Latest news with #GlenSimard
CTV News
26-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Manitoba puts $1.65M into southwestern airport
Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard (left) is joined by officials at the Virden Regional Airport on May 26, 2025. (Manitoba Government/YouTube) The province is putting $1.65 million into an ongoing project to improve the airport in Virden. Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard was in the southwestern town on Monday to make the announcement. 'This is an important investment that will encourage regional development and job creation in Westman,' the minister said in a statement. The provincial dollars will go towards the expansion and rehabilitation of the Virden Regional Airport. The province said the funding will go towards a new automated weather observing system and improved support for medical transfer flights for services like STARS Air Ambulance. 'This is very important for our area,' Virden Mayor Tina Williams said, adding her town is becoming a health-care hub for the southwestern part of the province. Along with the health-care improvements, Williams said the new funding will help bolster tourism and business opportunities tied to the airport. The airport was built in 1940 as a flying school to train pilots during the Second World War. 'Since the RAF decommissioning in 1944, the airport has been kept active through the efforts of many area residents, private aviators, and especially the Virden Flying Club,' said Coun. Bruce Dunning, chair of the Virden Airport Commission. Dunning said the overall project was launched last year as the airport had become outdated over the decades. He said the ongoing project has seen the extension of the runway, installation of the weather observation system, and runway lighting. 'Once again our airport has become the centre for aviation activity in southwestern Manitoba,' he said. Dunning noted along with the provincial funding, the project has seen support from rural municipalities of Wallace-Woodworth and Pipestone, the Town of Virden, and the Virden Area Flying Club.
Global News
26-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Province funds expansion, updates to regional airport in Virden, Man.
The Manitoba government says it's putting money toward rehabbing and expanding a small airport in southwest Manitoba. Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard announced Monday that $1.65 million is going toward the Virden Regional Airport, which will allow the community to accept commercial and medical flights like the STARS Air Ambulance. 'This is an important investment that will encourage regional development and job creation in Westman,' Simard said in a statement. 'Thanks to the hard work and commitment of the Town of Virden, this grant funding will enhance the airport's capacity, support commercial growth, and strengthen its role as a critical hub for medical access, economic development and regional connectivity.' Story continues below advertisement Town Coun. Bruce Dunning, chair of the Virden Airport Commission, called the funding a 'significant milestone' for the airport. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The money for the project comes from the Manitoba Growth, Renewal and Opportunities for Municipalities Program. Some of the upgrades include a new Automated Weather Observing System and support for 24-7 medical transfer flights and charter services. 0:24 Minimal travel disruptions expected as Winnipeg airport repairs major runway
Winnipeg Free Press
26-05-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Province gives funds to expand Virden's airport
The province is providing $1.65 million to upgrade Virden's airport. The upgrades will allow for greater capacity and capabilities for commercial operators, medical transfer flights and STARS air ambulance. Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard made the announcement at a news conference at Virden Regional Airport on Monday.
Winnipeg Free Press
07-05-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
City news in brief — week of May 7, 2025
Winnipeg Seasonal bike routes in effect as of May 1 Winnipeg As of May 1, reduced speed limits will be in place on annual seasonal bike routes throughout the city. Free Press file photo by Mike Deal The city's seasonal bike routes, including Churchill Drive between Hay Street and Jubilee Avenue, are in effect as of May 1. The routes are: Lyndale Drive – Cromwell Street to Gauvin Street (30 km/h); Wellington Crescent – Academy Road to Academy Road/Maryland Street (30 km/h); Churchill Drive between Hay Street and Jubilee Avenue (30 km/h); and Kilkenny Drive between Burgess Avenue and Kings Drive/Kings Drive between Kilkenny Drive and Patricia Avenue (40 km/h). The speed reduction will be in place from the time signs are installed through late October. Turn requirements at select intersections throughout each route will be added following the City's spring cleanup operations and will be in place weekends in May, June, September and October, and 24/7 through July and August. For more information about seasonal bike routes, see: Schedule for new transit network now online According to a recent City of Winnipeg release, residents can now preview schedules and plan trips for the Primary Transit Network and its feeder routes. 'Making such comprehensive changes to an entire public transit system for a city the size of Winnipeg is a monumental task, but I'm pleased to see that the City of Winnipeg has done it,' Glen Simard, Manitoba Minister for Municipal and Northern Relations, said in the release. 