Don’t be guilted into hasty decisions on future

Multi-year budget to force councillors, bureaucrats to focus on the big picture

City hall is putting the final touches on the 2019 preliminary budget -- but the real tough job will start after that.

The city is committed to developing a four-year budget beginning with 2020, and having it in place by the end of this year.

It's a process that is filled with uncertainties, trying to balance four successive annual budgets at the same time, using assumptions on revenues and expenses that can change without notice: a provincial government that has frozen funding to city hall at 2016 levels and is reluctant to disclose annual funding commitments or share in unexpected revenues; erratic fuel prices; a possible change in government in Ottawa, which could bring new spending priorities. And in the middle of that four-year span, another civic election where new members of council may have other priorities than those laid out by the current crop of office holders.

Municipal governments across Manitoba are required to approve their annual operating and capital budgets by the end of March each year. But the criticism of decision-making at city hall has been that all the decisions are made on a year-to-year basis, keeping voters happy with an eye on the next election.

Men accused in commercial break-in spree were wearing ankle bracelets

Two men in electric ankle bracelets who were being monitored by justice officials have been accused in a two-month spree of commercial break-ins, vehicle thefts and other property crimes.

City police have charged one of the suspects and are searching for the second.

About $140,000 worth of property, including trailers, lawn equipment, motorcycles and bicycles, was reported stolen in 13 incidents in Winnipeg and the Rural Municipality of Headingley between April 20 and June 28, the Winnipeg Police Service said.

Both suspects were wearing electronic monitoring bracelets during that time.

Officer who shot dog dead after it bit him won’t face charges

A Manitoba First Nations police officer will not face charges for fatally shooting a dog last year, despite the Crown describing the officer’s conduct as “concerning.”

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba announced it would not recommend charges Monday, more than a year after the incident was reported to the police watchdog.

A Manitoba First Nations Police Service officer went to a home in Swan River First Nation to make an arrest in June 2025, the IIU said. No arrest was made as the person police were looking for was not there. As the officer was leaving, a dog chained outside bit him.

The officer later returned with a carbine rifle and shot and killed the dog.

Grassroots organization teaches families how to navigate the child-welfare system

Jacqueline Rieu wants her son back. He’s eight years old, is on the autism spectrum and has been living in foster care since being apprehended by Manitoba Child and Family Services five years ago.

Despite outbreaks, Winnipeg care-home residents allowed to leave, visit families

When an email from the personal care home where Marie Tremblay’s mother lives landed in her inbox with the subject line “holiday season visitation,” her mind started racing.

Tremblay’s mom is a resident at Park Manor Personal Care Home in Transcona, where an outbreak of COVID-19 has infected 73 residents and 37 staff. Twenty-two residents have died due to the disease.

“They’ve asked families not to go in there during COVID; it’s bad enough with staff getting it. So, I haven’t gone in to visit her since the lockdown,” Tremblay said Friday.

In a follow-up email to Tremblay, the chief executive officer explained he was obligated to inform families that the regional health authority has set guidelines for out-of-home visits, or a “social pass,” despite the home strongly discouraging such visits.

Design engineer repeatedly told city officials police behind HQ’s rising costs, delays

A key player in the construction of Winnipeg’s downtown police headquarters repeatedly raised concerns with senior city administration about design changes pushed by the police service causing significant cost overruns and schedule delays.

Internal project correspondence newly obtained by the Free Press reveals the degree of frustration that was mounting for Peter Chang and the design firm Adjeleian Allen Rubeli Ltd., on the construction project.

On at least two occasions, Chang threatened to walk away from the job, complaining his firm had been mistreated by the city and police service. On another occasion, he accused the city of instructing him to censor a progress report critical of the Winnipeg Police Service.

The correspondence sheds new light on steps taken by city hall to limit the exposure of the police service in the controversial capital project.