Student body votes to leave Canadian Federation of Students
T he University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) held an online referendum on Oct. 27 and 28, which asked students to vote on whether UMSU should remain a member of the Canadian Federation of Students. Just over 54
Matthew Merkel, staff per cent of the 5747 members who voted chose not to remain a part of the federation.
UMSU president Jaron Rykiss and the UMSU board supported the “vote no” side. He said the vote no team’s goal was to provide students with objective information about why it was in students’
best interest to leave the Canadian Federation of Students.
Rykiss did not offer any opinions on the side advocating to remain in the federation, #yestoCFS, but he said he was happy to see that some students took up the “yes side” in the referendum process.
The referendum results come as the Canadian Federation of Students sues UMSU over nearly $1 million in alleged unpaid membership fees. Rykiss did not comment on how the referendum results might affect the lawsuit, but stated that under UMSU
bylaws, the union is officially no longer a part of the federation.
Rykiss said that UMSU will travel to Ottawa next week to present the referendum results to the federation.
Cont’d p. 4 / #YestoCFS >
Everything’s coming up Scott
Gillingham becomes mayor with low vote share
There’s no place like home
Bisons volleyball picked up wins over weekend
U of M holds first in-person open house in 2 years
Both students and staff participated in event
Alicia Rose staff
The University of Manitoba held its first open house on campus since the start of the pandemic on Oct. 25. Booths from all faculties and study programs were at the event, where they showcased the different opportunities available to incoming students.
Additionally, current students and professors at the university were there to help guide and inform parents and students that attended.
For the past two years, the University of Manitoba’s open house event was held virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, now that the university has resumed in-person classes it was able to hold a hybrid version of the open house event, which accommodated students wanting to attend virtually or in person.
Faculty of arts communication specialist Amber Ostermann said that the event included a variety of undergrad and graduate students as well as professors, who worked together to provide information to booth visitors.
“Hearing from current students helps provide understanding of what things will really be like once a student begins at U of M,” Ostermann said.
She explained that the main booth was occupied by both academic advisors and student representatives, who greeted attendees and used handouts and QR codes to refer them to the U of M website for additional information.
Ostermann said that one of the main goals of the event for the faculty of arts was to provide potential students with resources and information to help them decide which courses to take in their first
year.
She also commented on how there were higher rates of attendance compared to the last in-person open house held before the pandemic, and added that the event remained busy throughout the night.
“Usually, what you find is that in the last hour or halfhour attendance starts to drop, and it still did a little bit this time, but there were people, students and parents, in visiting booths right up until 8 p.m.,” Ostermann said.
Charley Williams, a secondyear political studies student, was among the student volunteers who participated in the event. She explained that during the open house, she talked to high school students about the benefits of being a political studies major, as well as the potential opportunities available post-graduation.
The return of an in-person open house gives incoming students the opportunity to experience the U of M campus and university life, something that many first and secondyear students did not learn about until this year.
When asked about how her experience with in-person classes compared to learning online last year, Williams said that she felt like the year had been great so far, and that she
has felt a lot of support from both the faculty and her professors.
“During COVID, it was a little bit more difficult to feel connected with my professors and with my classmates because it’s just obviously over a computer screen,” she said.
“Being in person is so nice because it’s like, ‘oh, we all have the same interests,’ and we can talk about things after
class. We can debate and discuss in person.”
The university is planning to have two more open house events this year. A virtual open house for international students is scheduled to be held on Jan. 18, while a second in-person event is set to take place Feb. 23.
news@themanitoban.com
Scott Gillingham elected mayor in tight race
Election saw lowest turnout since 1989, Gillingham wins with 27.5 per cent
SColton McKillop, staff
cott Gillingham won a narrow victory over front-runner Glen Murray in last Wednesday’s election to decide Winnipeg’s next mayor.
Gillingham won with 27.5 per cent of the vote, just 2.5 percentage points over Murray ’s 25 per cent. Gillingham, formerly city councillor for St. James, has experience on the Winnipeg Police Board, as well as on the finance committee and executive policy committee under mayor Brian Bowman.
