Precious valentine cards call for reality check

Ticked off by Trump’s tantrums

U.S. President Donald Trump recently threatened tariffs on Canadian products for the wildfire smoke that wafts across the border.

Travellers in Winnipeg scramble to rebook flights as WestJet attendants reach tentative deal

WestJet flights were back in the skies Monday after a brief flight-attendant strike grounded planes across the country. But even as their cancelled flights were rebooked, many travellers spent the holiday scrambling to adapt to new, altered plans.

By 11:30 a.m. about 200 people were queued up in front of WestJet’s check-in booths at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport. Many were there to check in for an afternoon flight to Toronto, which, along with most other WestJet flights for the day, was now listed on the departure board as proceeding as planned.

Others, unable to reach someone on WestJet’s apparently overburdened customer service hotline, were hoping to find a solution to altered travel plans that had delayed their travel by days, or in some cases rerouted them through other cities.

Dan Schenkeveld was among them. The Kamloops resident spent most of the past month on a deep wilderness canoe trip in Nunavut. When he got back in cellular service range, he learned that a WestJet flight attendant strike was looming: “We’re aware of the issues around unpaid work, and we’re compassionate to that,” he said.

WestJet, CUPE reach tentative deal as passengers scramble amid flight disruptions

CALGARY - WestJet and the union representing some 4,400 flight attendants reached a tentative deal Monday to resume work after a brief work stoppage, but neither side is sharing specifics yet.

The airline had said Sunday it had proposed a 13 per cent pay increase starting in October, and then a 2.5 per cent increase in each of the next three years until 2029.

The airline also said it offered a new duty pay premium, equivalent to another 12 per cent salary increase, which WestJet said is designed to solve the cabin crew's claim of unpaid work.

In a news conference in Calgary on Monday, CUPE local 8125 president Alia Hussain said the flight attendants have 30 days to ratify the agreement, and the union will spend the coming days preparing a slide show to present to the members.

‘Definitely a tough one’: Travel delays drag down Sea Bears in 114-90 loss to Vancouver Bandits

The Winnipeg Sea Bears will head into the playoffs on a disheartening note.

Winnipeg’s pro hoops squad had hoped to ride a wave of confidence into the Canadian Elite Basketball League post-season on the strength of locking up the top seed in the Western Conference.

Instead, the Sea Bears ended the regular season after being handed their worst defeat of the season, a 114-90 rout at the hands of the Vancouver Bandits at the Langley Events Centre in British Columbia on Sunday.

“Definitely a tough one, but we got a home game coming next week. Just get ready for that,” said Simon Hildebrandt, who was the only member of the Sea Bears available for a post-game interview.

Toronto’s alternative crisis response model deemed a success

A Toronto emergency response program that helped inspire Winnipeg’s proposed alternative crisis response model has already expanded city-wide, just four years after launching as a pilot project.

The Toronto Community Crisis Service, launched in 2022, has become the city’s fourth emergency service, providing a 24-7, community-based response to people experiencing mental health crises. The service has handled nearly 50,000 calls through 911 and 211, dispatched mobile crisis teams to more than 41,000 incidents, made more than 11,600 referrals to health and social services and resolved the majority of eligible 911 calls without police involvement.

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham last week proposed creating a similar “fourth crisis response pathway” that would allow 911 calls that aren’t violent or criminal in nature to be transferred to community-based crisis teams.

Under the proposal, which has support from both the Winnipeg Police Service and the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, a centralized crisis dispatch and co-ordination hub would receive triaged calls and match them with citywide response teams, staffed in part through existing community organizations, including the Downtown Community Safety Partnership and The Link’s mobile crisis teams. The goal is to divert appropriate calls away from the WPS and WFPS.