Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 13, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba MANITOBA and its strong franco- phone community may bene- fit from legislation in Quebec that’s driving doctors there to consider practising in other provinces. “We’ve had a lot of interest from Que- bec physicians about opportunities in Manitoba,” Doctors Manitoba spokes- man Keir Johnson said Wednesday. Doctors there have expressed outrage over provincial legislation that introdu- ces a new compensation system tied to performance metrics and imposes pen- alties for collective actions. Some are investigating a move to Manitoba, which has struggled with a shortage of doctors and has stepped up recruitment and retention efforts in re- cent years. “Just last week at the Family Medi- cine Forum, a major national confer- ence held this year in Winnipeg, our booth was busy with physicians from other provinces interested in Manitoba, particularly colleagues from Quebec,” Johnson said in an email. “We are connecting those physicians with the Manitoba government’s re- cruitment office, and are happy to sup- port their transition in practice here if and when they relocate to Manitoba,” he said. Provincial health care retention and recruitment office representatives are attending an emergency medicine con- ference in Montreal this week as part of ongoing outreach to connect with skilled professionals and share what Manitoba has to offer, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said Wednesday. Next week, that office will host a we- binar geared toward French-speaking physicians to highlight the opportunities in Manitoba’s francophone commun- ities, the minister said in a statement. “Manitoba’s strong francophone com- munity and bilingual health services are a key part of what sets our province apart, and they help draw talented pro- fessionals who want to be part of a prov- ince where care is available in both offi- cial languages,” Asagwara said. The Quebec government has said new legislation that takes effect in 2026 is meant to encourage physicians to see more patients and help 1.5 million Que- becers who don’t have a family doctor. Physicians could face fines of up to $20,000 a day if they take “concerted actions” to boycott the bill, such as re- fusing to teach students. Quebec doctors have said it’s an at- tempt to muzzle them, that the penal- ties are unconstitutional and many will leave the province as a result. The College of Physicians and Sur- geons of Ontario has reportedly re- ceived more than 250 applications from Quebec doctors interested in working there. The College of Physicians and Sur- geons of Manitoba did not respond to email inquiries Wednesday asking whether any Quebec doctors have ap- plied for a licence to practise in this province. Doctors Manitoba, which has connect- ed with physicians wanting to leave the U.S. as a result of Trump administration health-care orders, said governments should consult with doctors before im- posing changes that impact care. “The situation in Quebec is a caution- ary reminder that when politicians arbi- trarily change the rules of medical care without engaging physicians as part- ners, patients suffer,” Johnson said. “This is as true in Quebec as it is in the United States.” Manitoba’s health care retention and recruitment office, which was estab- lished last year, is reaching out to pro- fessionals across Canada and around the world using social media, international webinars and national recruitment events, Asagwara said. It has held engagement sessions over the past year in the United States and the United Kingdom. — with files from the Canadian Press carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca TOP NEWS A3 THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM Statutory release, which is legislated, is a conditional release that is granted in most cases when a federal inmate has served two-thirds of their fixed sentence. The document said Lamb was pre- viously granted escorted temporary absences for community services and to attend church. The parole board said a spousal assault risk assessment concluded Lamb poses a “high imminent risk” of intimate partner violence and a “low imminent risk” of violence toward others. A 2022 psychological assessment found his risk to reoffend sexually to be above-average, and his risk to reoffend violently to be in the low-mod- erate to moderate range. The board noted Lamb’s “problem- atic” history of reoffending while on parole or statutory release prior to his current sentence, which is his fifth federal term. Past convictions include sexual assault and robbery. “If you were to ask anybody, people might be and would be rightly con- cerned about public safety,” Manitoba Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine, who is responsible for women and gen- der equity, said of Lamb’s release. She said it will not only affect the women’s families, but the broader In- digenous community and missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and gender-diverse-plus (MMIWG2S+) families across Canada. “To find out that after 12 years he’s getting released is incredibly disap- pointing,” Fontaine said. “I’m worried for the families, and I’m worried for what this means to the community. “I worry for what that says to Indige- nous women and girls… and their lives, and their value as Indigenous women and girls.” Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, president of National Family and Survivors Circle Inc., said she thought of the women’s families and broader community when she learned of Lamb’s status. “I’m really hopeful they are sur- rounded by community-based supports to help them navigate this news, and to nurture and take care of their spirits as they process everything,” she said. “It is deeply concerning — someone like Shawn Lamb being reintegrated into the community — considering his horrific crimes that he has committed, his lack of value for human life and how he preyed upon vulnerable women in the community.” Anderson-Pyrz urged the full im- plementation of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ 231 calls for justice. Lamb will be required to abide by five conditions upon his release. The residency condition, intended to provide close monitoring and super- vision, is subject to a review after six months. The board dismissed Lamb’s pro- posal that he live in transition housing based on an offer of accommodation from a source that was redacted in the document. He is required to immediately report all sexual and non-sexual relationships and friendships, any at- tempts to initiate one and any changes to those relationships or friendships to a parole supervisor. Lamb is not allowed to have con- tact with people involved in criminal activity. He is barred from consuming alcohol or drugs, other than prescribed or over-the-counter medication that is taken as directed. The latter four conditions are in effect until Lamb’s sentence ends because “they are considered reason- able and necessary in order to protect society and the victims, and to facili- tate your successful reintegration into society,” the decision said. The board said Lamb, originally from Aamjiwnaang First Nation in On- tario, has completed sex offender and violence prevention programs. He has received help for mental-health issues, and he has been on an opioid replace- ment therapy program. Nepinak, then 31, was last seen alive in September 2011. Sinclair, who was pregnant, disappeared three months later. Blacksmith went missing in January 2012. Sinclair, 25, was later found dead be- hind a Notre Dame Avenue apartment block, near Toronto Street. Blacksmith, 18, was found in a Simcoe Street back- yard. The document said Lamb and Sin- clair went to use crack cocaine in his apartment, where he struck her with an axe handle. He returned two days later to wrap her in garbage bags and leave her body next to a bin. Lamb met Blacksmith while buying drugs about two weeks later. He invit- ed her back to his apartment, where they used drugs and he strangled her with a television cord. He disposed of her body in a similar way, the docu- ment said. Nepinak has not been found. Police searched part of the city-operated Brady Road landfill for six days in October 2012. Premier Wab Kinew has said the province is making plans to search the landfill for Nepinak amid efforts to find the body of Ashlee Shingoose, who was a victim of serial killer Jeremy Skibicki. “It’s very emotional knowing that (Lamb) is out, and I’m still having meetings about the Brady landfill search,” Caribou said. “I’m still pray- ing we will bring her home.” chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca CONVICTED ● FROM A1 CAROL SANDERS Quebec MDs kicking tires on Manitoba jobs Upcoming legislation in that province sparks outrage; advocacy group supports transition here MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Sue Caribou says it’s ‘very emotional’ that Shawn Lamb is being released as she continues to meet with officials about finding her niece Tanya Nepinak’s remains in the Brady landfill. SUPPLIED Lorna Blacksmith SUPPLIED Carolyn Sinclair FACEBOOK PHOTO Tanya Jane Nepinak is Shawn Lamb’s alleged third victim whose body has not been found. Canada-U.S. trade talks not addressed in G7 meeting MAAN ALHMIDI NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE — Top dip- lomats from the Group of Seven nations gathered in the Niagara region this week to discuss global crises — but For- eign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said she did not broach stalled trade negoti- ations between Ottawa and the United States. Anand and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on the margins of the summit Wednesday, where they spoke about a range of issues, includ- ing Ukraine, the Middle East, Haiti and Arctic sovereignty. Asked repeatedly whether she spoke with Rubio about Canada-U.S. trade, Anand said that falls under the purview of Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc. “Minister LeBlanc is working hard on this file every single day,” Anand told reporters. “I am here to talk about the work that the G7 ministers are doing together.” U.S President Donald Trump sus- pended trade talks with Canada last month in response to an Ontario-spon- sored ad campaign that quoted former president Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs. Anand wrapped up Canada’s G7 presi- dency by making a case for multilateral- ism and shoring up new trading rela- tionships in response to Trump’s tariffs. But America’s strikes on boats in the Caribbean cast a shadow over the two- day meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Monday the U.S. military had killed six people — bringing the death total to 76 — in the latest strike in international water. The Trump administration has said it’s targeting narcotics traffickers, but has not presented any evidence pub- licly. CNN reported Tuesday that the United Kingdom stopped sharing some intelligence with the United States about suspected traffickers in the region be- cause it did not want to be complicit and did not think the strikes were legal. Canada continues to share intelligence with the Americans through Operation Caribbe to intercept narcotics destined for North America, Anand said, but it’s not involved in the controversial strikes. Anand said the United States “has made clear that it is using its own intel- ligence,” adding she did not bring up the issue with Rubio. As the summit closed, G7 foreign min- isters from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union issued a joint statement about multiple geopolitical challenges including about the fragile ceasefire in Gaza and secur- ity in the Indo-Pacific. It also addressed maritime security but not the U.S. strikes on boats in international waters. The communique offered strongly worded support for Ukraine after Rus- sia again attacked the Ukrainian power grid and overran areas in the country’s south. Anand earlier Wednesday announced Canada is hitting Russia with sanctions targeting those behind Russia’s drone and cyber attacks on Ukraine. The sanctions, which take effect im- mediately, will also hit 100 vessels in Russia’s sanctions-evading shadow fleet and two Russian liquefied natural gas entities. — The Canadian Press ;