Redeveloping Alexander Docks to cost nearly $11M
The docks — located along the west banks of the Red River, off Waterfront Drive and between Steve Juba and Fort Douglas parks — were fenced off because of safety concerns with the structure in 2015.
The revamped area would include a new dock allowing canoes, kayaks and other watercraft to dock adjacent to the Exchange District, The Forks North Portage Partnership said in a news release Thursday. The dock is envisioned to be a new Waterbus stop.
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The area would also feature gathering spaces, seating terraces, improved lighting and dedicated areas 'for reflection and ceremony,' The Forks said.
'We are not just rebuilding a dock. This will be a new park that will restore beauty and joy to this part of the waterfront,' Forks president and CEO Sara Stasiuk said in the release.
'This team is rebuilding a place for people, a lush urban oasis for everyone in our community to enjoy.'
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A memorial that has been maintained at the site since 2014 is part of the design, The Forks said. The body of Indigenous teen Tina Fontaine — whose death sparked calls for action on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls — was found at the foot of the docks that summer.
City council directed staff members to study future uses for the site after it was shuttered. Public consultation on the project began in 2016, when the City of Winnipeg tasked The Forks to lead the project.
'Alexander Docks will become one of Winnipeg's great riverfront parks — a place for everyone to gather, reflect and enjoy the water. The Forks has a strong record of developing and managing outstanding public spaces that connect with Winnipeggers, and I'm confident they'll do the same here,' Mayor Scott Gillingham said in the release.
Fundraising for the redesign will be led by The Forks Foundation, which has begun discussions with public and private funding partners.
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca
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Global News
6 hours ago
- Global News
Decades after a PM got pied, the threat landscape in Canadian politics has changed
When Prime Minister Jean Chrétien got hit in the face with a pie 25 years ago, the only thing hurt was his pride. A quarter-century later, Canada's security landscape has changed radically. Threats of violence against politicians have become far more common. What seemed like a harmless prank then looks more like a warning now. 'There is this view that you're a politician, it's all fair game,' said Catherine McKenna — who was herself the target of multiple threats of violence while she served as a federal minister. 'We need people to go into politics and not feel threatened. It's literally about the health of our democracy because if you want people to go into politics, you can't expect that they're going to put up with this and their families are going to put up with it.' Documents released by the Privy Council Office show that the volume of threats made against the prime minister and cabinet ministers has exploded in recent years. Story continues below advertisement A chart shows that there 40 threats against the prime minister and his cabinet were recorded in 2021. That number rose to 91 in 2022, 236 in 2023 and 311 in 2024. The PCO document reports that 11 threats specifically targeting then-prime minister Justin Trudeau were recorded in 2021. The following year saw 25 threats against the PM reported. In 2024, Trudeau was the target of 212 threats, the document shows. Between 2021 and 2024, the Privy Council document shows that Trudeau was the subject of 90 threats of death. The document says the 2024 statistics cover the period between January 1 and July 17. While McKenna said most of the threats against her emerged online, she was famously singled out for very public abuse during her 2015 to 2021 cabinet career — once while walking with her children outside a movie theatre. 'It's just happening all the time and at all levels,' she said. 'I can't talk to a politician without them giving me a story about what has happened, and often women, especially racialized, Indigenous members of the LGBTQ2+ community. 'You just don't know … probably 99 per cent of (threats) are nothing. It just only takes one person … I don't think you can fool around with this.' The P.E.I. pie incident happened on Aug. 16, 2000, while Chrétien was visiting an agricultural exhibition in Charlottetown. Story continues below advertisement As the prime minister entered the building and began shaking hands with people, a man in the crowd went up to him and pushed what appeared to be a cream-topped pie into his face. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy As a shocked-looking Chrétien peeled off the pie plate and wiped his face, the man — who had attempted to flee — was stopped by police. While the RCMP acknowledged that the incident shouldn't have happened, it wasn't the first such security breach during Chrétien's time as prime minister. In 1996, Chrétien grabbed a protester by the chin and neck and pushed him aside during a National Flag of Canada Day event — the incident that later became known as the 'Shawinigan Handshake.' A year before, Chrétien's wife Aline came face-to-face with an intruder who had managed to break into the prime minister's official residence in Ottawa armed with a knife. Michele Paradis, the RCMP assistant commissioner in charge of protective policing, said police have to strike a 'difficult balance' between keeping officials safe and allowing them access to the public. 'Because, really, if MPs, ministers of the Crown are not going out to meet with their constituents, that has an impact on our very democracy,' she said. 