Latest news with #WabKinew
Global News
6 hours ago
- Climate
- Global News
More evacuation orders to be lifted in parts of northwestern Manitoba after fires
Residents of Flin Flon will be able to start coming home next week as officials in the northwestern Manitoba city lift its mandatory evacuation order. A social media post from the city says the order is expected to be lifted at 9 a.m. on June 25, exactly one month after the city's 5,000 residents were forced out by a massive wildfire. Deputy Mayor Alison Dallas-Funk says most critical services and businesses, including power, gas and health care, will be ready to go starting Sunday. 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 She says barring further fire activity, city council will meet Monday to officially rescind the evacuation order and secure transportation for people to come home. Manitoba's wildfire service has said crews have made progress in combating the 3,700-square-kilometre fire near Flin Flon, but weather has hindered their efforts. Story continues below advertisement The province has been experiencing what Premier Wab Kinew has described as its worst fire season in recent memory, forcing upwards of 21,000 people to flee.
Winnipeg Free Press
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
It doesn't have to be politics as usual
Opinion It usually takes a while for a new administration to slide into political gamesmanship. At first, it's all hearts and flowers and fair play — such as Prime Minister Mark Carney's pledge to call a byelection as quickly as possible to let Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre try to win his way back into Parliament. The byelection in question hasn't been called yet, primarily because there are rules and timelines that have to be followed for a newly elected Conservative to resign to create a space for a byelection. Battle River-Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek officially resigned on Tuesday. Kurek had to wait 30 days after his election was posted in the Canada Gazette before he could resign, the Speaker of the House of Commons has to inform Elections Canada of the vacancy and the earliest a byelection call could come is 11 days after that. JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESs fileS Premier Wab Kinew The Governor General sets the byelection day chosen by Carney, who can pick a date as far as 180 days after Kurek's resignation. If Carney lives up to his word, Poilievre can quickly either be back in Parliament after a win, or leave the Opposition leader's official Ottawa residence and no longer be the Stornoway stowaway. But byelections don't always move that quickly — and a case in point is happening here in Manitoba. Back in late March, Progressive Conservative MLA Grant Jackson resigned his Spruce Woods seat to run in the federal election under the Conservative banner. Ever since then, his seat has sat vacant — meaning that, for 88 days now, his former constituents haven't had a representative in the Legislature. That's a point that's been made directly to Premier Wab Kinew in a letter from PC Leader Obby Khan: 'Summer is an important time in rural constituencies full of fairs, festivals and events and whomever should be elected to represent Spruce Woods deserves this opportunity to engage with their constituents,' Khan wrote. Likewise, constituents deserve the opportunity to make their concerns known to their elected representative. There's not much drama involved with a byelection in Spruce Woods. It's a reliably PC seat — since its creation in 2011, it has always elected Progressive Conservatives — and the governing NDP is comfortably in a majority position and doesn't have to pull out all the stops to try to win there. Kinew has moved more quickly on two other byelections — to fill the seats left vacant by the resignation of former PC premier Heather Stefanson and the death of NDP cabinet member Nello Altomare. Both of those seats — Tuxedo and Transcona and were seen as likely to elect NDP candidates and both did. And that brings the political gamesmanship back into play. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Kinew could choose to delay the Spruce Woods byelection until as late as Sept. 24 — and it's entirely within his purview to do exactly that. But just because you can do something, doesn't always mean that you should. The only real questions are who benefits by delaying the byelection, and who loses out? If, in any way, it's voters who are losing out, the answer is a simple one. Set a byelection date as quickly as possible and leave the political strategy by the wayside. A significant portion of the public already believes that politicians don't have their best interests at heart and petty politics just strengthens the impression that politicians put their parties and their own futures ahead of the public good. Why fuel voter apathy and mistrust — especially in the case of Spruce Woods, where the prospective gains seem so small — when there's a chance to take the high road instead?
CTV News
a day ago
- Climate
- CTV News
Manitoba government to provide update on wildfire situation
Tour of the wildfire conditions around Flin Flon by helicopter. Premier Wab Kinew takes a tour of the wildfires in northern Manitoba, making stops in Flin Flon and Thompson. Thursday, June 12, 2025. (MIKE DEAL/FREE PRESS) The Manitoba government will provide an update Thursday afternoon about the wildfire situation in the province. Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor, Kristin Hayward, assistant deputy minister of the Conservation Officer Service and Manitoba Wildfire Service and Christine Stevens, assistant deputy minister of the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization, will give the update at the Manitoba legislature. On Wednesday, the province reduced travel and fire restrictions to Level 2, which allows people to have campfires between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. The latest update issued Wednesday said there are 21 active wildfires. There have been 124 total in 2025. CTV News will live stream the update. This is a developing story. More details to come.
