid could be disabled.