Devin Cuddy performance at the News Café

Trump’s tariff tantrum, geopolitical turmoil could be blessings in disguise for Manitoba’s diversified economy

It’s early July and Warren Luky’s second last day before he retires as president of United Steelworkers Local 6166. After a career at the bargaining table and in and around mineshafts, Luky speaks candidly as he fires up a barbecue at his Thompson home.

Luky, who represents 472 miners at Vale’s Thompson mining operation along with other northern labourers, is quite aware of the buzzwords currently attached to his trade and the region.

Phrases like “Arctic sovereignty,” “trade diversification,” “Indigenous-led” and “critical minerals” have caught on with politicians of all stripes over the past couple years as federal and provincial governments tout the need for greater Canadian sovereignty, with the push for major infrastructure projects declared a matter of national interest.

In light of the bitter collapse in trade negotiations between Canada and the U.S. on Aug. 21 — a historic blow to cross-border relations — these phrases are bound to become more contagious.

Winnipeg man among those missing in Nepal flash flood

A Winnipeg man on a pilgrimage in Nepal is among nearly 2,000 people missing after a deadly flash flood devastated a popular tourist region along the Himalayan border earlier this week.

Mohit Kaushik, 49, was travelling with a tour group taking part in the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, a sacred, days-long pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in neighbouring Tibet, according to social media posts.

“Our friend and neighbour, Mohit Kaushik, a resident of Winnipeg, Canada, has been out of contact since yesterday while travelling from Timure during his pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar,” Swikriti Pokhrel wrote in a social media post. “If you have seen him or find his name on any hospital list, please let us know. Thank you.”

Kaushik has not been heard from since Wednesday, when a glacier collapse in the nearby Himalayas triggered catastrophic flooding and landslides, sending a torrent of ice, rock and debris roughly 100 kilometres downstream.

Impact of Winnipeg hoops giant Laping went well beyond coaching

In life, few connected with others like Jeff Laping.

A legendary high school basketball coach and influential educator for more than 30 years, he was a figurative giant in Winnipeg’s hoops community with an innate ability to resonate with anyone he met.

Laping was a best friend to many, a confidant to others, and a mentor to even more.

He died on Monday, one week after suffering from cardiac arrest.

Doctor pays $500K to revamp courtyard at care home where he works

Fifty years after Dr. Pravinsagar Mehta began caring for residents at Actionmarguerite, a courtyard he had long watched deteriorate is getting a new life after he and his wife committed $500,000 to its redevelopment and long-term maintenance.

Nightclub owner, divorced dad sentenced for involvement in cocaine-trafficking case

Three people, including a Winnipeg nightclub owner and a divorced dad desperate for cash, have been sentenced in a cocaine-trafficking case city police were once concerned had been compromised by a corrupt cop.

The trio was charged in early 2024 as part of Project Roasted, a lengthy investigation into a drug trafficking network by the Winnipeg Police Service organized crime unit.

Investigators arrested two of the men, Mohamed Ali and Abdullah Khan, as they left the Stella’s on Pembina Highway in early February 2024. Two kilograms of cocaine was found in Khan’s car.

On the same day, Ahmed Dini was arrested at his River Avenue suite, where investigators found more than 200 rocks of crack cocaine.

Carney’s defence of Lake Ontario carries enormous weight

For centuries on Turtle Island (North America), explorers, map makers, and political leaders have erased Indigenous place names and substituted them — more often than not — with political, ethnocentric, and self-aggrandizing names.

In recent years, a few places on the continent have had Indigenous names re-established, but as of today, few of the original names are “official.”

So, it was no surprise when U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order directing the U.S. Department of the Interior and Board on Geographic Names to take steps within 30 days to officially rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America.”

The move may have been a result of the Canada-U.S. trade war and Trump’s pettiness and ego, but it also fits in perfectly with his career.