Physical warm-up can help heat things up again

Unions’ battle over turf hurts health care

When the Progressive Conservative government announced a plan to massively consolidate unionized bargaining groups in the health care system, it claimed the goal was to improve efficiency and patient care.

The fact that it has pitted some of the province's largest public-sector unions against each other in gladiator-style combat is just a side benefit.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees has accused the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union of lying and fearmongering in a bid to win the support of health care workers in upcoming representation votes.

CUPE's letter focused on the issue of whether the province, through the regional health authorities, will force home care workers and hospital aides, slated to become part of one bargaining unit, to change where they work on a whim to meet staffing shortages.

COVID picture remains bleak in Manitoba with record cases, three more deaths

A day after the province's top doctor admonished Manitobans for their cavalier approach to COVID-19, a starker picture emerged Tuesday, as a record 184 new cases and three more deaths were announced, including two patients at St. Boniface Hospital.

A man and a woman, both from Winnipeg and in their 80s, were patients at the province’s second largest hospital when they were diagnosed with COVID-19. A female in her 60s linked to the outbreak at Parkview Place care home also died.

Manitoba's death toll stands at 58. 

St. Boniface Hospital is managing an outbreak of the virus which has spread to include three units (B5, E5 and E6) and has infected 23 patients and 10 staff members.

Woman, 23, charged with fatal stabbing outside Portage Place

A 23-year-old woman has been charged with fatally stabbing a woman after they argued outside the entrance of Portage Place mall in the middle of the afternoon Tuesday.

Police officers responded to the area on the 300 block of Portage Avenue around 2:45 p.m. where they found Helen Annie Spence, 58, suffering from severe and life-threatening injuries, said Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Claude Chancy.

“There was a verbal dispute that led to a physical altercation, at which point the suspect armed herself with an edged weapon and then proceeded to stab the victim,” Chancy said, adding the alleged killer and victim knew each other.

Spence was taken to the hospital in critical condition, where she later died. Spence was a member of Misipawistik Cree Nation, which used to be called Grand Rapids First Nation, but had been living in Winnipeg recently.

Letter of the law: WPS, IIU clash in court

A precedent-setting legal dispute between the Winnipeg Police Service and the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba has taken an important step forward.

Competing interpretations of the rules governing police clashed Tuesday in the Court of Queen’s Bench, as lawyers representing the two agencies presented their arguments for the first time in open court.

At the centre of the case is the question of whether WPS cadets — civilian employees of the police service — can be compelled to hand over their notes to IIU investigators.

“At its core, this dispute is between two competing interpretations of a section of the Police Services Act… We suggest there is a duty owed by the Winnipeg Police Service to the IIU that is not being satisfied,” IIU lawyer Samuel Thomson said.

Each of city's historic bridges has unique story

They span the muddy waters from which Winnipeg derives its name. They connect neighbourhood to neighbourhood. They’re a fundamental feature of our city.

Winnipeg has a reputation as a “River City,” but many don’t know the stories behind the bridges they use every day.

While a bridge may seem to be a boring piece of basic infrastructure, many of Winnipeg’s have fascinating histories that go back more than 100 years.

Sons sue Nygard over ‘abuse’

Two of Peter Nygard’s sons have filed a lawsuit against their father claiming the Winnipeg fashion mogul paid a sex worker to rape them when they were teenagers.

The accusations from Nygard’s children — identified only as “John Doe No. 1” and “John Doe No. 2” in court documents — come to light as their father finds himself ensnared by mounting rape allegations.

The Free Press has identified both accusers in the case but is choosing not to name them to protect their privacy.

When reached for comment, Nygard's lawyer, Jay Prober, denied the accusations.