Election signs can be a safety issue for visually impaired in Montreal

Around the NSL: Everything comes down to the final week of the regular season

It all comes down to this.

The final week of the Northern Super League’s regular season has arrived and the standings are anything but sorted.

There will be no Supporters’ Shield repeat for AFC Toronto, the Montreal Roses will battle the Ottawa Rapid in a winner-takes-the-regular-season contest, and fourth place is up for grabs between the Halifax Tides and Vancouver Rise.

How did we get here? Let’s break down the implications of all three regular-season finales after a tumultuous Week 26.

Montreal campaign signs a hazard for the blind

MONTREAL - Federal campaigns say they'll strive to do better after an advocacy group for the visually impaired called them out for the danger posed by low-hanging signs in Montreal.

In Montreal, election signs are often hung from streetlight and utility poles and stacked one on top of the other to ensure visibility.

But when they aren't high enough, they can cause a safety issue for those who don't see them coming, said Jerome Plante, a spokesman for the group.

Plante, with the Regroupement des Aveugles et Amblyopes du Quebec, said the problem in this city is a recurring one, cropping up during federal, provincial and municipal elections.

Outbreak should never have happened

The headline offered a vague sense that something had been accomplished, but it most certainly did not describe anything worth celebrating:

“Manitoba declares measles outbreak over.”

The news item in the Oct. 17 Free Press noted provincial public health officials had confirmed Manitoba’s last laboratory-confirmed case of measles was identified in August, and that the absence of any new cases since had allowed for the aforementioned declaration.

The end of the outbreak — which began in February 2025 and included a significant stretch this year during which Manitoba experienced more measles cases than any other province — is certainly worth noting. But it bears reminding that the real story here is that this province, and others across Canada, experienced a resurgence of this highly communicable but successfully eradicated disease in the first place.

Chief medical officer quits, cites work environment ‘challenges’

Manitoba’s provincial chief medical officer is resigning from his position at Shared Health, citing the role’s demands and work environment challenges in an email viewed by the Free Press.

Dr. José François, who’s held the executive position since April 2024, sent an email to provincial medical specialty leads that said his final day will be Jan. 17, 2027, after he submitted his resignation Wednesday. Several other senior leaders have departed the provincial health authority in recent months.

“Serving in this role has been a privilege,” François, a longtime family physician from Ste. Anne, wrote in the email.

He said his “greatest pleasure” was working alongside and supporting an “exceptional group” of provincial medical specialty leads and chief medical officers.

Is Osborne a street or a road? ‘Stroad’ status fails everyone

Last month, the City of Winnipeg said it would soon begin to study ways to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety along Osborne Street, which runs between two of the city’s densest neighbourhoods, where residents walk and bike for many of their daily activities.

MPI gambles with low rate request

It sounds a bit like a gamble from a player in an industry that is almost pathologically averse to gambling.