Latest news with #Kinew
Winnipeg Free Press
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
A start — but only a small start
Opinion The Kinew government has taken its first concrete steps toward addressing one of the most visible and heartbreaking manifestations of poverty in Manitoba: the growing number of people living in encampments. So far, 59 people have been moved from tent encampments into either social housing or private market rentals — a modest but significant start. But with an estimated 700 Manitobans living in encampments, the road ahead is long and fraught with challenges. The reality is this: there simply isn't enough social housing available to meet the current need. The province's social housing stock has eroded over the years due to aging infrastructure, lack of maintenance and chronic underfunding. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Tents by the river on Waterfront Drive on May 22. New social housing builds have not kept pace with the demand and the waitlist for Manitoba Housing units continues to grow. That shortage leaves vulnerable people — many of whom are dealing with addiction, mental illness, trauma or all of the above — with no viable alternative but to pitch tents near riverbanks, in alleyways, or in downtown parks. This is not just a housing crisis. It's a poverty crisis, a mental health crisis, an addictions crisis and, ultimately, a policy crisis that stems from decades of neglect and underinvestment by multiple levels of government. Premier Wab Kinew's government has shown a willingness to take this issue seriously — something that was often lacking in previous administrations. Announcements of funding for transitional housing, wraparound supports and partnerships with community organizations are welcome. However, even the most well-intentioned policies cannot fix this problem overnight. The public needs to understand this will take time. Moving 700 people into stable housing is not just a matter of finding empty units and handing out keys. Many people who live in encampments are dealing with deeply rooted issues — untreated trauma, mental illness and addiction. For many, traditional housing won't work unless it comes with long-term supports, including mental health counselling, harm-reduction services and case management. Some may require transitional or supportive housing before they can live independently. That's why the Housing First model — which prioritizes stable housing as a foundation for recovery — has proven effective in other jurisdictions. But to succeed, Housing First requires an actual supply of housing. And Manitoba does not have it. This is where the Kinew government faces a steep uphill climb. It must urgently increase the supply of affordable and supportive housing, not just to help those in encampments today but to prevent others from ending up there tomorrow. That means investing in new social housing, refurbishing old stock, and incentivizing private-market affordable rentals. Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. But more housing alone won't be enough. If the upstream causes of homelessness aren't addressed — the poverty that drives people to the streets, the addictions that destroy lives and the mental health crises that go untreated — then encampments will remain a tragic fixture in Manitoba's urban landscape. Governments must also expand mental health services, increase funding for addiction treatment and harm reduction, and overhaul income supports that currently leave many Manitobans living below the poverty line. Minimum wage, disability supports and social assistance rates must be brought in line with the real cost of living. Without those reforms, efforts to reduce homelessness will be little more than a Band-Aid over a much deeper wound. The Kinew government has been in office less than two years and no one should expect it to undo decades of systemic neglect in a matter of months. But progress, however incremental, must be sustained. Getting 59 people into housing is an important first step. But it must be followed by hundreds more. The time for short-term fixes has passed. What's needed now is a comprehensive, patient and compassionate approach — one that understands that housing is a human right.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba byelection called in traditional Progressive Conservative stronghold
WINNIPEG – Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew called a byelection Friday that will test whether his NDP government's popularity can spread to a longtime Progressive Conservative stronghold. Voters in the Spruce Woods constituency will go to the polls Aug. 26 to choose a replacement for Grant Jackson, a Tory who resigned in March to run federally. Jackson garnered more than double the votes of his closest opponent in 2023, and the Tories normally get well above 60 per cent of the vote in the area. The New Democrats have been riding high in opinion polls, however, and have made a series of spending announcements in and around Spruce Woods in recent weeks. One political analyst said the byelection could be a race. 'I would say right now that I think the (Progressive) Conservatives probably still have a bit of the upper hand, given that history, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility that the NDP can win it,' Kelly Saunders, a political science professor at Brandon University, said in an interview. The outcome of the vote won't affect the NDP's majority in the legislature, where the party has 34 of the 57 seats to the Tories' 20. There is one Liberal and one Independent. But a win in Spruce Woods would give the NDP, whose seats are concentrated mainly in Winnipeg and the province's north, a breakthrough in the rural southwest corner of the province. The riding contains a part of Brandon, but most of its area consists of small towns and farmland. 'If (Kinew) can pull that off, then I think that would be a huge symbolic win for (the NDP) to show that in fact they are the government that can speak for everybody in this province,' said Saunders, who lives in Spruce Woods. Kinew announced spending on highways, housing, doctor training and other items in the lead-up to the byelection call. He told supporters in the area Thursday that the NDP is being more proactive than in past contests, when some areas of the constituency didn't have lawn signs. The Tories have also gone on the offensive. They have criticized Kinew for not calling the byelection earlier and have accused him of leaving the area without a voice. When Kinew pushed back against a reporter's questioning about the ongoing vacancy, the Tories turned it into social media fodder. The Tories have chosen Colleen Robbins, a longtime party volunteer for the race. The NDP have nominated Ray Berthelette, a former real estate agent who recently worked as an executive assistant to cabinet minister Glen Simard. The Liberals have selected Stephen Reid, a teacher in Brandon. The Tories have been in rebuilding mode since losing the 2023 provincial election. The NDP pulled off a major upset last year in winning a byelection in the Tuxedo seat in Winnipeg, which had always voted Progressive Conservative and had been the seat of two former Tory premiers. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Spruce Woods byelection called for August 26
