CrowdStrike blames bug for letting bad data slip through, leading to global tech outage

Letters, Sept. 16

Decades ago, we were told mining and other economic development in the North could be “balanced” with protecting caribou habitat. We’ve seen how that worked out. Fortunes were made. Caribou herds declined, and now some populations are teetering on the brink of extinction.

Sweeney’s sexist U.S. gambling-site ad isn’t the real problem

Until very recently, there was no reason to connect actress and model Sydney Sweeney with online sports betting. But the degrees separating these two culture trends evaporated in short order this week.

Sweeney, a pop culture icon who is a source of endless speculation in political circles, made a big splash with a provocative advertising campaign for Novig, a new-generation sports gambling site in the United States. In a promotional video, Sweeney appears largely nude, with strategically placed sports equipment and her long, blonde hair providing just enough cover to keep from being classified as pornography.

“Think you know sports?” Sweeney says seductively in the opening of the video, with two footballs hiding her breasts. “Prove it.”

Novig is a “peer-to-peer” gambling app that allows people south of the border to bet against each other on the outcomes of professional sports, as opposed to betting against “the house,” as is the case with traditional sports books. And it just so happens that Sweeney, either from a direct investment or as payment for her participation in the ad campaign, is now an equity partner in Novig.

Winnipeg, police and downtown crime

A safer downtown is not much use if people are still afraid to walk there.

That is the uncomfortable message from Winnipeg’s latest police citizen survey, and one city council should take seriously.

Downtown crime has fallen this year, according to the most recent police statistics. Violent crime is down even more. But for most Winnipeggers, the downtown still feels like a place to avoid, particularly after dark.

Only 44 per cent of survey respondents said they feel very or reasonably safe walking alone downtown during the day. At night, that number plunges to just eight per cent. Among women, it is an appalling three per cent, compared with 14 per cent of men.

Federal Court awards OCN $27M, 62 years after construction of hydro dam

The Federal Court has ordered Ottawa pay Opaskwayak Cree Nation $27 million over damages suffered due to the construction of the Grand Rapids hydro dam in the 1960s.

In a decision dated Sept. 3, Federal Court Justice Sébastien Grammond says the federal government had a fiduciary duty to protect the community from the impacts of the dam.

“When the Crown exercises a discretionary power over an Indigenous interest, it has a fiduciary duty and it must exercise the discretion in the best interests of the Indigenous group,” the ruling said. “Canada breached its fiduciary duty to OCN because it approved the (project) without ensuring that the impacts of the Grand Rapids dam on OCN’s traditional way of life were mitigated or compensated.”

The First Nation took the federal government to court in February over impacts on the community after the dam, located about 145 kilometres southeast of Opaskwayak Cree Nation, was installed on the Saskatchewan River in 1964. The case was heard over 14 days in a judge-alone trial in Winnipeg.

City wants short-term rental unit property owners to report all emergency-service responses

New rules could require the owners of short-term rental units, such as Airbnbs and VRBOs, to tell the city every time an emergency responder is called to their properties.