What’s wrong with a fun summer sweetheart?

Whatever Manitobans think of this government’s health-care record, its willingness to spend is impressive. The promise to rebuild care has inspired a massive mobilization of public money.

Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care spending reached $9.66 billion in 2025-26. Next year’s budget allocates $10.59 billion, an almost 10 per cent increase above last year’s actual spending, following increases of approximately 5.6 and 6.8 per cent in the preceding years. The government has found room for another $931 million in a single year.

That allocation stands roughly $2 billion above spending in 2023-24, the year the government changed, and represents an increase of nearly one-quarter. At $10.59 billion, the budget amounts to approximately $29 million a day.

Let’s consider the province’s reported additions and funding commitments:

A call for digital revolution

Re: MPI on new path after Project Nova debacle (Oct. 6)

Computer scientist Melvin Conway once stated, “Any organization that designs a system (defined broadly) will produce a design whose structure is a copy of the organization’s communication structure.”

This is seen clearly in the Manitoba government’s online service. The Manitoba government has a “Data MB” portal to view government data sets, but data about vehicle collisions is only accessible from Manitoba Public Insurance’s Manitoba Collision Dashboard. If you need to find information on a Manitoba surgeon, that information is on Shared Health’s website, but if you need surgical wait times, that’s on the main government website.

As one of the original homeowners in Rivercrest, a subdivision north of Winnipeg set aside for war veterans in 1946, and the very last of them to leave at age 101, Art Christensen embodied neighbourhood-building.

He volunteered with the construction of the Rivercrest United Church, Rivercrest Community Club, West St. Paul Curling Club, and West St. Paul Fire Hall.

He went on to serve as West St. Paul councillor for 10 years, and then as reeve for 11.

Christensen was even a bit of a social convener.

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?