Latest news with #MIKAELAMACKENZIE
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
A start — but only a small start
Opinion The Kinew government has taken its first concrete steps toward addressing one of the most visible and heartbreaking manifestations of poverty in Manitoba: the growing number of people living in encampments. So far, 59 people have been moved from tent encampments into either social housing or private market rentals — a modest but significant start. But with an estimated 700 Manitobans living in encampments, the road ahead is long and fraught with challenges. The reality is this: there simply isn't enough social housing available to meet the current need. The province's social housing stock has eroded over the years due to aging infrastructure, lack of maintenance and chronic underfunding. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Tents by the river on Waterfront Drive on May 22. New social housing builds have not kept pace with the demand and the waitlist for Manitoba Housing units continues to grow. That shortage leaves vulnerable people — many of whom are dealing with addiction, mental illness, trauma or all of the above — with no viable alternative but to pitch tents near riverbanks, in alleyways, or in downtown parks. This is not just a housing crisis. It's a poverty crisis, a mental health crisis, an addictions crisis and, ultimately, a policy crisis that stems from decades of neglect and underinvestment by multiple levels of government. Premier Wab Kinew's government has shown a willingness to take this issue seriously — something that was often lacking in previous administrations. Announcements of funding for transitional housing, wraparound supports and partnerships with community organizations are welcome. However, even the most well-intentioned policies cannot fix this problem overnight. The public needs to understand this will take time. Moving 700 people into stable housing is not just a matter of finding empty units and handing out keys. Many people who live in encampments are dealing with deeply rooted issues — untreated trauma, mental illness and addiction. For many, traditional housing won't work unless it comes with long-term supports, including mental health counselling, harm-reduction services and case management. Some may require transitional or supportive housing before they can live independently. That's why the Housing First model — which prioritizes stable housing as a foundation for recovery — has proven effective in other jurisdictions. But to succeed, Housing First requires an actual supply of housing. And Manitoba does not have it. This is where the Kinew government faces a steep uphill climb. It must urgently increase the supply of affordable and supportive housing, not just to help those in encampments today but to prevent others from ending up there tomorrow. That means investing in new social housing, refurbishing old stock, and incentivizing private-market affordable rentals. Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. But more housing alone won't be enough. If the upstream causes of homelessness aren't addressed — the poverty that drives people to the streets, the addictions that destroy lives and the mental health crises that go untreated — then encampments will remain a tragic fixture in Manitoba's urban landscape. Governments must also expand mental health services, increase funding for addiction treatment and harm reduction, and overhaul income supports that currently leave many Manitobans living below the poverty line. Minimum wage, disability supports and social assistance rates must be brought in line with the real cost of living. Without those reforms, efforts to reduce homelessness will be little more than a Band-Aid over a much deeper wound. The Kinew government has been in office less than two years and no one should expect it to undo decades of systemic neglect in a matter of months. But progress, however incremental, must be sustained. Getting 59 people into housing is an important first step. But it must be followed by hundreds more. The time for short-term fixes has passed. What's needed now is a comprehensive, patient and compassionate approach — one that understands that housing is a human right.
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Time for re-election, or for a re-evaluation?