Only 37 per cent of eligible Winnipeggers voted, the lowest voter turnout since 1989, when only 34 per cent of the city turned up to the polls.
Aaron Moore, associate professor and department chair of political science at the University of Winnipeg, said he thinks Gillingham will not be “significantly different than Brian Bowman in certain respects.”
“ You’d probably put him centre-right, although I think he certainly has very progressive views around dealing with a lot of the social issues that the city is facing, with particularly things like home-
lessness and drug use in the city,” he said.
CTV News Winnipeg caused confusion during their coverage of the election by prematurely calling the race for Glen Murray at 9 p.m. The news station retracted their prediction half an hour later.
Moore said calls of that kind at news stations are usually made by staticians, adding, “clearly they made a poor decision.”
“I don’t really understand why they made that decision that early, or what they based that on,” he said.
Murray, who served as mayor from 1998 to 2004, maintained a lead in opinion polls throughout the race. However, his support dropped from 44 per cent in July — a month after he launched his campaign — to 28 per cent in mid-October, following allegations that he was forced to quit his job as head of the Pembina Institute due to mismanagement. He also faced allegations of physically harassing employees, which he denies.
Moore said early polls were deceptive because “the reality is, in the summertime, people aren’t really paying attention.”
He argued that although being the most recognizable name among the candidates gave Murray an early advantage, many people’s opinions changed as the election played out.
“ When I saw the fact [that] they had all these undecided [voters], that to me sounds like a lot of people are either not paying attention or they’re really not comfortable with the leading candidates, so they’re looking for an alternative to that,” Moore said.
Turnout has consistently declined in every municipal election since 2014. That year, just over 50 per cent of voters cast a ballot, while over 42 per cent turned up in 2018.
Moore said turnout for municipal elections is typically low, and argued that having a large number of candidates with “actually recognizable names with real platforms” made it difficult for voters to choose.
“As a result, we’re less able to engage in politics or in voting this time around,” he said.
“I think normally we see higher turnout when it’s more competitive, but I think just the sheer number of strong candidates in this election
made it very difficult for people to access the information they need to make informed decisions.”
With only 27.5 per cent of the vote in an election with only 37 per cent voter turnout, Gillingham only secured support from about 10 per cent of Winnipeg’s electorate. Moore said this result did not surprise him, given the abundance of candidates and the vote-splitting they caused.
#YestoCFS campaign displeased with referendum process
< Cont’d from front page
“The [Canadian Federation of Students] must accept our motion to withdraw, acknowledge the results of our democratic and court-upheld referendum, and then the [federation] membership must vote to approve our withdrawal,” he said.
Although Rykiss is adamant that the federation must accept the referendum results, Canadian Federation of Students bylaws state that votes to decertify may only be conducted using paper ballots at voting stations.
“
W hile UMSU’s vote was conducted entirely online, the federation’s bylaws state that voting to decertify must be done on paper, and “cannot be done in any other manner.”
federation’s bylaws do not allow online voting, the referendum was conducted according to UMSU bylaws, a process that Rykiss claims was “protected by the UMSU Act.”
The UMSU Act states that UMSU must affirm membership in external organizations by a majority vote of its council every two years. If UMSU does not affirm membership in an organization, it must take all required steps to end that membership.
At the same time, federation bylaws stipulate that
Before the referendum went to a vote, an injunction by the Canadian Federation of Students threatened to cancel the referendum.
On Oct. 14, the injunction was filed in an attempt to stop the referendum from happening, which temporarily suspended campaigning on both sides.
I am disappointed with the fact that UMSU is clearly trying to disadvantage the pro-[Canadian Federation of Students] side as much as possible”
— Nathan Dueck, #yestoCFS side representative
Rykiss said that UMSU has attempted to put forward a motion regarding online voting twice, but that both attempts were ignored by the Canadian Federation of Students.
He said that although the
each member is responsible for supporting its mission and by abiding by all provisions of its bylaws.
“The [Canadian Federation of Students] will either accept the results or they won’t,” Rykiss said.
“Our student body [has] made it very clear what they want.”
