Columns

Opinion

Karen Velthuys writes that when it comes to education, it’s time to ask whether the system is falling short of the student rather than whether the student is falling short of the system. (Winnipeg Free Press files)

Is the student or the system falling short?

By Karen Velthuys 5 minute read 12:21 AM CDT

One night at bedtime, a 10-year-old looked at her mother with tears in her eyes and said, “Mom, I think I’m stupid.”

Her friends could read. She couldn’t. The teacher kept moving on. And she’d quietly worked out that the problem must be her.

She’s not the only one. Roughly half of Manitoba students aren’t meeting grade-level reading expectations on provincial assessments. As schools begin screening young readers from kindergarten to Grade 4 this fall, it’s the right moment to ask why.

Every education system answers a basic question: who is this built for? We expect children to read by about the end of Grade 3, to sit and focus for long stretches, and to show what they know in one narrow way — written down, on time, in the format we hand them. A student who does those things is called “a good student.”

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Opinion

Rogers Place in downtown Edmonton anchors the surrounding ICE District. (The Canadian Press files)

Arenas and stadiums are reshaping North America’s downtowns

By Rylan Graham 5 minute read Preview

Arenas and stadiums are reshaping North America’s downtowns

By Rylan Graham 5 minute read 12:20 AM CDT

Arenas and stadiums associated with the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Soccer (MLS) are increasingly concentrated in the downtowns of Canadian and American cities.

In 1997, 51 per cent of NFL and MLB stadiums and NBA and NHL arenas were located in downtowns. My recent research found that this share has increased to 61 per cent.

The preference for a downtown location is most pronounced in the NBA and NHL, where 80 per cent and 72 per cent of teams, respectively, host their games in downtown arenas.

Building upon the trends observed at the end of the 1990s, my findings demonstrate that the recentralization of arenas and stadiums has intensified through the first quarter of the 21st century, continuing the shift away from the more suburban orientation that characterized the 1950s and 1960s.

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12:20 AM CDT

Opinion

B.C. NDP Leader David Eby resigns in a speech to supporters on election night, in Vancouver, on Saturday. (The Canadian Press)

David Eby’s early election call backfires badly

By Stewart Prest 5 minute read Preview

David Eby’s early election call backfires badly

By Stewart Prest 5 minute read 12:19 AM CDT

Conservative Lorne Doerkson, a man who hadn’t even campaigned to be leader of his own party, will be British Columbia’s next premier after his party won an election that didn’t need to be held against an opponent who largely defeated himself.

Even in a province long accustomed to unprecedented developments in its politics, this was a remarkable turn of events. Just two years since B.C.’s last provincial election, in the middle of the province’s regularly scheduled municipal election campaign, Eby sent B.C. voters back to the polls early.

Throughout the election, Eby struggled to justify the call. The initial explanation, offered at the start of the campaign, centred on the need for the province to draw a line in the sand against United States President Donald Trump.

Later, during the leaders’ debate, Eby tried a new line.

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12:19 AM CDT

Opinion

The Brandon University campus, as seen from the top of the Brodie Science Building. The Renew BU fiasco warrants a closer look at how the university is run, and an overhaul if necessary. (Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun files)

Post-secondary education also a national emergency

By Marc Spooner and R. James McNinch 6 minute read Preview

Post-secondary education also a national emergency

By Marc Spooner and R. James McNinch 6 minute read Friday, Oct. 23, 2026

The federal government is set to deliver its fall budget with a promised focus on building a strong Canada while positioning the country for long-term prosperity.

Among the major nation-building projects being championed are fighter jets and nuclear submarines, high-speed rail, ice-breakers, ports, mines, roads, pipelines and more.

One critical sector is conspicuously under-represented: post-secondary education. Once regarded as deserving of federal funding and a key player in our national interest, support has slowly dwindled.

However, Canada’s nation-building vision must include a focus on nurturing the current and next generation of thinkers, workers, innovators and dreamers.

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Friday, Oct. 23, 2026

Opinion

The Manitoba Hydro Brandon Generating Station is seen in a 2023 photo. Former provincial energy minister Tim Sale writes that when it comes to the proposed $3-billion gas turbine project in Brandon, “Hydro’s decision to proceed with environmental approvals must not prejudge the outcome. The burden of proof rests with Hydro.” (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun files)

Hydro is getting ahead of itself

By Tim Sale 5 minute read Preview

Hydro is getting ahead of itself

By Tim Sale 5 minute read Friday, Oct. 23, 2026

Manitoba Hydro is pressing ahead with its proposed $3-billion gas turbine project in Brandon as though approval was a foregone conclusion. Six weeks of Public Utilities Board hearings exposed serious doubts about the need for three turbines, their escalating cost and whether more affordable alternatives have been adequately examined. Yet before the PUB has delivered its recommendations and the government has authorized the investment, Hydro applied for an environmental licence on Oct. 8.

