Canada resorting to its tried and true playbook

In 1846, Britain faced an emergency influenced by the Irish famine, so leaders repealed the country’s “Corn Laws” and restrictions on imported food and grain, transitioning to a system of free trade.

This created a crisis in the then Province of Canada, which had relied on British “preferential” status to prop up its agricultural and resource industries.

As a result, Canada looked south for new markets and eventually negotiated a free trade agreement with the United States.

This required land to be acquired and converted for industrial use quickly, so Canada quickly dispatched Commissioner William Robinson to negotiate with Indigenous communities along Lake Huron and Lake Superior for land.

Furby Street residents fed up with inaction on drug houses

Anxious Furby Street residents contacted the city and their elected officials Friday to — once again — report people coming and going from a boarded-up house they call a dangerous “drug centre” and “den of thieves” that’s just steps away from a house under construction.

Linda Zak, who was holding a yard sale with a group of neighbours Friday morning, described the trouble the home attracts, while a woman slumped on the front steps and a man standing in the yard yelled to someone inside it.

“It is a drug centre,” said Zak, 77. “We know that. A couple of days ago, a person lit the front on fire. Now, as you look at it, you can see where the facade was burning and they were trying to harm people inside.”

“We’re very concerned about it being next to the home this man is building,” she said, pointing to the two-storey that’s nearly completed. The boarded-up house is in the 500 block of Furby.

Museum warehouse holds the history of electrical power in Manitoba

The work it takes to bring any endeavour to light is rarely, if ever, seen by those who look upon the final result — be that a creative work such as a feature film or a museum display.

Since 2001, the Manitoba Electrical Museum and Education Centre, located at 680 Harrow St., has provided thousands of visitors with a century’s worth of history on electrical power in Manitoba.

“Everyone who comes in here is amazed at how much we can pack into such a small space,” says executive director Beryth Strong, who took on the role last November.

The museum is open to the public Tuesday to Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. and hosts large groups of students throughout the school year. While the museum itself boasts numerous displays featuring approximately 220 electrical artifacts, including household appliances, computers, telephones, technical gear and much more, along with a collection of nearly 20,000 photos documenting major electrical construction projects, its warehouse just south of McGillivray Boulevard houses thousands more unique items.

Nvidia unveils security platform to stop AI agents from going rogue

Nvidia on Monday unveiled a new security platform designed to stop artificial intelligence agents from going rogue, saying it sets “boundaries” that could have stopped previous breaches.

The announcement of the company's Open Agent Safety Platform follows a series of revelations from top AI companies about their models escaping and breaking into other organizations.

The disclosures sparked furious debate about the safety of advanced artificial intelligence systems, including self-improving models that some fear could race out of human control.

Nvidia executives said in a media briefing the new, open-source system could have prevented a recent incident involving a swarm of OpenAI agents that autonomously hacked into AI company Hugging Face.

Respectful separation: an obvious oxymoron

“We want a fair and respectful relationship with Canada,” Alberta separatist leader Keith Wilson told the CBC commentator. He paused. Briefly. “On our terms.”

Wab Kinew as ‘communicator in chief’

Premier Wab Kinew and his party have been riding high in the polls longer than normal for a government one year or less away from its first re-election contest. One reason is his ubiquitous, dominating communications presence as NDP leader and premier.

The argument here is that Kinew has supplemented his prerogatives as premier and party leader (such as appointing cabinet ministers and approving party nominations) with the skilful use of communications to advance his policy agenda, boost his personal popularity and maintain the competitive advantage of his party over the opposition Progressive Conservatives.

Communications has always been a significant part of politics and policy making. However, in the contemporary political and media environments, communications considerations have moved from the background to the foreground of decision-making by political parties, including when they are performing in the role of government. Campaigning and governing now overlap in what has been described as a permanent election campaign.

Political parties use communications strategies for several purposes: to establish an image of the leader which makes a positive emotional connection with voters; to promote a coherent message and to keep party members on message; and to gain favourable media coverage for its policies and other actions on almost a daily basis.

