Ontario launching new mental health program for first responders

Bayer Canada begins construction on new R&D facility in St. B

Instead of canola on Friday, there was sod.

But in two years’ time, by current estimates, the bare plot of land in a St. Boniface industrial park will hold canola samples and seeds for testing.

Bayer Canada officially broke ground on a 60,000-square-foot research and development facility Friday morning.

“It’s about bringing new and better innovation to farmers,” said Kacy Perry, Bayer Crop Science Canada’s country division head.

A Life's Story: Musician made great contributions, advocated for fellow artists

When a University of Manitoba dean came to inform Victor Davies that he was booted from pre-med in the late 1950s, it was — to permit a cliché — music to his ears.

“In his mind, what he heard was much more encouraging. He heard, ‘Follow your own dream. Listen to your own melody. Speak with your own voice,’” says Davies’s daughter, Heather.

Davies, who died at 87 from pancreatic cancer and PLS in late September, was nevertheless about to take a major gamble, one that would eventually earn him an honorary doctorate from the University of Manitoba and a nomination to the Order of Canada.

Few careers are as uncertain as music, and at a time when the composition departments were saying au revoir to tonality, embracing the heavily dissonant styles of France and Germany, Davies was about to go against the grain. He would soon find a new home across the border in Bloomington, Ind., where for four years he studied at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Manitoba premier offers condolences after CFB Wainwright tragedy

Premier Wab Kinew said Manitoba “stands ready to help in any way we can” and will lower its flags to half-mast after a large fire tore through a Canadian Forces Base in Wainwright, Alta. Saturday, resulting in four confirmed deaths and dozens of serious injuries.

“This is a terrible tragedy. My heart goes out to the families who have lost loved ones, those who were injured and everyone affected,” Kinew said in a statement Sunday.

“We know there are families waiting for news about their loved ones, and our thoughts are with them, too.”

Kinew said he was in touch with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and federal Defence Minister David McGuinty to offer Manitoba’s assistance and share condolences.

Klein would redirect money to fix derelict arenas

Rerouting funds slated for bike and walking paths to aging rinks is on mayoral candidate Kevin Klein’s radar.

“We have some arenas — and they seem to specifically be in the north end — that are not getting the attention they deserve,” Klein said.

“We have to spend the money wisely maintaining (arenas), because we don’t have the cash to rebuild them.”

Klein spoke to reporters Saturday after hearing the president of the River East Royal Knights had been locked out of his Terry Sawchuk Arena office.

Violence directed at Winnipeg School Division support staff surges, union reports

Kicking, biting and other types of student aggression toward educational assistants in Winnipeg has surged 118 per cent since 2022-23.