Divinity fudge answers prayers for those with a sweet tooth By: Eva Wasney Posted: 6:00 AM CST Friday, Dec. 16, 2022

Expert urges food, drink makers to look to foreign markets

Canada’s slowing population growth could restrict business expansion, a top economist for Farm Credit Canada warned Manitoba manufacturers.

Craig Johnston, the federal Crown corporation’s chief economist, addressed Prairie businesses at Farm Credit Canada’s Food and Beverage Summit Tuesday.

“There could be some modest growth in Canadian consumption of food and beverage,” Johnston said, relaying population numbers inside a Victoria Inn Hotel conference room.

Still, per-person spending on food is “stagnant, if not somewhat rising,” Johnson later told reporters.

Roughing it (less)

I hate camping.

I loathe the very idea of leaving the comfort and safety of home to sleep in a random field, where not only will I be exposed to the elements, but will also be at the mercy of all manner of creatures, from ursine to canine to insectan.

I do not want to hike up a hill just to share one outdoor tap with 12 others, standing alongside them as I brush my teeth.

I do not want to queue for 15 minutes, then part with a $2 coin to wedge myself into a shower stall just to stand under a piddly stream of lukewarm water while trying my best to swiftly soap up and sponge off lest I irk the rapidly growing line of campers outside.

Use it twice: a data centre we could support

In June, Premier Wab Kinew rejected a massive AI data centre planned near Île-des-Chênes. The project would have used 500 megawatts of power, which is about the same as the Grand Rapids generating station, and would have run on six natural gas turbines. Kinew said the environmental cost was too high and the long-term benefit for Manitobans was too low.

He made the right call. But simply saying no to data centres is not enough.

Winnipeg is a cold city. Data centres are basically huge electric heaters with computers inside. Almost every watt they use turns into heat, and most facilities pay to release it into the air. In a city that spends half the year paying to stay warm, that’s not just waste; it’s an opportunity. The idea is simple: use the energy twice. First for computing, then for heating our buildings.

The stakes are real. Manitoba Hydro’s new resource plan says peak demand will exceed our capacity as early as 2029 or 2030, and that the province will need about 1,760 additional megawatts of dependable capacity by 2035.

Bombers look to lock in to post-season chase after dropping game to Argos

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers let a major opportunity slip through their fingers, and they know it.

“F—- yeah. That game was ours,” said defensive end Willie Jefferson on Friday’s 30-28 loss at home to the Toronto Argonauts.

It was — and then they gave it away in the final five minutes.

The Bombers came out firing, jumping out to a 21-7 lead. They had a chance to close out the contest while leading 28-27 with two minutes remaining, but couldn’t do it. Quarterback Dru Brown was sacked by linebacker Adarius Pickett, forcing the Bombers to punt, and the Argos took full advantage.

Hamelin, Poulin named Canada's flag-bearers

Also, a reader expresses support for a husband who keeps in touch with an ex from 30 years ago.

‘In Normandy, we remember’

Travelling nearly 7,000 km from his home in France to Winnipeg gave Gabriel Zaranski a new perspective on warfare.

“It’s very different to speak about war in school (than) to speak with real people who (have fought) in a war,” he said. “We can feel the emotion when they speak … The testimony has more impact when it’s real soldiers.”

Zaranski is one of 14 Grade 12 students from Bayeux, a town in France’s Normandy region, in Winnipeg this week for a learning tour.

The students, who attend Lycée Arcisse de Caumont high school, met on Saturday with veterans from the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, a local military regiment, to discuss their studies and the regiment’s role in the Second World War.