Here is the last installment of a brief list of artists who died while performing onstage.

The Italian electronic artist Brandbug died of a heart attack behind the decks in November 2016.

In 2017, the former drummer for Boston, Sib Hanshian, was performing on a Legends of Rock cruise when he died onstage.

Barbara Weldens was a French singer known for performing barefoot. On September 2017, she stepped on a faulty cable onstage during a gig in a church and was electrocuted.

And how’s this for way to go: Three members of an Indonesian rock band called Seventeen died in December 2018 when, during a performance on a beach, were swept out to sea by a sudden tsunami.

© 2025 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

I’ll admit that this is kind of obscure, but it was one of the songs I played on the overnight show when I first joined CFNY in the old Spirit of Radio days. I’d never heard of Spear of Destiny and its leader Kirk Brandon. Four singles made the charts in the UK, but only one–this one–cracked the top 20. The album from whence it came, Outland, reached number 16.

Fun fact: Brandon sued Boy George for malicious falsehood after George write in his autobiography that the two of them had a sexual thing in the early 80s, claiming that allegations of him being gay hurt his prospects as a musician. Brandon lost that case. But then he sued over the lyrics in a George song called Unfinished Business where the alleged affair was brought up again. He lost that one, too, and was initially ordered to pay £200,000. That was later reduced to about £20,000. When he was portrayed by an actor in the TV biopic of Boy George Worried About the Boy in 2010, he kept his mouth shut.

The group was formed in London in 1982 and is still active. Their most recent album, Ghost Population (their 15th!), came out in 2022.

© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

For the last couple of posts, we’ve been looking at performers who died while onstage. Our list picks up with Deven Clifford. He was the drummer for the indie band You Say Party! We Say Die! On April 16, 2010, he stopped playing and hit the floor stone dead. The band dropped the “We Say Die” part of their name after that.

Guitarist Mike Saccaia who played with industrial bands like Ministry and Rigor Mortis, collapsed and died of a heart attack onstage in 2012.

Four of the five members of a Romanian metalcore band called Goodbye to Gravity died when their pyro set off a fire in the club where they were playing.

And former Megadeth drummer Nick Menza was playing with his band OHM when he suffered a fatal heart attack.

Am I done? Not yet. More next time.

© 2025 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Sujan “SOHM” Khanal is originally from Nepal. He’s now living in LA making music like this and composing for film. He’s moved from folky stuff with his 2002 debut album to something more rocky for two more recent EPs,

If you’ve ever made some bad decisions that you’ve later come to regret this is the song for you.

© 2025 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Respiratory illness has been surging around Winnipeg and Manitoba, with emergency departments getting slammed during cold and flu season, a local epidemiologist says.

Cynthia Carr told Global Winnipeg that less than 25 per cent of Manitobans received flu shots this year — well below the norm — which is likely contributing to the surge. The extreme cold is also playing a role.

“When you put those risk factors together — with low vaccination rates, people getting together, more likely indoors with recirculated air and this very cold weather we’re experiencing, it’s just the perfect storm for people getting sick,” Carr said.

“Influenza is the highest concern right now. COVID is at moderate rates — different rates throughout the city — and certainly there’s concern this time of year about RSV, particularly amongst our little ones, so there are certainly viruses circulating.”

Carr said in addition to the low uptake of the flu shot, only 15 per cent of eligible people have received a seasonal COVID-19 vaccine.

© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Beginning on Monday, Feb. 24, we will be moving 980 CKNW to a new home on the radio dial, switching to 730 CKNW.

This switch is an exciting one for Corus’ talk radio offering and our listeners, as it will provide a clearer and better, and more widely accessible signal for our Vancouver audience.

Through this new signal, we can offer our Downtown Vancouver and Lower Mainland communities improved and clearer access to all of our great programming.

Airing our best programs featuring our roster of beloved hosts, from morning until night, 730 CKNW will be our new home for Vancouver news, Vancouver talk and breaking news.

Listeners will now enjoy a more stable talk radio signal on 730 CKNW, with the same great programs they know and love including…

Mornings with Simi, Weekdays 5:30 a.m. – 9 a.m.

The Mike Smyth Show, Weekdays 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

The Jill Bennett Show, Weekdays 12 p.m. – 3 p.m.

The Jas Johal Show, Weekdays 3 p.m. – 6 p.m.

The Ben Mulroney Show, Weekdays 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.

And more!

In addition to this exciting launch, Corus will continue to provide listeners with access to our stations via digital streaming, iHeart Radio and more.

© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Blue Monday is said to be the saddest day of the year.

A U.K-based travel company claimed it came up with the day in 2005, after making calculations about the weather and other conditions to identify Jan. 20 as the saddest day of the year.

The concept of the day has been debated, but people often feel down around this time of year.

Helen Fishburne, CEO of Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington, said approximately 15 per cent of Ontario’s general population experience the winter blues.

She said it’s important to pay attention to how someone is feeling.

