Who will vote for trees?

In July 2026, Terrasse-Vaudreuil, a small Quebec town, made international headlines.

And no, it wasn’t the result of murder and mayhem or a catastrophic flood. The headlines were about a remarkable resolution passed by its town council, making Terrasse-Vaudreuil the first city in the world to recognize the rights of trees.

‘La Bola Negra’ wins TIFF’s People Choice Award, putting it on Oscar path

“La Bola Negra,” the Spanish queer epic about the intertwined lives of three gay men, won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, confirming its status as a major Oscar contender.

TIFF's top award is voted on by festivalgoers, and it's become known as one of the most iron-clad Academy Awards predictors. Since 2012, all but one winner of the People's Choice Award has gone on to score a best-picture nomination at the Oscars. The lone exception was in 2024, when Mike Flanagan's Stephen King adaptation “The Life of Chuck” won the award. Last year, “Hamnet” won it and later landed eight Oscar nominations.

“La Bola Negra” is directed by the duo known as Los Javis — Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo. It was already a hit at the Cannes Film Festival, where “La Bola Negra” split the best director award with Paweł Pawlikowski for “Fatherland.”

Netflix acquired “La Bola Negra” out of Cannes and has launched a full awards campaign for the film. Netflix is also giving the film its longest theatrical release yet for the streamer. “La Bola Negra” opens in theaters Oct. 16 and begins streaming Dec. 2.

Trump says his planned arch would become a ‘military complex’ able to host drones and snipers

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that the massive arch he wants to build between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery would become a “top grade military complex” able to host drones and snipers while storing ammunition.

It is one more example of how Trump is insisting that his initiatives to beautify the White House and the city are also serving a defensive purpose. Trump has been calling the new White House ballroom a “military complex” and arguing it is necessary for national security purposes.

The Pentagon said it had no information beyond the president's statement.

Trump's announcement also comes as the arch, like his other projects, faces legal challenges. Though the arch has received early approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were all tapped by Trump, a group of three veterans and an architectural historian sued, saying the project needs to be approved by Congress.

Canada, France pledge to work together on space infrastructure, economy

SAINT-PIERRE - Prime Minister Mark Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to work together in the areas of space infrastructure, business and economic growth as the leaders met Sunday in the French territory of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.

Speaking to reporters, Carney said he and Macron will task their space agencies and defence ministries to develop and share common infrastructure, including space launch systems and ground-based reception facilities.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office said the countries plan to work together on infrastructure that can receive data from satellites.

Carney said that he and Macron will also task the regional joint cooperation commission between Atlantic Canada and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon to expand its work in economic growth, energy transition and climate resilience.

National Black Canadians Summit celebrates culture, combats racism

Despite the event’s name — the National Black Canadians Summit — Bruce Miller felt he should attend.

He booked a ticket. And so, this weekend, the Indigenous Manitoban joined roughly 1,500 people flocking to the RBC Convention Centre.

It’s a full schedule — addresses from a former Canadian governor general, sessions on Black mental health and anti-Black racism.

The annual event draws politicians, artists and other professionals from across the country.

Winnipeg, source d’inspiration pour la philanthropie canadienne

Dirigé par le Franco-Manitobain d’origine Jean-Marc Mangin, l’organisme Fondations philanthropiques du Canada (FPC) sera à Winnipeg du 23 au 25 septembre prochains pour sa conférence nationale, organisée tous les deux ans. Une première pour FPC, et un retour au bercail attendu pour son président-directeur général.

Pour la première fois depuis 26 ans que l’organisme existe, FPC a choisi le Manitoba pour sa grande conférence nationale de 2026. “On a été dans plusieurs gros centres urbains du Canada, notamment Ottawa, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver ou encore Calgary, mais ce sera notre première fois à Winnipeg,” se réjouit le PDG de FPC, Jean-Marc Mangin, lui-même originaire de Saint-Boniface.

Ce n’est toutefois pas la nostalgie de l’enfance qui a fait pencher la balance en faveur du Manitoba, mais plutôt un vent de changement observé par bon nombre dans la capitale manitobaine.

“Nous ne sommes pas les seuls dans le secteur caritatif à choisir Winnipeg,” constate Jean-Marc Mangin. “Plusieurs organismes y tiennent leurs conférences nationales cette année ou la suivante. Et ça, ça dit quelque chose sur ce qui se passe au Manitoba : c’est très actif, il y a beaucoup d’innovation sociale qui prend place.”

New health curriculum puts emphasis on harm reduction

Manitoba is revamping how students are taught about drugs with an emphasis on harm reduction, the complexities of substance use disorders and the role of ceremonial tobacco in Indigenous cultures.

For the first time this century, physical education and health curriculum is undergoing a systematic overhaul set to debut in September 2028.

Drafts released this back-to-school season have “substances and patterns of behaviour” units across kindergarten to Grade 12.

