A dire driver shortage at OC Transpo in early 2019 played a hand in why the bus operator in the fatal Westboro crash was allowed back behind the wheel after being involved in another serious collision only one month before, an ongoing coroner's inquest heard.

School divisions across Saskatchewan now need formal approval to purchase products or services from the United States.

Chinook School Division Director of Education Mark Benesh told Swift Current Online last month that they had received a request from the Ministry of Education to focus on procurement from Canadian companies and inform them if they are forced to use an American company.

Now it's a more formal process.

"If it's an American company, there's a form we have to submit," Benesh said. "We wait for whether or not they'll approve it based on their review of any other Canadian companies that could do that work."

There are still a couple of items the school division can't find in Canada. 

"We have an air quality device we're trying to get for some communities, especially when we have fires and other things where it's not healthy for kids," Benesh said. "The only place we can find those devices is in America. Also, when we purchase school buses, the only place that builds school buses is in the United States."

The changes come as a result of an ongoing trade dispute with the United States and Canada.

A ruling Wednesday from the top court in the United Kingdom that says the legal definition of a woman is someone born biologically female is the latest high-profile action globally involving the issue of what legal recognitions transgender people are allowed. The spectrum of protections around the world ranges widely, from none at all in a number of countries to the existence of anti-discrimination protections and legal gender identity changes in some others.

Here’s a look at actions in some countries recently:

United Kingdom

The decision from U.K. Supreme Court revolved around the U.K. Equality Act, which bars discrimination along protected categories including age, race, and sex. The court’s ruling said that for the purposes of the act, the definition of a woman is someone born biologically female, which excludes transgender people. The unanimous decision means trans women can be barred from places like women-only changing rooms and homeless shelters and kept from groups like those offer medical or counseling services only to women. But the ruling also said the decision didn’t mean transgender people were without any legal protection, because the Equality Act also recognizes gender reassignment as a protected category.

Supporters of For Women Scotland, the group that brought the suit, celebrated the decision while advocates for transgender rights called it a setback.

Hungary

Rights for transgender people were restricted as part of a wider crackdown on LGBTQ+ communities in Hungary through an amendment to its constitution passed on April 14. The measure was proposed by the ruling coalition led by populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and easily sailed through Hungary’s parliament.

Under the new amendment, the nation’s constitution says there are two sexes, male and female. A government spokesman called it “a clarification that legal norms are based on biological reality.” It lays a constitutional groundwork for denying transgender people the ability to have their gender identities protected.

Critics of the amendment said it was about humiliating and excluding people, and part of the ruling party’s moves toward authoritarianism. The amendment also banned any public events from LGBTQ+ communities, which Hungary’s government has strongly campaigned against in recent years.

United States

President Donald Trump has made a ban on transgender participation in sports a central focus of his administration. On Wednesday, he sued the state of Maine for not following an executive order he signed that banned transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.

In a February meeting with state governors, Trump called out Gov. Janet Mills for not complying with his order, and threatened to pull federal funding, to which Mills replied, “We’ll see you in court.”

The administration’s lawsuit calls for Maine to be ordered to tell its schools that it’s prohibited for males to participate in athletic competition designated for females.

Another of Trump’s executive orders insists on a rigid definition of the sexes, rather than gender, for federal government purposes. The orders are facing court challenges. For its part, Maine sued the administration after the Department of Agriculture said it was pausing some money for the state’s educational programs. A federal judge on Friday ordered the administration to unfreeze funds intended for a Maine child nutrition program.

It’s not just on the federal level; the question of legal protections for transgender people is a political issue in many American states as well. In twenty-six states, transgender girls from are banned from girls school sports. Other issues around the country include access to gender-related healthcare for minors and bathroom access in public spaces like schools and government buildings.

The Associated Press

On her way home from work Wednesday morning, a Hamilton resident says she was subjected to "utterly disgusting" anti-abortion videos playing on a loop from large screens mounted in the bed of a white pickup truck. 

NEW YORK (AP) — The nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice says staff from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency contacted them to assign a team to the organization and told them they planned to similarly install teams with all nonprofits receiving funds appropriated by Congress.

