Debate and classroom discussion topics

Please review each article prior to use: grade-level applicability and curricular alignment might not be obvious from the headline alone.

A Bible and Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy sit on the desk of State Board of Education member LJ Francis during a meeting on proposed social studies standards at the Barbara Jordan Building in Austin on Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
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Bible stories are approved as required reading in Texas public schools

Jamie Stengle And John Hanna, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview
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Bible stories are approved as required reading in Texas public schools

Jamie Stengle And John Hanna, The Associated Press 5 minute read Monday, Jun. 29, 2026

DALLAS (AP) — Texas' education board on Friday approved a required reading list for more than 5 million public school students that includes Bible stories, widening conservative efforts to bring Christian teachings into U.S. classrooms.

The state-mandated list of assigned reading — which includes Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations” and excerpts from the New Testament — appeared to be among the first of its kind of the nation and will take effect starting in 2030.

The State Board of Education, which is controlled by Republicans, approved the list on a 9-5 vote following weeks of contentious debate that again put Texas at the center of wrangling over the role of religion in public schools. Last year, Texas became the largest state to require teachers to hang the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

The board this week was also considering new social studies curriculum that draws lines between Bible stories and American history.

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Monday, Jun. 29, 2026
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS West Kildonan Collegiate student vapes in Winnipeg, Monday, September 26, 2022. The school has sent out letters to students saying they will be disciplined if found vaping. Re: macintosh
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Growing number of Manitoba youths are addicted to vaping

Zoe Pierce 11 minute read Preview
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Growing number of Manitoba youths are addicted to vaping

Zoe Pierce 11 minute read Thursday, Jun. 25, 2026

A few minutes after the final classes of the day end at Grant Park High School on a recent afternoon, students stream out of the building, headed in myriad directions.

At the railing outside the front doors, several teens stop to vape.

Classmates and teachers walk past without a second glance. Behaviour that once might have raised eyebrows now barely registers.

For many Manitoba teens, vaping — using a battery-powered device to heat flavoured “juice,” most often containing highly addictive nicotine, into an inhalable vapour — is a habit deeply woven into their daily lives.

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Thursday, Jun. 25, 2026
FILE - Senior Judge Glen H. Davidson speaks to the audience during the

Judge rules against effort to create majority-Black DeSoto County districts

Simeon Gates/mississippi Today, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Judge rules against effort to create majority-Black DeSoto County districts

Simeon Gates/mississippi Today, The Associated Press 3 minute read Thursday, Jun. 25, 2026

U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson ruled Wednesday that the plaintiffs in Harris v. DeSoto County did not provide enough evidence that DeSoto County district maps were drawn to intentionally dilute Black voting power.

In ruling for DeSoto County, Davidson wrote, “plaintiffs cannot prove their claims for vote dilution pursuant to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and judgment must be awarded to defendants.”

Davidson’s ruling comes after hearing arguments in the case in March.

The federal lawsuit, filed in September of 2024, alleged that the 2022 DeSoto County electoral map diluted Black voting power in county office elections. The plaintiffs sought a new redistricting plan and special elections for positions on the boards of supervisors and education and for the election commission, plus the offices of constable and justice court judge.

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Thursday, Jun. 25, 2026
Hydro Ottawa’s offices on Hunt Club Road in Ottawa are shown on Tuesday, May 24, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Data centres top Ottawa’s big power requests, placing pressure on local utility

Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Data centres top Ottawa’s big power requests, placing pressure on local utility

Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Thursday, Jun. 25, 2026

Hydro Ottawa's CEO says the utility is under "extraordinary pressures" as energy-hungry data centres lead a historic surge in large-scale customers seeking to connect to the power grid.

Bryce Conrad says he expects by the end of the year total grid connection requests from large-scale projects in Ottawa will exceed the average power use of the entire city's homes and businesses.

As it stands, he says 34 large projects in the connection queue have cumulative demands equivalent to about 86 per cent of the utility's average load, or just over 1,000 MW.

About 60 per cent of that comes from data centres, the infrastructure backbone of the artificial intelligence boom.

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Thursday, Jun. 25, 2026

Time for city to get handle on e-bike, e-scooter regulations

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Thursday, Jun. 25, 2026

Ever been out for a walk, a jog or a casual bike ride only to be startled by an e-bike, battery-powered scooter or some other personal electric vehicle flying past you at high speed? If so, you probably know how urgent it is for lawmakers to bring in regulations to respond to this growing phenomenon.

Winnipeg is facing a transportation challenge that barely existed a few years ago. Battery-powered bikes, scooters, electric unicycles and other similar vehicles have become common sights on city streets, cycling routes and multi-use pathways.

Their popularity is growing faster than the rules governing them. And that should be a concern for city hall.

There’s no question personal electric vehicles offer people significant advantages. They’re cheaper to operate than cars, produce no direct emissions, reduce traffic congestion and provide people with another option for getting around the city.

