News briefs for Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Maxime’s restaurant, closing soon, to open for dinner only

5:14 PM

A St. Vital restaurant closing next month will now offer dinner service only.

Maxime’s Restaurant and Lounge said in a Facebook post Wednesday that it will open at 4 p.m. until Nov. 23.

“Our kitchen staff is overwhelmed, and we must support them,” the post stated. “As some of our staff is securing new jobs, we can only reserve for smaller parties and not for groups anymore.”

Maxime’s announced Oct. 8 that it was not taking new reservations until further notice. The restaurant said Wednesday it is now accepting bookings by phone.

The Bekios family posted on Oct. 2 that the owners have decided to retire and have sold the land and building at 1131 St. Mary’s Rd.

Man defrauded workplace of millions: Winnipeg police 

12:52 PM

A former salesman is accused of defrauding his employer, a building product supplier, out of nearly $4.2 million over an eight-year period.

The man registered four fictitious home-building companies, including fictitious employees, between April 2016 and April 2024, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Wednesday. During this time, he used forged cheques to submit about 5,500 fraudulent applications through a rebate program set up by the supplier for participating business clients, the WPS said.

He continued to submit rebate applications after he was let go from the job for unrelated reasons in June 2023, police said.

“The supplier subsequently discovered the fictitious accounts/claims and notified police,” the release said.

The WPS financial crimes unit started an investigation in October 2024.

A 50-year-old man turned himself in to investigators about a year later, on Oct. 8. He faces charges of fraud over $5,000, forgery and use of a forged document. He was released on an undertaking.

Police dog memorial unveiled

12:38 PM

The Winnipeg Police Service unveiled a memorial to dogs who have served in its canine unit Wednesday.

California artist Susan Bahary created the bronze sculpture, titled Forever Faithful. It is located beside the canine unit building at 77 Durand Rd., on the grounds of the police service’s east district station.

The memorial is intended as a tribute to the more than 78 dogs who have served with the WPS since the unit’s inception in 1971. Four granite pillars are engraved with the names, badge numbers and years of service of the dogs.

A pathway of 436 engraved stones, donated by citizens and corporate partners, leads to the memorial. Each stone bears a personal message.

Construction began this summer, the WPS said in a news release. The memorial was conceptualized in 2016, and eight fundraisers were held over nine years.

Would-be robber wielded machete: police

12:22 PM

Two people are facing charges after an attempted robbery involving a machete.

The Winnipeg Police Service said Wednesday a 17-year-old boy and a 20-year-old woman were walking north on the 600 block of Main Street when two strangers approached them shortly after 7:30 p.m.

A man pulled out a machete, and the would-be robbers demanded property from the victims before fleeing empty-handed.

Officers arrested a 26-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman in the area of Main and Logan Avenue a few minutes later and seized a machete that had been left in a parking lot.

Both people arrested are charged with two counts of robbery. The man is also charged with failing to comply with a probation order. He was also arrested on two active warrants. He was detained in custody, while the woman was released on an undertaking.

The man has criminal convictions for offences that date back to March 2021, including assault causing bodily harm, assault and obstructing or resisting a peace officer. The majority of his convictions are for disobeying various conditions or orders.

Les Miz coming to Winnipeg

12:00 PM

Les Misérables, Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Tony Award-winning musical, returns to the Centennial Concert Hall for a limited run in early 2026.

Tickets for the shows, which run Feb. 24 to March 1, 2026, go on sale Oct. 20 at 10 a.m. at broadwayacrosscanada.ca and centennialconcerthall.com.

Often heralded as the world’s most popular musical, the English-language version of Les Misérables premiered at the Barbican Arts Centre in London 40 years ago this month. Based on Victor Hugo’s tome of the same name, Les Miz — which tells the story of former convict Jean Valjean who is obsessively pursued by police inspector Javert — has gone on to be a juggernaut of musical theatre.

Arrest made after Winnipeg man slain in Yorkton

10:21 AM

A Saskatchewan man is charged with second-degree murder after a Winnipegger was slain in that province.

Henry Wayne Chartrand, 51, of Yorkton was arrested Saturday. A man was found dead outside a home on Victoria Avenue in that city at about 3:10 p.m. on Oct. 7.

Saskatchewan RCMP identified the victim as Curtis Gilman Bourassa, 51, in a news release this week.

After the body was found, RCMP asked anyone who lives in the area of the 100 block of Victoria to check security and doorbell video recorded between noon on Oct. 5 and the afternoon of Oct. 7.