Nurses call for national strategy on seniors’ health care

Canada’s nurses are calling for a national strategy that ensures seniors have access to care while reducing the impact on the public health system.

“Nurses and health-care workers are stretched too thinly, and Canada’s population is aging,” Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) president Linda Silas said in a news release Friday after meeting with provincial and territorial health ministers in Winnipeg.

“It’s time to act.”

The federation called for a national human resources plan to help address staffing challenges, pointing to a Canadian Institute for Health Information report showing more than three million overtime hours clocked by long-term care workers over a one-year period — the equivalent of 1,500 full-time providers.

Violence directed at Winnipeg School Division support staff surges, union reports

Kicking, biting and other types of student aggression toward educational assistants in Winnipeg has surged 118 per cent since 2022-23.

The Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union released a breakdown Friday of violent incidents involving support staff in the Winnipeg School Division, the province’s largest.

“You don’t need to teach math to see the numbers are going the wrong way,” MGEU president Kyle Ross said in a news release.

The data shows a surge in “student-related aggression” involving both children with additional needs and other students between 2022-23 and 2025-26.

Database issues cloud city homeless numbers

The head of End Homelessness Winnipeg says she has no confidence in data about the city’s homeless population due to problems with the federal system that tracks those numbers.

Jennifer Rattray, the organization’s chief executive officer, told the Free Press Thursday it continues to work with the federal government to resolve problems with the Homeless Individuals and Families Information System, which keeps tabs on people who access homelessness services.

CBC has reported it obtained an internal memo from EHW that shows that as of the end of March, the number of chronically homeless Winnipeggers had fallen to 436 from about 4,400, as a result of efforts to correct the database.

Earlier this year, the organization had reported more than 8,000 people were accessing services.

Alberta’s immigrants feeling xenophobic chill from some questions in Monday’s referendum

EDMONTON — When Gurnam Singh Dodd came to Canada in 1976, he landed first in southern Ontario, where his brother lived. At the time, the province was mired in the era of stagflation, and it was difficult to find work; but he had some friends living in Edmonton, and asked for their advice.

“Come to Alberta,” they told him. It was a land of opportunity. The economy was booming, bolstered by soaring oil and gas prices; Dodd could surely find multiple jobs within days. With that, the young Sikh newcomer packed up and headed west, looking to put down roots on the edge of the Canadian Prairies.

Nearly 50 years later, that proved to be a wise decision. Dodd worked hard to succeed in his new home, moving up from his first minimum-wage jobs to a successful career with Edmonton Transit, and then as a driver’s licence examiner. He raised a thriving family, gave back to his community and became, in all ways, a very proud Albertan.

Around the turn of the millennium, eager to do his part in the province’s public life, he joined what was then Alberta’s Progressive Conservative party, under the leadership of premier Ralph Klein. (Klein’s father, Dodd says proudly, was a friend, and helped get him into politics.)

Minister disputes chief’s claim money offered to remove highway checkpoint

A provincial cabinet minister says he did not offer up to $250,000 for economic development to Bloodvein River First Nation’s chief in return for the removal of a highway checkstop that has outraged hunters.

Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures Minister Ian Bushie said he and Bloodvein Chief Lisa Young have discussed application-based Indigenous economic development programs.

“We talked about the opportunity for them to apply for that,” said Bushie. “We did not offer a bribe in any way, shape or form.”

Young said this week that Bushie raised the prospect of the money in a private conversation in September and told her the First Nation would receive a letter directing it to move the checkstop because it’s on a provincial highway.

Shoal Lake No. 40 First Nation, Ottawa reach $17.45-M treaty settlement

Shoal Lake No. 40 First Nation and the federal government have resolved a long-running treaty land entitlement claim and have agreed on a $17.45 million settlement.

The claim relates to seven islands in Indian Bay on Shoal Lake — known as the Garden Islands — which were promised to Shoal Lake No. 40 First Nation under Treaty 3 but were never set aside as reserve land, a Thursday news release said.

