Carney delays electric vehicle sales mandate by one year, launches review

OTTAWA - The federal electric vehicle sales mandate will not be implemented in 2026 as planned, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday, pushing back by at least a year a policy that would have set minimum sales targets for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Introduced by the Liberals under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, the mandate would have required 20 per cent of all new vehicles sold in Canada next year to be electric.

The standard as written is to rise steadily each year until 2035, by which point all new light-duty vehicles sold in Canada were to be fully electric or plug-in hybrids.

But at a press conference in Mississauga, Ont., Carney said he is suspending the mandate for 2026 and launching a 60-day review of the program to help find "future flexibilities and ways to reduce costs."

Unemployment rate climbed to 7.1 per cent in August as economy lost 66,000 jobs

OTTAWA - The Canadian economy lost jobs for the second month in a row and the unemployment rate climbed to its highest level since May 2016, excluding the pandemic period, Statistics Canada reported on Friday.

The weaker-than-expected reading of the labour market prompted financial markets to increase the odds the Bank of Canada will cut its key interest rate target later this month.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 7.1 per cent in August as the economy lost 66,000 jobs for the month. The monthly jobs report comes after the July labour force survey that showed a loss of 41,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 6.9 per cent.

A poll of economists heading into the release had expected August to show a gain of 10,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to rise to seven per cent for the month, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

Girls fell behind boys in math during the pandemic. Schools are trying to make up lost ground

IRVING, Texas (AP) — Crowded around a workshop table, four girls at de Zavala Middle School puzzled over a Lego machine they had built. As they flashed a purple card in front of a light sensor, nothing happened.

The teacher at the Dallas-area school had emphasized that in the building process, there is no such thing as mistakes. Only iterations. So the girls dug back into the box of blocks and pulled out an orange card. They held it over the sensor and the machine kicked into motion.

“Oh! Oh, it reacts differently to different colors,” said sixth grader Sofia Cruz.

In de Zavala’s first year as a choice school focused on science, technology, engineering and math, the school recruited a sixth grade class that’s half girls. School leaders are hoping the girls will stick with STEM fields. In de Zavala’s higher grades — whose students joined before it was a STEM school — some elective STEM classes have just one girl enrolled.

Getting word out in face of AI-made messaging

Manitoba marketing aficionados have named their new agency Plain Language — a nod to what they say they’ll speak.

There’s a lack of plain language around algorithms and outcomes found in online advertising, agency co-founders said. They’ve spent decades working in digital media, placing ads in an ever-changing online landscape.

“There’s a lot of different platforms, and the way that people talk about it can be quite obtuse,” said Anthony Kowalczyk, Plain Language’s chief executive. “I think that’s what we’re trying to move away from.”

He and Jason Hachkowski, Plain Language’s vice-president of digital ad operations and strategy, have worked together for more than a decade. A mutual colleague suggested the pair meet — both men were experts in digital marketing and advertising.

AI chatbots changing online threat landscape as Ottawa reviews legislation

OTTAWA - Wrongful death lawsuits citing the activities of artificial intelligence chatbots are underway in the United States, as reports emerge of mental health issues and delusions induced by AI systems.

These incidents are drawing attention to the changing nature of the online threat landscape — just weeks after the Liberal government said it would review its online harms bill before reintroducing it in Parliament.

"Since the legislation was introduced, I think it's become all the more clear that tremendous harm can be facilitated by AI, and we're seeing that in particular in the space of chatbots and some of the tragedies," said Emily Laidlaw, Canada research chair in cybersecurity law at the University of Calgary.

The Online Harms Act, which died on the order paper when the election was called, would have required social media companies to outline how they plan to reduce the risks their platforms pose to users, and would have imposed on them a duty to protect children.

Coming price cuts at McDonald’s may signal a broader fast food price war

McDonald’s is cutting prices on some combo meals to woo back customers who’ve been turned off by the rising costs of grabbing a fast food meal.

The price drop may induce its rivals, who have run into some of the same pricing issues, to follow.

Starting Sept. 8, McDonald’s will offer Extra Value Meals, which combine select entrées like a Big Mac, an Egg McMuffin or a McCrispy sandwich with medium fries or hash browns and a drink. Prices will vary by location, but McDonald’s said Extra Value Meals will cost 15% less than ordering each of those items separately.

To kick off the promotion, McDonald’s will offer an $8 Big Mac meal or a $5 Sausage McMuffin meal for a limited time in most of the country. Customers in California, Alaska, Hawaii and Guam will have to pay $1 more for those meals.

The RCMP and TikTok

A trend on TikTok has Canadians “challenging” RCMP officers to fake foot pursuits.

Margaret Atwood takes aim at Alberta’s school library books ban with satirical story

EDMONTON - Margaret Atwood is taking aim at Alberta's controversial ban on school library books containing sexual content with a new, satirical short story after the famed author's novel "The Handmaid's Tale" was yanked from some shelves due to the province's sweeping new rules.

