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.

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MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Premier Wab Kinew

‘I love the springtime’: Kinew hints at early election as NDP gathers for annual convention

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

‘I love the springtime’: Kinew hints at early election as NDP gathers for annual convention

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Updated: 6:48 PM EST

New Democrats from across Manitoba are gathering in Winnipeg to debate policy resolutions and get ready for a provincial election that must happen by Oct. 5 — but could come much sooner.

The party has $3.5 million to spend on the campaign and plans to expand its majority in the legislature, Premier Wab Kinew told reporters Friday.

“We’ve got enough candidates to grow our majority to represent you right across this great province,” the NDP leader said ahead of delivering a report to the 400 registered delegates at the RBC Convention Centre.

The NDP has 34 of the 57 seats in the legislature. The Progressive Conservatives have 19, mostly in rural Manitoba outside of vote-rich Winnipeg.

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Updated: 6:48 PM EST

Local

After a change in it’s delivery standards, Canada Post has instructed workers to stop concealing packages behind planters, between doors or in other private locations and leave them in the open. (THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES/Paul Chiasson)

Local union, Canada Post spar over package delivery rules

Scott Billeck 4 minute read Preview

Local union, Canada Post spar over package delivery rules

Scott Billeck 4 minute read 5:40 PM EST

Some Winnipeg letter carriers say they will continue hiding customers’ parcels to prevent theft, even if they face discipline by Canada Post.

The Winnipeg local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers warned that ahead of the holiday season, a change in the Crown corporation’s delivery standards will put their packages at greater risk of theft.

Matthew Aitken, a Winnipeg letter carrier and union officer, said workers have been instructed to leave packages in the open, including in apartment hallways. Previously, they were required to conceal parcels behind planters, between doors or in other private locations.

“I know that myself and other carriers will continue to put stuff between a screen door and a door or in people’s mailboxes,” Aitken told the Free Press Friday. “We will hide stuff and keep people’s stuff safe. Even if it’s against the rules.”

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5:40 PM EST

Local

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Files
The house at 575 Furby Street was demolished after being boarded up for six weeks.

City razes infamous West End drug den

Scott Billeck 3 minute read Preview

City razes infamous West End drug den

Scott Billeck 3 minute read 4:51 PM EST

A notorious drug house that has plagued residents of Winnipeg’s West End for years was reduced to rubble this week, bringing some relief to neighbours who had long pushed for action.

The three-storey home at 575 Furby Street, a hub for criminal activity in recent years, was demolished over the past two days. It had been boarded up for about six weeks following repeated complaints from area residents.

“It’s a good day,” said Cheryl Martens, a member of neighborhood advocacy group Furby United Residents who lives near the property between Ellice and Sargent avenues. “It is very good to see.”

Martens said residents had repeatedly contacted 311 and the province in an effort to have the property dealt with, making it a priority over the past year.

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4:51 PM EST

Local

(John Woods / Free Press files)
Headingley Correctional Centre

Thirty-minute jailbreak costs Headingley inmate one year of freedom

Erik Pindera 3 minute read Preview

Thirty-minute jailbreak costs Headingley inmate one year of freedom

Erik Pindera 3 minute read 1:28 PM EST

An inmate who escaped from Headingley jail, swam across the Assiniboine River and tasted freedom for a mere half hour has been sentenced to one year in custody.

Tyson Breland, 37, was handed the sentence, which amounts to time served, by provincial court Judge Mary Kate Harvie this month after pleading guilty to prison breach for the August 2025 incident.

Breland is still awaiting trial on more than two dozen charges stemming from a break-and-enter in Black River in which a woman and eight children were held at gunpoint on May 23, 2025.

While in remand custody in Headingley, he made a number of phone calls to his father and a former inmate, Joseph Swain, wrote Harvie.

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1:28 PM EST

Local

LINDSEY WASSON / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A global Microsoft 365 outage has created issues for Manitobans.

Microsoft outage cuts wide swath through communications in Manitoba

Chris Kitching 5 minute read Preview

Microsoft outage cuts wide swath through communications in Manitoba

Chris Kitching 5 minute read Updated: 4:46 PM EST

Governments, courts and police, credit unions, businesses and universities in Manitoba were among those hit by the global Microsoft 365 outage that disrupted email access, video calls and some phone lines.

For several hours Thursday, Winnipeg police used fax machines or hand deliveries for timely and sensitive documents, including for bail hearings, that would normally be sent electronically to the courts or Crown attorneys.

“(The outage) really limited our ability to communicate effectively with some of our partners,” Deputy Chief George Labossière said. “We resorted to some old-school tactics.”

He said the service used a manual system to keep track of prisoners who were in WPS custody, while Microsoft software that is usually used was unavailable.

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Updated: 4:46 PM EST