Advertisement
Opinion
Today’s editorial cartoon
Advertisement
Weather
Brandon MB
3°C, Cloudy with wind
Poverty a global issue — and a local one, too
By Chidinma Emeka-Ogumka 3 minute read PreviewPoverty a global issue — and a local one, too
By Chidinma Emeka-Ogumka 3 minute read Yesterday at 9:52 PM CDTInternational Day for the Eradication of Poverty focuses on recognizing poverty and finding ways to eliminate it.
Commemorated annually on Oct. 17, this day brings together global communities through events, summits and campaigns. This year’s theme is “ending social and institutional maltreatment by ensuring respect and effective support for families.” The United Nations says that the day focuses on ending social and institutional maltreatment by ensuring respect and effective support for families, with a clear goal — to “put the furthest behind first and build institutions that help families stay together, thrive and shape their own futures.”
However, global initiatives around poverty are centred on developed countries, a bias influenced by historical imbalances, economic power and control over resources. The media tends to prioritize politically relevant issues rather than the complexities of global poverty, often portraying it as a tragedy leading people to believe nothing can be done. While poverty may never truly be eliminated, its existence can be significantly reduced.
In developing nations, extreme poverty is prevalent, due to the large populations. Yet, the day holds relevance for developed nations for many reasons, where inequality and the wide gap between social classes continue to perpetuate hardships. The observance of this day not only focuses on poverty that relates to income but also health care, education, justice and political power. (Source: “The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty,” UFCW Canada, n.d.)
ReadHeather Symbalisty checks the inventory on the milk cooler at Samaritan House Ministries in downtown Brandon. Poverty is not a distant issue — it exists in our own backyard. (File)
Just how far will Donald Trump go?
4 minute read PreviewJust how far will Donald Trump go?
4 minute read Yesterday at 9:43 PM CDTIn a live interview last week with CNN, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller stopped talking in mid-sentence right after he uttered the phrase “plenary authority.”
Miller’s pause was so long, CNN took a commercial break. When the interview resumed, neither Miller nor the CNN host spoke of plenary authority again.
For those who have witnessed U.S. President Donald Trump’s first nine months in power, Miller’s utterance was hardly shocking. But if asserted, plenary authority — defined as a complete and absolute power — could pave the way for Trump to fully transform the U.S from a democracy to a country under authoritarian rule.
Trump officials have not formally argued in any court that the president has plenary authority. And yet, its spectre hangs over key legal disputes over the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to send in the military to suppress protests against the aggressive deportation of immigrants.
ReadPresident Donald Trump speaks with members of law enforcement and National Guard soldiers on Aug. 21 in Washington. (The Associated Press files)
National pharmacare for contraception can’t wait
By Elizabeth Nethery, Amanda Black, Amanda K. Downey, Laura Schummers and Wendy V. Norman 6 minute read PreviewNational pharmacare for contraception can’t wait
By Elizabeth Nethery, Amanda Black, Amanda K. Downey, Laura Schummers and Wendy V. Norman 6 minute read Yesterday at 9:40 PM CDTWhy should women in British Columbia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and the Yukon have access to free contraception while the rest of Canadians do not? Our new research, published in the British Medical Journal and JAMA Pediatrics, underscores the urgent need for universal prescription contraception coverage nationwide. Spoiler alert: cost matters.
When B.C. launched universal coverage for prescription contraception in April 2023, more people used contraceptives, and importantly, more chose the most effective methods. When Ontario introduced universal coverage for those younger than age 25 in January 2017, we found a similar jump in the most effective contraceptive methods.
In October 2024, the National Pharmacare Act received royal assent, establishing a framework for a national, universal, single-payer pharmacare program, beginning with free access to contraception and diabetes medications. Now, almost a year later, only four provinces and territories (B.C., Manitoba, P.E.I. and the Yukon) have bilateral agreements to implement this legislation on the ground.
On Sept. 10, Prime Minister Mark Carney said the federal government is “committed to signing pharmacare deals with all provinces and territories.” This is welcome news given previous statements in July by Health Minister Marjorie Michel indicating wavering commitment or that “all options are on the table” for implementing Bill C-64 nationally.
ReadA one-month dosage of hormonal birth control pills is displayed. (The Canadian Press files)
Machado much better choice than Trump
5 minute read PreviewMachado much better choice than Trump
5 minute read Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025In his last will and testament dated Nov. 27, 1895, as outlined on the Nobel Prize website, Alfred Nobel clearly laid out how he wanted his assets to be disbursed.
After naming a litany of family, friends and servants to receive some funds in his will, the inventor, scientist and businessman left his remaining assets — some 31 million Swedish kronor, worth hundreds of millions of Canadian dollars today — to the creation of what we now know as the Nobel prizes for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and of course the Nobel Peace Prize.
In particular, the Nobel price for peace was to be given to a person “who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses.”
This week, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award the peace prize to María Corina Machado “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
ReadVenezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters at a protest against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela in January, the day before his inauguration for a third term. Machado is the latest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. (The Associated Press files)
Kinew has lots of unfinished business
By Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read PreviewKinew has lots of unfinished business
By Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025Next Saturday marks the halfway point of Premier Wab Kinew’s first term in office. Two years in and the record is a mixed bag — part progress, part missed opportunity and plenty of unfinished business.
