Hydro rejects generator option for evacuated community

The chief of an evacuated northern First Nation that is still without electricity has demanded the provincial and federal governments spend $8 million on a generator so residents can return home, however Manitoba Hydro says the proposal is unrealistic.

Worse-for-wear riverwalk a victim of total neglect

Partway down my well-beaten path from West Broadway to The Forks, I feel a bit like Dorothy navigating Oz. The path ahead is lined with Winnipeg’s version of dancing poppies and flying monkeys: hazards, confrontations and ghostly spectres to which we’ve become perhaps far too accustomed.

Winnipeggers’ pride bruised by crime, broken infrastructure: poll

Life in the big city on the Prairies isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, suggests a new poll that shows Winnipeggers are much less positive about their community than other Manitobans are about theirs.

The poll shows 76 per cent of Winnipeggers agree the city is a great place to live, but a contradictory finding is that they believe conditions in Manitoba’s capital are as bad as they have ever been. Those sentiments are highlighted in a Probe Research poll that found Winnipeggers are “proud, yet profoundly frustrated” about crime and aging infrastructure and their faith in public officials has dwindled.

“We definitely see that there is a palpable sense of frustration with some things, especially for younger folks,” Probe partner Curtis Brown said Tuesday

“This says that there’s work to do. The public expects work to be done to fix some of these big, ongoing challenges that Winnipeg — and all communities, frankly — have been grappling with for years.”

Le centre d’interprétation Saint-Léon: là où souffle l’esprit de la nature et de l’innovation

Avec ses galeries interactives, ses sentiers en pleine nature et son riche contenu éducatif, le Centre d’interprétation Saint-Léon est bien plus qu’un simple musée rural. En 2025, la communauté célèbre les 20 ans du premier parc éolien du Manitoba — une réalisation marquante racontée au cœur du Centre. Entre salamandres mystérieuses, énergies vertes et oiseaux migrateurs, les visiteurs y découvrent un territoire où science, nature et fierté locale se rencontrent.

Situé près du lac Saint-Léon, le Centre d’interprétation Saint-Léon a toujours eu pour vocation d’éduquer les curieux, qu’ils soient touristes ou de la région, mais aussi de rassurer. Lorraine Mabon, la présidente, raconte:

“Le but original, c’était de parler des salamandres et de leur rôle, parce qu’il y en avait énormément dans la région et les gens en avaient un peu peur. Mais les salamandres, qu’on trouve sur les terres humides, sont une bonne chose: elles sont indicatrices de la bonne santé de l’environnement.

“Un autre fait intéressant, c’est que si elles perdent un membre, elles peuvent le régénérer! Beaucoup de scientifiques étudient cette faculté exceptionnelle.”

Explore Indigenous discovery centre opens its doors at The Forks Market

People seeking tourism opportunities in Manitoba have a new resource.

Indigenous Tourism Manitoba and The Forks North Portage Partnership celebrated the grand opening on Friday of Explore Indigenous, a new space that aims to build awareness and understanding of Indigenous-led tourism experiences in the keystone province.

Located at The Forks Market, the downtown Winnipeg discovery centre offers self-guided learning tools and interpretative displays that introduce visitors to Indigenous Tourism Manitoba’s network of operators — who they are, where they’re located and what types of experiences they offer.

A curated product showcase features artisans who have been accredited through the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada’s Original Original program, which highlights businesses and experiences that are at least 51 per cent Indigenous-owned.

Downtown pilot project will add furniture, art, picnic tables to Graham Avenue

Over the next three weeks, the city aims to breathe new life into a four-block stretch of Graham Avenue, with a bright new look, ping pong tables, street furniture and art.

As the Free Press reported last week, a pilot project will see Graham reserved for cyclists and pedestrians between Carlton and Garry streets, once a new primary transit network removes buses from the area on June 29.

On Monday, the city laid out its vision for the pilot, which is expected to continue at least until the end of summer.

“The buses will move off of Graham Avenue and in just three weeks … after that, we will completely transform this stretch of Graham,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham.

Animal Services asks for help building sensory garden

The City of Winnipeg is counting on dog lovers to make life easier for furry companions who end up in its shelter.

