Churchill pilot project puts focus on eye care

Reversing Manitoba’s moose decline

As Manitoba’s retired provincial moose manager, I have watched our moose population plummet from historic highs to a state of systemic vulnerability. Reversing this decline, which has seen numbers drop from 45,000 during the 1960s to fewer than 20,000 today, will require balancing the conservation needs of moose, Section 35 constitutional treaty rights, licensed hunter expectations and economic development.

To avert further attrition, all stakeholders, including Manitoba Natural Resources, must accept responsibility for their part in this decline, with industrial and recreational development acting as the primary drivers.

This long-overdue discussion must not devolve into a debate over competing hunting rights; instead, it must focus entirely on building long-term population resilience. Wildlife management must evolve alongside the changing landscapes and dynamics that development brings. We can no longer practise the same methods and hope for a better result. Immediate action is required.

As long as moose are legally managed as a “natural resource,” they will inevitably be viewed through the lens of a commodity rather than a vulnerable species in need of protection. For any population to remain stable or grow, total mortality cannot exceed recruitment — the survival of calves to breeding age. If mortality outpaces recruitment, decline is inevitable.

Get to know your Jet: Neal Pionk

“Give it 110 per cent.” “Get pucks in deep.” “One shift at a time.” “Play our game.” “Keep it simple.”

Hockey has a language all its own. Unfortunately, after hearing the same phrases repeated often enough, that language can start to sound a lot like white noise.

So we’re going to try something different.

The Free Press will occasionally sit down with a Winnipeg Jets player at his locker-room stall for a wide-ranging conversation about the stuff you don’t always hear in a media scrum.

Law will curb e-scooter enthusiasts

For people concerned about safety on Manitoba’s sidewalks and roadways, the province’s announcement that new rules will be introduced next year regarding the use of e-scooters and other personal electric vehicles (PEVs) was no doubt met with an enthusiastic “It’s about time.”

Slain chef’s family infuriated by stayed charges

The family of a Ste. Anne chef who died after an altercation at a party says they are angry a manslaughter charge has been stayed against a 46-year-old man.