Indulging in classics just how holidays roll

Bee2gether Bikes out of The Forks after lease confusion

Tandem bike rentals aren’t on offer at The Forks this summer — and the longtime company behind them is claiming financial loss, calling the change unexpected.

Climate change consequences keep piling up

Has Mother Nature slapped you around enough yet, or are you finally starting to see the big picture?

Manitoba has seen floods and large, damaging hail already this summer, as has Alberta. Roads are still closed in the Parkland area of Manitoba because of flood damage. The insurance industry is talking about record-breaking claims — and that’s just among those who actually had insurance. Many didn’t have coverage for things such as overland flooding. Residents of affected areas are slowly finding out that, while governments talk a good game about helping people recover from disasters, the help is limited and rarely covers the full extent of damages.

Forest fires in Ontario have sent smoke plumes deep into the United States, and have caused a series of evacuations and air quality warnings in that province. Social media abounds with eerie photos of orange, smoke-filled skies in Thunder Bay, Toronto and places in between.

As recently as July 9, the federal government was reasonably optimistic about the number and extent of forest fires in the country, saying that fires had burned 1.4 million hectares — considerably less than last year. But in just one week — between July 9 and 16 — an additional one million hectares of forest burned, with 859 active forest fires now burning across Canada. This brings the amount of forest burned this year to the third-highest level trailing only 2023 and 2025.

Indulging in classics just how holidays roll

It’s Day 7 of the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, so it’s high time to throw another log on the fire.

A Yule Log, that is.

That’s right. Today’s recipe is this Christmas classic, although, admittedly it is more of a cake than a cookie. But if you’re like those in Denise Comeault’s family, your tastebuds will forgive the culinary transgression.

“It’s something they look forward to, and now I have grandchildren, and I’m hoping they continue the tradition,” Comeault says.

Sheriff who died in train collision ‘loved everybody’

Brett Matheson-Maytwayashing was a loving father, hard-working sheriff and proud First Nations man who helped lead traditional ceremonies for a decade before he died in a collision with a train near Portage la Prairie.

Matheson-Maytwayashing, 27, died in the Tuesday morning crash, which occurred on a rural road west of Portage while he and another member of the sheriff’s service were on their way to attend court in Amaranth, his mother, Alissa Matheson-Maytwayashing, told the Free Press.

It was Matheson-Maytwayashing’s first day back at work after taking time off to participate in a sun dance ceremony in northern Saskatchewan last week, his mother said.

“Brett didn’t judge anybody, he would give people chances,” she said, her voice breaking. “He didn’t care what colour you were, he didn’t care your nationality — Brett just loved everybody.”

What happened to public service?

So, what exactly does the term “public service” mean? Well, I’m not talking about the winsome waitress named Kelly, who introduces herself as your server for the night. Nor am I talking about Gurinder from the garage, who services your car.

What I’m referring to when I talk about public service is that rare and courageous individual who enters public life to do good. The kind of civil servant or politician who chooses public life, not because they lust after power, notoriety or the chance to hobnob with members of the corporate elite, but because they want to make their communities better, safer and more equitable.

In the case of politicians, that would include those who put people and the environment first and other matters second. The kind of leader I would describe as progressive.

Progressive politicians see themselves, first and foremost, as public servants elected to serve their constituents, rather than serving money and some deluded notion of infinite growth. The kind of growth that is defined as endless expansion, and measured exclusively in dollars, rather than quality of life.