Great Players Can Be Found North of the Border

How Basketball Grew in Canada

Canadians and basketball aren’t usually synonymous but they are getting there. The Canada basketball team roster features names like Jamal Murray, Andrew Wiggins, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, all NBA superstars in their own right.

Their rise and the growth of the sport in Canada is a part of how international the game of basketball has become. For years it would have been unheard of for a basketball player of any ilk to be from North of the Border.

One of the first to create a path for Canadian cagers was Leo Rautins. He played for a season at Minnesota before transferring to Syracuse, where Rautins excelled. He was so good, in fact, that he was a first-round pick in 1983, drafted 17th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Rautins’ success sparked an interest in basketball by Canadians as well as basketball minds on the prep, college and NBA levels. Since then, their play and players have taken off to the point where many Canadian basketball players are recruited for prep machines, earn college scholarships and then find their way to the NBA if their skills are of that level.

Andrew Wiggins is an NBA champion. Jamal Murray is an NBA champion. They were vital cogs on teams that won titles. Wiggins was a first overall selection in the NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2014.

How Many Canadian Basketball Players Are in the NBA?

There were 21 Canadian NBA players on opening night rosters for the 2024-25 season. That number is down from the 27 that were in the Association last season. In an interesting fact, this is the 11th straight season Canada is the most represented country outside the USA when it comes to players in the league. It is a testament to how the game has grown North of the Border on levels that set players up for professional careers.

The complete list of Canadian players who were on NBA rosters when this season tipped off, per Canada basketball:

• Tristan Thompson – Cleveland Cavaliers
• Dwight Powell – Dallas Mavericks
• Olivier-Maxence Prosper – Dallas Mavericks  
• Jamal Murray – Denver Nuggets  
• Andrew Wiggins – Golden State Warriors (now Miami Heat)
• Dillon Brooks – Houston Rockets
• Andrew Nembhard – Indiana Pacers
• Bennedict Mathurin – Indiana Pacers
• Brandon Clarke – Memphis Grizzlies
• Zach Edey – Memphis Grizzlies
• Leonard Miller – Minnesota Timberwolves
• Nickeil Alexander-Walker – Minnesota Timberwolves
• Luguentz Dort – Oklahoma City Thunder
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Oklahoma City Thunder
• Caleb Houstan – Orlando Magic
• Cory Joseph – Orlando Magic  
• Dalano Banton – Portland Trail Blazers
• Shaedon Sharpe – Portland Trail Blazers
• Trey Lyles – Sacramento Kings
• Kelly Olynyk – Toronto Raptors
• RJ Barrett – Toronto Raptors

Why Is Basketball So Popular in Canada?

Basketball has seen immense growth internationally through the years. Canada is one of the many countries that caught hoop fever. A good part of that can be attributed to the national pride that is associated with teams that play in the country.

While the Canada basketball team roster has yet to achieve a great deal of global success, Canadian players in the NBA have become stars. When you combine the stardom and achievements these players have garnered with the success of the Toronto Raptors as a franchise it is easy to see why basketball is so popular in Canada. Keep an eye on how these talented Canadians and their teams are performing by checking out the NBA 1h lines before the games.

It may never rival hockey simply because of the history that great sport has with the nation but Canadian fans have become passionate about basketball on all levels, particularly when it comes to following their stars on all platforms.

Why Does the NBA Include Canada?

The NBA has been at the forefront of growing its audience internationally. Part of that has been helped by the amount of “foreign” players who have become stars in the game. The league began its foray into international play with two franchises in Canada. The Vancouver Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors. The Grizzlies were not successful and moved to Memphis.

However, Toronto has been an incredible success for the league. Fans clamor for tickets and the Raptors won an NBA championship. They draw whether the team is winning or losing. Think about how the Toronto faithful stand by their Maple Leafs and that is a similar parallel. It doesn’t matter the result, they are our team and we will support them through thick and thin.

What would be intriguing is if the NBA had attempted to have a team in Vancouver later than when it began. The more popular the NBA has become, the bigger its audience. Timing is everything and it just may not have been right for the team in the Great Northwest.

