New twist in Hellebuyck saga, suspension ends Friday

Connor Hellebuyck has played the reverse Uno card.

What we don’t know is if he has any intention of coming back to friendly Manitoba or if this is simply the latest attempt to put the Winnipeg Jets feet to the flames in an effort to move him to an American market.

Prior to puck drop on Saturday afternoon, when the Jets were getting set to host the Carolina Hurricanes, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported that the three-time Vezina Trophy winner and one-time Hart Trophy winner informed the organization he wanted to return on Oct. 2 and that his holdout has now shifted to a team-imposed suspension that can officially come to an end Friday.

The Jets were able to extend his suspension (for failing to report to training camp) because of a clause in the collective bargaining agreement, Article 15.13, subsection (c)(v), which reads: “If a player who has not received permission to be absent from training camp returns to the club, he shall be subject to a disciplinary suspension of reasonable length.”

Granite Curling Club wants judge to stop work on housing project, review city’s decisions

The Granite Curling Club has filed a new court action asking a judge to review and quash City of Winnipeg decisions on a controversial project that would construct a 110-unit housing complex on its parking lot — and to issue an injunction stopping work for now.

The new notice of application, filed in the Court of King’s Bench on Wednesday, comes as a judge mulls his decision on an earlier court application from the club over how the city moved forward on approving the development.

The developer has since begun what it calls “investigative work” at the site, conducting some digging to prepare for a heritage resources impact assessment that will determine whether the area has archeological significance, the chief executive of the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corp. Inc. 2.0 said earlier this week.

Work at the site prompted the club’s lawyers to file the new application, which will have its first hearing on Oct. 26.

Bayer Canada begins construction on new R&D facility in St. B

Instead of canola on Friday, there was sod.

But in two years’ time, by current estimates, the bare plot of land in a St. Boniface industrial park will hold canola samples and seeds for testing.

Bayer Canada officially broke ground on a 60,000-square-foot research and development facility Friday morning.

“It’s about bringing new and better innovation to farmers,” said Kacy Perry, Bayer Crop Science Canada’s country division head.

Team president locked out, day after speaking out on arena’s closure

A longtime team official in Manitoba’s hockey community says he’s being punished by the City of Winnipeg for speaking out about the poor condition of one of its rinks.

Barry Bonni, president of the River East Royal Knights, has occupied an office at Terry Sawchuk Memorial Arena for more than four decades.

On Friday, he was locked out.

“They’re on the war path,” Bonni said.

Police HQ report to be released Monday

The province confirmed Friday the final report of the public inquiry into the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters will be released on Monday.

The release will take place at a media conference with commissioner of the Winnipeg Police Service Headquarters inquiry Garth Smorang, scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday at the Manitoba Legislative Building.

The $2.3-million public inquiry took place over 27.5 hearing dates between February and May.

The city has faced myriad problems related to the WPS headquarters, a former Canada Post office building and warehouse at Smith Street and Graham Avenue, for more than a decade.

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.)

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.

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.