Louis C.K. mocks Parkland students in audio of stand-up set

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I’m in love with my sister’s boyfriend, and neither one of them knows it. They’re both grad students and came back home from the province where they are studying to write and spend the summer in Manitoba.

Thankfully, they’ve gone back home because it was becoming too much for me to bear. My sister’s guy is perfect for me, but she already owns him and I’m too young to fight her for him.

Still, the two of them don’t realize the depth of my feelings. I don’t know how to behave when they get cosy around me and I feel so jealous I want to scream. I’m not sure what to do next.

This week I got an email from my artsy-fartsy sister with an invitation to come visit them in December and go to some fun plays and parties with them and their friends. They even promised my Christmas present from them will be my plane ticket.

The provincial government says it doesn’t know how long it’s taking for public health officials to connect with people infected with COVID-19 or their close contacts.

With infection rates and the number of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital growing at an alarming rate, the province’s inability (or refusal) to share contact tracing data with the public raises serious questions about how many people may be spreading the novel coronavirus unwittingly.

The Free Press has asked the provincial government repeatedly over the past week for pandemic contact tracing information, including how long it’s taking public health officials to follow up with people who test positive and to track down their close contacts.

“We do not have these statistics readily compiled, and do not have the capacity to pull them at this time,” a government spokeswoman said in an email Wednesday.

As much as I cling to hope, I recognize the ominous circumstances and questionable future that our young people stand to inherit.

Youth are navigating a world plagued with the existential dangers of climate change, artificial intelligence, political polarization and rising military armament, among other disconcerting trends. While schools cannot entirely ameliorate these issues, I am inspired by the words of Amina Mohammed, the United Nations deputy secretary-general, who declared teachers to be the “guardians of our future.”

Our future integrally depends on the learning, healthy development and empowerment of young people. With the upcoming Manitoba school board elections, I invite readers, voters and prospective candidates to consider how to support the practices of these guardians so we may ensure a brighter tomorrow.

First, I believe we are in — or entering — a community mental-health crisis. There is a resounding body of peer-reviewed research outlining the declining trends in the mental health of youth, parents and teachers. In May 2026, Doctors Manitoba stated its concern that the technology consumption habits of youth rivalled the health detriments of drinking and smoking. Many parents are stressed, economically struggling and need assistance. How might schools mitigate these precarious developments?