The byelection for the provincial constituency of Spruce Woods will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 26, the Manitoba government said late Friday, hours after Premier Wab Kinew held another news conference in Westman. Kinew and two cabinet ministers appeared in Glenboro to promote road and bridge work that is part of the province's long-term infrastructure plan. The town is in the Spruce Woods constituency, where the byelection must be held to fill the seat vacated by Progressive Conservative Grant Jackson in March. Ray Berthelette (Matt Goerzen / The Brandon Sun) Kinew and his NDP cabinet ministers have made a series of announcements in and around the constituency in recent weeks. Political science professor Kelly Saunders at Brandon University says a NDP win in the rural seat would be a huge symbolic win for the party, because rural seats in southwest Manitoba have been Tory strongholds. Kinew said Thursday he is confident the party's candidate, Ray Berthelette, can bring Spruce Woods into the NDP fold, at a news conference to unveil the candidate. Colleen Robbins from Souris is the Tory candidate, while the Liberals have selected Brandon teacher Stephen Reid. The government news release said the chief electoral officer will issue information in the upcoming days that will indicate polling times, locations and the dates, and locations of advance polls. Colleen Robbins (Supplied) Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. There are 57 seats in the legislature; 34 are held by the governing New Democrats; 20 by the Progressive Conservatives; one independent Liberal; one independent member and the vacant Spruce Woods seat. fpcity@ Stephen Reid (Supplied)
Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba premier in western region again as a provincial byelection looms
GLENBORO – Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has held another press conference in a part of western Manitoba where a byelection is looming. Kinew and two cabinet ministers appeared in Glenboro to promote road and bridge work that is part of the province's long-term infrastructure plan. The community is in the Spruce Woods constituency, where a byelection must be called in the coming weeks to fill a seat vacated by Progressive Conservative Grant Jackson in March. Kinew and his NDP cabinet ministers have made a series of announcements in and around the constituency in recent weeks. Political science professor Kelly Saunders at Brandon University says a NDP win in the rural seat would be a huge symbolic win for the party, because rural seats in southwest Manitoba have been Tory strongholds. The NDP nominated their candidate for the byelection Thursday, and the Tories and Liberals did so earlier. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2025
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Canada's premiers meetings: Kinew seeks federal fire response; shares advice on Trump
Premier Wab Kinew says he's taken up a request from Manitoba fire chiefs to ask his fellow premiers to consider national co-ordination for local fire departments to prepare for future wildfire seasons. Kinew said he shared with his counterparts gathered in Huntsville, Ont. a request from the Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs to make sure they're equipped to respond to the next summer's wildfires. 'I think there's general interest from the other premiers,' Kinew said late Tuesday. Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, greets Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, left, as Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston looks on, during the 2025 summer meetings of Canada's Premiers at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ont., on Tuesday. On June 30, the chiefs wrote to Kinew on behalf of counterparts across the country asking for support for a 'National Fire Administration' to ensure expertise from fire departments is integrated into federal policy and decision making. The letter noted there are 14 federal departments and more than 50 task groups involved in determining policies with fire, life safety, and emergency management implications for fire departments. A national co-ordinating body would help to modernize Canada's emergency response system and benefit the Manitoba fire service in protecting homes, businesses, and the economy, it said. The premier said he thanked all his provincial and territorial colleagues for their help during Manitoba's wildfire emergency. He praised firefighters from across the province for saving the city of Flin Flon that was threatened by a 300,000 hectare blaze. Premier Wab Kinew said his special advisor on U.S. trade and former ambassador to the U.S., Gary Doer, offered some 'great advice' to Canada's first ministers on how to deal with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump: 'Give him a bumper sticker.' Kinew said Tuesday that the former NDP premier and David McNaughton, who served as Canada's ambassador to the U.S. during the first Trump administration, joined the premiers for lunch when they gathered in Huntsville, Ont. to grapple with how to respond to the trade war launched by the second Trump administration. Doer's suggestion was to 'give the president an easy-to-understand win that he can communicate in a line and, of course, to do that within our national interest in standing up for ourselves,' Kinew said. Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. Kinew said the federal government is wise not to rush into a trade deal with the U.S. by Trump's Aug. 1 deadline — after which he's promised to raise tariffs on Canadian imports to 35 percent. 'I think future generations are to look back at this moment and they're going to say that 'Our country, at that time, stood up for its independence, stood up for its economy'. When the stakes are that big, we can't rush.' Carol SandersLegislature reporter Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol. Every piece of reporting Carol 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.
