Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 25, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba LEASING FOR NEW AND USED VEHICLES SCAN THE QR CODE TO START SHOPPING OR CALL (204) 663-6185 YOUR PATH FORWARD Find guidance and support through the Alzheimer Society. 204-943-6622 (Winnipeg) 1-800-378-6699 (Manitoba) alzheimer.mb.ca SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 2025 A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS VOL 154 NO 64 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2025 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published six days a week in print and always online at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204-697-7000 CEO / MIKE POWER Editor / PAUL SAMYN Associate Editor Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor News / STACEY THIDRICKSON Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Director Photo and Multimedia / MIKE APORIUS NEWSMEDIA COUNCIL The Winnipeg Free Press is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to determine acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please send them to: editorialconcerns@freepress.mb.ca. If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the website at www.mediacouncil.ca and fill out the form or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information. 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INSIDE Arts and Life D1 Books G1 Classifieds E7 Comics I3-7 Community Voices A18 Destinations I1 Diversions G6-7 Horoscope D5 Jumble G7 Miss Lonelyhearts D5 Money Matters B7 Opinion A8-9 Sports E1 Television D7 Weather D8 49.8 F1 COLUMNISTS: Dan Lett B1 Tom Brodbeck A10 Ben Sigurdson D3 Jen Zoratti D3 Rebecca Chambers F6 Tory McNally B8 Jerrad Peters E6 Mike McIntyre/Ken Wiebe E2 READER SERVICE ● GENERAL INQUIRIES 204-697-7000 CIRCULATION INQUIRIES MISSING OR INCOMPLETE PAPER? Call or email before 10 a.m. weekdays or 11 a.m. Saturday City: 204-697-7001 Outside Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 press 1 6:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.; 7 a.m. - noon Saturday; Closed Sunday TO SUBSCRIBE: 204-697-7001 Out of Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada PC leadership hopeful points to instances of bias by paper partly owned by rival Daudrich Khan says Sun shining a bad light on him P ROGRESSIVE Conservative leadership hopeful Obby Khan has refused to take part in a debate or- ganized by the Winnipeg Sun, stating that since part-owner Wally Daudrich declared his candidacy, the publication has gone after him with “misinformed attacks under the guise of editorial commentary.” Khan wrote an email to followers that said Daudrich and Sun publisher Kevin Klein must address their conflict of in- terest. He said he was “astonished” to receive an invitation from “the Daud- rich-Klein Sun group,” which refers to the candidate, and former PC cabinet minister Klein, who led the group that bought the newspaper after he lost his seat in the 2023 provincial election. “We have declined this invitation to what we believe will be a biased, non-PC party-sanctioned debate,” said Khan, the member for Fort Whyte since a byelection in 2022. He said he’s keen to debate Daudrich, but not if the Sun moderates it. In an interview Friday, Khan pointed to stories and opinion pieces in the Sun that he said are biased and lack trans- parency because they fail to disclose that Daudrich is a director of the com- pany, in addition to being a shareholder. In response, Daudrich’s campaign spokesman Mike Patton said the candi- date’s association with the newspaper shouldn’t surprise anyone who has been following the campaign closely. “Wally has certainly been very public about it and by no means tried to keep it a secret,” he said in an email. He deferred to the Sun for comment on any alleged bias. Klein did not re- spond to a request for comment Fri- day but forwarded a link to a story in his paper that day about tensions in the leadership race. Khan listed several examples he said show the newspaper has picked sides. “I’ve only been reached out to once for comment,” he said. When he provid- ed a comment by the deadline provid- ed, it wasn’t included in the published story until it was updated at a later date, Khan said. The paper ran a photo of Khan — the first Muslim elected to the legislature — holding the Qur’an, and reported that he approves of pro-Palestinian activist Ramsey Zeid’s behaviour, by not con- demning his social media posts. Khan said the Sun article reported incorrectly that Zeid donated $5,000 to his leadership campaign and implied that the donation was made close to Oct. 7 — the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terror attacks on Israel. Khan said it was “utterly disgusting” misinformation. He said Zeid donated $1,100 to his campaign well before Oct. 7.“It is appalling that that connection is made there.” When the Sun reported Thursday that Khan refused to participate in its debate, it again ran a photo of him with Zeid “for no apparent reason,” he said. Khan said the newspaper has run old photos of him with the former head of the Yazidi Association of Manitoba, who has since been charged with sex- ual assault. “There’s articles written in the Win- nipeg Sun that have nothing to do with me and yet there’s a picture of myself,” he said. Until it posted a story Friday, the Sun was the only mainstream media outlet that didn’t report on the contro- versy over an Islamaphobic comment posted on Daudrich’s Facebook cam- paign page, as well as the demand for an apology from 17 Manitoba organiza- tions, Khan said. “If that doesn’t paint a very clear, de- cisive bias by the Daudrich-Klein Sun group, I don’t know what does.” The groups called on the PC party to review Daudrich’s candidacy after they say he has refused to apologize for sharing an Islamophobic post on social media. Daudrich’s campaign reposted a mes- sage from a supporter in early January that ended with, “We must stop Muslim Obby Khan from becoming the Con- servative leader.” At the time, Daudrich’s campaign manager said the sharing of the post was “an honest mistake” by their team. The post was removed. A letter shared by the National Coun- cil of Canadian Muslims on Thursday signed by the 17 organizations — in- cluding Muslim, Jewish, Palestinian and Mennonite groups — urges Daud- rich to apologize and “state an action- able commitment toward combating an- ti-Muslim sentiment within Manitoba.” The letter says Daudrich’s response is unsatisfactory. “Mr. Daudrich denies any wrong- doing, deflects responsibility to his campaign staff and team, and dis- respectfully criticizes community members who raise concerns — these actions are not befitting a leadership candidate in a provincial party,” the let- ter states. The letter was published “but never shared directly with us,” said Patton. “We have already dealt with this mat- ter and have nothing further to add,” he said. When asked about the post earlier this month, Khan said an apology and a condemnation of “that type of lan- guage” was necessary. The party will choose its leader April 26. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca CAROL SANDERS AND MALAK ABAS MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Groups are calling for Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Wally Daudrich (left) to apologize for a social-media post about fellow candidate Obby Khan (right). Russia returns bodies of 757 soldiers to Ukraine KYIV, Ukraine — The bodies of 757 Ukrainian soldiers have been repatriat- ed by the Russian side, the responsible co-ordination staff announced in Kyiv on Friday. Of these, 451 were killed in the fight- ing near the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk and 137 on the front line south of the city of Zaporizhzhya. Other bodies came from the front lines of Bakhmut, Vuhledar and Luhansk, while 34 dead were returned from mortuaries on Russian territory. No information was provided on the return of the bodies of Russian soldiers to Moscow. The International Committee of the Red Cross is said to have supported the operation. The Kyiv headquarters thanked the Ukrainian military personnel who transported their comrades’ bodies to forensic medicine units for identifica- tion. Russia has been waging war on Ukraine for almost three years. The exact number of soldiers killed on both sides is not known. In December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy spoke of 43,000 dead, but this figure is considered an underestimate. According to a report in the New York Times, internet activists have counted more than 60,000 confirmed deaths for Ukraine. However, the actual figure is thought to be higher than this, at more than 100,000. The BBC’s Russian service and the Mediazona portal say 90,000 people have been confirmed dead in Ukraine. However, because not all cases become known through death notices and fu- nerals, the actual number is thought to be closer to 150,000. — dpa ;