“Coming in with only 27 per cent of the vote doesn’t really give him a strong argument to say he’s representing the interests of the city,” he said. “I think he’s going to have to work hard over the next four years to convince the majority of residents that he’s the right mayor for everyone.”
news@themanitoban.com
tactics during campaigning.
He claimed that early in the campaign, #yestoCFS was forced by the chief returning officer (CRO) — a neutral contractor tasked with overseeing
“The [Canadian Federation of Students] will either accept our results or they won’t”
The Manitoba Court of King’s Bench ruled that the referendum would proceed as planned.
Judge Jeffrey Harris wrote in his decision that the federation’s attempt to stop the referendum would “silence the voice of UMSU’s members.”
Nathan Dueck, a representative from the #yestoCFS side of the campaign, said that he did not know why the Canadian Federation of Students attempted to stop the referendum with an injunction.
Dueck said he was “taken aback” by the vote no side’s
the referendum — to remove its previously CRO-approved signs that featured dark green lettering from campus. This occurred after the vote no side complained that it had already been approved to use the colour green for campaigning.
According to the campaign rules, neither side is allowed to create materials that could cause a reasonable person to confuse one side with another. Dueck does not disagree with the rule, but in his opinion, the campaign materials did not look alike.
Dueck said that this complaint about the colour green also forced #yestoCFS to redesign all of its online content. UMSU also initially refused to play CRO-approved #yestoCFS TV advertisements on campus screens.
Rykiss said that the dispute over #yestoCFS’s colours was a matter of policy, and claimed that the initial TV advertisements put forward by the opposing side were not displayed because they contained inaccurate information. In Dueck’s opinion, the UMSU-created referendum rules disadvantaged the vote yes side. He emphasized that he does not fault the CRO, but is “unhappy with the rules he has to enforce.”
“I am disappointed with the fact that UMSU is clearly trying to disadvantage the pro-[Canadian Federation of Students] side as much as possible,” Dueck said.
“When it comes to the referendum, they should look past their own preferences about whether to stay in [the federation] and primarily work to ensure that both voices are given an equally fair hearing, and I think they failed their student body by failing to do so.”
— Jaron Rykiss, UMSU president news@themanitoban.com
photo / provided
The impact of war on Ukrainian researchers
Ukrainian academics emphasize language, culture in the face of Russian erasure
Robert Moshe Thompson, staff
The Ukrainian community is one of the largest European diasporas in Manitoba — arriving in multiple waves of immigration beginning in the late-nineteenth century.
Today, the diaspora maintains its connection with Ukraine. For example, the community has a cultural centre in Winnipeg called Oseredok, which is dedicated to preserving and transmitting Ukrainian culture, language and heritage.
During Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian-Manitoban community has been supporting its fellow Ukrainians both in Canada and abroad.
Iryna Konstantiuk, a senior instructor at the U of M’s department of German and Slavic studies, said that what she is observing at this moment is “consolidation.”
“The whole Ukrainian community is consolidated around Ukraine and the war in Ukraine,” Konstantiuk said.
“And we’re talking about
humanitarian aid, about financial assistance, we’re talking about political advocacy and a general fight.”
Last Tuesday, the department of German and Slavic studies hosted a round table discussion with Ukrainian research scholars Olena Gordiyenko, Olga Khamedova, Tetiana Sorokina, Myroslava Svitlyk and Mykola Zhurba.
The five scholars arrived
on a visa known as the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel (CUAET).
This new travel measure allows Ukrainian nationals and their family members to come to Canada to work, live and study until they can safely return to Ukraine. Several individuals have arrived in Winnipeg from Ukraine via the CUAET.
Supporting Ukrainian academics, particularly those
teaching Ukrainian language, is especially necessary because the Russian government has targeted Ukrainian educators. Many of these educators are from the eastern Kharkiv oblast.
Kharkiv, the capital city of the oblast, is the second-largest city in Ukraine. Ukrainians refer to Kharkiv as “the student’s city,” because it has so many academic institutions.
