Life force key to save mythical creatures

We’re giving, they’re taking — where’s the win?

In the give-and-take of negotiations so far, Canada seems to be doing all the giving, while the United States does all the taking.

In the last few days, the Canadian government said it was backing away from a five per cent levy to be paid by American streaming services such as Amazon and Netflix after, earlier, dropping the three per cent digital services tax. Then, there was what now appears to be succumbing to American President Donald Trump over the Gordie Howe International Bridge, where Canada agreed to let the U.S. share the net revenues from the bridge, even though Canada paid for the entire construction.

Now, Prime Minister Mark Carney is signalling he won’t use energy exports to the United States as a bargaining chip in the current talks on the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement, saying he didn’t “see the value” of using Canada’s energy exports to the U.S. as a trade bargaining chip.

“Canadians are reliable,” Carney said Wednesday in Red Deer, Alta. “One of the biggest commodities, arguably the best, is trust. People trust us, and so, when you’re a supplier of a key commodity, key service, you’ve got to think really hard about not supplying.”

South Osborne residents fail in bid to prevent construction of 131-unit apartment tower

A proposed 10-storey highrise on an empty south Osborne lot will move forward despite concerns from residents about the impact the building will have on nearby parking and traffic.

The city-owned lot at 425 Osborne St., which previously served as a gas station but has long sat vacant, will be developed into a mixed-use residential building with 131 units, 39 of which would be affordable, along with additional office space for the adjacent Winnipeg Transit garage and the Transit customer service centre across the street, along with a two-level parkade for tenants and Transit employees.

The property is being developed by the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corp. 2.0, and designed by Prairie Architects Inc.

At a meeting held by city council’s appeal committee Wednesday, several residents said while they supported the idea of more housing in the Lord Roberts neighbourhood, they had lingering concerns about the impact the development will have on the already-busy area.

Finding flaws in mayor’s proposed fourth crisis response service

The best thing one can say about Mayor Scott Gillingham’s proposal for a fourth crisis response service — to deal with citizens suffering from mental health and addictions problems — is that there is still time to make it the response service the city actually needs.

As it stands, the proposal, which is largely shaped by a consultant’s report, is incomplete and steers well clear of the most critical issues faced by the city when it comes to finding the best and safest system to help people in the throes of a crisis.

To be fair, the mayor did not present this plan as a completed idea. We should also acknowledge that Gillingham is advancing a very important and much-needed idea.

However, the report treats the problem of mental health and addictions as largely a human resource challenge: how can we find trained civilians to assume responsibility for “wellness calls” to free police and the fire and paramedic services to do other, more appropriate work?

Police say pellet-style gun used in mosque attack

Police investigators probing an attack on a Winnipeg mosque have determined the weapon used was likely an airsoft or pellet-style gun — not a firearm, as initially believed.

The Winnipeg Police Service said in an update Friday investigators have potentially linked the Wednesday night shooting at Rahma Islamic Centre to reports of similar damage at a home on the 600 block of Roberta Avenue.

“The incident is reported to have occurred at 10:15 p.m. on the same evening, and damage to the windows of the residence is believed to have been caused by an airsoft or pellet-style gun as well,” the news release said.

“Due to the proximity and time frame of both incidents, investigators are attempting to determine if the incidents are related.”

Drug site open house called off after media tipped off

Local business owners are miffed an open house for the upcoming supervised consumption site was cancelled after the media found out about it and interest swelled.

Preserving past, pondering future of 142-year-old downtown church

A 142-year-old church in downtown Winnipeg needs about $7.7 million for upgrades and related costs, while an ongoing heritage renewal project aims to create a blueprint for its future.

Potential options include selling Holy Trinity Anglican Church and leasing it back for a decades-long term, or building an apartment or office tower on an existing surface parking lot to generate revenue, officials said Wednesday.

“I think that is part of the negotiation and ensuring we have the right partners, but it is hard to put down on paper precisely every aspect of the future of a place of worship,” project manager Stephen Borys said of the potential duration of a sale and leaseback agreement to ensure the church still exists generations from now.

Similar agreements with 50- or 100-year leases exist elsewhere in Canada, he said, noting the option has been on the table for Holy Trinity for a year.