In a social media post on Sunday, Atwood said since the literary classic is no longer suitable in Alberta's schools, she has written a short story for 17-year-olds about two "very, very good children" named John and Mary.

"They never picked their noses or had bowel movements or zits," she said at the beginning of her story.

"They grew up and married each other, and produced five perfect children without ever having sex."

Not-for-profit Student Catalyst Gateway launches with career focus on equity-deserving backgrounds

Tinotenda Mashavave chuckles when he thinks about his first winter in Winnipeg.

“The shock on my face with how cold this place is was unbelievable,” he said. “(Someone) should have told me what it was going to be like.”

Mashavave moved to Manitoba from Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, in 2016 to study business administration at the University of Winnipeg. Today, he has a job as a sales representative at Western Financial Group, but the path that led him there had obstacles.

Navigating finances, learning how to network with professionals and finding a job after graduation can be challenging for anyone, but for newcomers like Mashavave, it’s especially difficult.

Manitoba LGBT* chamber starts entrepreneur development program

A new program aims to support LGBTTQ+ entrepreneurs in Manitoba.

The Manitoba LGBT* Chamber of Commerce is accepting applications for Emerge, the queer entrepreneur development program it’s launching next month. The six-month program is designed for members of the LGBTTQ+ community to gain essential business skills and strategies, and to build a supportive network of mentors and colleagues in the process.

The program is the first of its kind for the chamber, said Jenny Steinke-Magnus, executive director. “There’s really some unique challenges that queer entrepreneurs face, so we wanted to address those challenges and offer this tailor-made program for queer entrepreneurs in Manitoba.”

Steinke-Magnus cites findings from Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC) that shows one in four LGBTTQ+ entrepreneurs have lost business opportunities because of their identity. Two in five have difficulty obtaining financing for their business because of their identity, and one in three have been unable to access mentoring and coaching.

Eight docs recruited to work in western Manitoba

Eight doctors from around the world have signed on to work in clinics across the Prairie Mountain Health region through a provincial program.

Six doctors have set up practice in Swan River, Neepawa, Roblin and Virden, while two physicians are scheduled to begin in Souris and Swan River in mid-September. All were recruited by the Medical Licensure Program for International Medical Graduates, which helps physicians gain Canadian citizenship or permanent residency in exchange for working in communities in desperate need of doctors.

The physicians are from Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, the Philippines and Bangladesh. In exchange for assisting foreign-trained doctors to become fully licensed to practise in Manitoba, they’ve agreed to practise in those communities for at least four years.

While the program has been used since 2001 to recruit doctors to the underserved Westman area , the local health authority has ramped up efforts in the past two years to improve the chance that internationally trained doctors establish roots in rural Manitoba. The hope is that they’ll stay more than four years.

Soccer facility closed after purposely set fire destroys $25,000 covered bench, damages turf

Police are searching for suspects after a group of people torched a players bench at the Bonivital Soccer Club in the early morning hours Thursday.

“It’s pretty disheartening,” Steven Gzebb, the club’s executive director, said by phone Friday.

“Certainly, a moment of disbelief that someone would go to that extent and do something like that.”

Winnipeg Police Service Const. Claude Chancy confirmed the incident is being investigated as arson. As of Friday afternoon, no arrests had been made, he said.

Second summer of motorized boat ban, uncertainty going forward raise longer-term concerns for tourism-driven economy inside Riding Mountain National Park

WASAGAMING — As the sun shimmers over Clear Lake’s still waters, everything appears smooth. But there is an undercurrent of uncertainty running through Manitoba’s most popular national park.

Riding Mountain, and other national parks across Canada, are increasingly facing difficult environmental challenges.

For Riding Mountain, it’s the invasive zebra mussel species. In Alberta’s Jasper National Park, it was 2024’s devastating wildfire that caused more than $1 billion in damages. In Nova Scotia, tinder-dry conditions this summer led to the controversial decision to close back-country access in two national parks — Cape Breton Highlands and Kejimkujik.

This is the new reality for places such as Wasagaming, Riding Mountain’s picturesque townsite that borders on Clear Lake — where bureaucratic decisions to address environmental threats run counter to the desires of residents and tourists who want to enjoy popular summer destinations to the fullest.

Increasing restrictions could silence culture critics

It’s getting harder to see where reviews and other forms of cultural criticism fit in the current media ecosystem. Arts writing positions are being axed at outlets all over North America — but a landscape of all influencers and no critics means all promotion and no journalism.

Amid geopolitical uncertainty, Manitoba poised to become a hub for increased efforts to assert Canada’s Arctic sovereignty

Political ground is shifting, ice is melting and Winnipeg and Manitoba appear poised to play a role worth considering in this uncertain new era of Arctic politics.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution to stop printing as it transitions to all-digital news

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will stop providing a print edition at year's end and go completely digital, a dramatic change for a storied newspaper founded shortly after the Civil War.

