Engagement tactics and effects

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

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Within 48 hours of the NDP’s announcement on Saturday, at least one student-initiated petition had been organized.

Proposed social-media ban for Manitoba children gets likes, thumbs-down

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview

Proposed social-media ban for Manitoba children gets likes, thumbs-down

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2026

Mia Danyluk had a YouTube channel before she reached double digits. She was 11 years old when she signed up for Snapchat. In Grade 9, she joined Instagram.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was on social media that she learned about Manitoba’s plan to ban children and youth from accessing these platforms.

The irony was not lost on her — a 16-year-old who was raised in Winnipeg and on the borderless online world.

“We’re seeing younger and younger kids grow up with an iPad instead of toys in their hands. If we’re exposing kids to screens, we need to teach them online safety,” the high schooler said.

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Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2026
Eric Zachanowich / Searchlight Pictures / 20th Century Studios Zachanowich caught a dramatic shot of Ralph Fiennes on set in The Menu.
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Winnipeg photographer captures striking stills that market major motion pictures

AV Kitching 7 minute read Preview
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Winnipeg photographer captures striking stills that market major motion pictures

AV Kitching 7 minute read Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2026

Eric Zachanowich is the most famous photographer you’ve probably never heard of.

He’s worked with Tinseltown heavyweights such as the late Robert Redford, Ralph Fiennes, Laura Linney, Woody Harrelson and Anya Taylor-Joy, and even appeared in Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson’s wrestling biopic The Smashing Machine, disguised as, you guessed it, a photographer.

“It was for one of the opening scenes so I could shoot Dwayne Johnson walking to the ring. I made the final cut of the movie — although it’s hard to place me — and also got a spectacular photo that was used heavily during marketing,” says Zachanowich, 32.

More often than not, he operates as a silent observer on the sets of cinema blockbusters and prestige television dramas alike, his lens capturing the world’s biggest A-listers at their most vulnerable and intense moments.

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Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2026
A selection of McDonalds new beverages, dirty sodas, refreshers and
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Move over Big Mac: McDonald’s Canada taps beverage craze with new drinks line-up

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview
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Move over Big Mac: McDonald’s Canada taps beverage craze with new drinks line-up

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 29, 2026

TORONTO - Your next drink order from McDonald's Canada may come in a frosty cup all but glowing from its fluorescence or brimming with a layer of foam thick enough to give you a milk moustache.

The fast-food giant is reimagining the drink menu you grew up with in favour of a new roster launching May 5. It will keep the classics — pop, coffee, tea, milk and juice — but position crafted sodas, fruity refreshers and foamy iced coffees as new, permanent cornerstones.

The focus on fruit, froth and carbonation is meant to tap into a category the chain considers to be the Canadian quick-service industry's fastest growing and turn McDonald's into a restaurant people think of for more than Big Macs, fries or nuggets.

"We want to become a beverage destination," McDonald's Canada president Annemarie Swijtink told The Canadian Press.

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Wednesday, Apr. 29, 2026
Maura Munthe plays Roblox on her mobile phone at her house in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Child advocates call for online harms bill covering AI chatbots, gaming

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Child advocates call for online harms bill covering AI chatbots, gaming

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2026

OTTAWA -

Ottawa can't afford to wait any longer to introduce new online harms legislation that covers AI chatbots and video games, children’s advocates and about a dozen kids told a press conference on Parliament Hill Monday.

They urged the government to move quickly to introduce its promised online harms bill.

"This is a David and Goliath battle — kids and parents up against a multi-billion dollar tech industry that is profiting off of harming our children," Sara Austin, founder and CEO of Children First Canada, told reporters.

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Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2026
FILE - This combination of 2017-2022 photos shows the logos of Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat on mobile devices. Ohio's governor wants the state to require parental consent for kids under 16 to get new accounts on TikTok, Snapchat and other social media platforms. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine's two-year budget proposal, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023 would create a law that social media companies must obtain a parent's permission for children to sign up for social media and gaming apps. (AP Photo, File)

Advocates praise move to ban social media use among youths

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Preview

Advocates praise move to ban social media use among youths

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Sunday, Apr. 26, 2026

Child advocates are praising the Manitoba government for announcing its intention to ban the use of social media and artificial intelligence chatbots for youths.

Premier Wab Kinew told a crowd at a party event Saturday night the NDP government will move to restrict children from using social media accounts and artificial intelligence chatbots. The proposal is intended to protect kids from technology platforms that he says hurt their development.

Details on the plan are scant, like the age limit he is considering or how a ban would be enforced. He did not speak to reporters after his speech and was not available for comment Sunday.

Kinew’s director of communications, Amy Tuckett-McGimpsey, said the premier will likely speak more about the idea in the coming days.