Starting the environmental review early may save time, but proceeding before the premier and his cabinet have made a decision risks reducing regulatory scrutiny and political approval to mere formalities. Has the government already given Hydro the green light?

Few dispute that Manitoba will need more capacity as demand grows. Daymark Energy Advisors, the PUB’s independent consultant, concluded that Hydro had established a need for additional capacity by 2030. However, Daymark questioned the size of the projected shortfall, Hydro’s load forecasts and its turbine cost assumptions. Hydro itself acknowledged that its planning costs were based on 2024 information, and that surging North American demand for gas turbines has since put significant upward pressure on prices. Then there’s the impact of Trump’s trade war. These are not minor details, but updated costs have not been obtained.

The bigger problem is how Hydro has framed the alternatives. Interim CEO Hal Turner recently argued that wind and battery storage alone cannot reliably carry Manitoba through prolonged extreme cold. Fair enough. However, critics are not proposing wind and batteries alone.

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Friday, Oct. 23, 2026

Opinion

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks to the media in Calgary, Alta., Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Alberta: More federalist than you thought

By David McLaughlin 5 minute read Preview

Alberta: More federalist than you thought

By David McLaughlin 5 minute read Friday, Oct. 23, 2026

Avert your eyes if you don’t like hardcore. This is a hard-core column about the hard-core Alberta separatists who hijacked a party, corrupted a process and failed in their fevered fervour to break up Canada.

First, be of good cheer. Canada won Monday night’s referendum in Alberta. Decisively.

Three-quarters of the votes cast were for Option 1: “Alberta should remain a province of Canada.” Only one in four Alberta voters opted for a referendum on separation.

Alberta won, too. That strong vote against separation means the province can look ahead, confident the independence fever dream is boxed. A true win-win and a sad rarity in politics these days.

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Friday, Oct. 23, 2026

Opinion

The Brandon School Division board of trustees is shown during a regular meeting in April 2023. Shannon D.M. Moore and Melanie Janzen encourage voters to learn more about trustee candidates in their school division and ward before filling out a ballot. (The Brandon Sun files)

A vote for public education

By Shannon D.M. Moore and Melanie Janzen 4 minute read Preview

A vote for public education

By Shannon D.M. Moore and Melanie Janzen 4 minute read Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026

On Oct. 28, Manitobans will head to the polls for municipal elections. Alongside their choices for mayors, reeves and councillors, voters will also have an opportunity to elect their school trustees.

In 2021, people across Manitoba rejected the government’s attempts to eradicate locally elected school boards and to centralize school governance. By defeating Bill 64, Manitobans demonstrated their commitment to maintaining locally elected school boards and to the ideals of public education.

School trustees are locally elected representatives who help govern their public school divisions. They make decisions about the direction and priorities of their school divisions, oversee budgets and help establish policies and programs that shape students’ educational experiences. Trustees also help determine how resources are allocated, advocate for the needs of students and communities and provide a link between local residents and the provincial government. They can raise — and address — concerns about class sizes, staffing, student supports, accessibility, school facilities and the resources educators need to do their jobs.

Despite the important role trustees play in communities across the country, school board elections in Canada have historically received little public or media attention. Low voter turnout for municipal elections (25 to 35 per cent), combined with ballot drop-off for the section on school trustees, single-digit turnouts for standalone school board elections and the number of trustees who run unopposed are all emblematic of the perception that school board elections are low stakes.

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Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026

Opinion

Finance Minister Adrien Sala, the minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro, said the electricity surcharge revenue on crypto and data operations will be paid directly to households. (Mike Deal/Winnipeg Free Press files)

NDP policy shifts leave opponents in the dust

By Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

NDP policy shifts leave opponents in the dust

By Dan Lett 5 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026

Last week, Finance Minister Adrien Sala made two announcements that showed why the NDP will remain the party to beat in the next provincial election.

The first was confirmation the province had created a special levy to be charged on electricity-guzzling crypto miners and data centres to fund an estimated $50 per household rebate on Manitoba Hydro bills.

The second was a bit of bookkeeping involving the Workers Compensation Board that, in the short term, could help Premier Wab Kinew get within striking distance of balancing the provincial budget next year — about six months before the presumed October 2027 election.