CTV News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Manitoba premier agrees to support reconstruction in region of war-torn Ukraine
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew speaks during a press conference in Winnipeg, Friday, May 9, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski CALGARY — Manitoba's government has signed an agreement to support an area of Ukraine in its reconstruction efforts, including in the areas of agriculture and utilizing the expertise of Manitoba Hydro. Premier Wab Kinew made the announcement in Calgary following the G7 leaders' summit in nearby Kananaskis. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been scheduled to meet with Kinew but left early to go home. Zelenskyy told the G7 that overnight Russian attacks killed 15 people and injured more than 150 in Ukraine and he called for support from allies. Kinew virtually signed the memorandum of understanding with Governor Oleksandr Produkin to support the southern Kherson region, which is partly occupied by Russian forces. The premier said the partnership reflects Manitoba's unwavering support for Ukraine, as the province has welcomed more than 30,000 Ukrainians since the Russian invasion began in 2022. 'I believe the West collectively has a responsibility to Ukraine,' Kinew said Tuesday at a gathering in Calgary. 'For many decades, the West has told Ukraine, 'if you embrace democracy and you embrace human rights, then we will stand up for you.' 'Now that (they) are the front lines of the war in the global battle against totalitarianism, it is up to Canada and other democracies to back up those words with action.' Kinew said another reason for the support is more personal. 'Manitobans have shed blood with your people on the front lines of your battlefields,' Kinew said. 'I am a native man and there's a young native man from northern Manitoba by the name of Austin Lathlin-Bercier who gave his life in Ukraine fighting alongside the Ukrainian soldiers.' Lathlin-Bercier, 25, from Opaskwayak Cree Nation, ventured into battle in Ukraine against invading Russian forces soon after the war broke out last year. Kinew said a security agent at the Manitoba legislature also returned home after spending a year on the front lines. 'The reason why we want to sign the memorandum is to make sure the mothers whose children have given blood alongside your soldiers will know that they did that in service of a noble victory,' he said. The agreement calls for collaboration in areas including agriculture, economic development, education and health care. Kinew said he would like to start sending aid immediately. 'We would like not only to offer energy equipment, but we also have Manitoba Hydro International,' he said. 'It previously has done work in Ukraine in the 1990s, so we would not only offer equipment but expertise.' Appearing on Zelenskyy's behalf, Ukrainian ambassador Yuliya Kovaliv welcomed Manitoba's help. 'There's close ties between Ukrainians and our big Ukrainian community in Canada,' said Kovaliv. 'In my estimation, we are up to two million Ukrainian Canadians across the country.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2025. Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
CBC
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
PC leader accuses Manitoba premier of dragging feet on Spruce Woods byelection
Manitoba Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan says Premier Wab Kinew is dragging his feet on calling a byelection in Spruce Woods, which has been without an MLA since March. The southwestern Manitoba constituency has had no representation since former PC MLA Grant Jackson resigned on March 24 to run in April's federal election. Jackson is now the Conservative MP for Brandon-Souris, and the PCs have nominated party volunteer Colleen Robbins to run in a Spruce Woods byelection that must be held by Sept. 24. In a letter to Kinew on Tuesday, Khan requested the premier call this byelection as soon as possible. "Summer is an important time in rural constituencies full of fairs, festivals and events, and whomever should be elected to represent Spruce Woods deserves this opportunity to engage with their constituents," Khan wrote. Khan said Kinew made relatively quick byelection calls following the resignation of PC MLA Heather Stefanson in Tuxedo and the death of NDP MLA Nello Altomare in Transcona. The Tuxedo byelection, which was won by the NDP's Carla Compton, was held 43 days after Stefanson resigned, while the Transcona byelection, which Shannon Corbett won for the NDP, was held within 63 days of Altomare's death, Khan noted. "It's clear … [Kinew] thought he had a chance to win Tuxedo, so he called it early. He thought he had a chance of winning Transcona, so he called it early. Now, this is going to be more than 120 days," Khan said in an interview. The Opposition leader accused the premier of holding off on making the call because Spruce Woods is a conservative constituency, where the NDP is unlikely to be competitive. No party other than the PCs has won the southwestern Manitoba constituency since it was created in 2011. Former MLAs Jackson and Cliff Cullen won more than 60 per cent of the vote in the constituency in each of the four provincial elections held over the past 14 years. "It's clear that Kinew is avoiding it. He doesn't want to call it," Khan said. "He wants to drag it on as long as possible, which is not fair to the Manitobans in any constituency." Ryan Stelter, a spokesperson for Kinew, said in a statement the Spruce Woods byelection "will be called in due course according to the normal timeline." That means ensuring a vote takes place before the six-month deadline for a Spruce Woods byelection, he said, which makes Sept. 24 the latest possible date for the byelection. The NDP has not declared a nominee for Spruce Woods. The Liberal Party has nominated educator Stephen Reid as its candidate. PC nominee Robbins has been endorsed by former MLA Jackson.
