Howie Mandel’s first book more than just germ fears

‘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)

PCs renew calls for CFS inquiry

The Progressive Conservatives renewed calls to put Manitoba’s child and welfare system under the microscope Thursday, tabling a motion that urged the province to appoint a commissioner to lead a public inquiry.

Families critic Jodie Byram’s opposition day motion, which was ultimately defeated by the NDP majority, reiterated demands for an inquiry into the systemic failures of Child and Family Services, more than 20 years after the death of Phoenix Sinclair first prompted demands for answers.

“We have seen far too many children die under the care of CFS, and we need to determine where the gaps are in the system in order to make the system a safer place for children,” Byram told reporters before the motion was defeated in the legislature.

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said in an interview that her department, CFS agencies and authorities are “doing good work” and won’t call an inquiry.

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:

Other cities build rapid transit, while we wait

Winnipeg’s civic election campaign has produced no shortage of promises to improve transit safety and fix problems with the new network. Those issues are real and urgent. But they should not distract from a larger failure — while other Canadian urban regions secure billions in federal support to transform their transit systems, Winnipeg is falling further behind.

The Winnipeg Transit Master Plan, approved in 2021, sets the right vision — frequent, reliable service anchored by an expanded bus rapid transit (BRT) network. Yet not a single additional BRT corridor has been approved for construction. The modest network proposed in the plan is not projected to be completed until 2045 or beyond. Despite that, city council voted this summer to delay updating the master plan by two years.

The full BRT network was estimated at $588 million to $1.1 billion in 2020 — or roughly $720 million to $1.34 billion today, after accounting for construction inflation. That is substantial, but modest compared with what other cities are spending. Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Ottawa and Quebec City have rapid transit projects under way or recently completed, totalling about $26 billion and backed by $7.3 billion in federal commitments. Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are spending billions more with federal support.

Other cities build. Winnipeg waits.