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Opinion

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Chief justice Glenn Joyal issued a sweeping ruling that federal and provincial governments breached the constitutional rights of First Nations via child-welfare funding.

This not just in: treaty rights carry legal force and are protected in the Constitution

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read 1:10 PM CDT

More than a century after the numbered treaties were signed across Western Canada, the courts delivered a blunt reminder last week that those agreements are not ancient historical footnotes.

They still carry legal force and governments cannot ignore them.

Two major court rulings — one in Manitoba and one in Alberta — reinforced a reality many Canadians still do not fully understand: treaties between First Nations and the Crown remain constitutionally protected agreements that continue to shape Canadian law, public policy and governments’ obligations today.

The decisions also underscored something else: Canadians would benefit greatly from learning more about treaties, why they were negotiated as Canada expanded westward and why courts continue to uphold Indigenous and treaty rights.

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Opinion

JEFF MCINTOSH / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Prime Minister Mark Carney shakes hands with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in Calgary on May 15. The most disappointing aspect of the Smith-Carney deal, Dan Lett writes, is not their stated intentions to build another pipeline.

Carney, Smith all smiles while time runs out on climate change

Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

Carney, Smith all smiles while time runs out on climate change

Dan Lett 5 minute read Yesterday at 1:31 PM CDT

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney were all smiles last week when they signed an agreement to begin construction of a new oil pipeline by 2027, while also delaying and softening an industrial carbon pricing regime that would apply to producers.

Both Alberta and Ottawa portrayed the deal as a victory: an agreement to fulfil one of Alberta’s principal economic development ambitions while also allowing Ottawa to claim it had agreement from Smith and the oil and gas industry to invest more in carbon capture systems in exchange for less punitive carbon pricing.

Those smiles were evidence both political leaders had erased from their memories a late 2025 report from the Parliamentary Budget Office. The report warned governments of all levels to brace for a rapid rise in the costs of mitigating and repairing damage from severe weather events triggered by climate change.

The PBO projected federal costs related to the Disaster Financial Assistance (DFAA) program, which provides financial support to provinces and territories to help pay for costs related to “natural hazards,” were going to double on an annual basis, starting this year.

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Yesterday at 1:31 PM CDT

Opinion

CHRIS YOUNG / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Canadian farm crop insurance programs have a participation rate of 75 per cent or higher.

Balancing act of farm risk-management programs

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read Preview

Balancing act of farm risk-management programs

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read Saturday, May. 16, 2026

It’s a long-standing and generally accepted principle of Canadian agricultural policy that farmers need taxpayers’ help countering the unpredictable and wildly fluctuating risks of their operating environment.

Farmers have some measure of control over production choices. Their management can increase yields and reduce reliance on expensive production aids such as fertilizer or pesticides. They can also build an allowance for the unexpected into their game plan, such as seeking off-farm income.

But that can only go so far.

Farmers can’t plan for weather, climate, twists and turns in crop prices, the effect of external forces such as U.S. President Donald Trump’s tantrums or becoming collateral damage in Canadian diplomatic spats with China.

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Saturday, May. 16, 2026

Opinion

Yes, thinking critically really is that deep

Yes, thinking critically really is that deep

Jen Zoratti 4 minute read Preview

Yes, thinking critically really is that deep

Jen Zoratti 4 minute read Saturday, May. 16, 2026

Lately, I’ve encountered a pernicious four-word comment that pops up every time anyone tries to challenge something online, such as a harmful beauty standard, maybe, or a stereotype in a comedy bit, or the ills of generative AI.

“It’s not that deep.” Usually accompanied by an annoying little “lol” tacked on the end of it.

When did people become so incurious? Is this think-piece fatigue from the 2010s when everything was analyzed to death? I understand wanting to turn off a busy, bombarded brain that’s on all the time — cue my favourite satirical headline from The Onion: Woman Takes Short Half-Hour Break From Being Feminist To Enjoy TV Show — which is maybe what’s going on here: how dare you force me to use my mind during this, my mindless scroll!

But the “it’s not that deep” stance is actually deeply concerning, especially among younger people. It’s a phrase deployed to kill all conversation and critical thought.

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Saturday, May. 16, 2026

Opinion

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS REITs hold portfolios of commercial real estate properties focused on specific types like multifamily rental, industrial, retail, office and even seniors residences.

REIT idea

Joel Schlesinger 5 minute read Preview

REIT idea

Joel Schlesinger 5 minute read Saturday, May. 16, 2026

Real estate is often on Manitobans’ minds. It’s close to home, literally.

We must either pay rent for shelter or own a home. Both can stretch budgets these days. Yet ownership is a cornerstone of wealth because the principal residence exemption allows for long-term growth in home values tax-free.

It’s been a heck of an investment if you were lucky enough to get on board before prices soared. Consider the aggregate benchmark (typical dwelling) price of a home was about $199,000 in 2006 in Winnipeg. Today, it’s nearly $395,000.

That’s an increase of nearly 100 per cent.

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Saturday, May. 16, 2026

Opinion

Magnific

Employees choosing stability again; what can smaller employers do?

