Virtual film festival a success

Today’s horoscope

Moon Alert: Until 11 p.m. PDT tonight there are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today. The Moon is in Capricorn.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

Steer clear of confrontation with authority figures this morning. Instead, get yourself ready for a productive four weeks ahead because you intend to work and get better organized. Oh yeah – you’re going to pull your act together so you can take it on the road.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Virtual film festival a success

Nobody got sunstroke. Mosquito bites were at a minimum. And no one was turned away from a screening.

That’s the good news about the Gimli Film Festival, which went entirely online this past week in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Festival director Aaron Zeghers says it is difficult to gauge the viewership of the online iteration of the fest for the simple reason that there is no way to count how many people are watching a streamed video.

“In a regular year, we can just count how many people are watching films,” Zeghers says. “When you’re streaming from home, there’s at least one person in there but there might be two or there might be three.

Provincial teacher watchdog releases names, details in three disciplinary matters

An Interlake teacher with a history of “intimidating” outbursts has been ordered to participate in counselling and study anger-management strategies after he made a child cry.

Kinew’s message for PM: don’t back down

Let it be known that when Canada’s provinces and alcohol industries needed a defender, Canada’s first First Nations provincial premier was their greatest warrior.

This is, admittedly, a provocative opening line — referencing historical and cultural intersections and relying on a stereotype or two.

It’s impossible, however, not to see how important the nearly Canada-wide provincial-led ban on the sale of U.S. alcohol is to Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew.

It’s due to his stand on national matters like these that he’s become very popular — according to polls, the most popular premier in Canada — and has been empowered to take on the mantle of one of the captains of “Team Canada” on economic, political and domestic issues.

Bombers offence stalls in 22-19 loss to Elks

It was a microcosm of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ season to this point: a first half that burned bright only to be doused in cold water.

The Bombers began the first leg of their mid-season gauntlet with a 22-19 loss to the Edmonton Elks at Commonwealth Stadium in the Alberta capital on Friday night.

Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo orchestrated an eight-play, 54-yard drive that set up a 40-yard game-winning field goal by Vincent Blanchard that snuck inside the left upright with zeros on the clock.

The drive, which was plagued by poor tackling by the Bombers defence, came after Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo tied the game at 19-19 on a 53-yard boot with 1:41 remaining in the contest.

Five Things: PM Carney explains why Canada left the U.S. negotiating table

OTTAWA - Canada is preparing to hit the U.S. with dollar-for-dollar tariffs in response to new 50 per cent duties on $28 billion worth of Canadian products that took effect when talks between the two nations collapsed as negotiations neared the finish line. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney was quiet publicly during the final days of negotiations, but now has now explained his rationale for telling the Canadian negotiating team, led by Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and chief negotiator Janice Charette, to leave the table.

Restrictions on further trade deals

"The U.S. Introduced at the last hours, in the last hours, efforts to restrict our ability to have other trade deals. You heard me say a moment ago, what we've accomplished in the past year, 20 new deals, economic and security partnerships, the prospect of doubling our market access because we believe in free trade. We're the partner of choice in many respects for countries around the world and the Americans wanted to restrict that. They had language that what they wanted to restrict that, unacceptable," Carney said during a press conference on Parliament Hill.