Stratford 2026 season to include ‘Something Rotten!’ and two new plays

Manitoba marks end of sending simple workplace problems to doctor’s office

There are some changes in the workplace that make you think: “Well, it’s about time.”

This is one of them.

Starting Oct. 1, Manitoba changed the rules around sick notes. I think it is going to be a wonderful change — not just for doctors and patients, but for employers, employees and the way we think about accountability at work.

The change comes from Bill 11, the Employment Standards Code Amendment Act (Sick Notes for Employee Absences), which received royal assent on June 1 and came into force Thursday. Under the new rules, employers generally cannot require a sick note for an illness or injury unless the employee is away for more than one week or has been absent because of illness or injury for more than 10 scheduled workdays in the calendar year.

Dynacare workers provide essential services that must be maintained during strike, labour board rules

The Manitoba Labour Board has ruled Dynacare workers are essential employees and their services must be maintained during a labour dispute.

Clock ticks down on destruction of records documenting residential school abuses

In less than a year, a private company is set to destroy the largest cache of records detailing the widespread abuse of Indigenous children at residential schools in Canada.

The destruction, which was ordered by an Ontario court in 2014 and later upheld by the Supreme Court, is set to take place on Sept. 19, 2027.

This countdown is igniting emotional conversations that seek to balance the immense historical value of the records alongside the confidentiality survivors were promised as part of the process of providing detailed testimony about abuses they’d suffered.

The records were created as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, a class-action settlement stemming from survivors who began suing the federal government in the late 1990s over the harm they’d been subjected to at residential schools.

Nearly four in 10 Manitobans hope Canada restarts trade talks after U.S. midterm elections, poll reveals

Disorganized — that’s what Marcus Langlois calls recent United States tariffs.

He expects suppliers’ prices to increase — on mugs, pens, hoodies — for his employer, Dreamcatcher Promotions, if the United States–Canada trade war persists.

Still, he’s not pining for a quick trade deal.

“I think it should wait,” said Langlois, Dreamcatcher Promotions’ vice-president. “Let’s hope that it’s later on with proper negotiations happening.”

International flavour: Canadian investors may want to make like Ottawa, diversify beyond U.S.

Canada is learning the hard way about the dangers of putting too many eggs in its U.S. economic basket.

Much has been made about the need to diversify our economy away from the United States.

Diversification is understandably beneficial. The more varied streams of revenue a nation has, the less affected the economy will be when one of those sources is interrupted.

The same can be said about investment portfolios.

Khan should’ve taken high road: Goertzen

The veteran Progressive Conservative who championed Obby Khan’s leadership bid says the former Blue Bomber dropped the ball by dissing his Tory teammates before he stepped down.

“I wouldn’t recommend it, and I didn’t recommend it,” Kelvin Goertzen (Steinbach) said in an interview Friday.

Khan resigned as PC leader and quit the caucus Monday saying some members were secretly plotting his ouster, even after he won a confidence vote on Sept. 25.

On Tuesday, Khan lashed out in a CJOB interview, naming the alleged plotters, saying constituents deserved to know which of their elected representatives “lacked moral integrity.” Khan told the Free Press he was “deeply emotionally hurt,” and felt stabbed in the back.