The decision will make Atlanta the largest U.S. metro area without a printed daily newspaper, although some smaller metro Atlanta newspapers continue printing.

Publisher Andrew Morse said in his Thursday announcement that the news organization will aim to expand its audience as it continues to report the news using online, audio and video products.

“The fact is, many more people engage with our digital platforms and products today than with our print edition, and that shift is only accelerating," Morse wrote in a letter to subscribers posted on the Journal-Constitution's website. The AJC has about 115,000 total subscribers, of whom 75,000 are online only; Morse has set a goal of gaining 500,000 online subscribers.

Online age checks are proliferating, but so are concerns they curtail internet freedom

Online age checks are on the rise in the U.S. and elsewhere, asking people for IDs or face scans to prove they are over 18 or 21 or even 13. To proponents, they're a tool to keep children away from adult websites and other material that might be harmful to them.

But opponents see a worrisome trend toward a less secure, less private and less free internet, where people can be denied access not just to pornography but news, health information and the ability to speak openly and anonymously.

“I think that many of these laws come from a place of good intentions,” said Jennifer Huddleston, a senior technology policy fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. “Certainly we all want to protect young people from harmful content before they’re ready to see it.”

More than 20 states have passed some kind of age verification law, though many face legal challenges. While no such law exists on the federal level in the United States, the Supreme Court recently allowed a Mississippi age check law for social media to stand. In June, the court upheld a Texas law aimed at preventing minors from watching pornography online, ruling that adults don't have a First Amendment right to access obscene speech without first proving their age.

Winnipeg elementary school shoots for moon with stuffie design

A stuffed animal designed by elementary schoolers in Winnipeg could be launched into outer space on NASA’s Artemis II mission.

The new ‘too normal’ — AI’s band plays on

AI does not produce new ideas; it rummages about on the internet and finds whatever is out there, neatly repackaging it for the unwitting (or dimwitted) consumer by an algorithm designed in secret for what we hope are good reasons.

NCAA partners with Venmo to assist athletes who face harassment on the payment app

Venmo announced a partnership Tuesday with the NCAA to support athletes who face harassment on the payment app, which has embraced its popularity on college campuses with school spirit-branded debit cards and an option for athletes to receive money from their school directly in the PayPal app.

The partnership includes a reporting hotline for athletes and the NCAA to call in potential cases of abuse, such as when former Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne said he received payment requests from angry sports bettors following a loss last season.

“The harassment we are seeing across various online platforms is unacceptable, and we need fans to do better," NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a news release. “We applaud Venmo for taking action, and we need more social media companies and online platforms to do the same.”

Venmo said it would provide a best-practices guide for athletes to “stay safe” on its platform.

‘You’re planting your brand flag’: The power of brand building in the women’s sports boom

On a cold day in the beginning of 2024, Alastair Merry and Mary Lou Bunn had a few questions for a public librarian in Ottawa, Ontario.

“If you could describe Ottawa and what it means to you in a couple words, how would you do it?” they asked. “What do you think of the spirit of the city?”

Merry and Bunn, along with the design firm Flower Shop that they co-founded, were hired by the then newly minted Professional Women’s Hockey League to create the nicknames and logos for the league’s inaugural six teams. They were traveling around North America to figure out what made those six cities tick.

As the ever-growing crop of new women’s leagues — at least eight have launched in the past three years — all aim for longevity, one of the cornerstones of any sustainable foundation is team branding. It encompasses everything from the nicknames to the color schemes and logos, and the PWHL has set a high bar there that other up-and-comers would love to emulate.

How young content creators plan to balance their social media success and campus life

Growing up, Sofia DelGiudice never imagined her father’s annual back-to-school tradition would be a pivotal moment in her social media career.

Before starting university two years ago, the 19-year-old content creator from Toronto had the idea to stitch together all the videos her dad filmed of her descending the stairs in the family's home on the first day of school.

"It's the first day of what grade?" DelGiudice’s dad can be heard asking her in each clip recorded from kindergarten onward.

DelGiudice posted what she thought was a cute homage only her small TikTok following would see — and it went viral.

Businesses put at risk when employees use unauthorized AI tools at work

An artificial intelligence chatbot could help quickly clean up your presentation moments before an important board meeting. But those quick AI fixes can become a liability for the higher-ups you're trying to impress.

More employees are using AI tools to help them complete work tasks and increase their productivity, but most of the time, those tools aren't approved by companies. When employees make use of unauthorized AI platforms and tools, it's referred to as shadow AI, and it creates a risk that workers could accidentally disclose sensitive internal data on these platforms, making the company susceptible to cyberattacks or intellectual property theft.

Often, companies are slow in adopting the latest technology, which may push employees to seek third-party solutions, such as AI assistants, said Kareem Sadek, a partner in the consulting practice at KPMG in Canada specializing in tech risk.

This so-called shadow AI often seeps in when users are looking for convenience, speed and intuitiveness, Sadek said.