Feats of strength: improv band finds humour in day-to-day issues

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I was at a party with my younger boyfriend, and I overheard him in another room talking loudly with his friends.

They were all bombed, guzzling beer and rating their girlfriends’ looks. I was listening for my guy to chime in. He finally said I was “a five without makeup, a 6 1/2 with it, but her great personality makes up for the rest.”

I can’t believe he would say that to other people, but he was drinking a lot — disgusting. I’m thinking of leaving him. What do you think?

— ‘Five Without Makeup,’ Osborne Village

Post-election reflection

The civic election offered both predictable and surprising results. The re-election of Mayor Scott Gillingham and the defeat of Transcona councillor Russ Wyatt were anticipated.

What was surprising was that, in addition to Wyatt, three other incumbents lost their bids for re-election. Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan), Ross Eadie (Mynarski) and Shawn Dobson (St. James) all went down to defeat, and it is clear to me their replacements will bring stronger voices to city hall.

A total of nine new councillors is a seismic shift in Winnipeg civic politics, not seen since the establishment of the 15-member council some 35 years ago. What is most interesting is the political leanings of the new councillors and how they will work with Mayor Gillingham.

BEIJING (AP) — Sales of all types of electric vehicles rose more than 40% in China last year, while those of gasoline-powered automobiles plunged, industry data showed Monday.

A total of 31.4 million vehicles were sold last year in the world's biggest market by sales, up 4.5% compared from a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported. Growth in sales outpaced production, which rose 3.7%.

China's exports of passenger cars jumped almost 20% in 2024, to almost 5 million vehicles. Out of that, exports of what China calls “new energy vehicles,” including battery EVs, fuel-cell cars and plug-in hybrids -- electric vehicles with a small gasoline-powered engine to back up the batteries -- reached 1.28 million. That was a 6.7% increase from 2023.

Domestically, sales of passenger cars rose 13.6% in December, driven in part by rebates for trade-ins, raising sales of all passenger cars in China by 3.1% for the year, to 22.6 million.

On Monday in Ottawa, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew called for the Indian Act to be abolished. Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was open to working with First Nations to reform or repeal this law, calling it racist.

The act was created in 1876 and still controls Indian status, reserve lands and band governance. It’s understandable why many people want a better relationship.

But repealing a law and building a new relationship are not the same. What would replace the act’s protections? Who decides? How do governments ensure removing federal authority gives First Nations power while the Crown keeps its promises?

Manitoba has faced these questions before. In 1971, First Nations created a document called Wahbung: Our Tomorrows, in response to then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau’s white paper on assimilation. More than 45 years later, elders and knowledge keepers met at Turtle Lodge, north of Winnipeg, to continue the conversation. Manitobans Dave Courchene Sr. and his son, Dave Courchene Jr., are generational links to the broader movement, and their story should be part of this discussion.