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Winnipeg Free Press
20 hours ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Time to update rent legislation
Opinion Housing in Manitoba is becoming increasingly out of reach for too many families. Renters across Winnipeg, Brandon and rural communities alike are feeling the squeeze. Monthly costs are rising faster than incomes and too many tenants are facing steep rent hikes with little warning or justification. It's clear the current rent-control system is no longer working as intended. The Manitoba NDP government must step up and fix it — starting with closing the loophole that allows landlords to sidestep rent control limits under the guise of renovations. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Finance Minister Adrien Sala This is not a fringe issue, nor a technical one buried in obscure policy. It is front and centre in the lives of thousands of Manitobans who are being priced out of their homes by a provision that was once meant to preserve housing quality, but is now being used as a tool of displacement. Under current rules, landlords can apply to the Residential Tenancies Branch for above-guideline rent increases if they complete certain capital upgrades or building improvements. The policy, at its core, was designed to allow landlords to recover the costs of major repairs like roof replacements, heating systems or insulation upgrades — necessary investments in the long-term livability and safety of rental units. But in recent years, that allowance has been stretched far beyond its original intent. Cosmetic renovations, hallway makeovers, new flooring or lighting fixtures are now routinely used to justify rent hikes that go well above the province's annual guideline. Some tenants have reported increases of 20 per cent or more, pricing them out of buildings they've lived in for decades. This growing problem didn't escape notice when the NDP sat in opposition. MLA Adrien Sala, now the finance minister, introduced a private member's bill while in opposition that aimed to reform rent control. His proposal sought to better define what qualified as legitimate capital expenditures, impose limits on how much and how often rents could be increased above the guideline, and make the process more transparent and accessible to tenants. That bill never passed (opposition bills rarely do) but the work behind it laid an important foundation. Now that the NDP is in government, the province is in a position to act and should do so without delay. The policy path is already clear. A reintroduced and strengthened version of Sala's bill should include a tightened definition of eligible renovations, meaning only essential upgrades that improve the safety, efficiency, or structural integrity of a building — such as plumbing, heating or windows — should qualify. Annual increases should also be capped to protect tenants from sudden, unaffordable jumps in rent. Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. These reforms are not radical. They reflect best practices seen in other provinces like Ontario and British Columbia, and they are being actively called for by tenant advocacy groups such as the Right to Housing Coalition, which continues to push for a fairer system. Landlords will argue that tighter rules will discourage investment in rental properties. But responsible landlords who maintain their buildings and charge fair rents already comply with the spirit of the law. It is the exploitative operators — those who treat housing as a speculative asset rather than a public necessity — who benefit from the current ambiguity. Premier Wab Kinew has repeatedly said that housing is a human right. That statement must now be backed by policy. Bringing in strong, clear legislation on rent control — with limits on renovation-based rent hikes — would be a major step toward making good on that promise. For too long, Manitoba's renters have been left vulnerable to an uneven playing field. The solution is on the table. The moment to act is now.
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Fourth lawsuit sparked by Fort Gibraltar collapse
The catering company at Fort Gibraltar is suing the City of Winnipeg and Festival du Voyageur, adding to the fallout of the collapse of an elevated platform at the replica trading post two years ago. Gibraltar Dining Corp. alleges the city and festival are responsible for its lost revenue because it was unable to operate after the collapse on May 31, 2023. 'The plaintiff… was prohibited from entering the property, including the fort and the lease premises,' the court papers claim. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES After the May 2023 collapse of an elevated walkway along the inside walls of Fort Gibraltar, the catering company that serviced the historic site is suing for lost revenue. 'The plaintiff was barred from enjoying or otherwise its exclusive access to the lease premises, operating its business under the contract, and retrieving its food and equipment for an extended period of time,' states the suit filed in Manitoba Court of King's Bench. The elevated walkway along the inside walls of the fort at the St. Boniface historic site collapsed while Grade 5 students from St. John's-Ravenscourt School were on a field trip. Seventeen of them, and a teacher, were taken to the Health Sciences Centre for treatment. Twenty-eight people had tumbled to the ground from a height of about four to six metres. The incident, the claim alleges, 'significantly impaired' the corporation's ability to operate and caused financial losses and damages. The city owns the land and leases it to the festival, which operates the site. In 2011, the corporation signed a lease agreement with the festival to provide food, drink, catering and promotional services. It was granted exclusive access to parts of the property. In the lease, the festival was responsible for upkeep and maintenance as well as for the cost of repairs to the building, the lawsuit