Opinion: Ladies and gentlemen of voting age, please turn your attention to the centre ring…

If there’s one thing that we in the news business wish for any election, it’s that the campaign is competitive and voters have multiple, viable options when it comes time to cast their ballots.

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Opinion: How confusing; seems there’s more than one candidate in Hanover named Shayne Barkman

It’s not entirely clear when or why Hanover trustee Shayne Barkman became one of Manitoba’s best-known anti-LGBTTQ+ crusaders.

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Opinion: Nothing wrong with planting trees, but it won’t get province very far on path to net zero

Manitoba’s new plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is a lot of things. It’s detailed. It’s certainly comprehensive in scope. But when it is all said and done, it is still very much a wor...

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Opinion: Manitoba NDP minister needs lesson in political civility

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine’s decision to intercede in Winnipeg’s mayoral election may be surprising to some political observers. To others, however, it is entirely on brand.

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Opinion: Leaders must make trade war, not snarky words, the priority

There is little question that trading barbs with United States President Donald Trump is good for the popularity of political leaders in Canada.

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Opinion: Opinion: Inflation-battered U.S. voters could prove to be key Canadian ally in fight against Trump’s trade tyranny

Is there anything or anyone that can help Canada and the United States avoid an unprecedented trade war?

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As Canada’s newest top doc, Dr. Joss Reimer immediately had to confront two deadly global outbreaks

OTTAWA — The whirlwind that has been Dr. Joss Reimer’s career has officially touched down in Building 62.

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Opinion: Winnipeg museum’s core mandate is to confront inconvenient truths

There is something deeply disquieting about the attempts by Canada’s Jewish community to stop the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg from hosting an exhibit about the 1948 Palestinian Nakba.

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Opinion: Carney, Smith all smiles while time runs out on climate change

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney were all smiles last week when they signed an agreement to begin construction of a new oil pipeline by 2027, while also delaying and softe...

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Opinion: Is simply serving as premier enough to earn Order of Manitoba honour?

Former premier Brian Pallister will be among the prominent Manitobans who this year will be inducted into the Order of Manitoba. Not to be overly provocative, but does Pallister deserve the honour?

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Opinion: Crown wrongheaded to pursue case against man for mom’s slaying

The Manitoba Prosecution Service’s decision to appeal a stay of proceedings against a young offender charged with murdering his mother isn’t surprising — and that’s the problem.

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Former chief psychiatrist legally challenges Manitoba’s detox detention laws

Manitoba’s former chief psychiatrist is challenging the constitutionality of a controversial law allowing the province to incarcerate intoxicated people for up to 72 hours, claiming that it will harm....

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Opinion: Carney’s pragmatic political monster not much to look at, but… ‘it’s moving, it’s alive!’

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Opinion: Manitoba budget served with side of horseshoes, four-leaf clovers and a rabbit’s foot

In the world of government budgeting, as in life, it’s sometimes better to be lucky than good. And over the next fiscal year, Manitoba’s NDP government is going to need a whole lot of luck if its budg...

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Opinion: Canadians might wonder what Poilievre said at the border about the purpose of his trip

In pursuit of a new and improved political brand, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been working overtime. Just look at his itinerary over the past few weeks: he undertook an unsolicited diplom...

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Opinion: Gas pains: soaring prices due to Mideast conflict could lead to energy turning point in Canada

Veteran actor Billy Bob Thornton may seem like an unlikely source of wisdom about the world’s relentless dependence on oil. Then again, it would be hard to find a better, more poignant description of....

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Kitchener tiny-home initiative has outsized positive impact on the homeless community

KITCHENER, Ont. — Like most Canadians, Mari dreams about having a bigger home for her boyfriend Rob and their dog, Trouble, a mutt of undefined origins. The trio currently resides in an eight-by-10-fo...

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Opinion: Katz testimony at police HQ inquest a master class in denial

In one sentence, Sam Katz helped Winnipeggers see the kind of mayor he really was.

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Former Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz will voluntarily testify at WPS inquiry, lawyer says

Former Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz will voluntarily testify at the public inquiry into the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters scandal, his lawyer has confirmed. Earlier this week, inquiry commissioner G...

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Three figures central to police HQ inquiry don’t live in Manitoba, can’t be compelled to testify: commissioner

Three key players in the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters scandal may not testify at the upcoming public inquiry because they no longer live in Manitoba and are beyond the commission’s power of su...

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Manitoba Hydro board chairman abruptly resigns

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Opinion: Real scandal about political misdeeds is no one seems to care

Is the career-ending political scandal no longer a thing? Increasingly, it seems that no scandal is big enough or ugly enough to end a politician’s career or permanently damage the brand of their part...

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Opinion: Churchill’s future has looked bright in the past, then politics dimmed the lights

The future of the often-troubled and chronically overlooked Port of Churchill and Hudson Bay railway looks exceedingly bright.

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Supervised drug consumption site to open in January

Manitoba’s NDP government will open the third session of the 43rd legislature today with a pledge to have a supervised drug consumption facility up and running in January, the Free Press has learned.

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Opinion: Two reports, two views on crime, zero solutions

The release of two reports in the same week with radically different perspectives on the causes of crime reveals a lot about why we never seem to find a lasting solution.

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Manitoba law to target use of notwithstanding clause to override Charter

PREMIER Wab Kinew plans to introduce legislation that would allow the Manitoba Court of Appeal to pre-emptively review any attempt by a future provincial government to invoke the notwithstanding claus...

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Opinion: Kinew’s tolerance for Fontaine’s antics could set dangerous precedent for others in cabinet

What exactly does someone have to do to get fired from Premier Wab Kinew’s cabinet? That question was left hanging in the air following the latest missteps by Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine, who d...

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Opinion: NDP’s lethargic, incomplete responses to HSC nurses’ safety concerns politically short-sighted

Has Manitoba’s NDP government fallen prey to the political butterfly effect? Originated by a mathematician in the 1970s, the butterfly effect suggests that a seemingly unimportant decision can, over t...

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Province to launch 24-hour police presence at HSC

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Opinion: Hockey’s caveman culture must come out of the dark ages

Everyone even remotely connected to hockey is no doubt straining under the weight of multiple feelings today. The acquittal of five elite hockey players on charges of sexual assault was not unexpected...

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