How perspectives change perception

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

Kinew’s tolerance for Fontaine’s antics could set dangerous precedent for others in cabinet

Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

Kinew’s tolerance for Fontaine’s antics could set dangerous precedent for others in cabinet

Dan Lett 5 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

What exactly does someone have to do to get fired from Premier Wab Kinew’s cabinet?

That question was left hanging in the air following the latest missteps by Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine, who drew a rebuke from Kinew and public criticism for sharing a social media post criticizing far-right activist Charlie Kirk following his assassination in Utah last week.

Kinew said he spoke directly with Fontaine and asked her to apologize. For now, she will remain in cabinet.

“It would be too easy to show her the door,” Kinew said. “It is a much harder task to say we’re going to work through this together and I am going to try to help you understand why we need to bring people together and not divide people at this time.”

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine drew a rebuke from Premier Wab Kinew and public criticism for sharing a social media post criticizing far-right activist Charlie Kirk following his assassination in Utah last week.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
                                Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine drew a rebuke from Premier Wab Kinew and public criticism for sharing a social media post criticizing far-right activist Charlie Kirk following his assassination in Utah last week.

New St. B ER great, but where are all the doctors to staff it?

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Preview

New St. B ER great, but where are all the doctors to staff it?

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

When governments announce a major hospital expansion, it’s usually billed as a silver bullet solution to long wait times and overcrowding.

The latest example is St. Boniface Hospital’s newly expanded and renovated emergency department, expected to open officially on Oct. 2. (It was supposed to open next week, but there’s been a delay).

On paper, it looks impressive: more treatment spaces, updated facilities, a modern design intended to improve patient experience.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: the facelift won’t do much — if anything — to cut ER wait times. If history is any guide, the experience for patients at St. Boniface will look remarkably similar to what it’s been for years — hours-long waits, gurneys lined up in hallways and admitted patients languishing in the emergency department because there’s no staffed hospital bed to move them into.

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES

The new emergency entrance to the St. Boniface Hospital includes a ramp that goes down to a garage for ambulances, but it looks like a very tight and possibly impossible turning radius for ambulances to go through the door. Reporter: Maggie Macintosh 241206 - Friday, December 06, 2024.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
                                The new emergency entrance to the St. Boniface Hospital includes a ramp that goes down to a garage for ambulances, but it looks like a very tight and possibly impossible turning radius for ambulances to go through the door. Reporter: Maggie Macintosh 241206 - Friday, December 06, 2024.

Letting the Millennium Library be what it can be

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Letting the Millennium Library be what it can be

Editorial 4 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

After yet another underwhelming response to a tragic incident, it’s fair to ask whether the City of Winnipeg wants to keep the Millennium Library open.

One man killed himself by jumping over the railing of the fourth floor of the Millennium Library — a railing that overlooks a spectacular glass wall and atrium that runs all the way to the main level — and another attempted a similar act of self harm. The city responded by installing foreboding metal construction fencing near the railings.

The city says the fencing is only a temporary measure until a more permanent safety solution can be found.

However, based on the fact the city has failed miserably to deliver meaningful safety upgrades at Millennium, one has to wonder whether that solution will ever come.

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES

Security checkpoint at the Millennium Library.

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES
                                Security checkpoint at the Millennium Library.

Qatar and Poland — one is the bigger story

Gwynne Dyer 5 minute read Preview

Qatar and Poland — one is the bigger story

Gwynne Dyer 5 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

I’ll get to the Russian drones shot down over Poland, but I’ll start with the Israeli air strikes on Qatar, because that’s a much bigger deal.

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Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

UGC via AP

Smoke rises from an explosion caused by an Israeli strike, in Doha, Qatar, on Sept. 9.

UGC via AP
                                Smoke rises from an explosion caused by an Israeli strike, in Doha, Qatar, on Sept. 9.
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Bearing witness to what should never have been

Carina Blumgrund 5 minute read Monday, Sep. 15, 2025

In recent days I have been listening again to the voices of adults who shared what they went through in the foster care system, residential schools and the forced adoption practices of the ’60s Scoop.

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Equatorial Guinea enforces yearlong internet outage for island that protested construction company

Ope Adetayo, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview
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Equatorial Guinea enforces yearlong internet outage for island that protested construction company

Ope Adetayo, The Associated Press 6 minute read Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — When residents of Equatorial Guinea's Annobón island wrote to the government in Malabo in July last year complaining about the dynamite explosions by a Moroccan construction company, they didn't expect the swift end to their internet access.