The post The Most Influential Canadian NBA Basketball Players of All Time appeared first on Cult MTL.

Is Doug Ford Canada’s most unlikely diplomat?

Doug Ford travelled to Washington last week to talk tariffs, after threatening to impose tariffs on energy or even turn off power to 3 U.S. states.

Although the temperature has been dialed down, Queen’s Park reporter Richard Southern talks to pollster John Wright about Ford’s actions last week and how this all ties in to the upcoming federal election.

Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University Palestinian graduate student who the Trump administration is seeking to deport for his role in pro-Palestinian protests, called himself a political prisoner on Tuesday, in his first direct comments since his detention.

On Tuesday around 4:00 p.m., an RNC officer observed a vehicle travelling at 155 km/h in the posted 100 km/h zone on the Outer Ring Road in St John’s.

The 29-year-old male driver was ticketed, had his licence suspended and the vehicle was impounded.

Some outdoor equipment could be the first to see price increases as the trade war continues between the U.S. and Canada.

Jonathan Earle of The Outfitters in downtown St. John’s, says from among his inventory, tariff tensions between Canada and the U.S. will likely impact water sports equipment the most.

Earle says that kayaks, canoes, paddles, and related gear are expected to bear the brunt of the tariffs, largely due to a shortage of Canadian goods available on the market.He, like others, is trying to adapt and find more Canadian supplies to fill the gaps.

“Those products (water gear) aren’t as developed probably in Canada, although we do have some good Canadian alternatives,” he said

“Those are the people that we’re working harder with and adjusting our American orders. As a business owner, I want to send the message to the U.S. that, hey, this is not cool, and we don’t appreciate what’s going on.”

On Monday, Israel resumed its barbaric bombing of civilians in Gaza, killing over 400 in a single wave of attacks.

While this aggression marks the definitive end of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) signed on January 19, in fact, Israel never abided by the ceasefire. Prior to Monday’s bombings, Israel had violated the ceasefire at least 962 times. These violations killed 116 Palestinian civilians and wounded 490. Meanwhile, Israel had reimposed its blockade of humanitarian aid in previous weeks and cut Gaza’s electricity supply, depriving 600,000 Palestinians of access to drinking water. UNICEF warned that Israel’s blockade of Gaza will worsen malnutrition and bring vaccination to a “standstill,” while neonatal units “won’t be able to care for preterm babies.”

It appears the Israeli government has come to the conclusion that it has nothing to gain from even pretending to honour the agreement’s terms. With US backing, the IDF sent bombs ripping through the Palestinian enclave once again, killing hundreds and unilaterally shattering the ceasefire deal.

Gaza’s health care system, previously targeted for destruction by Israeli occupation forces in what the United Nations described as a concreted policy of “extermination,” are overwhelmed. An American doctor volunteering in Gaza described “entire families wiped out” by the latest Israeli aggression. An Australian medic in Gaza recalled the horrors: “It was just mostly women and children burned head to toe, limbs missing, heads missing… We’ve run out of ketamine, propofol—all painkillers. We can’t sedate, can’t give analgesia. We intubate, and people wake up choking—no sedation. Seven girls are getting their legs amputated without anesthesia.”

Hamas responded to the US-Israeli attack by saying it “confirms [America’s] direct partnership in the war of extermination against our people.”

The Donald Trump administration took credit for the January ceasefire deal, but now it is openly supporting its destruction. On top of that, Trump launched a wave of airstrikes against Yemen this week, killing 31 and injuring over 100, to defend Israel’s right to commit genocide. The attacks came after the Houthi government threatened to reassert its blockade of Red Sea shipping lanes until Israel allows humanitarian aid into Gaza. Unsurprisingly for anyone who knows anything about Yemen, Trump’s bombing failed to intimidate the Yemeni people. They responded with huge rallies in Sana’a and continued targeting US ships.

Meanwhile, Lebanon remains in the crosshairs. Despite the signing of a ceasefire between Hezbollah and the IDF on November 27, 2024, Israel has never stopped attacking Lebanon. Between November 27 and January 10, Israel violated the ceasefire at least 330 times. The bombings continue to this day, and they have prompted the UN to urge Israel to comply with the agreement. Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers remain in southern Lebanon in flagrant violation of the ceasefire, preventing thousands of Lebanese citizens from returning to their homes.

