Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 19, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2025 VOL 155 NO 6 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. If you have concerns about editorial content, please send them to: editorialconcerns@freepress.mb.ca. 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INSIDE Arts and Life C1 Business B5 Classifieds D8 Comics C5 Diversions C6-7 Horoscope C4 Jumble C6 Miss Lonelyhearts C4 Obituaries D6-7 Opinion A6-7 Sports D1 Television C4 Weather B8 COLUMNISTS: Tom Brodbeck A4 Peter Denton A7 Gwynne Dyer A7 READER SERVICE ● GENERAL INQUIRIES 204-697-7000 CIRCULATION INQUIRIES MISSING OR INCOMPLETE PAPER? 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 The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada Fifteen highlights from the throne speech NEW health-care staff-to-patient ratios, a crackdown on methamphetamine and a bill to stop “unfair” rent increases are among the province’s priorities in the next legislative session. Tuesday’s throne speech offered tid- bits of what to expect during the ma- jority NDP government’s third year in office, but details will be announced in the coming months. Here are 15 key takeaways from the speech: Staff-to-patient ratios Manitoba will legislate staff-to-pa- tient ratios in “priority areas” of health care to improve patient and staff safety. A committee spent months develop- ing proposed ratios by looking at B.C.’s legislation as an example. Kinew said the province will elimin- ate mandatory overtime for staff, start- ing with front-line nurses, and create a patient safety charter. Short-term sick notes Legislation will be introduced to eliminate employers’ requirements for workers to provide sick notes for short- term absences from work. Doctors Manitoba has said eliminat- ing sick notes would free up 300,000 vis- its to doctors for medical concerns, or the equivalent of adding 50 physicians. New energy turbines Three new dual-fuel combustion tur- bines at a site near Brandon will add 750 megawatts of power amid soaring demand. Kinew said the $3-billion facility will burn natural gas, but it could transition to renewable methane or hydrogen in the future. The project might “go bigger” than 750 megawatts, he said. High grocery costs A new internal study will try to find ways to help cut grocery bills, while Manitobans grapple with the high costs of living. “My hope is that were going to take this study to understand what is driving grocery prices in Manitoba, so we that we can come back to you by the spring budget with some concrete steps,” Kinew said. More child-care spots, schools The province is pledging 402 more child-care spaces in River East, Pem- bina Trails and Seven Oaks in Winni- peg and Brandon. The speech repeated the plan for four new schools, with construction starting this winter. The province had announced new schools in Devonshire Park and Prairie Pointe in Winnipeg, West St. Paul and Brandon. Rules to halt “unfair” rent increases Kinew promised new rules to stop “unfair” rent increases and strengthen renters’ rights. “When we introduce this bill, I’m thinking it’s going to be a good balance of ensuring landlords are going to get what they need to be able to keep up the investments (in their properties), but you, the person paying the rent, are going to be able to have greater clarity that we’ll have something closer to real rent control in Manitoba,” he said. Carberry-area overpass An overpass will be built at high- ways 1 and 5, just north of Carberry, where 17 seniors were killed in a crash in June 2023. The project will cost more than $100 million, Kinew said. Next year, the province will start work on twinning the Trans-Canada Highway from West Hawk Lake to the Manitoba-Ontario boundary. Business security rebate Manitoba is introducing a new $2,500 security rebate for businesses in De- cember amid concerns about shoplift- ing, vandalism and threats. Homeowners can apply for a $300 re- bate. A provincial spokesman said the business rebate will have a $10-million fund, while the pool for home-related rebates is $2 million. More machete regulations A new law will ban dangerous weapons, including machetes, from public spaces such as parks and buses. The government had passed legis- lation that applies to the sale of long- blade weapons. Kinew said the prov- ince will go a step further and target online marketplaces. “I think there are some additional areas that we want to make sure there is regulation — Facebook Marketplace being one example,” he said. Post-wildfire review The province has promised a com- prehensive review of the worst wildfire season in 30 years. Two people died, dozens of homes were destroyed and 35,000 people were displaced. Recommendations will address wild- fire awareness and education, preven- tion