Fringe festival breaks attendance records

The ‘Buy Canadian’ trade war challenge

“Buy Canadian,” they tell us, as trade tensions escalate between Canada and the United States. “Elbows up,” the pithy slogan advises again and again, in response to the latest daily affront from increasingly unbalanced U.S. President Donald Trump.

And there’s no question Canadians from coast to coast to coast have bought into the patriotic mindset that politicians, from Prime Minister Mark Carney right on down to elected officials at the municipal level, have implored us to adopt.

“We were attacked,” is how Carney described the Aug. 21 unraveling of trade talks, after U.S. negotiators reportedly inserted last-minute demands the Canadian side viewed as both unreasonable and unacceptable. “You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked.”

The breakdown led to the immediate imposition by Trump of steep new tariffs on $29 billion worth of Canadian goods headed to south-of-the-border markets. A targeted, dollar-for-dollar Canadian tariff response will take effect after the Labour Day weekend. In the meantime, Canadians are more motivated than ever to stand firm against Trump’s tyrannical tactics.

MPI restricts loan program to winter tires only

Manitoba Public Insurance is getting strict about its winter tire program after years in which customers used it to buy other types of tires.

As of Oct. 1, only tires that are “designed and marketed solely for winter driving conditions, including snow and ice,” will be eligible for financing through the public insurer.

Currently, all-weather, all-season, four-season and year-round tires are included in the program, which allows MPI clients to pay the cost in monthly installments. The program, established in 2014, offers financing for up to $2,000, plus interest.

In an email to retailers, MPI says the program is being changed so it “helps ensure customers receive the full winter-driving safety benefits associated with dedicated winter tires.”

Province announces free daycare for low-income families

Eligible parents will have their child-care fees waived come Sept. 13.

Former Gilbert Plains CAO forged doc’s note to get out of court: RCMP

A former rural municipal official awaiting sentencing for stealing more than $500,000 from community coffers has been accused of forging a fake doctor’s note to get out of attending court.

Amber Fisher, the former chief administrative officer for the Rural Municipality of Gilbert Plains, pleaded guilty to one count of theft over $5,000 last year.

Dauphin RCMP say investigators learned Fisher, 42, had submitted the note indicating she would be unable to attend court for her Sept. 2 sentencing, after she was seriously injured in a vehicle collision on July 22.

Fisher’s lawyer submitted the note to the court and the judge adjourned her sentencing to a later date.

Woman who saved child, father from Red River uncomfortable with hero label

A Winnipeg woman who’s been hailed as a hero by police for saving a father and his young child from the Red River says she doesn’t feel like one.

“I’m a mom… and I would do it again,” said Jayclyn Morrissette, who was walking with her neighbour through St. John’s Park on Aug. 24 when they spotted a young girl flailing in the nearby river. “I was meant to be there and that was supposed to happen.”

Morrissette, who spoke to the Free Press Wednesday after police released details about the rescue, said she and her neighbour began looking for the child’s parents and found them at the nearby playground searching for her.

Morrissette waved them over. The father, who she said could not swim, jumped into the river first and immediately began to sink.

Manitoba association pitches CentrePort for national food terminal

A Manitoba association is vying for federal dollars to build a major food terminal as Ottawa unrolls its national food security strategy.

Michael Mikulak, head of industry advocate group Food & Beverage Manitoba, said he’s in talks with several federal departments.

He’s envisioning a 120,000-square-foot site at CentrePort Canada, the trimodal inland port spanning parts of Winnipeg and the Rural Municipality of Rosser.

About 15,000 sq. ft. would become a production-focused commercial kitchen for Manitoba companies to rent as they grow. A warehouse to store and distribute food — from Manitoba and elsewhere — would consume most of the building, Mikulak said.