Recipe for no-bake rolls hearkens back to the ’50s

‘Please excuse us from writing these notes …’

It’s a common-sense prescription for the health-care system. The only wonder is that it took so long to happen.

On Oct. 1, new provincial legislation came into effect that will stop employers from requiring employees to get a sick note from a physician unless the employee has been absent for more than a week or has called in sick 10 or more times in a calendar year.

And the legislation could have a big effect.

Doctors Manitoba has calculated that its members write over 600,000 sick notes every year — a process that costs the provincial health-care system approximately $8 million annually. And the effort doesn’t even help sick workers get better: one-third of sick notes are written for patients who don’t even have symptoms anymore, making them little more than a comfortable fiction. To put it simply, doctors have to trust that a symptom-less patient was sick and write a note saying they were ill, in order to satisfy an employer who doesn’t share that same level of trust.

Today’s horoscope

MOON ALERT: After 3:30 a.m. there are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The moon is in Libra.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

You will have to go more than halfway when dealing with others, which is no biggie. This simply requires you to be present, accommodating and willing to go along to get along. Be aware that a partner, spouse or close friend might surprise you.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Canadian author Anne Carson wins literature Nobel for ‘bold and inventive’ works that blend genres

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Canadian poet, essayist and translator Anne Carson won the Nobel Prize in literature Thursday for “bold and inventive” works that fuse the classical and the modern and blur the boundaries of poetry and prose.

The Toronto-born Carson, 76, has drawn on themes from classical Greek and Roman literature, modern influences and personal experience for genre-blending titles that have ranged from translations of ancient Greek poets to collaborations with dancers and musicians, including Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed.

The Swedish Academy that awards the prize said she won “for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.”

The permanent secretary of the academy said the author was in Iceland “listening to the wind” when the panel reached her to notify her of the honor.

Mayoral race all sideshow, little substance

Well, there’s one thing that can be said about Winnipeg’s 2026 mayoral race that sets it apart from most previous campaigns for city council’s top position:

Kinew, two NDP caucus members file lawsuit defence, deny defaming former party MLA Wasyliw to expel him

The premier and two New Democrat caucus members have denied they conspired to defame another politician as an excuse to oust him from the party.

Mark Wasyliw, now an independent Member of the Legislative Assembly representing Fort Garry, was booted from the NDP in September 2024, which the party claimed was due to Wasyliw’s former law partner representing convicted sex offender and disgraced fashion mogul Peter Nygard.

The independent MLA, who’s a defence lawyer, claims statements his former colleagues made in September 2024 linking him to Nygard or accusing him of lying, harmed him and his reputation.

Wasyliw filed his lawsuit in December last year, naming Premier Wab Kinew, Natural Resources Minister Ian Bushie and Seine River MLA Billie Cross as defendants. The claim was later amended to remove Bushie as a defendant and add Environment Minister Mike Moyes, who was at the time chair of the NDP caucus, in his place.

Fraser Institute report places Manitoba near bottom of all provinces, states in productivity, income advancement

Manitoba trails behind most Canadian provinces and American states in economic well-being, according to a new study.

The Fraser Institute, a right-leaning think tank, compared provinces’ and U.S. states’ GDP per person, among other economic measures, in a report released Thursday.

It places Manitoba 56th of 60 jurisdictions. Most provinces and every state except Mississippi had a higher GDP per person in 2024 than Manitoba, the Fraser Institute calculated.

It used data from Statistics Canada and the United States Census Bureau.