Opinion

Editorial cartoon for Jan. 16, 2025

Another erased piece of the Winnipeg that was

Melissa Martin 5 minute read Preview

Another erased piece of the Winnipeg that was

Melissa Martin 5 minute read Yesterday at 5:33 PM CST

The rubble was still smoking a little on Wednesday afternoon, though by then, all that remained of the place were its bones. Even these gave little hint of what they had been: a jumble of wood and metal charred, splintered, collapsed into a formless black heap, over which the tracks of an emergency bulldozer lurched and crawled.

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Yesterday at 5:33 PM CST

America’s descent into dystopia a warning for Canada

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read 2:00 AM CST

Canadians like to believe that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a permanent fixture of our democracy — solid, reliable and immune to the political winds.

But constitutional rights are not self-executing, nor are they immune to erosion. They survive only when they are actively defended.

What is now unfolding in the United States under aggressive immigration enforcement by the Trump administration should serve as a clear and urgent warning to Canada about the dangers of arbitrary arrest, detention and harassment by law enforcement.

The recent actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis are deeply troubling. Two residents, Brandon Sigüenza and Patty O’Keefe, say they were detained for several hours without charge after monitoring immigration officers during the Trump administration’s latest crackdown.

Fiddling while Winnipeg burns . . . again

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Fiddling while Winnipeg burns . . . again

Editorial 4 minute read Yesterday at 6:13 PM CST

Fires damage and endanger nearby property owners, harm neighbourhoods and business owners, endanger Winnipeg’s overstretched firefighters and leave a moonscape along major city routes, sometimes for years.

It is time for the city to become far more proactive and far less reactive.

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Yesterday at 6:13 PM CST

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS

A fire is put out Wednesday at the former Manwin Hotel.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
                                A fire is put out Wednesday at the former Manwin Hotel.

It’s time for a Ness Avenue redesign

Tyler Crichton 5 minute read Preview

It’s time for a Ness Avenue redesign

Tyler Crichton 5 minute read 2:00 AM CST

For residents of St. James, the intersection of Ness Avenue and Ferry Road has become a graveyard of car parts and mangled light standards.

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2:00 AM CST

Russell Wangersky/Free Press

Car parts left on Portage after an accident.

Russell Wangersky/Free Press
                                Car parts left on Portage after an accident.

A visit to Manitoba’s dystopian future

Scott Forbes 4 minute read 2:00 AM CST

IT is the summer of 2036. The world hurtled past the 1.5 C target for climate heating by 2028 as greenhouse gas emissions, especially in North America, soared under the Trump doctrine of drill baby drill.

Winnipeg now swelters in temperatures that hit 40 C between May and October.

The Squires government was forced to order the closure of Manitoba’s numerous data centres built during the Kinew era. Their water and power demands, especially in summer, are no longer sustainable. Being largely automated with few permanent jobs, they never delivered their promised economic bonanza. Three natural gas generating stations built at a cost of $10 billion, ostensibly to meet peak load demands in winter, were used 24-7 to service these energy vampires. That power is now needed elsewhere.

Summer is now the season of peak demand on the electricity grid, to meet cooling needs and EV charging during the summer driving season. Winters warmed dramatically as climatologists predicted, with temperatures rising at more than double the global rate. Days below -30 C are increasingly rare, allowing wind farms supplementing hydro to meet winter demands easily.

Letters, Jan. 16

6 minute read Preview

Letters, Jan. 16

6 minute read 2:00 AM CST

No one can dispute the level of violence and disrespect directed at teachers is increasing, or that teachers need more support to deal with such behaviour. However, the support they need must include support from parents.

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2:00 AM CST

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Teachers need more support.

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
                                Teachers need more support.

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Trump should stay out of Iran as much as possible

Gwynne Dyer 4 minute read 2:00 AM CST

ANY day now, the United States will “come to the rescue” of the protesters in the streets of Iran’s cities and American bombers will unleash “hell” on the minions of the theocratic regime — or not, as the case may be.

It’s nearly three weeks since the demonstrations started (Dec. 29) and U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats are getting old. His latest exhortation to the protesters, whose will to continue seems to be fraying a bit, told them once again that “Help is on the way!” but there is no useful way that he can keep his promise. Bombs alone won’t work.

Trump’s bombers cannot eliminate the elite Revolutionary Guard troops and Basij militiamen who are killing the protesters without flattening the cities they all live in together. His high-tech missiles can pick off the regime’s political leadership in their homes, but others will simply replace them.

A full-scale invasion might do the trick, but Trump couldn’t put boots on the ground even if he wanted to. Given his understandable reluctance to incur serious American military casualties, bombs are the only form of violence he can use against the regime of the ayatollahs. So where are they?

Letters, Jan. 15

7 minute read Preview

Letters, Jan. 15

7 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CST

I appreciated the piece by Rebecca Chambers about the Canada Life parking lot history. I knew some of this but not all of it. It underlines my continued disbelief that there seems to be no ability for the Granite Curling Club and Canada Life to strike a parking use agreement.

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Yesterday at 2:00 AM CST

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES

The parking lot near the Granite Curling Club where the City of Winnipeg has proposed to build a controversial housing development.

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES
                                The parking lot near the Granite Curling Club where the City of Winnipeg has proposed to build a controversial housing development.

Elected women must be treated fairly

Sherri Rollins and Janice Lukes 4 minute read Preview

Elected women must be treated fairly

Sherri Rollins and Janice Lukes 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CST

The City of Winnipeg has just launched its 2026 municipal elections website with a public signal that a key democratic event is not only approaching, but that participation matters.

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Yesterday at 2:00 AM CST

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Courtroom 210 at the Law Courts in Winnipeg.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
                                Courtroom 210 at the Law Courts in Winnipeg.

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