Residential school book gets timely release

Rural Canada sees uneven population change: census

Kelly Rae, the administrator of Arran, Sask., says the denizens of dwindling rural communities like her own are clinging to a vanishing way of life in Canada.

Between 2011 and 2021, the village west of the Manitoba border saw its population slashed in half to just 20 people,Statistics Canada reported on Wednesday, as it released the first tranche of data from last year's census.

The share of Canadians living in rural areas has declined for the ninth census in a row, the agency said, dropping from 18.7 per cent in 2016 to 17.8 per cent in 2021.

However, the count showed that Canada's rural population grew faster than any other G7 country, ticking up 0.4 per cent over the five-year period to 6.6 million people in May 2021.

Russian missile strike hits crowded shopping mall in Ukraine

KREMENCHUK, Ukraine (AP) — Russian long-range bombers struck a crowded shopping mall in Ukraine's central city of Kremenchuk with a missile on Monday, raising fears of what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called an “unimaginable” number of victims in “one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history.”

Zelenskky said that many of the more than 1,000 afternoon shoppers and staff inside the mall managed to escape. Giant plumes of black smoke, dust and orange flames emanated from the wreckage, with emergency crews rushing in to search broken metal and concrete for victims and put out fires. Onlookers watched in distress at the sight of how an everyday activity such as shopping could turn into a horror.

The casualty figures were changing as rescuers searched the smoldering rubble into early Tuesday. Ukraine's emergency services reported late Monday that at least 16 people were dead and about 60 wounded.

Soldiers worked into the night to lug sheets of twisted metal and broken concrete, as one drilled into what remained of the shopping center's roof. Drones whirred above, clouds of dark smoke still emanating from the ruins several hours after the fire had been put out.

Stakes are high for organized labour in upcoming provincial election

Of all the special interests in Manitoba, it would seem organized labour has the most to win — or lose — in the upcoming provincial election.

Just consider the Progressive Conservative government of Manitoba's record on labour issues over the past three years, and you will understand why the stakes are so high for unions, particularly those in the public sector. It has been a non-stop torrent of tough love from Premier Brian Pallister.

The premier had barely settled into the comfy chair in his corner office at the Manitoba legislature when he disbanded blue-ribbon advisory councils that gave labour parallel access on policy to that of business-sector representatives. He then tabled legislation imposing wage freezes on all unionized provincial workers. That law was never proclaimed, but the Pallister government got its wage freeze simply by not bargaining.

Then the premier announced legislation that would force health-care workers to re-organize, from 180 different unionized groups to about 40. The new law has forced unions to campaign against each other to be chosen to represent health workers, a scenario that has led to bitter and divisive confrontations among labour groups.

Physician watchdog under fire for ‘outrageous’ policy

The Manitoba physician watchdog’s policy of deferring its own investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct while a police probe is ongoing is “outrageous” and is further evidence an independent review is needed into the regulatory body, critics say.

‘Much more to do’ to meet demand for licensed child care: education minister

An Elmwood child-care facility with 1,000 kids on its wait list served as the backdrop for a government news conference touting recent steps taken to meet overwhelming demand for licensed spaces in Manitoba.

“Much accomplished, much more to do — but we’re on the right track,” Education Minister Tracy Schmidt told reporters during a morning event at the Munroe Early Childhood Education Centre on Thursday.

The centre, which operates two preschool sites in northeast Winnipeg, recently underwent renovations to accommodate 48 more children at its Thames Avenue location.

Those additions are among 1,075 funded spaces that have opened across Manitoba since late last year.

Transit installing driver-activated emergency-alert system

All Winnipeg Transit buses will soon be equipped to warn bystanders and motorists to call 911 instead of boarding the vehicles while an emergency is taking place.

The city is now installing a system that displays “Emergency Call 911” followed by “Do Not Board Bus” on electronic message boards that are visible only from the outside. When a driver activates the system, the message will also be sent to Winnipeg Transit’s control centre.

The entire 645-bus fleet will be upgraded with the new safety feature by Dec. 15.

“This emergency-signal system ensures another layer of protection for our operators and our passengers by ensuring help arrives as quickly as possible,” said Greg Ewankiw, Transit’s director.