Schools’ internet use spikes as students, teachers pull for Canadian — and local — athletes

Manitoba schools broke a record as students and staff tuned in to cheer on athletes — and in some cases, alumni — at the Winter Olympics.

The organization that connects the province’s 37 public school divisions to the internet saw historic spikes in activity this week.

Bandwith usage more than doubled what’s typical on a weekday for the Manitoba Education, Research and Learning Information Networks when Canadian hockey teams competed in the medal rounds in Milan Cortina.

MERLIN revealed usage spiked to 71.25 gigabits per second during the gold-medal game for women’s hockey, which Canada lost 2-1 to the U.S. in overtime, on Thursday.

Norway House files suit against Hydro, governments over Lake Winnipeg

Norway House Cree Nation is suing Manitoba Hydro and the provincial and federal governments over how the public utility manipulates the level of Lake Winnipeg.

It’s the latest litigation launched by a First Nation in relation to Hydro’s regulation of the outflow of the lake into the Nelson River, which it has done since the mid-1970s.

Norway House filed its claim in the Court of King’s Bench on Thursday. It alleges Hydro and the Manitoba government have misrepresented the severity and scope of the adverse effects to the community caused by the regulation operation and the construction of a channel from Lake Winnipeg to Playgreen Lake.

The community, which is about 460 kilometres north of Winnipeg, near the northern shore of Lake Winnipeg, hired engineering firm DHI Water and Environments Inc. to conduct a scientific assessment of the effects of the regulation project.

Entrepreneurs lauded as Manitoba Queer Chamber of Commerce’s biz awards return

When Alana Fiks and Angela Farkas opened Black Market Provisions, they hired one employee and almost couldn’t imagine bringing on more.

“We tend to be sort of scared and risk averse, so even the thought of having employees at the time seemed like a dream to us,” said Fiks, who started the shop with Farkas in Winnipeg’s South Osborne neighbourhood almost seven years ago.

The entrepreneurs have built a workplace culture rooted in respect, transparency and well-being. Today, Black Market Provisions has four full-time and six part-time employees.

The Manitoba Queer Chamber of Commerce recognized Fiks and Farkas earlier this week when the organization named the duo as finalists for the Employer of the Year Award as part of its 10th annual MQCC Business Awards.

OpenAI contacted RCMP about Tumbler Ridge shooter’s ChatGPT account after attack

RCMP has confirmed artificial intelligence company OpenAI contacted its investigators after last week's mass shootings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., as a report says employees considered alerting authorities about the shooter's worrisome interactions with its chatbot months before.

The Wall Street Journal report says that despite the employees' concerns, the company didn't inform Canadian law enforcement before last week's attacks in which 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar shot dead eight people and then herself.

The report says Van Rootselaar made posts with ChatGPT about scenarios of gun violence that were flagged by OpenAI's automatic review system last June.

On Feb. 10, Van Rootselaar shot dead her mother and 11-year-old half-brother at their home, before killing five students, a teacher's aide and then herself at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

Kitchener tiny-home initiative has outsized positive impact on the homeless community

KITCHENER, Ont. — Like most Canadians, Mari dreams about having a bigger home for her boyfriend Rob and their dog, Trouble, a mutt of undefined origins.

The trio currently resides in an eight-by-10-foot dwelling at A Better Tent City, Kitchener’s tiny-home community for homeless people. But Trouble, who is 18 months old and earns his name each and every day, is a big reason why Mari would like more space.

Having said that, Mari, 42, is in no hurry to leave ABTC, which has provided her with a safe and stable place to live for the last five years.

“Before I lived here, I was living in a tent anywhere I could,” Mari said. “The last place I had been was the parking lot at the soup kitchen. Before that, I lived in a field across from the U-Haul.”

Data centres and infrastructure: an expensive pairing

Governments around the world — India being the latest — have been falling over themselves trying to lure power-hungry, water-thirsty data centre operations to build in their backyards.

Social media companies face legal reckoning over mental health harms to children

For years, social media companies have disputed allegations that they harm children’s mental health through deliberate design choices that addict kids to their platforms and fail to protect them from sexual predators and dangerous content. Now, these tech giants are getting a chance to make their case in courtrooms around the country, including before a jury for the first time.

Some of the biggest players from Meta to TikTok are facing federal and state trials that seek to hold them responsible for harming children's mental health. The lawsuits have come from school districts, local, state and the federal government as well as thousands of families.

Two trials are now underway in Los Angeles and in New Mexico, with more to come. The courtroom showdowns are the culmination of years of scrutiny of the platforms over child safety, and whether deliberate design choices make them addictive and serve up content that leads to depression, eating disorders or suicide.

