Cinematheque celebrates LGBTTQ+ director’s catalogue

Tina's great-aunt hopes slain teen's legacy is changes to systems that failed her

Through her death, Tina Fontaine has the power to make changes to the systems that failed her, said the teen’s great-aunt Thelma Favel, who sees impending change on the horizon.

“When people think of Tina, they think about the way she died and everything. But they don’t see the door that she’s opened,” Favel said when reached at her home in Powerview.

“I know it’s awful,” she said, reflecting on the tragedy she now believes may bring forth solutions. “I’d rather have her here beside me than to have this legacy. I’d rather have her here right now than buried in a grave with her dad.”

That legacy — Tina’s lasting “kindness” — is how Favel said she hopes to reach other young people like Tina. Following an acquittal on a second-degree murder charge for the man accused of killing the 15-year-old in August 2014, Favel said she will continue to work toward change. Organizations and individuals have approached her with ideas for how to honour Tina’s name.

MGEU sounds alarm over proposed bargaining unit contraction

A union representing Manitoba health-care workers says it's worried home care workers and health-care aides may be forced to take on unfamiliar roles as a result of a decision this week by the province.

The Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union, which represents 17,500 health workers, said Thursday it has grave concerns about a new regulation that would place home care workers and health-care aides in hospitals and personal care homes in the same bargaining unit.

MGEU president Michelle Gawronsky said she's been told government wants the flexibility to use the workers and aides interchangeably. She said this news is upsetting both groups, some of whom have told her they'd rather quit than be forced to take on a new role.

"A good health-care system needs to support (its) health-care workforce, not stress them out and turn their lives upside down," Gawronsky said at a news conference. "Only a high-priced consultant who isn't working on the front lines would try to improve quality of care by shuffling health workers around the system."

Manitoba labour leader quits, cites ‘degrading, disgusting’ remarks from union men

A Manitoba labour leader has quit her job, shocking other local union members with descriptions of misogynist and humiliating remarks she allegedly endured from union brothers, as well as a sexual assault.

Postal worker Basia Sokal, now the former president of the Winnipeg Labour Council (WLC), resigned at a board meeting Tuesday evening in front of a crowd of about 60 people. A 15-minute audio recording of her resignation speech was uploaded online by Rank & File Radio — Prairie Edition.

In her remarks, Sokal detailed some of the things allegedly said to her during her tenure as council president, a role she began in January 2017.

CRTC looking into high number of cellphone tornado alerts in Manitoba during June storm

Canada’s telecom regulator is investigating why Manitobans received an “unusually high number” of tornado alerts on their cellphones when the province was hit by wild thunderstorms June 9.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission gave Pelmorex Corp., which operates the national Alert Ready system, and three wireless providers — Bell, Rogers and Telus — until Sept. 11 to answer a list of questions.

“Commission staff have been informed of reports concerning tornado alerts that were issued in Winnipeg and southern Manitoba on June 9, 2026, in which members of the public reported receiving an unusually high number of wireless emergency alerts,” Simon Levasseur, the CRTC’s director of financial and multiplatform technology analysis, wrote in a letter dated Wednesday.

“Commission staff is gathering information on the event, any potential root causes that have been identified, as well as corrective actions that have or will be taken to address these causes.”

Cinematheque celebrates LGBTTQ+ director’s catalogue

As a distinct and important voice in queer cinema, director Gregg Araki’s sex-filled, nihilistic films about LGBTTQ+ life have left a lasting impact on indie films.

To end off the summer, Winnipeggers will have a rare one-week opportunity to experience the Los Angeles-born filmmaker’s work in theatres at Dave Barber Cinematheque from Aug. 28 to Sept. 6.

The series is to celebrate Araki’s newest movie, I Want Your Sex (which opens tonight and runs to Tuesday),and incorporates some of his more well-known works along with older films that aren’t usually screened, says Olivia Norquay, film programmer for Cinematheque.

One of the most important inclusions for Norquay is Araki’s Teen Apocalypse trilogy, which includes Totally F***ed Up (1993), The Doom Generation (1995) and Nowhere (1997).