According to a QS university ranking, Kharkiv is home to the number one university in Ukraine — V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, often known as Kharkiv University. The university alone has a botanical garden, four education and research institutes and three museums.
As a result of the February 2022 invasion, many of Kharkiv University’s science laboratories ceased operations.
Losing some of the country’s best labs has been a major loss for Ukrainian academia. Even though many Kharkiv professors were able
to continue their research in western Ukraine, the facilities are not as advanced as they are in Kharkiv.
The motivation for the Russian government to erase Ukrainian identity is to undermine Ukrainians’ right to self-determination — imposing a similar ideology on its Indigenous minorities, who are forced to learn Russian and adopt a Russian identity.
Supporting Ukrainian development as well as Ukrainian cultural and academic institutions helps to counter the myth that Ukraine has no culture or life of its own.
“Ukraine is, right now, in a state of a terrible, horrific war and it needs all the help possible, in any area you take,” Konstantiuk said.
“And every life matters. Every life of a student, of a scholar, matters a lot.”
research@themanitoban.com
photo / Iryna Konstantiuk / provided
Olena Gordiyenko (from left), Tetiana Sorokina, Myroslava Svitlyk, Mykola Zhurba, Olga Khamedova, Iryna Konstantiuk participated in a round table discussion last Tuesday.
Halloween is over but drag never ends
Drag queen brunch fundraiser takes over VW Social Club Nov. 5
ADamien Davis, staff
drag brunch fundraiser hosted by Rainbow Pride Centre and the U of M Nursing Students’ Association (NSA) will be taking over VW Social Club at University Centre on Nov. 5 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Organized by NSA 2SLGBTQ+ student co-ordinator Mikaela Canda and UMSU 2SLGBTQIA+ students’ representative Alex Rana, the $28 ticket gets you performances by four drag queens, a drink, buffet brunch and a donation to a charity supporting asylum seekers who now call Winnipeg home.
The proceeds will be donated to Reaching Out Winnipeg (ROW), a volunteer-based organization formed in 2012 that promotes the resettlement of 2SLGBTQIA+ newcomers in Winnipeg.
The idea for the drag brunch started with an Instagram post that Canda had read about an individual’s experience getting kicked out of their home due to their gender and sexual identity.
“That kind of just inspired
me to do something for a cause for an individual like that,” they said.
When asked why ROW was their organization of choice, Canda told the Manitoban that they were “looking for an organization that supports exclusively 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals who are homeless.”
After doing some research into organizations within Winnipeg that support individuals struggling within this parameter, they discovered ROW.
“This is an organization that supports asylum seekers and refugees here in Winnipeg that are part of the sexual identity and gender identity minorities, and as well as all over the world,” Canda said, adding that they did not just want to give ROW money, but publicity as well.
Putting a spotlight on a relatively lesser-known organization like ROW is a benefit not only for the group, but also for the wider U of M student body, as students may discover that resources are available to them if they fit ROW’s criteria.
Meanwhile, Scout Coffee + Tea — which calls itself “Win-
nipeg’s only play cafe” and hosts a multitude of familyfriendly events for children — announced a Drag Queen Story Time event which was met with backlash online.
Scout Coffee + Tea has defended its decision via social media and highlighted the support they have received.
“I’ve been frequently told by those against this event that it’s a fetish, strippers, sexual, etc.,” the cafe’s management posted in an Instagram story on Thursday, adding that “drag at its core is entertainment.”
Canda said that alongside fundraising for ROW, the event is also about promoting drag performance and showing representation.
“That’s to normalize those kinds of performances as well with kids, so that they grow up to be as inclusive as possible and when they see a drag performer out there, they don’t have any negative thoughts about them or associations with them,” Canda explained.
The representation does not just end with drag, however. An emphasis on having
diverse performers has been put into this event. The performers come from various backgrounds, and one of them is even a U of M student.
“We encompass not only Caucasian people, we’re also encompassing people of color and Indigenous identity and that lineup of performances as well,” Canda said. “So not only are we includ-
ing sexual and gender identities, we’re also including other ethnicities as well.”
