Province making up chaotic, inadequate child-care ‘plan’ as it goes along

The Manitoba government can point to a lot of ink spilled — and a lot of money committed — on child care over the past few years. Fees have come down to $10 a day. New spaces have been promised. Workforce strategies have been rolled out.

On paper, it all sounds like progress.

But a scathing new report from Manitoba’s auditor general makes one thing painfully clear: when it comes to actually delivering child-care spaces where and when families need them, the province has badly dropped the ball.

And both the former Progressive Conservative government and the current NDP one are equally to blame.

‘This is people’s lives’: Canadian soccer star Quinn continues trans advocacy

VANCOUVER -

A Canadian soccer star is speaking out about the need to make sports safe for trans athletes — and the world safer for trans people — as restrictive laws come into effect across North America.

“This is people's lives," said Quinn, a midfielder for the Vancouver Rise of the Northern Super League. "Like, this isn't something to take lightly."

It's been more than five years since Quinn, 30, publicly came out as nonbinary.

Advocate’s report calls for urgent reform of child-welfare system

Cali Derksen was 14 when she threw a few things into a backpack and left home, fleeing weapons and threats of violence for what she believed would be a safer place.

Now 16, she said Child and Family Services did “good” by removing her from the home.

“But after they did that, I didn’t think much really came out of them,” she said Thursday at the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth office at 320 Donald St. “I had to call Kids Help line. I had to find solutions for myself in order to feel safe… because CFS wasn’t supporting me.”

Derksen’s experience is one of 17 shared in a new report calling for urgent reform of Manitoba’s child-welfare system. Youth in care say they are often left unsupported, unprepared and unheard.

Election bill takes aim at deepfakes, long ballots, threats to nomination contests

OTTAWA - The Liberal government is proposing new legislation to strengthen election integrity by banning digital deepfakes of candidates, cracking down on unduly long ballots and protecting nomination and leadership contests.

The bill, introduced Thursday, would extend existing election protections beyond the campaign period itself, making them effective year-round.

The government says this would include the extension of rules forbidding foreign people or organizations from improperly influencing someone's vote, as well as bans on offering or accepting bribes to influence a vote.

Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said the changes follow recommendations made by the chief electoral officer, the commissioner of elections and the public inquiry into foreign interference.

Indigenous services minister questioned about fire that killed toddler

OTTAWA - First Nations chiefs from northern Ontario demanded answers Thursday from Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty after they linked the death of a three-year-old boy to a lack of federal funding for fire services in their communities.

On Monday, a house fire in a northwestern Ontario community took the life of Chief Donny Morris's three-year-old grandson and left two others with serious injuries.

The Independent First Nations Alliance, a group of five First Nations that includes Morris's own community of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, filed a Canadian Human Rights Commission complaint in August 2025 alleging Indigenous Services Canada was systemically discriminating against their communities by underfunding on-reserve fire services.

Chief Carla Duncan of Muskrat Dam Lake First Nation — a member community of that alliance — told Gull-Masty during a Nishnawbe Aski Nation meeting in Toronto Thursday the community is still searching for the child's remains.

Procurement ombud slams Indigenous procurement strategy outcomes in ‘shocking’ report

OTTAWA - Indigenous Services Canada and other departments are failing to uphold their own Indigenous procurement strategy and may be allowing contractors to use shell companies to access contracts reserved for Indigenous businesses, the federal procurement ombudsman said Thursday in a new report.

In a scathing analysis, Alexander Jeglic said Indigenous Services Canada failed to provide timely answers to procurement officers' questions in some cases and allowed some contracts to go out to companies not listed in the Indigenous Business Directory.

The report also cites a lack of oversight on contracts to ensure 33 per cent of the value of the work is done by an Indigenous contractor.

"Non-Indigenous businesses may use Indigenous businesses as shell companies — entities that meet the minimum ownership requirement on paper but do not actually perform the work — allowing them to unfairly access contracts intended to be set aside for Indigenous businesses," the report reads.

Air Canada CEO apologizes for inability to express himself adequately in French

MONTREAL - The chief executive of Air Canada has apologized for not being able to express himself adequately in French after releasing a video message of condolence on the deadly plane crash in New York on Sunday.

Michael Rousseau has been criticized for the four-minute video posted online that only included two French words — "bonjour" and "merci."

"I am deeply saddened that my inability to speak French has diverted attention from the profound grief of the families and the great resilience of Air Canada’s employees," he said in a statement Thursday.

"Despite many lessons over several years, unfortunately, I am still unable to express myself adequately in French. I sincerely apologize for this, but I am continuing my efforts to improve."

Verdicts against Meta, YouTube validate concerns long raised by parents, child safety advocates

For years, parents, teenagers, pediatricians, educators and whistleblowers have pushed the idea that social media is detrimental to young people's mental health and can lead to addiction, eating disorders, sexual exploitation and suicide.

For the first time, juries in two states took their side.

In Los Angeles on Wednesday, a jury found both Meta and YouTube liable for harms to children using their services. In New Mexico, a jury determined that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

Tech watchdog groups, families and children’s advocates cheered the jury decisions.

Province turning former university building downtown into transitional living units for homeless people

The $24.4-million purchase and renovation project at 447 Webb Place was confirmed in Tuesday’s provincial budget, although the site opened a couple of months ago.

Province’s first Indigenous parenting event draws hundreds in person, online

Amara LeClair starts with the basic questions: Where are you from? Who are your grandparents? Did they forage?