Sisler program creating new generation of animators

The characters start as crude shapes and stand-ins, then take on form. Your Elsa, Miles Morales or Buzz Lightyear are born, but move only in key poses, like a picture book.

Restaurant bridges Ethiopian-Eritrean divide at the dinner table

Riverine origins matter at Baro, an eatery just west of the Health Sciences Centre on Notre Dame Avenue, but don’t overlook the connective power of the hyphen on the street-facing sign at chef Tammy Fekadu’s Ethiopian-Eritrean cuisine.

A waterway that rolls for more than 300 kilometres in the Ethiopian highlands, serving as a major cultural and economic thoroughfare for the nearby Gambella region as well as the South Sudanese state to the west, the Baro River is a reminder of communal reliance on precious natural resources, says Fekadu’s eldest daughter, Samra Solomon.

The hyphen is a bridge spanning political divides for Winnipeggers whose homelands have been engaged in decades of ongoing territorial tensions and civil war.

“My mom almost hesitated to call it ‘Baro Ethiopian-Eritrean Cuisine,’ just because some people might not be happy with that politically and maybe even morally,” says the 26-year-old Solomon, who manages the restaurant on top of a full-time job in the insurance business.

Sea Bears president proof there’s no one path to pro sports success

Rhéanne Marcoux — who was recently appointed president of the Winnipeg Sea Bears— has been making waves in the city’s sports industry for over 15 years.

Province tabs $4.3M for programs to boost employment strategies for young Manitobans

It’s an ongoing cycle in Tasnim Aljoumah’s orbit: submit a stack of resumés, get a sprinkle of responses.

The 16-year-old hasn’t started job hunting yet, but she’s watched her friends’ disheartening results.

“It’s not as fun as it seems, and it’s definitely not as easy,” Tasnim, who’s finishing Grade 11, said Tuesday outside University of Winnipeg Collegiate.

She pondered the job market hours after Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced $4.3 million for two initiatives to boost youth employment.

Ottawa’s new Digital Safety Act expected to include under-16 social media ban

OTTAWA - The federal government is expected to bar kids under the age of 16 from social media in new legislation set to be introduced Wednesday.

The government gave notice Tuesday that it will introduce a bill "to enact the Digital Safety Act and the Digital Safety Commission of Canada Act." It has scheduled a technical briefing and press conference on the new bill for late Wednesday afternoon.

Culture Minister Marc Miller, who is taking the lead on the legislation, said the government will take all reasonable measures to ensure kids are safe.

“It’s obvious why it’s a priority. Kids are dying,” he told reporters on Parliament Hill.

Winnipegger earns Tony for leading role in Broadway production of Ragtime

Winnipeg’s Joshua Henry was on top of the musical theatre world Sunday at Radio City Music Hall, winning the Tony Award for best performance by an actor in a leading role for his performance in the Broadway revival of Ragtime.

Transit revenue drop projected to be worse than predicted in 2026 budget

Winnipeg Transit warns it may earn $18.4 million less from rider fares this year than its budget calls for.

When the city’s 2026 budget was released, Transit estimated it would earn $97 million in fare revenue throughout this year. However, it also listed an “outstanding risk” that fares could fall $11.1 million lower due to a drop in ridership.

A finance update, based on figures up to the end of March, notes that risk has since increased.

“As of the first quarter, Transit is forecasting a reduction in revenues of $18.4 million,” the report notes.

Nursing grad hopes to drive change for Indigenous patients

A Cree student who graduated from the University of Manitoba nursing program said she’s striving to make the health-care system a more welcoming place for Indigenous patients.

Kaydence Morgado Thomas, who was raised in Winnipeg and has ties to Norway House Cree Nation, officially graduated from the UM Pathways to Indigenous Nursing Education program earlier this month.

She is set to begin work at Health Sciences Centre next month and will pick up shifts at Percy E Moore Hospital in Hodgson, whose patients also come from Peguis First Nation and Fisher River Cree Nation.

“I want to create an environment where patients feel respected and valued,” said Morgado Thomas.

‘Pick-up man’: Organizations work to address mental health of Canadian farmers

Josh Lehmann was a cowboy from Rosthern, a tiny town near where the North and South Saskatchewan rivers meet and the open prairie rolls into the northern boreal forest.

He was a rodeo rider, a good friend, someone who would stop whatever they were doing to help.

Inside he struggled with his mental health, said his sister.

"He was just a cowboy through and through," Morgan Lehmann said in an interview from her family’s ranch northeast of Saskatoon.

Everyday business is human rights work: CMHR chief executive

There’s war, disease spread, attacks on minority groups globally.

But when the head of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights addressed Manitoba business leaders, she offered more narrow advice: start by looking inwards.

“Every single person in this room is already doing human rights work,” Isha Khan told Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce members during a Friday luncheon.

Spread among the tables in the Delta Hotels ballroom were slips of paper saying “Imagine,” with blank spaces underneath. The sheets are usually found on the national museum’s seventh floor.

Return to office mandate keys: clarity, consistency, consideration

A recent British Columbia Court of Appeal decision is prompting renewed conversation across Canada about remote work, employer authority and what happens when expectations about where work is performed are not clearly set out.