says. The catering company alleges the festival breached its contract by failing to keep the fort in good repair, failing to adequately inspect the property for structural deficiencies and by barring it from its leased property. The lawsuit accuses the city and the festival of negligence in the design, construction, inspection and maintenance of the fort and walkway. The company wants damages from the festival for breach of contract. It wants damages from both the festival and the city for negligence, loss of past and future income and loss of reputation and standing in the community. It is asking for special damages for items it lost in the incident and the money spent to rev up operations again. A specific dollar figure is not included. The suit marks the fourth claim against the city and festival in relation to the incident. Two students and the teacher have launched lawsuits, which remain before the court. The city and the festival have denied liability in those claims. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. St. John's-Ravenscourt filed a small claim against the non-profit festival last week. The private school is seeking $12,696.43, plus interest and court costs, for the money it paid for substitute teachers and for counselling made available to students after the walkway collapse. Festival du Voyageur said in 2023 it would dismantle and reconfigure the historical site. It built the site, which is a replica of two earlier forts of the same name, in 1978 on city-owned land in Whittier Park. It has been used regularly for public and private events. Erik PinderaReporter Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik. Every piece of reporting Erik 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.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Climate
- Winnipeg Free Press
Exhausted, disoriented evacuees wait, worry, wonder in Winnipeg
More than 17,000 northern Manitobans scrambled to flee wildfires Wednesday night after Premier Wab Kinew declared a provincial state of emergency and ordered several communities to evacuate. These are some of their stories. Burroughs, a former firefighter, didn't wait for an evacuation notice to pack his bags and get out of Flin Flon. 'I was already getting ready. I knew that wind was going to shift, it was only 1.5 kilometres away and out of control still, and we knew it was going to come our way,' he said Thursday morning at Century Arena in south Winnipeg which, along with Erik Coy Arena in Charleswood and Billy Mosienko Arena in Tyndall Park, were opened by the city Thursday to serve as evacuee reception centres where people can register with the Red Cross and rest, if they have nowhere else to go. ROB BURROUGHS PHOTO Vehicles line up leaving Flin Flon Wednesday evening. Vehicles line up leaving Flin Flon Wednesday evening. Around 5:30 Wednesday evening, Burroughs said notices on his phone, social media and the radio ordered everyone out of the city located just inside the Saskatchewan border, about 830 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. Burroughs and his common-law partner loaded up their truck with their children, three rescue dogs and a few necessities and began the 12-hour journey to Winnipeg, unsure when they would be able to go home and what they would be going home to. Their journey was slowed significantly by 5,000 other residents doing the same thing. 'It took three hours to get to The Pas, which only should take an hour and 10 minutes,' Burroughs said. 'It was unreal. Ahead of us, behind us, there was just nothing but headlights.' MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Rob Burroughs walks his dog Gunner on Thursday beside the Century Arena, after spending hours on the road driving to Winnipeg from Flin Flon. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Rob Burroughs walks his dog Gunner on Thursday beside the Century Arena, after spending hours on the road driving to Winnipeg from Flin Flon. They drove through the night and arrived in Winnipeg at 6:30 a.m. A few hours later, the family was on the hunt for dog leashes and some breakfast before figuring out where they were going to spend the night. Burroughs said he has a hotel booked Friday, but feels for his neighbours still making their way to safety. 'It was bad enough getting here in a 12-hour trip, but what happened to the people that are still trying to get here? They're they're still seven, eight hours away, and that's a long night for them too,' he said. After hearing 'Code Black' broadcast over the intercom inside Flin Flon's Walmart Wednesday afternoon, Kittle packed into a car with her sister, her sister's two kids and three cats. As they were grabbing supplies, trucks were driving around their neighbourhood with speakers ordering residents to evacuate. They drove nine hours to North Battleford, Sask. to stay with family because Kittle was worried all the hotels were full in Winnipeg and Brandon. The threatening flames and smoke loomed in the distance as they drove away. KIRA KITTLE PHOTO A photo of the wildfire outside of Flin Flon taken around 3:45 a.m. Wednesday. A photo of the wildfire outside of Flin Flon taken around 3:45 a.m. Wednesday. 'You really feel like the world is ending. You just feel sick to your stomach… I'm never going to get that out of my head,' she said. She had a bag with a couple of changes of clothes in her car but quickly ran back inside to grab some snacks, photo albums, electronics and cat litter. On the road, she feared there wouldn't be a home for her to return to. 'I just bought my house two years ago,' she said. 'I'm getting my life established right now.' Kittle works as high school teacher in Creighton, about five kilometres across the border in Saskatchewan. On Tuesday, before the evacuation notice was announced, Kittle and her students were glued to the window watching the smoke rise. She sent the students home early to be with their families. 'I couldn't teach, it was so hard to focus,' she said. 