On top of this, Syria’s newly Western-aligned government has taken a break from massacring Alawites to launch attacks against Lebanon. These attacks have killed seven and wounded 52. Regional war is spreading once more, and this time, Islamist-run Syria appears to be fully on the side of the US and Israel.

While governments around the world express horror and disgust at Israel’s latest assault on Gaza, the nauseating truth is that Washington and its allies approve of these massacres. For the US empire, the war on Palestine is a war on regional resistance. The ultimate goal is destroying the “Axis of Resistance” so Washington can redirect its resources and attention to East Asia, and more forcefully challenge China. The bloody removal of Gaza from this equation is assumed. The Nation laid out this agenda in its explanation of “the Biden doctrine” last year, and in this area, there’s little difference between Biden and Trump.

[The] idea is to have Saudi Arabia and the other wealthy Gulf countries build on the rubble of Gaza, and then have Biden travel to the region for “a victory tour,” where he claims credit for the Israel-Saudi deal as the solution to decades of implacable crisis in the Middle East. One goal of the “Biden doctrine,” as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman called it, is to achieve the “global legitimacy” necessary to “take on Iran in a more aggressive manner.” With Hamas out of the picture and a demilitarized Palestinian state under the influence of the Gulf regimes, the thinking goes, the US will have Arab cover in the region to be able to counter Iran…and then put all of its energy toward a confrontation with China.

It is obvious that Israel does not allow itself to be bound by ceasefire terms, the UN, international law, or humanitarian law. It exists in a bloodthirsty state of exception, unrestricted by any law or agreement, its violent expansionism fuelled by ordnance from the very countries that claim to endorse a fair and transparent “rules-based order.” All of this is crystal clear. But as Israeli attacks continue, it is unclear, at least from the outside, how much longer the resistance in Gaza can hold out against this genocide.

Owen Schalk is a writer from rural Manitoba. He is the author of Canada in Afghanistan: A story of military, diplomatic, political and media failure, 2003-2023 and the co-author of Canada’s Long Fight Against Democracy with Yves Engler.

Southwest residents and more are hopeful for the potential of lower gas prices with the pause on the consumer carbon levy coming up in a couple of weeks. 

According to GasBuddy, Saskatchewan residents could see gas prices decline by 10 - 15 cents per litre as long as the consumer carbon tax pause goes into effect on April 1.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, noted that prices in Swift Current are down around four cents since last month, despite being up ten cents since this time last year. 

"There's a lot of details we don't know, there's been talk that the impact from consumers could be shifted over to businesses," said De Haan. "So it's only a theoretical decline that we would see, at least for now." 

He highlighted that whether or not the lowered gas prices are sustained will be dependent on parliament's actions.

The pause of the carbon tax was issued this past Friday by Prime Minister Mark Carney and will apply to both users of gasoline and diesel.

"At least for now, we've seen prices inching down, which is rare for this time of year," De Haan added. "We'll have to wait for the outcome of the carbon tax laws, but I would be cautiously optimistic that there may be some lower prices coming down the road and of course, there's still a lot of hurdles to potentially cover, especially between Canadian trade tariffs, the carbon tax, and oil prices struggling as of late."

Spring runoff is at varying levels across the southwest - with some portions almost concluded.

According to the Water Security Agency's March 14 report, three localized pockets near Maple Creek, Val Marie, and Ponteix have snowmelt runoff nearing completion.

"Maple Creek is almost done spring runoff," WSA spokesperson Patrick Boyle said. "Temperatures moved there pretty quickly so a lot of that moved. Even as you go further south, southeast down to Val Marie, there's kind of a normal pocket and then some areas that spring runoff has already happened."

Above normal spring runoff is expected for areas north of Swift Current and a band from Swift Current down to Eastend and west to the Cypress Hills area. While most of the region south of Swift Current is on track for normal runoff amounts.