Jennifer Medlicott, the communications co-ordinator at the Animal Services Agency, said there’s a desperate need to create a sensory garden in the facility’s outdoor play yards. The agency, at 1057 Logan Ave., generally houses more than two dozen dogs at a time.

“We’re just looking for opportunities to make the lives of the animals in our care better and I just think we just saw an opportunity,” said Medlicott on Friday. “We dream of a future where we have a large-scale transformation, but we were also trying to look at some short-term solutions and that’s where the sensory garden came up.”

A sensory garden is an area designed to stimulate one or more of the five senses: sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. It incorporates trees, flowers, and any other elements in nature to help reduce stress.

Wildfire smoke changing outdoor sports landscape

Air quality concerns due to wildfire smoke are changing the landscape of sporting events in Winnipeg. From community centre-run programs to professional leagues, outdoor sports have been impacted by smoke delays, cancellations and playing in less than ideal conditions, leading some to rethink how summer outdoor seasons should be planned going forward.

Krista Fraser-Kruck, general manager of Riverview Community Centre in South Osborne, which offers baseball, soccer, softball, ultimate (frisbee) and summer day camps, says wildfire smoke has forced cancellations and caused rescheduling challenges, especially difficult in a short summer season.

“The priority is keeping kids safe,” said Fraser-Kruck. “For our community, we just want to keep our kids safe, and so doing what’s in the best interest of their health is our priority.”

For their youth soccer games, Riverview Community Centre follows the Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association’s policy, which calls for citywide cancellations if Environment Canada’s Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) reaches seven or higher.

More than 7,000 elms felled in Winnipeg last year due to disease

A city report reveals elm trees were chopped down more than expected last year due to Dutch elm disease.

Rent-free months and gift cards: How Toronto-area landlords are vying for tenants

TORONTO - Toronto landlords are trying to lure in tenants with rent-free months, complimentary Wi-Fi and $500 gift cards amid an unprecedented supply of condos and lower rents.

Real-estate market experts say the fierce competition – which extends beyond the Greater Toronto Area – is giving renters more negotiating power, echoing trends last seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two months of free rent, free parking and gift cards for food delivery or public transit are among thousands of dollars' worth of perks and discounts advertised on Toronto rental listing websites and apps.

While such incentives are ubiquitous in Toronto, landlords in other GTA cities and the Greater Hamilton Area are also locked in a tight contest that benefits renters.

Program offers a promising future

As soon as Anfernee Clarke learned about the Pre-Apprentice Bricklayer Program being offered by First Peoples Development Inc. he was intrigued.

A decade ago an 18-year-old Clarke started working in the construction industry doing concrete work. He loved the physical nature of the work but a back injury he suffered five years ago forced him to temporarily put that career on hold and seek out other employment opportunities.

Now fully healed, he learned about FPDI’s bricklayer program late last year and wasted no time applying. He was one of 12 people who were part of the program’s initial cohort of students when it was launched this past January.

“I made up my mind pretty quickly (about applying),” he says.

Infill housing is not the enemy of nature

What do infill housing, rain gardens, backyard cottages, and the urban forest have in common?

Leaving auto repair life in the rear-view

For decades, Cadillacs, Mustangs and Audis have overnighted in the Exchange District for repairs and transformations.

Now, a Winnipeg mechanic envisions a new use for his shop — one that sees it filled with milk and produce instead of wrenches and tires.

“There’s no groceries down here,” said Andy Baranowski, owner of J.W. McDonald Auto Service. “Where are you going to get your milk?”

The 189 Bannatyne Ave. building has been an auto repair garage for almost a century — since 1923, according to the Manitoba Historical Society.

Group engages community on renaming Wolseley neighbourhood

In 1870, Col. Garnet Wolseley led a military expedition into Manitoba to violently overthrow Louis Riel’s provisional government at the Red River Colony. On Sunday afternoon, a group gathered at Vimy Ridge Park to discuss how to push for the renaming of the neighbourhood that bears his name.

