The St. Andrew’s Society of Winnipeg hosted a Pop-up Piper at the English Garden inside the Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg on the afternoon of May 19.

The local St. Andrew’s Society did its part to help Manitobans celebrate Victoria Day as piper Matthew Owen Hunt of the Lord Selkirk Robert Fraser Memorial Pipe Band stood close to a statue of Queen Victoria in Assiniboine Park’s English Garden.

“We thought it fitting to celebrate Victoria Day with a spirited performance, marked by renewed national pride,” said Society President Dwight MacAulay.

In additional to honouring the late Queen Victoria, the St. Andrews Society also wanted to honour His Majesty King Charles III’s upcoming visit to Canada for the reading of The Speech from the Throne.

Additional Pop-up Piper dates will be announced soon with all performances being sponsored by the St. Andrew’s Society of Winnipeg and are open to the public at no charge.

“The Pop-up Piper has become one of our society’s signature activities,” said MacAulay. “SASOW is excited to celebrate our country’s rich multicultural heritage and youth with a series of performances throughout the summer.”

Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) is increasing access to its popular high school education program, Driver Z, by offering condensed courses in select communities across Manitoba this summer. Now more students will be able to complete the training in less than half the time of the regular program.

Driver Z uses a mix of eLessons, virtual and in-person classes, and in-car learning to give students the tools, knowledge, and confidence to reduce risk and prevent collisions when they get behind the wheel.

In response to high demand for the Driver Z program, MPI is creating more capacity by offering the regular 12-week course in five weeks in July and August 2025. The condensed course will consist of two weeks of virtual classes and three weeks of in-car lessons. Students must attend all classes with no exceptions.

“Students will need to diligently complete the lessons, study for the Knowledge Test, and practice driving with their co-pilots to be successful in this condensed course,” said Maria Campos, MPI’s Vice President & Chief Customer and Product Officer. “We are able to offer this alternative in the summer months as students are off school and able to participate during the day, making it possible to cover all the course content and ensure they have the necessary training to be safe drivers on our roadways.”

The condensed courses are being offered in July in:

• Arborg
• Beausejour
• Brandon
• Portage la Prairie
• Steinbach
• Winkler
• Winnipeg

In August, the courses are being offered in:

• Brandon
• Steinbach
• The Pas
• Winkler
• WinnipegRegistration for summer courses will begin on May 28, 2025, at 8 a.m. 
• A listing of all available summer courses will be published on May 23, 2025, on MPI’s website.To register, students should visit an Autopac agent or MPI Service Centre in advance to get set up as a customer and purchase the Driver Z service. Completing these steps ahead of time will allow you to easily and quickly register by phone, at an Autopac agent, or MPI Service Centre when courses become available. More information on registering is available on our website.“We want to increase access to Driver Z for students, as we firmly believe that training young drivers from the start of their driving careers leads to safer roadways,” said Campos. “We have doubled our student capacity from last year and look forward to continuing to expand how many students we can accommodate. We are hiring new driving instructors and introducing innovative ways to offer Driver Z to Manitobans, like this condensed summer program.”

Jacques Bourgeois who is the marketing and communications coordinator at the Harry J. Enns Wetland Discovery Centre at Oak Hammock Marsh told the Selkirk Times it’s likely a lightning strike cause a fire at the marsh at around 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 12.

Bourgeois said the fire was about 300 metres away from the discovery centre and that about 1/4 of the entire wetland and grassland area at the marsh burned in the fire.

“The response time was extremely fast and efficient, we had about a dozen fire trucks from Stonewall, St.Andrews Stony Mountain and Clandeboye within minutes,” said Bourgeois. “Part of our extensive renovation project was to build a new pumphouse which can be connected directly to the fire trucks to refill cisterns.”

Bourgeois is confident the area that burned in the fire will now create a buffer zone, therefore, he is not as concerned about the potential for more fires in this specific area this year.