Walk hapless hubby through the art of gifting

City pest control giant's roots date back to the early 1900s and one boy's quest for vengeance

No foolin’ with Poulin? Damn straight.

Napoleon Louis Poulin, founder of Poulin’s Pest Control, currently celebrating 75 years in business, was born in 1894 on a farm south of St. Malo. He begged his mother and father for a dog while growing up but their answer was always the same: maybe next year.

In the summer of 1902 he found a stray on their property. He befriended the pooch and kept it in a grain shed, out of his parents’ sight. One morning he rolled out of bed bright and early to feed his new best friend, only to discover it had been viciously attacked by rats during the night.

“It all started when I was a little boy,” he told a reporter from the Winnipeg Tribune in 1962, three years before his retirement and five years before his death at age 73. “I had a little puppy dog and the rats chewed him to bits. Ever since then I’ve been killing them back.

Widow on mission to improve mental-health supports for law-enforcement officers, families

Stacia Franz is honouring her late husband’s life and legacy by seeking to ensure no law enforcement officer suffers in silence and no other spouse is widowed at 36.

Jody Wilson-Raybould’s testimony puts PM in hot seat

For Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Wednesday was a disaster whose epic proportions will take a while to be fully understood.

If the testimony of former justice minister and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould before the House of Commons justice committee is to be believed, what was laid bare Wednesday was a calculated and systematic attempt, by the prime minister and his most senior officials, to undermine judicial process for partisan political purposes and then to deceive the Canadian public about the nature and magnitude of the interference.

In nearly four hours of testimony that was meticulously prepared, deeply detailed, unflappably delivered and impenetrable to those who sought to challenge its substance, Ms. Wilson-Raybould succeeded in presenting herself as someone who should be believed.

And in so doing, she essentially cast as opportunistic liars Mr. Trudeau and staffers in the Prime Minister’s Office who had previously sought to declare their dealings with the former attorney general, in relation to the prosecution of the Quebec-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin, as acceptable in both legal and ethical terms.

U of M research role expands after $79-M federal injection

The University of Manitoba is playing in a new league.

A $79-million investment will bring five internationally recruited researchers to Manitoba to build “ambitious,” long-term research programs in areas of strategic national importance.

The five researchers will join the U of M thanks to the federal government’s $1.7-billion research talent initiative that’s designed to help Canadian universities compete globally for leading researchers.

The initiative’s flagship program, the Eddie Goldenberg Research Chairs of Canada, provides universities with the funding and resources to recruit world-class researchers, build research teams and pursue large-scale projects in fields considered important to Canada — from Arctic navigation and defence to sustainable mining, health equity and environmental law.

Weary, waterlogged Manitobans cast wary eye on the sky

Severe spring flooding is taking its toll on Manitobans who’ve battled to save their homes, have been forced to evacuate their communities or have become isolated by surging water levels.

People in flood zones are dealing with fatigue, stress and burnout amid a disaster that has dragged on for weeks and is poised to disrupt daily life into the summer.

“We’re just exhausted. For me, it was emotional, trying not to lose our home,” said Peguis First Nation resident Cindy Sutherland, who’s been fighting floodwater since April 30.

She is feeling a sense of relief because the water is receding and a Tiger Dam — a barrier of water-filled tubes — is now set up around her home.