and preparedness, and air quality. More paramedics Manitoba announced 14 training seats in a new direct-entry program for pri- mary care paramedics at RRC Polytech. The province said it will hire every student in the first fully enrolled class of advanced care paramedics. Online patient portal An online patient portal will give Manitobans access to their lab results and immunizations. It is expected to launch in 2026, along with digital health cards that patients can show to health-care staff on their smartphone. The digital cards are op- tional. Supervised drug site Subject to federal approval, the prov- ince plans to open a supervised drug consumption site in Winnipeg in Janu- ary, after residents’ opposition forced the government to abandon a proposed location in Point Douglas. Kinew wouldn’t reveal the location, but said it is west of the proposed Point Douglas site (200 Disraeli Fwy.), and west of Main Street. “Everyone in Manitoba who drives up Main Street — Higgins (Avenue) and Main — it looks terrible,” Kinew said. “It looks like there’s this humanitar- ian crisis going on, but we also know there’s a bunch of the service providers there… so that seems like the area to locate this.” Meth “sweep” A new task force that includes Win- nipeg police and RCMP officers will be set up to do a “targeted sweep” of the meth trade. The province will work with Mani- toba Keewatinowi Okimakanak to buy a scanner for a northern airport to help prevent drugs from being smuggled into First Nations. Manitobans honoured The throne speech honoured several Manitobans. A bridge on Provincial Road 311 will be named for Sue and Richard Nowell, who died in a wildfire near Lac du Bon- net in May. The speech acknowledged Marina Si- mard, 18, who died in a mass stabbing in Hollow Water First Nation in Septem- ber, and RCMP Cpl. Brianne Bartman- ovich, who was injured in a crash that involved her attacker, who was killed. The province will fund a new score- board and bleachers at Sisler High School to honour Darius Hartshorne, 17, who died after he was injured dur- ing a football game. chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca CHRIS KITCHING “We just want to take steps to ensure that your safety as a patient is going to be improved,” Kinew said. “At the same time, because we’re looking to fix health care (and) lower wait times, we’ve got to take care of the staff as well. The staff are the crucial piece to deliver you the health-care experience that you want.” The province will create a new patient safety charter that puts into law Manitobans’ right to “good health care.” Mandatory overtime will be elimi- nated for staff, starting with front-line nurses. Staff-to-patient ratios will be created in priority areas, including hospital emergency rooms. The pre- mier said 3,500 new health-care staff, including 1,200 nurses, have been added since the NDP took office two years ago. “We have added the staff, we are spending more money than ever on health care. I’m confident that those on the front lines are doing their job,” Kinew said. “We need the administra- tion to do their job now and there will be standards.” The Manitoba Nurses Union said there aren’t enough staff and pointed to the 37 per cent vacancy rate in obstetric nurse positions at the Thomp- son hospital, among “many, many vacancies” across the province. “We’re still in a nursing shortage,” president Darlene Jackson said. She noted that Kinew promised legislation to end mandatory overtime seven years ago when he was opposi- tion leader. “It’s a positive concept, but I don’t see we’re at that point right now,” Jackson said. Legislating such changes will re- quire consultation, said Doctors Man- itoba president Dr. Nichelle Desilets, who practises in Neepawa. “As a doctor who works in a small town, I’m very sensitive to new rules that can actually compromise keeping our hospital open and keeping those services available,” she said at the leg- islature. “I think a measured, balanced approach with gradual implementation and proper consultation is the way to go.” The long-promised supervised drug consumption site will start operating in downtown Winnipeg in January, the NDP pledged. A “meth sweep,” involving a new task force with members of the Win- nipeg Police Service and RCMP, will target people who make and sell the drug. New legislation will target the sale of dangerous weapons, including machetes, on online marketplaces, and ban them from public spaces, such as parks and buses. Kinew said the province will com- mission a study to look into grocery costs. Potential measures could be included in the spring budget. The NDP announced construction of four schools and the addition of 402 child-care spaces in River East, Pembina Trails and Seven Oaks in Winnipeg, and Brandon. To help “Trump-proof” the