Tickets for the Drag Queen Brunch Fundraiser are available at eventbrite.ca/e/dragqueen-brunch-fundraiser-18only-tickets-444461394997.
arts@themanitoban.com
photo / provided
Love in the time of climate crisis
U of M alumna Chimwemwe Undi’s poetry balances love and climate grief
Jessie Krahn, staff
T
he past three years have turned the phrase “unprecedented times” into a platitude. To say the global climate is in crisis has become such a banal statement, many of us are as numb to it as we are to a comment about traffic or Mondays.
One U of M alumna, Chimwemwe Undi, searches for joy in dreadful times through two poems recently published in Canthius, a feminism and literary periodical.
“Auto-epithalamium” and “Epithalamium Ending in Death” are companion poems published side-by-side in the 10th issue of Canthius. An epithalamium is a poem or song which pays tribute to a marriage.
The first poem, “Auto-epithalamium,” is close to the traditional style of this form. The speaker of the poem reflects on falling in love with their paramour quickly, remarking on their beloved’s quirks and charms. The poem imagines two people joyfully falling into each other’s patterns.
In contrast, “Epithalamium Ending in Death” is, as its title suggests, more morbid. The speaker struggles with climate grief, a consequent and impending sense of doom and
an uncertainty about what being together “forever” with their lover really means in light of those anxieties.
Despite the poem’s gravity, it ends on a hopeful note, as the speaker promises to remain faithful to their beloved and treasure the finitude of their relationship.
Undi’s love poems avoid overly romantic language, in spite of generic conventions. They inhabit a textured and varied point-of-view which finds solace in love but does not look away from the grim realities that surround the relationship.
The poet explained that she is drawn to poetry that is realistic or “clear-eyed,” that acknowledges the fact that “we live in complicated times and that love can exist and does exist despite that.”
Even with this preference, Undi believes love poems can offer refuge in much the same way that fantasy can.
“I think there is a space for escapism through whatever kind of fantasy suits you,” she said.
“So, if that’s magic and orcs and wizards, that’s fine, and also if there is imagining a sort of perfect and unperturbed love, that’s fine too.”
Undi’s pair of poems are
’Toban turntable
Julianna Riolino — ‘All Blue’
Alex Braun, staff
4/5 Stars
On her first album, Julianna Riolino is already entering her blue period, looking at her past and the musical past with a newfound clarity.
Up until this point, Riolino has been known as the firecracker sideman to Daniel Romano in his Outfit.
The Outfit is, by my estimation, the best live rock band playing right now, performing hyped-up classic rock reappropriations with a frantic, ecstatic energy — equal parts religious fervor for the past greats and punkish desire to rip the throats out of the audience.
In my eyes, the closest analogue to Daniel Romano’s Outfit is Rolling Thunder-era Bob Dylan due to its coked-out intensity and eccentricity, with Riolino playing the role of the wild-eyed frontwoman dashing around the stage. But her own debut record All Blue
structured using couplets, which are two typically rhyming lines.
“I’m really drawn to the couplet,” she said. “I like the stanza as a little room. I love a room of just two lines next to each other separated from anything else.”
As a poet with a flock’sworth of feathers in her cap, Undi is a graduate of the U of M’s department of linguistics, York University and the U of M’s own Robson Hall. Now a lawyer practicing on Treaty 1 Territory, Undi does not just write poetry, she performs spoken word too.
Considering what a poem sounds like to the ear is an important part of Undi’s creative process. Even though most readers will engage with her poems silently, Undi recites her poetry before she finalizes it.
“I read the poem aloud a lot,” she said. “If it feels odd for me to read aloud, that is a sign to me that something needs to be shifted. Even if the reader who the poem reaches never reads the poems aloud, I need to know that when they do, it won’t be awkward and [they won’t be] stumbling over [it].”
Undi hopes her poems will help readers feel less alone.
“I am startled at how often I encounter myself in poems by people that I think I have nothing in common with, or would assume I have nothing in common with, who notice the same small, odd things and feel the same joys and griefs that I do,” she explained.
