Kennedy Center disassembles Blue sculpture from its grounds

The Kennedy Center took down Wednesday a sculpture known as Blue, the latest change to the cultural and performing arts center that stirred some pushback in President Donald Trump's second term.

The sculpture, a tall, blue stick figure poised in action — as if to kick a ball or, from a different angle, having just kicked one — was designed by sculptor Joel Shapiro and installed in 2019.

The removal follows a longer-running saga with the Kennedy Center, where the Trump-aligned board is fighting in court for the right to plaster the president's name on the historic institution. It falls within a broader effort to reshape Washington to Trump's liking, including demolishing the White House's East Wing to build a ballroom, a proposed triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery and a renovated golf course.

Shapiro, known for breathing life into otherwise minimalist stick figures, described Blue in a video posted to the Kennedy Center’s YouTube years ago as being “about action and risk and performance and energy. It’s a celebration of possibility.”

Clinical trial patient says ketamine treatment for bipolar depression changed his life

TORONTO - Greg Rennie says his bipolar depression was an eight out of 10 when he went in for his first ketamine infusion in April 2025.

He ranked it a zero out of 10 right afterward.

Rennie, who has had bipolar depression for almost 30 years, was one of the 68 participants in a University Health Network clinical trial evaluating the safety and effectiveness of repeated ketamine infusions for people with bipolar depression.

The 61-year-old was hooked up to an IV in a UHN hospital room. About 10 minutes after they turned on the ketamine he recalls feeling like he was floating, dissociated from his body, like he was in outer space. He began to envision himself in a dark room where at times light would shine through.

Élections Québec says it’s too late to print voter documents in English

MONTREAL - Élections Québec says it is too late to make changes to the unilingual French documents it is mailing to voters ahead of the Oct. 5 election despite facing backlash from the anglophone community.

The provincial elections authority was reacting to comments made by Coalition Avenir Québec Leader Christine Fréchette, who said she is in discussions with Élections Québec to determine the next steps.

"We will see what our obligations are," Fréchette said.

The unilingual documents have prompted an outcry from advocacy groups representing anglophones in Quebec, who say they are creating an unnecessary barrier for voters.

Hilroy says sorry for leaving Newfoundland, Cape Breton off notebooks’ Canadian map

Hilroy has apologized for leaving Newfoundland and Cape Breton off the Canadian map on its glossy notebooks, after the mistake led to backlash online.

Hilroy's pastel-coloured paper exercise books are well known across the country for the map of Canada on their covers. But the map on Hilroy's glossy covered notebooks is missing a few parts of the country.

In a post to its Facebook page Tuesday, the company said its team has always been proud of the map, "which is exactly why getting it wrong stings."

The inaccurate map was the result of a production error, the post said. The company has stopped distributing the books and is fixing the cover artwork.

Canadian Tire and Tim Hortons launch partnership to boost loyalty programs

TORONTO - Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. and Tim Hortons are hoping to perk up their customer bases by linking their loyalty programs.

Under a partnership launched between the home goods retailer and café giant Wednesday, customers who link their Triangle and Tims Rewards accounts will earn between two and five per cent in Canadian Tire money in addition to Tims points on select Tims purchases.

The arrangement is meant to draw Tims customers to Canadian Tire and vice versa.

Right now, 53 per cent of Triangle Rewards customers are enrolled in both loyalty programs. Canadian Tire has about 12 million Triangle Rewards members and 1,600 locations across its banners. Tims counts eight million loyalty program users and 4,000 restaurants in Canada.

Long-term care best when public

Long-term care remains in crisis in Manitoba. As a result, too many Manitobans fear what will happen to them and their relatives as they age and develop more complex health needs.

Love of the rink blossomed differently for mother-daughter figure skaters

It’s said that home is where the heart is, and for Dana and Marrin McKee that has always been the rink.

The mother-daughter duo of figure skating coaches always find comfort lacing up in chilly arenas.

Dana McKee’s origin story was very similar to her daughter’s, having a strong motherly push onto the ice. Much like learning to swim or drive a car, Dana’s mother believed that skating was an important life skill that needed to be honed.

Growing up in Morris, McKee spent the majority of her youth in the CanSkate program — a developmental learn-to-skate stage teaching the basics of standing upright.

Chefs gather in St. Boniface to see whose version of jollof is best

Chef Alex Bockarie is bringing an age-old African culinary battle to Winnipeg.

On Saturday, five local chefs hailing from Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria will go head-to-head to determine who makes the best jollof — a rice dish simmered in a savoury tomato-based stew.

“Jollof rice originated from Senegal but it has spread throughout West Africa and every country has its own method of cooking it,” Bockarie says. “It’s a long-standing fight; even among the communities here in Winnipeg, everybody’s always saying that Sierra Leone’s (jollof) is the best, Ghana’s is the best, Nigeria’s is the best.

“It’s a friendly competition; friendly, but very serious too.”

‘One-stop powwow shop’: Trail Creations opens doors to traditional, ceremonial clothing

Spoons hang on the wall — small, silver and, unlike most items in the shop, not for sale.

One from Saskatchewan, another from Florida. Each represents a place Jessica Lavallee and her family visited during a powwow circuit. The 32,000-kilometre trek led Jessica to 3096 Portage Ave.