The shuttered Iranian embassy in Ottawa is seen after protesters hit it with anti-regime icons and red paint on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Carney says having no embassy in Iran puts Canada at ‘a disadvantage’

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Carney says having no embassy in Iran puts Canada at ‘a disadvantage’

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Friday, Jun. 26, 2026

OTTAWA - Canada is "at a disadvantage" in countries like Iran where it lacks a diplomatic presence, but his government is not looking to re-establish relations with Tehran, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday.

"Engagement is not endorsement. Having an embassy, having consular services in a country does not mean we endorse the policies of that country," Carney told reporters Thursday.

Commenting on the deadly earthquakes in Venezuela during a Thursday press conference, Carney said not having diplomats on the ground in Caracas makes it hard for Ottawa to offer help to Canadians.

"There are a series of countries with whom we have not seen eye to eye, to put it mildly, where we do not have representation … Iran, Venezuela (are) two examples, there are others," he said.

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Friday, Jun. 26, 2026
Saskatchewan NDP Leader of the Opposition Carla Beck speaks during a press conference before the release of provincial Saskatchewan budget in Regina, on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu
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Saskatchewan NDP urges province to repeal pronoun law affecting LGBTQ+ youth

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Saskatchewan NDP urges province to repeal pronoun law affecting LGBTQ+ youth

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Tuesday, Jul. 21, 2026

REGINA - Nearly three years after Saskatchewan's pronoun law came into effect, LGBTQ+ groups and the province's Opposition are warning of its consequences.

"We see concerns about incidents of discrimination going up," NDP Leader Carla Beck said at a news conference Thursday. "People (are) scared to talk about issues that would make students feel loved and seen and accepted."

In August 2023, Premier Scott Moe's Saskatchewan Party government imposed rules that require parental consent for children under 16 to change their names or pronouns at school.

The rules were challenged in court, but months later Moe's government invoked the notwithstanding clause and put them into legislation.

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Tuesday, Jul. 21, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at a news conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, Thursday, June 25, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Carney says B.C. condo buyout proposal is about affordability, not bailouts

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

Carney says B.C. condo buyout proposal is about affordability, not bailouts

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Friday, Jun. 26, 2026

OTTAWA - Converting British Columbia's glut of unsold condos into affordable housing is about supporting Canadians, not distressed developers, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday as he defended his government's proposal.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Ottawa, Carney said the Liberal government had done a poor job of explaining the program laid out in Vancouver a week earlier.

A press release issued by the Prime Minister's Office on June 18 said Ottawa and the B.C. government plan to "leverage innovative financing tools to convert more than 2,200 vacant condo units in priority growth areas into affordable homes."

Carney said Thursday the federal government would put up 10 per cent of roughly $1.45 billion in total potential spending to convert the units, with the B.C. government footing the rest of the bill.

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Friday, Jun. 26, 2026
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES The Winnipeg School Division has released a new report with seven recommendations to treat truancy within the division.

Truancy report calls for students to engage in policies, programs

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview

Truancy report calls for students to engage in policies, programs

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Thursday, Jun. 25, 2026

A new report calls on school leaders to treat truancy as “feedback” for fixing systemic gaps instead of an individual student issue.

The Winnipeg School Division has released a document that includes seven recommendations based on an absenteeism summit.

The list suggests schools need to do a better job of ensuring every child has at least one trusted teacher, coach or another adult in the building, but multiple items require cross-sector collaboration.

“Absenteeism cannot be understood as an isolated issue within schools,” a summary of the inaugural student absenteeism summit said. “Instead, it reflects broader systemic realities including factors related to social determinants of health, transportation barriers, intergenerational trauma, and gaps in culturally safe education systems.”

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Thursday, Jun. 25, 2026
Ruth Nasrullah, left, and Rocio Fierro-Perez, political director for the Texas Freedom Network, participate in an interfaith funeral-themed protest outside the Barbara Jordan Building in Austin on Monday, June 22, 2026. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
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What to know about the decision to make Bible stories required reading in Texas public schools

Jim Vertuno And Jamie Stengle, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview
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What to know about the decision to make Bible stories required reading in Texas public schools

Jim Vertuno And Jamie Stengle, The Associated Press 4 minute read Friday, Jun. 26, 2026

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Bible stories have become required reading for more than 5 million public school students in Texas.

The vote to approve the plan Friday by the Republican-controlled Texas State Board of Education reflects a broader conservative effort to introduce more religion into U.S. schools. Last year, Texas became the largest state to require every classroom to display the Ten Commandments.

The mandated reading list has drawn fierce opposition. Critics argue that it violates the constitutional separation of church and state, lacks diversity, and favors Christianity over other religions. Supporters say Judeo-Christian traditions were fundamental to the nation’s founding and that should be reflected in the public school curriculum.

Here's what to know about the reading list and the broader fight over religion in public schools:

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Friday, Jun. 26, 2026