News briefs for Monday, December 15, 2025

Crews extinguish fires on Elizabeth Road, Magnus Avenue

1:38 PM

Crews extinguished two residential fires Sunday night.

Firefighters were sent to an apartment on the 700 block of Elizabeth Road shortly before 10 p.m. and declared the blaze there under control at about 10:30 p.m.

One person was assessed by paramedics but was not taken to hospital. Winnipeg Transit provided a bus residents used as a temporary shelter.

Earlier, at 8:20 p.m., firefighters were sent to a triplex on the 300 block of Magnus Avenue. Crews declared the fire there under control shortly before 9 p.m.

The fires are under investigation.

Police not at fault in Chemawawin death: IIU

11:51 AM

Officers were not at fault in the death of a man found lying in the street in Chemawawin Cree Nation, the province’s police watchdog says.

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba released a report Monday on the man’s death.

RCMP got a call about a man acting erratically shortly before 2:30 p.m. on June 27. One officer told the IIU they found him on Albert Street wearing only underwear and socks, repeating, “I pray to God, I am chosen.”

The officers handcuffed the man but struggled to get him into a police vehicle to drive him to the nursing station. After placing shackles on him, they managed to get him into the back of the vehicle.

He stopped thrashing and kicking during the short ride, and the officers noticed he was “blue in the face and unconscious” when they got to the nursing station, they told the IIU.

The man was pronounced dead there and was later determined to have died from a cocaine overdose. His age was not released.

Video from the officers’ body-worn camera shows the man foaming at the mouth, making nonsensical comments and periodically kicking his feet in the air, the report said. It also shows the officers struggling to get him into the vehicle and thrashing about inside.

The death “is clearly sad and tragic; however, it is not as a result of any actions by the police officers,” IIU acting civilian director Bruce Sychuk said in the report.

Feds provide $7.5M for Dakota Community Centre

10:47 AM

The federal government is providing $7.5 million for the first phase of a new arena and expanded facilities at the Dakota Community Centre.

Terry Duguid, the Liberal member of Parliament for Winnipeg South, made the announcement at a news conference Monday morning.

The funding will go toward an expansion that will include a fully accessible arena with dressing rooms, a new rink and a modern fitness area and ice plant, a news release said.

“By supporting this expansion, we are enhancing the centre’s energy efficiency, helping reduce operating costs, and making it a more accessible and resilient community hub for years to come,” Duguid said in the release.