Discrediting independent media is the game plan

United States President Donald Trump’s decision to bar several news organizations from White House briefings is, thanks to a court decision, teetering on the edge of collapse.

Local Muslims, Indigenous people hold interfaith event

Bannock with wild rice and samosas with halal beef stew were served in equal measure as Indigenous and Muslim Winnipeggers sought common ground at an interfaith event discussing truth and reconciliation Sunday.

The Islamic Social Services Association’s second annual Muslim-Indigenous Solidarity event recognized Orange Shirt Day through conversations with elders, shared prayers and crafting.

Organizer Shahina Siddiqui said many of the people attending the gathering, held at Canadian Mennonite University, share the traumatic impacts of colonialism.

Siddiqui said she herself had attended a Catholic day school in her home country of Pakistan, where she and other students were forced to speak English, and were hurt if they didn’t. Many Muslim-majority countries, she said, have been harmed by colonialism.

Province invests $3.8M in culinary arts training facility for francophone high school students

A new dedicated culinary arts training facility will give francophone high school students a place to learn the trade in French.

Puck drops on new-look NHL broadcasting scene after major off-season changes

TORONTO - An off-season of major changes on the NHL broadcasting scene in Canada may leave some hockey fans searching through their TV guides and others digging into their wallets.

To start, Saturday nights will feel a lot different in this country. After decades of NHL coverage, the CBC will no longer broadcast the league's games on "Hockey Night in Canada."

Sportsnet will continue to broadcast most NHL games after Rogers Communications extended its rights agreement with the league for 12 years at a cost of $11 billion. Bell Media's TSN/RDS will still broadcast some regional games and the Amazon Prime Monday Night package is shifting to Wednesdays.

"I think that we're being re-educated in how sports are going to be digested by the general population in that you can no longer just click on your old favourite channel and your game is there," said Michael McKinley, author of “Hockey Night in Canada: 60 Seasons.”

Quebec voters bring issues like economy, language and health to advance polling

MONTREAL - Along the Saint-Lawrence River, with a view of the Montreal skyline, voters gathered at advance polling stations like one at the Montreal science centre to cast early ballots ahead of the province’s Oct. 5 general election.

Marc Fortin and Denise Tremblay, accompanied by their two grandchildren, were among the early voters headed to the first day of advance polling on Sunday.

“We wanted to take part in ‘Électeurs en herbe’ (a youth voting simulation program), to start preparing the civic action of the future,” said Fortin, who voted in the downtown riding of Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques.

Tremblay proudly noted that their grandson, Louis-Samuel, 9, knew all the party leaders.

As Canada pivots to Arctic, experts wonder if Ottawa has enough regional diplomats

OTTAWA - As Canada plans an ambitious expansion of defence and economic activity in the Arctic, regional experts are asking whether it has enough diplomats to build the ties it wants in the North.

"The Arctic is a geopolitical hot spot," said Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. "The (Global Affairs) department does not have huge bench strength when it comes to Arctic diplomacy."

Here's a look at how the Liberals have both cut back and restaffed positions across the North in recent years.

Closing an expert centre

Students from France visit Winnipeg to learn about soldiers who helped liberate their country

Travelling nearly 7,000 km from his home in France to Winnipeg gave Gabriel Zaranski a new perspective on warfare.

“It’s very different to speak about war in school (than) to speak with real people who (have fought) in a war,” he said. “We can feel the emotion when they speak … The testimony has more impact when it’s real soldiers.”

Zaranski is one of 14 Grade 12 students from Bayeux, a town in France’s Normandy region, in Winnipeg this week for a learning tour.

The students, who attend Lycée Arcisse de Caumont high school, met on Saturday with veterans from the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, a local military regiment, to discuss their studies and the regiment’s role in the Second World War.

Gordon Bell students relish — ‘of all things’ — new pickleball courts

Manitoba’s newest public school sports facility is bringing the pickleball craze to an inner-city campus.