“I hope that the sort of tiny details that I collect throughout my day and then that coalesce into poems resonate with people too and comfort them, even if the comfort is just knowing you’re standing
next to somebody else and not all by yourself in your feelings.”
Undi is in the final stages of writing her first poetry collection, which will be published through House of Anansi in 2024.
Canthius is available at McNally Robinson or through canthius.com
arts@themanitoban.com
is distinctly slower, dreamier and more reflective.
tener into a warm embrace, rather than tearing their head off like the Outfit does.
Much of the Outfit appears on the record, shredding when required but mostly staying restrained, foregrounding their propensity for deep groove. What really shines here is Riolino’s voice, often double-tracked in harmony with itself. She is by turns sweet and soulful, yet biting and powerful.
Second track “Isn’t It A Pity” lifts a hook from the George Harrison song of the same name, and moves in hypnotizing waves, slowly lifting off into soaring choruses before cycling back around to a labyrinthine verse.
of mysticism that ties things together. In songs like “Hark!” Riolino reflects on the metaphysics of relationships, calling her love “a dream, celestial beaming” and describing her image reflecting back to them in blue. The aching “Archangel” further overanalyzes a personal relationship, to the point where Riolino questions her own sanity and pleads with God.
All Blue is a very impressive debut. The songs are lush and thoughtful, the performances deeply passionate and the vibe is unified and introspective.
All Blue is available on major streaming services
It’s evident that Riolino has a lot of reverence for the classics, but she seems more interested in the lush, cosmic
country of the Laurel Canyon scene than the nerviness of late ’70s rock. Her vocal prowess and undeniable charisma remain, but these powers are mostly used to bring the lisimage / you’ve changed records / provided
Elsewhere the Nashville influence is more apparent, like in the charming old country waltz “Queen Of Spades,” which sees Riolino spinning one-liners and sly similes before wailing her way into the chorus.
Lyrically, there is a shade
arts@themanitoban.com
photo / Ebunoluwa Akinbo / staff
Canadian artists wow in Venice
Canadian artists and their showstopping work at the Venice Biennale
Lindsay Inglis, volunteer
The Venice Biennale provides a place for art lovers from all over the world to congregate and see an incredibly diverse range of art.
Several Canadian artists are displayed this year in the main exhibition, The Milk of Dreams. Taking its name from the title of a children’s book written by surrealist artist Leonora Carrington, the exhibition focuses on artwork that often reimagines the world we live in.
The Canada Pavilion at the Venice Biennale also examines the world through four photographs by Stan Douglas, which recreate pivotal moments from riots that happened around the world in 2011.
The images blur the line between fiction and reality, forcing the viewer to question the information that’s fed to them in the news. Titled 2011 ≠ 1848, it draws parallels and contrasts to the revolutions of 1848 against European monarchies, beginning in Sicily and spreading throughout the Austrian Empire, Germany and France.
The riots from 2011 included in this exhibition are presented chronologically. The first broke out in January in Tunis, Tunisia marking the start of the Arab Spring.
In June of 2011, comparatively frivolous riots filled the streets of Vancouver, B.C. after the Vancouver Canucks hockey team lost to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals.
In August of the same year,
riots broke out in London, England following the police shooting of Mark Duggan, an unarmed black man in north London.
And in the following October, protesters involved in New York City’s Occupy Wall Street, a movement that protested corruption on Wall Street, were trapped and arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge.
2011 ≠ 1848 is complemented by the other half of Douglas’s exhibit titled ISDN, a two-channel video on an offsite location at the Magazzino del Sale. One screen shows musicians TrueMendous and Lady Sanity, and the other Yousef Joker and Raptor. These artists represent the grime and Mahraganat genres respectively, which are often associated with youthful revolt.
The two screens face each other as though the musicians are in conversation, with viewers watching in the middle. Continuing with the themes of 2011 ≠ 1848, then, ISDN presents the frustrations of the current social and political norms, and the musicians’ drive to make a change.
2011 ≠ 1848 will also be available for viewing throughout Canada, where it is currently on display at the Polygon Gallery in Vancouver until Nov. 6. The exhibition will then travel to Saskatoon, Sask. and Ottawa, Ont.
