Winnipeg singer goes solo with new EP

Jacob Brodovsky's Sixteen Years a preview of future releases

A few months ago, singer-songwriter Jacob Brodovsky and his bandmates in Winnipeg folk-rock group Kakagi were in a tough spot.

As commitment levels from band members wavered and conversations with potential managers and booking agents became more frequent, they had to ask themselves if this was really what they all wanted to spend 100 per cent of their time and effort on.

After some tough conversations, it was decided the best thing was to recognize not everyone was as invested in the success of the band as Brodovsky — who was the principal songwriter, guitarist and vocalist — and amicably call it quits.

“Being in a band is an incredible amount of time you have to commit for largely no money, so you really have to be 100 per cent in it. In that band, I was the songwriter, so I had a much larger vested interest in the success of the band than anyone else... but it got to a point where Max, my brother, was like, ‘I really enjoy this still, but I don’t want this as badly as you do, and we’re going to get to a point eventually that that’s going to be a real issue.’ So it made sense to pump the breaks,” says Brodovsky, 27.

Costco breaks ground on new West St. Paul store

Construction has begun on the American retailer's newest Manitoba location which developers expect will open in August 2027.

Elections Alberta asks Elections Manitoba staffers to help during referendum

Manitoba’s non-partisan elections management agency could play a role in Alberta’s fall referendum.

“Elections Alberta has asked Elections Manitoba to send staff to assist with the referendum taking place there in October,” said Tessa Vanderhart, a spokesperson with the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Manitoba.

The Oct. 19 referendum will ask Albertans 10 questions, including “Should Alberta remain a province of Canada, or should the Government of Alberta commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada?”

Each of the referendum questions will be on separate numbered and colour-coded ballots. They will be counted by hand, the Elections Alberta website says. With an estimated 2,966,192 voters in the province — registered as of May 2025 — there could be as many as 30 million ballots to count.

Working together in a trade war

In the Second World War, a grand coalition, held together politically by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, succeeded in defeating Nazi Germany, after many bumps in the road. The rich history of this period reinforces the truism that coalitions — bringing together parties of divergent strength and interests to face together a common challenge — are fraught with many points of potential fracture.

Canada was not only a partner in the great international war effort but also fashioned a national coalition — presided over by Prime Minister Mackenzie King — necessitated by the federalist nature of our government. It worked after a fashion — conscription notwithstanding — and we emerged as a trusted friend and ally of our southern neighbour.

Oh, how times have changed. We are again faced with an existential threat; not to be compared to a world war, but serious enough given it’s posed not by a distant foe on another continent, but by the most powerful country in the world, with whom we share 8,800 kilometres of heretofore undefended border.

The unprovoked attack on Canada has been economic; tariffs, threats of tariffs, scrapped trade agreements and so forth — measures that have already had significant impact and promise to escalate. How does a country of 10 quasi-independent provinces with a national government constitutionally pre-eminent in international relations respond?

Close to 5,000 net new health-care workers added since 2023 election, province says

More doctors and nurses are working in Manitoba than ever before but health-care challenges remain, Premier Wab Kinew says.

The province has added 4,725 net new health-care workers to the provincial system since the NDP won the October 2023 election, Kinew told reporters Tuesday.

The government’s total includes 370 doctors, 1,464 nurses, 2,152 health-care aides and 607 allied health professionals, a group that includes physiotherapists, dietitians, paramedics, medical lab technologists and others.

Kinew said more doctors and nurses are working in Manitoba than ever before.

No timeline to reopen city-owned fitness facility in North Kildonan after mould discovery

A city-run fitness centre that suddenly closed for repairs last October lacks a set date to reopen, while an investigation on how best to fix it is underway.