Another day, another cancelled concert

Tories, NDP ask for new probe of Morneau, WE

OTTAWA - Opposition parties are asking the federal ethics watchdog to widen his probe of Bill Morneau regarding the WE organization as the finance minister continues to face calls for his resignation.

Conservatives and New Democrats have written to ethics commissioner Mario Dion to look into trips Morneau took three years ago, part of which were paid for by the WE organization.

Morneau said Wednesday he had just repaid WE Charity more than $41,000 for expenses the group covered for trips his family took to Kenya and Ecuador in 2017 to see some of its humanitarian work.

WE said the Morneau family trips were meant to be complimentary, part of a practice of showing donors WE's work to encourage them to give more.

St. Boniface culinary matriarch’s presence, devotion are much missed

Irène Kirouac’s smile was as iconic as her restaurants.

Rage Against the Machine cancels 2023 tour, including Winnipeg date

Let the rage begin.

Metaphor is dead as Trump ‘renovates’

It appears U.S. President Donald Trump will not stop until he has rendered literally every metaphorical description one could give for his presidency.

Case in point: he’s tearing the White House apart.

Trump, as part of a lifelong effort to make everything about himself, has torn down the entire East Wing of the presidential building as he moves ahead with construction of an ornate, US$350-million ballroom. The demolition was carried out without the approvals that are normally required. He already had the Rose Garden paved over, he evidently needs more change than that.

One could have made the argument during his first term that Trump had already rewritten American politics in his image, an image which persisted through others even during his four-year absence from the Oval Office during former president Joe Biden’s term. Republican policy revolves around his whims. Democrats were, and still are, defined by how hard they will work to oppose him. When he leaves the office one day, his spectre will likely endure, hovering over the American body politic for a generation.

Four sports to make their Olympic debut in Tokyo

Up for some kickflips and ollies? Ready for a dyno on the climbing wall? How about a goofy-footer carving waves? Will you watch the karatekas in kumite or kata?

Four sports will make their Olympic debut this year and they'll bring some new lingo and a freshness injection along with them. Karate, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing are all on the program for the July 23-Aug. 8 Games in Tokyo.

One thing is clear after the additions: these are no longer your parents' Summer Olympics.

"I think that as the world evolves, as the Olympics evolve, as generations come and go, I think that if the Olympics didn't add and sometimes remove sports, I think that they would become old with themselves," said Canadian climber Sean McColl.

Stastny gave $1,000 to convoy protesters

GLENDALE, Ari. – Paul Stastny said he donated to the convoy protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates because of serious concerns he has for the future of those closest to him and what he believes could be a turning point for Canada.

The Winnipeg Jets forward was one of tens of thousands of people exposed in a leaked list of donors that financially supported the so-called “freedom convoy.” Stastny, under a registered company Walnuts, LLC, committed US$1,000 on Feb. 8, according to the leaked documents.

“Being the son of immigrants that left a communist country to come to Canada and have a future where they had their own decisions and do-what-they-want type of freedom is something that’s always been instilled in me,” Stastny told the Free Press, speaking for the first time on the topic. “And then I know what Canada was like, and I can see where Canada is going, and I think that’s what scares me.”

He added: “For me, it’s not about myself or my wife. It’s more about our kids’ futures, and you want their future to always be better than yours.”