MMF walks away from bid to buy Fort Garry Hotel

The Manitoba Métis Federation won’t buy the historic Fort Garry Hotel, President David Chartrand said Monday.

Northern style: WAG-Qaumajuq, CBC series partner for runway show

Award-winning TV series North of North by Inuit filmmakers Stacey Aglok MacDonald (Qanurli, The Grizzlies) and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Angry Inuk, The Grizzlies) made a return to the small screen last week on APTN, CBC Gem and CBC TV with its second season première.

North of North is partnering with the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq to celebrate the way it has propelled authentic northern fashion into the global spotlight at the gallery’s special edition of Crafted on the Catwalk Tuesday night, featuring fashion and design from Manitoba, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Nunatsiavut and Nunavik.

Arnaquq-Baril and series stars Anna Lambe and Zorga Qaunaq spoke to the Free Press ahead of Tuesday’s catwalk show.

Free Press: The fashion in Season 1 set the bar so high. We’re barely into Season 2 and have already seen so many covetable, stunning looks. What story do the clothes tell the viewers?

Kawhi Leonard officially returns to Toronto with NBA approving Raptors-Clippers trade

TORONTO - Kawhi Leonard is officially returning to the Toronto Raptors.

After a months-long delay, the NBA approved a trade between the Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers on Monday that sent Leonard back to Toronto where he won an NBA championship in 2019.

All-star forward Brandon Ingram, guard Gradey Dick, unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, a 2027 first-round pick swap and two second-round picks are going to L.A. in return.

“We're thrilled to welcome Kawhi back to Toronto," said Raptors general manager and executive vice-president Bobby Webster. "His impact on our organization, our city, and our country is undeniable, and he embodies the competitiveness and championship mindset that we value.

Students to learn the ABCs of IDK, OMG

Students will learn about everything from emoji etiquette to internet scam artists, as well as the difference between sexting and sextortion, as part of a provincewide overhaul of health class.

Manitoba’s new phys-ed and health curriculum pilot puts an emphasis on a child’s online habits and experiences.

“It is really good to see online privacy being recognized as a health and wellness skill,” said Matthew Johnson, director of education at MediaSmarts, a national charity that designs resources for teachers to build digital literacy.

“It has an effect on so much of our lives. At the bare minimum, the content that we see online is determined by data that companies have on us… the algorithmic shadow we cast.”

Premier touts Port of Churchill opportunities at Canadian investment summit

Premier Wab Kinew announced Monday that major capital investments in the Port of Churchill Plus project will receive an exemption from Manitoba’s seven per cent retail sales tax.

Kinew made the announcement at the start of the two-day Canada investment summit in Toronto. The premier made the pitch to a room of 250 Canadian and global investors representing more than US$13 trillion in assets.

“We are here in Toronto to tell global investors that the Port of Churchill is open and ready to expand,” Kinew told the Canadian Global Growth Forum, a provincial government news release said.

“These new capital incentives make it easier for investors to get in on the ground floor of the largest project featured at the Canada investment summit. The grain and critical minerals we are already shipping out of the port are reaching Europe faster than the Port of Vancouver. With the right investments we can ship commodities year-round, strengthening trade between reliable partners and creating good jobs,” the premier, who was not made available for an interview, said in the release.

‘Didn’t realize how close I was’ to getting hit, pedestrian says

A West Broadway pedestrian says it was like a scene straight out of the movies as he narrowly avoided being plowed into during a midday police pursuit.

Adam Orbanski was crossing Langside Street along Broadway Friday and had just made it to the curb when a vehicle slammed into another metres away from him.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Orbanski said Monday after viewing security footage of the incident captured by a nearby business. “I didn’t realize how close I was, I guess, until my friend sent me the security footage. I’m lucky to be alive.”

Orbanski said he was walking home from work when he began to hear sirens. As he crossed Langside, he could see one vehicle approaching him quickly.

Feds chip in $27M for Winnipeg sewage project

The federal government is offering Winnipeg $27 million to help reduce combined sewer overflows, its first financial contribution to the major environmental project.

The City of Winnipeg is provincially mandated to complete a $1.15-billion master plan by 2045 that reduces such sewage spills. The municipal government has so far paid for that work alone, however, as provincial and federal funding focused on the city’s separate $3.1-billion upgrade of the north end sewage treatment plant.

“It’s wonderful to see the federal government (do this) … It’s going to make a difference on the (combined sewer overflow) projects. We’ve got a lot of them to do in the city … With the rain events we saw this year, the importance of accelerating combined sewer projects across the city is more (pressing) than ever,” said Coun. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan), chairman of finance.

Older combined sewers still serve about one third of Winnipeg, collecting both precipitation and wastewater in a single pipe. Heavy rain or snow can cause the pipes to overflow, which releases billions of litres of diluted sewage into Winnipeg rivers each year.

Menstruation, consent move up in sex-ed lesson plan

Manitoba’s newest curriculum introduces the menstrual cycle earlier and repeatedly calls for explicit lessons on how students can give, seek, and decline to provide their consent.

The education department has released its sweeping proposal to overhaul how exercise, nutrition and sexuality are taught between kindergarten and Grade 12.

Grade 5 has long served as a key turning point for “the talk,” said J Fiedler, a sexual and reproductive health educator who provided input on the new curriculum.

“There’s no ‘the talk’ anymore. Now, there’s continuations of multiple ‘talks,’ which can hopefully reduce stress for students and stigma that people experience talking about sexuality.”

Fathers united by loss share warning about dangers of fentanyl

Harlan James Edward Fourre would have turned 35 on Sunday.

But instead of celebrating his birthday, Fourre’s father organized a sombre walk through downtown Winnipeg to commemorate his son and the many others who have died of fentanyl poisoning.

Three and a half years ago, Harlan Fourre took a recreational drug he believed was ecstasy but turned out to contain fentanyl, which killed him, said his father Joseph Fourre, a Red River Métis citizen, actor and filmmaker.

Fourre said his son was a master roofer, working on a job in The Pas around the time of his death. He wasn’t known to use drugs — in fact, his boss relayed that if someone pulled out an illicit substance at the end of a job, Harlan’s response would be: “no thanks, I’m good.”

Port of Churchill expansion could chase belugas away, U of M researcher says

As plans to expand the Port of Churchill into a four-season trade corridor gathers momentum, a University of Manitoba researcher has published a report on what ship traffic could mean for the beluga whales that gather in the Churchill River estuary each summer.

Veronica Coppolaro said more vessels in the waterways bring a risk that belugas will stop using the estuary for migration, which would impact the ecological landscape, tourism and communities that rely on the animals for food and cultural purposes.

“There are studies showing that (noises) change the way they swim, they change the way (the whales) are vocalizing, they change their main activity, and so this (expansion) can have consequences at different levels,” she said.

The Churchill river estuary is a marine habitat where the Churchill River empties into Hudson Bay. During the summer months belugas gather in the area to feed and give birth.