"The southwest is kind of a mix of all things of spring runoff," he said. "We looked at our satellite imagery recently and runoff did progress pretty well when temperatures were above zero there the last couple of weeks. It's slowed down a little bit, there's still some snowpack to go. There's probably not a whole lot left there as far as spring runoff goes."

Lake Diefenbaker is about 1.1 metres higher than normal for this time of year, as the WSA monitors its levels closely due to a lack of runoff expected from Alberta.

"We're purposely keeping that high," he said. "Mountain snowpack in the Foothills looks to be below normal, we're doing a lot of accounting for that keeping the reservoir as high as possible. We're targeting certain elevations by May and we're almost there.

"All reservoirs in the southern part of Saskatchewan are at or above normal levels. Water supplies going into the spring here look very strong. Not a lot of concerns there."

The WSA could release a final report in early April depending on how the spring runoff progresses.

Robin Gerus, executive director of Halifax Transit, presented new plan to Halifax regional council on Tuesday.

The post ‘Try to make them happy’: Halifax’s transit boss says talking with riders, drivers key to success appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

On Thursday, the City of St. John’s will be hosting a World Poetry Day reading event at 7:00 p.m. in the Foran Greene Room in City Hall.

The event will be hosted by the City’s Poet Laureate Mark Callanan and feature poets Maggie Burton, Mary Dalton, George Murray, Michelle Porter, Craig Francis Power, and Aaron Tucker.

This is a public event and registration is not required.

A truck driver is calling for 24-hour road maintenance after his rig jackknifed on the Trans Canada Monday morning in extremely slippery conditions.

John Oliver says black ice on the Trans-Canada Highway Monday morning caused him to lose control of his rig just east of Springdale Junction.

Photo submitted

Oliver says there was no salt on the road at the time, and the plows weren’t operating.

He calls that a serious safety concern.

“My hat goes out to all us fellow truck drivers” Oliver told VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly. “There’s been a lot of tragic things that have happened in the past year or so.” He claims he asked a Department of Highways supervisor on the scene why there wasn’t any salt on the road, and was told that they’re not allowed to go out until 8:00 o’clock in the morning. “I said, ‘that’s pathetic.'”

Photo submitted

Good morning. An Israeli assault abruptly ended the Gaza ceasefire, leaving more than 400 Palestinians dead – more on that below, along with tax-season changes and dozens of new spring books. But first:

Today’s headlines

• Putin agrees to a limited ceasefire in Ukraine, ending attacks on energy and infrastructure for 30 days
• U.S. trade actions have raised questions about the validity of USMCA, Carney says
• The U.S. will send trading partners a proposed tariff rate on April 2, the Treasury Secretary says

Jewish Canadians face the challenge of confronting—and defining—hate

Subscribe now

A Burton man scheduled to enter pleas this week on outstanding child-pornography charges is now in custody on new allegations, alleging he tried to meet a minor to engage in sexual activity.

Brady Matthew Worden, 30, of Route 102, was scheduled to appear in Fredericton provincial court Tuesday to enter pleas on charges of possessing child pornography in Fredericton and breaching a court-order prohibiting him from accessing the internet between June 24 and Sept. 24, and transmitting child porn Sept. 6.

However, when Judge Pierre Gionet called his case Tuesday, he wasn’t present.

That’s because he was in custody after being arrested last week and charged on the weekend with new counts.

Read more

The Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission has confirmed the consumer carbon tax will be removed from P.E.I. fuel prices starting next month.

On Tuesday evening, RNC officers responded to a disturbance at a business in the west end of St. John’s.

Officers located the male suspect upon arrival who had run from the store.

Officers pursued the suspect on foot and once they caught up, a physical altercation resulted before the male was taken into custody. The youth was taken to the Youth Remand Centre and was charged with assault, assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and carrying a concealed weapon.

The youth also had eleven outstanding warrants.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a series of drone strikes that struck civilian areas overnight and damaged a hospital in Ukraine following the refusal by President Vladimir Putin to back a full 30-day ceasefire during discussions with his American counterpart.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the attacks continue to strike Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, despite Putin’s agreement to immediately cease attacks on the power grid. Zelenskyy said that Moscow’s refusal to halt all strikes proved the need for increased pressure on Moscow to prevent Putin from prolonging the war.

