News briefs for Saturday, August 22, 2026

Kinew pledges unity in responding to trade war

3:08 PM

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Canada’s premiers are “100 per cent behind” Prime Minister Mark Carney as he moves to enact retaliatory tariffs after a breakdown in trade negotiations with the United States.

Kinew spoke with media at the Manitoba legislature, about an hour after a call with Carney and the other premiers.

“There was a really, really strong sense of unity,” Kinew said. “You’ve heard from many of those leaders by now. So, I just wanted to say very, very clearly, the government of Manitoba is 100 per cent behind the prime minister’s direction to retaliate against Donald Trump’s unjustified and immoral tariffs that are going to make life more expensive, yet again, for Americans.”

Kinew said Manitoba will be working closely with the federal government and the provincial U.S. trade council in the coming days, to develop a plan to deal with the effects of the looming tariffs.

“History will not be kind to Donald Trump, so we should never appease it,” Kinew said. “We should fight back, which is what Canada is doing today.”

BigXThaPlug misses Country Rising appearance after arrest

12:05 PM

Country-rap headliner BigXThaPlug, scheduled to appear at the third annual Country Rising festival at Blue Cross Park on Friday, missed performing at the festival after being arrested on drug charges in Texas earlier in the day.

According to Dallas’s KDFW, the performer, born Xavier Landum, was arrested by the Allen Police Department and booked into the Collin County Jail on Friday.

The jail’s website states Landum was charged with driving while intoxicated, marijuana possession of less than two ounces, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Firefighters douse blaze in vacant North Point Douglas house

11:31 AM

A vacant house in North Point Douglas was the scene of a fire on Friday evening.

At 8:54 p.m., the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to reports of a fire in a one-and-a-half-storey house in the 300 block of Austin Street North.

Upon arrival, crews found smoke and flames coming from the house. Firefighters entered the structure and launched an interior attack. They declared the fire under control at 9:25 p.m.

Firefighters searched the house and did found no occupants. No injuries were reported.

The fire is under investigation. No damage estimates were available.