Songs, tears at Winnipeg council meeting after death of Coun. Jason Schreyer

Winnipeg city councillors began the process of moving on without Jason Schreyer, resuming a council meeting postponed in the wake of the Elmwood-East Kildonan councillor's death.

Councillors sang, cried and paid tribute to their friend and colleague. Schreyer's death shocked his fellow council members, who learned the news on Tuesday.

The next day, council gathered for its regularly scheduled meeting, but quickly adjourned until Friday.

The morning meeting featured long speeches and multiple musical tributes — so many that Mayor Scott Gillingham later joked that it had been "the most Jason Schreyer-esque" meeting ever.

"He would love this day," Gillingham said.

Schreyer was known to sometimes sing on the floor of council, and frequently performed karaoke with fellow council members, including Mynarski Coun. Ross Eadie, who called Schreyer his "best friend."

The two council members referred to their singing duo as "the Councillor Brothers," a play on the John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd musical comedy act the Blues Brothers.

"We lost a wonderful man who cared passionately about people," Eadie said.

"[My] heart is … so sad" for Schreyer's wife, children and parents, he said.

Schreyer was the son of former premier and governor general Ed Schreyer, but Eadie said he was a "reluctant politician."

"He was doing a lot of stuff passionately for people all the time. That's just who Jason Schreyer was."

Schreyer was 57. No cause of death has been given.

New library for northwest Winnipeg

A new library could open in the Garden City Shopping Centre in the fall of 2026.

A City of Winnipeg report recommends signing a lease for nearly 14,500 square feet of space in the mall.

Gillingham said Old Kildonan Coun. Devi Sharma has pushed for a new library in her ward.

"The Maples area, the northwest part of Winnipeg, is an exciting area. It's growing significantly," he told reporters in a news conference Friday.

"It does not have a library.… This is about the people of northwest Winnipeg and providing library services to them that they've been waiting on for a long time."

The city says it will spend more than $2 million to renovate the space, with ongoing costs expected around $205,000.

The city previously considered moving the West Kildonan Library into a space in the mall in 2022, but changed those plans after community pushback.

A feasibility study presented to council in June 2024 laid out potential upgrades to the library, but the project remains unfunded, city spokesperson Pam McKenzie wrote in an email.

The city report is on the agenda for next Thursday's property and development committee meeting.