Despite the cold snap we’ve been experiencing lately, the new year has gotten off to a pretty good start.

Last week, we had our first Coffee with Bob of 2026. It was hosted at the Anola Hotel restaurant. I want to thank everyone who took the time to stop by and chat with me; I had a lovely time, and I hope to see you all at the next one!

February is right around the corner, which means it is almost I Love to Read month. I Love to Read is an event that takes place during the month of February, in which schools across Manitoba dedicate time to celebrating the importance of literacy. Throughout the coming weeks, I will have the pleasure of visiting local schools throughout the Dawson Trail constituency, reading to students, and sharing with them how important reading is, and how fun and enjoyable it is as well. I also take time to answer any questions the students may have about our provincial government and my role as their MLA, and I am looking forward to hearing what unique and interesting questions they will have for me this time. I Love to Read month is one of the events I look forward to every year, so I am very grateful and excited to once again have the opportunity to participate in the festivities.

For more updates and information, visit my website at boblagasse.com. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact my constituency office at ca.lagasse@outlook.com or 204-807-4663.

A southeastern Manitoba man was found guilty of sexual assault and was called “reckless or wilfully blind” when ignoring consent in a Steinbach provincial courtroom last week.

Provinical court Judge Kael McKenzie read his verdict for the now 19-year-old man after both the victim and the accused testified during the trial held last year.

The Carillon can’t identify the victim or accused due to a publication ban.

“The accused had a public, positive obligation to ensure she was consenting, and at best was either reckless or wilfully blind whether consent was communicated, even on his evidence,” McKenzie told the court.

When people think about a domestic violence shelter, they often picture crisis moments: a woman arriving with her children, bags packed in a hurry, safety as the immediate priority.

What’s less visible is the depth of work that happens beyond that first moment — the day-to-day support, advocacy, and relationship building that helps women begin rebuilding their lives.

In Issue 2 of Beyond the Shelter, we sat down with counsellor advocates Adidja and Sam to learn more about their roles.

One thing both counsellors emphasized is that there is no such thing as a “typical” day.

A Hanover man was sentenced to four years in federal prison in a Winnipeg provincial courtroom on Monday after he repeatedly beat a double amputee with a nailed two-by-four.

Buddy Merv Octroworch, 34, plead guilty to aggravated assault and failing to comply with his release order.

Steinbach RCMP received a call on Aug. 15 at 4:17 p.m. following an assault on a property 18 kilometres south of Steinbach. Mounties found John Fillmore with puncture wounds and bleeding on the floor, court heard. The 52-year-old is a double amputee below the knee and previously lost all but one finger on his hands due to frostbite.

As officers continued searching buildings on the property, they found Octroworch hiding under blankets inside a trailer, with blood on his hands and clothing.

They laughed at her! On May 12, 1982, NDP health critic Margaret Mitchell rose in the House of Commons to address the issue of domestic violence. “One in ten Canadian husbands beat their wives regularly,” Ms. Mitchell reported. At her words the predominantly male House of Commons erupted in laughter. She went on with determination and courage, telling her colleagues that of the 10,000 charges laid against abusive partners by Canadian women, so far only two had resulted in convictions. At that point, members of Parliament began heckling Ms. Mitchell.

It’s hard to believe those attitudes existed just a generation ago. While supports for abused women, and stricter penalties for their abusers, have been instituted over the last decades, partner violence is still a huge problem. A news item on Jan. 17 reports that Agape House in Steinbach is seeing an increased need for its services for abused women. In fact demand continues to exceed capacity. I wasn’t able to access the 2025 annual report for Agape House, but the 2024 report I found online, records a 45 percent increase in domestic violence incidents over the previous year, reaching levels the shelter has never seen before.

Statistics like that make clear the importance of quickly and effectively implementing new legislation dealing with intimate partner violence. One such piece of legislation, The Disclosure to Protect Against Intimate Partner Violence Act, will become law in Manitoba on March 1.

A document issued by the Manitoba Ombudsman gives some good examples of how the law might work. If a man is in a counseling group for violent behaviour and discloses his ongoing obsessive need to stalk or harm his partner, the new law will give the man’s counselor permission to break the confidentiality of the counseling relationship to report his client’s dangerous intent to the police. They will in turn inform the woman at risk and provide her with protection.