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By James Wastasecoot
Band members who went to the Peguis First Nation Real Estate Trust AGM on Feb. 7 at the Peguis Community Hall were served up with facts and opinion from trustees and band lawyer John Gailus, but left with many questions unanswered. Gailus presented a PowerPoint about two projects that have raised big questions in Peguis in recent years: the former Meadows golf course lands and the Wellington property in Winnipeg.
For many members, there has been little public information over the past four years. That left room for rumours and guesswork.
Meadows and daycare
One belief in the community was that the current Chief and Council stopped the Meadows development because they opposed former chief and consultant Andrew Marquess. Gailus told members that was not accurate. Gailus said: “I know this is controversial, because people are saying, oh, Chief and Council, they're the ones who stopped the development. No, that's not the case. There was a stop work order. December 12, 2023 from Red River Planning District on meadows, saying, you can't develop without a permit.”
He added: “On January 4 [2024] there's another letter to Purchase Co. saying you need to pay your property taxes. What Chief and Council did do is in March of 2024, they passed the BCR demanding that the trust cease all operations until the annual audits are produced for membership.”
Read more: New trustees say missing records cloud Trust projects at Meadows, daycare and Wellington
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By Trevor Greyeyes
EAST ST. PAUL – A brand-new daycare building is sitting empty and cold just off Highway 59. While many Peguis families need childcare, this $4 million project is stuck in a big argument between the Manitoba government and the Peguis First Nation Real Estate Trust (PFNRET).
The provincial government says they aren’t opening the doors because they are worried about who actually owns the land. But new documents found through an information request tell a different story.
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By James Wastasecoot
JAN 14, 2026 SELKIRK — An “emergency” community band meeting billed as an information session with Peguis Child and Family Services drew members to the Selkirk Recreation Complex, but the agency’s executive director did not attend, according to Chief Stan Bird.
The meeting, held Jan. 14, was called after concerns were raised by members living in Winnipeg, Selkirk and Peguis First Nation, with the notice stating the purpose was to give band members an opportunity to hear directly from Peguis CFS “Administration and Governance” in response to those concerns.
Read more: CFS executive director absent from ‘emergency’ band meeting on Peguis CFS
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By Trevor Greyeyes
Democracy is messy.
That is not a flaw — it is the price of legitimacy.
The Treaty One Annual Report 2024–2025 is titled From Vision to Reality: Building Nationhood. If Treaty One is serious about building nationhood, then it must also be serious about scrutiny, criticism, and uncomfortable questions.
Treaty One has published an annual report and held a public meeting in Winnipeg to release it. The report is available online.
The question is whether that, on its own, is enough.
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By James Wastasecoot
Peguis First Nation faces major hurdles in charting a course for its economic development and prosperity aspirations. The meeting convened by the Chief Peguis Investment Trust (CPIT) at the Peguis Community Hall on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, gave an update to Peguis band members.
The community update featured presentations and discussion on how Peguis’ business holdings are structured, what recent audits show about performance, and what work remains to protect revenues and jobs while dealing with long-running governance and financial complications.
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Winnipeg Dec. 20, 2025 - Peguis First Nation is suing former chief Glenn Hudson.
Peguis First Nation has filed a statement of claim in the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench alleging former chief Glenn Hudson breached fiduciary duties and trust obligations, and seeking damages and other remedies tied to how the Nation says funds and assets were handled during his time in office.
In the claim, Peguis alleges Hudson’s conduct caused financial losses and harmed the Nation’s governance and reputation. The filing asks the court for declarations and compensation, including an accounting and tracing of any profits or benefits Peguis says were received as a result of the alleged breaches. The claim also seeks aggravated and punitive damages, plus interest and costs.
The allegations have not been proven in court. Hudson has not filed a statement of defence in the materials provided with the filing.
Claims of improper payments and expenses
Among the key allegations, Peguis claims cash and gas payments were provided to members in ways that the Nation says violated its financial rules and policies. The statement of claim alleges these payments were used, at least in part, to gain support for Hudson and his slate during elections, and that they were not properly approved or disclosed.
The claim also alleges Nation credit cards were used to pay for personal expenses and that invoices were intentionally kept from council or from the Nation’s finance department, including allegations that some expenses were disguised as “personal expenses” under financial codes.
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By James Wastasecoot
Peguis, Fisher River and Kinonjeoshtegon First Nations are preparing a joint strategy to confront the drug trade that community members say is destroying families, harming youth and driving violence in their communities.
Three communities to coordinate…
About 100 Peguis band members attended the first in a series of community meetings at the Peguis Community Hall on December 8, 2025. They heard candid and often emotional testimony from people from both Peguis and Fisher River about addiction, family breakdown and the struggle to heal.
One Fisher River member urged parents and grandparents to act, even when it involves their own loved ones.
“I was called a snitch,” he said. “I got no help from the RCMP or the chief and council, I did what had to be done and I’m not going to stop.”
A young man from Peguis spoke openly about overcoming his own drug use after spending four days alone at a remote camp. He said the time on the land, cutting wood and doing chores, helped him come to terms with his life and commit to change. He suggested others could benefit from a similar experience focused on self-sufficiency and reflection.
“My thought was to take them out to the camp out there… you have a fire out there, you have a kitchen out there, leave them out there,” he said. “Whoever wants to go, whoever wants to participate in that, whoever really wants to help. You know, I wanted to help out anybody who wants to do that.”
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By Trevor Greyeyes
Many Peguis members are talking about Cows and Plows again, especially as Sagkeeng prepares to ratify its Treaty Land Entitlement agreement and payments begin moving to families there.
That agreement has led to a new wave of assumptions in Peguis. I have seen the posts on social media personally.
Some people believe Sagkeeng’s payment is part of the Cows and Plows process and that Peguis should be expecting something similar. It is not. Sagkeeng is completing its TLE. Peguis completed its own TLE years ago. The two have nothing to do with agricultural benefits.
Cows and Plows is its own separate claim.
It deals with the agricultural support promised in the numbered treaties that Canada did not deliver. These are the cattle, equipment and farming resources that were supposed to help Treaty nations begin a farm economy. They never came. That is why some First Nations have filed claims to settle the breach.
Initially, Indian Services Canada claimed that no such clause existed in Treaty One to allow a filing of this claim. That position has been challenged.