A half-baked idea for affordability

Premier Wab Kinew’s plan to remove the provincial sales tax from prepared meals, salads, snacks, candy and soft drinks sold at grocery stores is, by most reasonable measurements, a half-baked idea.

Letters, April 20

I concur wholeheartedly with Tom Brodbeck’s analysis on the pothole problem and the need for increased financial support for the city to get a leg up on repairing its decaying road infrastructure.

Supervised consumption site can be delayed no longer

If not now, then when?

That question hangs over Manitoba’s long-delayed supervised drug consumption site as the province weathers yet another surge in overdoses — one that front-line workers say is among the worst they’ve ever seen.

In just two weeks, organizations on the ground report as many as 15 deaths tied to drug toxicity.

Main Street Project executive director Jamil Mahmood calls it “the worst spring I’ve ever seen.” That’s a warning from someone watching the crisis unfold in real time.

Kinew stars in untidy bit of ‘he said, she said’ political theatre

Any time a relationship comes to an end, you can be sure there will be a dispute about who broke up with whom. Such is the case right now with Premier Wab Kinew and his very public, very messy breakup with former teacher misconduct commissioner Bobbi Taillefer.

The Free Press revealed that Taillefer, who began her job as Manitoba’s first Commissioner of Teacher Professional Conduct in January 2025, had been working remotely in Florida for much of the past winter.

In addition, for the first six weeks that Taillefer was heading up the teacher misconduct office in Manitoba, she was also working concurrently for the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation, the union representing educators in that province.

On April 9, two weeks after the Free Press informed the NDP government it had received several credible tips that Taillefer was working out of the country, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt confirmed Taillefer had resigned. The minister would not discuss the details of the resignation, only that she found out Taillefer was working from Florida when the Free Press called her for comment.

The Strait of Hormuz showcases a global issue

The world is learning a painful lesson about the precarity of the energy supply — a supply that millions depend on.

The world breathed a sigh of relief Friday when Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced the Strait of Hormuz is “completely open” for foreign vessels after a blockade which choked some parts of the world of a much-needed oil supply. The strait will remain open for the duration of the 10-day Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, agreed upon by the two countries Thursday.

But by the time the strait was declared open again, panic had already begun to set itn. International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol said Thursday that Europe had “maybe” six weeks of remaining jet fuel amid the blockade of the strait, triggered by conflict between Iran and the U.S.

“…(I)t is going to have major implications for the global economy. And the longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world,” Birol told the Associated Press.

Raise a glass to the mighty Malbec — now, better than ever

Every year on April 17, lovers of big, inky, dark red wines raise a glass to the much-loved Malbec grape.