Manitoba First Nation calling for more transportation resources following bus rollover
Posted January 20, 2026 6:37 pm.
Last Updated January 20, 2026 6:50 pm.
Just a week after a school bus rollover sent 14 young people and one adult to hospital, the leadership of a Manitoba First Nation is calling for increased highway and transportation resources in the area, saying the crash is proof that staffing levels are dangerously low.
“Our lives matter, instead of just a person living in the city,” said Nelson Genaille, Chief of Sapotaweyak Cree Nation. “Because if you’re only one individual, and sometimes only a part-time individual, that’s a lot of kilometres to look after.”
The school bus was travelling to Swan River from the Sapotaweyak Cree Nation on Highway 10 when RCMP say it lost control trying to pass another bus in icy conditions, rolling over before landing upright.
Genaille says resources in the area have been cut by the previous government, reduced to one person based in Mafeking assessing road conditions. He says more resources would mean better communication between the province, school divisions, and his community, and as a result, more notice.
“If there’s weather extremes, they would advise the Nation or the driver and basically say: ‘I think the roads are treacherous, I don’t think you should come in,’” said Chief Genaille.
When asked if he thinks more resources would prevent future accidents from happening, his answer was simple. “100 per cent. 100 per cent.”
A statement from the province explained that while “salt applications were underway on PTH 10 in the Mafeking area when this incident occurred,” follow-up questions about applications in the specific area where the crash happened went unanswered.
Since 2022, there have been 23 crashes at the site of the school bus rollover, and Manitoba RCMP say the investigation into the crash is still ongoing.
“This is every parent’s nightmare,” said Premier Wab Kinew.
Premier Kinew said there are conversations around safety happening, and it’s the results of the RCMP investigation that will determine the province’s response to a potential solution, like Genaille, pointing to past government cuts as a contributor.
“Whatever the solutions are to keep kids safe coming from that investigation, that’s where we’ll go,” said Kinew.
