- Read Later
Greg Mercer’s The Lobster Trap: The Global Fight for a Seafood on the Brink has won the 2026 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize.
Read this article for free:
To continue reading, please subscribe:
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Greg Mercer’s The Lobster Trap: The Global Fight for a Seafood on the Brink has won the 2026 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
Greg Mercer’s The Lobster Trap: The Global Fight for a Seafood on the Brink has won the 2026 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize.
The $12,000 award, named after John Wesley Dafoe, the former editor of the Manitoba Free Press and Winnipeg Free Press, is presented annually to the best book on topics including “Canada, the West, and Canadians, as well as the Canadian nation in international affairs.”
Published by McClelland & Stewart in August 2025, The Lobster Trap examines the multi-billion dollar lobster industry and the impacts of climate change, trade wars and overfishing. The Lobster Trap is Mercer’s first book.
The Lobster Trap
The award will be presented later this fall.
Ben Sigurdson
Literary editor, drinks writer
Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press‘s literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben.
In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press’s editing team before being posted online or published in print. It’s part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
- Read Later
More Stories
Gillingham promises sweeping 311 upgrades if elected
Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Preview
Gillingham promises sweeping 311 upgrades if elected
Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Yesterday at 5:33 PM CDT
Scott Gillingham says a new round of customer service improvements would reduce lengthy waits for water bill queries, automate some 311 updates and expand online access to city services, if he’s re-elected mayor.
One promise would integrate Winnipeg water and waste’s Utility Billing Centre into its broader 311 service.
“Right now, if you have a question about your water bill, you deal with a separate call centre. And we know that people have been frustrated with long wait times there,” said Gillingham.
The pledge follows some sharp spikes in the wait to reach the Utility Billing Centre last year. In August 2025, one resident reported waiting about three hours and 40 minutes for that centre to answer her call. The city confirmed a wait time of up to four hours took place Aug. 5.
Storm costs not factored in to MPI request for 2.38% rate increase
Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Preview
Storm costs not factored in to MPI request for 2.38% rate increase
Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Yesterday at 6:43 PM CDT
Manitoba Public Insurance told the Public Utilities Board Tuesday it didn’t factor in reinsurance costs related to devastating summer storms in its application for an increase to vehicle insurance rates.
Cara Low, the Crown corporation’s chief actuary, told the board that given MPI anticipates an increase to reinsurance premiums, the 2.38 per cent increase listed in its application won’t be adequate to cover its costs.
“There’s going to be a significant increase. We still have to decide how much we want to retain, what we want the coverage to look like, and what the upper end needs to be,” she said on the opening day of a three-week hearing.
Nearly 41,000 claims have been submitted in relation to summer storms that swept across southern Manitoba from June to August. Floods, tornadoes and hail pummelled several communities and forced MPI to open satellite claims centres to deal with the record number of calls.
Gang member who shot rival, bystander back in prison after release revoked
Erik Pindera 4 minute read Preview
Gang member who shot rival, bystander back in prison after release revoked
Erik Pindera 4 minute read Monday, Oct. 12, 2026
A Winnipeg man who shot a rival teenage gangster and an innocent 11-year-old bystander at the crowded Red River Exhibition more than four years ago has been sent back to prison.
Mocree Chuck Scatch-Dubour, now in his early 20s, left prison in April on statutory release on his 5 1/2-year federal sentence for the 2022 shooting. Scatch-Dubour was sentenced to the prison term as an adult in the spring of 2023 after pleading guilty to discharge of a firearm with intent to wound, aggravated assault and possession of a restricted firearm.
By law, most federal inmates automatically receive statutory release after two-thirds of their sentence, if they have not already been paroled.
Parole Board of Canada officials formally revoked Scatch-Dubour’s release this month after he unlawfully left his halfway house in June.
Developer ‘anxiously’ awaits judge’s decision on Granite Curling Club construction
Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Preview
Developer ‘anxiously’ awaits judge’s decision on Granite Curling Club construction
Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Yesterday at 6:19 PM CDT
The developer of a hotly debated project that would add 110 housing units to the Granite Curling Club’s parking lot has begun investigative work at the site while awaiting a judge’s decision on construction.
While some digging took place at the city-owned property last week, its developer said construction has yet to begin.
“I would call (the digging so far) investigative site work. It’s not preparing in any way for construction, other than to ensure that the reports that are required for any site have been completed,” said Jeremy Read, chief executive officer of UWCRC 2.0 Inc.
A heritage resources impact assessment will determine if the site has archeological significance. That work will check for everything from fossils to unmarked graves, said Read.
Letters, Oct. 13
7 minute read Preview
Letters, Oct. 13
7 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 8:14 AM CDT
The major assumption Manitoba Hydro undertakes is the weather. Hydro projected a $214 million profit for the 2025-26 fiscal year. On Sept. 29, it reported a $446 million loss. It took on additional debt due to $751 million in operating losses. In addition, Hydro stated the fiscal results for 2025-26 were “significantly influenced by circumstances largely beyond Hydro’s control.”