'I'm definitely hoping all my kids are safe.' One hour after touching down in Winnipeg Thursday afternoon, Castel stood outside the Best Western Plus Winnipeg Airport Hotel, waiting for a bus to take her and her six children — ages three to 18 — to the Billy Mosienko Arena in Tyndall Park. Before they fled Mathias Colomb, the air was thick with acrid smoke, transforming the community where she was born and raised into something more 'like the apocalypse,' Castel said. The family had been without power on the First Nation, and it had been three days before any of them had eaten anything substantial, she said. They were eager to get to the Keewatin Street arena, one of three opened by the city to help evacuees. 'I'm tired and grumpy and hungry,' Castel said, one child slung over her shoulder, another clinging to her hip. 'We might even be here for a month, who knows?' Blacksmith was one of about 300 people pre-emptively evacuated from Pimicikamak as fire conditions worsened throughout last weekend. She arrived in Winnipeg Monday and was separated from her two teenage children, who were taken to Norway House to await transport to Winnipeg. Blacksmith expected the teens to arrive on a flight Thursday, and was desperate to reconnect. She's had limited communication with them because they do not have cellphones, she said. 'I'm just scared for my kids. I'm worried about them. I didn't even sleep because I am thinking about them so much,' she said. Blacksmith described how extreme smoke conditions made it difficult to breathe and see in Pimicikamak. 'Ashes are falling already,' she said. 'A lot of people are scared.' The Red Cross had arranged a hotel room for the family on Pembina Highway, and they were told to expect to use the accommodations until at least June 9, Blacksmith said. Selma, who lives in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL., was staying at a family centre near Cross Lake with his girlfriend Anna Williams and three-year-old son when the wildfires broke out. The family was rushed to Norway House Wednesday afternoon, and then flown to Winnipeg alongside more than 50 other evacuees that evening, Selma said. 'It was kind of scary looking at the smoke and the sky, it was a very dark orange colour. It was very strong, too, the smell of the smoke. I felt bad for people who have respiratory problems,' Selma said. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Jack Selma, outside the Victoria Inn Hotel on Wellington Avenue, was waiting for a taxi to take him to the airport for a flight home to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Nfld. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Jack Selma, outside the Victoria Inn Hotel on Wellington Avenue, was waiting for a taxi to take him to the airport for a flight home to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Nfld. After spending the night at the Victoria Inn Hotel and Convention Centre, the family was heading back to the nearby airport, where they would board a plane to take them home. A planned layover in Toronto meant they would not get there until at least Friday, making for three long and stressful days of travel, Selma said. Hunter and his partner fled their Ontario home, located about 10 kilometres east of the Manitoba border, two weeks ago, as a wildfire in Whiteshell Provincial Park raged nearby. 'We were just scrambling and took off,' he said, describing how they fled in their vehicle with little more than the clothes on their backs. He smoked a cigarette in the parking lot of the Best Western Plus Winnipeg Airport Hotel Thursday afternoon, watching as fresh evacuees from northern Manitoba poured in. The Red Cross had established a reception centre at the hotel, and many evacuees were staying on the building's third floor, he said. 'I told them to hang in there. It's OK, you just gotta hang in there, but you feel like you're displaced and all that,' he said. Hunter said he hoped to return home by June 7, but was feared high winds and temperatures might continue to fuel the fire, extending his stay in Manitoba's capital. Bighetty brought his wife and four young kids to Winnipeg last weekend, hoping to have a short vacation. The family was unsure whether it was wise to return to Thompson, which has been inundated with evacuees from the northern region, he said. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Ian Bighetty said his family would extend their stay in Winnipeg for at least a few days, and then decide how best to proceed. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Ian Bighetty said his family would extend their stay in Winnipeg for at least a few days, and then decide how best to proceed. Thompson is not currently under threat from fire, but the community has been subject to the same tinder-dry conditions as most of the province, placing many people in the community on edge, Bighetty said. A statement on the City of Thompson Facebook page urged residents to remain vigilant, warning seven intentionally set grass fires had been sparked in the community on Tuesday alone. 'My mom is pretty scared about that,' Bighetty said. 'I mean, that was unexpected.' Bighetty said his family would extend their stay in Winnipeg for at least a few days, and then decide how best to proceed. Colomb breathed a sigh of relief when he stepped onto the tarmac at the Premier Airspace hangar after a short flight from his home community. 'As long we made it out — me and my uncle — and hopefully everybody else make it out safely too,' he said. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS This is Brent Colomb's second evacuation in just as many years. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS This is Brent Colomb's second evacuation in just as many years. Colomb escorted his elderly uncle on the trip south and left his wife and nine children behind. Mathias Colomb was in the process of evacuating priority patients before getting others from the community to safety. This is Colomb's second evacuation in just as many years. In 2023, he and his family took a train to Norway House before taking a plane to Winnipeg because of nearby fires. He knew this year's evacuation was imminent when he woke up and saw a red glow across the horizon in the community. 