Advocate assembles gift bundles for Trans Day of Remembrance

In a world rife with chaos and division, there’s never been a better time for kindness, joy… and a cookie.

Kalyn Falk is on a mission to provide all three.

Falk founded the Trans Day of Remembrance Care Package Project in 2020 as a way to mourn those lost and to ensure that trans and non-binary people in the community feel valued, seen and cared for.

Trans Day of Remembrance is observed every year on Nov. 20 to honour the memory of transgender, two-spirit and non-binary people who lost their lives to acts of anti-transgender violence and systemic oppression.

Separatists hold independence rally in lead-up to Alberta’s birthday bash

EDMONTON - Alberta separatists converged outside the legislature in Edmonton on Saturday afternoon ahead of the province's birthday, with many praying, listening to sermons and saying Alberta would be better off without Canada after having joined Confederation 121 years ago.

"It's the corruption, the lies from out east. I'm just tired of it," said Skip Macaulay, a rally attendee who lives in the central Alberta city of Lacombe. "I'm tired of being told how to live my life. I'm a gun enthusiast ... I want change."

"They don't listen to what Alberta wants and needs," said Jill Didow, an Edmonton resident who was also at the rally. "I believe in Alberta independence."

Alberta officially became a province on Sept. 1, 1905, and various festivities are planned this weekend to mark the anniversary on Tuesday.

Beware invasive, ‘frightening’ waterhemp

There’s a threat lurking on the edge of Manitoba farmers’ fields this fall that’s even scarier than the escalating trade war with their biggest customer.

Provincial extension advisers are warning farmers to watch for a weed known as “tall waterhemp,” which, true to its name, may already be towering above ready-to-harvest crops.

Those wispy tentacles waving in the breeze look pretty innocuous from a distance. But this highly invasive member of the pigweed family produces hundreds of thousands of seeds that are just itching for dispersal through farmers’ combines and across their fields.

Each of those tiny seeds — one small pill container filled halfway holds 44,000 — can produce plants with stems the width of saplings and heights of two to five metres. One or two plants can quickly turn into a patch. If waterhemp takes over a field, it can choke out the growing crop and cut yields by more than 90 per cent.

Assurer la continuité bilingue

À la suite de la nomination cet été de Glenn Joyal à la Cour suprême, l’Association des juristes d’expression française du Manitoba (AJEFM) a adressé une lettre à l’intention de Mark Carney.

Dans cette dernière, L’AJEFM demande au premier ministre du Canada de nommer un juge en chef bilingue pour remplacer Glenn Joyal qui occupait ce rôle à la Cour du Banc du Roi du Manitoba depuis 2011.

En préambule, l’association de juristes francophones souligne les contributions de Glenn Joyal pour faire progresser l’accès à la justice en français et insiste sur le fait que la prochaine nomination doit absolument s’inscrire dans la continuité du travail réalisé par Glenn Joyal, mais aussi celui de Marc Monnin, juge en chef de la Cour du Banc du Roi du Manitoba de 2003 à 2011.

Tarik Daoudi, directeur général de l’AJEFM met de l’avant la fierté d’avoir eu des Franco-Manitobains pour remplir ce rôle mais il indique également que cela va au-delà des sentiments.

Money struggle is real

You likely don’t need a survey to know Canada is a nation of stressed-out citizens.

We have plenty to worry about, and money is often among the leading stressors.

And yes, there are always surveys measuring our collective money-driven concerns, including the recent, inaugural Global Retirement Savers Study by T. Rowe Price.

The U.S.-based asset manager of more than $2 trillion globally found that more than four in 10 surveyed Canadians are financially stressed.

City advised 275 people in 72 camps as of July

A tally by the City of Winnipeg shows the number of people in encampments has fallen by a few hundred since last September.

A Friday presentation to city council members shows 245 people lived in 72 encampments across the city in July, compared with about 100 encampments with 700 people in September 2025.

“There’s some good progress that’s being made … The number of people in encampments is less than half of what it was last year,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham.

The city did not provide numbers for July 2025. It has previously noted the number of encampments tends to increase in warmer months, which has happened each month since February 2026.

U of M research role expands after $79-M federal injection

The University of Manitoba is playing in a new league.

A $79-million investment will bring five internationally recruited researchers to Manitoba to build “ambitious,” long-term research programs in areas of strategic national importance.

The five researchers will join the U of M thanks to the federal government’s $1.7-billion research talent initiative that’s designed to help Canadian universities compete globally for leading researchers.

The initiative’s flagship program, the Eddie Goldenberg Research Chairs of Canada, provides universities with the funding and resources to recruit world-class researchers, build research teams and pursue large-scale projects in fields considered important to Canada — from Arctic navigation and defence to sustainable mining, health equity and environmental law.

Carney’s defence of Lake Ontario carries enormous weight

Prime Minister Mark Carney's response to Trump's "Lake America" name change suggests something kind of new in the fight against the United States in this escalating trade war: pride in Canada’s Indigenity.

