Today’s horoscope

Governments chip in for housing at Portage Place, Market Lands, other city locations

A new government partnership will aim to speed up home construction, largely in downtown Winnipeg, with a goal to produce at least 740 affordable housing units.

The Build Canada Homes partnership, funded by the governments of Canada, Manitoba and Winnipeg, will support at least 821 housing units. The vast majority (811) will be in Winnipeg, while the rest will be added in Swan River.

Federal Housing Minister Gregor Robertson said the partnership will tackle substantial housing needs in Manitoba, at a time home prices are out of reach for many Canadians.

“Far too many people (are) sleeping outside, sleeping rough, unsheltered. Far too many people … can’t find a home they can afford,” said Robertson.

All that glitters … could work here

Sometimes, it’s hard to even suggest a change, because it seems there is always a plethora of people ready to tell you that your idea just won’t work.

Weekender festivities to take over downtown

Come one, come all, to Graham Avenue this weekend.

Organizers of the Weekender hope to welcome thousands of Winnipeggers to the streets and parking lots in and around the Graham Avenue pedestrian mall in what they are billing as “Downtown’s Biggest Street Party.”

Starting Friday evening and running through Sunday, the free festival boasts a plethora of ways by which visitors can enjoy themselves. From food trucks to markets, games to live music, classic cars and free bike repairs, the festival aims to provide a little something for everyone.

“The Weekender is truly about bringing people together, to have fun, to experience all that downtown has to offer,” says Olivia Billson, director of communications and public relations for Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, which is putting on the festival in conjunction with Smith Events and Arch Events.

Grieving families, local leaders want review of Interlake intersection after teens die in crash

A two-vehicle crash that killed four teenage friends in the Interlake Sunday night prompted outpourings of grief in several communities and calls for safety improvements at the intersection, which was also the site of a death in July.

Recent high school graduates Maya Borsa and Chloe Vermette, both 18, were identified by their families as victims of the collision at Highway 8 and Provincial Road 229, just west of Winnipeg Beach.

“(Chloe) was a very bubbly, loving personality. Always giving, always caring. Her friends meant the world to her,” said her mother, Veronique Vermette, who struggled to comprehend the tragedy when she went to the scene Monday. “We sat in the rain for hours, and it blew my mind that four lives were taken.”

The teens’ parents are waiting for RCMP to provide more information about the cause of the crash. Chloe, who graduated from Windsor Park Collegiate in Winnipeg in July, was driving one of the vehicles, her mother said.

Trump ramps up retaliation against Canada, banning imports of booze, other products

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump signed new executive orders on Tuesday, ramping up retaliation after Canada imposed its latest set of duties on the United States. 

The five orders, which will take effect later this month, will completely bar imports of certain Canadian goods, including motorcycles, some dairy products and alcoholic beverages.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, in a statement later Tuesday, said the decision was a "natural consequence" of Canada's "discriminatory" treatment of American exports.

"After weeks of good faith and intensive efforts between U.S. and Canadian negotiators, Canada walked away from a near-final trade deal that offered better treatment than any other trading partner, and instead Canada chose to embark on senseless retaliation against the United States," Greer said in the statement.

Carney warns of tough times ahead in national address as retaliatory tariffs begin

OTTAWA - Canada's pivot away from the United States will "come at a cost" but the alternative would be far worse, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday.

Carney made the remarks in a video released just hours after his government made good on a promise to implement retaliatory tariffs on the United States. Those tariffs respond to American duties imposed last month by U.S. President Donald Trump, after the two countries could not come to an agreement to settle some outstanding trade irritants.

Carney spent much of the video laying out Canada's response to Trump's protectionist trade policies, including expanding trade with other countries and building more capacity domestically.

But he said it "won't be easy."