‘Desperation’ drives women to private menopause care

Some women are paying private clinics up to four times the amount the public health system pays doctors for menopause primary-care visits patients can get free.

One Winnipeg woman said “desperation” drove her to make an appointment with a private clinic that charges $385 for an initial assessment by a nurse practitioner.

Erika, who did not want her last name published, said for the past year she’s suffered worsening menopause-like symptoms, including night sweats, brain fog and heavy menstrual periods. The single mother who works two jobs and turns 40 this summer said her family doctor and another primary-care physician she went to both told her she’s too young for menopause.

Neither, evidently, assessed her for perimenopause, the transition leading to menopause. During that time — which can begin when a woman is in her 30s and last for several years — hormone levels fluctuate and produce, in many cases, the symptoms Erika described.

Manitoba Métis president rebukes AFN chief over call for withdrawal of treaty

OTTAWA - The president of the Manitoba Métis Federation is accusing the Assembly of First Nations of misleading people about legislation that would codify the federation's right to self-government.

On Thursday, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak took aim at a first-of-its-kind treaty between the federal government and the Manitoba Métis Federation, which came up for debate in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Woodhouse Nepinak said in a media statement the legislation threatens to create a hierarchy of rights, with First Nations at the bottom.

“This piece of legislation must not proceed until First Nations voices’ are heard and our rights are respected, protected and upheld,” Woodhouse Nepinak wrote, saying Bill C-21 was developed without consultations with First Nations, despite it having implications for First Nations lands in Manitoba "and beyond."

Stirring oratorio pays homage to Indigenous veterans

‘My war wasn’t in Europe. My war was when I came back to Canada and I couldn’t vote until 1962,” says composer Andrew Balfour. He’s paraphrasing a quote by an Indigenous veteran and the inspiration for his oratorio notinikew (i went to war).

After facing the death of its dominant newspaper, Pittsburgh’s media has a surprising turnaround

PITTSBURGH (AP) — In the space of a couple of weeks this spring, Pittsburgh media has lived through a near-death experience and a resurrection.

Owners of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week announced the newspaper's sale to a nonprofit foundation that said it was committed to keeping it open. A news outlet that predates the U.S. Constitution was due to close on May 3, which would have made the Steel City the nation's largest community without a city-based paper.

Weeks earlier, the alternative Pittsburgh City Paper, whose staff learned on New Year's Day that it was closing after 34 years, roared back to life under new ownership.

They were rare positive developments for a local news industry that has seen its share of the opposite over the past two decades — newsrooms shuttered or thinned out, journalists thrown out of work, consumers drifting away. No one is pretending that a true turnaround will be easy in Pittsburgh. One thing that may help is that the city faced a news abyss and was forced to prepare for it.

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon addresses United Nations forum on Indigenous rights

OTTAWA - Gov. Gen. Mary Simon told the opening of the United Nations permanent forum on Indigenous issues Monday that Canada is making progress on improving the lives of Indigenous Peoples, even if that progress is slow.

"Countries like Canada made a promise that life for Indigenous Peoples would improve, and in many ways in Canada it is improving," Simon said, citing Canada's adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, better known as UNDRIP.

"I have witnessed progress and a growing awareness among Canadians through national and regional efforts toward reconciliation. Reconciliation is transforming our understanding of history and building new relations within our society."

Those relationships are being tested in at least one province. British Columbia Premier David Eby's government briefly proposed suspending key parts of a provincial law based on the UN declaration after courts cited it in rulings against his government.

False information, misleading images rife in Manitoba-based AI-driven 'news' service

In a rapidly evolving media landscape, the rise of Boring News, an AI-generated news outlet, highlights the growing tension between technology and journalism. While it aims to fill local news gaps across Canada, the outlet is plagued by inaccuracies and ethical concerns, prompting debate on the future of credible reporting.

Liberals adopt policy to restrict kids from social media

MONTREAL - Federal Liberals voted in favour of setting 16 as the age of majority for Canadians to be able to use social media accounts.

Party grassroots passed a non-binding resolution Saturday morning for the restriction and to place the onus on social media companies to enforce it.

Quebec MP Rachel Bendayan, who presented the idea to her caucus and championed it at the convention, said prolonged social media use can be harmful to the mental health of young Canadians.

She said social media companies need to be more accountable and stop allowing young children to use technologies designed to be addictive.