Poilievre can only smile and nod after Carney’s chess move

Mark Carney may still be relatively new to elected politics, but he’s proving to be a remarkably quick study in the art of political chess.

Carney trumps Trump with Gordie Howe bridge deal

This is the reality of dispute resolution with the Trump administration: getting what we want but doing it in a way that gives the wacky, volatile and irrational president some sort of moral victory to parade on social media.

Uncertainty bakes costs into CUSMA chain

Despite all the melodramatic hype and handwringing leading up to it, the July 1 timeline for renewing the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement on trade passed without a U.S. commitment to extend its 2036 sunset.

Tanmaxxing trend leaving gen Z cooked

Tanning isn’t new and, like every beauty norm, has seasons where it’s in and seasons where it’s out. But unlike their bronzed forebears, gen-Z tanfluencers know the risks of sun exposure.

Out of sight, out of mind, out of hope

We know our city has problems — drugs, poverty, crime, infrastructure (oof, Graham Avenue). So it’s unsurprising, if not discouraging, that West Broadway isn’t turning a corner in terms of reflecting these issues. But it is somewhat of a surprise our city councillor continues to be silent on it, especially with an election looming.

Sports gambling marketing during World Cup raises concerns about negative influence on susceptible audiences

It’s just a game. And in the case of the World Cup over the last few weeks, it’s a beautiful game — dozens of them, in fact.

Yet interspersed amongst the exciting broadcast play on the pitch, advertising for sports gambling has raised concerns fun and games may come at too high a cost for some.

A recent New York Times feature pointed to a bonanza for the gaming industry globally, with one analyst stating the flow of bets amounts to as many as 10 Super Bowls.

Billions are likely to be made by online gambling platforms from what has been called the biggest gambling event in history. The other side of that coin is billions of dollars will be lost by sports fans willing to wager on a game’s outcome.

How great managers adapt without playing favourites

One of the most common pieces of leadership advice is also one of the most misunderstood: “Give each employee what they need to perform at their best.”

It sounds simple enough, until you become a manager and discover the minute you treat people differently, someone inevitably says, “Why does she get that?” or “How come he gets special treatment?”

Middle managers often find themselves caught, well, in the middle. Senior leaders expect them to bring out the best in every employee, while employees expect everyone to be treated the same. Those two expectations can feel completely at odds.

The truth is good management has never been about treating everyone identically. It has always been about treating everyone fairly.

When it comes to our city’s tree canopy, Winnipeggers stand tall

For over 50 years, we’ve watched trees slowly vanish from the core neighbourhoods of the city. There’s no way to put a price tag on that loss, in either beauty or environmental value. But the trees of Winnipeg have many allies.

Ready-to-go drinks fit for a scorching summer

It’s mid-July, I’m just back from a little holiday and if I’m being totally honest, am suffering from a touch of post-vacay brain fog. It’s supposed to be scorching hot for the next few days. The Free Press arts and life crew is mainly tied up with attending and covering the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and prepping for Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival coverage as well.

In other words, rather than some educational deep dive into a grape variety or wine region for this week’s Uncorked, we’re keeping it simple. To that end, this week I tasted six drinks that fall into the ready-to-drink (RTD) category — think hard seltzers, coolers, pre-mixed cocktails and the like — selected mostly at random (although I made sure not to duplicate any particular flavour).

For the most part, the wildly popular RTD category offers boozy drinks that don’t taste like alcohol, often offering nostalgic flavours for drinkers of my particular vintage. It’s one of the only categories of alcohol that’s actually seeing a growth in sales.

Now, are these companies trying to appeal to us more seasoned imbibers looking for a taste of nostalgia, or are these flavoured RTD beverages meant to appeal to younger (and potentially underage) drinkers? That’s a debate/discussion for another time.

Pipeline could be Kinew’s legacy or a slick disappointment

Is Wab Kinew poised to become Manitoba’s Pipeline King?

Developments on several fronts are giving Manitoba’s premier the opportunity to make oil and gas pipelines not only the cornerstone of his current economic policy, but also the lasting legacy from his time governing the province.

On the one hand, Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised significant sums of federal money to develop the Port of Churchill into the major shipping hub it has always aspired to be. The catch is that Manitoba must come up with a firm plan to ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the port by 2030, a goal that almost certainly requires a pipeline.

At the same time, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and, most recently, Ontario Premier Doug Ford are signing deals to build LNG pipelines that connect western oil fields to major shipping hubs in eastern Canada.

Almost impossible not to look ahead to World Cup semifinals

It is oh-so-very tempting to look ahead to next week Wednesday and the semifinal showdown everyone wants to see. Everyone, that is, except the Norwegians and the Swiss, whose national teams could also square off in Atlanta on July 15.

If that happened, the World Cup would be guaranteed a debut finalist — something that’s happened just four times in 60 years — and FIFA president Gianni Infantino would be outraged. So maybe Norway-Switzerland is the match-up most of us should want. You know, for the plot.

But then we’d be deprived of the tantalizing prospect of England-Argentina.

Yes, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, but it’s almost impossible not to.

Keystone Party, like other right-wing factions, remains irrelevant in Manitoba

Every few provincial elections, Manitoba politics produces the same ghost story.

A new right-wing political party emerges, declares the Progressive Conservatives have abandoned conservative principles and vows to offer voters a “real” conservative alternative. Political observers immediately begin wondering whether this could finally be the election where the conservative vote splits, allowing the NDP to slip up the middle and win seats it otherwise wouldn’t.

Then almost nothing happens.

The new party wins a few hundred votes in ridings scattered around the province, perhaps cracks 1,000 votes where its leader is running, loses every seat and slowly disappears from public view. Eventually it folds, changes its name or is replaced by another protest party making exactly the same argument.

Two-track Trump’s bluster best taken with grain of salt

By now, everyone knows Donald Trump has made it nearly impossible to know what to believe from one day to the next when it comes to tariffs, trade deals or other thorny global issues.

Federal face time missing from Parkland flood response

In politics, it’s often just as important to be seen to be doing your job as it is to do your job.

For a case in point, let’s look at the rather odd, casual way in which the federal Liberal government responded to devastating flooding in Manitoba.

Torrential June rains flooded parts of Swan River and surrounding communities. More rain in late June and into early July swamped Dauphin and Swan River again, washing out roads and inflicting massive damage on public and private property.

Premier Wab Kinew, a master of not only acting quickly but being seen to act quickly, visited the flooded western Manitoba communities in person and flooded social media with images of the devastation and messages about his government’s response.