Gordon Bell High School unveiled four custom-made courts for the popular paddle sport this fall as part of a multi-faceted makeover.

Grade 12 student Matea Thiessen Unger called the courts “the cherry on top,” of a multi-year construction project that consumed much of her high school career.

“It was happening for so long — it felt like it was never going to end,” the 16-year-old said.

‘Horrifying’: Focus on Tumbler Ridge shooter’s AI chats

An article published by U.S. magazine Mother Jones this week provides a vivid account of what it says were conversations between the Tumbler Ridge shooter and an OpenAI chatbot.

The report, which does not disclose its sources, has thrown a spotlight on the possible role played by ChatGPT in coaching Jesse Van Rootselaar before the February attack, in which eight victims died, including five pupils at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

Here's what we know, and how people are reacting.

WHAT DOES THE ARTICLE SAY?

An aim to bring everyone together

Imagine a world where people work together to celebrate differences, learn from each other, build empathy and understanding.

A world where connection replaces division and gives every person a place to discover their gifts and strengths, so they can thrive.

That’s exactly what AIM 4 ALL is doing, giving individuals with and without disabilities a space to collaborate and create art as equals on the stage.

The goal of the new musical theatre company is to produce fully inclusive productions and give performance opportunities to their ensemble throughout the training season. By fostering a safe, creative, and diverse environment, AIM 4 ALL empowers participants of all abilities to share their talents and flourish together.

Perfecting profitability

More jaded of investors may roll their eyes at another book offering up a formula for the “perfect portfolio.”

Veteran portfolio manager Peter Lazaroff, based in St. Louis, and host of the Long Term Investor podcast understands the scepticism around his recently published book The Perfect Portfolio: a Proven Guide to Smart Investing for Long-Term Success.

Yet the chief investment officer at Plancorp Wealth Management, which has about US$10.2 billion in assets under management, has a caveat to the notion of the perfect portfolio.

“The perfect portfolio on paper is probably a lot different than the perfect portfolio for you in real life because what’s ‘perfect’ is a formula you can stick with for decades on end.”

Happy email debt forgiveness day

There are few things more capable of producing an immediate feeling of guilt than opening your inbox and seeing an email you have not answered.

WSO kicks off season pairing Beethoven, Tchaikovsky

French fries and milkshake, watermelon and feta cheese … Beethoven’s Fifth and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth?

Few events mark the beginning of the classical concert season like the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s season-opener and this year they kick things off with an unusual but satisfying pairing.

“I think that for me, the combination of these two pieces is, first of all, a celebration of great masterworks that have withstood 100 years of being probed by time for their relevancy,” says conductor Daniel Raiskin, the WSO’s music director. “It’s the quality of music, it’s the quality of narrative that attracts us to these masterworks again and again.”

Both symphonies are so hefty and canonical, one might have expected half of the concert would be devoted to a concerto, tone poem or something smaller or lesser known.

Burger buffs translate patty epiphany into flat-out success

Île-des-Chênes — Who can forget the scene from the 1994 crime film Pulp Fiction where Vincent Vega, played by John Travolta, informs his hitman counterpart Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) that owing to the metric system, people in France refer to a McDonald’s Quarter-Pounder as a “royale with cheese.”

That causes Winnfield to openly wonder what the French term is for a Big Mac.

“Big Mac’s a Big Mac, but they call it ‘le Big Mac,’” Vega responds.

The reason we bring up that cinematic exchange is because this hockey season, the married couple behind Duke’s Burger Co., a hard-to-miss, yellow-and-orange food trailer that from May to August operates along Highway 59 near Niverville, will be in charge of the canteen at Île-des-Chênes Arena, home of the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League’s Île-des-Chênes North Stars. Given the fact Île-des-Chênes is a historically francophone community, we asked Duke’s owners Josh and Amanda Darlington if there is a French equivalent for smash burgers, their signature dish.