Saskatchewan preparing for first step in its provincial reopening plan this weekend

Hydro Québec faces issue we should avoid

You might be tempted to call it a canary in an electric power generation coal mine.

But instead, it’s just another heads-up into the already-obvious problem with the proliferation of data centres.

This week, Hydro-Québec went before the Régie de l’énergie, Québec’s public utilities board, to change the rules for new and existing large data centres.

Now, it was not that long ago that Hydro Québec was actively wooing data centres — offering bulk power rates to be used to lure labour-intensive, power-hungry heavy industry (think aluminum smelters) with rates substantially lower than they offer Québec’s own residential customers. It was a way to use surplus power to create jobs and drive economic activity.

Not making the grade: rethinking student assessment

As most students in B.C. began the new school year without traditional grades, a former Manitoba teacher living in that province is urging colleagues here to do their homework on modern assessment and experiment with marking.

Starting this year, public and private school teachers in British Columbia are assessing kindergarten through Grade 9 with a scale describing a student’s level of understanding — “emerging,” “developing,” “proficient” or “extending” — instead of letter grades.

Grade 10, 11 and 12 students will continue to receive traditional letter grades and percentages.

“What’s wrong with percentages? There’s nothing wrong with them. They are a wonderful little tool, as long as they stay in their lane,” said Myron Dueck, an education consultant who was born in Winnipeg, where he graduated from teachers’ college in 1994.

Fraudster gets six years in Shoppers Drug Mart case

A Calgary man has been sentenced to six years in prison for his role in a fraud ring that targeted Shoppers Drug Mart stores across four provinces.

Carlo Deguzman, 50, pleaded guilty in a Winnipeg courtroom Monday to six counts of fraud, forgery and identification theft for offences dating back more than four years.

Deguzman’s guilty pleas came on what was to be the first day of his trial — the third to be set and cancelled since his initial arrest in 2022. During that time, he hired and fired seven lawyers.

“These matters could have been dealt with years ago, but for the actions of the accused,” prosecutor Kathy Bueti told provincial court Judge Heather Pullan. “He was hoping delay would make the case harder to prove. That’s not the case. The charges weren’t going away.”

Figure skating coach Callaghan banned by SafeSport

Richard Callaghan, who coached Tara Lipinski to Olympic gold, has been banned from figure skating by the U.S. Center for SafeSport for sexual misconduct.

Callaghan, who also coached six-time U.S. champion Todd Eldredge, was ruled "permanently ineligible" on Wednesday for actions involving a minor. Callaghan was accused by a former student, Adam Schmidt, in a lawsuit. Schmidt alleged that Callaghan sexually abused him from 1999-2001. Schmidt was 14 in 1999.

Also in 1999, Callaghan was investigated for sexual misconduct involving another coach, Craig Maurizi, but U.S. Figure Skating dismissed those charges. Maurizi said the incidents began in 1976 when he was 13, and continued for years.

Now 73, Callaghan was suspended in March 2018 by SafeSport and by the federation. He sued SafeSport, but the lawsuit was dismissed.

Norway's Ruud wins Olympic gold year after father's death

The decorated alpine athlete was disqualified from her first two races in Beijing, but still has plenty of events to come.