“We know at this time of the year, January is a difficult month,” Fishburne said.

The days are shorter and the winter weather is often harsh. Plus, it’s harder for people to get out and connect with people.

Fishburne said part of the myth of Blue Monday is people start receiving their Christmas bills, adding that the amount of money they spent over the holidays often contributes to their discouragement and keeps them feeling down.

She said there are ways to respond to those feelings and “feed your wellness,” such as going for a walk, calling a friend, baking or making a meal for someone.

And if you don’t want to go outside, or are unable to, there are positive social media platforms and webinars to join when you feel lonely or disconnected.

Although there are many things you can do to feel better, she said it’s also important to address the cause of the issue.

Fishburne said it’s incredibly important to seek help through community resources.

“We want to make sure people are also thinking about and addressing the issues that are more at the root of why people are struggling,” she said.

She said they have come a long way regarding the stigma with mental health, particularly during the pandemic people talked about the impact, fear and concern of isolation.

And while talking about it helps change the narrative surrounding mental health, Fishburne said some people still struggle with the stigma.

There is a positive note to associate with the day and seasonal depression.

By simply talking about Blue Monday, Fishburne says we’re shining a light on what it actually means for people, their mental health and wellness what they can do about it.

© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The federal immigration department is set to cut roughly 3,300 jobs over the next three years.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Canada Employment and Immigration Union said in a joint statement issued Monday that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has not said who will be affected by the cuts.

The unions said more information is expected in mid-February but the cuts were brought up in a union-management meeting before staff were notified. Both unions are urging the government to cut down on outside contracting instead of downsizing staff.

In an internal memo obtained by The Canadian Press, the IRCC’s deputy minister Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar and associate deputy minister Scott Harris told employees that some permanent positions “will be eliminated,” along with “many” term positions.

“Although the affected functions have been identified, the individuals have not,” the memo said. “Our plan is to inform affected individuals first before we start to broaden the picture of how this impacts teams, sectors and the department.”

The memo said around 3,300 jobs will be cut over the next three years, with 20 per cent of the reductions hitting permanent employees. Letters will be sent to affected employees beginning in mid-February.

There will also be “significant reductions” in the department’s term workforce, the memo said, adding some term contracts will not be renewed or will end early. Affected term employees will be given at least 30 days’ notice, likely also in mid-February.

“We are building an organization that is fit for purpose, fit for capacity and fit for our budget,” the memo said, adding that changes to funding have added pressure “in an already constrained budgetary situation.”

Jessica Kingsbury, a spokesperson for the IRCC, said in an email Monday that budget decisions will focus on “maintaining border security and enforcing immigration laws, while evaluating how best to deliver our programs and services.”

“Canada’s immigration goals are a top priority,” Kingsbury said. “That is why we will continue to identify opportunities to streamline our work and invest in the priorities that matter most.”

Public service employees have been braced for layoffs since the government launched its efforts to refocus federal spending in 2023.

The government is looking to find $15.8 billion in savings by 2027—28 and $4.8 billion per year after that.

The memo said planned spending reductions at the departmental level start at $237 million in 2025-26 and are projected to reach $336 million by 2027-28. It means every sector and region will be affected across the department.

“It’s clear our department will be smaller in the future,” the memo said. “We’ve been working under an ever-increasing budget and need to learn to live within a defined — and reduced — budget moving forward.”

The department said it has reduced its workforce through attrition and redeployment of employees and has introduced staffing controls to limit external hires and evaluate all appointments based on budget and operational needs.

“The past several years were a period of rapid growth and change for IRCC,” department spokesperson Jeffrey MacDonald said in an email Friday. “We responded to global crises including a pandemic, increased both permanent and temporary resident admissions, and moved toward a more integrated, modernized and centralized working environment in order to help speed up application processing globally.

“These measures were largely supported by temporary funding and were not meant to be permanent.”

The PSAC and CEIU said staff at the department are essential to the work of processing citizenship and permanent residency applications, issuing passports and conducting interviews.

“Last month, immigration processing wait times continued to reach record-breaking backlog levels, and these cuts will only worsen an already dire situation,” said CEIU national president Rubina Boucher in a media statement. “Families longing to reunite, businesses grappling with critical labour shortages and a health-care system desperate for skilled workers will all suffer the consequences of this reckless decision.”

In response to the planned cuts, Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, sent a letter to Immigration Minister Marc Miller asking that the reductions be put on hold or at least slowed down until Parliament resumes and “a clearer national direction can be set as we now face a looming crisis in our relationship with the United States.”

“A strong and well-equipped federal workforce is essential to Canada’s defence against external pressures, especially given our increasingly adversarial neighbour,” Prier said.

According to the Government of Canada website, 13,092 public servants worked at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in 2024. The total population of the public service in 2024 was 367,772.

© 2025 The Canadian Press

Three men have been arrested in Quebec’s Eastern Townships for allegedly conspiring to smuggle people into the United States, the RCMP said Tuesday.