Grade 6 has been updated so students learn about the short- and long-term effects and risks of using and misusing cannabis products, as well as caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and vaping.

Canadian politicians speaking with one voice

It was something that seems unusual in politics in recent years: politicians of different stripes taking the same side and together supporting what Canada needs to do, and is doing, to address U.S. trade attacks.

Take former prime minister Stephen Harper, closing out a major Toronto investment meeting set up by Prime Minister Mark Carney with a speech where Harper said he not only supported Carney’s decision to walk away from trade talks with the U.S., but that he would have done the same thing.

The deal the Americans were demanding “leaves no choice but for Canada to pursue diminished reliance on the U.S.,” Mr. Harper said. “There will be significant costs to this effort, but those are costs that I hope and believe Canadians are able and prepared to accept.”

And, Harper said, Canada has plenty to offer to other countries that want to trade with us: integrity.

Not falling back means time loop remains unclosed

That hour you sacrificed to the sun gods in the spring? Gone. Not coming back. We’ve sprung forward and we shan’t be falling back — not in November, and (possibly) not ever. The scale shall remain unbalanced and the loop shall remain unclosed as Manitoba has adopted permanent daylight time.

Life, disability coverage confusingly diverse ecosystem for most Canadians

Life insurance is like going to the dentist, without the physical discomfort.

It raises uncomfortable thoughts; it’s costly, and yet most people are much better off with it than without.

Certainly, life insurance (and disability and even critical illness) is a “lifesaver” for families when the unthinkable happens, says Jason Evans, fee-for-service certified financial planner at Evans Retirement Planning.

The Winnipeg adviser (who does not sell insurance) speaks from experience. His father died when Evans was young and life insurance kept the family solvent.

Permanent exhibition at human rights museum looks at Black experience in Canada

Canada does not have a standardized national curriculum, something Alia Aluma sometimes notices in conversation.

“You can almost tell where someone’s from by asking them what they know about Black history because you will learn reasonably specific things, and so if you’re in Saskatchewan, you (may) have no idea that Africville exists,” says the Montreal-based creative and curator.

She’s referring to a small community in Halifax of historically Black Nova Scotians, founded by formerly enslaved African Americans who fled the United States during the War of 1812.

By the same token, it may seem unlikely that the average Nova Scotian is aware of the Order of Sleeping Car Porters, North America’s first Black union, established in Winnipeg two years before the General Strike of 1919.

Soul candles ritual connects women to the past

On one evening every fall during the 10 Days of Awe — the solemn period of reflection and repentance between the Jewish holy days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur — Jane Enkin sits down with a group of women in her Winnipeg home to make candles. The making of the candles is not simply for fun or creative expression — although it serves those purposes as well—but is, rather, an intentional re-enactment of an ancient and little-known High Holiday spiritual ritual.

That ritual is neshome likht, the crafting of ceremonial soul candles.

The making of soul candles during the High Holiday season was common practice among Ashkenazie or Eastern European Jewish women beginning in the 12th century. The candles were made for the souls of both the living and the dead, and often were customized with special wicks made from threads that were used, in another ancient custom, to measure Jewish cemeteries. The measuring of the cemeteries was seen as a way to connect to the deceased in the weeks leading up to Yom Kippur so that those who had already passed might prevail upon God to include their loved ones’ names in the Book of Life.

While the practice of measuring cemeteries has largely fallen by the wayside, the making of soul candles, or the laying of wicks, has managed to survive over the centuries and has enjoyed a significant resurgence in modern times.

Vintage ride revs up rainbow-hued appeal of fresh-cut-flower venture

Since the beginning of July, a Manitoba entrepreneur has been keeping busy, putting the petal to the metal.

Magwyer Herring is the founder of River’s Garden Co., a boutique venture offering fresh-cut flowers plucked from her and her husband Gerry’s three-acre property near Howden, south of the Perimeter Highway. Named for their seven-year-old son River, River’s Garden Co. has been turning heads for its rainbow assortment of zinnias, dahlias, roses and snap dragons, not to mention the distinctive manner in which Herring displays her mélange: from the back of a restored 1958 Chevrolet Apache pickup truck.

“The truck is definitely what draws folks in for starters, only as soon they notice the flowers, they’re like, wow, is that ever cool,” Herring says, standing next to her arresting, turquoise-and-white ride during a recent street festival in downtown Winnipeg.

It turns out that a green thumb is part of the 34-year-old’s DNA. Her maternal great-grandfather started his own fruit company, Talarico Fruits, in the early 1900s. As a child, her late mother helped out with the family biz and also worked for a similar operation in Kelowna, B.C., after moving west 15 years ago. That being said, Herring, the youngest of four siblings, was always more drawn to pools than garden plots while growing up in the West End.

