Why Winnipeg needs low-fare transit

Picture a single mother choosing between groceries and bus fare, or a youth not being able to access recreational activities because transit is too expensive. In a city where costs continue to rise, access to public transit shouldn’t be a luxury, but a daily necessity for survival.

Federal government says emails, phone numbers accessed in cyberattack

OTTAWA - The federal government says individuals' email addresses and phone numbers associated with Canada Revenue Agency, Employment and Social Development Canada and Canada Border Services Agency accounts were accessed in a cyberattack.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat says the government was alerted to the cyber incident on Aug. 17 by 2Keys Corporation, the provider of a multi-factor authentication application used for the accounts.

The government says 2Keys Corporation discovered the incident, promptly informed the government and launched an investigation, which is being conducted with external cybersecurity experts.

Treasury Board says a routine software update caused a "vulnerability" that allowed a malicious actor to access phone numbers associated with CRA and ESDC accounts, and email addresses associated with CBSA accounts, linked to people who used the authentication service between Aug. 3 and Aug. 15.

Setting aside money for post-secondary education shouldn’t slip through budgeting cracks

Back-to-school time is hectic and costly for many families with fees, new clothing, supplies and extracurricular activities.

American Eagle counts new customers after Sydney Sweeney ad frenzy and shares soar

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters spiked 34% Thursday after the teen clothing retailer said the frenzy surrounding its Sydney Sweeney ad campaign drew new customers during its most recent quarter.

American Eagle rolled out its new new ad campaign starring 27-year-old actor over the summer. The fall denim campaign sparked a debate about race, Western beauty standards, and the backlash to “woke” American politics and culture.

Negative reactions centered on ads that used the word “genes” instead of “jeans” featuring the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actor known for the HBO series “Euphoria” and “White Lotus.”

But American Eagle did get noticed, executives said late Wednesday in a call after the Pittsburgh retailer posted second quarter earnings.

Artificial intelligence helps break barriers for Hispanic homeownership

For many Hispanics the road to homeownership is filled with obstacles, including loan officers who don’t speak Spanish or aren't familiar with buyers who may not fit the boxes of a traditional mortgage applicant.

Some mortgage experts are turning to artificial intelligence to bridge the gap. They want AI to help loan officers find the best lender for a potential homeowner's specific situation, while explaining the process clearly and navigating residency, visa or income requirements.

This new use of a bilingual AI has the potential to better serve homebuyers in Hispanic and other underrepresented communities. And it's launching as federal housing agencies have begun to switch to English-only services, part of President Donald Trump's push to make it the official language of the United States. His executive order in August called the change a way to “reinforce shared national values, and create a more cohesive and efficient society.”

The number of limited-English households tripled over the past four decades, according to the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. The institute says these households struggle to navigate the mortgage process, making it difficult for them to own a home, which is a key factor in building generational wealth.

Landlords can hike rent by 1.8 per cent in 2026, province announces

The Manitoba government will allow landlords a marginal rent increase when new rent guidelines take effect in January.

The province announced its updated rent-increase guideline for 2026, setting the maximum rate landlords can increase rent at 1.8 per cent — up from a rate of 1.7 per cent in 2025.

Landlords must send written notices of rent increases at least three months before they takes effect. For a rent increase on Jan. 1, therefore, renters must be notified of the change by Sept. 30, the province said in a news release Friday.

The guideline is updated annually and calculated using a formula based on Manitoba’s consumer price index, the province said. It applies to most residential rental properties, including apartments, single rooms, houses and duplexes.

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.

bbno$, the Beaches warn approaching TikTok Canada closure will hurt homegrown artists

Several Canadian artists are worried about losing social media support that can make or break their careers as TikTok prepares to comply with a federal order to shut down its operations in Canada.

Not just Big Bird: Things to know about the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and its funding cuts

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps pay for PBS, NPR, 1,500 local radio and television stations as well as programs like “Sesame Street” and “Finding Your Roots,” said Friday that it would close after the U.S. government withdrew funding.

The organization told employees that most staff positions will end with the fiscal year on Sept. 30. A small transition team will stay until January to finish any remaining work.

The private, nonprofit corporation was founded in 1968 shortly after Congress authorized its formation. It now ends nearly six decades of fueling the production of renowned educational programming, cultural content and emergency alerts about natural disasters.

Here's what to know:

Google loses appeal in antitrust battle with Fortnite maker

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a jury verdict condemning Google's Android app store as an illegal monopoly, clearing the way for a federal judge to enforce a potentially disruptive shakeup that's designed to give consumers more choices.

The unanimous ruling issued Thursday by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals delivers a double-barreled legal blow for Google, which has been waylaid in three separate antitrust trials that resulted in different pillars of its internet empire being declared as domineering scofflaws monopolies since late 2023.

