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A Winnipeg animal shelter is one step closer to building a new home, thanks to the help of a generous donor.

D’Arcy Johnston, owner of D’Arcy’s Animal Rescue Centre (ARC), said the shelter is looking to raise $1 million to build a larger facility.

“We don’t get any funding from the city or the government, so we have to learn to do everything on our own,” he said in an interview with CTV News on Thursday.

Though the fundraising campaign only recently launched, D’Arcy’s Arc is already well on its way to the million-dollar mark due to one major donation.

Johnston explained a generous donor helped the shelter reach 10 per cent of its goal after seeing a CTV News segment about the rescue’s need for funding.

In exchange, the rescue happily took in six cats from the donor, who was caring for the pets after her brother’s death.

“It was nice to have that support and that she really appreciated the work that we do,” Johnston said.

“And the fact that we can look out for these cats to the end of their life and actually take them into the new facility.”

To raise the rest of the money, D’Arcy’s Arc is offering donors a chance to sponsor rooms in the new shelter. More information on donations is available online (https://darcysarc.ca/donate.html).

Two orphaned black bear cubs rescued near Marchand are now recovering together at Manitoba’s only rehabilitation centre for injured and orphaned black bears.

Cubs recovering after losing mother

Last week, two young sibling cubs arrived at Black Bear Manitoba after being found in the same area following the loss of their mother.

“We received one last week and then the following day, also last week, we received a sibling,” says Judy Stearns, president and co-owner of Black Bear Manitoba.

Stearns says it is not uncommon for sibling cubs to arrive separately, particularly when orphaned bears are found in the same location.

The first cub arrived frightened and withdrawn, making the reunion especially important.

“The first one who arrived was very, very scared,” Stearns says.

“We’re really relieved not only to hear that a sibling also made it to safety, but that it would be much better for the first cub to be reunited and have company again.”

She notes the cubs were rescued by a conservation officer from Steinbach.

Rehabilitation process

Black Bear Manitoba serves as the province’s only rehabilitation centre for orphaned or injured black bear cubs, caring for animals from across Manitoba until they are ready to return to the wild.

The cubs, only weighing 4.4 and 5 pounds upon arrival, are currently housed in a nursery-style enclosure designed for young, vulnerable bears.

As they grow stronger and gain weight, they will move through a series of progressively larger enclosures.

The rehabilitation process is designed to mimic a bear’s natural environment while limiting human interaction.

Cubs have access to grass, trees, berry bushes and pools for swimming, encouraging natural behaviours.

“We don’t tame them at all. We keep them wild so that they can be released and remain naturally afraid of humans,” she says.

The cubs are expected to remain in care until late fall, when Black Bear Manitoba releases rehabilitated bears back into the wild shortly before denning season.

Because the organization’s bears are often larger than typical cubs by release time, Stearns says they are capable of surviving independently through winter.

“We let them go and they do very well. They know how to den and settle down for the winter.”

Public urged to report orphaned cubs

Stearns is also encouraging the public to report any suspected orphaned cubs to conservation officers, the “Turn In Poachers” tip line or Black Bear Manitoba.

She says in this case, a member of the public spotted the deceased mother bear and cubs in a tree near Marchand and contacted authorities — a step that ultimately helped bring the animals to safety.

“Even if there turns out to be nothing, it’s just better to have given a heads up to conservation,” says Stearns.

“That’s the only way they’re going to get help.”

Mazher Alam, a Winnipeg social worker, is the latest candidate to announce he is running for mayor.

Manitoba's first supervised drug consumption site, planned for a largely industrial area in Winnipeg, is expected to open next month, Premier Wab Kinew said on Thursday.

Kinew said the site is one part of the province's plan to address open drug use in some parts of the city — an issue that has recently raised concerns from local businesses and school officials — at an unrelated news conference on Thursday.

"We're doing recovery, law enforcement … [and] we're doing the harm reduction," the premier said.

"The supervised consumption site [is] opening next month, and then we've got prevention as well too."

The Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre, which is partnering with the province to run a temporary supervised consumption site at 366 Henry Ave., is currently hiring staff for the facility, Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith said during Thursday's news conference.

"As soon as they've got their staff hired up and trained, then the site will be open," Smith said, adding the group has already hired a director and they are interviewing peer mentors and clinical workers.

The wellness centre applied to Health Canada last December to operate an urgent public health need site at the Henry Avenue location. Smith said the province is working to get a class exemption pathway to eventually operate a permanent facility at the address.

In March, the Manitoba government backed away from a timeline for opening the consumption site. Early that month, Kinew had said the temporary facility would open "in a week or two."

