Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 3, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba SERVING MANITOBA SINCE 1872 PROUDLY CANADIAN MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2025 WEATHER SUNNY. HIGH 9 — LOW 0 SPORTS BOMBERS PACK UP THEIR GEAR AFTER PLAYOFF LOSS / C1 Drug overdose deaths drop T HE number of suspected drug-re- lated deaths in Manitoba in the first half of 2025 was the lowest mid-year total since 2021, bringing cautious optimism while the province continues to grapple with a crisis. Manitoba recorded 203 suspected overdose deaths between Jan. 1 and June 30, down from 307 during the same period in 2024, according to pre- liminary data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. “It’s still high. I was told when we see a decrease like that, it’s a moment in time and it’s not a trend yet,” said Joseph Fourre, an activist whose 31-year-old son, Harlan, died after taking a drug laced with fentanyl, an extremely potent opioid, in 2023. “I’m glad to see a slight decrease in the numbers. We’ve still got a long way to go before we’ve got this under control.” The preliminary mid-year total of 203 was the lowest since 183 suspected deaths were reported between January and June of 2021. “Manitoba is aligning with the trend observed across most Canadian provinces and U.S. jurisdictions over the past year, showing a decline in the number of drug-related deaths,” Steph- anie Holfeld, executive director of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, wrote in an email to the Free Press. “The underlying causes remain poor- ly understood. Although the recent re- duction in fatalities is an encouraging short-term development, the ongoing risk of new, highly toxic substances entering the drug supply continues to pose a significant threat and could lead to another rise in mortality.” The recent decrease follows at least five consecutive year-over-year increases. Manitoba reported a record 570 suspected drug-related deaths for all of 2024. Fourre said there could be a number of factors for the decrease, including drug prevention and awareness efforts. He advocated for more treatment spaces. “We need to keep doing what we’re doing. Who knows what the last six months will bring,” he said. “We need to forge ahead even stronger.” Holfeld said stimulant use is the most common cause of drug-related deaths in Manitoba. Methamphetamine and cocaine are among the most com- monly detected drugs in toxicology samples. Others include fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, prescription opioids and benzodiazepines. Fentanyl analogues are highly potent synthetic opioids that are structurally similar to fentanyl and have similar effects. The most common fentanyl analogues in Manitoba are para-fluoro- fentanyl, carfentanil, and ortho-meth- ylfentanyl, Holfeld said. She said medetomidine, a veterinary tranquilizer, was recently identified in a few toxicology samples. The Canadian Community Epidemi- ology Network on Drug Use last year said medetomidine, which has strong sedative effects, is being found in drug samples expected to be opioids, often in combination with fentanyl, its ana- logues and other tranquilizers. CHRIS KITCHING Province hires teens to ensure merchants check IDs CAROL SANDERS MINORS are being paid to try buying lottery tickets, cannabis and liquor from Manitoba retailers. The Liquor Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba that regulates those sales launched the “minors as agents” program two years ago, with undercover 16- to 18-year-olds trying to buy lottery tickets from licensed retailers. The minors work alongside LGCA inspectors to test how licensees check identification. The youths try to buy regulated products, allowing inspectors to monitor licensees’ compliance with prohibitions on underage sales. The purpose is to ensure sellers check for identification that proves a buyer’s age. It was such a success that the pro- gram expanded to include licensed cannabis and liquor retailers in 2024- 25. “Public safety is at the core of our regulatory mandate, with a particu- lar emphasis on safeguarding young people from age-restricted products,” LGCA executive director and CEO Kristianne Dechant said in the authori- ty’s latest annual report. “After last year’s successful initial focus on lottery ticket retailers, the program was extended this year to include licensed cannabis and liquor retailer inspections.” Dechant was not made available for an interview. The Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth has sounded the alarm over rising rates of addiction and its related harms in the province. Advocacy re- quests for youth living with addictions jumped to 22 per cent from three per cent in the past five years, the advo- cate reported in 2024. Changes made in December 2021 to the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Act allowed minors hired by the LGCA to purchase products of the industries it regulates, spokesperson Lisa Hansen