The unsuccessful appeal represents a major victory for video game maker Epic Games, which launched a legal crusade targeting Google’s Play Store for Android apps and Apple’s iPhone app store nearly five years ago in an attempt to bypass exclusive payment processing systems that charged 15% to 30% commissions on in-app transactions.

The jury's December 2023 rebuke of Google's app store for Android-powered smartphones began a cascade of setbacks that includes monopoly judgements against the company's ubiquitous search engine last year and the technology underlying its digital ad network earlier this year.

Musk, a social media powerhouse, boosts fortunes of hard-right figures in Europe

ROME (AP) — Hard-right commentators, politicians and activists in Europe have uncovered a secret to expanding their influence: engaging with Elon Musk.

Take the German politician from a party whose own domestic intelligence agency has designated as extremist. Her daily audience on X surged from 230,000 to 2.2 million on days Musk interacted with her posts. She went on to lead her party to its best-ever electoral showing.

Or the anti-immigration activist in Britain, who was banned from Twitter and sentenced to 18 months in prison for contempt of court. Since Musk let him back on the platform in late 2023, he’s mentioned, reposted or replied to the billionaire more than 120 times on X — and gained nearly a million followers.

Even a little-known social-media influencer turned politician from Cyprus has benefited from the Musk effect. Before winning a surprise seat in the European Parliament, where he’s advocated for Musk, the influencer seemed to have one ambition: to hug the world’s richest man. He got his hug — and political endorsements. On days Musk has interacted with his account on X, the man’s audience exploded from just over 300,000 to nearly 10 million views.

Creating realistic deepfakes is getting easier than ever. Fighting back may take even more AI

WASHINGTON (AP) — The phone rings. It's the secretary of state calling. Or is it?

For Washington insiders, seeing and hearing is no longer believing, thanks to a spate of recent incidents involving deepfakes impersonating top officials in President Donald Trump's administration.

Digital fakes are coming for corporate America, too, as criminal gangs and hackers associated with adversaries including North Korea use synthetic video and audio to impersonate CEOs and low-level job candidates to gain access to critical systems or business secrets.

Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, creating realistic deepfakes is easier than ever, causing security problems for governments, businesses and private individuals and making trust the most valuable currency of the digital age.

Like mother, like daughter: Sunshine Fund camp experience runs in the family

Peyton Toth is weeks away from graduating from Grade 3 and heading to summer camp for the first time.

And the bubbly outgoing eight-year-old will soon be on her way to Camp Arnes, on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg north of Gimli, thanks to the Sunshine Fund.

Peyton’s mom, Lindsay, said she knows firsthand the type of experience her daughter will get. Three decades ago, when she was eight years old, she went to camp for the first time — at Camp Arnes.

“I wanted her to go to camp so I began looking at the camps out there,” she said. “But I didn’t realize (camping fees) would be that much. It costs $800 for the week.

Preparing for the future: The importance of estate planning

Canada is currently undergoing the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history, but more than half of us aren’t ready. A recent study by IG Wealth Management (IG) uncovered that 54 per cent of Canadians don’t have an estate plan, leaving them and their loved ones unprepared for carrying out final wishes.

A well-crafted estate plan offers peace of mind by preparing for potential incapacity later in life and ensuring that your assets are distributed according to your wishes. It can also help reduce any tax burden on your beneficiaries. Key components to include in an estate plan include a will, healthcare directive, naming beneficiaries, purchasing life insurance and designating a power of attorney.

“It’s understandable that Canadians want to avoid thinking and speaking about death, but having these difficult conversations now and ensuring that a comprehensive plan is in place will make it easier in the future, both for yourself and your loved ones,” said Christine Van Cauwenberghe, Head of Financial Planning at IG Wealth Management.

Understanding an estate plan

Czech justice minister resigns over a donated bitcoin scandal

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech Republic Justice Minister Pavel Blažek resigned from his post over a bitcoin-related scandal on Friday.

Blažek was under fire from the opposition after his ministry accepted a donation of bitcoins and sold them for about 1 billion Czech koruna (more than $45 million) earlier this year.

Blažek said that he wasn't aware of any wrongdoing, but didn’t want the four-party coalition government led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala to be harmed by the scandal. Fiala said that he appreciated his resignation and believed that Blažek acted with goodwill.

Blažek was a close ally of Fiala in the government, and also in his conservative Civic Democratic Party. It's not clear who might replace him.

Colorado’s governor vetoes landmark ban on rent-setting algorithms

Democratic Gov. Jared Polis has vetoed a bill that would have made Colorado the first state to ban landlords from using rent-setting algorithms, which many advocates have blamed for driving up housing costs across the country.