Red River Echoes, a Métis collective that first came together with the purpose of “bringing an alternative voice to what Métis people think in Manitoba” after Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand put out an ad with the Winnipeg Free Press in March in support of the Winnipeg Police Service, put together the rendezvous to take questions and comments community members might have around the growing conversation to rename Wolseley.

"With a lot of names being changed right now, we thought it was a good opportunity,” Red River Echoes member Claire Johnston said. “And Wolseley in particular has a really violent and negative association for Métis people, and also all other people of colour in who live in Winnipeg.”

In the months since the remains of 215 children were found in unmarked graves near a residential school in Kamloops, B.C., calls have been sparked across the country to rename landmarks named after people who had a hand in the colonization of Canada. In Winnipeg, Wolseley isn’t the first instance — calls to rename Bishop Grandin Boulevard due to its namesake’s hand in the residential school system have resulted in consultations and a possible recommendation for its renaming coming to city council this fall.

Boulevard, greenway could be renamed by end of year

Bishop Grandin Boulevard and the greenway that runs parallel to it — both of which are named after an architect of the residential school system — could have new titles before the end of the year.

The volunteer board that oversees the greenway’s operations issued a notice this week to inform community members of its ongoing support for the City of Winnipeg’s efforts to explore cutting ties with Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin (1829-1902) as a namesake for local landmarks.

The board indicated renaming consultations are underway and it anticipates a report with a recommendation on the subject will be brought forward to city council this fall.

“I don’t want people to think we’re sitting on our hands and letting this fall by the wayside,” said Derick Young, president of Bishop Grandin Greenway Inc.

Neptune Bay resident harbours only known survivor of the Orbit invasion

‘Here comes another car now, slowing down to take a look.”

Ever since an aged, Orbit garbage receptacle landed in Broose Tulloch’s front yard in June 2019, the 52-year-old public works employee has grown used to drivers, cyclists, pedestrians... even the odd pizza delivery guy stopping in their tracks as they go past his yellow-and-white split-level. Curious types, some familiar with the large, white, fibreglass sphere, others not so much, pause to study the bin, a holdover from an era when dozens more dotted Manitoba highways, deposited there by the provincial government to discourage motorists from littering.

That Tulloch resides in a neck of the woods unofficially known as “the Planets” — he’s on Neptune Bay; neighbouring tracks, all intersected by Planet Street, are Mercury, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter (sorry, no Uranus) — only seems to add to the astronomical amount of attention his depository, just over a metre tall, receives on a regular basis.

Standing on his front steps, near where the Orbit is being shaded by a crabapple tree, Tulloch recalls the morning he glanced out his living room window and noticed a hydro crew assembled by the curb. Thinking the worst, that they had arrived to dig up his lawn, he ventured outside in his PJs to ask what was going on.

City considering new name for park near former residential school to honour Indigenous leader

AS a residential high school student, the site now known as Wellington Park offered him rare moments of joy.

As an adult survivor of that system, it helped trigger both positive memories and quiet, disturbing flashbacks.

Theodore Fontaine, who died in May, found more than a chance to play hockey and baseball at the Assiniboia Indian Residential School, according to his wife Morgan Fontaine.

“These fields, this was just for him a time of that little taste of freedom that he longed for.… It was just before his seventh birthday (that) he lost his freedom,” she said.

Charleswood residents fume over destroyed trees

Frustrated residents are calling on the city and province to get to the root of the problem that led to the destruction of nearly two dozen mature trees in Charleswood on the weekend.

Early Saturday morning, a building moving company began to move a display home near the corner of Roblin Boulevard and Scotswood Drive. The home was too wide to clear mature trees along Roblin’s median.

When Winnipeg Police Service officers arrived to provide a previously scheduled escort for the movers at about 7 a.m. they discovered 17 trees had been cut down, allegedly by the driver of the vehicle hauling the house, police spokesman Const. Rob Carver said.

“Immediately, upon determining that the trees had been cut and linking it to this move, the move was halted and, ultimately, the driver (was) arrested,” said Carver.

‘Cette terre n’a fait aucun mal’

Le 3 mai, une caravane d’étudiants en architecture paysagiste de l’Université du Manitoba a été accueillie devant le bâtiment d’autogouvernement de la Nation Dakota de Sioux Valley. Ils ont présenté à un comité du conseil de bande leurs plans pour l’aménagement d’un centre de guérison sur les lieux de l’École industrielle indienne de Brandon.

