Manitoba’s Spruce Woods riding will remain Tory blue. Conservative candidate Colleen Robbins won yesterday’s byelection by just 70 votes over the NDP’s Ray Berthelette. Liberal candidate Stephen Reid came in a distant third. The win will not impact the New Democrats majority in the legislature.
———-
Safety advisory committees will be established in each school in the Brandon Division this fall. They’re being set-up in response to a racially-motivated attack on a student back in June at Neelin High School. The committees
review school safety plans and make recommendations.
———-
The Parks Canada official, who brought in a boat ban on Clear Lake this summer, has been transferred. Leanne Cooper is leaving Riding Mountain National Park for the Northwest Territories. The ban, which was implemented
without notice in May to combat the spread of zebra mussels, angered business owners and cottagers.
———-
Federal government projects to be announced soon could include new port infrastructure in Churchill. Prime Minister Mark Carney says reinforcing the port would open up enormous opportunities including the shipment of liquified natural gas to overseas markets. In recent years, Manitoba and Ottawa have spent millions upgrading the port’s rail-line and storage capacity.
———-
Canada Post continues to hemorrhage money, losing $407 million in the second quarter of this year. One of the reasons is a drop in parcel revenue – it delivered 25 million fewer packages in the last three months. The corporation is currently reviewing the union’s counter-offer which calls for higher wages.
———-
Canada needs to build 3.2-million homes in the next decade to close the housing gap, but is not on track to do that. At the current pace of construction – we’re short about 700-thousand homes. The Parliamentary Budget Officer says even with cuts to immigration, housing demand will remain high for several more years.
———-
Apple has an event planned on September 9th likely to announce the new iPhone 17 and new Apple watches. One of the new iPhone 17 versions is expected to be thinner, but could come at the expense of battery life and the camera. Apple is also expected to announce a standard version of the 17 alongside new Pro models.
———-
Here’s a warning for parents. A survey of Canadian pediatricians has found a jump in the number of teens needing medical attention due to the use of dietary supplements or performance drugs for work-outs or sports. Most of the cases were boys aged 13 to 15.