Nick Turner, president of the New York-based criminal justice nonprofit, said Wednesday the nonprofit’s attorneys asked the DOGE staffers what legal basis they had to investigate a nonprofit and informed the staffers that the U.S. Department of Justice recently terminated grants to Vera. The DOGE staffers then withdrew their request to assign a team, according to a transcript of the call provided by Vera.

The White House and Justice Department did not immediately return requests for comment.

Vera, which has an annual budget of around $45 million that mostly comes from private funders, advocates for reducing the number of people imprisoned in the U.S. They consult with law enforcement and public agencies to design alternative programs to respond to mental health crises or traffic violations, and also support access to lawyers for all immigrants facing deportation.

Nonprofit advocates say DOGE’s request threatens the basic freedoms of civil society.

“It would clearly undermine a core tenet of civil society: its independence from the state,” said Benjamin Soskis, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute. “Regulatory oversight is one thing, but this would seem to go into much further, darker territory, where the government threatens the functioning of nonprofits that it does not agree with.”

Vera’s president said in an interview it is speaking publicly about DOGE’s request so other nonprofits can prepare.

“I think it is a terrifying harbinger of what might be a DOGE agenda to start infiltrating nonprofits that receive federal funding,” Turner said. “It could be a misunderstanding. It could be an aggressive overreach,” but it seemed clear that DOGE believed receiving any federal funding would be a reason to install a team at a nonprofit.

Not the first threat from the White House to nonprofits

Diane Yentel, the president and CEO the National Council of Nonprofits, called the request from DOGE to Vera a blatant abuse of power that should alarm all Americans.

“This action by DOGE sets a dangerous precedent, leaving any recipient of federal funding — nonprofit, for-profit, and individuals alike — vulnerable to the whims of this destructive group,” Yentel said in a statement. Her organization sued to prevent a freeze of all federal funding.

In February, the White House directed federal agencies to review all funding for nonprofits because many “actively undermine the security, prosperity, and safety of the American people.”

The Trump administration has also sought to cancel other funding previously allocated by Congress and awarded to nonprofits, though the courts have paused some of those actions.

DOGE has also taken control of the U.S. Institute of Peace, an independent nonprofit created and funded in part by Congress that worked to promote peace and security around the world. Employees and board members of USIP have sued the administration, arguing that the nonprofit is independent and not a part of the executive branch.

DOGE staffers referenced USIP as an example of DOGE assigning a team to a nonprofit that receives Congressional funds, according to the call transcript provided by Vera.

Many nonprofits receive federal funding

The federal government offers hundreds of billions of dollars in funding to nonprofit organizations in every state.

Researchers at the Urban Institute found that 103,475 nonprofits received $267 billion in government grants in 2021, according to an analysis of nonprofit tax forms. The analysis excludes the many small nonprofits with few assets that file less detailed tax forms.

Vera said the terminated grants from the Justice Department totaled around $5 million over three years. Those funds would have provided sign language interpretation for victims of crimes who are deaf, helped to develop responses to human trafficking and changed the way prosecutor offices work to reduce the number of people entering the legal system.

The Justice Department notified Vera it terminated the grants because it had change its priorities to, “more directly supporting certain law enforcement operations, combatting violent crime, protecting American children, and supporting American victims of trafficking and sexual assault, and better coordinating law enforcement efforts at all levels of government.”

Turner said he believed the administration targeted Vera because it’s outspoken about its mission to pursue racial justice and support immigrants, policies the White House opposes.

“The Trump administration is obviously doing everything that it can to hobble and handicap civil society, whether it’s in academia or law firms or foundations and now has obviously opened this front on nonprofits,” Turner said.

____

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Thalia Beaty, The Associated Press

The United Conservative Party on Wednesday kicked out a former cabinet minister from its caucus, the second MLA to be expelled in just over a month.

The UCP caucus, in a statement, said it expelled Peter Guthrie from government benches. Mr. Guthrie on Monday voted with the New Democratic Party in support of launching a public inquiry into allegations of improper contracting and procurement in the health care system. The RCMP, Auditor-General and others have launched investigations into the allegations, which have not been tested in court.

David Miller and Nova Scotia councillors say all orders of governments need to work together to address climate change.

