‘We’re over cloud nine’

Building bridges for the next generation

Change has been the motivation behind Clayton Sandy’s work for decades.

A member of Sioux Valley Dakota First Nation, Sandy is an Indigenous knowledge keeper, cultural advisor and community advocate. His work has taken him into newcomer organizations, schools, hospitals and workplaces across Manitoba, where he teaches Indigenous history, mentors youth and helps build relationships between communities.

Sitting down for an interview with the Free Press, Sandy arrived with a busy calendar in hand, a reflection of the many projects and initiatives that continue to fill his days as he works to create change for future generations.

“I have two boys and I have five grandchildren. The racism I put up with was really bad,” Sandy said. “And I don’t want my grandchildren to put up with that garbage.”

Travellers in Winnipeg scramble to rebook flights as WestJet attendants reach tentative deal

WestJet flights were back in the skies Monday after a brief flight-attendant strike grounded planes across the country. But even as their cancelled flights were rebooked, many travellers spent the holiday scrambling to adapt to new, altered plans.

By 11:30 a.m. about 200 people were queued up in front of WestJet’s check-in booths at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport. Many were there to check in for an afternoon flight to Toronto, which, along with most other WestJet flights for the day, was now listed on the departure board as proceeding as planned.

Others, unable to reach someone on WestJet’s apparently overburdened customer service hotline, were hoping to find a solution to altered travel plans that had delayed their travel by days, or in some cases rerouted them through other cities.

Dan Schenkeveld was among them. The Kamloops resident spent most of the past month on a deep wilderness canoe trip in Nunavut. When he got back in cellular service range, he learned that a WestJet flight attendant strike was looming: “We’re aware of the issues around unpaid work, and we’re compassionate to that,” he said.

‘Beautiful game’ stained by Trump, Infantino

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has improbably managed to turn the success of the recently completed and profoundly challenged World Cup finals into a defeat.

Just two weeks ago, with confetti from the World Cup final still hanging in the air, Infantino unveiled plans for FIFA Forward Enterprise, a US$20-billion company that would run future FIFA events including the World Cup. The entity would sell a US$4 billion stake to a company called Thrive Eternal, which is owned by the family of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

The nature of the proposal and the people who are involved in it sent shock waves through the global football community. Reverberations so severe, they could knock Infantino from his perch atop the footballing world.

Within the week, the 55 member nations of UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, the 47 members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the 41 nations represented by CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) rejected Infantino’s proposal. UEFA went the furthest by unanimously threatening to boycott future FIFA events, including the 2030 World Cup to be hosted in Morocco, Portugal and Spain.

Ticked off by Trump’s tantrums

U.S. President Donald Trump recently threatened tariffs on Canadian products for the wildfire smoke that wafts across the border.

240 WestJet flight attendants picket in Winnipeg

Winnipeg’s WestJet flight attendants took to the picket line outside of Richardson International Airport on the first day of nationwide strikes Sunday, while inside, frustrated flyers scrambled to re-route cancelled long-weekend flights.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees’ Ontario arm and the airline announced the strike would commence after the strike deadline was passed without a deal early Sunday morning. WestJet attendants have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2025.

Hours later, the 240 WestJet flight attendants based in Winnipeg had walked off the job and were marching outside of the airport terminal, some carrying signs with slogans including “Tired with WestJet? So are We!” and “Unpaid Work Won’t Fly.”

Key issues causing the stalemate are wages and pay for work on the ground: the union says flight attendants are not being paid for some of that work, while the company says they pay for the work through a “credit hour” system rather than an hourly rate.