Nix idea for six; two may have to do

City charter ties council’s hands in wake of criminal allegations against Transcona councillor

In the wake of additional criminal charges laid against Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt, several council members say the city should explore options to impose leaves of absence on elected officials who face serious allegations in the future.

Wyatt, 56, was charged Monday with sexual assault and administering a noxious thing with intent to aggrieve or annoy in relation to an October 2023 incident. The councillor was previously charged with sexual assault and administering a noxious substance in March, based on allegations tied to a 2025 gathering.

Under the City of Winnipeg charter, a provincial law, a member of city council automatically forfeits their seat if they are convicted of certain serious criminal offences. It does not apply if they are simply charged.

Mayor Scott Gillingham and others have urged Wyatt to step away from his city hall duties voluntarily, while Gillingham has also suggested the province review the legislation.

A message to Mark: Don’t. Back. Down.

When is a leak really a trial balloon? While Mark Carney currently enjoys huge favourability in Canada, there are nine federal byelections pending. If he stumbles on his pledge of “Elbows up’ against the U.S., votes could go against the Liberals; millions of Canadians have utterly lost patience with Trump’s madness — and with Carney appearing to pander to it.

Now we lift the booze bans? Meddle with our supply management dairy system? So say “sources” in the Carney camp. But journalists can be manipulated — a galling truth. Set up a leak from a couple of sources. Two is standard; what’s often forgotten is that those sources, especially if the story’s a hot one, should be verifiably unconnected.

If a story is really hot, more sources must be scraped up, but the temptation to run with it regardless of that is enormous. Many a drool-worthy story I ran across in my early days at the Free Press and later at CBC TV news was spiked because those standards could not be met. These days, it’s almost impossible to meet that bar. Everybody’s connected.

Well, appeasement doesn’t work; we all know it. We dropped the digital services tax. That achieved nothing. American trade envoy Jameson Greer noted we don’t get credit for lifting something Trump resented from the get-go. The digital giants who imposed news-sharing bans on Canada in retaliation for the tax did not lift those bans. We still can’t share news links on Meta platforms in Canada, and we have not a penny in digital tax to show for it.

Three security guards charged with assault after Sea Bears star injured outside nightclub

Three security guards are facing assault charges, accused of injuring a Winnipeg Sea Bears player at a nightclub earlier this month.

Signs the Carney approach is working

It was, if nothing else, a glowing review in trying times.

Matt Winkler, the editor in chief emeritus of Bloomberg News, spoke last week on Bloomberg Business News Daily about a recent Bloomberg analysis of the performance of the Canadian economy, and this country as a target for investment

“This is one of the greatest periods for overseas investment in Canada that we’ve seen in the century, and it may be unprecedented, because we have to wait for the rest of the year. … Money is pouring into Canada like we have not seen from everywhere. Stocks and bonds are the obvious beneficiaries,” Winkler said. He argued that Canada is both liked and seen as reasonable.

“The point is… Canada since Mark Carney became prime minister in 2025, has outperformed everyone in America and also the Eurozone and anywhere in the world. The 10 largest stock markets in the world, Canada appreciated the most, more than 40 per cent. … Its bond market is also doing great, partially because the inflation rate in Canada, unlike the Eurozone or America, is actually trending lower, and is outperforming both the Eurozone and the U.S.”

Moving rail lines outside city would make Winnipeg ‘major transportation hub’

After decades of calls to move rail traffic to the outskirts of Winnipeg, a plan that would benefit residents, railways and taxpayers is now on track, says the former Winnipegger leading the way.

A rail line bypass south of the city, using Crown-owned land and the Manitoba Hydro corridor, would take 20 years to complete, remove 120 railway crossings that are a safety risk and free up about 250 acres of Winnipeg land over time for development, Lloyd Axworthy said Wednesday.

“The visions that we have have to be implemented,” Axworthy said at a news conference announcing the launch of a 90-day feasibility study to move freight rail traffic out of Winnipeg’s urban core along Manitoba Hydro’s southern transmission corridor, connecting east to west along the Perimeter Highway.

The former federal transport minister and Manitoba MP was tasked by Premier Wab Kinew in October 2024 to lead a two-year rail relocation feasibility study.