Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 24, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM Toews said unlike that proposal, the aquifer under Silex’s proposed project isn’t used by residents. “This is a very saline aquifer,” he said. “It’s not good for people and animals. It will kill plants.” He said the geology and hydro-geol- ogy of the area show the silica is of a high quality. Another difference, he said, is that Silex plans to drill far fewer bore holes, and they will be horizontal, not vertical. In the RM of Springfield, Sio Silica, which is trying to revive its bid for a sand mine near Vivian, 50 kilometres east of Winnipeg, plans to hold an open house today. The company filed a revised application to the province’s Clean Environment Commission last month that involves drilling fewer wells in a smaller area. The original proposal became mired in controversy after the NDP won the 2023 election. It became known the Tory government had pushed to have it approved in the period after losing the election and before the NDP was sworn in as government. An investigation by the province’s ethics commissioner resulted in fines being issued to former premier Heath- er Stefanson and two of her former cabinet ministers for breaching con- flict of interest laws. The commission- er did not find evidence of wrongdoing by the company. RM of Springfield Coun. Mark Mill- er — who, with fellow councillor Andy Kuczynski, issued a statement recently rejecting Sio Silica’s second mining application — said RM of Macdonald residents should be prepared to ask Si- lex many questions at the open house. “I’m not an anti-silica sand person, but you need to know who this com- pany is and what the safeguards are,” Miller said. “I would also want to know what differentiates them from the Sio Silica project. I want to encourage the residents in the RM of Macdonald to educate themselves and find out about it… anyone with a well there should be aware of what the risks are.” RM of Macdonald Reeve Brad Erb said people in his municipality already know about the quality of the water beneath their land. “All of our potable water is surface from the Assiniboine and the La Salle rivers,” Erb said. “There really is no potable aquifer below us. Our entire municipality is all piped water from the treatment plant.” Erb said he doesn’t know details about Silex’s proposal, but he encour- ages residents to attend the open house to find out more and looks forward to a subsequent presentation from the company to council. A spokesperson for the provincial government said it has no comment on Silex’s plan because the company has not approached the government about it. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca NEWS MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2025 VOL 155 NO 10 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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INSIDE Arts and Life D1 Business B4 Classifieds B6 Comics D4 Diversions D5-6 Horoscope D2 Miss Lonelyhearts D2 Opinion A6-7 Sports C1 Television D2 Weather C8 COLUMNISTS: Aaron Epp B3 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 PHOTOS BY JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS People gathered Sunday to protest and sign a petition to demand reforms to the Manitoba government’s new facilities for 72-hour detox treatment. SUPPLIED Consultants for Silex Resource Corp., which has several land claims within the area shown, plan to hold an open house Wednesday on a pro- posal to mine silica sand in the RM of Macdonald. “These facilities don’t work. What works is compassion and community care, harm-reduction initiatives like supervised consumption sites, safe supply, housing,” Smith said, citing her firsthand experience as someone who once used meth on a regular basis. Leslie Braun, a nurse who attended the event, echoed her concerns that the new facilities are inhumane. Braun said the new rules promote “locking up” Manitobans without charges or a mental health form. “People have the right to decline care, treat- ment — whatever it is that this is supposed to be offering,” she added. No one can be held for more than 24 hours at a traditional detention location, but “protective care centre” rooms can be used for three days under the legislation. The new act requires that people be assessed by a health-care professional if they remain intox- icated after a full day at a centre. It allows for involuntary medical exams. “We cannot expect people to make healthy, life-changing decisions when they are detoxing alone, locked in a cell, afraid, confused and cut off from the world,” Ballantyne said. The community organizer, who has experience being held in a sobering centre, showed up to the legislature in a ribbon skirt. Attendees participated in smudging and drum- ming as they listened to numerous people talk about their detox experiences. One speaker, a Peguis First Nation member who asked to be referred to as Welcoming Red Eagle Woman, urged the Kinew government to “go back to the drawing board.” “Trauma-informed approaches work,” she said. “Cattle-herding systems (don’t).” Organizers’ multi-pronged petition requests the province prioritize voluntary, trauma-informed options over detentions. It also demands the province “uphold Indige- nous cultural safety” and provide people who are detained with access to ceremonies and culturally relevant healing resources. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Simard was an elementary teacher at a single-track immersion school in Brandon before running for office in 2023. École Harrison offers nearly every subject in French, including physical education — Simard’s subject area, which he likened to facilitating “10 birthday parties a day.” Students and staff at the kindergarten-to-Grade 8 site are encouraged to speak French in the hallways and during recess. French immersion and Français — the latter program is offered via the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine — have surged in popularity over the last 25 years. DSFM has grown about 40 per cent since it was established in 1995. There are roughly 6,400 students enrolled in 25 francophone schools this fall. The status-quo is far different from what his parents, as well as he and his siblings, experienced as students. DSFM didn’t exist when Simard was in school. “My mom had the English inspec- tor come (to her school in Letellier, a francophone community in southern Manitoba), and they would hide their books when they knew they were com- ing,” he said, noting French language education was criminalized in Manito- ba in the past. “I feel, personally, that this is a real- ly important thing — to recapture our francophonie as a province.” Simard noted French language rights were one of the key reasons Manitoba became a province in 1870. He raised both of his two, now-adult sons in English and French. “We do have a very distinct fran- cophone culture here in Manitoba because of our Métis roots, as well the fact that Manitoba was designed and created as a bilingual province by our first premier, Louis Riel,” the minister said. The NDP caucus is trying to rede- fine Manitoba’s francophone commu- nity as one that is more inclusive of language-learners and immigrants, Simard said. Tuesday’s throne speech includ- ed a French excerpt renewing the province’s commitment to making Manitoba “une province véritablement bilingue.” Premier Wab Kinew, who is trilin- gual (English, Anishinaabemowin and French) has been practising his third language at news conferences. His latest throne speech hinted at the NDP government’s plans to join OIF and open new offices in St. Bon- iface before the end of the calendar year. Simard said French speakers are no longer “as siloed” as they once were in communities such as his hometown — St. Lazare in northwestern Manitoba. Francophones are moving to Niverville, Dauphin and Thompson, as well as other anglophone parts of the province, he noted. Manitoba is anticipated to release its bilingualism strategy on March 20, International Day of La Francophonie. Simard said he anticipates there will be “a lot of great lessons” that can be applied from it to improve public services, ranging from government document translation to immersion schools, in other minority languages. The number of Manitobans who can conduct a conversation in French is on the rise, but the demographic weight of this group is shrinking, according to Statistics Canada. That figure reached an all-time high of 112,115 in 2021, representing 8.4 per cent of the population — a 30-year-low. One in 10 residents reported they could speak French in 1996. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca MINE ● FROM A1 FRANCOPHONE ● FROM A1 Open houses ● The Sio Silica open house will be held at the Club Regent Event Centre in Winnipeg from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight. ● The Silex open house will be held at the Kingswood Golf and Country Club at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. RSVP by calling 204-453-8008 or emailing RSVP@landmarkplanning.ca DETENTION ● FROM A1 MATT GOERZEN / BRANDON SUN FILES Francophone Affairs Minister Glen Simard is reviewing feedback received during the ‘truly bilingual province’ consultations. ;