Author: ‘Game of Thrones’ finale was ending, also beginning

Campus ministries soothe, rally students shaken over Ukraine

After decades of under-investments and a lack of sustained attention by successive governments in Ottawa, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has now thrust the issue of Canadian Arctic sovereignty and security into sharper focus.

NDP handily retains northern seat in byelection

Voters in The Pas-Kameesak stuck with the NDP — big time — in Tuesday’s byelection.

With all polls reporting, New Democrat Jennifer Flett received 74 per cent of the votes in the race to replace the late NDP MLA Amanda Lathlin. Flett, a former vice-chief and councillor for Opaskwayak Cree Nation, got a stronger mandate than the NDP received in the 2023 provincial election, when Lathlin received 67 per cent support.

Premier Wab Kinew welcomed Flett to the NDP caucus.

“She knows what families in her communities need, and I look forward to working with her to deliver better health care and more good jobs for The Pas-Kameesak,” he said in a release.

Health care and economic growth

PLEASE do not ask how my algorithm delivered this news.

Still, apparently, embalmers are finding that “tough, white, rubbery, fibrous masses resembling strips of calamari … are turning up in body after body across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.”

According to this news source, these fibrous entities emerged after the COVID pandemic and subsequent vaccine rollout.

Citing research published in the International Journal of Innovative Research in Medical Science by a retired U.S. Army officer, the news presenter weaves a horror story of an unsuspecting public being duped into accepting harmful vaccines. The YouTube video I viewed is just one example of the anti-vaccination lobby’s toolkit.

Lawyer working on unpaid tax bill in Costa Rica, Pallister says

Three-and-a-half months after acknowledging he owed luxury taxes on his Costa Rican vacation home, Brian Pallister now admits that the bill remains unpaid.

In a year-end interview, the premier expressed frustration at being unable to make the payment, citing unspecified problems in navigating the Costa Rican bureaucracy.

While he told the Canadian Press in late August that he had paid what he owed — roughly C$8,000, including penalties — it turns out that he had, in fact, transferred the money to his Costa Rican lawyer, Paul Oporta, to carry out the transaction.

"I've been assured by the lawyer that he is endeavouring his very best to get it done," Pallister said of the tax payment.

Blood services: need 1-M new donors in next 5 years

Getting a tattoo or going out to a bar are common things to do when turning 18, but Saige Zdebiak’s first act of adulthood was donating blood.

“It was always kind of a goal of mine. I’ve always wanted to do it because my mom’s done it hundreds of times,” said the now-22-year-old while donating at Canadian Blood Services earlier this week.

Zdebiak needed a heart transplant when she was three and developed Lyme disease when she was 10. She gives back today so health-care workers can continue to help people the way they helped her.

She is one of 400,000 donors to Canadian Blood Services across the country — but it’s still not enough to meet the recent spike in demand.

Alberta-based UFA Co-op preps first cardlock, fuel hub in Manitoba

An Alberta-based co-op plans to open its first Manitoba gas station later this year.

UFA Co-operative Ltd. has circled Portage la Prairie for a cardlock and bulk petroleum site. Meanwhile, it’s analyzing the keystone province for future locations.

“There is more to come,” Fred Thun, UFA president, said Wednesday.

The co-op counts at least 121 petroleum stations across Alberta and Saskatchewan and 125,000 member-owners. It already ships fuel to bulk customers in Manitoba.