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Ottawa must parlay sports gambling boom into addiction supports

I watch a lot of sports on television, mostly hockey, baseball and football. And it’s getting harder to watch a game without being bombarded with gambling advertisements.

The betting industry hasn’t just bought commercial time. It has woven itself into the broadcasts, becoming part of the game itself.

Gambling logos plaster the boards around hockey rinks, appear on players’ jerseys and helmets, and pop up during commercial breaks. Broadcasters talk about betting odds, promote wagers and remind viewers how they can put money on the action unfolding in front of them.

It doesn’t affect me personally. I don’t gamble. But I think it’s ruining sports broadcasts. What was once about enjoying a game has increasingly become an opportunity to sell viewers another way to lose their money.

Klein promises to freeze property taxes, charge fee to hire more police

Kevin Klein would freeze property taxes next year but charge homeowners a new, separate $3.99 monthly police fee, if he’s elected mayor of Winnipeg.

Klein released his costed platform Friday, which calls for the new charge. He said it would last at least four years, but is not meant to be permanent.

The police fee revenue is needed to fulfil his promise to hire 100 more police officers, he said.

In his second, third and fourth council terms, Klein said the annual property tax hike would be capped at 2.99 per cent.

Eadie faces crowded field — including former councillor — in bid for fifth term in Mynarski

The city’s most crowded council race has a little bit of everything: a long-serving incumbent, a former ward councillor in the 1980s, an unsuccessful candidate in the last municipal election seeking a rematch and three political newcomers.

Mynarski has long been led by Coun. Ross Eadie, who was first elected in 2010 and is seeking his fifth term. Five challengers want the job: Natalie Smith, who ran in the ward in 2022 and came in second, Terry Wachniak, Harold Brazil, Laurie Kozak and Ayaz Noor Mohammed.

It’s the city ward with the largest number of candidates this year.

Eadie describes himself as “a dancer, a singer and a city councillor” who has made inroads on garbage pickup, back-lane cleaning and earning the respect of his fellow council members by being the first Mynarski councillor to be appointed to executive policy committee, the mayor’s inner circle, in decades.

Klein, Gillingham trade jabs over megaproject

Two of Winnipeg’s mayoral candidates wasted no time trading barbs over who bears responsibility for the skyrocketing cost of overhauling the North End sewage treatment plant, during a televised debate Wednesday.

Scott Gillingham and Kevin Klein pointed the finger at each other for the rising cost of the massive project, which had a cost estimate of $795 million in 2015 and had ballooned to $3.2 billion as of the latest estimate.

“We need to be able to understand how that amount tripled in that short a time,” Klein said at the event held at CBC’s downtown Winnipeg headquarters. He pointed out the first estimate was given when Gillingham was chairman of the city’s finance committee. He questioned what the incumbent did to garner funding for the project.

Gillingham shot back by noting Klein was Manitoba’s environment minister in 2023. He accused his opponent of failing to make a dent on the cost.

Reynolds exerts ‘maximum effort’ to boost Winnipeg after quick meet with mayor

Ryan Reynolds wasn’t wearing his Deadpool suit, but that didn’t stop Mayor Scott Gillingham from wanting to talk about films with the Vancouver-born Hollywood movie star.

Reynolds, who appeared at IG Wealth Management's 100th anniversary celebration Wednesday at the RBC Convention Centre, took to social media afterward, sharing a photo of himself with Gillingham and trumpeting the province’s tax incentives.

“An incredible place to shoot,” the Instagram post read.

On Thursday, Gillingham said the actor, best known for portraying an irreverent, erratic anti-hero on the big screen, is a “really nice gentleman.”

Rich get richer as NDP policy shifts leave opponents in dust

Last week, Finance Minister Adrien Sala made two announcements that showed why the NDP will remain the party to beat in the next provincial election.