Opinion His worship, Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, has committed to seeking another term in office. One of his top priorities is the completion of the upgrade for the North End Water Pollution Control Centre (NEWPCC), which is crucial if Winnipeg wants to increase housing stock. The plant is 88 years old and has reached capacity, so there is a sense of urgency. Getting this monkey off of city hall's back will entail the benevolence of the province and federal government who ironically have charged the city for last February's gigantic sewage spill at the Abinojii bridge. Concurrently, all three levels of government are also in court fighting a $4.8-billion lawsuit by 11 First Nation communities over its role in the pollution of Lake Winnipeg. Winnipeg's sewer infrastructure is an absolute mess and, if elected, the mayor will be spending his next term stickhandling around lawsuits, environmental arraignments and the implementation of a woefully inadequate sewer master plan. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham plans to run for re-election to finish a series of major projects. During his first term, he was obliged to raise taxes substantially to accommodate infrastructure that had been neglected for decades. His campaign promise of a 3.5 per cent increase soon became 5.95 per cent, and in addition, increases in garbage and sewer rates were levied. As a result, the average sample home will see a tax hike of close to $400/year. We're playing catch up for all those years of tax breaks and are now facing the real costs of flushing toilets and picking up garbage, which will continue to rise. Homeowners should expect to pay for city amenities especially since their properties are increasing in value by leaps and bounds. The real costs of essential services must also be shared with any new or infill construction, Winnipeg is experiencing an infill housing boom thanks to a federal housing initiative which puts pressure on communities still dependent on combined sewers. According to the city's master plan it may take until 2095 to get even close to significantly reducing releases. Citizens are fed up with the pollution of our rivers and lakes and it will take some innovative strategies to overcome what has reached epic proportions in cost overruns and lengthy deferrals. There are two major elephants sitting in the council chambers — an outdated sewage treatment plant and sewers that combine household waste with storm drain flows. With very few exceptions, government contracts far exceed their estimated costs and it is with some relief that a consultant has been hired by city hall to review the treatment plant project in search of efficiencies. In 2015 the estimated cost for revamping the NEWPCC was $795 million, it has now ballooned to $3 billion. This review will cost $180,000 but hopefully will meet Mynarski Coun. Ross Eadie's expectations that upgrades will come in under budget, but we shouldn't be holding our breath. There are very few companies willing to take on such a massive undertaking, so awarding the contract under the consultant's fiscal constraints by mid-September may be unrealistic, kicking the project further down the road. Although Winnipeg homeowners are being called upon to pay the piper, the city must also ensure that a levy on new developments include realistic costs for city services. Gillingham has an obligation to ensure projects are brought on in a timely and cost-efficient manner. Council must also recognize that status quo for sewer infrastructure planning is not robust enough to deal with the anomalies of climate change. The department of waste and water will have to revise the master plan for combined sewers slated for review by the province in 2030. In order to make changes to the plan's timeline, Gillingham will be required to arrive cap in hand at the doors of both federal and provincial ministers to desperately procure infrastructure capital. Seeking re-election, the mayor would be wise to summon his departments to review their own efficiencies and accountability and make them public, especially since he is asking for such substantial increases in taxes. It is virtually impossible to interview representatives from the waste and water department or get a full account of what went wrong when 230 million litres of sewage was spilled in to the Red River 17 months ago. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. Transparency would make the tax bill a little easier pill to swallow. The mayor needs to get ahead of these chronic problems at city hall. His promise from last year to avoid diluted sewage from going into the river rings hollow. His belief that the city is doing as much as it can doesn't seem to be reducing the billions of litres of raw sewage entering our rivers each year. Contrary to the Gillingham's belief, there's much more to be done to clean our rivers. Is this the mayor to see it through? Dave Taylor has drawn attention to the pollution of rivers in Manitoba for several decades and is a regular contributor to the Free Press. Visit his blog at
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Conventions shift in shadow of wildfires
Thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses were to gather at the RBC Convention Centre this weekend. Instead, groups will meet in their home congregations, live-streaming event programming — an adjustment they learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Temporary shelter for wildfire evacuees has taken the place of their annual three-day convention. Since the latest provincewide state of emergency, declared July 10, Tourism Winnipeg has assisted four conferences that have postponed, cancelled or switched to virtual settings. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS files An international soils research gathering and an annual Jehovah's Witnesses convention are two of the recent events the RBC Convention Centre has had to adjust its initial plans for. An uncounted number of hotel-based conferences have followed the same trend. Meanwhile, urban tourism businesses and restaurateurs have altered operations — and seen fewer patio-goers — as cities receive wildfire smoke-related air quality alerts. 'Whether we're able to do it at RBC Convention Centre or remotely, we're happy to understand this year's theme about pure worship on another level,' said Chad Bower, a Jehovah's Witnesses spokesperson. Members trek from Manitoba's corners, and other provinces, for the event's Bible-based talks and videos. The RBC Convention Centre has housed the weekend-long gathering for the past two years. One room has a helpful dividing wall: it separates the roughly 3,100 English- and 1,000 Tagalog-speaking attendees during programming, Bower relayed. 'We're very supportive of the government helping out the evacuees,' he underscored. 'You want to make sure that people are taken care of.' Beds dot the convention centre's third floor; 143 were being used Thursday morning. The shelter setup began July 13. An international soils conference slated for the RBC Convention Centre on July 20-25 was shifted to the Delta Hotels Winnipeg, said David Chizda, the convention centre's director of sales and business development. A career fair slated for July 30 has been pushed to August. Third-floor maintenance work is postponed for the time being, Chizda added. 'There's no loss to the economy with the soils conference,' he said. 'The partnerships that we have with the other downtown hotels and with Tourism Winnipeg … it was very quick and very easy to help accommodate the conventions.' Chizda didn't divulge the expected monetary loss to the convention centre but said the site will be compensated for housing evacuees. The Manitoba Hotel Association doesn't yet know the breadth or economic impact of wildfire-related conference changes this summer. Seventy-eight hotels have a collective 2,532 rooms booked for evacuees, a provincial spokesperson said Thursday. As a result, several conferences — 'important revenue generators' — have been rescheduled, said Michael Juce, Manitoba Hotel Association president. 'I think just about any conference is having those conversations with their venue,' he added. 'It's tough … there's only so many event spaces.' Tourism Winnipeg, in its 2024 annual report, estimated the 76 future events and conferences it attracted would generate at least $53.3 million in direct spending. The statistic doesn't cover smaller events hotels host, Juce noted. The Manitoba Restaurant & Foodservices Association is also waiting on the full economic impact of the wildfires. 'We've seen a monumental decline in the amount of patio business this year,' said Shaun Jeffrey, executive director of the MRFA. Generally, sales are down year-over-year, Jeffrey said. He attributed the dip to bouts of poor air quality. Winnipeg has logged 23 days' worth of air quality alerts since May 31, per Environment and Climate Change Canada. Brandon sits at 18 days. The air quality health index has reached or exceeded 10 — a high to very high health risk warning — at least 18 days in Winnipeg. Thomas Schneider nearly closed Tommy's Pizzeria's patio one smoky day. With the haze, people are opting to sit inside during the usually busy patio season, Schneider relayed. 'I just want to give our customers the best dining experience possible,' he said. 'When it's smoky, it's a little difficult to do.' The Corydon Avenue eatery's sales appear lower this July compared to last, Schneider said. He's frequently checking the weather — and the air quality index — to see if he needs to reduce staffing. Anecdotally, fewer tourists are stopping by, Schneider added. In contrast, Pasquale's Italian Ristorante has clocked more customers than last summer, said owner Joe Loschiavo. Still, some patrons have avoided the Marion Street rooftop patio because of the smoke, he added. 'We know it's been difficult for … Manitobans,' Loschiavo said. (He joined every person the Free Press interviewed in expressing their support and condolences for wildfire evacuees.) Winnipeg Waterways, a boat tour operator stationed at The Forks, is giving discounts to evacuees showing their Red Cross cards — as long as the boats are running. Air quality has caused Winnipeg Waterways to halt operations for two or three full days and a handful of partial days this summer, said co-owner Griffin Hewitt. 'We're always monitoring,' Hewitt stated, adding the decision to close comes from a mix of weather apps, government websites, staff comfort and conditions on the river. More than 100 tourism operations have been affected by wildfires, per Travel Manitoba tracking. The total impact won't be known for a while, especially as wildfire season continues, Travel Manitoba's president said. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. 'We're very concerned about all of the issues that we're dealing with,' Colin Ferguson said. 'First of all, very concerned with all of the evacuees … Hopefully, we will see them returning to their homes soon.' Some northern tourism operators have been 'devastated,' Ferguson noted. Fishing and hunting lodges in emergency zones have been forced to shutter during their busiest months; at least two have burned. Upwards of 45 commercial lodges have been affected. However, much of Manitoba is still open for tourism and the province's current state of emergency doesn't ban non-essential travel, Ferguson stressed. He highlighted free entry to provincial parks. Approximately 7,050 evacuees were staying in Manitoba hotels on Thursday morning. Another 659 people resided in congregate sites in Winnipeg. Gabrielle PichéReporter Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle. Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