The First Nation filed the claim in 1991.

“This claim has been outstanding for many years, and we are very pleased to have reached settlement on this important matter,” Shoal Lake Chief Herb Green said in the release. “We continue to uphold our shared connections to these islands, and the settlement of this Claim is an important part of Shoal Lake No. 40 history and legacy.”

Manslaughter charge in death of chef stayed because conviction unlikely: Crown

A manslaughter charge has been stayed against a man arrested in the death of a Ste. Anne chef because prosecutors did not believe they could prove the accused wasn’t acting in self-defence, a court heard Wednesday.

Jeff Wyness, 46, was arrested May 12, 10 days after 49-year-old Cameron Huley was fatally assaulted outside a home in the RM of Ste. Anne.

“Following a thorough review of all the evidence, including witness statements, forensic evidence and the applicable law regarding the defence of another person, the Crown has concluded there is no longer a reasonable likelihood of conviction on the charge before the court,” prosecutor Keri Anderson told provincial court Judge Helen Krahn.

Steinbach RCMP were called to a home just after 11:30 p.m. and found Huley suffering from serious injuries. He died hours later in hospital.

NDP expects crypto, data centre electricity levy to shave about $50 annually off residential Hydro bills

Revenue from the province’s new electricity levy on cryptocurrency businesses and large AI data centres will go toward offsetting residential bills, rather than the coffers of cash-strapped Manitoba Hydro.

The levy is expected to generate $20 million annually, which would take about $50 per year off every household’s electricity bill starting in 2027, Finance Minister Adrien Sala told reporters Thursday.

“This is one step that we can make as a government to make life more affordable for Manitobans,” Sala said.

The default levy is set at 100 per cent of the current rate charges, with $20 million in revenue equivalent to a one per cent rate increase, Sala said.

Inquest into fatal shooting of Eishia Hudson concludes

The inquest into the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Eishia Hudson by a Winnipeg Police Service officer in 2020 adjourned Thursday with an Indigenous ceremony after more than eight months of hearings.

“This concludes what has been a very long process… This is an important process, and it is a preventative process, and the goal is to see what can be done in the future to prevent a tragedy like this occurring again,” said provincial court Judge Margaret Wiebe.

The proceedings, which began in February, examined whether the use of force against the First Nations teen was appropriate and whether systemic racism played a role in the incident. The judge’s task is to make recommendations that could prevent a similar death, but not to assign blame or liability.

Wiebe said she intends to file the final report as quickly as she can.

Word test

TESTING

Premier Wab Kinew is an imported Manitoban, born in Kenora and raised on Onigaming First Nation in Treaty Three (in northwestern Ontario) before his family moved to Winnipeg. He’s the son of well-known Anishinaabe leader and traditional knowledge keeper Tobasonakwut Kinew and Kathi Kinew.

These are the words we provided feedback on: Boniface, Cockburn, Dauphin, Dene, Hellebuyck, Iafallo, Íslendingadagurinn, Kinew, Kildonan, Malak Abas, Métis, Newfoundland, Orlikow, Pembina, Portage la Prairie, Premier, Regina, St. Vital, Samyn, Schiefele, vínarterta, Wiebe, Generation Z.

MPI still lacking brain injury expert

Manitoba Public Insurance has failed to hire an independent brain injury expert to probe how personal injury claims are handled, nearly two years after it was recommended.

Several speakers shared their stories about experiences with MPI in relation to brain injury claims on the opening day of the Public Utilities Board hearing into the auto insurer’s general rate application for a 2.38 per cent increase.

Jean-Marc Christophe said he had a concussion after a collision in September 2025. He said he’s had little help from the Crown corporation and it has left him confused and frustrated.

“Before the collision, I worked about 55 to 60 hours a week, worked every day as a courier. I delivered groceries,” he told the board Tuesday. “Trying to navigate this has been very difficult. I don’t have anybody to help me. I have to do it on my own.”