Employees’ strike at the Eiffel Tower turns visitors away for a second day

Gillingham to push for new crisis response model at EPC

Mayor Scott Gillingham’s proposal to overhaul the city’s crisis-response system to try to divert thousands of calls away from police, firefighter and paramedic response, will be presented to council’s inner circle next week.

The model, described as a “fourth crisis response pathway,” would transfer 911 calls that are non-violent in nature to citywide crisis response teams. Potentially, 10,000 calls could be removed from police, fire and paramedic response, Gillingham said during the July 28 announcement.

Gillingham is set to present his idea to city council’s executive policy committee Tuesday. His motion asks that the city adopt the crisis response model, in part through a “partnership framework” with the provincial government.

The motion notes the partnership would “support a co-ordinated whole-of-government and whole-of-community approach to implementation, recognizing that sustainable crisis response reform cannot be achieved by any single organization, sector, or order of government acting alone.”

Carney warns of tough times ahead in national address as retaliatory tariffs begin

OTTAWA - Canada's pivot away from the United States will "come at a cost" but the alternative would be far worse, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday.

Carney made the remarks in a video released just hours after his government made good on a promise to implement retaliatory tariffs on the United States. Those tariffs respond to American duties imposed last month by U.S. President Donald Trump, after the two countries could not come to an agreement to settle some outstanding trade irritants.

Carney spent much of the video laying out Canada's response to Trump's protectionist trade policies, including expanding trade with other countries and building more capacity domestically.

But he said it "won't be easy."

Gym, health pilot program rolls out as Manitoba children go back to school

There were tears and cheers on an elementary school playground in Rossmere as students arrived for the first day of classes Wednesday.

Seven-year-old Ethan Minski is among tens of thousands of Manitoba students who have officially started a new school year.

Before entering King Edward School, Minski said he was most looking forward to phys-ed class.

“Everybody loves gym. It’s just fun!” the Grade 2 student said.

‘Dynacare sucks:’ premier muses about bringing lab services back into public system after strike halted

Manitoba’s premier said the province is looking at bringing diagnostic lab services back into the public system rather than continuing to contract Dynacare, declaring the for-profit company “sucks.”

“Maybe we’ll take over the whole system… we’re working on it, we’re looking at it, the situation is not great, this company’s making a mess — I think it’s pretty clear I’m not happy with them,” Premier Wab Kinew told CBC Radio Wednesday morning. “At the same time, nobody should be trying to use people’s health care as leverage.”

Kinew made the comments the day after the Manitoba Labour Board cut short a strike by 350 lab technicians and technologists employed by Dynacare, which administers blood, urine and other medical tests for patients in Winnipeg, Brandon and surrounding communities.

Dynacare, which is contracted by the provincial government, performs the majority of non-emergency blood and urine tests in the province.

All that glitters … could work here

Sometimes, it’s hard to even suggest a change, because it seems there is always a plethora of people ready to tell you that your idea just won’t work.