'My role is to make sure that our members and our principals are equipped with not only the physical tools to stop that, but also the mental acuity to be able to say something is not right,' Paradis said, adding that Mounties were quick to bring down someone who got too close to Trudeau at a parade in Montreal in 2019. Story continues below advertisement Paradis said the threat landscape has calmed down somewhat since the recent change of government. If an official is threatened online, she said, Mounties will pay the person levying the threat a visit to determine whether they have the capacity to act on it, or if there is a mental health issue at play. Paradis said the RCMP works with government officials, the House of Commons, constituency offices and security officers for various ministers to complete risk assessments. 'I think we've got a better sense of the picture of what's going on,' Paradis said. There have been several recent efforts to boost security measures for elected officials. In 2024, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme asked the government to consider drafting a new law that would make it easier for police to pursue charges against people who threaten elected officials. Around the same time, former public safety minister Marco Mendicino called for the creation of 'protective zones' around political constituency offices to shield members of Parliament and their staff. McKenna said she'd like to see an independent protective service created specifically to protect the prime minister and other federal officials. She said she'd like to see the government pass online harms legislation and hold social media companies accountable for the threats posted on their platforms. Story continues below advertisement McKenna said politicians also need to stop launching personal attacks on each other in order to generate social media clips. 'The problem is when they get personal, then it's easy for people to basically dehumanize people,' she said. 'It means that it's OK to say terrible things about people and … it's OK to go up to them and shout at them in the street and threaten them.' When asked if more security measures are needed, Paradis said she and most police officers 'work within what we have now' and adapt when things change. Rob Huebert, a professor in the department of political science at the University of Calgary and director of the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies, said the 'near assassination' of U.S. President Donald Trump last year demonstrates that, even today, a determined assassin can still get close to a politician. 'On so many of these events, you can try to have metal detectors, you can try to have pre-screening, but it's impossible to ever try to achieve 100 per cent security … the threat of an assault on a political leader is one of those constants,' he said. 'The threat is always there.' Huebert cited the example of the so-called 'Toronto 18' terrorism plot, exposed in 2006, which was to involve a series of public attacks to convince the federal government to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Story continues below advertisement He said the fact that there have been no successful attacks on Canadian government officials could be the result of improved security — or it could be because no one else has tried. Chris Mathers, a retired RCMP officer and president of a consulting and investigative firm, said the 2000 pie incident shows how Chrétien 'didn't stay in the box' — meaning he often strayed from the protective perimeter provided by his security detail. Trudeau, he said, 'always stayed in the box,' perhaps because, as the son of a prime minister, he grew up aware of threats against politicians. 'If you stay in the box, there's a lot less chance that you're going to be confronted by somebody with a pie or a knife or a gun or a bomb,' Mathers said. Mathers said 'the world is changing' and that people are now 'a lot more aggressive and will do and say things that they wouldn't in the past.' 'The problem is that we've started to degrade into a very permissive society and inappropriate behaviours are almost considered to be courageous in some areas,' he said. 'So yes, security around public figures has increased, just as a result of the changing social environment.' — With files from Jim Bronskill
Winnipeg Free Press
9 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Decades after a PM got pied, the threat landscape in Canadian politics has changed
OTTAWA – When Prime Minister Jean Chrétien got hit in the face with a pie 25 years ago, the only thing hurt was his pride. A quarter-century later, Canada's security landscape has changed radically. Threats of violence against politicians have become far more common. What seemed like a harmless prank then looks more like a warning now. 'There is this view that you're a politician, it's all fair game,' said Catherine McKenna — who was herself the target of multiple threats of violence while she served as a federal minister. 'We need people to go into politics and not feel threatened. It's literally about the health of our democracy because if you want people to go into politics, you can't expect that they're going to put up with this and their families are going to put up with it.' Documents released by the Privy Council Office show that the volume of threats made against the prime minister and cabinet ministers has exploded in recent years. A chart shows that there 40 threats against the prime minister and his cabinet were recorded in 2021. That number rose to 91 in 2022, 236 in 2023 and 311 in 2024. The PCO document reports that 11 threats specifically targeting then-prime minister Justin Trudeau were recorded in 2021. The following year saw 25 threats against the PM reported. In 2024, Trudeau was the target of 212 threats, the document shows. Between 2021 and 2024, the Privy Council document shows that Trudeau was the subject of 90 threats of death. The document says the 2024 statistics cover the period between January 1 and July 17. While McKenna said most of the threats against her emerged online, she was famously singled out for very public abuse during her 2015 to 2021 cabinet career — once while walking with her children outside a movie theatre. 