“This confirms that we must continue to pressure Russia for the sake of peace,” he said Tuesday night. “Only a real halt to Russia’s attacks on civilian infrastructure can signal a genuine desire to end this war and bring peace closer.”

The White House described the call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin as the first step in a “movement to peace” that it hopes will include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and eventually a full and lasting end to the fighting.

But there was no indication that Putin backed away from his conditions for a prospective peace deal, which are fiercely opposed by Kyiv.

Shortly after the two leaders wrapped up their lengthy phone call, air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv, followed by explosions as residents took shelter.

Despite efforts to repel the attack, several strikes hit civilian infrastructure, including a direct drone strike on a hospital in Sumy and attacks on cities in Donetsk region. Russian drones were also reported over Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Chernihiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, and Cherkasy regions.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported Wednesday that its air defenses intercepted 57 Ukrainian drones over the Azov Sea and several Russian regions — the border provinces of Kursk and Bryansk and the nearby regions of Oryol and Tula.

Separately, authorities in the Krasnodar region bordering the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, reported that a drone attack there started a fire at an oil depot.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Hanna Arhirova, The Associated Press

Russia and Ukraine accused each other early on Wednesday of launching air attacks that sparked fires and damaged infrastructure just hours after President Vladimir Putin agreed to a limited ceasefire in Russia's war in Ukraine.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is offering a free webinar this afternoon for those who are curious about what exactly are those tracks that they're seeing in the snow, on the trails or in their own backyards!

The free webinar takes place today, March 19th at 3:30 pm CT to teach the art of animal tracking.

"The intent is to help inform people about different animals, whether it's squirrels, domestic dogs, coyotes, bears, or any other species you might encounter in your neighborhood, on your favorite trails, or in the woods," says Andrew Holland, national Media Relations Director for the NCC. How do you know what species it is?

"This webinar will help everyone, whether you're an expert, an outdoors enthusiast, a nature lover, or a beginner. It will teach you how to identify the patterns and tracks of various animals, such as deer, lynx, coyotes, and more, " he adds.

The interactive webinar will feature insights from two experienced wildlife trackers:  

• Aerin Jacob – Director of science and research at the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Jacob has been tracking animals for years, both for work and for fun. Her PhD research involved animal tracking, and she continues to advise governments and philanthropic groups on species at risk, scientific research and conservation planning. Jacob is also an adjunct professor at the University of Northern British Columbia, has a PhD in biology from McGill University and post-doctoral research at the University of Victoria.  

• Joseph Litke – Wildlife biologist, hiking guide and track and sign professional, Litke is the co-founder of Fiera Biological Consulting, an Edmonton-based conservation consulting firm. He has extensive experience exploring western Canada's landscapes and leads tracking-based conservation programs and workshops with conservation professionals and the public.  

"They'll answer questions in the chat or questions submitted in advance by people who register," explains Holland. "The beauty of this is that whoever registers will get a free kit, which includes a catalog of how to identify animal tracks. This will become an animal tracking detective guide that people can use on their own, whether they're going out looking for animals or tracking species, locations, dates, and times."

Holland says the guide includes information on what different animals' tracks and gaits look like, such as squirrels, deer, and other animals.

"It's a really cool guide that people can use to identify various animals. For example, bears are found in most parts of the country and are known to stomp repeatedly in the same footsteps to leave a scent. Each foot of a bear has five toes that register forward, so you can see their footprints clearly. It's fascinating to see how animals move and leave their marks in the wild. This guide will help people become animal tracking detectives and learn more about the wildlife around them."

To register for the free webinar taking place this afternoon, please visit their website HERE!

photo credits:

River Otter prints - photo by Jennifer Sullivan - Nature Conservancy of Canada 

Turtle tracks - Photo by Megan Bonenfant - Nature Conservancy of Canada

Animal tracks - Waterton Park Front - photo Sean Feagan - Nature Conservancy of Canada 

In 2024 Squeal on Pigs Manitoba had a successful year in trapping wild pigs with pig removal numbers being significantly higher totaling over 200 animals.

