Crisis Response Plan, Supervised Consumption Site & Whiteshell Fencing — Winnipeg Tuesday

🚑 Breaking & Incidents

1. Manitoba to install fencing and viewing areas at Whiteshell site after two boys drowned. Environment Minister Mike Moyes says the province will add fencing, a fenced viewing area and updated signage at the Nutimik Lake rapids where 13-year-old Aaron and 10-year-old Maximo Au Ramirez were swept away; the government reviewed high-risk trails after the latest drowning and is assessing other provincial parks.
2. Evacuation order lifted for O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation after month-long displacement. Manitoba Emergency Management Organization says residents of South Indian Lake — about 600 members who left in late June — can return after Manitoba Hydro restored power and officials report the nearby 17,000-hectare fire is being held.

🏛️ Government & Politics

1. Winnipeg mayor unveils Community Crisis Response Model for mental-health 911 calls. Mayor Scott Gillingham released a third-party report recommending dispatch options that connect mental-health or addiction 911 calls to community-based responders, and the study contains five recommendations to build coordinated mobile crisis teams with non-police options.
2. Manitoba Hydro CEO defends plan for three new natural-gas turbines. Manitoba Hydro’s chief executive argued the utility needs to add three gas turbines as part of its resource plan; the company says the project is a component of ensuring system reliability as Manitoba considers future energy needs.

🏥 Health

1. Manitoba’s first supervised consumption site to fully open Aug. 11 in central Winnipeg. The province says the site, run with Aboriginal Health and Wellness, will operate Tuesday–Saturday from late morning to early evening with staff training underway; the province cites overdose deaths in Winnipeg as the reason for the intervention.
2. St. Boniface staff alerted to sex-offender presence via new app, says nurses’ union. The nurses’ union praised the app after it warned St. Boniface Hospital staff about a registered sex offender on site; the union says the tool improved staff awareness of a security risk.

🎨 Community & Culture

1. Somerset Food Bar draws international visitors after viral 60-towns-in-60-days challenge. Owner Wes Friesen says the diner in Somerset (population 420) launched a social-media challenge and is on track for 200 visiting towns, with patrons arriving from small Manitoba communities and as far as Amsterdam, France and Belgium.
2. Kenora swimmer Chad English completed a 110-km Lake of the Woods crossing and raised over $80,000. English finished a 12-day swim that began July 9 at Sable Islands and ended in Kenora to raise funds for SickKids, Shriners Hospital for Children and local Kenora initiatives in honour of his daughter Sophie.

📰 Also Today

• Girls aged 7 and 9 found after going missing in Winnipeg Monday evening.
• Sturgeon Falls to install fencing to block access to slippery rocks, officials say.
• Federal government removes cap on online passport renewals.
• Bronze plaques stolen from parks and public spaces around Steinbach, police say.
• Riley Laychuk’s Manitoba forecast posted for Tuesday, July 28, 2026.
• New Ile des Chênes development could double that community’s population, developers say.
• Manitoba businesses warn they could face threatened 50% tariffs, industry groups say.