First, the crypto/data centre levy, a gesture that is, at first glance, a bit difficult to fathom.

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Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026

Opinion

People participate in an independence rally in Montreal in October 2025 to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1995 Quebec referendum. (The Canadian Press files)

2 provinces, 2 paths

By Donald Barry 5 minute read Preview

2 provinces, 2 paths

By Donald Barry 5 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026

People in Alberta have voted overwhelmingly to remain in Canada rather than begin a process for a second, binding referendum on independence. By 2030, those in Quebec could face a similar choice.

Polls show that 76 per cent of Alberta voters voted to stay, an even higher number than pre-referendum surveys suggesting more than 70 per cent of Albertans wanted to remain in Canada. The numbers are similar in Quebec.

Looming large in the background is United States President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly called for Canada’s annexation while imposing punishing tariffs on the country.

Beyond a shared interest in increased autonomy from the federal government, Alberta and Quebec have little in common. Alberta’s grievances focus on federal economic, energy and climate policies, immigration and political representation. Quebec’s concern is the protection of its distinctive language and culture in an anglo-dominated North America.

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Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026

Opinion

Bell Canada is building what's expected to be Canada's largest Canadian-owned data centre outside Regina, which is seen under construction over the summer. (The Canadian Press files)

Opposing, developing data centres are not the only choices we have

By Jake Okechukwu Effoduh 5 minute read Preview

Opposing, developing data centres are not the only choices we have

By Jake Okechukwu Effoduh 5 minute read Monday, Oct. 19, 2026

When a nurse in Thunder Bay opens a patient’s chart or a shopper in Halifax taps a bank card, the request travels somewhere physical — a building humming with servers, storage, network equipment, backup power and cooling systems.

Data centres are not mythical “AI factories” or innocuous warehouses, but industrial infrastructure with real appetites for electricity, water and land.

Current debate about data centres seems to offer a false binary: stop these facilities or accept them unconditionally.

There is a better option. We need to develop projects that are transparent, low-carbon, grid-responsible, respectful of Indigenous rights and that leave durable public value where they stand.

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Monday, Oct. 19, 2026

Opinion

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Truist Arena at Northern Kentucky University, Saturday in Highland Heights, Ky. Gwynn Dyer writes that Trump’s sociopathic tendencies mean the U.S. could be embroiled in a constitutional crisis as soon as the midterm elections end. (The Associated Press)

The moment of maximum danger

By Gwynn Dyer 4 minute read Preview

The moment of maximum danger

By Gwynn Dyer 4 minute read Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026

A long time ago I was interviewing a professor at the University of Michigan (whose name I cannot recall) on various topics of no great interest. I was about to give up when I accidentally asked the right question.

“Have any major human behaviours really changed in the past few centuries?” I asked, and he said “No, but the sociopaths are multiplying.”

I was dealing with a full-time sociopath in my work at that time, so I immediately went back into interview mode. (‘Sociopath’ and ‘psychopath’ both describe essentially the same behaviours, although they may be more extreme in the latter case.) And the professor proceeded to explain it in evolutionary terms.

The typical sociopath is male, above average intelligence, highly manipulative, and utterly without empathy (but he is able to mimic it). He lies often and very persuasively, because he totally believes his own lies as soon as he says them (while retaining the ability to modify them if necessary). He is often charismatic and usually has many children by several women.

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Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026

Opinion

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the Microsoft Build conference in Seattle in May 2024. Jay Timothy Dolmage examines the connection between AI, education and the dark history of measuring ‘intelligence.’ (Tribune News Service files)

AI, education and the ugly history of IQ testing

By Jay Timothy Dolmage 6 minute read Preview

AI, education and the ugly history of IQ testing

By Jay Timothy Dolmage 6 minute read Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has recently discussed “artificial general intelligence” that matches or surpasses human capabilities. This is from the same person who has said children born today (including his own) will “never be more intelligent than AI, from a ‘raw IQ’” (intelligence quotient) perspective.

United States President Donald Trump has also recently mused about who is and who is not “high IQ.”

As a scholar rooted in the history of Canadian higher education and its intersections with rhetoric around disability and race, every time I hear the word “intelligence,” including as “IQ,” I get jumpy. “Intelligence” clearly has a high-stakes and worrisome future, but also a dark history.

To figure out what AI might be replacing, we need to better understand intelligence as a historically situated idea — and a dangerous one — rather than as some sort of biological fact.

