Turkey’s parliament debates a bill to restrict access to social media for children under 15

Klein, Gillingham trade jabs over megaproject

Two of Winnipeg’s mayoral candidates wasted no time trading barbs over who bears responsibility for the skyrocketing cost of overhauling the North End sewage treatment plant, during a televised debate Wednesday.

Scott Gillingham and Kevin Klein pointed the finger at each other for the rising cost of the massive project, which had a cost estimate of $795 million in 2015 and had ballooned to $3.2 billion as of the latest estimate.

“We need to be able to understand how that amount tripled in that short a time,” Klein said at the event held at CBC’s downtown Winnipeg headquarters. He pointed out the first estimate was given when Gillingham was chairman of the city’s finance committee. He questioned what the incumbent did to garner funding for the project.

Gillingham shot back by noting Klein was Manitoba’s environment minister in 2023. He accused his opponent of failing to make a dent on the cost.

Movie preview: Winnipeg-shot biopic on Arthur Rimbaud as daring as its subject

Simultaneously huge in its biographical breadth and intimate in its scale, Patrick Wang’s film A. Rimbaud is a portrait of the 19th-century poet Arthur Rimbaud, a grand, 175-minute biopic that eschews the genre’s convention with the adventurous spirit Rimbaud applied to the written word.

Reynolds exerts ‘maximum effort’ to boost Winnipeg after quick meet with mayor

Ryan Reynolds wasn’t wearing his Deadpool suit, but that didn’t stop Mayor Scott Gillingham from wanting to talk about films with the Vancouver-born Hollywood movie star.

Reynolds, who appeared at IG Wealth Management's 100th anniversary celebration Wednesday at the RBC Convention Centre, took to social media afterward, sharing a photo of himself with Gillingham and trumpeting the province’s tax incentives.

“An incredible place to shoot,” the Instagram post read.

On Thursday, Gillingham said the actor, best known for portraying an irreverent, erratic anti-hero on the big screen, is a “really nice gentleman.”

Gillingham says Portage and Main underground should stay open

Scott Gillingham said he hopes to keep the circular concourse beneath Portage Avenue and Main Street open, if he’s re-elected mayor next week.

“I would like to find a way for it to stay,” said Gillingham during the mayoral debate hosted by CJOB Wednesday.

The downtown intersection reopened to pedestrians at street level in June 2025.

When he first supported that hotly debated reopening in 2024, Gillingham called for the underground mall to be closed. At the time, the city estimated it would take $73 million and up to five years of traffic-snarling construction to repair the leaking membrane under the street that protects the properties below.

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.