Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 12, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba Recycling and garbage will not be collected on Remembrance Day. Your recycling and garbage will be picked up one day later for this week only. For example, if your collection day is normally Tuesday, put your carts out on Wednesday. Space provided through a partnership between industry and Manitoba communities to support waste diversion programs. winnipeg.ca/collectionday SERVING MANITOBA SINCE 1872 PROUDLY CANADIAN WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2025 WEATHER SUNNY. HIGH 6 — LOW -4 CITY CITY HALL BOLSTERS SECURITY / B1 Spur to Icelandic hamlet part of rail relocation talk Riding the rails… to Gimli? SCOTT BILLECK PUBLIC discussions have sparked the idea of building a potential commuter rail corridor between Winnipeg and Gimli as Manitoba’s railway relocation talks continue. The former federal Liberal transport minister leading Manitoba’s study on railway relocation says recent talks have raised the possibility of rework- ing the CP Winnipeg Beach subdivi- sion — a stretch of rail line that runs from Winnipeg to Gimli — to transport passengers and light cargo. The idea wasn’t included in the province’s most recent interim report, released last month. Lloyd Axworthy, who is heading the two-year, $200,000 rail relocation feasibility study announced in October 2024, said the concept surfaced after that report was completed. “We’ve had some quite important meetings discussing rail line develop- ment in the Winnipeg region with a lot of the municipalities,” Axworthy said on Tuesday. “We met with the metro commission to talk to them about how we might be able to look at extending some public transit rail lines out of Winnipeg, so that we’re not just captive to the Pe- rimeter Highway.” During six public consultations, Axworthy said residents expressed not only a desire for more green space and housing, but also for improved public transit options. More and more people are looking beyond the Perimeter for housing. The rail line runs parallel with Highway 8, which Axworthy said is becoming an overcrowded highway. He’s scheduled for more meetings in Winnipeg next week and said Mayor Scott Gillingham has shown interest in the proposal. A light-rail transportation line could strengthen Winnipeg’s position as a transportation hub, Axworthy said. The team has also studied European models that use short, electrified rail cars for regional connections, technology that could help spur a new industry in the city. “Winnipeg is on track to be close to one million people by 2030, so we have to take into account that a lot of that development is going to be happening, and you want to have it in a way that it spreads more and more, and instead consolidate around a rail line that’s already there and refurbish it.” City planners were already eyeing a four-kilometre stretch of disused rail lines in Winnipeg’s Brooklands neighbourhood as the first step toward reimagining the city’s rail network, transforming the abandoned corridor into a new green space. The Westland Project near Notre Dame Avenue and Keewatin Street is one of five pilot projects being looked at in the latest interim report, released by the province late last month. A con - sultant hired to design the Brooklands redevelopment will present recommen- dations to the province next month, the report states. Manitoba seniors’ advocate started young MANITOBA’S first seniors advocate got her start as a teen, working sum- mers at a long-term care home in rural Alberta. “It was really the place where I started that activism piece — seeing where gaps were and really advocating for some change,” said Leigh Anne Caron, whose job begins today, “like writing letters to the city or town coun- cil about having accessible sidewalks. We did things like get the seniors onto a float for the annual parade and other things where they’re more visible.” She said that experience was pivotal in shaping who she is today. “Those were my first tangible acts of activism and breaking some rules to really get seniors what they needed,” she said Monday. “There were some dumb rules about not taking some of the seniors on walks by their old homes in the town, and I couldn’t understand why. I think the argument was that it would make them too upset or emotional. So we broke those rules, and they really appreciated that and were able to spend time thinking about those memories and times with their families. “I learned a lot from them about quiet activism.” Since then Caron, who turns 49 later this month, has worked in community health as the director of the Women’s Health Clinic and executive director of the Sexual Education Resource Centre while earning a master’s degree in public administration. Her goal was to eventually move away from communi- ty health. “I loved it, but it’s hard working in a situation where you’re not fully fund- ed,” she said. “You need to find grants, and you’re not always sure if your staff will be able to stay.” Her position at SERC was expir- ing in 2026 and Caron looked to see where her level of skill, experience and education would be a good fit. She applied to become Manitoba’s first seniors advocate, and was invited to be interviewed by 10 people, including seven MLAs. She was asked to bring a presentation of how she would handle a situation where she had made recom- mendations and they weren’t being followed. “My focus was really on how to have a good process and make it really clear and transparent, from the beginning to the end,” Caron said. “I broke down how recommendations should be structured, how they should be smart, specific, measurable and that the communication piece is really important all the way through.” CAROL SANDERS On the 80th anniversary of peace, a veteran’s son laments state of world ‘Was it all in vain?’ A S Raymond Katchanoski stood in silence alongside his wife, Theresa, at the Remembrance Day ceremony outside Winnipeg’s Minto Armoury on Tuesday, a single tear slipped down his cheek and fell to the pavement, a silent tribute to loss and memory. Katchanoski’s father served in the Second World War and received the Distinguished Service Cross, first created in 1901, for his “per- formance of meritorious or distin- guished services” before the enemy. “He was wounded twice, and over time, about 15 years after he came home, he passed away from trauma,” Katchanoski said, as more tears began to well in his eyes. “You see what’s going on these days in Europe, especially in Ukraine and it’s hard to take. We have to remember what it is for. Was it all in vain? It can cause a few moments (of emotion). You wonder what’s going to go on next.” A cool, stiff westerly wind swept down St. Matthews Avenue as sever- al hundred people gathered under an overcast sky outside the Armoury, braving the elements to honour Canada’s veterans and active service members. The ceremony was moved outdoors this year owing to ongoing repairs on the building’s main floor. “We are here to pay tribute to the brave men and women who have defended our freedom, our values and our way of life,” said Hon. Col. Kelvin Shepherd with the 38 Signal Regiment, Canadian Armed Forces. “We remember the fallen, those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Many were very young when they paid the ultimate price for our country while serving at sea, on land and in the air. “We also remember those who have returned with injuries, both visible and invisible. We remember the peacekeepers who have served around the world in conflict, far from our own land. And we remem- ber all those who served for their dedication, their courage and the sacrifices they made for us.” Nearly 20 services were held across Winnipeg and the province on Tuesday, marking a pair of mile- stones in 2025 — the 80th anniver- sary of the end of the Second World War and the 110th anniversary of In Flanders Fields, the iconic wartime poem written by Canadian Lt.-Col. John McCrae. At the Winnipeg Convention Cen- tre, Premier Wab Kinew and Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville each placed wreaths to honour the fallen. During the Second World War, approximately 1,159,000 Canadians served. A total of 44,090 lives were lost. As of this year, Veterans Affairs Canada estimates there are 3,691 surviving Canadian veterans of the Second World War. “My dad served in the air force, so I have a memory,” Shepherd said. SCOTT BILLECK JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS On the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month: Remembrance Day ceremony at the RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg marked 80 years since Armistice. ‘I feel a lot of responsibility’ ● RAIL, CONTINUED ON A2 ● ADVOCATE, CONTINUED ON A2 ● SON, CONTINUED ON A2 ;