Oscars push back nominations announcement amid California wildfires

McKeever wins historic 16th Paralympic gold medal

BEIJING - Brian McKeever of Canmore, Alta., along with guide Graham Nishikawa, has won gold in the men's para cross-country middle distance vision impaired race at the 2022 Winter Paralympics.

The victory was McKeever's 16th gold medal and tied him with Gerd Schoenfelder of Germany for the most titles by a male winter Paralympian.

McKeever beat out Sweden's Zebastian Modin and Ukraine's Dmytro Suiarko in a time of 33 minutes, 6.6 seconds to win his historic gold.

The 42-year-old has won 20 Paralympic medals over the course of his career.

Thomas Giroux

Jobs report shows how work has changed

Employment gains in September brought Canada’s total employment back to the pre-pandemic level of 19.1 million, Statistics Canada announced last week. Total employment had fallen to 16.1 million in April 2020, two months after the pandemic struck.

In effect, it took Canada just two months to lose three million jobs in the first stages of the campaign against COVID-19. It then took 17 months of struggle and re-adjustment to recover the lost ground. Falling off the cliff was quick. Climbing back up was slow and painful work.

Since Canada’s population increased by 1.4 per cent during that period of collapse and recovery, we are not exactly back to where we started. And since some industries have fared worse than others, the world of work has been transformed almost beyond recognition by the pandemic experience.

The virus seemed to be in retreat in most of the country this past summer, but still a quarter of the people who worked in Canada in September were working from home. Though some employers were starting to call employees back into their offices, working from home was as common last month as it had been a year earlier. The habit of remote work was proving tough to break.

Hard-hitting Hansen working his way back into Bombers lineup

Thiadric Hansen is a European who lives in India and plays professional football in Canada.

Forget Pitbull, if anyone deserves the moniker “Mr. Worldwide” it’s the German-born defensive lineman for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

“I love it,” Hansen told reporters after Monday’s practice at Fort Garry Lions Field. He resides in Bangalore, the capital and largest city of the southern Indian state of Karnataka, because his girlfriend works there.

“I love travelling. The year before, I lived in Thailand for the off-season so I’m just making the most out of the opportunities that I can.”