Action, not words needed to deal with delinquent property owners

Mayor Scott Gillingham has put delinquent property owners on notice that if they continue to leave their homes vacant, boarded up and uninhabitable for extended periods of time, the city may seize their property without compensating them.

Battles required against broken child-care system

One year into a new career and three kids at home with a husband on dwindling paternity leave, I got the call. All three kids had been accepted into a brand new, 100-space daycare centre run by the YMCA, just blocks from our home.

I immediately and dutifully printed and completed every shred of paperwork needed to complete the process. I was told to await information by mail, and an invitation to the grand opening.

It had been four years since we put our first child’s name on the wait list. In that time, I’d had two more babies and completed a university degree. There had never been a semblance of predictability or stability in our lives, and this seemed like the first hint of a future where we all might be able to do what was needed to be done each day.

But nothing in child care is easy or straightforward. If you’ve run this gauntlet, you already know this. In our case, weeks passed before we learned the grand opening events had already come and gone. I politely phoned the centre to inquire why we hadn’t received an invitation. The answer was startling. There was no funding for an inclusion support worker for my eldest, who has autism. Without the support worker, the centre did not feel my son would be safe, so it could not accept him on any terms.

Universal daycare is not a pipedream

Universal child care was never the priority when we formed government in 2016. That all changed on July 19, 2021.

Refusal to search landfill exposed as cynical ploy by Heather Stefanson and the Progressive Conservatives

She said it couldn’t be done and was too dangerous to even attempt.

That was the argument used last summer by then-premier Heather Stefanson when she steadfastly refused to order Prairie Green Landfill to be searched for the remains of two Indigenous women who were among the victims of an admitted serial killer.

A feasibility study on a possible search had just been released, and Stefanson seized upon details describing potential threats to those conducting the search.

“Based on the report, we cannot knowingly risk Manitoba workers’ health and safety for a search without a guarantee,” Stefanson said in a written statement.

Utilities could be poised for renaissance, providing profitable mix of steady income

Utilities are something we normally pay for, but what if you could have utilities pay you?

That’s exactly what investing in utilities companies offers. Rather than paying for power, water, internet, phone and natural gas, you can own companies that provide these services and get paid a dividend instead.

What’s more, this sector of the stock market appears poised for a turnaround after a rough ride in recent times.

“It’s actually a great time to buy utilities,” says Evan Mancer, chief investment officer with Cardinal Capital Management Inc. in Winnipeg.

Artificial HUMAN RESOURCES

Employers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the recruitment process. The appeal of using AI “bots” lies in their ability to automate tedious tasks, analyze vast amounts of data rapidly, and provide consistent candidate assessments.

These systems promise to streamline recruitment by sifting through resumes, conducting initial screenings, and even performing preliminary interviews. This technological approach not only reduces the burden on human recruiters but also makes grandiose claims that it accelerates the hiring process and mitigates human biases. However, while the benefits of AI in recruitment are compelling, the use of AI in screening job candidates raises significant concerns that require thorough scrutiny.

1. Potential for bias and discrimination

One of the most pressing concerns about AI in recruitment is the potential for perpetuating or even amplifying existing biases. AI systems are only as unbiased as the data they are trained on. If historical hiring data contains biases, such as preferences for candidates of certain genders, ethnicities, or educational backgrounds, the AI will learn and replicate these biases.

Tico Cornejo legacy: Celebrating 25 years of winehouse with Chilean tribute wines

In 1999, Pembina Fine Wines opened its doors as part of the second wave of private wine stores to enter the Manitoba retail liquor market.

It was spearheaded by Tico Cornejo, a former employee of the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission (MLCC), who ran the shop on Pembina Highway, and then at 1600 Kenaston Blvd. from 2009 on (when it changed its name to the Winehouse), until he died from progressive health issues at age 66 in January 2020.

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2020/05/30/raise-a-glass-to-tico

On June 18, past and present employees along with friends, suppliers and others gathered at the Winehouse to celebrate 25 years since the store first opened.

Summer in the city is something special

When I was 10 or 11, I went to Girl Guide camp at Caddy Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park.

It was, at the time, the single worst thing that ever happened to me.

It wasn’t because of the camp itself, which was objectively beautiful. It was just my first experience at a sleep-away camp and I was unexpectedly and violently racked by homesickness.

I only knew one other girl, a friend from my class at school who was also in my Guides troop. On the first night, when I was trying to fall asleep on my deflated and uncomfortable camping pillow now sodden with tears, I overheard her sniffling, too.

Peru soccer match a perfect opportunity for positive result

In tournaments at the highest level of world football (sorry, Gold Cup), the Canadian men’s national team has played seven matches – and lost them all.

Now, they’ve also come up against some elite opposition in those two competitions and part of a third. There was the Soviet Union and Michel Platini’s France in 1986, and 18 months ago in Qatar they faced Belgium and Luka Modric’s Croatia.

For Thursday night in Atlanta, in the opening match of the 2024 Copa América, they were assigned the greatest player in history and World Cup holders Argentina. Two hours later, quite predictably, they suffered that seventh defeat.

Yet Argentina suffered too. It wasn’t until the 88th minute that the all-timer Lionel Messi put Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez through to score an insurance goal and secure the three points. Canada had a number of meaningful chances, and a 1-1 or 2-2 draw would hardly have flattered them.