'I said, 'Look, uncle, it's coming. The wind is blowing again,'' Colomb said. 'It's been a lot of anxiety,' Beardy said while smoking a cigarette outside the Premier Airspace hangar after a flight to Winnipeg from his First Nation community. 'I don't even know what happened.' Beardy was evacuated as a priority patient; he's spent the last two years in hospital with various illnesses, and was in a coma for six months. Elders, mothers, pregnant women and sick and disabled people were all flown out of the community as a priority. Others will follow throughout the day. After a long day, Beardy still needed to register with the Red Cross, but he didn't know where he and his brother would lay their heads Thursday night. 'I just don't know anything,' he said. — Compiled by Nicole Buffie, Tyler Searle and Matthew Frank fpcity@
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Artist uses ancient technique to tell historical stories
Last September, Winnipeg-based visual artist Tim Schouten travelled to Linklater Island in northern Manitoba. He was there to attend a Treaty 5 memorial gathering and the inauguration of Michael Birch as the Grand Chief of the Island Lake Tribal Council (Anisininew Okimawin). He was also there to document the site where an adhesion was made to Treaty 5 in 1909 as part of a long-term art project he's been working on for decades. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Artist Tim Shouten adds coloured pigments to hot wax in a process called encaustic painting. Schouten's latest exhibition, The Island Lake Paintings (Treaty 5) — on view at Soul Gallery until June 13 — is a series of large-scale encaustic works based on photographs Schouten took while on his trip. They are the latest entries in The Treaty Suites, Schouten's ongoing project to research and photograph the exact locations of the signings of each of the 11 numbered treaties between First Nations and the Canadian government between 1871 and 1921, and create suites of paintings related to each one. Schouten and his wife travelled to Eastern Europe in the 1990s, and he was overwhelmed by the sense of history and landscape there. He was also ready for a transition in his own work. 'I just happened to be reading a Polish edition of Flash Art Magazine with an article about a German painter Anselm Kiefer, who became a huge influence on my work going forward. His work focused on landscape and memory, which is sort of where this work comes out of,' says Schouten, 72. 'I came back to Canada and I had this idea to start thinking about the landscape as a historical document.' His own scenery had changed at that time as well: Schouten and his wife moved to Winnipeg from Toronto shortly after their trip. 'There were a couple of things I encountered. First of all, the Indigenous presence in the city was quite new to me. Just standing on street corners and people were talking in Cree and Ojibwa — that was something quite new to me,' he says. 'And travelling around the province, I became very conscious of the isolation of a lot of First Nations communities, and also the level of racism that was so obvious everywhere in this city.' The Treaty Suites began after a visit to Lower Fort Garry, where Treaty 1 was signed in 1871, and expanded from there. Schouten has spent the last 20 years travelling all over the province and painting what he's seen. Going to these places —actually being in these places — is the point. His works are not historical renderings; Schouten wanted to paint these sites as they exist today. 'I kind of shifted my thinking to focus on the landscape in my work, but I was conscious of the colonial aspects of landscape painting itself, just in depicting the wild landscapes of colonized territories,' he says. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS The Island Lake Paintings (Treaty 5) depict where Treaty 5 was signed on Linklater Island in northern Manitoba. Schouten's preferred medium of encaustic painting — an ancient technique in which coloured pigments are added to hot wax — allows for a different approach to landscape painting as well. 'The way I build these paintings, I build layer upon layer and then scrape back into them. I scrape off and remove and paint back in. And part of my thinking is, as I've often said before, is that just over the course of their creation, they sort of develop a history of their own,' he says. As a settler artist, Schouten is not trying to tell Indigenous people's stories with The Treaty Suites. Wednesdays A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future. 'I think when people encounter this work and learn that it's a non-Indigenous guy that's making this work, it's like, well, why is this guy talking about treaties?' he says. It's because we are all treaty people, Schouten says. 'My ancestors signed these treaties, too. We're all signatories to these treaties. They're embedded in the federal laws of this country, and so I have a responsibility to that treaty relationship to make sure that it's true and genuine and honours the intentions of everyone who's signed. There was an agreement to share the land in good faith, and that's obviously failed. And I just felt like it was something I wanted to address in my work, just as a matter of conscience. 'I certainly couldn't just paint beautiful landscapes.' Jen ZorattiColumnist Jen Zoratti is a columnist and feature writer working in the Arts & Life department, as well as the author of the weekly newsletter NEXT. A National Newspaper Award finalist for arts and entertainment writing, Jen is a graduate of the Creative Communications program at RRC Polytech and was a music writer before joining the Free Press in 2013. Read more about Jen. Every piece of reporting Jen 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.
