Free Press photographers' photos of the year

Free Press photographers' favourite photos from 2025

Retired teacher bags new career from scraps

Peter Dick went from reading a sewing manual, when he was the only man in his wife’s quilting group, to making sought-after tote bags to give back to the community.

The former gym teacher didn’t know a sewing machine from an elliptical machine when he came across a garbage bag of fabric his wife, Thelma, had collected. He figured it was “junk” until she explained.

Then she took him to their church’s quilting group and it opened up a new world for her retired husband.

“I could not sit back and twiddle my thumbs, so when this fell into my lap, it was a good thing to do,” said Dick.

Loving husband, brother and father was thrilled to pilot Paddlewheel Queen and Princess up and down the Red River

Steve Hawchuk needed more than romantic love and oxygen to sustain his life. Some say he was married to his boats; others say he breathed them.

For more than 40 years, Hawchuk was the captain and co-owner of the Paddlewheel Queen and Paddlewheel Princess, massive riverboats that ferried people along the Red River.

By Hawchuk’s count, the Queen alone carried two million passengers during his time operating it from 1969 to 2013, and the Princess another 400,000. Hawchuk also ran the River Rouge, previously his competitor, for 13 years, during which time he carried another 240,000 passengers.

The boats made more than 10,400 cruises, attracting people from all walks of life — something in which Hawchuk took great pride.

Temporary drought ‘rate rider’ surcharge impractical measure, Manitoba Hydro says

Manitoba Hydro has dismissed calls for a “rate rider” — a temporary surcharge that would change rates in times of drought, saying it needs compounding rate increases to recover from low-water losses.

The Crown corporation that’s seeking an electricity rate hike of nearly 11 per cent over three years told the Public Utilities Board that a rate rider “would not be a practical approach in the circumstances and would not support rate stability or predictability.”

Manitoba Hydro’s written response to final arguments presented by interveners at its rate application hearing was made public by the PUB Tuesday.

In it, the provincially owned power company said it’s been asked during previous rate applications about using a “rate rider” to address the uncertainty of drought conditions that impact its bottom line.

Large flag that was draped outside Manitoba’s legislature is back with football club

WINNIPEG - A large Canadian flag that hung on the front of the Manitoba legislature has been returned to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers football team.

The provincial government borrowed the nine-by-18-metre flag in March and draped it above the legislature's main entrance as a symbol of resistance in the trade war with the United States.

The flag suffered some tearing by strong winds and had to be taken down and repaired at least twice.

The Manitoba government planned to keep the flag, use it for public events and buy the CFL team a new one.

‘Helping is medicine’: Volunteer community walk spreads cheer

The volunteers began to trickle in just after 9:30 a.m., carrying stacks of sandwiches and boxes of cookies and other things they hope will bring comfort to those most in need. Outside grassroots social agency OPK’s (Okichidah Pimahtisiwin Kiskinawmatowin) Main Street office, the sparse Christmas morning traffic crawls down the street, exhaust hanging thick in the biting cold.

Already, a few people linger by OPK’s doors, waiting patiently for volunteers to emerge with something to eat.

The folks who eke out a life here know the routine. Spearheaded by devoted community worker Mitch Bourbonniere, these Main Street Community Walks have gone out twice a week since April 2020, handing out food, warm clothing and hygiene kits to anyone they meet. They haven’t missed a day, regardless of the weather or holiday.

Yet to do the walk on Christmas is “special,” walk leader Morgan Fontaine reminds the helpers. Before the group heads out into the chill, she gathers them in a circle for a short prayer, and a few words of intention. She urges them to go slower than they usually would, to take their time as they circle around Main Street.