said Friday. “Licensees must request identifica- tion from anyone who appears to be a minor and is attempting to purchase liquor, provincial gaming products or cannabis, or enter an age-restricted li- censed premises or business,” Hansen said in an email. The legal age for buying cannabis is 19 in Manitoba. For liquor and com- mercial gaming, it’s 18. “Minor agents conducting these inspections confirm without a doubt that a minor has been identified by a licensee or a minor was sold a regulat- ed product.” Hansen said the authority hires two to three minors as agents at a time for the program. The positions are posted and the current hourly wage is $19.16. Manitoba’s minimum wage is $16. The authority launched the program with undercover minors trying to buy lottery tickets from retailers who are “lower-risk licensees,” Hansen said. “The businesses that sell lottery tickets normally allow minors to be present, so these are familiar environ- ments to minors as agents, and LGCA inspectors can generally observe the agent throughout the entire transac- tion.” After the minors as agents program launched in September 2023, 370 lottery ticket retailers were inspected with 90 breaches reported that first year. In 2024-25, 24 of the 89 lottery ticket retailers inspected — 27 per cent — were found to be in breach of the prohibition of selling age-restricted products to kids. That same year, 25 of the 167 youth-inspected cannabis re- tailers — 15 per cent — failed to check for ID. No breaches were reported at the 25 liquor retailers inspected. Carney’s first budget will plot new course OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Car- ney’s government is getting ready to table its first budget this week — one that will be markedly different from budgets of the past. “This one is important for a bunch of reasons that might actually be unique to this particular circumstance,” said Sahir Khan, vice-president of the Insti- tute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa. This budget is the Liberals’ first fiscal update in almost a year and the first summary of Carney’s agenda since the party released its spring election platform. Since then, key Canadian industries have taken a sharp hit from the trade war with the United States. A weaker economy means lower revenues for government. Add to that a handful of tax cuts and a substantial increase in defence and infrastructure spending, and Ottawa’s fiscal position appears to be under significant pressure. Khan said budgets are important for reasons that go beyond the bot- tom line. They show Canadians how a government sets priorities for limited resources. And the federal budget — like any proposal for new spending — automati- cally becomes the subject of a confi- dence vote once it’s tabled as legisla- tion in the House of Commons. That means this budget presents a politically perilous moment for the minority Liberal government — since losing the Commons vote could cause it to fall. “It’s probably the biggest political event of the year … because in this case, it also outlines the government’s direction for the upcoming year and beyond,” Khan said. “(There’s) a lot riding on this … and for Canadians, we’re kind of waiting to see now, how is this government going to address the anxiety we feel about a bunch of things that are really import- ant to us and our families?” At a press conference in an Ottawa suburb Sunday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he would be will- ing to support an “affordable” budget. “Our hand is still extended, and there’s still two days for Mr. Carney and the Liberals to reverse their costly promise-breaking ways. Introduce an affordable budget,” Poilievre said. He cited measures such as eliminat- ing the industrial carbon tax and the capital gains tax and lowering taxes on energy and homebuilding. Interim NDP Leader Don Davies said his party would wait to see what’s in the budget Tuesday before deciding how to vote. “We want to see policies in this budget that respond to the very real struggles that working people are facing right now,” he told CBC News Network’s Rosemary Barton Live. To pass the budget, the Liberals need to secure support from the opposition — or some opposition MPs will have to abstain from the budget vote. Davies said Sunday that NDP MPs could abstain from voting. CRAIG LORD Number of fatalities in first half of 2025 lowest mid-year since 2021 JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS A SIMPLY AMAZING DAY Daniel and Kathia Arrechea and their children Alejandro and Natalia enjoy A Maze in Corn at St. Adolphe on Sunday, the last day of the year for the family-friendly site south of Winnipeg. Recent rainfall made the fields muddy and boots were a requirement for visitors. ● DROP, CONTINUED ON A2 ● TEENS, CONTINUED ON A2 ● CARNEY, CONTINUED ON A2 ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS Fall budgets will be the norm going forward for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government. ;