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Premier Wab Kinew is an imported Manitoban, born in Kenora and raised on Onigaming First Nation in Treaty Three (in northwestern Ontario) before his family moved to Winnipeg. He’s the son of well-known Anishinaabe leader and traditional knowledge keeper Tobasonakwut Kinew and Kathi Kinew.

These are the words we provided feedback on: Boniface, Cockburn, Dauphin, Dene, Hellebuyck, Iafallo, Íslendingadagurinn, Kinew, Kildonan, Malak Abas, Métis, Newfoundland, Orlikow, Pembina, Portage la Prairie, Premier, Regina, St. Vital, Samyn, Schiefele, vínarterta, Wiebe, Generation Z.

Mayor 2 puts positive spin 3 on city’s less-than-edsfxpected share of federal housing fund

The city will receive $122 million in federal government housing money, falling about $70 million shy of the municipal government’s original request. However, Winnipeg’s mayor stressed the amount is substantial and should leverage millions of dollars of additional investment.

Calls mount for mental health court to serve Westman region

Defence lawyer Bob Harrison has spent almost 40 years practising in Brandon and brings up the need for a mental health court whenever he has a chance.

“I’m always yapping about it,” Harrison said. “We’ve got a lot of mental health problems in this area, so that’s why I keep going on about it.”

Manitoba’s only mental health court is in Winnipeg. Established in 2012 as a joint initiative between Shared Health, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Manitoba Justice, its purpose is to divert adults whose crimes are a direct result of their mental illness out of the regular court system.

Harrison said people with mental illness typically don’t function well in jail because they are “prone to getting picked on.”

City tries to get the most bang for its (sewage) buck

The City of Winnipeg is exploring new ways to reuse its treated sewage sludge.

An expression of interest seeks feedback on the best options and technology available to recycle biosolids, a byproduct of the sewage treatment process. The document notes the treated sludge can be composted, used like a fertilizer, or even be transformed to produce energy.

A massive $3-billion upgrade to the city’s North End sewage treatment plant will add new biosolids facilities that improve the end byproduct, which means the city could soon have more options to reuse it, said Cynthia Wiebe, Winnipeg water and waste’s manager of engineering services.

“The key difference is that there are no pathogens in the (biosolids from the new facility),” said Wiebe.

Indigenous veterans prepare to ‘recognize our own’ on official day

When the Canadian Armed Forces issued a formal apology for the abuses inflicted on Indigenous service members, Jack Park said it hit home.

He was deeply moved when the Indigenous Veterans Day Act — making Nov. 8 the official day to honour Indigenous veterans in Manitoba — was granted royal assent and became law.

“It was so well-received,” Park said on Friday as he prepared for the fourth annual Indigenous Veterans Day ceremony to honour Red River Métis veterans, which will take place on Saturday on Lac du Bonnet.

“I can tell you as an Indigenous person serving, it wasn’t a good thing to be me. They knew we were a different breed, I guess you could say, and they picked on that. The abuse was real. It was absolutely real. When I got out of the armed forces, I was treated like a regular Canadian citizen again. It was a welcome relief to come out of there.”

WPS officer pleads guilty to raft of corruption crimes committed over more than eight years

Stripped of the uniform he wore for more than 22 years, disgraced police officer Elston Bostock stood before a judge Friday in jail-issue sweats and pleaded guilty to a raft of corruption offences spanning nearly a decade.

Bostock, a 48-year-old Winnipeg Police Service constable, pleaded guilty to five counts of breach of trust and one count each of attempting to obstruct justice, obstructing a police officer, theft under $5,000 and disseminating confidential information. He also pleaded guilty to offering an indignity to human remains for an incident when he shared a photo he took of a naked drug-overdose victim.

Court heard Friday that Bostock repeatedly attempted, sometimes successfully, to get traffic tickets for friends and associates voided, usually in exchange for liquor or gift cards. He also repeatedly looked up licence plate numbers in internal police databases, passing on personal confidential information to drug dealers and other named “associates,” court heard.

Bostock was first arrested in November 2024, along with two other officers. He was arrested on more charges in August, along with a newly charged fourth officer. The arrests were the culmination of a lengthy internal probe by WPS professional standards investigators, with help from the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba.

Downtown groups plead for parking reprieve

The city is being urged to explore expanding paid parking beyond downtown before making any changes to the fees charged for city centre spaces.

“It is critical for the economic health of our city that we don’t discourage people from coming downtown (through parking fees),” said Kate Fenske, chief executive officer of the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, during Thursday’s public works committee meeting.

The city is considering a five-year parking strategy that could eventually overhaul parking practices and prices.

Paid parking times could be extended into evening and/or weekend hours, prices could increase to ensure turnover in high-demand areas and new fees could be charged where parking is currently free, the strategy notes.