Tory McNally 6 minute read Preview

Employees choosing stability again; what can smaller employers do?

Tory McNally 6 minute read Saturday, May. 16, 2026

For the past several years, employers have been operating in what felt like a constant state of movement.

Workers were changing jobs more freely, exploring new industries, pursuing higher wages and re-evaluating what they wanted from work. Employers were told they needed to move quickly, offer flexibility and be prepared for talent to leave just as quickly as it arrived.

The labour market felt fast, fluid and, at times, unpredictable.

Lately, there are signs another shift may be taking place.

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Saturday, May. 16, 2026

Opinion

TIM SMITH / THE BRANDON SUN Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew walks with other participants in the Moose Hide Campaign Community Walk in Brandon on Thursday.

Moose Hide Campaign against gender-based violence starts national conversations

Niigaan Sinclair 5 minute read Preview

Moose Hide Campaign against gender-based violence starts national conversations

Niigaan Sinclair 5 minute read Friday, May. 15, 2026

This week marked the 15th annual Indigenous-led Moose Hide Campaign aimed at stopping gender-based violence.

While the campaign is recognized by official observances in British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, this was the first time the movement went national, including a launch in front of a large crowd in Toronto and an online audience of 150,000.

Full disclosure: I was one of the speakers.

Regardless of my participation, the campaign has become one of the most important Indigenous-led movements in Canada – as well-known as Orange Shirt Day.

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Friday, May. 15, 2026

Opinion

Province has to untie Winnipeg’s hands in fight against vacant, boarded-up properties

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Friday, May. 15, 2026

Mayor Scott Gillingham deserves credit for at least trying to tackle one of Winnipeg’s most stubborn urban problems: derelict, boarded-up houses that sit vacant for years, rot into neighbourhood eyesores and too often become fire traps.

But let’s not pretend the city’s renewed use of “taking title without compensation” is some kind of game-changing solution. It isn’t. Not under the current rules.

The city has begun the process of seizing 48 vacant properties since council directed staff in December to use the tool more aggressively. That sounds impressive. It certainly makes for a strong political headline after a week in which firefighters battled six vacant-building fires.

Yet the uncomfortable reality is this: the vast majority of derelict property owners already know exactly how to avoid losing their buildings.

Opinion

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES MayorScott Gillingham

Progressive candidate sorely missing from mayoral race

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Preview

Progressive candidate sorely missing from mayoral race

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Thursday, May. 14, 2026

With Mayor Scott Gillingham officially launching his re-election campaign, one of the more intriguing questions surrounding Winnipeg’s 2026 civic election has less to do with the incumbent himself and more to do with who is missing from the race.

Specifically, where is the political left?

Where is organized labour?

Where is the high-profile progressive candidate prepared to challenge Gillingham on transit, homelessness, urban planning and the future direction of Winnipeg?

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Thursday, May. 14, 2026

Opinion

DAVID LIPNOWSKI / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Former premier Brian Pallister is among 12 Manitobans in line to receive the Order of Manitoba this year.

Is simply serving as premier enough to earn Order of Manitoba honour?

Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

Is simply serving as premier enough to earn Order of Manitoba honour?

Dan Lett 5 minute read Wednesday, May. 13, 2026

Former premier Brian Pallister will be among the prominent Manitobans who this year will be inducted into the Order of Manitoba. Not to be overly provocative, but does Pallister deserve the honour?

The order is intended to celebrate prominent citizens who “demonstrated excellence and achieved outstanding, sustained contributions to the social, cultural, or economic well-being of Manitoba and its residents.”

You can see many, if not most, of those qualities in the other 11 citizens who are being inducted along with Pallister: Former Canadian Football League star running back Andrew Harris; opera singer Tracy Dahl; singer, songwriter and producer Chantal Kreviazuk; and Olympic hockey medallist Jocelyne Larocque. Other inductees may not be as well known, but are prominent in their fields: Dr. Joss Reimer, now the chief public health officer of Canada; Indigenous leader Diane Roussin; elder Bille Schibler; Mondetta Clothing CEO Ash Modha; Applied Electromagnetics Laboratory founder Dr. Lotfollah Shafai; restaurateur and philanthropist Doug Stephen; and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Peter MacDonald.

It is pointless to spend too much time debating the integrity of the process that identifies inductees. There is an application form that must be supported by references. Applicants are then vetted by an advisory committee that makes recommendations to the current premier, who then makes them official.

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Wednesday, May. 13, 2026

Opinion

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Speaker Tom Lindsey should seriously reconsider the blanket banning of words such as “racist,” “bigot,” “homophobe,” “misogynist” and “transphobe” in Manitoba’s legislature.

Legislature language ban doesn’t make sense, doesn’t solve problem

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Preview

Legislature language ban doesn’t make sense, doesn’t solve problem

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Tuesday, May. 12, 2026

For generations, legislative assemblies across Canada have maintained long lists of “unparliamentary” language — words and phrases deemed too inflammatory for civilized debate.

The idea was simple enough: if politicians were prohibited from insulting each other directly, decorum in the chamber would improve.

That logic may have worked in another era. It clearly isn’t working anymore.

