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‘The fireman grabbed me… and pulled me out’

‘The fireman grabbed me… and pulled me out’

Survivor recounts horror of losing granddaughter, cousin; within four minutes, small West End fire became fatal inferno

Chris Kitching 5 minute read Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026

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‘Thought it was the flu’: more sick after eating at hotel buffet

Kevin Rollason 2 minute read Friday, Feb. 6, 2026

More possible victims of a case of suspected food poisoning at a prominent hotel have come forward.

A provincial government spokeswoman said two more reports came in on Friday after an article was published in the Free Press.

It brings the official total to 17 people who have complained they got sick after eating at a buffet at the Victoria Inn Hotel and Convention Centre at 1808 Wellington Ave., last weekend.

However, the Free Press heard from others who got sick but didn’t report it.

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Mark Blinch / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES

Air Canada announced it halted flights to Cuba due to the ongoing shortage of aviation fuel on the island, saying current projections will exhaust the supply of commercial fuel by Feb. 10.
Mark Blinch / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Air Canada announced it halted flights to Cuba due to the ongoing shortage of aviation fuel on the island, saying current projections will exhaust the supply of commercial fuel by Feb. 10.

Manitobans in Cuba stay calm as airlines cancel trips owing to fuel shortage

Tyler Searle 5 minute read Preview

Manitobans in Cuba stay calm as airlines cancel trips owing to fuel shortage

Tyler Searle 5 minute read Monday, Feb. 9, 2026

As he basked in the sunshine in Varadero, Cuba, on Monday, it was hard for Manitoban Geof Langen to imagine anything might interrupt his vacation — but when news broke that Air Canada had cancelled international flights to the island nation, it gave him pause.

“It’s kind of been the talk of today amongst Canadians. We’re a pretty large group down here, and everyone right now seems pretty calm,” Langen said by phone.

“Mostly, we’re enjoying Cuba and the incredibly gracious and hospitable people and great weather. It hasn’t at this point brought a damper or a sense of concern, beyond just paying attention to what’s going on.”

Air Canada decided to suspend service to Cuba days after Langen arrived in Varadero aboard a WestJet flight late Saturday. He and his partner are staying at a resort with friends, and were expecting a third couple from Manitoba to join them on Monday.

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Monday, Feb. 9, 2026

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JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES

Taiv Inc. CEO Noah Palansky (left) and chief technology officer Jordan Davis.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES Taiv Inc. CEO Noah Palansky (left) and chief technology officer Jordan Davis.

Winnipeg-based tech firm Taiv closes US$13M growth round

Aaron Epp 3 minute read Preview

Winnipeg-based tech firm Taiv closes US$13M growth round

Aaron Epp 3 minute read Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026

Taiv Inc. may rely on AI, but there’s nothing artificial about the Winnipeg company’s progression.

The tech company has closed a US$13 million growth round fewer than nine months after raising US$10.5 million in series A financing.

The latest round is a combination of debt and equity, and brings the total capital raised to more than US$30 million. The company’s latest valuation is just under US$100 million, said Taiv co-founder and CEO Noah Palansky.

“This is really a growth round,” he said. “It’s about hiring people and really investing in our product. We want to make something that’s amazing.”

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Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026

Legislature

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS

Rebecca Schneider worked at the Health Sciences Centre between 2009 and 2014.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Rebecca Schneider worked at the Health Sciences Centre between 2009 and 2014.

Health-care ‘frustration’ keeps Manitoba nurse away

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Preview

Health-care ‘frustration’ keeps Manitoba nurse away

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Monday, Feb. 9, 2026

A former Manitoba nurse working in Minnesota says despite political turmoil she won’t return home to practise due to the state of the province’s health-care system.

Rebecca Schneider has considered moving back to Manitoba since November 2024, when Donald Trump was re-elected.

As the U.S. has stepped up immigration enforcement raids to seek out undocumented immigrants, Schneider said she feels unsafe in her own city.

“I have felt more unsafe in the last month with all the (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) activity in Minneapolis than I ever felt during COVID, during the riots with George Floyd’s incident in 2020,” she told the Free Press, referencing the Black man murdered by a white police officer. “There’s areas of the city you just can’t go anymore.”

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Monday, Feb. 9, 2026

Local

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES

City council’s community services committee is set to revisit fireworks restrictions next March.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES City council’s community services committee is set to revisit fireworks restrictions next March.

