Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 15, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba LEASING FOR NEW AND USED VEHICLES WAVERLEY MITSUBISHI VICKAR MITSUBISHI SCAN THE QR CODE TO LEARN MORE A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2025 VOL 155 NO 3 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. 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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 fpcirc@freepress.mb.ca The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada INSIDE Arts and Life D1 Books G1 Business B4 Celebrations D5 Classifieds E7 Comics I3-7 Community Voices A7 Destinations I1 Diversions G6-7, I8 Faith G5 Green Page G8 Homes H1 Horoscope D5 Miss Lonelyhearts D5 Obituaries C1 Opinion A8-9 Sports E1 Television D7 Weather D8 49.8 F1 COLUMNISTS: Tom Brodbeck B1 Niigaan Sinclair A4 David McLaughlin A9 Laura Rance B6 Joel Schlesinger B7 Tory McNally B8 Ben Sigurdson D2 Taylor Allen E1 Mike McIntyre/Ken Wiebe E2 Jerrad Peters E6 Melissa Martin F6 Rebecca Chambers F6 Mitch Calvert F8 Alison Gillmor F8 READER SERVICE ● GENERAL INQUIRIES 204-697-7000 DEATH INVESTIGATED AS HOMICIDE MOUNTIES have launched a homicide investi- gation after a man was found unresponsive in his home Sunday. Fisher Branch RCMP were called at about 1:30 p.m. after the man, 59, was found. “This is an isolated incident, and there is no risk to the public,” Manitoba RCMP said in a news release Friday. MAN ARRESTED AFTER POLICE PURSUIT POLICE pursued a pickup truck for 20 minutes before arresting a man in a farm field on Wilkes Boulevard. Officers tried to stop the driver of the 2000 Chevrolet Silverado after seeing it in the area of Oakdale Drive and Roblin Boulevard at 11:45 p.m. Wednesday. Police had noticed the licence plate did not match the vehicle. The police helicopter monitored the truck, and tire-deflation devices were used to dam- age the Silverado’s tires. The damaged truck continued south on a residential gravel road on the 2000 block of Wilkes before going into the field, where police boxed it in. Officers seized an airsoft rifle, about 55 grams of what is believed to be metham- phetamine and drug paraphernalia. The driver was taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries. Two police vehicles sustained minor damage in the incident, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Friday. A 24-year-old man faces charges of flight while pursued by a peace officer and posses- sion of a scheduled substance for the purpose of trafficking. He was also charged with multiple Highway Traffic Act offences. The man was released on undertakings. POLICE USE AIRPODS TO TRACK STOLEN TRUCK A PAIR of wireless headphones left in a stolen truck allowed Winnipeg police to track down the vehicle Tuesday night. The owner of a 2020 Ford F150 had left the pickup running near Portage Avenue and Roseberry Street at about 9 p.m., when a stranger got in and peeled off. The owner called police and advised he was tracking a pair of Airpods that were still in the truck. Officers in the police helicopter saw the truck in a lot on the 600 block of William Avenue. An officer on the ground arrested a man and a woman. A 41-year-old man faces a charge of possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000. He was let out on an appearance notice. A 39-year-old woman was released without being charged. RURAL BUSINESS, TARGETED AGAIN, BURNS A RURAL business was set ablaze early Friday, less than a month after someone smashed a front-end loader into it and tried to set the building on fire. RCMP were sent to the business on Road 6 West in the Rural Municipality of Morris at 2 a.m. after wooden pallets near the building were intentionally set on fire, causing exten- sive damage. Early on Oct. 10, someone drove a loader through the front door. Officers found con- tainers filled with diesel fuel on pallets that were on a forklift. It appears someone had unsuccessfully tried to set the building on fire, Manitoba RCMP said previously. Police asked anyone with information about the incident to call the Morris RCMP detach- ment at 204-746-2323 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS). MAN, 22, KILLED IN HWY. 14 CRASH A MAN was killed when a truck rolled and went into a ditch off Highway 14 on Tuesday morning. Pembina Valley RCMP were told about the crash, between Road 19 West and Road 20 West in the Rural Municipality of Stanley, at about 6:45 a.m. Members of the Winkler Fire Department told officers when they arrived that a driver had died. An investigation determined the driver was headed east on Highway 14 when the truck slid into the oncoming lane. It veered into the correct lane before hitting “numerous trees” and rolling into the ditch on the south side of the road, RCMP said in a news release. The driver — a 22-year-old RM of Stanley resident — was found outside the truck. No one else was in the vehicle. MAN SHOT BY HUNTERS, TEENS CHARGED THREE teens are facing charges after a senior was struck by an errant shot fired by hunters, RCMP said. Treherne RCMP were sent to the man’s home on Road 53 North in the Rural Municipality of Victoria at about 10:45 a.m. Tuesday. Officers were told a 66-year-old man with a wound to his arm was taken to hospital by ambulance in stable condition. He was released from hospital that day. Police were told the victim had been hit by a shot while he was outside on his own property. He was not hunting. Mounties arrested two males, ages 17 and 16, and a 14-year-old girl in a