In the nature of things

Ticked off by Trump’s tantrums

U.S. President Donald Trump recently threatened tariffs on Canadian products for the wildfire smoke that wafts across the border.

Kevin Gausman traded by Toronto Blue Jays to Chicago Cubs

TORONTO - Kevin Gausman's time with the Toronto Blue Jays has come to an end.

The veteran right-hander was traded by the Blue Jays to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday in return for outfielder Brett Bateman and infielder Ty Southisene.

Bateman, a 24-year-old outfielder, hit .312 with three homers, 20 steals and 33 RBIs in 82 games for triple-A Iowa this season. Southisene, a 21-year-old shortstop, hit .326 in 44 games for High-A South Bend.

Gausman signed a five-year, US$110-million deal with the Blue Jays on Dec. 21, 2021 and has been one of Toronto's most reliable starters for five seasons.

55th Folklorama kicks off

Photo gallery: 55th Folklorama kicks off

Travellers in Winnipeg scramble to rebook flights as WestJet attendants reach tentative deal

WestJet flights were back in the skies Monday after a brief flight-attendant strike grounded planes across the country. But even as their cancelled flights were rebooked, many travellers spent the holiday scrambling to adapt to new, altered plans.

By 11:30 a.m. about 200 people were queued up in front of WestJet’s check-in booths at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport. Many were there to check in for an afternoon flight to Toronto, which, along with most other WestJet flights for the day, was now listed on the departure board as proceeding as planned.

Others, unable to reach someone on WestJet’s apparently overburdened customer service hotline, were hoping to find a solution to altered travel plans that had delayed their travel by days, or in some cases rerouted them through other cities.

Dan Schenkeveld was among them. The Kamloops resident spent most of the past month on a deep wilderness canoe trip in Nunavut. When he got back in cellular service range, he learned that a WestJet flight attendant strike was looming: “We’re aware of the issues around unpaid work, and we’re compassionate to that,” he said.

Toronto’s alternative crisis response model deemed a success

A Toronto emergency response program that helped inspire Winnipeg’s proposed alternative crisis response model has already expanded city-wide, just four years after launching as a pilot project.

The Toronto Community Crisis Service, launched in 2022, has become the city’s fourth emergency service, providing a 24-7, community-based response to people experiencing mental health crises. The service has handled nearly 50,000 calls through 911 and 211, dispatched mobile crisis teams to more than 41,000 incidents, made more than 11,600 referrals to health and social services and resolved the majority of eligible 911 calls without police involvement.

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham last week proposed creating a similar “fourth crisis response pathway” that would allow 911 calls that aren’t violent or criminal in nature to be transferred to community-based crisis teams.

Under the proposal, which has support from both the Winnipeg Police Service and the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, a centralized crisis dispatch and co-ordination hub would receive triaged calls and match them with citywide response teams, staffed in part through existing community organizations, including the Downtown Community Safety Partnership and The Link’s mobile crisis teams. The goal is to divert appropriate calls away from the WPS and WFPS.