economy, the NDP government plans to build new dual-fuel combustion turbines at an existing site near Brandon to produce 750 megawatts of power to help heat homes in winter, which would reduce the reliance on U.S. energy imports. Much of the throne speech included promises previously announced or hinted at, including the creation of a Crown-Indigenous corporation to ensure Indigenous involvement in the expansion of the Port of Churchill. A feasibility study will explore the option of extending the shipping season on the Arctic Ocean port. Manitoba’s promised $2,500 security rebate program for businesses will start in December, the throne speech said. Tory Leader Obby Khan reacted by picking apart the throne speech. “There was not one iota of concrete economic growth in this throne speech that hasn’t been announced before,” he said. “Health care is worse, crime is higher. Affordability is at all time unattainable for Manitobans … That’s all glossed over and ignored.” Other measures in the government’s legislative agenda include the elim - ination of mandatory sick notes for short-term absences from work, and a new online portal that will give Mani- toba patients access to lab results and immunization records. One striking highlight is the plan to build an overpass at highways 1 and 5, north of Carberry, following the crash that killed 17 seniors two years ago. “This intersection is different than any other intersection because of the loss of life,” Kinew said. The province will construct the over- pass in response to outcry from the community over initial plans to build a restricted-crossing U-turn instead, the premier said. He expects more overpasses will be built, and asked the transportation department to “give me a modular design that we can repeat over and over and over again.” Work will also begin to twin the Trans-Canada Highway between the Manitoba-Ontario boundary and West Hawk Lake. Manitoba will conduct its most com- prehensive post-wildfire review, fol- lowing this year’s devastating season. The province has signed a new con- tract for park passes with a Manitoba company, replacing one in Texas, and it will hold a vote for a new provincial park-themed licence plate. The throne speech was published in Ojibwa, the language that named Manitoba, for the first time. — with files from Nicole Buffie chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca THRONE ● FROM A2 “Reading is the most important thing to do at home,” Laberge said, adding he would prefer students hone their literacy skills rather than com- plete math questions at home. He noted that parents in the division — many of whom are newcomers, be they from Quebec, France or the Con- go — learned to solve math equations in a different way than what’s being taught today. Despite their best efforts, academic help from parents can cause more confusion for a child and interfere with in-school learning, Laberge said. The superintendent is outspoken about his concerns related to how much time students, including his teenage daughter, are spending in front of screens. The school division was the first of its kind to implement a cellphone ban to reduce distractions for students and staff ahead of the 2023-24 school year. Manitoba announced an outright ban on phones in elementary schools and new restrictions on personal devices in high schools the following year. Also in 2024, teachers in the fran- cophone division received explicit marching orders to limit computer time in their classrooms. Laberge said the division is “trying to bring back (physical) encyclope- dias” and expose children to other pre-Google research methods. Citing feedback from teachers, students and guardians, he said it’s be- come a huge challenge to get children to read physical texts that require extended periods of concentration. In its note to teachers, the division stated homework can generate stress and exacerbate inequalities, and quali- ty is more important than quantity. The fourth and final page of the Nov. 10 document references studies on the effectiveness of homework and researchers’ guidelines. The divi- sion created a related breakdown of maximum amounts of homework on a weekly basis. Grade 12 students should not be doing any more than 75 minutes of homework four times per week, based on the guidance. Pappel said teachers have a pro- fessional responsibility to engage in ongoing learning throughout their careers. “That helps us to adhere to best ped- agogical practices,” the teacher and union leader said. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca HOMEWORK ● FROM A1 MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville, followed by Premier Wab Kinew, enters the Manitoba Legislative Chamber to deliver the speech from the throne Tuesday. Below: the speech was also published in Anishinaabemowin. ;