Chalamet’s comments about art asinine

Actor Timothée Chalamet recently participated in a discussion about keeping movie theatres alive at a University of Texas event when he mysteriously decided to say this:

“I don’t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though, like, no one cares about this anymore.’ All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there.”

Yes, I feel the respect radiating from this flippant, pointless comment. As do his fellow artists. The backlash from people working in ballet and opera has been all over my social media feeds.

No one cares. Oh, really? Then why is there — and this is real — a full, multi-chapter work of Heated Rivalry fanfic set at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet during Nutcracker season, written by someone who isn’t even from here?

What do you do when your best is not enough?

Last year at the 4 Nations Face-off hockey tournament, Team Canada was “saved” by Jordan Binnington’s brilliant goaltending against Team USA in the championship game. It was one of those games where every player gave everything. One team celebrated; the other skated away stunned.

At this year’s Winter Olympics, Canada and the United States met again in the gold-medal men’s hockey game. Another tight contest; another display of elite talent. This time, goalie Connor Hellebuyck stood tall for the Americans and Canada lost.

The result had flipped. So, what happens next?

From my time as a CFL player, the answer was never to simply try harder. Effort is assumed. The real work begins after the final buzzer or the final play. Coaches and players review the tape, examine their systems and players, question their decisions and adjust accordingly.

Farmers again caught in geopolitical crossfire

A week ago, things were looking up for Prairie farmers.

Canola prices were rising on news China would follow through on its promise to reduce its 75.9 per cent anti-dumping tariff on canola seed after Canada eased steep tariffs on imported EVs.

Those canola tariffs have now dropped to 5.9 per cent, plus the nine per cent standard import tariff already in place. While not zero, tariffs of just under 15 per cent make it possible to restore trade flows and maintain China as Canada’s second-largest canola customer.

As well, Canada’s prime minister was in India on another diplomatic defrosting mission with positive implications for agricultural exports. Any time the world’s largest exporter of pulse crops such as peas, lentils and chickpeas can make inroads into the world’s biggest market for those commodities, the sun shines a little brighter.

International Women’s Day spotlight on invisible work

As I watch my daughter celebrate another birthday, I find myself thinking about work in a different way.

Not the headlines about promotions, pay gaps or glass ceilings (although those still matter), but about the quiet work that keeps organizations running. The work that rarely shows up on a resumé, that does not earn awards or headlines, but without which everything else starts to crumble.

In HR, I see it all the time. There are women in every organization who keep the gears turning, often without recognition. They remember everyone’s birthdays and make sure the new hire feels welcomed. They notice when tensions are brewing between colleagues and take small steps to prevent confrontation. They keep institutional memory alive, quietly teaching the new generation how things work, sharing lessons learned. They fix problems before anyone even notices there was an issue.

This is invisible labour, and it is work. Emotional labour, relational labour, the work that goes into making a workplace humane, functional, and often even enjoyable. It does not show up in org charts. It is rarely celebrated at awards banquets. And yet, it is the glue that keeps workplaces together.

The true heart of sport and community

I’m scanning the horizon at Windsor Park Nordic Centre, looking for a particular orange parka to reappear. It’s an absolutely perfect day for this cross-country skiing event, the temperature is just -14 C with a slight breeze. I’m standing among people I’ve never met, yet they’re all shouting my son’s name, calling him toward the finish line. In front of me, someone else’s kid falls down and is struggling to get back up. I bend over and hook my arm under his and put him back on his skis. I know his name, too, because it was shouted with similar enthusiasm by the same crowd that shouted my son’s name.

I am struck by how instantaneously this community has coalesced in just a few hours on the snowy golf course. The acceptance and inclusion through sport is immediate, especially with this group.

Sport, for me, had always been associated with high performance. I had a family member who competed at the university level, and we would gather around the TV for Winnipeg Jets and Blue Bombers games when I was growing up. We even had a couple of Don Cherry’s Rock’em Sock’em Hockey videotapes. But I was never much of an athlete myself. I was the kid sitting down in the middle of the soccer pitch braiding a dandelion crown while the game roared around me. I found my home in the arts, in dance and music, and later, in writing.

Sport, and especially professional sport, seems inextricable from politics, masculinity and capitalism, and events of recent weeks have only served to underscore this. Throughout the week, the top stories on the Free Press website have been ones criticizing the behaviour of Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck’s post-Olympic behaviour. From the locker room to the White House, our hometown pride fizzled into skepticism and then dismay.

Show her the money

Slogans and even legislation only go so far in a world in which cash rules everything around us.

That remains true today, especially for women on the eve of International Women’s Day, commemorating the long fight for equality, rights and liberation.

Society has made strides, including legislation ensuring women receive equal pay for equal work.

It must also be recognized — especially on the financial ledger — more work needs to be done. Financial inequality remains a glaring sore spot.

War in Iran further exacerbates logistics of 2026 World Cup

Earlier this week, FIFA World Cup countdown clocks passed from three to two digits. There’s now just 90-odd days until the event — set to take place in Canada, Mexico and the United States — kicks off in Mexico City.

But what if it was scheduled to start, say, tomorrow? It’s a frightening exercise.

Only a week ago, a World Cup co-host attacked a World Cup-qualified nation that posed no imminent threat. (It’s a wretched way to describe the United States’ military strike on Iran, but one that’s going to be increasingly germane as that countdown approaches zero.)

The war — and yes, it’s a war — has since seen at least 13 additional countries sustain bombardments, mostly from retaliatory Iranian missiles. Three of them (Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia) will be sending their senior men’s soccer teams to North America this spring.

It’s great to have a family doctor; it’s even better to get a quick appointment

Governments love a good statistic. Especially the kind that can be packaged neatly into a news release and used to suggest progress is being made.

So it’s not surprising the Manitoba government was quick to highlight new survey results showing this province leads the country in access to family doctors or other forms of primary care.

According to a recent OurCare national survey led by University of Toronto researchers, 88.8 per cent of Manitobans report having a family doctor, nurse practitioner or regular primary-care setting. That’s well above the national average of 82.8 per cent.

On the surface, that sounds like good news. And it is.

Good news exposes a lot of bad in overwhelmed justice system

It doesn’t happen very often in Manitoba’s justice system that Crown prosecutors and criminal defence lawyers see eye to eye.

NDP’s unforeseen budget expenses legitimate; so is bloated deficit

By the time government budget season is over this spring, the country will be awash in fiscal red ink.

From coast to coast, the federal and provincial governments are reporting astronomical budget deficits, almost all of them larger than forecasted in last spring’s budgets. Almost all of them will offer the hope of a dramatic turnaround within a couple of years.

Three at the most. OK, maybe four or five years.

Some of the numbers being posted are eye-popping, with four provinces posting 11-figure budget shortfalls: Quebec ($13.6 billion); Ontario ($13.5 billion); British Columbia ($11.2 billion) and Alberta ($10 billion).

Survey results crystal-clear: transit system overhaul a disaster

When more than eight in 10 of your core customers say you’ve made things worse, that’s not a minor hiccup. That’s a collapse in confidence.

And it’s exactly where Winnipeg Transit finds itself after its sweeping network overhaul launched last year.

The redesign was billed as a bold modernization — a smarter, more efficient system built around frequent primary routes and timed connections.

Instead, it has produced a level of dissatisfaction among downtown riders that is as striking as it is alarming.