Doctor Wayne Lees, Coordinator for Squeal on Pigs Manitoba, says this is quite a jump from the year before, and with that they've been able to capture more field data and better understand the characteristics and habits of these wild pigs.

"Collecting this field data has really paid off, the fact that we're starting to measure some of these things," he says. "So, for each pig that we remove, we try to get a weight estimate and an age estimate. And we're beginning to put that information together to give us a better picture of how the population behaves and how it grows."

Lees says the colder winter weather has been good for their pig trappers as they are easier to find.  "Once spring comes the pigs tend to disperse into larger areas and then it becomes more difficult.

" These findings .... lead us to a lot more optimism that we can eradicate these invasive animals from Manitoba."

"We've done some analysis of our last three years of field data and found that the assumptions made about wild pigs in the US don't really translate to our situation in Canada," explains Dr. Lees. "Our pigs tend to stay in smaller groups, they don't reproduce nearly as quickly as initially thought and that leads us to a lot more optimism that we can eradicate these invasive animals from Manitoba."

Manitoba's colder winter weather is definitely an advantage when it comes to controlling the population of this invasive species.

"Young pigs born in early or midwinter may have a hard time surviving until springtime. We also find that the breeding age of these animals is much later than what we first anticipated. A commercial sow will start to breed at 6 months of age and then they'll have 2 litters a years. In the wild, Eurasian wild boar we think it takes at least a year to start breeding, and we're beginning to doubt whether they can have more than one litter a year.  And their litter size on average is about half of what a commercial pig would have."

When it comes to hunting versus trapping, Dr. Lees says they're sharing the message throughout the province for landowners to call their organization first because they've had great success in First Encounter Removal Rate, which is the number of pigs removed the first time a person comes across a group, or sounder, of wild pigs. The success of this is through alerting Squeal on Pigs where they've been sighted.

Lees says hunters can take one or two animals but then scatter the rest, making it difficult to find them again after that.  And that kind of activity tends to push the pigs into other areas, areas that may not be infested with wild pigs until then.

Spruce Woods still continues to be the hotspot for wild pigs and they've been focusing their removal efforts in that area.  However, there have been sightings and efforts to trap them in other parts of the province.  Wild pigs prefer where parkland butts up against agricultural areas as these areas provides them with food and shelter.

Squeal on Pigs is using technology to zero in on wild pigs through partnership with Assiniboine College and BDX Laboratories in Winnipeg.

The success of the program is through the public alerting Squeal on Pigs where they've been sighted.

"They've developed the first test for determining environmental DNA from wild pigs in streams," explains Dr. Lees. "The USD had done that but the methodology that they used didn't work in our situation and so we've now developed a test that will work in our circumstances to identify from stream water if wild pigs have been using that that stream." 

"The other thing that we use a lot in terms of trying to find pigs, are thermal imaging drones," he adds. "So, all of our technicians have access to those drones and so we can fly above and scout an area like a river valley or cornfields and identify pigs through the body heat that they give off, and that's really been a game changer for us."

Squeal on Pigs feels they can eradicate wild pigs from the Manitoba landscape, but it is only through the partnership with the public to report any sightings of pigs or signs of their activity.

"What points us to presence of pigs are things like rooting in the pastures.  So, what a pasture will look like when pigs start to root in it, it looks like a rotor rooter went through it.  And so, if you see a patch of wild grass or pasture where it looks like it's been plowed, or rotor tilled that's a very good sign that pigs are there."

Please listen to more with Dr. Wayne Lees below!

(photo credit Squeal on Pigs Manitoba: of winter trapping expeditions, baiting buckets, rubber molds of pig tracks, cell camera game cams and infrared drones)

For more information and to report sightings or signs of wild pigs, please visit their website HERE!

To view the 2024 Program Update which includes more details and photos, please click HERE!

The 14th annual CAA Manitoba Worst Roads Campaign is now underway, and we are again being asked to nominate a road anywhere in the province we want fixed.

