Pals may envy your marriage’s level of trust

Supportive housing operator sued after man with dementia walks away

The Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba is suing a health services company after a man with dementia under its care allegedly wandered away from an apartment it operates for vulnerable people and was later found face down in a puddle — unresponsive, hypothermic and severely injured.

The public trustee — a provincial government agency that, among other duties, makes financial and personal care decisions for vulnerable adults who cannot do so themselves — filed the lawsuit against Cambridge Health Inc. and a related numbered company in the Court of King’s Bench earlier this month.

The agency did so on behalf of a now-38-year-old man, who has been under its care since 2018, as a result of his frontotemporal dementia. The disease often starts in mid-life, rather than old age, as is the case with most other forms of dementia.

The lawsuit alleges the man, who resided at a Henderson Highway apartment complex where Cambridge Health operated a supportive residence for people with complex behavioural health issues, was in a common area of the home at about 4:30 p.m. on April 3 last year.

Theatre by the River’s latest production draws wisdom from Ovid

The seed of Sap — the production debuting tonight by Winnipeg indie company Theatre by the River — was planted during the reign of Augustus Caesar.

Published four years ago by British playwright Rafaella Marcus, Sap is a fable that shines light on the epic first-century poetry of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, intertwining the story of Daphne — who wills herself to be transformed into a tree when pursued by an overzealous suitor — as a modern reminder of the universal need for peer-led queer sanctuary amid an increasingly violent political landscape for members of the LGBTTQ+ community.

When director Elio Zarrillo encountered the poetic script, it seemed an obvious match for Theatre by the River, a roving company founded in 2006 to produce work that builds compassion and respect for underserved narrative.

After getting initial interest, Zarrillo — a Winnipeg-raised playwright and performer who’s been onstage in recent years at Winnipeg Jewish Theatre (Narrow Bridge) and Prairie Theatre Exchange (The Outside Inn) — chose an appropriate location for a readthrough with Theatre by the River’s production team.

Canadians loving Carney’s decision to stand tall against floundering U.S. bully

It’s hard to imagine a more dramatic political contrast than the one unfolding on opposite sides of the Canada-U.S. border.

Mark Carney is fighting a trade war with Donald Trump, taking the occasional verbal punch from the American president and imposing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products.

And the prime minister is being rewarded for it politically.

Trump, meanwhile, is fighting pretty much everyone he can find — including some of America’s closest allies — and his own voters are increasingly giving him the political equivalent of a raised middle finger. That’s quite a tale of two leaders.

‘Huge resource gaps’: judge shortage leads to circuit court cuts

A shortage of judges is forcing Manitoba’s provincial court to slash sittings across the province.

The court announced in a notice to the profession Wednesday that it will be reducing the number of annual court sittings at nine rural circuit locations and St. Boniface provincial court in Winnipeg by 68 sittings, effective April 1, 2027.

The reductions are necessary to balance “access to justice needs with the complement of judicial resources currently insufficient to maintain the current court schedule,” said the notice, signed by provincial court Chief Judge Ryan Rolston.

Affected circuit courts include Altona, Arborg, Beausejour, Easterville, Cranberry Portage, Lundar, Grand Rapids, Moose Lake, and Pine Falls.

U of M students call for ban on far-right group

Some University of Manitoba students are calling on their school to ban a far-right group from campus after posters promoting mass deportations were found during the summer break.

More than 50 people rallied on Wednesday, the first day of classes, to make known their concerns about a group called the Dominion Society of Canada.

The protest was organized after a supporter of the self-described nationalist group posted a video over the Labour Day weekend that shows him putting up flyers in Fort Garry.

“Canada is a really beautiful country and I have been welcomed here by a lot of beautiful people and it’s been amazing, but when I see harmful rhetoric online and now, on campus, it gives me a lot of anxiety,” said Ela Ancheta, an arts major at U of M.

Letters, Sept. 11

In his letter to the editor — "Both education systems work", Sept. 9 — Paulo Borges states he “pays 100 per cent” of his school taxes, even though his children do not attend public school. I don’t think he’s unique — all property owners pay the full amount of school taxes, regardless of family status. He went on to suggest he “saved” the government money.