The province has said that the consumption site — located at a provincially-owned industrial building west of Main Street and just south of the Canadian Pacific Kansas City railyard — won't supply people with drugs.

People will be permitted to inject drugs with the supervision of staff, who can help respond to possible overdoses.

Smith said the site will operate with a "medical-led model," with a focus on getting people connected with the support and services they need, and has "already been fitted for what's going to be there."

Opening the facility is particularly pressing, Smith said, given recent public safety concerns around visible drug use and dealing in parts of the city.

"I've heard people talk about open drug consumption in the streets, and this is why we need this open," the minister said.

"We know that people need the supports. We see people using outside, we want to get them inside connected to supports and services," said Smith.

$2.2M for downtown summer safety

The provincial government also said Thursday several community organizations working in Winnipeg's downtown and the surrounding areas will share $2.2 million in provincial funding to bolster community safety.

The Downtown Community Safety Partnership, a non-profit organization that offers safety and support services in the area, will receive $750,000 of the new funding, the province said in a news release.

Another $750,000 will go toward the Downtown Winnipeg Business Improvement Zone. The bulk of the money for the BIZ will be spent on the Wayfinders program — a partnership between the downtown safety partnership, Indigenous-led organizations and community outreach teams.

The program is getting an additional $100,000 from the city and $50,000 from the Downtown BIZ.

"Everyone deserves to be safe downtown, whether you live here, you work here, you go to school, you're visiting, you're housed or you're unhoused," said Kate Fenske, the CEO of the Downtown BIZ, adding the "visible presence" of community groups is important

The West End BIZ is getting $300,000 in provincial funding, while $250,000 is going to the Exchange District BIZ and $150,000 to the West Broadway BIZ.

Premier Kinew said community groups like the downtown safety partnership are a "sign of reassurance and safety" for people living, working and visiting the area.

"Making downtown safer is about making sure everyone in Manitoba feels comfortable downtown and we're happy to invest some resources to make that happen."

The public component of the inquiry into Winnipeg's police headquarters is wrapping up this week at a slightly reduced scope and scale.

City of Winnipeg chief administrative officer Joseph Dunford is slated to testify Friday at the final hearing in the provincial public inquiry, which looked into the procurement and construction of the downtown home of the Winnipeg Police Service.

That will mark the end of 27.5 days of public hearings over a nearly four-month schedule that began in February. Former Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz, former chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl and Armik Babakhanians, the owner of police-HQ contractor Caspian Construction, were among the high-profile witnesses in the inquiry's first phase.

It was initially slated to hold 48 days of public hearings over five months, but that was scaled back to ensure the inquiry did not exceed its $2.3 million budget, Commissioner Garth Smorang said.

"We've considerably reduced the number of hearing days. We've reduced the number of witnesses from 34 to 30. We've omitted completely one of the experts who was going to come forward, all with a view to the budget," Smorang said Wednesday following a half-day hearing at the Portage Avenue office of the Public Utilities Board.

"So budget has been the overriding factor for us."

Manitoba Justice Minister Matt Wiebe declined to address how budget considerations affected the inquiry.

The commissioner is responsible for deciding "how the inquiry is conducted, including hearing dates and topics," Wiebe spokesperson Keigan Buckley said in a statement.

Smorang said he does not believe the shorter schedule impaired the ability to fulfil the inquiry's mandate to shine a light on the troubled megaproject and make recommendations for the future oversight of large construction projects in the city.

The commissioner said he believes the public component of the inquiry has been a success.

"We brought forward a lot of factual evidence that I think the public wanted to know," Smorang said.

"Now my job, along with commission council [Heather Leonoff], will be to put all that into a written report that will not only be thorough and will tell a story, but also will be useful in terms of actual practical recommendations that could be acted upon."

That report must be completed before the end of the year. Smorang said he will not pull any punches, even as he has no mandate to draw conclusions about civil wrongdoing or criminal activity.

"As you know, I am constrained by my terms of reference from finding civil or criminal liability," the commissioner said.

"Short of that, I intend my report to be thorough and blunt, and I intend to deal with behaviour in a very straightforward manner as I find it to have occurred."

$79M over budget

The police headquarters project, which was planned and built between 2008 and 2016, involved the $214-million purchase and renovation of a former Canada Post warehouse and office tower complex in downtown Winnipeg.

The headquarters was completed two years late and $79 million over its city council-approved budget. It was also the subject of two city-commissioned audits and a five-year RCMP investigation into allegations of fraud, forgery and secret commissions that concluded without charges.

The City of Winnipeg also launched a pair of civil lawsuits over the project.

