Republican senators demand an end to science and tech cooperation with China

Icy relationship with U.S. beginning to thaw at border, data shows; American visits to Manitoba hit five-year high

As Canadians begin to lower their elbows and start to cross the U.S. border again, Americans are coming to Manitoba in numbers not seen in years.

Dazed and confused stoner comedy hard to get right

Stoner comedy has always been kind of a dude thing. Think of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Cheech & Chong, Ice Cube’s Friday franchise, Harold & Kumar, basically any movie with the young Seth Rogen.

Screenwriter Dylan Meyer (Moxie) provides a much-needed gender swap in her directorial debut, giving us Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat as ride-or-die roommates Frankie and Molly. Dipping in and out of the gig economy and perpetually broke, they share their Los Angeles bungalow with two cats, a life-size cardboard cutout of Celine Dion and an enormously complicated “bong-a-tron” that takes up most of the living room.

Finally, finally, it’s women who get to be messy, aimless and really high.

Unfortunately, stoner movies — no matter the gender — are surprisingly hard to get right. The Wrong Girls is sweet and shaggy and intermittently funny, but Meyer ends up struggling with the genre’s common buzzkills.

Manitoba supports MAID delay: Asagwara

The number of Manitobans receiving medical assistance in dying in 2026 is on track with previous years while the plan to extend it to those suffering from mental illness is delayed indefinitely by the federal government — a move Manitoba’s health minister supports.

“There’s so much more work that needs to be done,” Uzoma Asagwara said.

The parliamentary committee that issued its recommendation in June was the third special committee of Parliament struck to assess the eligibility of people with mental illness since 2021, when MAID eligibility was expanded to include people who were not at the end of their lives.

A key condition for MAID eligibility is that a patient must be suffering from a grievous and irremediable medical condition.

Signs the Carney approach is working

It was, if nothing else, a glowing review in trying times.

Matt Winkler, the editor in chief emeritus of Bloomberg News, spoke last week on Bloomberg Business News Daily about a recent Bloomberg analysis of the performance of the Canadian economy, and this country as a target for investment

“This is one of the greatest periods for overseas investment in Canada that we’ve seen in the century, and it may be unprecedented, because we have to wait for the rest of the year. … Money is pouring into Canada like we have not seen from everywhere. Stocks and bonds are the obvious beneficiaries,” Winkler said. He argued that Canada is both liked and seen as reasonable.

“The point is… Canada since Mark Carney became prime minister in 2025, has outperformed everyone in America and also the Eurozone and anywhere in the world. The 10 largest stock markets in the world, Canada appreciated the most, more than 40 per cent. … Its bond market is also doing great, partially because the inflation rate in Canada, unlike the Eurozone or America, is actually trending lower, and is outperforming both the Eurozone and the U.S.”

Rainbow Stage star relates to Elle Woods’ perseverance

Nearly 9,000 aspiring barristers and solicitors cross their fingers and send in their LSAT scores to Harvard University each year, but less than 10 per cent of applicants wind up on campus in Cambridge, Mass.

In Legally Blonde, the musical opening tonight at Rainbow Stage, Elle Woods (Claire Mac Master) defies the undercutting judgment of her blue-blood boyfriend Warner (Duncan Cox) to earn a spot in the Ivy League, leaving her doubters aghast and crimson-faced.

“What?” asked Elle — played by Reese Witherspoon in the 2001 film version — “Like it’s hard?”

The New York-born Mac Master never had any aspirations to pursue a law career, but can relate to her character’s plucky self-determination based on her experience at Toronto Metropolitan University’s undergraduate acting program, which accepts 25 applicants each year from an international pool of hundreds.