A humpback whale was spotted in a California river, 60 miles from its Pacific Ocean home

ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — Denny Glover was hoping for a big catch when he went fishing with buddies on the Sacramento River, but he wasn't expecting a fully grown humpback whale.

Glover saw the whale surfacing on Wednesday while he was fishing for salmon and striped bass from a 21-foot (6.4-meter) boat, less than half the length of the animal. He shot a few videos as the whale broke the surface of the water in California's largest river, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) from its more typical home of the Pacific Ocean.

“One of the guys on the boat, he said, ‘I see a whale.’ He saw the spout,” Glover said. “At first we didn't believe it. We thought he had mistaken a dolphin or a porpoise. Then we saw the spout again, and there's no mistaking a whale spout.”

The rare inland visit from a whale has attracted the attention of scientists who want to know what kind of condition it's in and how it wound up so far from the sea. The whale entered San Francisco Bay earlier in the week and has been traveling east in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California's largest river delta, The Marine Mammal Center said in a statement.

Experts say small companions play huge role in well-being as we age

My mother-in-law will turn 89 this year and she’s in love. In her rural home — where she’s lived for more than 60 years — her new roommate, a kitten named Pepper, has brought sheer joy to her world.

She regales my partner with play-by-plays of Pepper’s antics and activities. She repeatedly expresses how happy she is since Pepper moved in. She can’t imagine her world without him. They’re inseparable.

With the huge role tiny Pepper now plays in her life, calls to our home are less frequent, as she immerses herself in playing with Pepper, cleaning up after him and just delighting in his every move. Pepper has given her a renewed sense of happiness and purpose, keeping her mind on the present and free of worry.

And though a kitten is an unusual choice for a senior, experts agree that a pet of any age will benefit immensely from someone regularly being at home with them, the same way my mother-in-law’s quality of life has been enhanced by Pepper’s presence.

Cuba hit with another blackout as millions across the island are left without electricity

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s power grid collapsed once again on Friday, leaving millions of people across the island without electricity for at least the sixth time since U.S. President Donald Trump cut off fuel to the island in January.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines announced the islandwide power outage on its official X account and added that officials had begun “activating service-restoration protocols.”

“No one can stand these constant blackouts. There isn’t enough food, there’s no water, there’s no electricity -- you have no idea,” Mercedes Rodriguez, a 60-year-old worker in Havana, told The Associated Press as she waited for public transportation to return home. “The country is in such a sad state, and there are no words for what we’re going through.”

According to Cuban authorities, a failure reportedly occurred in transmission lines in the western part of the country, causing the system to collapse in that area — as far as Matanzas province — and the eastern section of the island was subsequently disconnected.

Carney set to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to attend the United Nations General Assembly next week as geopolitical instability, war and U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to dismantle the multilateral order hang over the event.

Carney will not give a speech in front of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly while in New York City from Monday to Wednesday. Senior government officials said the prime minister will meet with world and business leaders and take part in UN events.

In a news release, Carney said "the world is looking at Canada differently."

"At a moment when the international order is being remade, Canada intends to help shape it," he added. "At the General Assembly, we will sit down with partners old and new, defend the rules that protect our sovereignty, and turn co-operation into real opportunity for Canadian workers and businesses.”

Trump targets more news outlets, saying he will ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that he was barring CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House due to what he called unfavorable coverage and “fake news,” and threatened that more such media bans could be coming — the latest salvo in the president's increasingly aggressive response to media coverage he finds unfavorable.

Like many of Trump's other confrontations with news organizations — some of which are playing out in the legal arena — this threat has potential First Amendment implications. There was no immediate indication, though, that he was following through.

Trump wrote on his social media site that effective immediately, “I am banning” CNN, MS NOW and Politico “from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” Minutes later, speaking at an event in the Oval Office, Trump was asked to explain his statement.

“Because they’re fake news,” he said. “You get so tired of reading and seeing fake news. When you look at CNN, it’s just fake. That’s why their ratings are no good. When you look at MS NOW … , it’s fake news.”

Northern First Nation calls for voluntary ban of moose hunting as numbers dwindle

A northern Manitoba First Nation is calling for a voluntary closure of moose hunting in its traditional territory to protect the declining population and respond to what it sees is a lack of provincial intervention.

On Friday, Misipawistik Cree Nation issued a plea urging hunters to abstain from harvesting moose in provincial Game Hunting Area 10 — a 10,000-square-kilometre region of boreal forest north of Grand Rapids. The request applies to this year’s moose-hunting seasons, which open Monday.

According to the province’s 2025 aerial big-game survey, an estimated 281 moose reside in the area, roughly 60 of which are bull moose. That’s down from an estimated 346 moose in 2013, which the survey describes as a “relatively stable population” over the past decade.

This year, 124 licences and 62 bull moose tags were made available in the region during Manitoba’s annual hunting draw.