What’s open, what’s closed, what’s up in Winnipeg on Thanksgiving 2026 By: Free Press staff Posted: 12:45 PM CDT Friday, Oct. 9, 2026

Tenants battling landlords find help in short supply from province

For nearly three years, Quincy Houdayer and Avery Helm repeatedly pressed their landlord to address plumbing failures, water damage and other maintenance problems at their West Broadway apartment, with records showing some issues persisted until the couple turned to the Residential Tenancies Branch.

Emails and text messages between the tenants, Clearwater Management and the RTB reviewed by the Free Press document recurring leaks and flooding, periods without heat or hot water, concerns about mould and basement conditions and repeated followups from the couple seeking repairs.

“Most of the experiences we’ve had with them can be boiled down to, like, they either are very dismissive about it, they act like it’s not their problem… or they will just fully, blatantly ignore you,” Helm said, adding that the only way to get Clearwater to respond was to threaten going to the RTB, a provincial government agency.

RTB data obtained by the Free Press also shows 13 orders involving the three-building complex at 193-197 Furby St. in 2026 alone. All but one favoured the tenant, while the remaining order ruled in favour of both the tenant and landlord on different items.

Riding the Unity Bus to rally support for Canada in Alberta

WAINWRIGHT, Alta. — The Unity Bus arrives right on time, pulling into a parking lot on the edge of this town of about 6,600 people close to the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. As the vehicle slows to a halt, resplendent in its patriotic red-and-white paint, a small group of supporters stand waiting, decked in their own maple leaf garb.

The Unity Bus’s doors open and former Alberta deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk bounds to the ground. The supporters, volunteers with Lukaszuk’s Forever Canadian campaign, welcome him with applause; he greets them with open arms. He knows many by name, having been to Wainwright four times; some of them fondly call him “the boss.”

“Do you need some stickers?” he asks. “Do you need some swag to give away?”

It’s a chilly Thanksgiving Monday morning on the eastern edge of Alberta. A sharp wind nips at exposed skin and drab grey clouds hang low in the sky. Such weather does not encourage high spirits, but Lukaszuk and these volunteers can’t afford to let theirs falter: in just one week, on Oct. 19, Albertans will vote on a historic question on whether to remain in Canada.

Today’s horoscope

MOON ALERT: Caution. Avoid shopping (except food and gas) and important decisions from 3:15 a.m. until 8:15 p.m. After that, the moon moves from Scorpio into Sagittarius.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

It’s tricky because the moon is in your financial house, which might encourage you to negotiate financial matters and discuss shared property, banking details, insurance issues and inheritances. However, there’s a moon alert. Postpone these discussions.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Comparing the Iran and Vietnam Wars

The other day I asked my students in U.S. foreign policy to think about the relevance of the Vietnam War in relation to the ongoing war in Iran. More specifically, I wanted them to identify the similarities and differences between the two wars.