Bill aims to give MMF self-government treaty with Canada

The Manitoba Métis Federation is one step closer to having a self-government treaty with the federal government.

Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty introduced Bill C-21 Thursday, the Red River Métis Self-Government Recognition and Implementation Treaty, which if passed would be the first self-government treaty with any Métis government in the country.

“This treaty has been 156 years in the making and represents the cherished vision of our ancestors and elders, who fought so hard to preserve our existence and keep the flame of our nationhood alive through the dark times,” MMF president David Chartrand said in a statement.

“This legislation realizes their vision and shows that the fighting spirit of the Red River Métis — Canada’s negotiation partner in Confederation and the founders of Manitoba — can never be dismissed when we stand for what we believe in.”

Get vaccinated for flu, COVID-19, measles to protect crowded hospitals: top doc

The province’s top doctor is asking Manitobans to get vaccinated as respiratory virus season threatens to strain hospitals and measles outbreaks tear though parts of Manitoba.

Increased taxation requires thorough justification

This year, the City of Winnipeg sent me two “love letters.” The first arrived in May, informing me that it (the city) was “delivering affordability,” with the lowest municipal property tax rates in Canada, the lowest municipal fees on new housing, and the lowest garbage and recycling fees in Canada.

Energy sector’s interest in Churchill heating up: Kinew

Several companies, including at least one Canadian energy giant, are “kicking the tires” on a long-touted vision to export oil, gas, minerals and agricultural products through Churchill, bringing the dream of a trade corridor to the Hudson Bay coast closer to reality, Premier Wab Kinew says.

Vote to crack down on ‘nuisance’ protests set for city council

City council will soon vote on the proposed ban on “nuisance” protests and intimidation within 100 metres of schools, places of worship, hospitals and other “vulnerable social” locations.

Conservatives table motion on refugee claims in response to extortion wave

OTTAWA - The Conservatives introduced a motion Tuesday calling on the government to bar non-citizens convicted of serious crimes from making refugee claims.

The motion introduced in the House of Commons also urges the government to prevent asylum claims from people whose cases are still working their way through the courts.

One legal expert questioned the value of the proposed changes, and noted that people found guilty of serious crimes can already be barred from attaining refugee status under Canada's immigration law.

"This is not really about solving a real problem," said University of Toronto law professor Audrey Macklin. "This is about sending some kind of get tough message."

Newcomers to Canada take skating lessons at camp in Headingley

Abenezer Massore has newfound respect and admiration for the Olympians who are lacing up to compete in Milano Cortina.

The 15-year-old newcomer is no stranger to sports; he grew up swimming and playing soccer and basketball in South Africa.

But he said he had no idea just how challenging it would be to learn to stay upright on skates — one of his bucket list items — for the first time.

“It’s a lot harder than it looks; I have terrible balance,” Abenezer said during an outing to Camp Manitou in Headingley on Sunday.

Report sheds light on critical incidents in Manitoba health care

The failure to recognize and intervene when a patient’s health has deteriorated continues to be a leading cause of death and injury in Manitoba’s health-care system.

Eight people died and 24 others suffered major medical consequences between Jan. 1 and March 31 of 2025, says the province’s latest critical incident report. That’s a slight decline in the number of critical incidents compared to the final quarter of 2024, when Manitoba logged 28 major incidents and eight deaths.

The provincial nurses union said the chronic staffing shortage is a factor.

“One critical incident a year is too many, but I am just seeing more and more incidents that have to do with issues that are preventable, which tells me loud and clear that we do not have enough nurses to monitor and oversee our patients,” Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said.

Canada and France open consulates in Greenland following tensions over US push for control

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Canada and France opened diplomatic consulates on Friday in the capital of Greenland, showing support for NATO ally Denmark and the Arctic island in the wake of U.S. efforts to secure control of the semiautonomous Danish territory.

Canada's maple-leaf flag went up and dozens of people sang “O Canada” as Foreign Minister Anita Anand officially opened the country's consulate in Nuuk, which is also the largest city of the icy Arctic island.

“The significance of raising this flag today and formally opening the consulate is that we will stand together with the people of Greenland and Denmark on many issues,” she said.

Anand cited deepening ties on defense, security, climate change, economic resilience and Arctic co-operation.

Greenland’s foreign minister hails new Canadian consulate as ‘historic’

NUUK - The Canadian flag was raised and dozens of people joined in a spontaneous version of O Canada on Friday as Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand officially opened the new consulate in Nuuk, Greenland.

"The significance of raising this flag today and formally opening the consulate is that we will stand together with the people of Greenland and Denmark on many issues," Anand said, citing deepening ties on defence, security, climate change, economic resilience and Arctic co-operation.

"The co-operation between Denmark, Greenland and Canada will continue, not just in the short term, not just in the medium term, but in the long term."

Canada announced plans for the new diplomatic mission in December 2024, before U.S. President Donald Trump escalated his threats to annex the Danish territory.

Danielle Smith plays separation carrot-and-stick

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is beginning to look like something of a separation arsonist.

Hampers help spread ‘Ramadan warmth’

In a small building on St. Anne’s Road, packages of dried chickpeas, dates and rose water are stuffed into cardboard boxes.

The boxes are neatly packed along an assembly line with about a dozen items before being handed off to a table of young women who wrap them in clear cellophane adorned with polka dots and seal it with a purple ribbon.

