Omni Conversion Technologies names Jonathan Lundy new CEO, Stephen Poloz joins board

Staying away to keep the heat on

It’s a tough sell these days for U.S. tourism groups seeking to attract Canadian visitors as tension, tariffs and traded verbal barbs continue to rise between the two countries.

Film fest showcases Africa’s best

Winnipeggers are sometimes accused of living within the Perimeter, meaning a visit to Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso, might be out of the question for your weekend travel plans.

But the African Film Festival in Manitoba — which kicked off Monday and runs to Sept. 20 — gives local audiences three feature-length opportunities to embrace stories from a nation that’s widely considered the home of African cinema.

Chief among these is Katanga, a tense re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Scottish play told in the Fulah language. Directed and written by Dani Kouyaté, the film was the winner of the the Etalon D’or — the top prize — at last year’s FESPACO, a biennial celebration of Pan-African film and television held in Ouagadougou.

Starring Mahamadi Nana and Prosper Compaore, the film also features a striking, late-career performance by Rasmané Ouédraogo, who starred in the Palme d’Or winner Tilaï — in which a man returns to his village to find his fiancee has become his father’s second wife — in 1990.

Menstruation, consent move up in sex-ed lesson plan

Manitoba’s newest curriculum introduces the menstrual cycle earlier and repeatedly calls for explicit lessons on how students can give, seek, and decline to provide their consent.

The education department has released its sweeping proposal to overhaul how exercise, nutrition and sexuality are taught between kindergarten and Grade 12.

Grade 5 has long served as a key turning point for “the talk,” said J Fiedler, a sexual and reproductive health educator who provided input on the new curriculum.

“There’s no ‘the talk’ anymore. Now, there’s continuations of multiple ‘talks,’ which can hopefully reduce stress for students and stigma that people experience talking about sexuality.”

Mayoral candidate denounced for online comments

A Winnipeg mayoral candidate is facing criticism after he posted derogatory comments about immigrants and used the word “gay” as an insult online.