Experts see the reckoning as reminiscent of cases against tobacco and opioid markets, and the plaintiffs hope that social media platforms will see similar outcomes as cigarette makers and drug companies, pharmacies and distributors.

Food truck operating out of back lane shut down

A food truck that operated in a Tyndall Park neighbourhood back lane has been shut down for breaking multiple city bylaws.

Jaspi’s Recipes food truck had its health permit pulled and the vehicle was ordered to be towed from Dexter Street for contravening residential weight restrictions and not having the proper permits to operate a home-based business.

City spokesperson Pam McKenzie confirmed Thursday bylaw officers visited the property and ordered the truck removed from the alley on Tuesday.

Area resident Christine Mallari told the Free Press earlier this week the owner had been serving food out of the truck for months and, with it, came countless cars driving down the alley and litter pilling up against the adjacent fences.

Resident challenges Anne Oake centre variance

A resident has appealed a zoning variance for a women’s recovery centre, claiming the project’s parking lot will bring too much traffic and disruptive lighting to the neighbourhood.

Farhad Ghazizadeh-Ehsaei says the approval of 68 parking spaces for the Anne Oake Family Recovery Centre will cause disturbances in the Montcalm neighbourhood.

“This is likely to contribute to congestion, unsafe vehicle movements, and increased pressure on nearby residential streets not designed to accommodate this volume of traffic,” Ghazizadeh-Ehsaei said in an appeal application for a city variance granted for the project.

The applicant claims the expanded parking area will have noise impacts on the surrounding neighbourhood, as well as a loss of privacy and a disturbance from vehicle headlights.

U.S. International Trade Commission launches CUSMA rules-of-origin auto investigation

WASHINGTON - The U.S. International Trade Commission has launched an investigation into rules-of-origin regulations for automobiles under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade.

A news release on the commission's website says the investigation will analyze the regulations' "impact on the U.S. economy, effect on U.S. competitiveness, and relevancy considering recent technology changes."

It's the third investigation of the rules since the trilateral trade pact, widely known as CUSMA, was adopted during the first administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. The commission is required to conduct an investigation every two years until 2031.

The report on automobiles must be delivered to Trump and the U.S. Senate by July of next year.

Milei’s overhaul of Argentina labor law advances in Congress as unions strike in protest

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A general strike protesting Argentine President Javier Milei’s flagship overhaul of the country's labor law disrupted public transport, hospitals, ports and schools across Argentina on Thursday and intensified a standoff between the libertarian leader and long-powerful workers’ unions.

The lower house of Congress approved the bill, which grants employers greater flexibility in matters of hiring, firing, severance and collective bargaining, in a 135-115 vote early Friday.

The legislation won initial support from the Senate last week but must be sent back to senators for a final vote before becoming law. That's because the government was forced to scrap a clause that halves salaries for workers on leave due to injury or illness unrelated to work after an outcry from opposition lawmakers.

As lawmakers debated the reform, bus lines and subways ground to a halt. Factories paused production, banks closed, airlines canceled hundreds of flights and public hospitals postponed all but emergency surgeries. Uncollected garbage lined streets and shopping areas. A march to Congress by radical left-wing unions briefly turned violent as police fired water canons at protesters throwing stones and bottles.

Alberta’s Smith to put immigration, Constitution questions on fall referendum

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's government is putting nine questions to a provincewide referendum on Oct. 19, including proposals to restrict social services from some immigrants.

One question asks Albertans if non-permanent residents should be charged a "reasonable" fee to access health and education systems.

Another asks for approval to cut off newcomers from social services if they don't fall under "Alberta approved immigration status." The question doesn't define what that status means.

Other questions delve into the Constitution, asking whether Alberta should open negotiations with the rest of Canada to abolish the Senate and to give provinces the power to appoint superior court judges.

Trump warns of ‘bad things’ if Iran doesn’t make a deal, as second US carrier nears Mideast

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran held annual military drills with Russia on Thursday as a second American aircraft carrier drew closer to the Middle East, with both the United States and Iran signaling they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran's nuclear program fizzle out.

President Donald Trump said Thursday he believes 10 to 15 days is “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal. But the talks have been deadlocked for years, and Iran has refused to discuss wider U.S. and Israeli demands that it scale back its missile program and sever ties to armed groups. Indirect talks held in recent weeks made little visible progress, and one or both sides could be buying time for final war preparations.

Iran’s theocracy is more vulnerable than ever following 12 days of Israeli and U.S. strikes on its nuclear sites and military last year, as well as mass protests in January that were violently suppressed.

