National parks to open campgrounds for existing reservations next week

Mighty Mikee returns to Assiniboia Downs in grand fashion with 23-length victory

Mighty Mikee is back, and in a big way.

The grey Manitoba-bred three-year-old won the $40,000 by 23 lengths on Tuesday for trainer Devon Gittens. Not only was his margin of victory the largest in North America on the day, but the time was sizzling fast. He was like the Mighty Mikee of old.

“That brought tears to my eyes,” said breeder Larry Falloon, who co-owns the horse with Anne Champion and McLaren Racing.

Last year’s co-champion CTHS Horse of the Year as a two-year-old off the strength of three wins. including the $40,000 CTHS Sales Stakes and the $40,000 Buffalo Stakes, Mighty Mikee was transferred to the barn of another trainer for the start of this season. After finishing last twice and second last once, he was transferred back to Gittens.

How to make National Day for Truth and Reconciliation personal

It’s September — the month that culminates in the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

For Indigenous communities, the last day of September used the be the day the Indian agent, the priest or the RCMP arrived to remove children from their homes and take them to residential school.

Nowadays, Sept. 30 is the day Canadians show up to prove that history will never be repeated.

This is the fifth National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and the annual event has quickly become one of the most important and highly participatory days in the country.

Dangerous offender status sought for convicted killer

CROWN prosecutors intend to apply to have a convicted killer, who also admitted his guilt in an assault on a stranger at The Forks and a robbery at a local beer vendor, designated as a dangerous offender.

Daniel Christopher Dumas, who is in his mid-30s, pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and robbery in front of provincial court Judge Donovan Dvorak on Monday for the attacks on June 6 and 7, 2025. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Prosecutor Monique Cam said the Crown plans to apply for a dangerous offender designation for Dumas, which, if granted, could result in him being given an indefinite prison sentence.

“The Crown does intend to make an application at a future date … for a remand for assessment to have Mr. Dumas assessed by a court-ordered assessor for the purpose of pursuing a dangerous offender application,” Cam said.

FAQ: Winnipeg’s boil-water advisory

To boil water: Fill a pot with water from the cold-water tap. Heat it until bubbles come from the bottom of the pot to the top. Once the water reaches a rolling boil, let it boil for one minute (kettles with an automatic shutoff feature may not boil for a full minute).

Meth-fighting HQ pitched for vacant building

A vacant building that’s costing the province a half-million dollars a year could be ideally suited to be a headquarters in the fight against methamphetamine.

Marion Willis, executive director of St. Boniface Street Links, wants to turn the former Southern Authority Child and Family Services centre at 800 Adele Ave. into a detox facility to help stabilize people getting off meth.

“It’s time to come together to do the right thing,” Willis said Tuesday. “It would be a shame to know that the right thing... exists and is turnkey. But we choose to keep it empty."

There's two connected buildings on the site, including a newer addition, with 10 secure beds and triage units, which Willis wants to turn into a temporary stabilization unit to hold people under the Intoxicated Persons Detention Act.

Explaining Canada’s superior employment rate

Donald Trump regularly makes outrageous claims. Fentanyl was pouring across the northern border from Canada and had to be stopped. Canada is nasty to deal with and has the highest tariffs in the world. Canada needs the U.S. but the U.S. doesn’t need Canada. Canadians want to become the 51st state. And so on.

In the latest trade dispute, after Mark Carney walked away from negotiations, Trump made a new claim that Canada’s unemployment rate was 10 per cent and climbing rapidly. Insofar as the unemployment rate is closely monitored, reported monthly, and given similar attention to the rates of inflation and economic growth, the comment was likely intended to signal Canada’s weakness. It fits Trump’s narrative that Canada needs the U.S. for its livelihood and protection and would be better off more directly under U.S. influence as a 51st state, or perhaps a protectorate like the Philippines or Panama in the past.

Fact checkers quickly reported that Canada’s unemployment rate is really 6.4 per cent for July, not 10 per cent, has fallen from 6.9 per cent in April, and is at its lowest rate since May 2024. Some astute observers pointed out that Canada’s method for the calculation of the unemployment rate leads to a higher rate than the U.S. by about one per cent. Under the American methodology, then, our unemployment rate would be 5.4 per cent, not that far off the U.S. July rate of 4.1 per cent.

Detection of unemployment is less straightforward that might appear, as it is sandwiched between the labour force statuses of employment and inactivity at a particular point in time. The internationally established standard for determination of unemployment is the notion of searching for work — you are unemployed if you do not have paid employment and you are looking for work without success. Surveys have been developed to categorize respondents as employed, unemployed or inactive, including the labour force survey (LFS) in Canada and the current population survey (CPS) in the U.S.