'I congratulate the mayor and council for their initiative to improve transit services, update schedules and routes and make public transit in Manitoba's largest city more accessible and user-friendly.' The launch of Winnipeg's new transit network will take place on June 29. The changes to the transit routes are touted as the largest schedule and route changes in the city's history. For more information, or to check out new routes and schedules, visit or the Winnipeg Transit app. Folklorama 2025 lineup announced The countdown to this year's Folklorama festival is on. With less than 100 days to go, folks can start planning their pavilion visits, as the lineup for the annual cultural extravaganza has been announced. This year's Folklorama will run from Sunday, Aug. 3 to Saturday, Aug. 16, and will feature 44 pavilions, including two brand-new ones, organizers say. Week 1 pavilions (Aug. 3 to 9) include: Africa; Argentina 'Tango'; Brazilian; British Isles; Caribbean; Celtic Ireland; Chile Lindo; Chinese; Egyptian; Ethiopian; Hungary-Pannonia; Italian; Korean; Mabuhay Philippines (new); Métis; Pabellon de España–Spain; Pavilion of Portugal; Punjab; Slovenija; Spirit of Ukraine; and Tamil. Week 2 pavilions (Aug. 10 to 16) include: Africa/Caribbean; Belgian; Budapest-Hungaria; Casa do Minho Portuguese; Croatian; Cuban; First Nations; German; Ghana; Greek; India; Irish; Israel pavilion–Shalom Square; Japanese; Modern Chinese (new); Pavilion of Scotland; Pavillon canadien-français; Pearl of the Orient Philippine; Polish; Romanian; Scandinavian; South Sudanese; and Ukraine Kyiv. Single admission tickets for all Folklorama pavilions and VIP tours will go on sale on Wednesday, May 28. More details about the pavilions will be announced in the coming weeks. Visit for more information.
Winnipeg Free Press
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
City downplays impact of sewage spills in lawsuit defence
The city says sewage spills have little effect on pollution in Lake Winnipeg and the blame for any water-quality issues falls on the provincial and federal governments, which have not provided the necessary funds to upgrade the sewer system. That's the argument the City of Winnipeg advanced in a statement of defence filed in Manitoba Court of King's Bench last week against a $4.8-billion lawsuit filed last year by eight Manitoba First Nations. Three additional First Nations have since become joined the legal action that also names the provincial and federal governments as defendants. The First Nations — Black River, Berens River, Brokenhead Ojibway, Hollow Water, Kinonjeoshtegon, Misipawistik Cree, Sagkeeng Anicinabe and Poplar River — launched the suit a year ago. Bloodvein, Dauphin River and Fisher River Cree First Nations have since been added. They claim decades of pollution have caused physical, psychological, social and cultural harms to their communities, all located downstream from Winnipeg. 'The impugned discharges are a de minimis (too small to be of significance) contribution to the cumulative nutrient loading in Lake Winnipeg each year, and the city's impact on same is declining as it continues (to) make significant capital investments to reduce and mitigate the amount of nutrients released by the city's wastewater system,' the city's court document says. The city says Lake Winnipeg's watershed, with drainage from as far away as Alberta, Montana, South Dakota and Minnesota, includes nutrients and pollutants from wastewater and surface runoff areas with intensive agriculture. As well, the city says Manitoba Hydro's hydroelectric infrastructure, including regulating Lake Winnipeg between a fixed range of water levels, also plays a role in lake conditions. 'Due to the predominance of other sources impacting the cumulative nutrient loading and pollutants to Lake Winnipeg, further reducing or even eliminating nutrient contribution from the city's wastewater system would not restore Lake Winnipeg to its natural condition or eliminate the impacts alleged in the claim.' The city also launched a cross claim against both the provincial and federal governments. 'Together, Manitoba and Canada possess the exclusive legislative jurisdiction to regulate the cumulative environmental impacts on Lake Winnipeg,' the claim says. 'If the city has any liability to the plaintiffs, which is denied, then such liability is a result of Manitoba and/or Canada's failure to… provide the city with the necessary financial support to upgrade its wastewater management system.' Earlier this year, before the federal election was called, both senior governments promised more funding to support the $3-billion upgrade of the city's North End sewage treatment plant. Liberal MP Terry Duguid said his government was adding another $16 million to the $150 million it pledged for the project last year while provincial Municipal Relations Minister Glen Simard said the NDP government's total contribution is $414 million, including $120 million of new funding. Black River Chief Sheldon Kent could not be reached for comment Friday. Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. But, during a news conference last year, Kent criticized the city for allowing repeated sewage leaks and spills into the Red River, which then flow to Lake Winnipeg. 'Water is life,' he said. The lawsuit said the city itself reports that between January 2004 and mid-April 2024, there were about 353 'major unplanned discharges of untreated wastewater, which includes raw sewage' into both the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, for a total of about 522 million litres of untreated wastewater. Both the city and the province declined to comment because the matter is before the courts. Kevin RollasonReporter Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press's city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin. Every piece of reporting Kevin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
