Tired of theft, local businesses consider IDing customers, making diners pre-pay

Fed up with shoplifting or dine and dashes, the owners of two Winnipeg businesses are considering asking customers to show identification when they enter, among other extra security measures.

Traffic reporter Dev Oza steers into slapstick of our daily commute

Did you hear the one about the traffic reporter who moonlights as a standup comic?

15,000-plus students regularly skip school across Manitoba, leaked documents show

Leaked government documents expose a troubling state of truancy in elementary and high schools across the province.

AI — when you find your servant is your master

When I was 17 and fresh out of high school, I spent a couple of months with friends in Charlottetown, P.E.I., and landed a summer job at an A&W drive-in.

Two-thirds of Manitobans using AI, but a lot aren’t happy about it, survey reveals

Manitobans admit they rely on artificial intelligence for daily activities, but are troubled by the emerging technology’s impact on the environment, job security and beyond.

Union coalition demanding government action on downtown safety

Eight unions have joined forces to create urgency around worker concerns about safety — on the job and on their commutes — in downtown Winnipeg.

Volunteering at aviation museum sparks love of learning, sharing knowledge for former Air Force pilot

Gary Hook was a fighter pilot, commanding officer and senior flight instructor during his 43-year career in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Hook, 72, piloted more than 15 types of aircraft across Canada and Europe.

These days, the aviation buff volunteers as a tour guide and gallery interpreter at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada, at 2088 Wellington Ave.

“There’s no shortage of good stories to tell about the aircraft, the people and the eras of aviation they flew in,” Hook says.

Show her the money

Slogans and even legislation only go so far in a world in which cash rules everything around us.

That remains true today, especially for women on the eve of International Women’s Day, commemorating the long fight for equality, rights and liberation.

Society has made strides, including legislation ensuring women receive equal pay for equal work.

It must also be recognized — especially on the financial ledger — more work needs to be done. Financial inequality remains a glaring sore spot.

International Women’s Day spotlight on invisible work

As I watch my daughter celebrate another birthday, I find myself thinking about work in a different way.

Not the headlines about promotions, pay gaps or glass ceilings (although those still matter), but about the quiet work that keeps organizations running. The work that rarely shows up on a resumé, that does not earn awards or headlines, but without which everything else starts to crumble.

In HR, I see it all the time. There are women in every organization who keep the gears turning, often without recognition. They remember everyone’s birthdays and make sure the new hire feels welcomed. They notice when tensions are brewing between colleagues and take small steps to prevent confrontation. They keep institutional memory alive, quietly teaching the new generation how things work, sharing lessons learned. They fix problems before anyone even notices there was an issue.

This is invisible labour, and it is work. Emotional labour, relational labour, the work that goes into making a workplace humane, functional, and often even enjoyable. It does not show up in org charts. It is rarely celebrated at awards banquets. And yet, it is the glue that keeps workplaces together.

Five examples of representation in recognition of International Women’s Day

To mark International Women’s Day on Sunday, the Free Press is spotlighting five Manitobans doing impactful work in sports.

Alyssa White — para hockey athleteWhite was 14 when she made the Canadian women’s para hockey squad.

“It’s kind of wild still to me to think about because I had only started playing hockey a year prior to that,” said the now 20-year-old.

Students build confidence, businesses at JA Manitoba trade fair

Tasvee Jain has an entrepreneurial spirit and a sustainable product to sell — all before graduating high school.

The Grade 12 student at Morden Collegiate Institute is the president of Luxe Prep, a student-led business that has tapped a local cabinet company to turn its offcuts into kitchen staples.

She and her fellow students built the business from the ground up through the Junior Achievement Manitoba Company Program, which brings its annual Student Trade Fair to St. Vital Shopping Centre today in Winnipeg.

The after-school program, which teaches financial literacy education to youth, asks students to build a business from a concept, to selling shares to gather capital, to making and marketing their product. Pitching their product is also key: Tasvee’s team will be offering free recipes at their booth.

Tories say high-earners could flee if NDP targets province’s wealthiest in upcoming budget

Premier Wab Kinew’s suggestion that the provincial budget on March 24 may squeeze the the “top one per cent” — the richest Manitobans — was met with both positive and negative responses Friday.

Kinew, who dropped the hint in a local radio interview without providing more details, wasn’t made available Friday to clarify who or how, “We’re going to have some help in the budget on the education property tax front, and we might be asking the top one per cent to help us out with that.”

The NDP government is staring down a $1.6-billion deficit while vowing to balance the province’s books in its first term. If the plan is to lean on some of Manitoba’s top earners, how big are those incomes, and will that drive those people away?

To get into Manitoba’s top one per cent of income earners in 2023 required an income of $235,100 or about $244,000 in inflation-adjusted terms, University of Manitoba economics professor Jesse Hajer said Friday.

Gallery: A time-honoured tradition

While Manitobans primarily only worry about adjusting their clocks twice a year — including springing forward an hour this weekend — it’s often a daily routine for Ilya Goldman.