'It's just happening all the time and at all levels,' she said. 'I can't talk to a politician without them giving me a story about what has happened, and often women, especially racialized, Indigenous members of the LGBTQ2+ community. 'You just don't know … probably 99 per cent of (threats) are nothing. It just only takes one person … I don't think you can fool around with this.' The P.E.I. pie incident happened on Aug. 16, 2000, while Chrétien was visiting an agricultural exhibition in Charlottetown. As the prime minister entered the building and began shaking hands with people, a man in the crowd went up to him and pushed what appeared to be a cream-topped pie into his face. As a shocked-looking Chrétien peeled off the pie plate and wiped his face, the man — who had attempted to flee — was stopped by police. While the RCMP acknowledged that the incident shouldn't have happened, it wasn't the first such security breach during Chrétien's time as prime minister. In 1996, Chrétien grabbed a protester by the chin and neck and pushed him aside during a National Flag of Canada Day event — the incident that later became known as the 'Shawinigan Handshake.' A year before, Chrétien's wife Aline came face-to-face with an intruder who had managed to break into the prime minister's official residence in Ottawa armed with a knife. Michele Paradis, the RCMP assistant commissioner in charge of protective policing, said police have to strike a 'difficult balance' between keeping officials safe and allowing them access to the public. 'Because, really, if MPs, ministers of the Crown are not going out to meet with their constituents, that has an impact on our very democracy,' she said. 'My role is to make sure that our members and our principals are equipped with not only the physical tools to stop that, but also the mental acuity to be able to say something is not right,' Paradis said, adding that Mounties were quick to bring down someone who got too close to Trudeau at a parade in Montreal in 2019. Paradis said the threat landscape has calmed down somewhat since the recent change of government. If an official is threatened online, she said, Mounties will pay the person levying the threat a visit to determine whether they have the capacity to act on it, or if there is a mental health issue at play. Paradis said the RCMP works with government officials, the House of Commons, constituency offices and security officers for various ministers to complete risk assessments. 'I think we've got a better sense of the picture of what's going on,' Paradis said. There have been several recent efforts to boost security measures for elected officials. In 2024, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme asked the government to consider drafting a new law that would make it easier for police to pursue charges against people who threaten elected officials. Around the same time, former public safety minister Marco Mendicino called for the creation of 'protective zones' around political constituency offices to shield members of Parliament and their staff. McKenna said she'd like to see an independent protective service created specifically to protect the prime minister and other federal officials. She said she'd like to see the government pass online harms legislation and hold social media companies accountable for the threats posted on their platforms. McKenna said politicians also need to stop launching personal attacks on each other in order to generate social media clips. 'The problem is when they get personal, then it's easy for people to basically dehumanize people,' she said. 'It means that it's OK to say terrible things about people and … it's OK to go up to them and shout at them in the street and threaten them.' When asked if more security measures are needed, Paradis said she and most police officers 'work within what we have now' and adapt when things change. Rob Huebert, a professor in the department of political science at the University of Calgary and director of the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies, said the 'near assassination' of U.S. President Donald Trump last year demonstrates that, even today, a determined assassin can still get close to a politician. 'On so many of these events, you can try to have metal detectors, you can try to have pre-screening, but it's impossible to ever try to achieve 100 per cent security … the threat of an assault on a political leader is one of those constants,' he said. 'The threat is always there.' Huebert cited the example of the so-called 'Toronto 18' terrorism plot, exposed in 2006, which was to involve a series of public attacks to convince the federal government to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. He said the fact that there have been no successful attacks on Canadian government officials could be the result of improved security — or it could be because no one else has tried. Chris Mathers, a retired RCMP officer and president of a consulting and investigative firm, said the 2000 pie incident shows how Chrétien 'didn't stay in the box' — meaning he often strayed from the protective perimeter provided by his security detail. Trudeau, he said, 'always stayed in the box,' perhaps because, as the son of a prime minister, he grew up aware of threats against politicians. 'If you stay in the box, there's a lot less chance that you're going to be confronted by somebody with a pie or a knife or a gun or a bomb,' Mathers said. Mathers said 'the world is changing' and that people are now 'a lot more aggressive and will do and say things that they wouldn't in the past.' 'The problem is that we've started to degrade into a very permissive society and inappropriate behaviours are almost considered to be courageous in some areas,' he said. 'So yes, security around public figures has increased, just as a result of the changing social environment.' — With files from Jim Bronskill This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2025.