“Our research shows that 96 per cent of Manitobans are concerned about the state of our roads,” says Ewald Friesen, manager government relations at CAA Manitoba, “the CAA Worst Roads campaign gives Manitobans a voice in highlighting the roads they believe are in need of repair which provides a valuable snapshot to decision-makers.”

That pot hole infested stretch of road you take to work every day is a prime target to nominate. Friesen said that survey also found more than half of respondents have experienced vehicle damage because of poor roads.

"This is concerning for a number of reasons, probably one of the biggest is the issue of affordability," he said pointing to how many families, for a number of reasons, are now holding onto vehicles longer than previously. "How this ties in with roads is when we encounter vehicle damage as a result of a bad road, and we're already trying to stretch that family budget, it hurts. According to our survey, folks are spending anywhere between $500 to upwards of $2000 to repair their car, and many of us are not making claims to MPI, so we're paying out of pocket."

According to the survey, poor road conditions, especially potholes and sunken sewer grates, are causing significant vehicle damage and increasing out-of-pocket repair costs for drivers. The average cost, based on the survey results, is $882 when a vehicle has been damaged by a bad road.

"Some of the things most folks report are flat tires, damaged rims, suspension issues and rod ends," explained Friesen. "There's a whole bunch of things that can happen as a result of bad road, so funding for road maintenance and road infrastructure is actually an affordability issue. The state of our roads is really costing us in a very literal way."

Friesen noted they are encouraging rural Manitobans, in particular, to get involved, adding the number one Worst Road in 2023 and 24 were outside Winnipeg. Last year's winner was 18th Street in Brandon, where a swift, coordinated response between the municipality and the province happened after that was announced.

"If you live in a rural part of this province, you depend upon our roads, there's just no other way to put it," he said. "Exponentially, if something happens to that road, how do you get anywhere? So we really would like to encourage your listeners, especially in rural parts of the province, to find that road that's always been an issue for you and pop it on our nomination list."

Nominations for the Worst Roads campaign can be submitted online at www.caaworstroads.com until April 11th. Once the nominations are collected, CAA Manitoba will compile a list of the top 10 worst roads in the province, which will be announced at a later date.

CAA conducted the online survey referenced in this story with 1,014 CAA Manitoba Members between January 6 to 14, 2025. Based on the sample size and the confidence level (95 per cent), the margin of error for this study was +/-3 per cent.

Prime Minister Mark Carney says securing Canada is an “absolute strategic priority” for his government.

The PM announced a $6 billion Over the Horizon early warning radar system in partnership with Australia in a trip to Iqaluit yesterday. The project has been in the works for some time and could be up and running by 2029.

In terms of increased defence spending, Carney admits Canada has to do more to address security and sovereignty as the geopolitical map continues to shift.

“We will need to do more,” says Carney, “we will do it deliberately, we will do it in a way that gets effective value for money, that delivers true security.”

IN terms of “percentages relative to GDP or absolute dollar figures, I expect that more will have to be placed for defence spending,” Carney told reporters, indicating that it will come soon, but in a strategic way.

With U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on USMCA goods looming until April and unemployment threatening to rise, it’s time for the North American labour movement...

The post International solidarity is the answer to Trump’s tariffs first appeared on Spring.

Krishan Jogia turned to an immigration consultancy before landing in Toronto in 2023, only to later realize — after spending thousands of dollars to get his wife to Canada — that he had been dealing with a "ghost" consultancy. Experts say newcomers prefer consultants to lawyers for their immigration paperwork as they're more affordable. But there are calls for more enforcement and scrutiny to penalize those operating without a licence.

It's the final day of winter. Much of Manitoba will end the season on an above-seasonal note, however parts of the north will feel more winter-like for the next few days.

The Southern Chiefs' Organization is slated to adjust the cost and scope of its planned redevelopment of the former Bay building in downtown Winnipeg in what will be the first update about the project since the departure of senior officials in the organization.

A bitter dispute has led to the muddy mother of all fences rising between two neighbours in the "wild west" of Winnipeg's Wilkes South neighbourhood, where $1-million homes coexist with agricultural land, working horse stables and small industrial operations.