Digital Equity

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

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New podcast seeks to end polarization between Jews, Muslims

Sharon Chisvin 5 minute read Preview
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New podcast seeks to end polarization between Jews, Muslims

Sharon Chisvin 5 minute read Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025

In the last two years, anecdotal evidence, surveys, police reports, rallies and counter- rallies have all indicated that the acrimony and distrust between the Canadian Jewish and Canadian Muslim communities has reached an all-time high.

In spite of this, a number of organizations and individuals across the country have been attempting to bridge the deep political divide between the two communities by encouraging respectful dialogue, compassionate listening and a search for common ground.

Yafa Sakkejha and Avi Finegold are two of those individuals.

Last month, Sakkejha, a Muslim Torontonian entrepreneur of Palestinian heritage, and Finegold, a Jewish Montrealer and rabbi, launched a new limited series podcast. Appropriately entitled In Good Faith, the podcast features interviews and discussions with representatives of the Muslim and Jewish communities about Israel, Palestine, the war in Gaza, and the challenges and concerns of their respective minority communities here in Canada.

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Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025

Mike Derer / The Associated Press Files

Like these two teens, one a Muslim and the other a Jew, working at a homeless in Union City, N.J., in 2006, Torontonian Yafa Sakkejha and Montrealer Avi Finegold are doing a podcast together to bridge divides and foster conversation.

Mike Derer / The Associated Press Files
                                Like these two teens, one a Muslim and the other a Jew, working at a homeless in Union City, N.J., in 2006, Torontonian Yafa Sakkejha and Montrealer Avi Finegold are doing a podcast together to bridge divides and foster conversation.

Amid bail-reform debate, some argue court orders must suit low literacy levels

Toni De Guzman 8 minute read Preview

Amid bail-reform debate, some argue court orders must suit low literacy levels

Toni De Guzman 8 minute read Friday, Nov. 7, 2025

Several red flags jump off the page when literacy expert Margaret Banasiak examines a Manitoba provincial court bail form.

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Friday, Nov. 7, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS

Open Doors Adult Literacy Program director Margaret Banasiak says the legal language on bail forms is impenetrable to many applicants: ‘Very few people have the guts to say, “I do not (understand)”.’

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS 
                                Open Doors Adult Literacy Program director Margaret Banasiak says the legal language on bail forms is impenetrable to many applicants: ‘Very few people have the guts to say, “I do not (understand)”.’

Province releases inaugural innovation report

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview

Province releases inaugural innovation report

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025

Promises to keep data in Manitoba and bolster the economy through innovation highlight the province’s first innovation and prosperity report.

“AI, tech, it’s gonna be in your industry,” Premier Wab Kinew said Friday after the report’s release. “We have to get in the game.”

Proponents of the 39-page document expressed hope for Manitoba’s future; critics deemed the strategy lacking.

A majority of Manitoba’s data storage and cloud computing infrastructure is run by United States firms such as Microsoft. The report calls on the province to build its own infrastructure with federal and provincial funds.

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Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025

Innovation and New Technology Minister Mike Moroz (Mike Deal / Free Press files)

Innovation and New Technology Minister Mike Moroz (Mike Deal / Free Press files)
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Winnipeg students develop critical aptitude essential for navigating media landscape

Melissa Martin 14 minute read Preview
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Winnipeg students develop critical aptitude essential for navigating media landscape

Melissa Martin 14 minute read Friday, Oct. 31, 2025

One day in the fall of 2024, two of Lily Godinez Goodman’s Grade 5 students came to her with a question: Why didn’t their Earl Grey School have a newspaper, they wondered — and if they started one, would she serve as editor-in-chief?

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Friday, Oct. 31, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS

Earl Grey Press reporters Sebastian (from left), Isabel, Willow and James are on the beat at their school.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
                                Earl Grey Press reporters Sebastian (from left), Isabel, Willow and James are on the beat at their school.

Minister says law on sign language services in works

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Preview

Minister says law on sign language services in works

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 23, 2025

Manitoba’s accessibility minister hinted her office is drafting legislation to increase access to and recognition of American and Indigenous sign language services.

Three months after she was caught complaining about an ASL interpreter on a “hot mic,” Nahanni Fontaine gave members of the deaf community an update about her office’s work on the file.

Fontaine, whose portfolio includes families, gender equity and accessibility, said efforts are underway to make real-time captioning and other interpretation services more available, consistent and reliable across local governments.

“We are exploring ways to support recognition of ASL and Indigenous sign languages as important parts of Manitoba’s cultural and linguistic landscape,” Fontaine said Tuesday at Memorial Park following a first-of-its-kind flag raising. “These are steps forward.”

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Tuesday, Sep. 23, 2025

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS

Manitoba Deaf Association board members Doug Momotiuk (left) and Kayle Miller raise the deaf flag in Memorial Park in front of the Legislative Building on Tuesday.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
                                Manitoba Deaf Association board members Doug Momotiuk (left) and Kayle Miller raise the deaf flag in Memorial Park in front of the Legislative Building on Tuesday.
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Deadly attack renews calls to fix cellular gaps in, around Hollow Water

Chris Kitching 5 minute read Preview
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Deadly attack renews calls to fix cellular gaps in, around Hollow Water

Chris Kitching 5 minute read Friday, Sep. 5, 2025

A mass stabbing and head-on crash that killed two people, including a suspect, and injured eight has renewed concerns about cellular coverage gaps in and around Hollow Water First Nation.

Residents said there is no cellphone service in Hollow Water and some surrounding areas, leaving people vulnerable if they’re in a location or circumstance where there’s no other way to call 911 or an emergency service directly.

“I don’t get any service in Hollow Water. It’s difficult to communicate,” said Brook Monkman, who lives south of the First Nation near Lake Winnipeg.

Monkman said he was driving on a road about 40 kilometres north of Hollow Water in 2023 when he came upon a crash that killed a mother and young son, and left a father and young daughter seriously injured.

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Friday, Sep. 5, 2025

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS

Residents said there is no cellphone service in Hollow Water First Nation and some surrounding areas.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
                                Residents of Hollow Water FN are still reeling a day after the stabbing. RCMP continued to investigate and were combing through the homes where the stabbings occurred.
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Hydro rejects generator option for evacuated community

Nicole Buffie 4 minute read Preview
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Hydro rejects generator option for evacuated community

Nicole Buffie 4 minute read Friday, Sep. 5, 2025

The chief of an evacuated northern First Nation that is still without electricity has demanded the provincial and federal governments spend $8 million on a generator so residents can return home, however Manitoba Hydro says the proposal is unrealistic.

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Friday, Sep. 5, 2025

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS

Chief Gordie Bear said 12 people have died since being displaced from their homes for more than 100 days due to wildfires and blamed it on the prolonged evacuation.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS
                                Chief Gordie Bear said 12 people have died since being displaced from their homes for more than 100 days due to wildfires and blamed it on the prolonged evacuation.