23-07-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Homemade
Welcome to Homemade, a Winnipeg Free Press project celebrating home cooking in Manitoba. We regularly publish recipe features that highlight the communities, traditions and flavours of this wonderfully diverse province. Submit your recipe to have your dish considered for a future story — recipes can be beloved family favourites or everyday staples. Submit a Recipe Eva Wasney 8 minute read 5:05 PM CDT Homemade is a series that celebrates home cooking in Manitoba. Find more stories, ideas and share your recipes at In today's Homemade Cooking School lesson, chef Mandy Wingert walks us through the basics of stocks and sauces — essential culinary components designed to enhance the flavour, moisture and texture of a dish. 'It's like the foundation of your house. If you don't have a good stock, you're going to be playing catch-up trying to make things taste better,' says Wingert, a culinary and baking instructor at Red River College Polytechnic. Originally from Saskatchewan, she grew up in a family of cooks and knew from an early age she wanted to pursue a career in food. We try reader-submitted Jell-O recipes Eva Wasney 8 minute read Preview Eva Wasney 8 minute read Wednesday, Jul. 9, 2025 Saturday is Eat Your Jell-O Day. In honour of this gelatinous holiday, we've done just that. Read Wednesday, Jul. 9, 2025 EVA WASNEY / FREE PRESS Clockwise from top left: Broken glass torte, spring parfait salad, orange jellied salad, tomato aspic. Salads add colour, texture, freshness and acidity to any dinner table Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview Eva Wasney 4 minute read Wednesday, Jun. 25, 2025 Unlike most of The Simpsons clan, I'm of the opinion that you can, in fact, win friends with salad. And not because of their purported 'health benefits.' Read Wednesday, Jun. 25, 2025 MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Alison's Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Mango Chutney recipe in Winnipeg on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. For Eva Wasney cookbook. Winnipeg Free Press 2022. Cutting edge tips: Learn kitchen knife skills in our new monthly cooking feature Eva Wasney 7 minute read Preview Eva Wasney 7 minute read Wednesday, Jun. 11, 2025 Welcome to the first class of Homemade: Cooking School, a new Free Press series featuring in-depth cooking tutorials from professional local chefs. Read Wednesday, Jun. 11, 2025 MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Terry Gereta demonstrates knife skills at RRC Polytech on Monday. He says a sharp knife is a safe knife, as a dull knife may move while cutting. Turn on that barbecue and get grilling: Barbecue Lean Pork, Gale's Barbecue Trout and Auntie Shirley Potatoes Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview Eva Wasney 4 minute read Tuesday, May. 27, 2025 Make the most of grilling season with reader recipes for Barbecue Lean Pork from Anita Lee, Gale's Barbecue Trout from Gale Petreny and Auntie Shirley Potatoes from Patti Mersereau-LeBlanc. Read Tuesday, May. 27, 2025 Freepik Adding lemon to barbecued trout is never a bad idea. Spring flings: Use seasonal produce in go-to faves asparagus soup, spinach salad, rhubarb pie Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview Eva Wasney 4 minute read Tuesday, May. 13, 2025 This week, Homemade features cream of asparagus soup from Rae Carpenter, spinach salad from Vi Scherbak and rhubarb crunch pie from Velma Scott. Read Tuesday, May. 13, 2025 RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS files Rae Carpenter makes cream of asparagus soup every year when the snow is finally gone. Expand those Easter baskets Eva Wasney 7 minute read Preview Eva Wasney 7 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 16, 2025 Add some home-baked Easter treats to this weekend's cache of chocolate eggs and marshmallow chicks. This week, we have some sweet, sentimental reader recipes for Dolly's Easiest and Yummiest Sugar Cookies from Dolly Kuzyk, Babka from Shirley Kalyniuk and Daffodil Cake from Karen Stepaniuk. Want to share a recipe? Visit Homemade to fill out the submission form. Read Wednesday, Apr. 16, 2025 EVA WASNEY PHOTO Dolly Kuzyk's sugar cookie recipe can be decorated to suit the occasion. Stir things up with these creamy crowd-pleasers: Cowboy Caviar, Cucumber Chip Dip, Hot Hamburger/Bean Dip Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview Eva Wasney 4 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 2, 2025 Due to the recent 'dip' in temperature, this week's Homemade is an homage to, you guessed it, dips. Read Wednesday, Apr. 2, 2025 RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS files Leslie Pitchford's Cowboy Caviar recipe is home on the range.
