Just be your genuine self with new neighbour

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.

‘Women were shortchanged.’ Why bobsledding’s idea of equality doesn’t add up

When female bobsledders pushed for an Olympic four-woman event, they got a solo discipline instead: monobob. Now they’ll race for the same number of medals as men, but with fewer sledders. Not the progress they were looking for.

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.

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.

Grim new protocols will force doctors to make unthinkable choices

Provincial officials are developing a new triage protocol to help doctors decide who gets critical care and who could be denied life-saving treatment if hospitals become overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.

It’s a stark and terrifying proposition.

But with cases continuing to rise (and knowing the kind of rationing of critical care that occurred in countries like Italy), Manitoba officials have no choice but to prepare for a worst-case scenario,

“Like other jurisdictions, Manitoba is developing an ethical framework to help determine the criteria and decision-making processes for allocating resources during COVID-19, including critical care,” a spokesperson for Shared Health Manitoba stated in an email to the Free Press. “Discussions continue amongst clinical leadership and ethicists.”

Manitoba introduces $100M in supports to combat U.S. tariffs

Manitoba is responding to the latest U.S. tariffs with more than $100 million in support for workers, businesses and producers to help them withstand the headwinds, but the opposition said it’s “too little, too late.”

“We will support workers, we will support businesses, we will ensure that we have market and trade diversification and build a stronger, more resilient economy,” Business Minister Jamie Moses said Friday at the legislature alongside Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn.

The United States imposed 50 per cent tariffs on $27.6 billion of Canadian exports as of Aug. 22 after trade talks fell apart. Canada has announced retaliatory tariffs on select U.S. products starting Sept. 8.

The latest escalation in U.S. tariffs is expected to affect a wide range of Manitoba industries, the ministers noted, including manufacturing, agri-food, transportation, construction, wholesale trade, aerospace, forestry, steel, machinery, beverages and related supply chains.