Which is why Manitoba’s legislature should seriously reconsider the blanket banning of words such as “racist,” “bigot,” “homophobe,” “misogynist” and “transphobe” in the assembly chamber.

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Tuesday, May. 12, 2026

Opinion

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES There is a rising tide of human suffering in Manitoba, despite significant government spending on health care.

Health, social crises worsen despite NDP’s undeniable efforts to address them

Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

Health, social crises worsen despite NDP’s undeniable efforts to address them

Dan Lett 5 minute read Monday, May. 11, 2026

Manitoba is currently staring down a tsunami of suffering.

The number of homeless people is growing. So are the numbers of people with addictions, drug overdoses and mental-health challenges. Emergency responders are under water. The people who live, work and own businesses downtown are pleading for help with increased incidents of random violence, open drug use and general mayhem.

Considering all of that, it is, perhaps, unsurprising that this is the only province in the country that has declared a public health emergency over rapidly increasing rates of HIV infection. More vulnerable people living rough with a broader range of challenges is fertile ground for a crisis-level outbreak of the virus.

Last week, Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief public health officer, said there had been a steady increase in the number of HIV cases over the last six years; in 2025, the province confirmed 328 new cases, up from 90 in 2019.

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Monday, May. 11, 2026

Opinion

MAGNIFICA ‘Maestros’ are often more focused on a company’s fundamentals. They invest based on the quality of the business and the prospects for future growth and profitability.

New book examines how leading stock pickers only right half the time, still get exceptional returns

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

New book examines how leading stock pickers only right half the time, still get exceptional returns

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, May. 9, 2026

The world’s best, most successful investors are not market wizards. They’re maestros, argues a former top fund manager turned successful financial writer.

To Lee Freeman-Shor, wizards are traders, speculating on price movements, and the successful ones are indeed skilled, making money by trading frequently based on pricing data.

Maestros, in contrast, are often more focused on a company’s fundamentals. They invest based on the quality of the business and the prospects for future growth and profitability.

A few years ago, Freeman-Shor — a former, award-winning money manager with a master’s degree in psychology and neuroscience — authored The Art of Execution: How the World’s Best Investors Get it Wrong and Still Make Millions.

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Saturday, May. 9, 2026

Opinion

MAGNIFIC For employers outside major urban centres, recruitment has become less about posting a vacancy and more about solving a complex puzzle. At the centre of that puzzle is the growing skills gap.

Rural employers competing harder than ever for talent

Tory McNally 5 minute read Preview

Rural employers competing harder than ever for talent

Tory McNally 5 minute read Saturday, May. 9, 2026

Across Manitoba and much of Canada, rural employers are facing a hiring challenge that goes well beyond having open positions.

The issue is not simply there are jobs to fill. It is in many communities, there are not enough people with the right skills, enough workers willing to relocate or enough local labour market depth to quickly replace those who leave.

For employers outside major urban centres, recruitment has become less about posting a vacancy and more about solving a complex puzzle.

At the centre of that puzzle is the growing skills gap.

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Saturday, May. 9, 2026

Opinion

JEFF MCINTOSH / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Saskatchewan-based Monette Farms owns and leases more than 400,000 acres of farmland spread across western North America.

Farm giant’s debt woes everyone’s problem

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read Preview

Farm giant’s debt woes everyone’s problem

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read Friday, May. 8, 2026

Rumours had been circulating the virtual coffee shops for months, so news this spring that Saskatchewan-based Monette Farms had sought protection from its creditors wasn’t a shock.

The mega-farm operated by brothers Darryl and Russell Monette obtained protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. With an extension granted this month, it now has access to $90 million to continue to operate and come up with a plan before June 19 for how it will service its debts and stem operational losses in an incredibly challenging environment.

Monette embarked on a massive expansion over the past decade to become what court affidavits describe as “one of the largest private farms in the world” — owning and leasing more than 400,000 acres of farmland and employing about 425 workers.

A labyrinth of 17 related companies and three limited partnerships is spread over four western provinces and several U.S. states. It’s farming activities focus on grain, produce, cattle, seed processing, vegetables and even a winery.

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Friday, May. 8, 2026

Opinion

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde (left) won’t be on the bus for Sunday’s Clásico in Barcelona after a Thursday punch-up with teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni.

Real Madrid president Pérez’s apathy like a wound in salt

Jerrad Peters 5 minute read Preview

Real Madrid president Pérez’s apathy like a wound in salt

Jerrad Peters 5 minute read Friday, May. 8, 2026

You know the schoolyard is out of control when parents’ phone calls to the office are the least of the principal’s worries.

Fisticuffs that end up requiring wheelchairs and trips to the hospital? Now those are actual problems. And when a third of the students simply refuse to acknowledge their teacher’s existence, you’ve got something deep-rooted on your hands.

Administration can only do so much. At some point the little brats must learn to play nice. Otherwise, they risk suspension from Escuela de Valdebebas.

Already, Federico Valverde and Dani Ceballos won’t be on the bus for Sunday’s field trip to Barcelona.

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Friday, May. 8, 2026

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