RealPage is the target of a federal lawsuit filed last year that accuses the real estate software company of facilitating an illegal scheme to help landlords coordinate to hike rental prices. Eight other states, including Colorado, have joined the Department of Justice's lawsuit, though RealPage has vehemently denied any claims of collusion and has fought to have the lawsuit dismissed.

Critics say RealPage software combines confidential information from each real estate management company in ways that enable landlords to align prices and avoid competition that would otherwise push down rents. RealPage’s clients include huge landlords who collectively oversee millions of units across the U.S.

The Colorado bill, which recently passed the Democratic-led Legislature along party lines, would have prevented the use of such algorithms.

Hudson’s Bay heads into last days of sale with lots of shoppers, little merchandise

TORONTO - Hudson’s Bay headed into its last weekend of liquidation sales with its Toronto flagship teeming with shoppers looking for one last treasure from the department store.

Even before the Yonge Street location opened Friday, shoppers waited in front of its doors, exchanging hopes for what they’d find inside and strategizing how to beat the competition.

When they made it in, they found large swaths of the store had been emptied out, but plenty of deals still remained.

There were $10 Levi's jeans for men, $5 corsets for women and $15 pajama sets.

S&P/TSX composite slides on Friday but caps off month near record highs

Canada’s main stock index on Friday continued to trim the gains that pushed it to a record closing high two days earlier, as investors retreated to defensive stocks while energy and information technology took a hit.

“It’s been another roller-coaster day in markets, capping off generally strong equity index returns for the month,” said Kathrin Forrest, equity investment director at Capital Group.

The S&P/TSX composite index inched down 35.51 points to 26,175.05.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 54.34 points to 42,270.07. The S&P 500 index slipped 0.48 points to 5,911.69, while the Nasdaq dipped 62.11 points to 19,113.77 — but both logged their biggest monthly percentage gains since November 2023.

CFL, nine member clubs donate over $4.5 million to grassroots football programs

TORONTO - The CFL and its nine member clubs invested over $4.5 million into amateur football last year.

The league announced Friday that it and the nine franchises combined to donate $4,518,900 to grassroots football initiatives, projects and programs throughout Canada in 2024.

"The community involvement of the CFL, its clubs and players is something that sets us apart from other leagues," said CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston. "To be able, among all of the clubs in the league, to donate over $4.5 million is encouraging participation and exposure to the game and ultimately having kids fall in love with the sport.

"That's wonderful for a number of reasons, one of which is the game of football teaches such great skills that can be applied to life."

US inflation gauge cools with little sign of tariff impact, so far

WASHINGTON (AP) — A key U.S. inflation gauge slowed last month as President Donald Trump’s tariffs have yet to noticeably push up prices. Spending by Americans slowed despite rising incomes, potentially an early reaction to higher prices on some imported goods.

Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that consumer prices rose just 2.1% in April compared with a year earlier, down from 2.3% in March and the lowest since September. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.5% from a year earlier, below the March figure of 2.7%, and the lowest in more than four years. Economists track core prices because they typically provide a better read on where inflation is headed.

The figures show inflation is still declining from its post-pandemic spike, which reached the highest level in four decades in July 2022. Economists and some business executives have warned that prices will likely head higher as Trump’s widespread tariffs take effect, though the timing and impact of those duties are now in doubt after they were struck down late Wednesday in court.

On a monthly basis, overall prices and core prices both increased just 0.1% from March to April. The cost of big-ticket manufactured goods rose a hefty 0.5%, though that increase was offset by a 0.1 decline in other goods, such as groceries. The cost of services rose just 0.1% from March to April.

RioCan REIT asks court to put joint venture with Hudson’s Bay into receivership: docs

TORONTO - RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust is pushing to put a joint venture it owns with Hudson's Bay into receivership.

A motion filed late Thursday from the real estate firm asks the Ontario Superior Court to appoint FTI Consulting Canada Inc. receiver of the companies that span the venture.

“The proposed receivership proceedings will provide the appropriate forum to protect the interests of the stakeholders of the joint-venture entities and maximize value,” RioCan’s chief financial officer Dennis Blasutti said in an affidavit filed alongside the motion.

Receivers are empowered by courts to take control of a company’s assets, oversee their liquidation and repay creditors.

Laurentian Bank reports $32 million Q2 profit as work continues on strategic plan

Laurentian Bank of Canada says it's making progress on its turnaround efforts as it marks a year of working through its strategic plan.

"We've taken meaningful steps to transform our organization and are making steady progress toward generating efficiency," said chief executive Éric Provost on an earnings call Friday.

"While we're still in the early stages, we are satisfied with the progress we have made."

The bank has been working to boost its dealings in the specialized commercial sector while maintaining consumer deposits, as well as boosting technology investments for a bank that until recently didn't offer a smartphone app.