Right in the centre - Today is the day!

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

Yes, today, Oct. 11, is the day! A memorable day, because it was 50 years ago today that my wife, Christine, and I got married.

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My perspective - Can't have it both ways

By Kate Jackman-Atkinson

Neepawa Banner & Press

Across our communities, we wonder why young people aren’t getting more involved. Last week, I saw why. On Friday, youth across the world took part in a climate strike. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t following it very closely, but I was bombarded by examples of adults acting like children. In posts, comments and memes, I saw adults mocking the young participants, telling them they were wasting their time, telling them all the other things they should be doing, accusing them of not being committed to the cause because they own a cell phone or buy new clothes. 

It was a pretty depressing weekend on social media. 

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Right in the centre - Collapse seems inevitable

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

I have been predicting for a while now that the recycling industry will collapse. It’s a shame, really, but without huge changes in policy, attitude and funding, recycling will cease to exist in many parts of Canada and especially in Manitoba.

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My perspective - The story that almost wasn’t

By Kate Jackman-Atkinson

Neepawa Banner & Press

In July, Toronto Life published a gripping story about the medical malpractice carried out by Dr. Paul Shuen, a respected ob-gyn in the Toronto area. Without his pregnant patients’ knowledge or consent, Shuen was inducing their labour so that they would deliver on the weekend, when he could bill the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) an extra $250 per delivery. It’s unknown how many victims there were, but in the 2015-16 fiscal year, 46 per cent of Shuen’s deliveries occurred on the weekend.

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Right in the centre - What Trudeau should be doing

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

Barrels of ink and tons of oxygen have been expended on Justin Trudeau’s “blackface” performances. Dozens of writers and commentators have taken great umbrage at the very idea that someone would do such a thing. We are led to believe that it is abhorrent for a person to put on make-up and dress up for a party or to perform in a play. It’s not abhorrent at all, unless we are to believe that actresses and actors can only play roles that closely depict their daily life, play out only their own physical attributes and only display their own daily actions. That is ridiculous. Trudeau should not be condemned for blackface make-up. He should not be condemned for “brownface” either. Besides, “brownface” is a made up word just so writers and the breathless media horde can find another event to fill their sorry newscasts.

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