field across from the victim’s property. All have been charged with careless use of a firearm, discharging a firearm while being reckless and assault with a weapon. The girl and the younger male are also charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm. All three were released. TWO NEW MEASLES CASES ANNOUNCED THE province announced two new confirmed cases of measles Friday, for a total of 249 since February. There are 16 probable cases. The latest numbers are accurate as of Nov. 8. The government announced seven new cases, for a total of 247, on Nov. 7. IN BRIEF Province shopping for statue to replace Queen Victoria THE Manitoba government is looking for design teams to help build a new statue on the front lawn of the legisla- ture. The government announced plans a year ago to have a monument of a mother bison and her child erected in the spot where a statue of Queen Vic- toria had been torn down by protesters in 2021. The province is now looking for sub- missions from design teams interested in drawing up the monument and is hoping to have a shortlist of qualified teams by February. Premier Wab Kinew has said the mother and child bison will serve as a reminder of the harm residential schools inflicted on Indigenous com- munities by separating families. Kinew released an image created by artificial intelligence last year showing a possible version of the statue. The monument will join several others that already sit on the spacious legislature grounds, but the province says the new one will have a higher pro- file. “The monument will be the most prominent monument on the grounds, front and centre at the front of the building,” a request for qualifications issued by the government Friday reads. “It is anticipated that the final de- sign will be informed by the material, cultural, and archeological history of bison in Manitoba and its cultural sig- nificance to Indigenous peoples and all Manitobans.” Bidders will have to have knowledge of the residential school system, and Canadian suppliers will be given pref- erence over others, the document says. Bidders that make the shortlist are to receive feedback to refine their design, and consult with an Indigenous elder or knowledge keeper. The documents do not outline a budget for the monument or a comple- tion date. The area directly in front of the legislature has been empty of monu- ments since the Queen Victoria statue was toppled and beheaded on July 1, 2021 during a protest over the deaths of Indigenous children at residential schools. The statue was covered with red paint. The head was found the next day in the nearby Assiniboine River. The government later said the statue was beyond repair and replicating it would have cost at least $500,000. — The Canadian Press STEVE LAMBERT Operation Red Nose gears up for 30th year fighting impaired driving O PERATION Red Nose is about to rev up again for the holiday sea- son. The annual free designated-driver program will begin offering rides Nov. 28. It runs until New Year’s Eve. The service — now in its 30th year of operation in Manitoba — sees vol- unteers drive people and their vehicles home for them, after weekend parties and gatherings throughout the festive season. Operation Red Nose is meant to com- bat impaired driving. The rides are free, but donations are encouraged. “It’s the only way to get home free,” said Elisha Dacey, the program’s media liaison. “A lot of the time, people will go downtown, go to a (Winnipeg) Jets game, go to a holiday party and they’ll bring their car, and then, you have a few and you’re a little bit tipsy.” She said sometimes, people will choose to drive home impaired rather than leave their vehicles. “We just want people to get home safe — we’ll come get you and your vehicle, no matter what,” said Dacey. “We’ve all seen the statistics. Every death that happens behind the wheel of a car, because somebody was impaired, is 100 per cent preventable, so some- thing like this just lowers those chan- ces.” The year’s launch was held Friday at Safety Services Manitoba’s Notre Dame Avenue office. The company is a main sponsor, along with Manitoba Public Insurance. Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries also provides support, as do other organizations. Officials from the Winnipeg Police Service and RCMP, as well as the spon- sor organizations, spoke at the launch about the program’s importance. Last year’s Operation Red Nose, which raised $49,899 to donate to youth sports and community programs in the province, provided 2,450 rides across Manitoba, with 1,418 volunteers. The program is set to operate in Win- nipeg, Portage la Prairie, Steinbach, La Broquerie, St. Malo, Gimli, Flin Flon and The Pas each Friday and Satur- day for five weeks, as well as Dec. 31, a Wednesday. The money raised in the city this year will go to the Winnipeg Kids Foun- dation, which helps needy kids access education with scholarships as well as funding youth and sport groups. Money raised elsewhere in the province will go to local community organizations. People who need a ride in Winnipeg, once the program begins, can call 204- 947- 6673 (NOSE) to book. Those in other communities can visit rednosemb.ca to find the right number to call in their location. The program also needs volunteer drivers and donations. erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca ERIK PINDERA RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Elisha Dacey, Matthew Barber and Operation Red Nose mascot Rudy, outside the Safety Services Manitoba. ;