{"id":155818,"date":"2026-08-04T22:14:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T22:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/155818\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T22:14:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T22:14:07","slug":"manitoba-pcs-disappointed-as-u-s-decides-to-close-winnipeg-consulate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/155818\/","title":{"rendered":"Manitoba PCs ‘disappointed’ as U.S. decides to close Winnipeg consulate"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> Leader of the Opposition Obby Khan listens as Manitoba Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville delivers the Speech from the Throne, at the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/David Lipnowski – The Canadian Press <\/p>\n

WINNIPEG \u2014 Manitoba’s Opposition says the U.S. decision to close its diplomatic post in Winnipeg is disappointing and underscores Premier Wab Kinew’s failure to get things done on cross-border trade. <\/p>\n

PC Leader Obby Khan said that despite Kinew’s government spending nearly $1 million a year on a Washington D.C. trade office, it has failed to deliver new investment or trade deals. <\/p>\n

“Despite his promises to strengthen our relationship with the United States, Manitoba’s economy is falling further behind \u2014 and businesses and families are paying the price,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

The Winnipeg consulate doesn’t offer consular or visa services, but does have a representative tasked with building trade relations and advancing U.S. policy. <\/p>\n

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration informed Congress it will close five smaller embassies and consulates, including in Winnipeg, to streamline operations. <\/p>\n

The Winnipeg one is the only closure in North America. <\/p>\n

Kinew’s office said it would defer comment to the federal government because consulates are a federal issue. <\/p>\n

Global Affairs Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n

The U.S. State Department said the decision to close the consulate in Winnipeg, and shift responsibilities to its embassy in Ottawa, reflects its commitment to efficient resource management. <\/p>\n

It said that while the U.S. physical presence in Winnipeg is changing, policy priorities in Canada “remain steadfast.” <\/p>\n

The planned closure comes amid tensions between Kinew and the U.S., particularly over tariffs imposed by Trump, with Manitoba retaliating last year by announcing it will no longer import U.S.-made alcohol. <\/p>\n

Kinew has called Trump’s policies “dumb” and has labelled the president “Enemy No. 1” when it comes to the economy. <\/p>\n

The U.S. had an official presence in Winnipeg for 113 years before the consulate was closed in 1986. The U.S. reopened the post in 2001. <\/p>\n

— With files from The Associated Press. <\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2026. <\/p>\n

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leader of the Opposition Obby Khan listens as Manitoba Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville delivers the Speech from the Throne,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[50312,240,4355,202,989,2565,84],"class_list":["post-155818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-anita-neville","tag-manitoba","tag-manitoba-legislative-building","tag-president-donald-trump","tag-the-canadian-press","tag-wab-kinew","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}