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Sunday, Apr. 26, 2026

Travel Manitoba’s new marketing campaign puts focus on resilience in wake of wildfire-stricken 2025

Malak Abas 5 minute read Monday, Apr. 20, 2026

Tourism in Manitoba may be set for a comeback after last summer’s destructive wildfire season, as marketing for spring and summer excursionists begins targeting cities across North America.

A new $1.35 million marketing campaign from Travel Manitoba will launch in other Canadian provinces, North Dakota and U.S. cities with direct flights to Winnipeg.

The commercials and ads will air on streaming services, network television, movie theatres, social media, radio and in newspapers.

Along with focusing on outdoor experiences, Indigenous cultural events and connecting with the land in Manitoba, the messages will also hopefully bring new eyes to industries that were impacted by last year’s wildfire season, said Cody Chomiak, Travel Manitoba vice-president of marketing.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS “We’re coming for change. We’re coming for Indigenous-led health care and social services and justice, education — every sector,” Monica Cyr said Friday.

Indigenous Winnipeggers undercounted, underserved: report

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Preview

Indigenous Winnipeggers undercounted, underserved: report

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Friday, Apr. 17, 2026

Winnipeg’s First Nations and Métis population may be vastly undercounted, raising questions about how governments fund services for Indigenous communities, a new report says.

The new estimate, contained in the “Our Health Counts First Nations & Métis Winnipeg” report, says the population could be four times larger than what was recorded by the 2021 census. The report pegs the population of First Nations and Métis people in Winnipeg at between 248,000 and 379,000 people based on its survey of 1,090 adults and 306 children, most of whom identified as First Nations or Métis.

In contrast, the 2021 census recorded 90,000 Indigenous people in the city.

The study was produced by a partnership of the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre of Winnipeg, the Well Living House Action Research Centre, and Indigenous health organizations.

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Friday, Apr. 17, 2026
Guests collect their smartphones at the end of a weekly phone-free gathering at the home of organizer Dan Fox in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
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A small but growing movement wants you to put down your phone. But first read this

Michael Weissenstein, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview
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A small but growing movement wants you to put down your phone. But first read this

Michael Weissenstein, The Associated Press 5 minute read Monday, May. 11, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — More than a dozen millennials gathered in a brownstone apartment in Brooklyn and placed their phones in a metal colander before two hours of reading, drawing and conversation — anything but staring at screens.

A similar scene played out a few miles away, in an early 20th-century cardboard box factory turned high-end office space. Nearly 20 people in their 30s stared at their cellphones for a few minutes. Then they set them down and looked at their bared palms for a while. Then those of their neighbors.

The exercise was meant to drive home the importance of paying attention to real life, not the gleaming little screens that have taken over our world.

A ‘revolution’ against devices

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Monday, May. 11, 2026
Delegates attend the Liberal Party of Canada convention in Montreal, Friday, April 10, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
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Liberals set to debate age restrictions for social media

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Liberals set to debate age restrictions for social media

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Saturday, May. 2, 2026

MONTREAL - Liberal party members will soon grapple with the question of whether children and young teens should be barred from accessing social media accounts for platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Reddit and YouTube.

The policy resolution is expected to hit the floor at the Liberal party policy convention in Montreal for debate and a vote on Saturday.

Jonathan Nuss, the head of the Outremont Liberal riding association, is one of the main proponents of a resolution calling on the party to ensure social media platforms limit user accounts to Canadians aged 16 and older.

The Montreal lawyer and father of two young children said he wants this resolution to kick-start a national debate on addictive technologies and the harmful effects social media can have on young children — a debate that's already happening among parents across the country.

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Saturday, May. 2, 2026
In this image from video provided by Just Like Me in April 2026, the company's co-founder and investor Jeff Tinsley, bottom right, interacts with an AI-generated Jesus. (Just Like Me via AP)
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From ‘BuddhaBot’ to $1.99 chats with AI Jesus, the faith-based tech boom is here

Krysta Fauria And Jessie Wardarski, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview
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From ‘BuddhaBot’ to $1.99 chats with AI Jesus, the faith-based tech boom is here

Krysta Fauria And Jessie Wardarski, The Associated Press 7 minute read Saturday, Apr. 25, 2026

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — For some evangelical Christians, faith is about having a personal relationship with Jesus. At $1.99 per minute, the tech company Just Like Me is taking that concept to a new level.

Users of the platform can join video calls with an avatar of Jesus generated by artificial intelligence. Like other religious AI tools on the market, it offers words of prayer and encouragement in various languages. With the occasional glitch, it remembers previous conversations and speaks through not-quite-synced lips.

“You do feel a little accountable to the AI,” CEO Chris Breed said. “They’re your friend. You’ve made an attachment.”

The rush to create faith-based generative AI is unsurprising, given the popularity of chatbots for everything from therapy and medical advice to companionship and romance. They range from alleged Hindu gurus and Buddhist priests to AI Jesuses and chatbots akin to OpenAI’s ChatGPT for Catholics.

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Saturday, Apr. 25, 2026