Canadian artists whose work is part of the main exhibition, The Milk of Dreams, include Shuvinai Ashoona, Elaine Cameron-Weir, Jes
Fan, Allison Katz, Kapwani Kiwanga, Gabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill and Tau Lewis.
Fan, an artist from Ontario who is currently based between Brooklyn, N.Y. and Hong Kong, created sculptures that simultaneously look paleolithic and futuristic. Fan frequently injects melanin, testosterone, estrogen and even his own mother’s urine into handblown glass. By mixing art and science together, he highlights the connection between identity and biology.
Fan’s sculptures included in The Milk of Dreams — “Wounding,” “Apparatus” and “Fragrant Harbour” — contain prolactin, the hormone that lets people with breasts produce milk, communicating the interiority of the body and the changes it goes through to feed a newborn child.
“Divine Giants Tribunal” is comprised of three monumental masks by Lewis, a New York-based artist originally from Ontario. Each mask measures three meters tall. These show-stopping creations are made from found materials that have been handsewn as a study of women’s labour.
Kiwanga, a Paris-based artist from Ontario, created an architectural colour gradient in her work “Terrarium.” Interspersed throughout the space are sculptures created from glass and sand. Kiwanga considers sand to be a political material due to its association with oil extraction, as well as a reminder of the potential for an arid planet due to climate change.
While it is an examination of colonial power systems, “Terrarium” also provides a tranquil section of the exhibition for viewers to relax and rest their eyes, acting as a much-needed place to breathe among a building packed with art.
The Biennale exhibits an incredible range of artists with diverse areas of focus. The works are united by their examination of the world we live in, both pol-
itically and culturally. This year, Douglas took a global approach to the Canada Pavilion that questioned the reality of media, just as The Milk of Dreams examines reality through a dream-like gaze.
arts@themanitoban.com
photos / Lindsay Inglis / volunteer
Sports teams’ schedules
U of M Bisons — Women’s Basketball
Alberta Pandas @ Bisons Nov. 4 – 6 p.m.
Alberta Pandas @ Bisons Nov. 5 – 5 p.m.
Bisons @ Fraser Valley Cascades Nov. 11 – 8 p.m.
Bisons @ Fraser Valley Cascades Nov. 12 –7 p.m.
U of M Bisons — Women’s Hockey
Bisons @ Mount Royal Cougars
Bisons @ Mount Royal Cougars
Oct. 28 – Final: 2-3
Oct. 29 – Final: 0-4
Alberta Pandas @ Bisons Nov. 4 – 7 p.m.
Alberta Pandas @ Bisons Nov. 5 – 2 p.m.
Bisons @ Calgary Dinos Nov. 11 – 8 p.m.
Bisons @ Calgary Dinos Nov. 12 – 4 p.m.
U of M Bisons — Women’s Volleyball
Thompson Rivers WolfPack @ Bisons
Oct. 29 – Final: 0-3
Thompson Rivers WolfPack @ Bisons
Oct. 30 – Final: 0-3
Bisons @ UBC Okanagan Heat Nov. 4 – 7 p.m.
Bisons @ UBC Okanagan Heat Nov. 5 – 5 p.m.
U of M Bisons — Men’s Basketball
Alberta Golden Bears @ Bisons Nov. 4 – 8 p.m.
Alberta Golden Bears @ Bisons Nov. 5 – 7 p.m.
Bisons @ Fraser Valley Cascades Nov. 11 – 10 p.m.
Bisons @ Fraser Valley Cascades Nov. 12 – 9 p.m.
U of M Bisons — Men’s Football
Bisons @ Regina Rams Oct. 29 – Final: 44-30
Conference Playoffs – Hardy Cup Semifinal:
Bisons @ Saskatchewan Huskies Nov. 5 – 1 p.m.
Bisons football
It was an exciting finale to the U of M Bisons football regular season on Saturday. With the Alberta Golden Bears winning their game in the Canada West conference earlier that day, the herd needed a win against the second-seeded Regina Rams to advance to the postseason.