The first of those suits concluded in 2022, when a Manitoba judge determined former Winnipeg chief administrative officer Sheegl accepted a $327,200 bribe from Babakhanians in exchange for favouring Caspian in the tendering process.

Caspian and other defendants settled a separate lawsuit in 2023 for $28 million.

Main Street Project’s food bank and essentials market is seeking donations as it prepares to reopen after fire forced it to close in January.

The front-line resource had its produce and inventory destroyed by smoke as a result of the Jan. 14 fire that levelled the Manwin Hotel next door on Main Street, said Kyla Walton, MSP’s volunteer services manager.

“We lost a small convenience store’s worth of food,” she said.

The food bank will reopen Thursday and Walton said it’s critical to have the place ready to meet demand by refilling inventory.

“We want to make sure that the person at the back of the line gets the same amount as the person at the front of the line,” she said.

Walton called the need for donations urgent, as the space supports 150 to 180 families each week, and serves as food storage for MSP’s other nutrition programs.

She said rising grocery prices are pushing demand higher, but the effect the food bank has on its users is obvious.

“You see a huge connection between the volunteers and the community that we serve,” she said.

“When people find exactly what they need — or if they ask for something and we’re able to provide it — you see a sense of relief when people don’t have food scarcity anymore. Their day is a little better.”

MSP said its food and nutrition services provide more than 1,650 meals a day with the food bank serving as the organization’s “central food hub.”

Walton stressed the service gives people choice and a dignified experience.

Members of the public are asked to take donations of canned food, pasta, cereal, rice, peanut butter, baby formula and hygiene products to 661 Main St. between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday to Friday.

“We need everything that you would find in your own pantry,” she said.

Financial donations are also welcome, as is the purchase of items from MSP’s Amazon wish list, in which items will be shipped directly to the shelter.

Princess Auto Stadium will be buzzing on Canada Day once again.

The Winnipeg Football Club will once again host Canada Day celebrations at the stadium on July 1 starting at noon.

A tailgate celebration featuring family-friendly activities and performances from local musicians will take place from noon to 5:30 p.m. throughout the stadium grounds.

At 5 p.m., the main stage inside the stadium will open up, with Down with Webster and Chad Brownlee headlining. Local musicians Don Amero and Mise en Scene will also perform on the main stage.

The event will conclude with a fireworks display above the stadium.

It will be the third year the stadium has held an event on Canada Day.

The event is free, and attendees are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item for Manitoba Harvest. Tickets are not required to access the tailgate celebrations.

Tickets for the main stage performances are also free but need to be claimed online on the Blue Bombers’ website (https://am.ticketmaster.com/bombers/buy/canadaday).

Manitoba Moose blueliner Tyrel Bauer is this year’s winner of the American Hockey League’s Yanick Dupré Memorial Award as the AHL’s Man of the Year.

Bauer was one of 32 team nominees that was up for the award that recognizes outstanding contributions to their local community and charitable organizations.

The fourth-year pro made over 40 community appearances last season, helping out with Project 11 and the St. Amant Early Learning Classroom. He also welcomed foster families to 15 Moose home games last season while working with the Kinship and Foster Family Network of Manitoba.

He also served as a coach for the under-11 team with the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Academy for the third straight season.

“As a hockey player, we are in a really unique position to give back to the community,” said Bauer. “Our job is to play hockey, but we wouldn’t have that if it wasn’t for the fans and the community cheering us on and supporting us.

“I get as much out of these interactions as maybe the people on the receiving end do.”

Bauer was the Winnipeg Jets’ sixth round draft pick in 2020. He had one goal and four assists in 52 games patrolling the blueline last season.

It’s the second straight year Bauer was the Moose nominee for the prestigious award.

“My greatest achievement is to be able to be recognized in that fashion,” he said. “Because it has a lasting impact on the community and on the people, rather than just me.”

The 24-year-old Bauer is just the third Moose player to ever win the award, joining Jimmy Roy (2002-2003) and Jimmy Oligny (2022-2023).

Manitobans are buying a record number of electric vehicles as international conflict causes gas prices to soar and government rebates make going green a more attractive option.

Zero-emission vehicles accounted for a record 8.8 per cent of all vehicle purchases in Manitoba in March, according to new data from Statistics Canada. There were 476 EVs purchased in the province, up 44 per cent from the 268 sold the month before.

For Kyle Bazylo, owner of charger installation company WinnipegEVCharging.ca, his switch from a hybrid to a fully electric vehicle six months ago was a no-brainer. He had previously been hesitant about the price, but as the market has shifted, the cars have become more affordable and some companies have begun including perks such as free chargers and cash back while charging, Bazylo said.

