Don’t let melodrama obscure hurtful truths

Director Schrader returns to silver screen with complex view of religion and belief

Bleak, wintry and rigorously controlled — until it’s not — this Book of Job-like drama from American filmmaker Paul Schrader looks at the challenges of faith.

The 71-year-old Schrader, known for scripting four Martin Scorsese films (including Taxi Driver and Raging Bull) and for directing his own (including American Gigolo, Affliction and Auto Focus), grew up in a strict Calvinist home — he famously did not see a film until he was 17 — and has always been drawn to stories of agonizing and uncertain redemption.

As the Rev. Toller (Ethan Hawke) wrestles with what it means to lead a righteous life in our badly broken world, his spiritual fate remains in doubt. It is certain, however, that First Reformed marks a cinematic rebirth for Schrader after recent disasters like The Canyons and Dog Eat Dog. Serious, complex and moving, this is not a perfect film, but even its flaws are powerful.

Toller is a solitary man who has come to the ministry late in life, after a family tragedy and a failed marriage. First Reformed, a historic church in upstate New York that was once a stop on the Underground Railroad, has since been reduced to an austerely beautiful tourist shop, more of a museum than a place of worship.

Jimmy Kimmel: Gov. Gavin Newsom, Emma Roberts, Foo Fighters, Nayanna Holley

Jimmy Fallon: Jamie Lee Curtis, Jamie Campbell Bower, Angèle

Comics Unleashed: Faith Ladzinski, Adam Hunter, Rob Haze, Monty Franklin

Seth Meyers: Sharon Horgan, Justin Hartley

Remembering Canada’s first national internment

Canada’s first national internment operation, from 1914 to 1920, is a part of Canadian history that is at times forgotten. Oct. 28 marks the anniversary of the Canadian government passing an order-in-council (essentially an executive decree) in 1914, under the War Measures Act. The order legally authorized the arrest and internment of Canadian civilians as enemy aliens during the First World War, and thousands of Canadians were sent to internment camps across the country.

The war of 1914-18 created difficulty for new Canadians hoping to become naturalized citizens. Many new immigrants to Canada came from regions of Europe that was under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the start of the First World War.

The Canadian government, under Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden introduced internment camps throughout Canada, fearing that many eastern European immigrants would have some form of affiliation with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Even though there was never any evidence of disloyalty, people were imprisoned needlessly and forced to do heavy labour in 24 internment camps throughout Canada’s frontier hinterland. There were two identified internment camps in Manitoba, one in Brandon and the other in Winnipeg.

Man accused of assaulting unconscious woman has lengthy record of abuse

A convicted sex offender accused of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman last week — only to be stopped in the process by police officers — has a lengthy history of abusing vulnerable victims.

Harley Aaron Okemow, 34, was arrested Oct. 21 on Stanley Street, near Henry Avenue, and charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm.

He had been released from provincial jail in mid-September, with a sentence of two years of supervised probation plus the time he served behind bars awaiting court, after pleading guilty to several breaches of court orders committed earlier this year.

“Mr. Okemow … does have a serious record … that includes sexually offending against six different victims, five of which were children,” said Crown prosecutor Katie Dojack at Okemow’s sentencing last month.

Public asked to support Stella’s employees amid harassment allegations

The deluge of allegations about worker harassment, abuse and exploitation at Stella's shows no signs of slowing. 

Now, some of the women at the forefront of the #NotMyStellas movement are calling on Winnipeggers to support former and current workers, whose livelihoods may be at risk as allegations pile up and the public fallout mounts.

On Saturday afternoon, three former Stella's employees met the media to reiterate their five calls to action against what they describe as a toxic and often abusive culture that "permeated every level" of the local restaurant chain.

Those calls begin with two very clear requests: one, for a full acknowledgement from the company of the abuses and harassment reported by workers. Two, for a formal apology from company owners and top-level management. 

Woman with schizophrenia pleads guilty to stabbing caretaker in neck

A Winnipeg woman previously found not criminally responsible for stabbing three people is now facing a possible prison sentence for stabbing her apartment caretaker in the neck while in the grip of a psychotic delusion.

Victoria Nuoi, 34, has pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault for the April 2025 attack.

At a hearing Tuesday, Crown attorney Marla Bettencourt recommended Nuoi, who lives with schizophrenia, be sentenced to four years in prison, while her lawyer Chris Gamby urged provincial court Judge Dale Harvey to sentence her to three years supervised probation.

Harvey reserved his decision, saying he needed time to consider the widely disparate recommendations.