CBC
11 hours ago
- CBC
Basketball tournament in Six Nations honours Dylan Isaacs's dream of bringing the sport to Indigenous youth
It was a few months after his death that Dylan Isaacs's friends approached his family and asked if they could do a basketball tournament in Six Nations of the Grand River, honouring the 30-year-old. "[Isaacs] always talked about bringing basketball to our community more, and especially for the youth," said his aunt, Cecelia Sky. Now, 19 months after he was killed, the second annual Dylan Isaacs Memorial Basketball Tournament is underway this weekend and it has become something he'd be "over the moon" with, Sky said. The event brings in several, mostly Indigenous, basketball groups from all over the U.S. and Canada, and this year, they accomplished their initial goal of having part of the event aimed at youth from the community. Isaacs was a member of the Cayuga Nation. On January 7, 2024, he was leaving a NFL stadium with his friends in Miami, Fla., when he got into an argument with someone who was driving erratically, according to police. The driver allegedly pulled a gun and shot Isaacs to death, Miami Gardens police said at the time. CBC contacted police there this week for an update on the investigation but they did not respond. "He's really missed. He was a big presence in our family," said Sky, adding kids in the community looked up to him. "He was a big guy, big tall guy, and his personality was just as big as him." His mother and Sky's sister, Sue Sky-Isaacs, told CBC Hamilton a few days after his death "he was a character in everything he did." "He was full of love and we loved him." The family was on board to make Isaacs' basketball dream a reality and formed a committee with his friends to organize the first tournament, which took place Aug. 22 to 25, 2024. This year, the event is underway once again, and they're inviting everyone to come by and watch. 'He'd be just loving this' Sky said those coming out to play are "high level" teams. "So if anybody likes basketball, you know, they should come and watch." The tournament includes teams from the Seneca and Buffalo nations in New York, the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin, the Makah Nation in Washington, the Seminole Nation in Florida, which Isaacs played with, and more. This year, in addition to the tournament, organizers also held a youth skill camp for Six Nations kids aged 10 to 14 where they gave away running shoes and basketball t-shirts. The skill camp ended Thursday with a small competition and lunch. "The kids were just happy to get their gifts," said Sky. "They sat down and put their shoes on right away and it was just awesome." Sky said it was an "overwhelming feeling" seeing the skill camp become a reality. "It's something that [Isaacs] always wanted to bring to the community," said Sky. "It's unfortunate that we had to wait until he passed to do that kind of thing, because we know he'd just, he'd be just loving this." She said the community in Six Nations has been very supportive and feels their goal of bringing more eyes to basketball in the region is on its way to being achieved. Finals will take place on Sunday with a smoke dance contest in between the men's and women's matches. Entry is free to the games, which take place at Six Nations's Dajoh Youth and Elders Centre at 1738 Fourth Line. Organizers are also encouraging attendees to buy merchandise and participate in auctions and events going on to keep the skill camp going for next year.
