Shared Health, heal thyself

Doctors are trained to seek out the causes of illness, not just to treat the symptoms.

That is, perhaps, a style of examination that the government of Premier Wab Kinew should be following with the health-care system as a whole.

Because the symptoms are looking a little dire.

Last week, provincial chief medical officer Dr. José François announced he would be leaving his position in January 2027. That means he will be leaving a position he has only held since April 2024 — less than three years.

‘Thank you, Winnipeg’: Gillingham wins second term as city’s mayor

Scott Gillingham won a second term as Winnipeg mayor in Wednesday’s municipal election, while Noah Redden surged to a top-three finish and more than half of the city’s 15 councillors seats were claimed by political newcomers.

Unofficial results gave Gillingham 39.82 per cent of the vote, followed by Kevin Klein (20.71 per cent), Noah Redden (19.84 per cent) and Mike Vogiatzakis (9.66 per cent) in a field of 12 candidates — the most since 1992.

“Tonight, you have given me the honour of serving as your mayor once again,” Gillingham, joined by his wife Marla and other family members, said in front of more than 100 cheering supporters who waved blue and orange pompoms at the Birchwood Inn in St. James. 

“I have to tell you, it means even more to me this second time. Thank you, Winnipeg. I will never take your trust for granted. I still believe our city’s best days are ahead of us.”

The landscape that taught us to see

The white pine stood at the edge of the lake, leaning out over the water, its branches bent by years of wind and weather. Beyond it stretched an expanse of blue water beneath a clear sky, a distant tree line and other pines rising along the rocky shoreline. From the deck above, the landscape seemed both expansive and remarkably still.

I had been looking at it for only a few moments when Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven entered the picture. Not literally, of course. But once the association appeared, I could not unsee it. The pine became The Jack Pine and The West Wind. The surrounding rocks, water and sky called up A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, Franklin Carmichael and Lawren Harris. A landscape I had been looking at all weekend suddenly became part of a visual history Canadians have carried with them for more than a century.

Perhaps that is the Group of Seven’s greatest achievement. They did not simply paint the Canadian landscape. They changed the way we see it.

I was at the lake for a quiet weekend, reflecting on the cultural, community and development projects that occupy much of my work through Civic Muse. Increasingly, I see these pursuits as part of the same conversation — place and identity, how we understand it, care for it and decide what is worth carrying forward.

Prairie opportunists are knocking and prime minister should answer the door

In preparation for Halloween, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe have spent an inordinate amount of time rattling their chains and howling like indignant spirits about the raw deal they are getting from the rest of the country.

In the wake of a federal election in which the governing Liberals failed to elect a MP in either province, Kenney and Moe are summoning apocalyptic visions of secession. We've heard a lot of that before but Western separatists, inspired by the Alberta and Saskatchewan first ministers, are warning everyone that this time it's serious.

Now, before anyone gets too spooked, it's important to remember that a good politician is — first and foremost — an opportunist. These are the folks with the pure political instinct to recognize a moment in which they can gain the upper hand and then seize on it like a ravenous dog on a bone. Imagine that, and you'll have a pretty clear picture of what Kenney and Moe are up to.

In short, the two premiers want two big-ticket items from Ottawa.

‘Women were shortchanged.’ Why bobsledding’s idea of equality doesn’t add up

When female bobsledders pushed for an Olympic four-woman event, they got a solo discipline instead: monobob. Now they’ll race for the same number of medals as men, but with fewer sledders. Not the progress they were looking for.