Councillors push decision on new fireworks restrictions to next spring

Malak Abas 4 minute read Preview

Councillors push decision on new fireworks restrictions to next spring

Malak Abas 4 minute read Tuesday, Apr. 14, 2026

Fire prevention officers will meet with cultural groups and fireworks sellers to talk about conducting safe celebrations, but the city won’t impose any bans or create new bylaws before next year.

City council’s community services committee heard from the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service Tuesday and from speakers arguing both for and against additional fines, enforcement or restrictions around the sale and use of fireworks.

The committee was split on how to approach new fireworks bylaws and eventually voted to revisit the issue next March, promising to create a working group to explore the issue further, in the meantime.

“I think it’s a very complicated file, and it’s important that we’re able to hear from the councillors on what direction they want this to take for the city,” Lisa Gilmour, the WFPS’ assistant chief of community risk reduction, said after Tuesday’s meeting.

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Tuesday, Apr. 14, 2026

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Opposition house leader Derek Johnson, right.
Opposition house leader Derek Johnson, right.

Health care at heart of spring session as MLAs head back to legislature

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

Health care at heart of spring session as MLAs head back to legislature

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Wednesday, Mar. 4, 2026

Health care bills top the NDP government’s legislative agenda as MLAs return for the spring session Wednesday.

Premier Wab Kinew said Tuesday that a patient safety charter, nurse-to-patient ratios “and then ending mandatory overtime” are his government’s priorities.

“Those are the ones I really want to see,” Kinew told reporters Tuesday, echoing messages contained in November’s throne speech.

The Manitoba Nurses Union said it supports bills to strengthen health care but isn’t sure how and when they can be enforced.

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Wednesday, Mar. 4, 2026

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Julie Regner loves to see Canadians tackle the slopes or après-ski at North Dakota’s Frost Fire Park.
SUPPLIED Julie Regner loves to see Canadians tackle the slopes or après-ski at North Dakota’s Frost Fire Park.

Manitobans continue to draw line in sand, choose not to cross once-neighbourly line on land

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Preview

Manitobans continue to draw line in sand, choose not to cross once-neighbourly line on land

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Monday, Feb. 23, 2026

Julie Regner loves to see Canadians tackle the slopes or après-ski at North Dakota’s Frost Fire Park, which has drawn skiers and snowboarders across the border for decades.

While there hasn’t been an official tally of visitors this season, the park’s general manager doesn’t think she’s seeing as many Manitobans amid the steep decline in Canadians venturing south.

“I would say it’s maybe decreased some from last year. They’re definitely still coming down to ski,” Regner said from the park, which is close to Walhalla, just 10 kilometres south of the border.

“We just love having them come down. They’re super nice people.”

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Monday, Feb. 23, 2026

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Canadians from coast to coast are finding and displaying patriotic pride

TIM SMITH / THE BRANDON SUN FILES A Canadian flag is see affixed to the side of a barn along Grand Valley Road west of Brandon on Thursday. In the wake of U.S. tariffs against Canada and comments by President Donald Trump about Canada becoming the 51st state, Canadian flags and other displays of patriotism have been much more visible in Brandon and across the country. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

The week that was: July 12-18

The week that was: July 12-18

Listen: Niigaan and the Lone Ranger podcast

Niigaan and the Lone Ranger podcast

Old barn reconstructed in Lego, brick by brick

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Jets salute the crowd after the final game at Winnipeg Arena, a 4-1 loss to Detroit. Norm MacIver scored the final Jets 1.0 goal.

Festive feast of children’s books sure to please young readers

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Alexander Heather, 7, (left) and his nine-year-old brother Stewart get into the holiday spirit while poring through some of this year’s books for younger readers.

Local

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS

Dante Taylor spoke at Thursday’s summit on student absenteeism. The Grade 11 student is now encouraging his friends to work towards graduation.
RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Dante Taylor spoke at Thursday’s summit on student absenteeism. The Grade 11 student is now encouraging his friends to work towards graduation.

Brainstorming session proposes solutions to alarming rate of student absenteeism

Maggie Macintosh 6 minute read Preview

Brainstorming session proposes solutions to alarming rate of student absenteeism

Maggie Macintosh 6 minute read Yesterday at 6:54 PM CDT

Dante Taylor spent much of his early high school career ditching class — a routine occurrence outside of football season — to hang out at trap houses in Winnipeg.