Many Canadian women seeing limited pathways to promotions, according to study results

Many younger women in Canadian workplaces are facing career stagnation, according to new data, with a vast majority reporting no clear path to advancement and the need for upskilling.

Data from Fora: Network For Change, a nonprofit group focused on gender equity in the workforce, found that 93 per cent of Canadian women and gender-marginalized workers between the ages of 18 and 29 see no clear pathways to a promotion at their workplace. Additionally, 85 per cent said they do not feel professionally challenged or stimulated.

“These are the individuals that are being significantly impacted by the state of the economy, particularly around underemployment,” said Emma Asiedu-Akrofi, CEO of Fora.

According to Fora, the findings show that workforce participation rates alone do not comprehensively detail the health of the labour market for younger workers. Other preliminary findings showed that respondents expressed desires for career-specific training and mentorship, as well as referral pathways, clear advancement structures and living wages.

Trial against Meta in New Mexico highlights video depositions by top executives

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors began presenting never-before-seen video depositions of Meta executives at a trial in New Mexico on Tuesday to bolster accusations that the social media conglomerate failed to disclose what it knows about harmful effects to children on its platforms, including Instagram.

New Mexico prosecutors are billing depositions from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram leader Adam Mosseri as centerpieces of the state's case against Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Prosecutors have accused Meta of violating state consumer protection laws.

Prosecutors say the dangers of addiction to social media as well as child sexual exploitation on Meta's platforms weren’t properly addressed or disclosed by the company.

Meta attorney Kevin Huff pushed back on those assertions during opening statements on Feb. 9, highlighting efforts to weed out harmful content from its platforms while warning users that some content still gets through its safety net. He said Meta discloses the risks.

Retired nurse doesn’t mind doing laundry to help raise money for Children’s Hospital Foundation

Donna Askew has been doing other people’s laundry for more than 20 years, but she doesn’t mind. It’s all for a good cause.

It’s fair to say Askew has washed, dried, mended and hung up thousands of shirts, blouses, dresses, T-shirts and trousers during her tenure as volunteer laundress at the Nearly New Shop at 961 Portage Ave.

“You name it, I’ve washed it… underwear and socks and lots of bedding and tablecloths and runners… if you’ve washed it at home in your washer, I’ve washed it in mine,” she says, laughing.

The shop attracts more than 50 customers daily, many who have come to rely on it.

Growing more complex by the day: How should journalists govern use of AI in their products?

Like so many sectors of the economy, the news industry is hurtling toward a future where artificial intelligence plays a major role — grappling with questions about how much the technology is used, what consumers should be told about it, whether anything can be done for the journalists who will be left behind.

These issues were on the minds of reporters for the independent outlet ProPublica as they walked picket lines earlier this month. They're inching toward a potential strike, in what is believed would be the first such job action in the news business where how to deal with AI is the chief sticking point.

Few expect this dispute will be the last.

AI has undeniably helped journalists, simplifying complex tasks and saving time, particularly with data-focused stories. News organizations are using it to help sift through the Epstein files. AI suggests headlines, summarizes stories. Transcription technology has largely eliminated the need for a human to type up interviews. These days, even a simple Google search frequently involves AI.

Young woman says she was on social media ‘all day long’ as a child in landmark addiction trial

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A young woman who is battling against social media giants took the stand Thursday to testify about her experience using the platforms as she was growing up, saying she was on social media “all day long” as a child.

The now 20-year-old, who has been identified in court documents as KGM, says her early use of social media addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts. Meta and YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which TikTok and Snap have settled.

The case, along with two others, has been selected as a bellwether trial, meaning its outcome could impact how thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies are likely to play out.

KGM, or Kaley, as her lawyers have called her during the trial, started using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9.

Burger King to bring AI-based voice coach to Canada later this year

When you stop at a Burger King later this year, staff may have an artificial intelligence-based coach in their ears.

Restaurant Brands International, the owner of the fast-food giant, revealed Thursday that it is bringing its new Patty tool to Canada in the second half of 2026.

Patty is a voice-based assistant which will be piped through the headsets Burger King staff wear, listening to their conversations and prodding them toward more attentive customer service and efficiency.

The tool will be able to remind employees how to make food orders and help them upsell customers.

Housing affordability challenges remain despite recent improvements: CMHC

A new analysis from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. shows housing affordability challenges have eased in recent years but still remain at historic highs, and have even spread to other major cities.

The national housing agency says affordability issues are no longer limited to Canada's largest cities and have spread to other areas such as Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax. One of the key factors, CMHC said, was the impact of labour mobility brought on by remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has persisted even as the job market has changed.

"Affordability started recovering slightly since 2023, when it reached historical lows. For home ownership, we observed improved affordability, while for renters we saw stabilization over the last two years," said Mathieu Laberge, CMHC chief economist and senior vice-president of housing insights, in a news release Wednesday.

"Even with these improvements, we cannot overlook how much housing affordability has eroded in recent years, especially in Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax, clearly demonstrating that Canada's housing affordability crisis is no longer limited to Toronto and Vancouver."