Winnipeg Free Press
21-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Two restaurant fires could be linked to protection racket hit list targeting immigrants, family member fears
What first looked like random vandalism now appears to be part of a troubling pattern, the family behind two Winnipeg Thai restaurants says. Earlier this month, a break-in at Thida's Thai Restaurant on Donald Street seemed like just another case of neighbourhood mischief. Last Friday, the family's second business, Mae Sunee Thai Cuisine on Erin Street, was gutted by a suspected arson attack. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Mae Sunee owner Praphatsorn (Pae) Inthon at the Thai restaurant in 2023. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Mae Sunee owner Praphatsorn (Pae) Inthon at the Thai restaurant in 2023. 'The reason we say that… when we watched (the security video on Donald), it was odd, like why would you just do that, break-in, don't go anywhere and just try and light the first booth on fire?' said Jay Delaney, who is married to Praphatsorn (Pae) Inthon, owner of Mae Sunee, and is the son-in-law of Thida's owner, Sunee Inthon. 'Then after that, someone came to us and said this is happening a lot. Most retail stores, convenience stores and the odd restaurant.' Speaking on behalf of the family Monday, Delaney said both attacks closely resemble a string of recent incidents targeting immigrant-owned businesses in Winnipeg's inner city, West End and North End. He believes they're connected — carried out by the same people or group, often around the same time. Security footage from both restaurants shows the attackers breaking into both properties between 4 and 5 a.m., then trying to set off Molotov cocktails to start fires. In one video posted to Facebook, two men are seen at the Donald Street restaurant on July 4. One, wearing a mask, smashes the glass with a hammer, then attempts to light an object on fire. When that fails, another object is ignited and thrown into a booth. A quick response from attending police prevented the fire from spreading. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Mae Sunee, a Thai restaurant which is now closed due to a fire, on Monday. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Mae Sunee, a Thai restaurant which is now closed due to a fire, on Monday. The story at Mae Sunee Thai Cuisine, where the back patio was set on fire Friday, is one of devastation, however. 'The one on Erin will be a complete loss,' Delaney said, adding that the place was badly water-damaged as a result of firefighting efforts. Delaney says some of the stories he's heard from local owners are like scenes from films about organized crime, where someone visits a business and demands protection money… or else. 'We started receiving video and audio of these people coming into stores… they say 'you have 24 hours,'' he said, adding that many of the businesses have created a group chat. That scenario played out at Ur's Convenience Store on Selkirk Avenue over the weekend. The owner, who identified himself as 'Ajay,' said two people walked into the store on Friday, demanding payment for 'protection.' He declined to pay them. 'They tried to scare us, tell us to do this stuff and that stuff,' he said. 'We denied them and called 911.' Several hours later — at about 5 a.m. Saturday — there were flames. There was some damage to the store, but a neighbour was able to put out the fire before it spread out of control, he said. 'It's pretty scary,' he said. SUPPLIED Security video showing a suspect in the break-in and arson at Thida's Thai Restaurant in downtown Winnipeg in July. SUPPLIED Security video showing a suspect in the break-in and arson at Thida's Thai Restaurant in downtown Winnipeg in July. Businesses on a 'hit list' obtained by Delaney and viewed by the Free Press Monday, included Ur's, Magnus Foods Grocery & Convenience Store on Main Street and Selkirk Quickie Mart on Selkirk Avenue. Calls to the latter two convenience stores were not returned Monday. An unnamed warehouse was 'already hit,' according to the list, which also includes a message that all of the targeted businesses needed to be 'hit' by the end of the month. Delaney said he has passed the names of alleged suspects from Montreal and the list of targeted businesses, to police. The two Thai restaurants were not on the list. 'On Saturday morning, the first business on the list was targeted,' he said, referring to Ur's. 'The (police) seem to know these individuals, but we don't know if it's a matter of identifying them still. The police seem to be serious about it. They say it has to stop.' Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. The Winnipeg Police Service confirmed Monday it is investigating reports of break-ins and arson, but declined to comment on how many incidents are under investigation or whether they appear linked. 'Investigations are ongoing,' a spokesperson said. Police advised that any threats — directed at individuals or businesses — should be immediately reported. Delaney said the lack of immediate action has been frustrating for the family. Sunee and Pae have both left Winnipeg for Vancouver to get away from the chaos. He believes police have enough information — including the pattern of targeted times — to act. 'You can kind of pin it down… have some patrols out,' he said. Scott BilleckReporter Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade's worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024. Read more about Scott. Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