The New Democrats swept to power in 2023 with an ambitious agenda: fix health care, make life more affordable, end chronic homelessness and return the province’s books to balance by the end of their first term, among other things.
Lofty goals, all of them. And two years later, it’s clear how difficult governing can be once slogans meet reality.
On the most important file — health care — the results so far are disappointing. The Kinew government has made progress hiring more doctors, nurses and other front-line staff. The premier and Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara regularly tout the addition of more than 3,400 new health-care workers since taking office.
ReadPremier Wab Kinew speaks during question period in the legislature last week. (Mike Deal/Winnipeg Free Press files)
An unfair way to treat good drivers
By Deveryn Ross 5 minute read PreviewAn unfair way to treat good drivers
By Deveryn Ross 5 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025Like many of you, I have a clean driving record. My only speeding ticket was more than 40 years ago, and I have never been in a car accident in which I was at fault. As a result, I qualify for the maximum merit points and discounts each year. It saves me a few hundred bucks each year on the cost of insurance for my vehicles.
That said, I’m told that my age and (almost) spotless driving record would qualify me for even lower insurance premiums in some other provinces that allow private automobile insurance coverage. That is because Manitoba Public Insurance bases its insurance rates on the vehicle, and not the person who will be driving that vehicle.
It’s a practice that has been happening for many decades and, if the Kinew government gets its way, will soon become law in the province.
As the CBC reported earlier this week, Bill 49, the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation Amendment Act, if passed, will permanently enshrine the existing auto insurance rate approach. Under that scheme, premiums for each individual’s vehicle are based on the driving record of the vehicle’s owner, as opposed to the record of the person who actually drives that vehicle.
ReadThe exterior of Manitoba Public Insurance’s service centre office in Brandon. Deveryn Ross writes that MPI's method of providing insurance penalizes good drivers. (File)
Trump’s ‘dead cat diplomacy’ altered Gaza war
By Asaf Siniver 7 minute read PreviewTrump’s ‘dead cat diplomacy’ altered Gaza war
By Asaf Siniver 7 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025When Donald Trump called Benjamin Netanyahu on Oct. 4 to tell him that Hamas had agreed to at least some of his 20-point ceasefire plan, the Israeli prime minister’s equivocal response was he saw “nothing to celebrate, and that it doesn’t mean anything.” According to reports, the U.S. president fired back: “I don’t know why you’re always so f---ing negative. This is a win. Take it.”
Trump’s visceral response is less important than the fact that it became public only hours after this private conversation. By comparison, although Joe Biden’s frequent excoriations of Netanyahu were well documented, they were never made public immediately after he uttered them.
Trump’s scolding of the Israeli leader, on the other hand, was intentionally leaked to publicly paint Netanyahu as the intransigent party should negotiations over ending the war collapse. Unencumbered by nuance or subtlety, Trump’s “dead cat diplomacy” in recent weeks has proven to be his single most effective leverage in bringing Israel and Hamas to this agreement.
The practice of dead cat diplomacy was first articulated by former U.S. secretary of state (1989-1992) James Baker, during his incessant diplomatic efforts to coax the Syrian, Israeli and Palestinian teams to attend the historic 1991 Madrid peace conference. Despite making eight trips to the region in as many months and drawing on seemingly every resource and skill in his diplomatic toolbox, Baker was repeatedly frustrated by each party’s objections to attending the conference.
ReadIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump after a news conference at the White House on Sept. 29. (The Associated Press files)
‘Canada’s Team’ excels at America’s pastime
By Noah Eliot Vanderhoeven 4 minute read Preview‘Canada’s Team’ excels at America’s pastime
By Noah Eliot Vanderhoeven 4 minute read Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025Amid threats from United States President Donald Trump to make Canada the 51st state, the Toronto Blue Jays’ season started with protocols aimed at avoiding booing during the American national anthem and the removal of someone wearing a “Canada is not for sale” hat at the ballpark.
Nonetheless, the Blue Jays are being heavily marketed as “Canada’s team” as they advance to the American League championship after beating the New York Yankees, the most storied baseball team from the U.S.
Why do the Blue Jays frame themselves as not just Toronto’s team, but Canada’s? And is their current post-season run their biggest and most important opportunity in years to fully establish themselves as representing all of Canada?
TRULY CANADA'S TEAM?
ReadThe Canadian flag is displayed on the field during the playing of “O Canada” before the start of an American League Division Series game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees in Toronto last weekend. (The Canadian Press)
Premiers who play the Canadian card when it suits them
4 minute read PreviewPremiers who play the Canadian card when it suits them
4 minute read Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025It’s an odd world Alberta Premier Danielle Smith inhabits: one where her province keeps the benefits of its natural resources, while other provinces should simply surrender the bounty of nature that may have fallen by chance in their jurisdictions to Smith’s Alberta needs.
Smith has been arguing that it’s “unCanadian and unconstitutional” for British Columbia to rebuff plans for an Alberta-sponsored pipeline to go to the British Columbia coast.
(B.C. Premier David Eby has said giving the pipeline proposal a green light when it’s merely in the planning process would upset a fragile consensus for other projects that are much further along.)
In her battle to determine just what should happen in British Columbia, Smith has gotten some help from a resource-rich neighbour, Premier Scott Moe of Saskatchewan.
ReadAlberta Premier Danielle Smith
LOAD MORE