The post Former Toronto mayor says letter to federal leaders on climate action ‘really hit a nerve’ appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

The Unravelling tells the story of Manitoba writer Donna Besel’s pursuit of justice and journey to heal from childhood sexual abuse by her father. Besel focuses on the family destruction and engagement with the courts that follows her disclosure of the abuse. Deft yet unflinching, her narrative contributes significantly to the body of work written by survivors of sexual abuse about their experiences.

After the 1992 wedding of one of her younger sisters, Besel begins disclosing her father’s abuse to her ten siblings. The writer renders the disclosure’s impact with the powerful metaphor of a bomb exploding. After toasts to the couple, dancing and photos,

Wendy and her new husband Bill drove off into the darkness. Thankfully, they were far enough down the road and across the prairie before the detonation. After the honeymoon ended, they returned to a changed family, smoldering, grieving, wounded; no semblance of the happy, bright wedding crowd remained (6).

Speaking about the abuse becomes part of the narrator’s healing process, and she proceeds in stages, or layers of telling: first family, then friends and the small community she grew up in, and finally the legal system. It is an ongoing struggle, as many do not want to hear, and the silence is damaging. Besel comments, “At first, it seemed Warren’s [her husband’s] family would rather have their tongues pulled out than talk to me. It remained unspeakable. Therefore, I felt unspeakable” (75). But Besel persists, explaining to a friend “how it felt like I had been carrying a huge bag of stones all my life. Now, every person I told got a rock” (75). The widespread impact of the abuse is visually underscored by the family tree at the beginning of the book. I found this helpful; in fact, I would have appreciated a diagram that includes friends and other people in the book, as it can be hard to keep track.

Mothering is an important theme in The Unravelling. Also subjected to violence, Besel’s mother had been unable to protect her children from their father. Besel discovers that her father had also abused her five sisters. A vivid metaphor conveys the horror of the abuse:

I saw my family as a litter of snarling, hungry puppies, wanting love and licking. Our mother stood among us, exhausted. Sagging breasts, sagging spirit […] Then along came the old daddy dog. He hated the puppies for being needy and greedy. He taught them to fight and snarl […] But worse of all, the old dog humped and drooled, polluted the pups with his foul breath and foul thoughts (24-25).

When Besel was in her teens, her mother died of brain cancer. Besel writes to her sister Shannon about the lack of mothering that resulted and how Besel herself had assumed the role when she was only fourteen. Other women, including friends, siblings, and support groups, prove important to Besel’s healing. She writes to her aunt to find out more about who her mother was as a young woman, before she met the narrator’s father. Besel also values the belated mothering she receives from a friend and offers to be present when her sister Wendy gives birth.

Besel’s disclosure divides her siblings, and not along gender lines. Some support her quest to bring their father to trial, while others continue to socialize with him and their stepmother. About this, Besel writes, “It reminded me of salmon swimming back to their birthplace, battered and broken, responding to entrenched instincts” (136). Her siblings’ behaviour underscores the extent of the losses experienced by so many when sexual abuse is perpetrated. Although the action of her siblings cause her pain, the writer’s understanding of and compassion for them is evident.

The legal process is protracted and inflicts its own harm. The case involves two Crown attorneys in succession. The first is sympathetic; nonetheless, the trial is delayed a number of times. The second Crown is hostile and only reluctantly proceeds with the case. Besel’s father’s lawyer argues that the accused is unfit to stand trial due to ill health. When court adjourns during an opportunity to testify about how the trial delays are affecting her, Besel describes a vivid image that comes to her:

I was Alice in the Queen of Hearts’ court, trapped in a serious-looking game, but a game nevertheless. The players did not appreciate spectators and we could not question their moves. We only served as game pieces and we did not matter. They could stop the game or change the rules at whim. It did not count that the game was being played right on top of our lives and we might get trampled (299-300).

Astonishingly, the judge hearing Besel’s testimony asks her why she wants to see the charges pursued. When Besel is unable to respond, he continues, “’Isn’t it enough that the people who love and care about you believe you?’” (307) Besel asks herself rhetorically, “Did he make the same comments to owners of stolen cars?” (307)

Almost three years after Besel begins the process of trying to bring her father to trial, he pleads guilty. She tells us how she learned that this is often a tactic to reduce the risk of the harsher sentence that could result from a trial by jury. Her father is sentenced to only two years of supervised probation, counselling, and no unsupervised contact with children under sixteen. No jail time.

