Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 17, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba BID IN THE ONLINE AUCTION NOW until October 19 at 10 p.m. Place your bids or get your raffle tickets to support Manitoba women affected by cancer. Go to GuardianAngelAuction.ca to find links to the raffle and auction. Final raffle draw: October 20 TONIGHT / 7:00 PM PRINCESS AUTO STADIUM VS IT’S GAME DAY! GAME DAY SPONSOR INTERCEPT CANCER GAME 3.45% * * Rate subject to change. GICs require a $500 minimum deposit 12- OR 24-MONTH GIC SCU.MB.CA/GICS WASHINGTON — U.S. President Don- ald Trump is redoubling his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, announcing a second meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin one day before sitting down with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House. Trump’s announcement came short- ly after finishing a call with Putin on Thursday. A date has not been set, but Trump said the meeting would take place in Budapest, Hungary, and suggested it could happen in about two weeks. “I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation,” Trump wrote on social media. The two leaders met in Alaska in August, which did not produce a diplomatic breakthrough, a source of frustration for Trump who had expected his long- standing relationship with Putin could pave the way to resolving a conflict that began nearly four years ago. Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, said the Russian president initiated the call, which he described as “very frank and trusting.” He said Putin emphasized to Trump that sell- ing long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, something the U.S. president has publicly discussed, would “inflict significant damage to the relations between our countries.” Trump was already scheduled to meet today with Zelenskyy, who has been seeking weapons that would allow Ukrainian forces to strike deeper into Russian territory. Zelenskyy has argued such strikes would help compel Putin to take Trump’s calls for direct negotiations to end the war more seriously. Trump previously said the U.S. has “a lot of Tomahawks,” but on Thursday he said stockpiles were limited and may not have missiles to spare. SERVING MANITOBA SINCE 1872 PROUDLY CANADIAN FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2025 TODAY’S WEATHER LIGHT RAIN. HIGH 11 — LOW 5 SPORTS SCHEIFELE LIFTS JETS OVER FLYERS / D1 Trump books meeting with Putin after ‘frank and trusting’ phone call AAMER MADHANI, SEUNG MIN KIM AND CHRIS MEGERIAN LAURA PROCTOR / THE CANADIAN PRESS Prime Minister Mark Carney gets acquainted with a police dog prior to announcing Ottawa’s plan for bail and sentencing reform Thursday at an RCMP detachment in Etobicoke, Ont. Tougher bail, sentencing rules on horizon O TTAWA — The Liberal govern- ment will introduce tougher bail and sentencing standards for violent crime in a bill to be intro- duced next week, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday. The legislation would make bail more difficult to get for violent and organized crime offences. “These changes will keep violent repeat offenders of these crimes off our streets and out of our communi- ties,” Carney said at a news confer- ence in Toronto. The bill would impose a reverse onus on bail for certain offences. That moves the burden of proof from the prosecutor to the accused — meaning they would have to justi- fy being granted bail. “These strong new reverse onus bail provisions will apply to violent auto theft, break and enter, human trafficking and smuggling, assault and sexual assault, and extortion in- volving violence or violent threats,” Carney said. The bill also would allow for con- secutive sentences for violent and repeat offenders, so that multiple sentences can’t be served at the same time. Carney said that means an offender with a seven-year sen- tence and a five-year sentence must serve 12 years, not seven. He said his government intends to “toughen sentences for repeat offenders of auto theft, of organized crime, and of home invasion, so that criminals who have repeatedly vic- timized your community do not have the chance to do so again.” The Liberals also plan to introduce more punitive sentences for orga- nized retail theft and eliminate con- ditional sentences for sexual assault. The Supreme Court has ruled some consecutive sentences are uncon- stitutional. In 2022, it struck down a provision that allowed a judge to impose a life sentence and parole ineligibility periods of 25 years to be served consecutively, saying the pro- vision violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ guarantee against cruel and unusual treatment. Carney said the government consulted with various stakeholders while developing the bill, including constitutional experts. “This is a package that we expect … does what it’s supposed to do. It toughens the rules, punishes criminals, it’ll help keep us safe, but also is consistent with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” he said. ANJA KARADEGLIJA Violent repeat offenders must justify release from prison under proposed legislation ● MEETING, CONTINUED ON A2 ● BAIL, CONTINUED ON A2 ● MANITOBA REACTION / A2 MLAs told detention bill rushed and incomplete Proposed law would allow for intoxicated person to be held for up to 72 hours MARSHA MCLEOD HEATED public discussion kicked off Thursday evening over a bill that would increase the length of time an intoxicated person can be involuntarily detained to three days from one day, which Wab Kinew’s NDP government hopes will respond to the growing crisis of methamphetamine use in Manitoba. Bill 48, which was introduced earlier this month, is intended to acknowledge that the intoxicating effects of meth can last longer than that of alcohol. The proposed legislation, the Protec- tive Detention and Care of Intoxicated Persons Act, would allow intoxicated people to be involuntarily detained for up to 72 hours at what it terms a “protective care centre” — up from the current 24 hours. After three hours of remarks from the public, the legislative commit- tee studying the bill had heard from roughly a dozen people, almost all of whom criticized the bill, including what several categorized as its rushed timeline and the lack of clarity around how it will be rolled out in practice. Presenters told MLAs that the bill could result in possible breaches to the Charter right not to be arbitrarily detained; questioned whether invol- untary detention is backed by clinical evidence as a way to treat and manage addiction; and raised concerns about the over-burdened health-care system and the reality that these “protective care centres” have not yet been staffed or funded. “I looked at this bill and thought, ‘Is it going to help?’ At the end of the day, set aside partisan politics, this is a fight to save lives,” said Joseph Fourre, who told the committee about his prior struggles with crystal meth addiction, the death of his son from fentanyl poisoning and the beating of his elderly mother by a person using drugs. He argued more infrastructure is needed to address addiction, not a “piecemeal” approach, and said that while this bill could be a first step, the necessary subsequent care is not in place. “I’m asking the committee to se- riously consider postponing this bill until we can get it right,” he said. The proposed legislation, which would replace the Intoxicated Persons Detention Act, was endorsed Thursday by Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, as well as earlier this month by Winni- peg police chief Gene Bowers. ● DETENTION, CONTINUED ON A3 ;