Bishop’s University reports drop in enrolment despite exemption from tuition hike

City charter ties council’s hands in wake of criminal allegations against Transcona councillor

In the wake of additional criminal charges laid against Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt, several council members say the city should explore options to impose leaves of absence on elected officials who face serious allegations in the future.

Wyatt, 56, was charged Monday with sexual assault and administering a noxious thing with intent to aggrieve or annoy in relation to an October 2023 incident. The councillor was previously charged with sexual assault and administering a noxious substance in March, based on allegations tied to a 2025 gathering.

Under the City of Winnipeg charter, a provincial law, a member of city council automatically forfeits their seat if they are convicted of certain serious criminal offences. It does not apply if they are simply charged.

Mayor Scott Gillingham and others have urged Wyatt to step away from his city hall duties voluntarily, while Gillingham has also suggested the province review the legislation.

A message to Mark: Don’t. Back. Down.

When is a leak really a trial balloon? While Mark Carney currently enjoys huge favourability in Canada, there are nine federal byelections pending. If he stumbles on his pledge of “Elbows up’ against the U.S., votes could go against the Liberals; millions of Canadians have utterly lost patience with Trump’s madness — and with Carney appearing to pander to it.

Now we lift the booze bans? Meddle with our supply management dairy system? So say “sources” in the Carney camp. But journalists can be manipulated — a galling truth. Set up a leak from a couple of sources. Two is standard; what’s often forgotten is that those sources, especially if the story’s a hot one, should be verifiably unconnected.

If a story is really hot, more sources must be scraped up, but the temptation to run with it regardless of that is enormous. Many a drool-worthy story I ran across in my early days at the Free Press and later at CBC TV news was spiked because those standards could not be met. These days, it’s almost impossible to meet that bar. Everybody’s connected.

Well, appeasement doesn’t work; we all know it. We dropped the digital services tax. That achieved nothing. American trade envoy Jameson Greer noted we don’t get credit for lifting something Trump resented from the get-go. The digital giants who imposed news-sharing bans on Canada in retaliation for the tax did not lift those bans. We still can’t share news links on Meta platforms in Canada, and we have not a penny in digital tax to show for it.

Icy relationship with U.S. beginning to thaw at border, data shows; American visits to Manitoba hit five-year high

As Canadians begin to lower their elbows and start to cross the U.S. border again, Americans are coming to Manitoba in numbers not seen in years.

Nola chef earns national award

Celebrated Winnipeg chef Emily Butcher has another feather to add to her toque.

The executive chef and owner of Nola and Bar Accanto in St. Boniface has received the Culinary Award of Excellence from Restaurants Canada, a national foodservice advocacy organization.

The award recognizes culinary professionals with notable creativity, skill and dedication in the kitchen. The winners were nominated by industry peers and selected by a panel of judges.

“I am so proud of the culture and creativity we have built at Nola and Bar Accanto — and it’s an honour to have this passion and hard work acknowledged,” Butcher said via email.

Fusion pop-up coming to street food festival

After surviving breast cancer and watching her husband live through a brain tumour, Marilyn Magtoto decided it was time to take a chance.

Magtoto left her corporate job as a mortgage specialist in July to start M3 Cravings, a pop-up restaurant that blends the traditional Filipino cuisine she grew up on with Mexican street food.

“To me it was like, how much longer do I want to put on hold this thing I’ve been wanting to do for a while now?” Magtoto says. “People may think I’m crazy for leaving behind a corporate professional career I’ve been doing for 22 years, but you know what — it’s worth it.”

Magtoto will now have the chance to share her food at the Streat Feast Festival at The Forks to Sunday; the event brings together people from a variety of backgrounds to share their culture through food, art and performances.