Although Besel’s legal ordeal occurred three decades ago, it is disheartening that survivors of sexual abuse/assault continue to struggle for justice in the Canadian legal system. The Unravelling shows the ripple effect of sexual abuse, which harms not only victims but their families and the larger community. This destruction is wrought not only by the abusive acts themselves but by the unwillingness of many to believe and support survivors and by the inadequacy of the legal process. A tough but valuable read, The Unravelling is a testament to survivor strength, courage, and hope for healing.

The Unravelling: Incest and the Destruction of a Family
by Donna Besel
University of Regina Press, 2021, 380 p.p., $21.95
ISBN: 9780889778436

Janet Pollock Millar is a writer and educator living on lək̓ʷəŋən territory in Victoria, BC. Her work has appeared in publications including Herizons, Prairie Fire, Room, The Ex-Puritan, and The Malahat Review. She works in the Writing Centre at Camosun College. (janetpollock.ca)

The post The Unravelling: Incest and the Destruction of a Family by Donna Besel appeared first on Prairie Fire.

Three male suspects have been charged following a commercial break-and-enter that took place in the early hours on Monday in the St. Vital neighbourhood.

At approximately 4:00 a.m., East District General Patrol officers spotted two boys fleeled a business in the 1500 block of St. Mary’s Road.

After a brief foot chase, both suspects were arrested without incident behind a nearby residence on Robertson Crescent.

The Major Crimes Unit later identified and arrested a third suspect at a residence on Mars Drive around 3:15 p.m. the same day.

Investigators determined that the suspects broke into the business by smashing a front window while one remained outside as a lookout.

Once inside, the individuals stole merchandise valued at approximately $12,000 and caused an estimated $8,500 in damage.

A 15-year-old and a 19-year-old, both from Winnipeg, have been charged with Break Enter and Theft – Place.

They were released on undertakings.

A 16-year-old boy, also from Winnipeg, faces the same charge and remains in custody.

Police continue to investigate.

The post Three young boys arrested in Winnipeg following alleged commercial break-in appeared first on CityNews Winnipeg.

Police say an Ontario man has been charged after he allegedly lured a teenage girl in Winnipeg and sexually assaulted her.

The Winnipeg Police Service alleges the 49-year-old man from Red Lake, Ont., began messaging the girl in her mid-teens on social media in December 2024. Police say the accused gained the victim’s trust and formed a relationship.

“As the relationship progressed, the suspect arranged to meet the victim in person,” the WPS said in a news release.

They say the man travelled to Winnipeg to meet the girl in early April.

On April 11, police say investigators found the man and teenager together inside a Winnipeg home, at which point the suspect was arrested. Police allege the girl was sexually assaulted by the accused inside the home.

Scott Christopher Alcorn has been charged with multiple offences, including sexual assault and luring a person under 16. He was detained in police custody awaiting disposition.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

The post Ontario man accused of luring, sexually assaulting Winnipeg teenage girl: police appeared first on CityNews Winnipeg.

The Quebec government says it wants to make rent increase calculations simpler and more predictable for tenants and landlords. On Wednesday, it announced changes to how those increases will be calculated.

Choses Sauvages, Choses Sauvages III (Audiogram)

Are many other cities producing danceable post-punk like Montreal these days? Not likely — and the third album by Choses Sauvages is further proof. The five-piece have been making funky, psychedelic-leaning tunes for years now, even as members have found recognition via other projects (singer/bassist Félix Belisle is also in La Sécurité). Collaborations with fellow franco acts like comment debord (“Level up à l’intérieur”) and Lysandre (“Chaos initial”) are high points, but the biggest standouts are “Cours toujours” and the Talking Heads-esque “Faux départ.” Choses Sauvages III sees the band sounding as confident and comfortable as ever, while maintaining a sense of rawness and adventure. 8/10 Trial Track: “Cours toujours”

For more on Choses Sauvages, please visit their website. This review was originally published in the April issue of Cult MTL.

For more Montreal music coverage, please visit the Music section.

The post Choses Sauvages, Choses Sauvages III: REVIEW appeared first on Cult MTL.

Premier Andrew Furey says Cenovus nearing the completion of the gravity-based structure for West White Rose underscores the importance of the industry.