Trump’s tariff tantrum, geopolitical turmoil could be blessings in disguise for Manitoba’s diversified economy

It’s early July and Warren Luky’s second last day before he retires as president of United Steelworkers Local 6166. After a career at the bargaining table and in and around mineshafts, Luky speaks candidly as he fires up a barbecue at his Thompson home.

Luky, who represents 472 miners at Vale’s Thompson mining operation along with other northern labourers, is quite aware of the buzzwords currently attached to his trade and the region.

Phrases like “Arctic sovereignty,” “trade diversification,” “Indigenous-led” and “critical minerals” have caught on with politicians of all stripes over the past couple years as federal and provincial governments tout the need for greater Canadian sovereignty, with the push for major infrastructure projects declared a matter of national interest.

In light of the bitter collapse in trade negotiations between Canada and the U.S. on Aug. 21 — a historic blow to cross-border relations — these phrases are bound to become more contagious.

Privacy watchdog takes Google to court in long-running ‘right to be forgotten’ case

OTTAWA - Canada's privacy commissioner is asking the Federal Court to order Google to de-list specific search results, after Google refused to comply with the watchdog’s recommendations.

Privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne's office said a year ago that Google wouldn't implement its recommendation to de-list specific articles in the search results for an individual's name.

The case, which has been ongoing since 2017, involves articles about a criminal charge that was dropped, which the individual said caused direct harm, including social stigma, lost job opportunities and physical assault.

The watchdog recommended Google de-list the articles for searches of that individual's name, though they would continue to be available online and appear in results for other search terms.

Premiers at odds over leveraging potash in Canada’s trade war with U.S.

OTTAWA - Premiers are sharply divided over whether to use Canada's natural resources as leverage in the trade war with the U.S., and potash has emerged as a key point of contention.

Canada is a major global supplier of potash, a key ingredient in fertilizers that are vital for the agricultural sector. The U.S. imports about 85 per cent of its potash from Canada.

While Ontario’s Doug Ford is pushing to pull the most damaging levers with the U.S., Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe and Alberta’s Danielle Smith are warning about a harmful long-term backlash.

Federal politicians are also weighing in. NDP leader Avi Lewis called for an export tax on "oil, gas, thermal coal, potash and other minerals to hit Trump where it hurts."

New Brunswick banning student phone use in public schools

FREDERICTON - New Brunswick is banning elementary students from using their phone or other mobile devices during the school day starting in September.

The province's Liberal government says the same restriction will apply to high school students starting in February.

A news release says social media sites will also be blocked on school devices and internet networks.

But officials say students will be allowed to use their personal laptops and tablets at school for educational purposes.

Parties talk taxes, trade war and parental leave on Day 2 of Quebec election campaign

MONTREAL - Coalition Avenir Québec Leader Christine Fréchette came under attack from her rivals on Friday, as taxes, parental leave and the U.S. trade war all took centre stage during the first full day of campaigning on the Quebec election trail.

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon promised to reduce taxes for Quebec businesses by 20 per cent in his first term as premier if his party wins the Oct. 5 election.

St-Pierre Plamondon made his announcement at the site of the cancelled Northvolt electric battery plant, which he described as a symbol of the failure of the Coalition Avenir Québec government's "economic interventionism."

The Quebec government pledged up to $2.9 billion in financing for the project, including a $270-million investment in the Swedish parent company that was lost when it went bankrupt. Fréchette was energy minister when the project was scrapped.

NDP trying to solve health-care problems from every angle — except the one likely to have the biggest impact

Winnipeg’s emergency-room wait times hit a record high in July, according to the latest data released Thursday by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

The 90th-percentile wait for all emergency rooms and urgent-care sites hit a staggering 13.02 hours last month, the longest wait ever recorded since the WRHA began publishing monthly data.

Thirteen hours is not a wait, it’s an endurance test. And it’s getting worse.

The 90th percentile is the point at which nine out of 10 patients experienced a shorter wait and one in 10 waited even longer.

Using energy exports to punish U.S. would be unwise, Trans Mountain chief says

CALGARY - Disrupting southbound oil exports in retaliation for U.S. tariffs is not viable and would have serious consequences for Canada, said the chief executive of Trans Mountain Corp.

"Interdependencies between both countries are high," Mark Maki said in an interview Friday following the release of the Crown corporation's second-quarter results, which saw its pipeline to the Vancouver area running 94 per cent full.

"I hope people put down the shovels here pretty quick. We're hitting each other and we've got to stop that."

There have been calls to keep the option open of using Canada's natural resources as leverage in the latest trade flare-up. U.S. tariffs of 50 per cent on an array of Canadian goods worth $28 billion are in effect after Canada walked away from talks last week. Canada has since announced plans to hit back with countertarrifs and U.S. President Donald Trump threatened further levies.