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Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026

Opinion

”Canada Guy” waves a Canadian flag during an Alberta independence rally at the Alberta legislature, in Edmonton on Saturday. (The Canadian Press)

Alberta referendum day — how we got here

By Gemma Ware and Jared Wesley 3 minute read Preview

Alberta referendum day — how we got here

By Gemma Ware and Jared Wesley 3 minute read Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026

In the western Canadian province of Alberta, a political battle has played out on people’s front lawns. Separatists are flying the royal blue Alberta flag, others the red and white maple leaf of Canada to show their support for a united Canada.

It’s all because a populist right-wing political movement wants Alberta to break away from the rest of the country. Today, Albertans will vote on whether to have a binding referendum on independence.

“Public opinion polls show quite consistently over the last two years that about 70 per cent to 75 per cent of Albertans want to remain in Canada,” explains Jared Wesley, a professor of political science at the University of Alberta to The Conversation Weekly podcast. “So there’s a lot of confusion around the process and why we’re holding this vote in the first place.”

Separatist sentiment is driven in part by a longstanding sense of western alienation from eastern Canada, fuelled by grievances that the province puts more into the federal budget than it gets back. But the current wave of separatism in Alberta also has links to protests against COVID vaccine mandates and conspiracy theories. While most separatists want Alberta to become its own country, some even want the province to be the 51st U.S. state.

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Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026

Opinion

Prime Minister Mark Carney (left) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meet at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Sept. 16. They will meet again in Montreal on Oct. 29 and 30. (The Canadian Press files)

What to make of Carney’s counterweight strategy

By David McLaughlin 5 minute read Preview

What to make of Carney’s counterweight strategy

By David McLaughlin 5 minute read Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026

Modern summit diplomacy had very inauspicious beginnings. Winston Churchill is widely credited with coining the phrase “summit” in 1950 to describe a conference of global leaders. But it was another British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, who initiated the first actual summit meeting 12 years earlier — with Adolf Hitler, no less.

It didn’t go well.

Over a one-month period, the two leaders met three times over the fate of Czechoslovakia. Hitler threatened war. Chamberlain threatened appeasement. Guess who won?

Chamberlain was so desperate for a peace deal and so convinced he alone could convince Hitler, that he swallowed his inhibitions and flew in an airplane for the very first time in his life. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” he told reporters, explaining his tenacious summit activity. Skeptical of the spectacle, British Foreign Office wags quietly amended it to, “If at first you don’t concede, fly, fly again.”

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Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026

Opinion

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson writes that while education to combat misinformation on residential schools is important, “when does the responsibility to educate end and the responsibility to act begin?” (Mikaela MacKenzie/Winnipeg Free Press files)

When to educate, and when to act?

By Kyra Wilson 5 minute read Preview

When to educate, and when to act?

By Kyra Wilson 5 minute read Friday, Oct. 16, 2026

The truth about residential schools should never have been this difficult for Canada to acknowledge. And it should never be this difficult to defend.

For generations, survivors have carried the memories of children taken from their families, the abuse they endured, the languages and cultures they were forbidden to practise, and the children who never came home. They have told their stories, often at tremendous personal cost, so Canada could no longer claim it did not know.

How many times must survivors tell their stories before the responsibility shifts from those who suffered to those who have a duty to listen and act?

On Oct. 9, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said residential school denialism should not be criminalized, arguing that continued education and efforts to combat misinformation are the answer.

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Friday, Oct. 16, 2026

Opinion

The Sprague’s pipit is protected under the Species at Risk Act federally. But other species face long delays to be listed as protected under the act. (File)

Endangered species in Canada face lengthy delays receiving protection

By Peter R. Thompson, Sara Cannon, Mary Ann C. Perron and William Bugg 5 minute read Preview

Endangered species in Canada face lengthy delays receiving protection

By Peter R. Thompson, Sara Cannon, Mary Ann C. Perron and William Bugg 5 minute read Friday, Oct. 16, 2026

For more than 20 years, Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA) has protected wildlife that are at risk of being lost from Canadian lands and waters. Once a species is listed as extirpated, endangered or threatened under the act, it becomes illegal to kill, harm or capture it or damage its residences. Its critical habitat must also be protected, at least on federal land.

Nevertheless, these protections are routinely delayed for years. Our recently published research has found that since 2017, species that need SARA protections have waited nearly two and a half years on average to formally receive legal protections, well beyond the timelines the federal government set for itself.

And that only includes species the government has decided to protect. Others are still awaiting protected status and have been waiting for much longer than that. This is a systemic problem that has persisted for nearly two decades.

As climate change and human disturbance accelerate, delays in implementing protections can have irreversible consequences for wildlife.

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Friday, Oct. 16, 2026

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