Canadian cross-country ski coach believes medals are possible at Milan Olympics

Mayoral candidates Klein, Vogiatzakis continue to snipe over inducement allegations

Winnipeg mayoral candidate Mike Vogiatzakis told reporters Monday he will contact the city clerk to report his allegation that rival Kevin Klein offered him a job to drop out of the race.

Vogiatzakis and Klein both doubled down a day after accusing each other of offering the other a position at city hall, if they were victorious in the Oct. 28 election, in exchange for a withdrawal.

“Do I want to get him charged? Not really. I don’t want to destroy anybody’s life,” Vogiatzakis told reporters.

“Kevin’s a good guy. I thought he was a friend of mine, but he’s not. Kevin uses leverage to get ahead, and he tried to use me as leverage.”

‘Amazing honour’: Winnipeg distribution centre continues award-winning ways for McKesson Canada

After a three-year absence, the trophy is back in Winnipeg.

Last week, McKesson Canada named its 120,000-square-foot pharmaceutical distribution centre in the northwest part of the Manitoba capital its Distribution Centre of the Year. The award recognizes the facility’s role in helping essential medications reach communities across the province and some of Canada’s remote regions.

This is the fourth time the Winnipeg facility has earned the company-wide award since it opened five years ago. McKesson previously honoured the centre in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The recognition comes with a trophy, as well as a banner that was hung from the rafters on Thursday.

More than 100 employees work across the centre’s day-and-night operations, processing between 80,000 and 100,000 medication units daily. Last year, the centre distributed more than 21 million medication units while maintaining more than 99 per cent accuracy.

Real journalists matter in an AI world

An algorithm can decide what you see, but it doesn’t report the news. Nunatsiaq News, an award-winning newspaper in Nunavut, recently reported that a so-called “news” website was posting AI-generated articles about the north by stealing real news stories produced by real journalists.

The articles were supposedly written by Nunavut correspondent Leah Qammaniq — a fake journalist, with a fake photo and a fake bio.

Governor General Louise Arbour warned us of fake news in her installation speech in June. She said, “We must continue to protect the public space in which our national debates take place: from schools and universities to the media, political parties, unions and civil society organizations …With instant access to vast amounts of information, it is very tempting to pay little attention to the reliability of sources. The lines between knowledge and belief, between truth and falsehood, between facts and assumptions, are increasingly blurred. AI could be threatening not only the way we live and work, but also the control we exercise over our own destiny.”

The Government of Canada has recognized the problem as well. Its recent discussion paper, Enhancing trust in artificial intelligence through increased transparency, stated, “Canadians encounter news reporting, product reviews, and audio-visual content across the internet, often without any indication of whether it was written by a person, generated by an AI system, or produced through some combination of both … A particular concern within this broader landscape is that generative AI greatly enables the creation and dissemination of deceptive or misleading content.”

Telekinetic teen hits small screen

At desperate times like these, it’s good to be reminded that one person can make a difference. A telekinetic high schooler, grieving lover, ambitious law firm, frantic father and spiritual climber offer a variety of inspiring lessons in this new offering of TV recommendations.

Carrie (series premières Wednesday, Oct. 7 on Prime Video)Famously over-the-top filmmaker Brian De Palma (Phantom of the Paradise, Dressed to Kill, Scarface) directed the 1976 Carrie into its status as one of the scariest films of the time and beyond. It became better known than the debut horror novel by Stephen King from which it was adapted. It even trumped the three adaptations that followed. This new TV series looks ready to challenge that supremacy. Taking the title role made famous by Sissy Spacek, Manitoba actress Summer H. Howell (see Randall King’s interview at wfp.to/carrie) plays a homeschooler thrilled to finally be allowed to attend public high school. But when the mean girls begin circling and blood manifests in scary new ways, the new girl’s telekinetic potential blossoms in spectacular fashion. Also of horrific note as Halloween approaches: Below (Netflix miniseries premièring Thursday) stars Josh Hartnett as a fisherman trying to protect his family and town from a mysterious sea creature; Eternally Yours (sitcom premièring Thursday, Oct. 8, on CBS/Global) is a new vampire comedy; and Crystal Lake (thriller series premières Oct. 15 on Crave) stars Linda Cardellini (DTF St. Louis) as Pam Voorhees, single mom of a tormented kid named Jason, in this Friday the 13th origin story. Boo!

Small Prophets (series Canadian première Wednesday, Oct. 7, on Apple TV)Canadian fans of British TV have been champing at the bit for this quirky series since its acclaimed U.K. première in February. It’s a shaggy, quietly hilarious character study in the vein of Detectorists (2014-22, AcornTV), both of which were created by Mackenzie Crook (Pirates of the Caribbean), who also starred in Detectorists and plays a supporting role in Small Prophets. When the new story opens, Michael Sleep (Detectorists’ Pearce Quigley) is living a life of quiet desperation, visiting his father (Sir Michael Palin) and pining for the return of his disappeared beloved, Clea. Until, that is, Dad shares a loony alchemical recipe that sparks hope in Michael that he might be able to summon spirits to then summon Clea to … the garden shed? Not as creepy as it sounds? A tale of hope, frustratingly indirect action, meddlesome and ineffectual neighbours and, of course, true, true love.

Waiver wire pickup leads Jets to victory in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH – Now that’s a positive first impression.

The Winnipeg Jets swept a two-game road trip, thanks in part to Clay (Mud) Stevenson making 30 saves in his debut with the team that claimed him off waivers one week earlier.

Stevenson was excellent in a 3-2 victory for the Jets over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night at PPG Paints Arena.

“He obviously made some big big stops, right up to the end of the game there,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “He was real solid and confident and looked comfortable. It was great to see a kid come in here like that, a new organization late in training camp. He came as advertised.”