While the case itself is rooted in B.C., the implications are relevant for employers in Manitoba and elsewhere who are continuing to refine their return to office strategies in a post-COVID-19 pandemic world.

At the heart of the discussion is a simple but important question: if an employee was hired during a period when remote work was widely accepted or even standard, can an employer later require that employee to return to the workplace full time?

The court’s message, in essence, reinforces something many employment lawyers have been emphasizing since pandemic restrictions eased: remote work is not automatically a permanent entitlement.

SCO-led app Miikahnah Connect links Indigenous workers to labour demand

As Jay Sanderson turned to face his job site, evidence of his work stared back — plywood replacing windows at the former Hudson’s Bay Co. flagship store downtown.

Lately, he’s been in the basement.

He’s working with several First Nations members on the construction of Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn, the Southern Chiefs’ Organization’s revamp of the old Bay site.

Construction on the facility — which will include housing and a childcare centre, among other things— is slated for another two-and-a-half years, according to SCO’s grand chief.

Creative industry slams government on move to dismantle CanCon obligations for streamers

TORONTO - Groups representing writers and filmmakers are criticizing the government's move to dismantle Canadian content obligations for U.S.-based streamers.

The Directors Guild of Canada, ACTRA and the Canadian Media Producers Association issued statements saying the government is cowering to pressure from Big Tech, and that it risks creating "long-term uncertainty" for the Canadian film and TV industry.

On Wednesday, Culture Minister Marc Miller announced that Ottawa is asking the broadcast regulator to review a recent order that would require foreign streamers to invest 15 per cent of their revenues in Canada into Canadian programming.

Miller also said that the entire broadcasting framework needs a rethink, and that the government will invest $600 million into the audio and audiovisual sector annually in the meantime.

Treating the fever while ignoring the infection

Manitoba’s health-care system has a fever. It shows up as emergency room waits, crowded hallways, ambulance delays and patients waiting too long for care. A fever, however, is not the infection. It is the symptom.

Early childhood educators discuss First Nations students’ needs

Early childhood educators traded tips to improve attendance and well-being among First Nations students and their families at a first-of-its-kind event in Winnipeg.

The University of Winnipeg hosted an inaugural roundtable for ECEs to share their challenges and successes related to Indigenous education on Tuesday.

“The limited assessment data that we do have shows Indigenous children are not doing as well in life as other children and so we need to pick it up,” said Sheri-Lynn Skwarchuk, a professor who oversees the developmental studies program.

The facilitator described the gathering of nearly 50 women, including front-line workers, centre co-ordinators and post-secondary instructors, as a momentous occasion for their shared profession.

U of W prof sues social media giants Meta, X

A University of Winnipeg professor is suing two social media companies in an attempt to determine who was behind online accounts used to crudely impersonate him and make vulgar comments he calls defamatory.

Don’t let fear of change determine vote

It is a truth universally acknowledged that human beings don’t just dislike change; we fear it. That’s as true for moving house as it is for getting a divorce or ousting a political incumbent.

Manitoba makes strides on poverty, but EIA rates must increase: report

When Jayline Bursey gets her monthly Employment and Income Assistance cheque, it’s gone almost immediately.

Police-to-population ratio increases for first time since 2013

The ratio of Winnipeg Police Service officers to the city’s population has increased for the first time in more than a decade.

In 2025, the so-called “cop-to-pop” ratio reached 166.8 officers per 100,000 people, up from 164.8 the previous year.

While that falls behind a national average of 180.3 per 100,000, it was the first local increase since 2013.

Overall, the service added 35 more officers since 2024, to reach a complement of 1,425.

LHC helps underserved clients navigate the justice system

Norman Yusim came out of retirement to get right back to work. He didn’t plan it that way, but when the perfect opportunity landed in his lap, it was impossible to turn down.

The 70-year-old lawyer with a passion for helping people is back at it at the Legal Help Centre (LHC), empowering underserved individuals to navigate legal problems, offering guidance and connections to resources.

“LHC provides such an important service to those in need with legal issues, providing access to justice to those who simply cannot afford to hire lawyers, by helping them seek out resources, providing advice and assistance to the Court of King’s Bench in Winnipeg,” said Yusim. “LHC, in my view, provides an invaluable service.”

Prior to beginning his employment at LHC in September 2025, Yusim volunteered there as a mentor to the law students who worked directly with clients to assist them with legal matters (family law, immigration law, estate law, criminal law, small claims matters and civil litigation matters, among others).

Think you can beat the game? Don’t bet on it

Trying to watch sports on television these days means accepting a basic and deeply annoying reality: the game itself is no longer the main event.

No, the main event is the endless parade of ads for gambling apps marching across every commercial break, crammed into every spare inch of space not occupied by actual hockey players.

And man, are these ads terrible. Not morally — well, yes, morally too — but we’ll come back to that. I mean esthetically. These things are obnoxious.

If you’ve watched any amount of hockey lately, you know the drill: betting on games can turn you into a legend, a hero, the life of the party.