“For so long, I just didn’t care,” the 16-year-old told an auditorium packed with 200 people, many of them principals and superintendents, at a summit on student absenteeism.

“It wasn’t something that seemed to be important to me because it didn’t seem to be important to anybody that I was around.”

Dante said his perspective changed recently, after meeting with a guidance counsellor, doing extensive self-reflection and enrolling in a physics course that he finds equally fascinating and challenging.

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Yesterday at 6:54 PM CDT

Local

THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES

Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said the province is taking action to create more affordable housing for Indigenous seniors.
THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said the province is taking action to create more affordable housing for Indigenous seniors.

Shortage of housing for Indigenous seniors in city raising concerns ahead of northern flood, fire evacuations

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

Shortage of housing for Indigenous seniors in city raising concerns ahead of northern flood, fire evacuations

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Yesterday at 6:31 PM CDT

A small group of women elders is expressing concerns about a lack of urban housing for Indigenous seniors, warning the crisis will only worsen as flood and wildfire evacuations uproot more from their communities.

“A lot of our people are coming from rural areas to the city, especially with the wildfires and the floods,” Kathy Mallett said at a forum Thursday at Sergeant Tommy Prince Place in north Winnipeg hosted by the Indigenous Seniors Resource Centre’s research committee.

“We’re going to have more and more people coming into the city looking for places to live. Guess what? We don’t have any homes for them.”

Older Indigenous adults are a fast-growing segment of Canada’s population, data shows. The proportion aged 65 and up grew from 4.8 per cent in 2006 to 7.3 per cent in 2016, and is projected to double by 2036. In Manitoba, the 2021 census reported 10 per cent of the province’s population identify as Indigenous, 52 per cent of whom identify as Métis and 46 per cent as First Nation.

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Yesterday at 6:31 PM CDT

Local

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Files

The St. Vital Park duck pond is set to get an update, with a new design scheduled to be completed this year and construction expected in 2027.
Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Files The St. Vital Park duck pond is set to get an update, with a new design scheduled to be completed this year and construction expected in 2027.

St. Vital Park duck pond to get new design before $3-M rehabilitation in 2027

Joyanne Pursaga 3 minute read Preview

St. Vital Park duck pond to get new design before $3-M rehabilitation in 2027

Joyanne Pursaga 3 minute read Yesterday at 5:16 PM CDT

A new design is set to spruce up the duck pond at St. Vital Park, making it deeper, more naturalized and less prone to algae.

St. Vital Coun. Brian Mayes said a design for the site will be completed this year, with construction expected in 2027.

“There are problems with algae and… the pond is too shallow. (But the pond is also) a landmark in St. Vital. We’ve got the pavilion that’s about 12 years old next to it, which has been very well-used. It just seemed appropriate to clean up the pond, to modernize it,” said Mayes.

The city has budgeted just under $3 million in 2027 to dredge the pond and naturalize its basin. Federal gas tax dollars are expected to cover that tab.

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Yesterday at 5:16 PM CDT

Local

TIM TEETAERT PHOTO

The Nature Conservancy of Canada purchased a property in the Rural Municipality of Reynolds from a Manitoba family.
TIM TEETAERT PHOTO The Nature Conservancy of Canada purchased a property in the Rural Municipality of Reynolds from a Manitoba family.

Family donates 636 acres of peatlands near Elma to nature conservancy

Tyler Searle 3 minute read Preview

Family donates 636 acres of peatlands near Elma to nature conservancy

Tyler Searle 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 4:30 PM CDT

A Manitoba family is doing their part to support the ecosystem by making a deal with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to protect 636 acres of peatlands in perpetuity.

The non-profit purchased the property in the Rural Municipality of Reynolds from Vince Proceviat and Karen Antle. The couple agreed to donate 20 per cent of the land’s value in honour of Proceviat’s late uncle, William North.

“This will safeguard clean water, store carbon and support wildlife and communities for generations. The project shows how caring for the land today can have a lasting benefit far beyond our own life times,” said Tim Teetaert, natural area manager with the nature conservancy.

The tract of land is approximately 10 kilometres southeast of Elma and is surrounded by Crown land. It features black spruce bogs, shrubby ferns and a large amount of peat — a natural resource composed of decaying organic matter.

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Updated: Yesterday at 4:30 PM CDT

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