Schools evacuated as magnitude 5.6 quake hits eastern Turkey

The common abuse of ‘common sense’

Alex Passey 5 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

If you spend any amount of time having deep conversations on sensitive subject matters, you will undoubtedly encounter patterns of thought and speech peppered into the discourse as if certain people were helpless but to utter them.

Perhaps you are trying to get to the heart of a complicated matter and the disagreement with your conversational partner starts to get a little heated. Often somebody will dust off the old diplomatic gem of “let’s agree to disagree” to extinguish further argument.

Or perhaps you are trying to console a grief-stricken person who has gone through a traumatic event. People in such a state will often rail against the state of the universe with powerful philosophical sentiments, demanding to know how such injustice could be permitted. You would not be the first person to misguidedly try to soothe them with something like “everything happens for a reason.” Or, less secularly, “God works in mysterious ways.”

These are known as thought-terminating clichés. Pithy little sayings that sound like folksy wisdom but serve mostly to sever a train of thinking, often because it is either uncomfortable or more complicated than the person is willing to engage. Admittedly, they often come from a good-natured place of keeping the peace, though it could easily be argued that they mostly serve to preserve to comfort or indulge the intellectual laziness of those who speak them.

JESSICA LEE / FREE PRESS FILES
The fitness centre occupies the basement of Chief Peguis Middle School at 1400 Rothesay St.

No timeline to reopen city-owned fitness facility in North Kildonan after mould discovery

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Preview

No timeline to reopen city-owned fitness facility in North Kildonan after mould discovery

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Yesterday at 5:29 PM CDT

A city-run fitness centre that suddenly closed for repairs last October lacks a set date to reopen, while an investigation on how best to fix it is underway.

Peguis Trail Health and Fitness Centre in North Kildonan was first expected to welcome visitors back within a few weeks when it shut down due to plumbing problems on Oct. 28.

But in February, the city’s website noted a much later reopening date of Oct. 2 after mould was discovered when crews attempted to upgrade the floors.

The city has since hired a consultant to assess the site’s condition, determine what repairs must be done and estimate how much the work would cost, including mould abatement.

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Yesterday at 5:29 PM CDT

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
The supervised consumption site opened last week.

First week at supervised drug consumption site issue-free: premier

Free Press staff 2 minute read Preview

First week at supervised drug consumption site issue-free: premier

Free Press staff 2 minute read Yesterday at 7:17 PM CDT

There were no issues to report after the first week of operations for Manitoba’s first supervised drug consumption site, Premier Wab Kinew said Tuesday.

The Winnipeg space, operating temporarily out of the fenced-off parking lot at 366 Henry Ave. while the adjacent building, which is to become the permanent site, undergoes renovations, opened Aug. 11.

Opening the long-awaited supervised consumption facility was a 2023 NDP election promise to keep people alive in the midst of a toxic street-drug crisis.

Kinew said the facility, which is being run by the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre for the province, had quietly served at least 125 clients as of earlier in the week.

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Yesterday at 7:17 PM CDT

Letters, Aug. 19

6 minute read Preview

Letters, Aug. 19

6 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

Nellie McClung was a trailblazer as both a suffragette and an elected official. As an advocate of eugenics, she supported the forced sterilization of women.

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2:00 AM CDT

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump speak at a working luncheon during the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, on Tuesday, June 16, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

Carney touts ‘substantial progress’ after Trump delays tariffs for three days

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Carney touts ‘substantial progress’ after Trump delays tariffs for three days

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: 12:09 AM CDT

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Tuesday a last-minute deal to delay new tariffs from slamming an array of Canadian products for three days.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said in response there’s still important work to do.

"Over the last number of weeks, Canada has engaged in intensive discussions with the United States to address outstanding trade issues and deliver greater certainty and real benefits for Canadian businesses, workers, farmers and families," Carney said in a statement.

He said "substantial progress" has been made and Canada is focused on "building a stronger, more independent and more competitive economy at home."

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Updated: 12:09 AM CDT