Portage

Vibrant colours, rich flavours, and the sounds of celebration filled Prairie Fusion Arts and Entertainment this past Saturday, June 14th, as the local community gathered for Nigerian Cultural Day.

Hosted by the Association of Nigerians in Portage la Prairie, the afternoon event showcased Nigeria's diverse heritage through presentations, traditional attire, and a feast of cultural foods, highlighting surprising overlaps with Indigenous traditions.

Manitoba Progressive Conservative MLA Jodie Byram says the spring legislative session brought meaningful progress for her party, including new leadership and bipartisan wins.

Byram, who represents the Agassiz constituency, notes, “Obby Khan is bringing some renewed energy, and coming forward with a great vision to rebuild the party.”

Key bills passed with PC support

Among the spring session’s notable legislation, Byram points to Bill 47, the Fair Trade in Canada Act, which received unanimous support.

Long Plain First Nation near Portage la Prairie began a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) scan of its former residential school site yesterday (Monday) morning, seeking answers about potential unmarked graves and human remains.

The work, coordinated by the First Nation's Lands Department, aims to uncover the truth about what occurred at the school during its 60-year operation.

An organization that monitors the effect of information flows on human rights says the new federal border security bill appears to "roll out a welcome mat" for expanded data-sharing agreements with the United States and other countries.

Researchers with The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto say they want the federal government to reveal more about the information-sharing implications of the bill due to a possible risk to human rights.

Canada is hosting the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has two days of meetings scheduled with world leaders, with discussion topics likely to include trade, the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East.

Here are some highlights from the first day of the summit. 

The countdown to a U.S.-Canada trade deal is on

Prime Minister Mark Carney's office says U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to have a deal on a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the U.S. by mid-July.

Rain and cooler temperatures brought relief to fire-ravaged Manitoba and Saskatchewan Monday, allowing fire bans to be reduced and more evacuees to go home.

The weather helped fire crews get an upper hand in parts of northern Manitoba to clear the way for some of the 21,000 or more evacuees to start returning home.

David Monias, chief of Pimicikamak Cree Nation, reposted video of heavy rainfall on social media along with video of small planes leaving Winnipeg with evacuees who were forced out almost three weeks earlier.

A new initiative at Fort la Reine Museum is inviting the public to take history into their own hands. The new “Adopt-a-Building” program offers individuals, families, and businesses a chance to take an active role in preserving the museum’s heritage buildings.

Emma Ens-MacIver, executive director, says the idea has been in the works for years and is rooted in a desire to make the museum more accessible and engaging for the community. 

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU) has finished its investigation into a dog bite that occurred during an arrest involving the Manitoba First Nations Police Service (MFNPS) earlier this year.

The incident happened on January 9, when MFNPS officers attempted to stop a vehicle connected to a previous case. The vehicle slid into a ditch and stopped, and a man fled on foot. A K9 unit tracked him to a house trailer where he was found hiding.

Some areas of the prairies have received some rain over the past few days, but the weeks of hot, dry weather have had an impact on crops, hay, and pastureland. 

With the dry conditions across so much of the Prairies, there's been an increased concern about grasshopper infestations.

Dr. Meghan Vankosky, a research scientist in field crop entomology with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, says grasshoppers could be shaping up to be an important story again this year.

Tennyson Verwey, a Grade 12 student at Portage Collegiate Institute (PCI), has been named the 2025 valedictorian, an honour he describes as both exciting and deeply meaningful.

"I was pretty excited," Verwey said. "It was a long process to get voted in. There were a lot of other candidates, so it meant a lot that my classmates gave me the honor to present the speech at graduation."