In the past few months, however, customer interest has exploded, he said, noting his company’s website traffic has gone up nearly 50 per cent in just the last few months.

“Really, I think it’s just the perfect storm of everything, with the rebates, the fuel prices,” Bazylo told the Free Press on Tuesday.

Manitoba is still behind the country-wide EV adoption average of 12 per cent, but that gap is closing. Manitoba had the highest adoption rate of the Prairie provinces in March and the fourth-highest in Canada, behind only British Columbia (23 per cent), Quebec (22 per cent), and Prince Edward Island (nine per cent).

There are signs Manitoba is quickly taking to EVs, said James Hart, president of the Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association. Its membership ranges from farmers to delivery drivers, he said, and their reasoning for switching over ranges from environmental benefits to cost savings and performance improvements. Dealerships have recently had trouble keeping the more affordable models of zero-emission vehicles in stock in Winnipeg, he said.

“A lot of people maybe wouldn’t have looked at electric vehicles a year ago, but between the price of gas increasing, all these incentives that are in place, then it starts becoming a question of what electric vehicle is best for me and my case.”

Hart said the group will recommend hybrid cars in some situations — a fully electric vehicle may not work for someone regularly traveling into northern Manitoba, for example — but having more conversations overall is a good sign.

“We operate on gentle conversion … any discussion is a good discussion,” he said.

Bazylo, too, said some indecision still remains among potential customers.

“I think for Manitoba, part of it was hesitation with the infrastructure. We don’t have a lot of cities nearby, so if we are travelling, we need the proper infrastructure to get long distances, and that, I think, was the holdup,” he said. “And I think people are still hesitant about it, but I don’t think they fully know about how well we are connected now.”

In Manitoba, eligible new, pre-owned and leased electric vehicle owners can apply for up to $4,000 toward the cost of the vehicle through the provincial government’s rebate program. The program was to end March 31 but was extended in the 2026 Manitoba budget. The budget was not clear on how long the extension lasts.

Last year, the province announced $500,000 to install 51 EV chargers, 39 as charging stations across the province and 12 at three multi-unit residential developments.

In October, Manitoba Hydro said it would be installing six fast-charging stations on Highway 6, from Lundar to Thompson, by 2027, bringing the province’s total number of charging stations to nearly 300.

“We recognize that we need to build-out that infrastructure if people are going to be able to purchase EVs,” said Environment and Climate Change Minister Mike Moyes.

Moyes said the numbers show the provincial and federal initiatives are working. “We’re seeing that with the EV rebate, that it is successful, and and that Manitobans are making that climate-friendly choice because it is more affordable.”

The U.S. and Israel launched its joint war on Iran on Feb. 28, creating world-wide disruptions to oil markets. In Manitoba, fuel prices jumped from around $1.20 per litre in February to around $1.80 per litre this week, according to data tracked by online sector observer GasBuddy.com.

Meanwhile, the federal government renewed subsidies for new EVs on Feb. 16, after pausing them in January 2025 after funding for the program ran out. Owners of EVs made in Canada or in countries with fair trade agreements with Canada can receive up to $5,000 or up to $2,500 for plug-in hybrids. That funding will decrease yearly until they are phased out in 2030, or until the $2.3 billion earmarked for the program runs out.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has scrapped former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s EV sales mandate, which would have required electric vehicles to account for 20 per cent of new auto sales this year, with the target of hitting 100 per cent by 2035.

The Manitoba government is accused of consulting only with a union collective before it adopted a jobs policy that governs contracts involving the construction of public projects, including four new schools.

Construction industry representatives said Tuesday they learned through a freedom-of-information request that the government met only with Manitoba Building Trades, which proposed a labour framework last July. The two parties discussed the jobs agreement in August, and it was signed 13 days later, the associations say.

They want the provincial ombudsman to pause the Manitoba Jobs Agreement and conduct a review.

“I was extremely disappointed that there was little rigour in the negotiation,” said Darryl Harrison of the Winnipeg Construction Association.

His group, alongside the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association and the Construction Association of Rural Manitoba, oppose the new rules, introduced in September 2025, which they say will increase construction costs.

The jobs agreements, which apply to provincial construction projects that cost at least $50 million, impose wage, benefit and apprenticeship conditions on builders.

Compliance is overseen by a collective of unions headed by Manitoba Building Trades. Contractors pay a fee per worker to the collective; the fee is included in the contract and ultimately paid by the government.

The three associations launched a website — redflagmanitoba.ca — to publicize their viewpoint against the policy.

They liken the contracts to a 20 per cent tax on construction and say they discriminate against the 88 per cent of Manitoba construction workers who aren’t unionized.