Dozens of the signatories and residents were imprisoned for nearly a year, while internet access to the small island has been cut off since then, according to several residents and rights groups.

Local residents interviewed by The Associated Press left the island in the past months, citing fear for their lives and the difficulty of life without internet.

Banking services have shut down, hospital services for emergencies have been brought to a halt and residents say they rack up phone bills they can't afford because cellphone calls are the only way to communicate.

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Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025

A man paddles a canoe in Annobón Island, Equatorial Guinea, Sunday, June 12, 2022. (AP Photo)

A man paddles a canoe in Annobón Island, Equatorial Guinea, Sunday, June 12, 2022. (AP Photo)

Premier, chiefs question lack of Manitoba First Nation voice on major project council

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

Premier, chiefs question lack of Manitoba First Nation voice on major project council

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Saturday, Sep. 13, 2025

Premier Wab Kinew and chiefs across the province have raised concerns that no Manitoba First Nation representative was appointed to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Indigenous advisory council for major projects.

“I think it is a missed opportunity,” Kinew said after the list of advisers was announced Thursday.

“The First Nations have to be given that opportunity to engage,” the premier said.

On Thursday, Carney unveiled the first five major projects of national importance that his government plans to fast-track through the approvals process, as well as the Indigenous council he appointed to offer advice.

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Saturday, Sep. 13, 2025

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew speaks at a press conference before signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Queen’s Park in Toronto on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Laura Proctor

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew speaks at a press conference before signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Queen’s Park in Toronto on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Laura Proctor

Kinew stands by cabinet minister dogged by controversy

Scott Billeck and Carol Sanders 5 minute read Preview

Kinew stands by cabinet minister dogged by controversy

Scott Billeck and Carol Sanders 5 minute read Friday, Sep. 12, 2025

Premier Wab Kinew says he won’t remove a cabinet minister over a social-media post she shared that slammed American right-wing activist Charlie Kirk following his assassination on a university campus Wednesday.

Nahanni Fontaine, who recently had to apologize over her criticism that an ASL interpreter had shared a stage with her and blocked her view of the audience, will remain families minister, the premier said Friday.

“It would be too easy to show her the door,” Kinew said, adding he doesn’t believe in cancel culture. “People need to be brought along and shown… we need to be showing empathy and compassion to people even when we don’t agree with them.”

Kinew said he spoke to Fontaine earlier in the day and asked her to apologize after she shared another person’s post on Instagram one day earlier that said: “Charlie Kirk was a racist, xenophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, sexist, white nationalist mouthpiece who made millions of dollars inciting hatred in this country.”

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Friday, Sep. 12, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
                                Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine

Mom of inmate who died from overdose files lawsuit

Erik Pindera 5 minute read Preview

Mom of inmate who died from overdose files lawsuit

Erik Pindera 5 minute read Friday, Sep. 12, 2025

The mother of a Stony Mountain inmate who overdosed has filed a lawsuit that alleges his death was caused by the deterioration of his mental health after he was placed in isolation following a deadly riot weeks earlier.

Ricardo Pereira, 23, was serving an eight-year sentence for break-and-enter and aggravated assault, among other offences, when he overdosed on methadone in the federal prison north of Winnipeg on Sept. 5, 2023.

Dawna La Rose filed a lawsuit this month on behalf of her son’s estate in which she names the Correctional Services of Canada and the federal attorney general as defendants. Neither defendant has responded in court.

“In the time leading up to Ricardo’s death and ongoing to the present, (Stony Mountain) had been in the throes of a long period of violence, contraband and several inmate deaths,” the lawsuit says.

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Friday, Sep. 12, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES

The mother of a Stony Mountain inmate who overdosed has filed a lawsuit alleging his death was due to the deterioration of his mental health after he was placed in isolation.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
                                The mother of a Stony Mountain inmate who overdosed has filed a lawsuit alleging his death was due to the deterioration of his mental health after he was placed in isolation.

Why Winnipeg needs low-fare transit

Adam Johnston 5 minute read Preview

Why Winnipeg needs low-fare transit

Adam Johnston 5 minute read Thursday, Sep. 11, 2025

Picture a single mother choosing between groceries and bus fare, or a youth not being able to access recreational activities because transit is too expensive. In a city where costs continue to rise, access to public transit shouldn’t be a luxury, but a daily necessity for survival.

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Thursday, Sep. 11, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS

Setting low or zero fares on Winnipeg Transit is a matter of fairness and equity.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
                                Setting low or zero fares on Winnipeg Transit is a matter of fairness and equity.