World Cup to spur ‘short-lived bump’ from tourism spending: BMO

Sea Bears finish on top

Beauty. Bliss. Ecstasy.

That is how Aug. 15, 2026 will be remembered in Winnipeg.

What was once a pipe dream in the city’s hoops community became an epic reality on Saturday, when Simon Hildebrandt, who grew up playing on the courts of this very town, made good on a three-pointer from the wing to crown the Winnipeg Sea Bears Canadian Elite Basketball League champions.

A storybook ending to a 98-84 victory over the Brampton Honey Badgers sent a CEBL attendance record of 12,519 fans into pandemonium at Canada Life Centre and capped a Finals run for the ages — one that was fraught with injury, impromptu player exits and unprecedented circumstances.

World Cup to spur ‘short-lived bump’ from tourism spending: BMO

TORONTO - The 2026 FIFA World Cup is expected to spur a modest lift in gross domestic product in Canada, driven by tourism and hospitality spending, according to a new report from BMO Economics.

"The key point is there are real economic effects from a large sporting event or a large entertainment event like this,” said BMO chief economist Doug Porter in an interview.

"But I don't think we should be under any illusion that it's anything other than a short-lived bump from the increased spending, and it tends to be relatively modest.”     

For the Canadian economy, the report said gains from tourism were estimated to come in at between $1 billion and $5 billion, while increased spending among residents is estimated between $500 million and $1.5 billion. 

Bombers manage to hand Redblacks another loss

It looked bad. Real bad.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros made his return to the lineup on Friday night against the Ottawa Redblacks, and he was once again the victim of a blindside hit.

The one he suffered in Hamilton on July 5 appeared relatively modest in comparison and yet, it sidelined him for a month with a neck injury.

So when Redblacks linebacker Lucas Cormier came around the edge unblocked and hammered Collaros from behind in the second quarter, you could hear a pin drop inside Princess Auto Stadium.

Men’s recovery home dedicated to ‘homeless hero’ Faron Hall’s memory

Faron Hall never got the chance to begin recovery. Once heralded as Winnipeg’s “homeless hero” after twice plunging into the Red River to save strangers from drowning, Hall told St. Boniface Street Links executive director Marion Willis shortly before his death in 2014 that he wanted help for his alcoholism.

Could renewed interest in strategically critical rare earth elements finally make sub-sector profitable?

Rare earth elements are among the most critical of mined resources for modern economies.

They’re essential in manufacturing specialized magnets used in a host of technologies from wind turbines and electric vehicles to hard drives, smartphones, television screens, and fibre optics. Most notably, however, rare earth minerals are increasingly vital to the defence industry.

These 17 elements — closely related chemically and usually found all together in mineral deposits — have indeed been growing in geopolitical importance as the United States, Canada and other Western nations recognize their dependence on production from China.

It is the world’s largest producer and processor of rare earths, including the most in-demand elements neodymium and praseodymium used to manufacture very light and powerful magnets for an array of technologies, including the most advanced weapons of modern warfare.

Trailblazing Western Scrap Metals heavy-equipment operator relishes role at massive crane’s control

Less than five per cent of heavy-equipment operators in the country are women but that number is trending upward, according to a study conducted by trade magazine Crane & Hoist Canada.

It was reported that in Ontario roughly eight per cent of jobs in the transport and heavy-equipment field are currently held by women. Furthermore, in 2024 almost 20 per cent of graduates at an Edmonton-based heavy-equipment operator training school were female, the article stated.

That brings us to Harmony Guspodarchuk, the first female crane operator in the 70-year history of Western Scrap Metals, a family-owned business at 18 Sutherland Ave.

Three years ago, Guspodarchuk literally stepped into the driver’s seat of a 27,500-kilogram, Liebherr C 924 Heavy Lift Litronic crane. The 29-year-old hasn’t looked back much since.