News briefs for Thursday, May 22, 2025

Cat saved from Ottawa Avenue house fire

8:06 PM

Winnipeg firefighters saved a cat from a house fire on Ottawa Avenue near Watt Street Thursday evening.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said crews were called to the fire on the 500 block of Ottawa at around 5:40 p.m., where they found smoke and flames jutting from the house. They got it under control by about 6:30 p.m.

Firefighters didn’t locate any people inside but did find the feline, which was turned over to the city’s animal services department.

City crews battle two grass fires

5:47 PM

Crews extinguished two grass fires in Winnipeg on Wednesday.

Firefighters were sent to the 300 block of Cree Crescent in the Murray Industrial Park at about 5:55 p.m. and saw that nearby homes were in the path of a fire. Crews had the fire under control by 8 p.m.

Earlier, crews were sent to a grass fire near the 1800 block of Wabasha Street at 2:18 p.m. and declared the blaze under control by 3:44 p.m., the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said.

The wildfire was the second in Transcona in a little more than a week. On May 12, a fire damaged properties along Gunn Road, less than two kilometres to the north of the Wabasha fire.

Fire crews responded to more than 300 grass fires within city limits in 2024.

A two-week fire ban within city limits expired Monday evening.

Missing youth, 17, last seen April 22

2:24 PM

City police are asking for the public’s help in finding a missing teen.

Mary Chartrand, 17, was last seen in the area of Centennial Street and Kingsway at 7:50 p.m. on April 22.

She is also known to frequent the West Broadway and North Point Douglas areas, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Thursday. Mary is described as 5-5 in height, with a thin build, brown hair and brown eyes.

The WPS asked anyone with information about Mary’s whereabouts to contact its missing persons unit at 204-986-6250, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS) or online.

One man stabbed, another arrested in The Pas

2:12 PM

A Chemawawin Cree Nation man is charged with aggravated assault and robbery after a man was stabbed in The Pas.

Police were sent to Hogan Avenue at 2:20 a.m. on May 15 and found an injured man from Cormorant outside. He had been stabbed multiple times.

The victim, 49, was transported to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, RCMP said in a news release Thursday.

A 28-year-old man remanded into custody.

No charges for man’s injuries

1:00 PM

The province’s police watchdog says no charges will be laid after a man was injured while being detained in Opaskwayak Cree Nation this fall.

The man and two male First Nations safety officers slipped on a freshly mopped floor in a licensed hotel, with one of the officers falling on the man, on Oct. 28. The officers were trying to detain the man under The Intoxicated Persons Detention Act, the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba said in a report released Thursday.

The incident was recorded on video.

Manitoba Museum issues apology to Indigenous communities

12:52 PM

The Manitoba Museum issued a formal apology to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities Thursday, acknowledging it has held ancestral remains and associated belongings from these communities within its collections.

“We sincerely and profoundly regret that the museum has held ancestors of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities within our collections for decades. In doing this, we know we have contributed to and played a role in colonialization. We apologize for our actions, inactions, and failures, past and present. We know that what is required now is that our actions be transparent, honest, and meaningful. This apology is just the beginning of the Homeward Journey of the Ancestors,” Blumczyńska said.

“We promise that no ancestors will enter the museum in the future.”

The apology is part of the Homeward Journey, which began at the Manitoba Museum in 2022. Guided by the Indigenous Advisory Circle, Homeward Journey aims to repatriate ancestral remains and belongings to their communities.

Missing Thompson man last seen May 11

11:46 AM

RCMP are searching for a missing man who was last seen May 11.

Thompson RCMP were contacted about Troy Gilbert Saultier, 24, on the afternoon of May 14.

He was described as 5-3 in height, 110 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing “blue” clothing and is still believed to be in the Thompson area, RCMP said in a news release Thursday.

RCMP asked anyone with information about Saultier’s whereabouts to contact the Thompson detachment at 204-677-6909/6911, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or online.

Body found at recycling depot

11:11 AM

Police are investing after a body was found at a recycling depot early Thursday.

The body found at a business on the 300 block of Mazenod Road is believed to be that of an adult male, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release.

Police said the person has not yet been identified.

The only such business in the area is a GFL Environmental site at 335 Mazenod Rd. The business is in the St. Boniface Industrial Park and just north of CN’s Symington Yards.

Police asked anyone with information that might assist investigators to contact them at 204-986-6508, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS) or online.

One taken to hospital after Chudley Street fire

10:26 AM

One person was taken to hospital in unstable condition after a fire on Chudley Street.

Crews were sent to the two-storey townhouse on the first 100 block at 10:44 a.m. Wednesday and declared the fire under control at 11:27 a.m.

Everyone got out of the house before firefighters arrived.

Driver, 18, killed in Highway 8 crash

9:42 AM

An 18-year-old Stonewall man was killed when an SUV and a semi-trailer collided on Highway 8 on Wednesday.

Selkirk RCMP were sent to the crash site at the intersection with Highway 67, in the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews, at about 5:10 p.m.

Investigators determined the southbound semi-trailer and westbound SUV collided as the smaller vehicle crossed the intersection, RCMP said in a news release Thursday.

The driver of the SUV was pronounced dead at the scene. The other driver, a 43-year-old Winnipeg man, was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.