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Bison sculptures doing double duty for Manitoba children and youth affected by abuse
A stampede of bison is thundering down Roblin Boulevard. A herd of 26 bison sculptures weighing 10,000 pounds apiece and painted by local artists made their debut yesterday as Bison on the Boulevard, a public art installation raising awareness and funds for children and youth affected by abuse in Manitoba. 'What began as an idea to raise critical funds and reinforce a message of resilience has really evolved into a powerful movement and message to kids and families in our community,' Christy Dzikowicz, CEO of Toba Centre for Children and Youth, said at Wednesday's public unveiling event outside Assiniboine Park Zoo. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Sculptures are delivered for placement at the Bison on the Boulevard installation on Roblin Boulevard, Wednesday. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Sculptures are delivered for placement at the Bison on the Boulevard installation on Roblin Boulevard, Wednesday. 'To the children and families in our community impacted by abuse: thank you for trusting us in your time of need. This herd represents your bravery as you charge through the storm.' Several politicians and community advocates also spoke, including Elder Billie Schibler, who highlighted the bison's significance in Indigenous culture while live bisons were visible grazing in the zoo enclosure behind her. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Reiss DeBraga (left) and Chris Pilloud with Able Crane Services placing one of the pieces at the installation site. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Reiss DeBraga (left) and Chris Pilloud with Able Crane Services placing one of the pieces at the installation site. The 21/2-metre-long by 11/2-metre-tall concrete bisons are stationed along Roblin from Shaftesbury Boulevard to Assiniboine Park Drive. Each sculpture was sponsored by a donor to help fund its creation and support the Toba Centre. The bisons will be displayed until October, when they'll migrate to donors as lasting symbols of their support. Self-described as the province's 'first and only child advocacy centre,' Toba Centre brings together professionals in health care, child protection, police mental health and other support services to provide trauma-informed care for youth affected by abuse. It worked with Graffiti Art Programming on Bison on the Boulevard's creative side. 'It's our hope that a 14-year-old who's out there somewhere and may see some of (these works) will learn that Toba Centre is a good safe space for them to tell their story. It's our hope that when you visit this installation that you understand that you are, in a very real way, bearing witness to the stories of these children,' said Stephen Wilson, Graffiti Art's executive director. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS The Bison on the Boulevard installation features 26 bison sculptures painted by local artists and stationed along a stretch of Roblin Boulevard and is meant to raise awareness and funds for children affected by abuse. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS The Bison on the Boulevard installation features 26 bison sculptures painted by local artists and stationed along a stretch of Roblin Boulevard and is meant to raise awareness and funds for children affected by abuse. The organization offers free art, dance and music classes to over 3,000 children annually, mostly in Winnipeg's inner city. Graffiti Art created two of the bison sculptures in collaboration with its youth participants and helped select many of the other artists who painted sculptures for Bisons on the Boulevard. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Toba Centre CEO Christy Dzikowicz (left) and artist Kerri Parnell take a look at Parnell's piece. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Toba Centre CEO Christy Dzikowicz (left) and artist Kerri Parnell take a look at Parnell's piece. One of the participating artists is Kerri Parnell. Her piece, Together, shows a single wilted flower, rising from a base of wheat and surrounded by a glowing bouquet gradually regaining colour. 'It's a collaboration with my 14-year-old daughter, Graye, and her first public art piece. When she heard that one in three youth are affected by child abuse, she got really upset but also motivated,' says Parnell. The scene represents regaining strength through the support and compassion of others, she says. 'Even though she's not affected by abuse, it's her generation moving forward that are the ones that can make a difference,' Parnell says. 'And I think the sooner we realize that, the more compassion for people they'll have for people they come across in the schoolyard, and the better they can help eventually as adults.' Conrad SweatmanReporter Conrad Sweatman is an arts reporter and feature writer. Before joining the Free Press full-time in 2024, he worked in the U.K. and Canadian cultural sectors, freelanced for outlets including The Walrus, VICE and Prairie Fire. Read more about Conrad. 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.