“We want to make it feel a little special and make it look nice and put together. Because we could just give them a basket, but we want to make sure it looks nice,” said volunteer wrapper Sumha Ali.

The group of 16 volunteers hope to pack 175 food hampers in just two hours. After all, there’s no time to waste: Ramadan is only two weeks away and they want to get hampers in the hands of families well before it begins.

Alberta’s Smith owes answers before separation vote: former federal minister Dion

EDMONTON - The man who helped write the rules on separation votes in Canada says if Alberta’s premier is going to take her province down that “worrying” path, she has a duty to spell out to everyone how it will be triggered and what happens afterward.

Stéphane Dion says Danielle Smith must make it clear what she would do if Alberta votes to leave and whether she would also carry out the required negotiations with the federal government.

Dion also says it's up to Smith to determine the clear majority threshold number for a successful referendum, as the federal law doesn't specify.

"She owes that to the people of Alberta and the whole people of Canada," Dion said in an interview Wednesday.

Trump continues to target Indigenous peoples

The Assembly of First Nations recently issued an official travel advisory to all its members considering travel to the United States.

Carney reaches ‘landmark’ tariff quota deal with China on EVs, canola

BEIJING - Prime Minister Mark Carney touted a renewed relationship with China and "enormous progress" on trade irritants as he announced a new deal with Beijing on electric vehicles and canola at the end of a high-profile trip to China on Friday.

But the agreement has received mixed reviews at home. Ontario and the auto sector warned of the dangers of giving China new access to Canada's auto market, while Prairie premiers and farm groups welcomed the drop in tariffs on some agricultural products.

The deal, made public shortly after Carney met with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, marks a de-escalation in tensions with a country the Liberal government branded as a disruptive power just three years ago.

Carney distanced himself from that description on Friday, noting he was not part of the government that used the term in Canada's 2022 Indo-Pacific strategy.

Who calls the shots on city land use?

Everybody thinks it, but no one wants to say it out loud — the fact that for decades, our city council and its administration have, to a large degree, been in thrall to the construction and development industries.

Farm sector weirdness becomes new normal

Farming has never been a wise career choice for people who thrive on predictable outcomes, but last year set a new bar for craziness in what was already a risky business.

Looking ahead, the uncertainty laced with foreboding that heralded the start of 2025 has been replaced in 2026 with the certainty that comes from knowing the chaos will continue.

Just when you think it can’t get any weirder, the government administration south of the border at the centre of it all grabs the headlines once again with something even more unimaginably outlandish.

For example, the announcement late last year that the U.S. is considering placing steep tariffs on two key fertilizers — potash and phosphorus — ostensibly to increase domestic production. Except the U.S. doesn’t have the necessary reserves to develop.

Alberta group gets green light to collect signatures for separation referendum

EDMONTON - Alberta's election agency has fired the starter's pistol on the race to collect enough names for a referendum on the province quitting Canada.

Elections Alberta announced Friday that Mitch Sylvestre and the Alberta Prosperity Project have from Saturday until May 2 to collect just under 178,000 signatures to qualify.

"Citizen initiative petition signature sheets have been issued," Elections Alberta said in a statement Friday.

"The proponent may now proceed with collecting signatures."

Filipino-style fried-chicken biz off to a sizzling start

Before we begin, John Tadeo wants to make it abundantly clear that Popoy’s, the tag he and his girlfriend Patricia Santiago settled on for their Filipino-style fried-chicken biz, isn’t a play on an international fried-chicken chain that bears the name of a certain, spinach-loving sailor-man.

When Tadeo was a youngster growing up in the Philippines, his paternal grandmother never called him anything but Popoy, a derivative of Popo, which is Tagalog for little boy or child. His parents continue to address him by that term of affection to this day, so last winter, when he and Santiago were tossing around potential names for their fledgling enterprise, they agreed Popoy’s Golden Chicken had a better ring to it than John’s or Patricia’s.

“I guess if somebody associated with Popeyes (Louisiana Kitchen) ever tells us we can’t call ourselves (Popoy’s), we’d probably just change it to Poy’s,” Tadeo says, standing next to Santiago in the commercial kitchen at Riverview Community Centre, where they accept pickup orders on a regular basis, usually every other weekend.

“But since Popoy is my name, I’m not sure what argument they’d have.”

Higher school taxes a preventable problem

Tens of thousands of Manitoba home and business owners face the prospect of permanent double-digit increases to the school tax portion of their property tax bills.

Province promises ‘proactive approach’ to truancy fight

The Kinew government is drafting legislative changes to better track schoolchildren and ensure more of them attend classes regularly.

Investing for ourselves, and those downstream

We have invested large sums of money in infrastructure before.

You don’t often hear Winnipeggers complaining about the results: soft, clean drinking water thanks to the Shoal Lake aqueduct and flood protection thanks to the Red River Floodway.

A new city report outlines the importance of upgrading Winnipeg’s North End sewage treatment plant, which is responsible for treating 70 per cent of the city’s wastewater and all sewage sludge. The report focuses on the upgrades’ potential benefits to the city, including increased capacity to build new homes and businesses, and related economic growth.

It briefly mentions that upgrades to the plant are necessary in order to meet environmental regulations designed to protect waterways from the discharge of harmful materials that compromise the health of the Red River and Lake Winnipeg.