Opposite types can thrive together, with work

Curb your enthusiasm for city repairs

It only took 28 years for a City of Winnipeg crew to repair a curb on Tyrone Bay.

Today’s horoscope

MOON ALERT: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The moon is in Aries.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

The moon in your sign is lined up with stern Saturn, which can make you feel isolated from others. Domestic problems might surface. Possibly, you might feel cut off from your emotions. You might even feel a tinge of guilt. This is fleeting.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Little house, big female energy and golf drama

From its earliest black-and-white flickers to today’s kaleidoscope of small-screen streaming options, television has offered many pleasures.

This new handful of new viewing recommendations dances nicely along that spectrum, from a period drama with a much needed modern perspective, a weekend of she-raging, a couple of spy thrillers and golf as a path to true grace (and a few gut-laughs). Onward!

●Little House on the Prairie (series premières Thursday on Netflix)

Based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved Little House books, a new Winnipeg-shot adaptation moves beyond the 1974-83 sentimental TV adventures of the Ingalls family homesteading in the 19th-century American Midwest. The new effort promises to be not only grittier but also narratively broader, expanding beyond the story of the family planting roots in “free land.” Says the show’s Osage Nation consultant Julie O’Keefe, “If you’re going to tell the story, then you need to tell both sides.” The series has already been renewed for a second season. For more on the series, check out Randall King’s recent preview.

Muslims prepare for second pandemic Ramadan

After marking a pared-down Ramadan last year, Richmond West resident Asra Waleed plans to enjoy the small things during the upcoming Muslim holy month, including special meals with her family and attending mosque for community prayer when there’s room for her.

“The biggest thing in Islam is to always be thankful and grateful, whatever the situation is,” said Waleed, an English language instructor at University of Winnipeg.

“These values carry forward in relationship to the pandemic.”

Ramadan begins at sundown Tuesday, and continues for 30 days until May 12. During that time, adult Muslims fast from food or drink during daylight hours, pray five times a day, read and recite the Qur’an and donate to charity.

Manitoba Tories can learn from Poilievre’s mistake

Among the many errors made by Pierre Poilievre since becoming leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, his decision to attempt to persuade supporters of Max Bernier’s People’s Party and other right-wing groups to return to the Tory party ­— as opposed to adopting policies that would make the CPC more attractive to moderate Canadians — may be his greatest mistake.

By pandering to that small group of voters, Poilievre alienated a much larger group of centrist voters who would have otherwise considered voting for Conservative Party candidates in the 2025 federal election. Instead, those voters found the pro-Canadian, fiscally and socially moderate platform offered by Mark Carney’s Liberals to be more attractive, resulting in the humiliating defeat of the Conservatives.

The situation for the federal Tories has worsened since then, with the Liberals continuing to hold a large lead in public opinion polls and Carney leading Poilievre by almost 30 points on the “preferred prime minister” question. Those same polls also reveal that many Conservative voters approve of the Liberal government’s performance and prefer Carney over Poilievre as PM.

Despite all of those numbers — and all the evidence that pushing policies designed to attract the right-wing fringe of the political spectrum is making it all but impossible for the CPC to have any realistic hope of winning the next election — Poilievre continues to rely on the same caustic rhetoric that cost his party the 2025 election. If anything, he has turned up the volume lately, with his efforts increasingly resembling a political suicide mission.

Emergency responders overburdened

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service’s first comprehensive annual report offers an uncomfortable but necessary reality check. Winnipeg’s emergency responders are being asked to do more than ever, while the public is waiting longer than it should when every minute matters.

A record 136,198 incidents in 2025, including nearly 115,000 medical calls, reflects a system under relentless strain. Much of that pressure is being driven by the ongoing addictions crisis, which now generates roughly 27 emergency calls every day related to drugs or alcohol.

Opioid overdoses, alcohol intoxication and mental health emergencies have become routine parts of the workload for firefighters and paramedics, even as they continue responding to fires, traffic collisions and countless other emergencies.

The report should serve as a call to action for both city hall and the Manitoba government.