The company held a celebration in Argentia on Tuesday. Within the next few months the structure will be towed out to the Jean d’Arc Basin, with first oil expected next year.

Furey calls it a “full circle” moment for him, as West White Rose was a very active file from the moment he took office.

He says it represents a commitment to the industry, and the importance of the industry and the province’s product at a time when global world demand is changing.

“This product is not landlocked. We don’t need pipelines across six provinces, we can take this product wherever we want. So it is competitively advantageous to continue to develop this product now from an industrial perspective and an environmental imperative as well, in that it’s lower carbon per barrel than the oil sands. So we need to continue to develop this product.”

“And a sample of a completion of a project like today tells us not only is the resource there, not only is the will there, but the skilled trades workers are there as well.”

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri said at his season-ending news conference on Wednesday that his front office has done well to turn the team's fortunes around and the team is poised return to the post-season.

Teenagers as young as 14-years-old are dying from drug overdoses in recent 'gut-wrenching' incidents, says Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical examiner.

Six people have been charged in connection with the killing of a Saskatchewan man who was found dead in a back lane in Winnipeg's Daniel McIntyre neighbourhood late last month, police say.

With just under two weeks to go until election day, some Canadians with disabilities say they feel forgotten by the federal party leaders.

Police say two men have been charged with murder after a body was found behind a home last month.

Bronson Emery Dale Kequahtooway was discovered dead on March 28.

Police say the 30-year-old had been living in Winnipeg but was originally from the Zagime Anishinabek First Nation in Saskatchewan.

The two accused from Winnipeg are charged with second-degree murder, along with weapons and drug offences.

Police say two men and two women have also been charged with accessory after the fact to murder.

The post Two men charged with murder of Saskatchewan man found behind Winnipeg home appeared first on CityNews Winnipeg.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s populist president said Wednesday that he hasn’t changed his mind about attending Vladimir Putin ’s victory day parade in Moscow next month despite great pressure from the European Union over his decision.

European officials have warned Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that his visit to Moscow for the World War II commemorations would be a breach of the bloc’s membership criteria for potential new members and could derail the country’s declared EU ambitions.

The visit would also effectively amount to a show of support for Putin and Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

Vucic, who has often expressed pro-Russian views, has said that one of Serbia’s military units would be participating in the May 9 parade on the Red Square in the Russian capital. He also said that for the first time Serbia is taking part in “jointly” organizing the parade.

“In the coming period, we will be under pressure regarding the event in Moscow in which we have announced our participation,” Vucic told reporters.

Earlier this week, EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc “made it very clear that we do not want any candidate country to participate in these events on the 9th of May in Moscow.”

Though he claims he wants to take Serbia to the EU, Vucic has maintained close relations with Russia and refused to introduce Western sanctions against Moscow, policies that have almost completely stalled the Balkan country’s accession talks with the 27-nation bloc.

Vucic has said he would travel to Moscow with his right-wing ally, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico. The Slovakian leader has branded as “disrespectful” remarks by Kallas warning European leaders against traveling to Moscow.

Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik has said he will also be attending.

At home, Vucic has faced massive student-led anti-corruption protests that have seriously shaken his autocratic 13-year rule. They started soon after the Nov. 1 rail station canopy collapse in the northern town of Novi Sad that killed 16 people. The collapse has been linked to murky deals with Chinese and other construction firms building in the Balkan country.

Also on Wednesday, Serbian parliament approved a new government packed with anti-EU ministers, including Information Minister Boris Bratina who has been shown recently setting an EU flag on fire and chanting “we don’t want the EU, we want union with Russia.”

The previous government collapsed under protesters’ pressure.

At the same news conference on Wednesday, Vucic cited a report by Russia’s spy agency, FSB, which claimed that widespread reports that the authorities used a sonic devise to target massive and peaceful anti-Vucic protests on March 15 in Belgrade are fake.

Sonic weapons, which use sound waves to incapacitate a person, have been used as crowd control devices.

“The Russian FSB categorically concluded that there was no use of any sonic weapons,” Vucic said. He did not elaborate how FSB had concluded this or whether the agency investigated the alleged incident in Belgrade.

Dusan Stojanovic, The Associated Press