Trucker convoy in Ottawa Protesters against the cross-border travel vaccine mandate for the trucking industry -- and calling for the end of other pandemic restrictions -- gather on Parliament Hill By: Photos by The Canadian Press Posted: 2:43 PM CST Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022 Last Modified: 6:23 PM CST Monday, Jan. 31, 2022

Most incumbents regain their seats… but not all

When it comes to civic elections, voters like incumbents — but that doesn’t mean they are always invincible.

Winnipeg ER nurse shares her account of the fight against COVID-19

She's a veteran nurse at a Winnipeg hospital who has seen her fair share of medical emergencies. But nothing in her past could have prepared her for what's unfolding on health care's front lines amid the coronavirus crisis.

There are stringent new safety protocols. There's an omnipresent fear of the unknown. It's all become part of the new, frightening reality for Manitoba health-care employees — the foot soldiers in this pandemic fight.

The nurse worked back-to-back shifts last weekend at a Winnipeg ER. The woman, who has requested anonymity, shared her first-person account with columnist Dan Lett.

Heightened anxiety:I was very anxious going into this weekend. I felt like I was going into my first job. I was physically terrified about going into the hospital because of what I was reading and what was going on, and what I perceived was going on. I felt sick, like I was going to pass out. I’m sure my heart rate must have been 140. I don’t think I’ve ever been physically scared in my job and I have seen some violent patients in the emergency over the years.

Election results: School trustees 2026

Below you’ll find live 2026 election results for school trustees in Winnipeg divisions.

We can display results only for wards in which Winnipeg voters cast a ballot; we do not have access to live results reporting for school boards outside of Winnipeg.

Manitoba teen’s assault conviction overturned

A six-year-old girl’s account of being sexually assaulted by a teenage boy at a park was enough to convince a Manitoba provincial court judge to convict the teen. But the judge’s comments about playground sand were enough for the province’s top court to overturn the conviction.

In a decision that shows how difficult it can be to secure a conviction in sexual-assault cases involving child victims, the Manitoba Court of Appeal has reversed the guilty verdict and ordered a new trial for the then-17-year-old male, who had been convicted and sentenced to probation for sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching.

Two out of three judges on the appeal panel decided there was a “miscarriage of justice” because the provincial court judge made legal errors in his analysis of the evidence — namely, whether the accused was telling the truth when he talked about the consistency of sand in the park where the girl was playing.

A third judge disagreed, writing in a dissenting judgment released earlier this month that the teen’s conviction should have been upheld. 

Province orders ban on private teacher-student messaging

Manitoba teachers are no longer allowed to text or use social media to contact a student – regardless of whether they coach a school sports team or supervise other activities outside typical instruction times.

On Friday, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt announced a universal ban on school staff initiating remote communications with a student, as well as responding to any messages on “unauthorized” platforms.

“There is never a reason for those communications to be happening in private,” Schmidt told reporters during an afternoon news conference inside her office in the legislature.

“Communications must always be done on a platform that is monitored and, ideally, with parents’ consent and direct involvement.”