She opened Trail Creations, a Winnipeg store selling materials to make traditional Indigenous garb, in the space last month.

“We want it to be a one-stop powwow shop,” Lavallee said.

Renewed spirit and life: Indigenous treatment centre expands with $21-M revamp

Don Robinson knows first-hand that many people don’t get sober by themselves.

In late June 1984, Robinson downed his last drink. His recovery began at Pritchard House in Winnipeg’s North End, a 22-bed treatment facility run by the Native Addictions Council of Manitoba.

“I didn’t get sober by myself,” said Robinson, a member of Bunibonibee Cree Nation who now works in grief and trauma counselling and traditional knowledge as an elder at Ka Ni Kanichihk Inc.

More than four decades later, Robinson was back at the council on Monday, crowded into a room at its newly renovated treatment centre at 160 Salter St. — a place he once turned to for help and where he helps others now.

Check vaccinations before heading back to school: chief public health officer

TORONTO - Canada's chief public health officer is urging parents to check that routine childhood vaccinations are up-to-date as kids head back to school.

In an interview on Tuesday, Dr. Joss Reimer said measles is still spreading, while vaccine misinformation continues to circulate online.

The national measles immunization rate for two-year-olds is about 85 per cent, falling short of the 95 per cent needed for herd immunity, Reimer said.

Although rates of infection in the multi-province measles outbreak that began in 2024  — and cost Canada its measles elimination status late last year — appear to be going down, kids who aren't vaccinated are always at risk because people bring the virus into the country and it's "incredibly infectious," she said.

A closer look at five standout Canadian titles headed to TIFF 2026

TORONTO - When writer-director David Bezmozgis set out to adapt his 2014 novel "The Betrayers" for the big screen, he wasn't just changing its format. He also had to adjust to a new geopolitical landscape.

The film, which is set in Ukraine and Israel, is one of 61 Canadian features and shorts programmed at this year's edition of the Toronto International Film Festival.

The Canadian Press spoke to Bezmozgis and four other homegrown directors about their films.

THE BETRAYERSBezmozgis's second novel was an unmitigated hit when it was published. It made numerous best-of-the-year lists — from the Wall Street Journal to the New Yorker — and was shortlisted for the Giller Prize.

Schwartz’s Deli swaps black cherry soda for local alternative as U.S. tariffs bite

On a typical summer day at Schwartz’s Deli, in Montreal, there's a lineup at the door as tourists and locals wait to get their smoked-meat sandwich. But now, something has changed.

Local demand surges for Canadian-made food and household goods, but retailers lag

Food and household goods companies in Canada say they're seeing a surge in demand as Canadians prioritize shopping local amid the ongoing trade war, but they say some retailers are slow to give more shelf space to products from this country.

Despite the strain of higher prices at the grocery store, many shoppers are going out of their way to buy Canadian-made products, food and household goods, companies told The Canadian Press.

However, they say some retailers are slow to react to the shift in demand, leading to a rise in selling directly to consumers.

"We aren't really built for direct-to-customer sales but we're doing it because of the demand we're seeing," said Kathleen Chapman, president of aVenco Ltd., a Bowmanville, Ont.-based parchment paper company.

Recognizing the value of phys-ed for kids

The message from Premier Wab Kinew and Education Minister Tracy Schmidt last week about the importance of exercise for young people was timely and important — but it is not new.

Security company rolling out Indigenous ambassador program

A Winnipeg security firm has put an Indigenous community ambassador in a downtown Dollarama store, as companies and advocates seek new ways to build bridges and prevent trouble.

Impact Security owner Ron D’Errico said he is planning to expand the new program to additional retailers and communities, and hire up to 20 more ambassadors to work alongside his company’s security guards.

“Security companies need to be better. That’s just the nature of this industry,” he said. “We’re far gone from the days where we hire a guy to sit in a store or watch an empty building. We’re at an age now where people need to understand cultural sensitivity, roots of the problems, layers of why crimes happen and how to deal with challenges such as confrontation.”

D’Errico said the program is the first of its kind in Manitoba. It stems from a Feb. 28 incident where an Impact Security guard allegedly used brass knuckles while assaulting an Indigenous man at the Dollarama at 295 Portage Ave.

Committee vote brings outdoor learning facility one step closer for Riel school division

Plans for an outdoor education facility that would host Indigenous and land-based learning for the Louis Riel School Division are moving forward.

Author says Trump’s ‘Lake America’ order driving hits to guide on ditching U.S. tech

FREDERICTON - Canadian author Paris Marx says there's been a renewed interest in his list of alternatives to U.S. technology since President Donald Trump signed an order renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America."

Marx, who hosts the Tech Won't Save Us podcast and is based in St. John's, N.L., maintains a catalogue of email services, mobile phones and other tech created by firms outside the United States.

For example, he suggests Switzerland's Proton for its email, cloud storage and password manager. There's also a phone alternative he recommends called Fairphone that runs on an open-source European operating system and was made in the Netherlands.

And, of relevance, Marx offers map alternatives in his "Getting off US tech" guide, such as Estonia's Organic Maps, OpenStreetMap out of the United Kingdom and the Dutch-made Here WeGo.