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, Amir Saeid Iravani, the Iranian ambassador to the U.N., said that while Iran does not seek “tension or war and will not initiate a war,” any U.S. aggression will be responded to “decisively and proportionately.”

City library visits up 28 per cent from 2022

Visits to Winnipeg libraries have increased, but changing habits may prevent them from reaching pre-pandemic levels, new data show.

In-person visits to the city’s 20 library branches in 2025 increased 28 per cent from 2022, the first year visits began to rebound after the COVID-19 pandemic, but they have yet to return to the “before” times.

There were 2.14 million visits in 2025, up from 2.08 million in 2024, but still down from 2019’s 2.4 million visits. The library’s highest year since 2012 was in 2016 when the branches saw 2.77 million visits.

During the pandemic, visits plummeted; there were only 622,000 visits in 2021 and 804,000 in 2020.

New homes, businesses and parks anchor plan for revitalized Point Douglas

An ambitious, decades-long plan to revitalize Point Douglas proposes a balanced mix of new homes, businesses and light industrial sites with the aim of creating a safe, inclusive and complete neighbourhood.

Some residents, business owners and local councillors expressed hope and optimism Wednesday after the city published details of the proposed secondary plan for one of Winnipeg’s oldest areas.

“Unfortunately, Point Douglas has been known as an area that just gets dumped on, and it’s really disheartening to hear that from the community in that they’re so desperate for some revitalization and some TLC,” said Point Douglas Coun. Vivian Santos, whose ward includes South Point Douglas, which borders downtown Winnipeg.

“I really hope that in the next decade or so we’re going to see some really good plans and revitalization, and people really wanting to invest and work, live and play here.”

New report says youth should help guide Ottawa’s campaign against online exploitation

OTTAWA - The federal government should listen to young people as it takes on the problem of online harms, a group of youth advocates told reporters on Parliament Hill Wednesday.

The John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights held a joint press conference with the youth advocates in Ottawa to present a new report. It says current systems aren’t protecting young people in digital spaces.

"Youth are calling for clear federal action," including a national youth advisory council on digital safety, said Blue Vetsch.

The report outlines harms young people are experiencing online, including sexual exploitation and technology-facilitated gender-based violence.

Making the most of Winnipeg’s biggest opportunity

The critical moral test for any community is the world it leaves for its children.

Without a doubt, Winnipeggers want all their city’s young people to have successful lives. Here are things we know make success possible: graduating from high school and avoiding disasters like addiction to drugs, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and becoming involved with the criminal justice system.

Most citizens understand this. And if they were told there are proven ways to make it much more likely for our wishes for Winnipeg’s young people to come true, they would probably say “Hey, let’s do more of that!”

But mostly, we don’t.

With new American pressure, will Cuba fall?

If you were to listen to many of the commentators, experts and prognosticators, you would think that Cuba is about to collapse.

‘Neighbourhood staple’ Oakwood Cafe to shutter

At one of the Oakwood Cafe’s last lunch rushes, one might guess the restaurant packed full of diners was influenced by the announcement a day earlier the decades-old South Osborne neighbourhood institution would be closing its doors for good.

That’s partially true — some customers beeline to veteran server Kendra Menard with questions, well-wishes and hugs — but every time it happens, a chain reaction follows: diners just here for lunch, shocked, ask their companions if it’s true, if the Oakwood is really closing.

Menard has been a server at the Oakwood for 23 years, almost half her life. It shows: while speaking with the Free Press on Friday, she welcomes guests by name and preps drinks at tables reserved by regulars before they show up.

Pointing to a single-seat table, she tells a story of a regular, Bob, who was at that table for breakfast nearly seven days a week for years. Menard’s children shovelled his snow and staff would call to check on him if he didn’t show up.

Canada should work to recruit bilingual health workers, Senate report says

OTTAWA - Many Canadians face barriers to accessing health care in their own language and the federal government should prioritize fast-tracking immigration and credential recognition for bilingual and francophone health-care workers, a new Senate report says.

The Senate committee on official languages recently wrapped up an 18-month study of language barriers in the health system.

It heard from witnesses from across the country — including anglophones in Quebec and francophones in the rest of Canada who said that they have trouble accessing care in their own language.

"There is an acute shortage of health care professionals all across Canada, which has been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing influx of newcomers," the report said, adding that attracting more health professionals to Canada and more training and foreign credential recognition are all needed.

‘Nuisance’ protest bylaw stalled after hundreds object

A bylaw that proposed a ban on “nuisance” protests within 100 metres of certain locations has been shelved indefinitely after intense public pushback and and a protest that drew hundreds to city hall Tuesday.