The arrests are the latest in a series by the RCMP and Canadian government to show the U.S. that Canada is taking newly elected President Donald Trump‘s concerns about border security seriously.

The trio are accused of requiring passengers to pay $4,000 each to be carried into the U.S., police said.

The three men charged are:

• Edward Alejandro Rojas Sanchez, 24, of Montreal
• Julian Camilo Rojas Murcia, 27, of Laval, Que.
• Fernando Esparza Dominguez, 33, of Montreal

The suspects were each charged with conspiracy to commit an offence in the United States under Section 465(3) of Canada’s Criminal Code.

The men are scheduled to appear in Quebec court in Montreal on Feb. 4, the RCMP added.

The police did not indicate how many people the group had tried to transport into the U.S. or when.

The RCMP’s Integrated Border Enforcement team alleged the men had conspired to transport “a group of people from Montréal” to an unguarded location on the Canada-U.S. border “on at least one occasion.” No further details were released.

“By charging their passengers large sums of money to transport them, human smugglers have turned illegal migration into a lucrative business,” the RCMP said in a statement.

The latest arrests come after RCMP and OPP officers stopped another vehicle driven by another group on Jan. 8 near Cornwall, Ont.

That vehicle was headed toward the U.S. border and stopped by police in Cornwall, during which officers found eight people “concealed” in the back, police said.

© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she is optimistic that since U.S. President Donald Trump did not impose tariffs on Canadian imports on Day 1 of his presidency, Canada will find options to work out an arrangement of some sort with the country’s southern neighbour.

“I’m an optimist,” Smith told reporters on a video conference call from Washington, D.C., on Tuesday morning. “I think there’s a deal to be made here.

“My interpretation of the president is he likes to win, so it’s up to us to demonstrate how we can get a double win here. I think it’s a double win to sell more to the United States, buy more from the United States, have a joint-energy security strategy that leads to a national and international security strategy.”

Weeks ahead of his inauguration, Trump threatened to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods — citing what he says is a trade deficit with Canada — and suggested it could be in Canada’s interest to become the United States’ 51st state. He has also said he is concerned with what he believes are large amounts of fentanyl and undocumented people crossing into the U.S. from Canada.

With fears Trump could impose crippling tariffs on Canada on his first day in the White House, federal and provincial lawmakers in Canada have been meeting to come up with a response. While signing executive orders on Monday, Trump revealed his administration may move forward with those tariffs on Feb. 1.

“We were pleased to see Canada got a Day 1 reprieve from tariffs,” said Smith, who has been in Washington to lobby U.S. lawmakers to try and avert the imposition of tariffs, particularly on Alberta oil and gas.

“We have a short window to demonstrate the very positive relationship that Canada and the U.S. have from a tariff-free point of view and why it should remain tariff-free.”

Smith also noted that Trump signed an executive order on Monday to have U.S. federal agencies study trade issues and deliver a report to his administration on April 1.

“We think our best approach now would be to focus on diplomacy, and refrain from talk of any kind of threat of retaliatory tariffs,” she said. “We think that we have a very positive story to tell in Canada. We think that we should be talking about addressing the trade deficit by how we might be able to have more cross-border trade in goods and services.

“The point I’ve been making is that if you take energy out of the mix, Canada actually buys more goods and services than the Americans buy from us.”

On Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said if Trump imposes tariffs, he supports “the principle of dollar-for-dollar matching tariffs.”

Last week, Smith declined to sign a joint statement with Trudeau and other premiers that called for every possible countermeasure to be on the table to push back against tariffs.

Some Canadian lawmakers have accused Smith of being too focused on trying to arrange for a carve-out for Alberta’s natural resources but on Tuesday the premier said she is seeking a carve-out for Canada as a whole.

“I may take a bit of a different approach from my counterparts, but I think it’s going to be a successful one,” she said, adding that she believes Trump’s stated goal of the U.S. moving toward energy dominance is something Canada should look at helping him achieve because it could be in Canada’s national interest.

On Monday, Trump said he would declare a national energy emergency in the U.S. in an effort to decrease gas prices for American consumers and to export more American energy.

“I believe that the Americans can’t get there without Canada. The Americans consume 21 million barrels per day of oil, they produce 13 million barrels per day and they have to get the balance from somewhere.”

Smith said she believes Canada can curry favour with the Trump administration by continuing to take steps to address the U.S. concerns about border security and ensuring Canada meets its NATO commitments on defence spending. She also called on the Trudeau government to repeal environmental policies like clean electricity regulations and the federal emissions cap.

Prior to Trump’s inauguration, Smith travelled to the president’s Florida home to advocate for Alberta’s interests in response to the tariff threats.

“The administration knows who Alberta is,” she said. “They know we’ve got a lot of oil and gas.”

More to come…

–with files from The Canadian Press’s Kelly Geraldine Malone

© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.