Matthew Frank

Substack • 3rd February 2025

Manitoba homelessness strategy falls short meeting queer community’s needs, advocates, experts say

Manitoba’s new homelessness strategy lacks the queer representation and queer-specific resources needed to help people in the community, advocates and experts say.

Winnipeg Free Press • 3rd January 2025

Manitoba plans to begin tracking solitary confinement use in jails more than a year after judge called for review of practice

Manitoba doesn’t track how much time provincial inmates spend in solitary confinement, nearly 1½ years after a judge called on the government to launch an independent review of its use of the widely condemned practice.

CBC • 14th December 2024

Winnipeg dental group sues ex-office manager, alleging she faked insurance claims, overpaid herself | CBC News

A group of Winnipeg hospital dentists are suing a former employee after she allegedly paid herself thousands of dollars in fraudulent insurance claims, cheques and unearned pay over a five-year period.

CBC • 13th December 2024

Winnipeg small business owners say they're scrambling, stressed ahead of GST holiday | CBC News

With the federal government's temporary GST break set to start this weekend, some Winnipeg businesses are hoping to see more customers — but others say they're stressed and scrambling to get ready.

CBC • 13th December 2024

A year after her 81-year-old father's disappearance, daughter wants changes to help find vulnerable seniors | CBC News

One year after her 81-year-old father went missing, Britt Moberg is fighting keeping his memory alive — and to see changes that she hopes will spare other families from the pain hers has experienced.

CBC • 8th December 2024

Tracking race when officers use force 'bare minimum' Winnipeg police should do, expert says | CBC News

Jordan Charlie, a 24-year-old Inuk, was the fourth person police have shot and killed in Winnipeg this year — but he's the only one whose race is publicly known, and that's a problem, a criminologist says.

CBC • 3rd December 2024

Manitoba has second-highest HIV diagnosis rate in Canada, led by injection drug use: report | CBC News

Manitoba has the second-highest rate of HIV diagnosis in the country, provincial and federal reports reveal.In 2023, there were 280 new HIV diagnoses in Manitoba — a 40 per cent increase compared to 2022, according to the province's 2023 HIV surveillance report released on Friday.Manitoba's HIV infection rate was 19.3 people per 100,000, falling only behind national leader Saskatchewan, which had a rate of 19.4 people per 100,000, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada's 2023 report.The...

Winnipeg Free Press • 19th November 2024

Gender-affirming care lacking in rural areas of Manitoba, study finds

When Parker Morran saw a doctor in Steinbach in 2020 to discuss transitioning, the 31-year-old wasn’t provided care or compassion.
Instead, Morran, who uses they/them pronouns, says they got a “long rant” on how transitioning doesn’t align with Christianity.
“I just laughed at him and said, ‘This is a stupid thing to say to your patient,’” says Morran, who grew up in Kleefeld, a town of less than 2,000 people west of Steinbach.
“I know that I’m not the only person who he said things like that to...

Winnipeg Free Press • 11th October 2024

Reporting for ‘special duty’: Winnipeg police spent 50,000 hours moonlighting in just over a year

It’s Bombers’ game day and thousands of fans clad in Blue and Gold are descending on Princess Auto Stadium from all corners. It’s a noisy, somewhat hectic affair as the team’s faithful arrive on buses, cars, bicycles and foot.
While stadium staff direct traffic, a Winnipeg police officer stands alone amid pylons at a blocked-off roadway looking at his phone.
Inside, uniformed police are weaving their way through the sold-out crowd. Some are positioned close to the rowdy Rum Hut, while others pla...

Winnipeg Free Press • 22nd August 2024

Manitoba feels railway lockout pressure

Fears of a massive disruption to economic activity in Manitoba abated Thursday evening in the wake of the federal government seeking binding arbitration to end the railway labour dispute that had brought trains — and their cargo — to a halt nationwide.

Winnipeg Free Press • 13th August 2024

‘I need that card to function’: Delays force Winnipegger to wait more than year to renew permanent residency

A year after moving to Canada, Fran Hiebert is still waiting to receive her permanent residency card — something that is supposed to take about 10 weeks.

Winnipeg Free Press • 12th August 2024

Early Winnipeg pool closures affect low-income families most, advocates complain

What’s the rush?
That’s what some parents and community advocates are wondering as the city prepares to shut down 30 wading pools Friday and another 30 the following Friday.
That will leave just six operated by the city open until Labour Day.

Winnipeg Free Press • 11th August 2024

Winnipeg man sentenced to life for Nova Scotia murder, revealed history of targeting elderly women

A man has been handed a lifetime sentence for the slaying of a Nova Scotia woman after having a history of preying upon elderly women in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg Free Press • 9th August 2024

Highway, bus crash investigations in Canada leave crucial questions unanswered, risking future tragedies

When the RCMP announced in late June that no charges were to be laid following one of Canada’s worst mass-fatality bus crashes, it likely signalled the end of the investigative process and the possibility of learning more about how to prevent similar tragedies.

Winnipeg Free Press • 1st August 2024

Trauma on the rails: Train crews unlikely to avoid collisions or close calls in their careers

It takes about 800 metres — four-fifths of a kilometre — to bring a train travelling 60 km/h to a full stop.

Winnipeg Free Press • 27th July 2024

Entrepreneurial village raising Osborne Village

A long-vacant Osborne Village property that housed the original Basil’s and a handful of other restaurants over the years is coming back to life.
Not one, but two new establishments will be mixing drinks and serving food again in the building near the northwest corner of Osborne Street and Stradbrook Avenue.

Winnipeg Free Press • 22nd July 2024

Fisher River Cree First Nation giving new life to long-vacant, historic South Osborne apartment building in Winnipeg

A long-vacant heritage building at Osborne Street and Morley Avenue is undergoing extensive renovations and will become a mixed-use housing development next spring.

Winnipeg Free Press • 21st July 2024

Small Mercies reopening a big hit in Osborne Village

What would have been the final chapter for a local café has instead brought fresh coffee and flowers back to Osborne Village.
Small Mercies, a café and boutique, reopened its doors on July 3 after being closed for more than a year after a fire tore through the building.

Winnipeg Free Press • 10th July 2024

Small Manitoba airport rises to 10th busiest in Canada after 60 years in operation

Ian Harasymiw and his grandson, Sheamus, share a cold drink as they watch a red-and-white pinstriped Cessna take off from Canada’s 10th busiest airport.

Since taking their spot across from the runway, they’ve seen at least five planes fly in or leave the St. Andrews Airport, just north of Winnipeg, which will mark 60 years in operation...

The Uniter • 11th January 2024

Something’s been brewing

Inside the West Broadway coffee shop Thom Bargen, the whirring of coffee grinders and espresso machines mixes with the buzz of people mingling in the shop.