Winnipeg Free Press – Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada

Winnipeg Votes 2026: Live updates

Staff 1 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026

The latest updates from Winnipeg's races for mayor, city councillors and school trustees.

testing council TJI

Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old.

Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source.

New

Life & Style

Canadian war brides faced uncertainty, tragedy at Second World War’s end

Ian Stewart 8 minute read Preview

Canadian war brides faced uncertainty, tragedy at Second World War’s end

Ian Stewart 8 minute read 2:01 AM EST

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Cpl. Roger Firman landed on Juno Beach alongside his comrades in the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. Two days later, on what remains the blackest day in the regiment’s storied history, Roger and dozens of other riflemen were captured and murdered by Nazis from the 12th SS Panzer Division (Hitlerjugend).

The few who were lucky enough to escape told army authorities they believed some men were still alive as prisoners of war and that others had escaped but their whereabouts were unknown. Consequently the men were officially listed as “missing” until their fate was established after the Second World War was over.

Roger, 21, left behind his 18-year-old wife Jean (née Cooke), whom he had married 19 days earlier, and a loving family in Transcona. It was a torturous year of uncertainty for his new bride and family until they finally learned his fate.

The letters of Roger, Jean and her mother Rosina Kate Cooke were generously donated in 2020 to the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Museum and Archives by Roger’s niece, Elaine St. Hilaire. They are, as Canadian author and historian Melynda Jarratt wrote in her book War Brides, “reminders of marriages that were contracted in happier times, but for whom no future ever came.”

Read

2:01 AM EST

Local

The legend of Bigfoot is rooted in Indigenous storytelling.

Bonding over Bigfoot belief, biodiversity at North Bay nexus

Leah Borts-Kuperman 8 minute read Preview

Bonding over Bigfoot belief, biodiversity at North Bay nexus

Leah Borts-Kuperman 8 minute read 2:01 AM EST

Using night-vision goggles and thermal cameras, believers in Bigfoot traverse North American forests under the cover of darkness, as the large ape-like creature is believed to be nocturnal. Some Bigfoot trackers use plaster kits to make casts of suspected footprints; they record first-hand sightings and mysterious knocking sounds in detailed online databases, much like birders document observations on eBird.

On Oct. 10, about 50 of these believers — many avid outdoors-people who also spend their time camping, hunting and trapping — gathered at a church in North Bay, Ont., to discuss their experiences looking for Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch. It was a good turnout for a small northern-Ontario city on Thanksgiving weekend. The energy was lively but focused and, at times, even emotional.

Some were sharing their stories for the first time; this felt like a safe space to discuss their beliefs, one person said, as others agreed that they felt likely to be ridiculed elsewhere. Creating a welcoming environment was the goal of the conference’s organizer, Andrew MacKellar, who has searched for the creature for nearly 15 years, and is a well-known “Squatcher,” or Bigfoot investigator.

“Most humans do find things fascinating that they don’t fully understand,” MacKellar told The Narwhal after the event, the first of its kind in North Bay. “(Recently) there seemed to be, around the Great Lakes, a spike of sightings or encounters with people, even compared to usual. So I just wanted to draw that out for the North Bay area, and to see if that was the case.”

Read

2:01 AM EST

Local

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
Rookie councillors Sara MacArthur (from left) and Lora Meseman aren’t just learning the ropes as councillors, they’re also thrust into action as rookie members of Mayor Scott Gillingham’s executive policy committee, joining Couns. Jeff Browaty and Vivian Santos.

Rookies prep for Councillor 101

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Preview

Rookies prep for Councillor 101

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read 2:01 AM EST

The school for new city councillors is now in session.

The election last week ushered in nine new councillors, the highest turnover since 1992, who will receive an enhanced training program to help them adjust.

While the 17 council information sessions, which are to take place over six weeks, should help ease the pressure of a steep learning curve, Mayor Scott Gillingham was not wrong to describe taking in the surge of new information as like trying to drink from a fire hose, one new councillor said.

“It’s been pretty intense … It’s all moving very quickly. I think most of us expected that, but I think the formality of it gives more structure to the learning,” said Lora Meseman, who represents Transcona.

Read

2:01 AM EST

Business

Small firms irked at big budget letdown

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview

Small firms irked at big budget letdown

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Yesterday at 6:57 PM EST

Manitoba small businesses were given little thought in the 2026 federal budget, local sector groups say.

“The government once again focused on mega projects and big business while overlooking the small businesses that are the backbone of Manitoba,” said Brianna Solberg, Canadian Federation of Independent Business director of legislative affairs for the Prairies.

She accused Ottawa of “building expectations,” only to let small businesses down.

On Monday, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne hinted at changing taxes to improve operations for small- and medium-sized firms during an event in Toronto.

Read

Yesterday at 6:57 PM EST

Local

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS
Prime Minister Mark Carney and the federal government aim to end homelessness in Canada within 10 years.

PM’s billion-dollar plan for homelessness, mental health in Manitoba

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Preview

PM’s billion-dollar plan for homelessness, mental health in Manitoba

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:25 PM EST

A new centre for mental health and addictions in Winnipeg, which could open as early as 2029, was rolled out by the prime minister Friday as part of $1 billion earmarked in the federal budget to tackle homelessness in Manitoba.

“Here in Winnipeg, as in many cities across Canada, the homelessness crisis is acute,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said at a news conference at Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn, the former Hudson’s Bay Co. building in downtown Winnipeg, alongside Premier Wab Kinew, Mayor Scott Gillingham, Indigenous leaders, businessman Mark Chipman and others.

“Most people experiencing homelessness in Winnipeg have been without a home for six months or more. Some have lived this way for years, some for decades.”

Still to be determined is the location of the facility, which officials likened to a hospital, and similar details of 2,000-plus supportive and transitional homes, which are included in the funding, for people who are or are at risk of being homeless.

Read

Updated: Yesterday at 6:25 PM EST