“There was such little work done to develop the agreement. It explains why the agreement is causing so (many) problems for the industry,” Harrison said.

“There’s a lot of construction companies that choose not to pursue these construction projects because of the pricing risk associated with it and the schedule risk.”

He said the information uncovered by the freedom-of-information files shows the province didn’t analyze the impact on competition, costs and scheduling.

The associations sent a letter to the ombudsman Friday.

Meanwhile, Manitoba Building Trades sent a letter denouncing the associations’ previous messaging, and that of the Progressive Conservatives during house sittings, in an email last week.

“There is an increasing difference between constructive policy discussion and rhetoric that fundamentally misrepresents Manitoba’s construction industry,” says the letter, signed by executive director Tanya Palson.

She said the accusation of a 20 per cent tax is “unsubstantiated.”

Project-by-project financial analyses haven’t been publicized. It’s too early to be stating a number, Palson said in an interview Tuesday, and the wages outlined in the agreements align with current union standards.

Two public projects are currently under Manitoba Jobs Agreements: the Victoria General Hospital emergency room rebuild and the creation of four schools.

Advertising a 20 per cent tax by following union standards is “damaging” to unionized construction companies, Palson argued.

“If that continued to be stated publicly… we may have to consider legal implications of that,” she said. “That’s actually damaging for fair and transparent procurement.”

Manitoba Building Trades’s letter asserts the new agreements don’t prohibit Manitoba workers from jobs. The only thing stopping non-unionized labour from participating, it says, is employers’ own reluctance to bid.

There’s massive resistance to bidding on Manitoba Jobs Agreement projects, say construction associations and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

“The provincial government does not have the right to substitute its ideology and its preferences for the choices made by 88 per cent of construction workers,” said Chris Lorenc, president of the heavy construction association, adding that 88 per cent covers about 50,000 people.

The 20 per cent tax is just an estimate — the number could be higher, Lorenc said. He said there’s been a lack of transparency over the fee of 85 cents per hour, per worker to be paid on the schools contract.

Businesses often pay more than the wages outlined in current Manitoba Jobs Agreements, Lorenc said. Benefits offered through such agreements may also be lower than what private-sector employers provide, he said.

He said the province must hire a labour relations mediator — agreed upon by the province, Manitoba Building Trades and the construction associations — to review the policy.

The government should implement the mediator’s recommendations, he said.

Following a controversial decision to replace Salisbury House with an American-based company at two city-owned golf courses, Winnipeg’s mayor is no longer backing a call to prioritize local businesses when awarding contracts.

Mayor Scott Gillingham initially told the Free Press he would support a motion that called for staff to provide options to update the city’s tendering process so it awards some points to local businesses. On Tuesday, he raised a different motion instead.

“The original motion that came from (city councillors) was, (and this is) my paraphrase, find other ways to give local companies an advantage. Our staff has said that would violate trade agreements,” said Gillingham.

Instead of the call to seek options for “a point system that promotes local businesses,” staff would now study “possible bid criteria that could be used to ensure local companies are given equal and fair opportunity to bid on city contracts.”

The new proposal comes after Salisbury House, the longstanding city eatery, along with many Winnipeggers, criticized the decision to award Aramark Canada — the Canadian branch of a major U.S.-based company — a food and beverage service contract at the city-owned Kildonan Park and Windsor Park golf courses. The contract took effect April 1, after Salisbury House had provided the service for 16 years.

Critics argued locally owned companies tend to create more jobs and keep more money in the city than others.

On Tuesday, the mayor stressed the awarding process for the golf course contract was fair.

“I will say the one local company in question on the golf course bid had fair and equal treatment,” said Gillingham.

The mayor noted city staff would also study how other cities tender contracts and pursue buy local initiatives.

“If there’s any city, any jurisdiction around Canada, (that) has a way to introduce a buy local initiative that we can learn from, then let’s learn from them as well,” said Gillingham.

Council’s executive policy committee voted in favour of the mayor’s motion Tuesday.

If city council casts the final vote to approve it, a report would be due back in about six months.

Two people in their 40s are dead following a house fire just over a week ago.

Winnipeg police say crews responded to a fire in the 500 block of Langside Street on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at around 5 a.m.

A 41-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman were found dead inside the home.

The fire also spread to a neighbouring vacant house, but no additional injuries were reported.

The Major Crimes Unit has taken over the investigation and work continues to determine the cause of the fire.

Anyone with information, or who may have dashcam, security, or cell phone video from around the time of the incident, is asked to contact the Major Crimes Unit at 204-986-6219 or anonymously at Crime Stoppers 204-786-TIPS or www.winnipegcrimestoppers.org.