United Nations talks in Mongolia expose growing drought crisis as climate impacts worsen

BENGALURU, India (AP) — Representatives from nearly 200 countries wrapped up United Nations desertification talks in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Friday, seeking ways to keep land productive as climate change heats the planet and degraded soils and landscapes lose their ability to hold water, produce food and support livelihoods.

Up to 40% of the world’s land is degraded, according to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which organizes the biennial talks. Droughts are also emerging in areas that were not considered highly vulnerable a decade ago, said Yasmine Fouad, the convention’s executive secretary.

“Drought is coming coupled with the impact of climate change,” Fouad said in an interview with the Associated Press. “It’s becoming more frequent, more intense and more prolonged."

Countries left Ulaanbaatar without resolving one of the talks' key issues — whether to create a legally binding global drought agreement — postponing a decision until the next round of talks in Egypt in two years. The issue had already been deferred at the previous meeting two years ago.

Emily Wilson’s ‘Odyssey’ became a cultural flashpoint. Now, she’s retranslating the whole thing

NEW YORK (AP) — If you're among the many readers who learned to love “The Odyssey” through Emily Wilson's 2017 translation, you might be surprised that she's going to translate it again.

“It's a complete retranslation. It's not a revision of the old version,” Wilson told The Associated Press during a recent Zoom interview from her home in Philadelphia, where she is a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania. “I'm about halfway through.”

Regarded as the first major English-language translation of Homer’s epic by a woman, her book was already a bestseller and a culture-wars flashpoint before the release of Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation. But she says her translation methods have become more sophisticated and that enough time has passed for her to see some flaws in her work — as an example, she overused the word “slave” when ancient Greek had different terms for different categories of enslaved people. The new edition will be longer, she says, and will better reflect the differing social worlds of Homer’s poem.

Fiction writers and poets, from Henry James to Walt Whitman, have revised and reissued early works. But translators rarely start over on a full-length text — especially not within a decade of the original work's completion, and not when the translation has had the success of Wilson's “Odyssey.”

Interprovincial trade barriers falling but challenges remain: experts

The collapse of talks with the United States has added urgency to reducing trade barriers within Canada, but experts say it's not a simple fix.

Efforts to boost interprovincial trade have ramped up recently, including at a meeting this week of federal, provincial and territorial trade officials in Iqaluit.

In a communique released late Thursday, ministers agreed that the suspension of negotiations with the U.S. means it's more critical than ever to strengthen the economy at home.

As part of that push, nine provinces agreed last month to allow direct-to-consumer alcohol sales across provincial boundaries.

Canada’s economy was surging in Q2. Now, it braces for new tariff headwinds

OTTAWA - Fresh data from Statistics Canada on Friday suggests the economy was growing at a healthy clip in the second quarter and rumblings of a recession earlier in the year might have been overblown.

But economists warned that any momentum the economy had last quarter will be tested by a new wave of tariffs and trade uncertainty.

Real gross domestic product rose 3.3 per cent on an annualized basis in the second quarter, StatCan said. That was the fastest quarterly pace of growth since early 2023 and topped the Bank of Canada's call for 2.5 per cent growth in the quarter.

BMO chief economist Doug Porter said in an interview that 3.3 per cent is a "solid result." A typical quarterly figure over the past 20 years would see the economy growing at around two per cent annualized, he noted.

Educating youth major priority for artist Peatr Thomas

It has to be among the biggest skateboard decks in the country, and it hangs in Peatr Thomas’s art studio on Donald Street in the Exchange District.

The four-metre deck’s artwork created by Thomas, depicts Cree skateboarder Joe Buffalo, spirit lines radiating from his airborne figure, as he becomes the first skater to jump over a massive gap (also four metres) in Montreal’s Peace Park.

“I like that idea and practice of falling and getting up again, over and over to achieve something,” says Thomas, 39.

It’s a lesson he applies to his art practice.

Journalling club looking for folks up for a scrap

On any given Monday evening this summer, Katie Borgfjord could be found scrapping and yapping with friends and strangers alike, building community one collage at a time.

Borgfjord is the creative force behind Scrap and Yap, a local journalling club that hosts workshops and drop-in events that launched in January. This summer, she set up shop at the weekly Riverview Community Centre’s Monday Markets, inviting visitors of all ages to pull up a chair and get crafty for a while.

“We have magazines, stickers, scrap paper, glue, scissors, stamps, anything you might want to just let your creativity out,” Borgfjord, 26, says.

“It’s different every time. Usually a few people will drop in, some will stay the whole time. My favourite is when people just drop in who have never heard of us before. I hope that it helps spark some creativity.”

Meta settlement should be first of many

Who knew? A massive company knew its products were harmful to children and teens, and not only kept its products on the market, but worked to make them more addictive, to build their own profits.

Manitoba Hydro’s strategy: Deny, deny, deny

Here’s a good story… A man walks into your office and says, “Have I got a deal for you! I want $3 billion (plus perhaps a bit more) to build you something that you might use three or even four times a year, for maybe 30-60 hours each time. Sign here.”