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Opinion

Editorial cartoon for Feb. 26, 2026

Opinion

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Files House Speaker Tom Lindsey

Banning five words won’t clean up the legislature

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Banning five words won’t clean up the legislature

Editorial 4 minute read Thursday, May. 7, 2026

Back in the 1960s, legendary counterculture comedian George Carlin gained notoriety — and sparked no small measure of controversy — with a standup bit in which he described the seven words that can never be said on television.

The monologue was, in keeping with Carlin’s body of work during a politically charged career that spanned more than five decades, insightfully hilarious with a clear intention to provoke. A brilliant rumination on the power of speech, it cleverly dissected the profane nature of the seven words while also stripping them of their impact by repeating them out loud for comic effect.

The question of whether certain words should or shouldn’t be said was front and centre this week — albeit in a decidedly less chucklesome context — in the Manitoba legislature with the declaration by Speaker Tom Lindsey that five specific words are heretofore considered unparliamentary and banned from use in legislative proceedings.

In an ongoing — and, by all appearances, generally futile — effort to re-inject a measure of decorum to a chamber in which debate and discourse have grown more fractious, coarse and belligerent over time, Lindsey ruled MLAs can no longer call one another any of these: “bigot,” “homophobe,” “racist,” “misogynist” or “transphobe.”

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Thursday, May. 7, 2026

Opinion

Letters, April 20

8 minute read Monday, Apr. 20, 2026

A place for garbage

Re: Spruce-up spree sweeps through downtown (April 15)

Much is being said about the garbage and dirt that is visible on Winnipeg’s streets now that the snow is gone. I am glad to see that efforts are being made to clean up what has been revealed.

However, some of that garbage would not be on the streets had there been receptacles for it.

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Opinion

Mikaela MacKenzie / Free Press files Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson

Health care delayed, health care denied

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Health care delayed, health care denied

Editorial 4 minute read Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2026

Manitobans have grown accustomed to hearing about long wait times in emergency rooms, delayed diagnostic tests and months-long backlogs for surgery. They are often framed as inconveniences — frustrating, yes, but often manageable.

The province’s latest critical-incident report should put an end to that illusion.

Delays in care are not merely an inconvenience. They can be fatal.

Between April 1 and Sept. 30, 2025, 16 deaths and 43 major injuries in Manitoba’s health-care system were deemed critical incidents requiring investigation. Among those deaths were five patients who experienced delays in accessing care, delays in treatment or delays in the system’s response to their deteriorating condition.

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Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2026

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 Monday, May. 18, 2026

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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Monday, May. 18, 2026

Opinion

Health Minister Marjorie Michel has announced the creation of a National Advisory Panel on Preventative Health Services. (The Canadian Press files)

Ottawa fumbling attempts to pull Canada’s health-care system out of the last century

Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

Ottawa fumbling attempts to pull Canada’s health-care system out of the last century

Dan Lett 5 minute read 12:57 PM CDT

Just about everyone — from political leaders to clinicians and certainly patients — agree that health care in Canada is in desperate need of reform and modernization. How is it then that we struggle so badly to accomplish what all of us know needs to be done?

Two recent examples provide an excellent study on how this country has adopted a one step forward, two steps back approach to health-care reform.

First, federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel announced Wednesday she was creating the National Advisory Panel on Preventative Health Services, a group of health-care experts who will make recommendations on how to “strengthen disease prevention and help ensure timely, effective and responsive care for all Canadians.”

The problem here isn’t the creation of the panel; the real concern is that this group has been struck to replace a another group, the Canadian Task Force on Preventative Care, which was disbanded a year ago following controversy over breast cancer screening.

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12:57 PM CDT

Opinion

Tim Smith / The Brandon Sun Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew

AI project halted early, without much clarity

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

AI project halted early, without much clarity

Editorial 4 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

For years, as the saying goes, the three most important things in real estate have been location, location and location.

Why? Because your location is fixed — most other things can change.

Enter Île-des-Chênes, and the plan — now halted by the Kinew government — for a massive data centre there.

For the proponents of the site, Jet.AI and Consensus Core, the location had everything they needed: first, purchasable land, but also, particular amenities.

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2:01 AM CDT

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Opinion

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew

A necessary step — but only the first one

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

A necessary step — but only the first one

Editorial 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Manitoba has taken an important step toward strengthening its health-care system by passing legislation that will establish nurse-to-patient ratios across hospitals, long-term care facilities and other areas of care.

The recommendations have now been delivered. The framework is in place.

What remains is the most difficult part: making it happen.

The province cannot afford to let this initiative become another well-intentioned health-care reform that spends years trapped in planning and consultation. Manitoba needs a clear implementation plan, a recruitment strategy and the resources necessary to ensure nurse-to-patient ratios become a reality as quickly as possible.

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Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Opinion

Banning YouTube is a bad call

Ann Evangelista 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew may have good intentions in proposing restrictions on social media use in schools, but a blanket ban on platforms like YouTube risks doing more harm than good.

In the rush to address concerns about screen time, online addiction, and student distraction, we may be overlooking an important reality: digital tools, when used responsibly, have become an essential part of modern teaching and learning.

As an educator, I spend countless hours preparing materials for my classes.

Effective teaching is not simply standing at the front of a room and talking while students passively absorb information. It involves designing lessons that engage students with different abilities, interests, and learning styles.

Opinion

Letters, June 8

7 minute read Monday, Jun. 8, 2026

Blind bidding deserves second look

Manitoba’s real estate market is legally bound to the blind bidding process, whereby prospective homebuyers are asked to submit their best offer without knowing the amount of competing bids. The real estate division of the Manitoba Securities Commission is the provincial regulator of the real estate market.

Supporters argue that the process is fair, because all buyers are treated equally and sellers are free to choose how they market their properties. However, this misses the central question — is blind bidding good policy?

Buying a home is often the largest financial decision a person will make. Yet buyers are expected to commit hundreds of thousands of dollars without access to information that would allow them to make an informed decision. In a blind bidding environment, buyers are forced to guess what others may be offering and frequently bid far more than would actually be necessary to purchase a property.

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