L’École industrielle indienne de Brandon était un pensionnat autochtone où, de 1895 à 1972, des enfants autochtones étaient éduqués par divers ordres religieux selon la politique d’assimilation du gouvernement canadien. Le chef de la Nation Dakota de Sioux Valley, Vincent Tacan, indique qu’il y a grand nombre de survivants de l’ancien pensionnat dans sa Nation.

“Nous avons besoin de guérir. Nous sentons les effets intergénérationnels des pensionnats autochtones. Essayer d’aller de l’avant avant de guérir serait inutile.”

Le Sud-ouest du Manitoba n’a aucun centre de guérison avec un environnement approprié aux cultures autochtones. Le chef Tacan note que les membres de sa Nation en besoin de traitement doivent se rendre à Regina, ou encore en Alberta.

Councillor raises concern about community garden homeless encampment

Months into the city’s ban on encampments in many public spaces, such as schools and playgrounds, a city councillor fears a persistent one still poses a danger to its residents and neighbours.

Coun. Cindy Gilroy said she’s disappointed people are still camping at a community garden at 609 Langside St.

“It’s a place where we (have previously had) multiple open fires… and drug (use). It’s concerning to me that we have this (policy) now and we’re not enforcing it,” said Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre), during a community services committee meeting Tuesday.

In an interview, Gilroy said she is concerned winter conditions further raise the risk of injuries, due to some bitterly cold temperatures and fires set by people trying to keep warm in tents.

Survey results crystal-clear: transit system overhaul a disaster

When more than eight in 10 of your core customers say you’ve made things worse, that’s not a minor hiccup. That’s a collapse in confidence.

And it’s exactly where Winnipeg Transit finds itself after its sweeping network overhaul launched last year.

The redesign was billed as a bold modernization — a smarter, more efficient system built around frequent primary routes and timed connections.

Instead, it has produced a level of dissatisfaction among downtown riders that is as striking as it is alarming.

Chief says more funding needed to repair homes after power outage, flooding

A northern First Nation hit by a days-long power outage and subsequent water crisis is seeking additional government funds to cover the cost of mould and asbestos removal in homes.

Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias said Friday there is a shortage of funding to remediate the hazards and bring homes with damage up to code so they are habitable.

“We can’t have (residents) return to a situation where there might be some bacteria or moulding issues that will affect their safety, that affect their health, and possibly cause medical issues that will be made worse because they already have existing health issues,” he said during a virtual call.

Pimicikamak’s leaders said an estimated 1,300 homes were damaged after pipes froze and burst two months ago. Water leaked into basements and crawl spaces. The community’s water and sewage plants were also affected.

Mayor encouraged after downtown housing unit approvals reach 15-year high

The city approved more than 1,000 new downtown housing units last year, marking a 15-year high, while work continues to help entice people to move to the area.

Building permits were issued for 1,040 new downtown dwelling units in 2025, nearly double the 596 issued in 2018 and greatly improved from the 141 granted during the post-pandemic slowdown in 2022, city data show.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said the permit data reflects renewed interest in developing downtown.

“Before the pandemic, Winnipeg’s downtown had a lot of momentum and now we really see that momentum is really strong again,” he said.

Bread Box bake shop brings tastes of Fort Garry Hotel to general public

Ida Albo is on a roll.

After opening a yoga studio and then a skincare clinic at 280 Fort St., the Winnipeg entrepreneur has added a bake shop to the building. The Bread Box had a soft opening on Wednesday and celebrated its grand opening on Thursday.

The menu features items served in the Fort Garry Hotel, located one kilometre south of the shop, where Albo is an owner and the managing partner. The menu includes the hotel’s organic sourdough bâtard and country loaf, made using a 13-year-old wild Manitoba grape starter.

Guests have booked stays at the hotel specifically to stock up on the bâtard (an oval or oblong loaf), Albo said, adding she’s excited to finally share the Fort Garry’s food beyond the hotel’s walls.