The Bisons got ahead early, putting up two touchdowns from running back Breydon Stubbs and receiver AK Gassama, as well as two Niko DiFonte field goals.
The Rams stormed back in the second quarter and even snagged the lead heading into halftime.
U of M Bisons — Men’s Hockey
Mount Royal Cougars @ Bisons
Mount Royal Cougars @ Bisons
Oct. 28 – Final: 4-0
Oct. 29 – Final: 7-2
Bisons @ Alberta Golden Bears Nov. 4 – 7 p.m.
Bisons @ Alberta Golden Bears Nov. 5 – 7 p.m.
Calgary Dinos @ Bisons Nov. 11 – 7 p.m.
Calgary Dinos @ Bisons Nov. 12 – 3 p.m.
U of M Bisons — Men’s Volleyball
Thompson Rivers WolfPack @ Bisons
Oct. 29 – Final: 3-1
Thompson Rivers WolfPack @ Bisons
Oct. 30 – Final: 0–3
Bisons @ UBC Okanagan Heat Nov. 4 – 9 p.m.
Bisons @ UBC Okanagan Heat Nov. 5 – 7 p.m.
UBC Thunderbirds @ Bisons Nov. 11 – 7 p.m.
UBC Thunderbirds @ Bisons Nov. 12 – 6 p.m.
U of M Bisons — Cross Country
Canada West Championships Oct. 29
U-Sports Championships Nov. 12
U of M Bisons — Swimming
College Cup
Nov. 5–6
Bisons Sprint IM Invitational Nov. 12
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
BC Lions @ Blue Bombers Oct. 28 – Final: 9–24
Western Final:
TBD @ Blue Bombers Nov. 13 – 3:30 p.m.
Winnipeg Jets
Jets @ Los Angeles Kings Oct. 27 – Final: 6–4
Jets @ Arizona Coyotes Oct. 28 – Final: 3–2 / OT
Jets @ Vegas Golden Knights Oct. 30 – Final: 1–2 / OT
Montreal Canadiens @ Jets Nov. 3 – 7 p.m.
Chicago Blackhawks @ Jets Nov. 5 – 2 p.m.
Dallas Stars @ Jets Nov. 8 – 7 p.m.
Jets @ Calgary Flames Nov. 12 – 9 p.m.
Jets @ Seattle Kraken Nov. 13 – 7 p.m.
But Manitoba punched back in the second half with three touchdowns — two, again, courtesy of Stubbs and Gassama — and another field goal. The final two touchdowns came in the last ten minutes of the game, including a thrilling leaping touchdown run by running back Vaughan Lloyd. By defeating the Regina Rams 44-30, the Bisons stampeded their way into the Hardy Cup playoffs.
The Hardy Cup semifinal will be a rematch of last year’s cup final, with the Bisons set to square off against the Saskatchewan Huskies in Saskatoon, Sask. on Nov. 5. With a win, the herd would
Bisons swim team makes splash
Quinn Mayhew, staff
The Bisons swim team started the year off strong at the St. James Invitational, bringing in nine first place finishes and testing the waters for the upcoming swim season.
The competition took place the weekend of Oct. 22 and 23, and consisted of multiple races.
The Bisons men and women were well represented in the meet, achieving personal bests and improving racing tactics throughout the event.
Despite this being the first meet of the season, the newcomers stepped up to the occasion.
The Bisons started the first session of the meet off strong, with both Cameryn Carlos and rookie Ella Howe achieving personal bests in the 100-metre backstroke and the 50-metre butterfly respectively. In the second session, Carlos managed a personal best in the 200-metre backstroke as well.
Regarding her strong showings in the two backstroke events, Carlos said “we’ve been putting a lot of work in [during] practice focusing in on tactics, and I think I swam them really well,” further adding, “if I were to swim those events again, I would swim them the exact same way.”
Rookie Brayden Stacey had another notable performance, who achieved a personal best in the 50-metre freestyle and placed in second in the event. With long-time swimmer, Kelsey Wog, no longer eligible to compete as a varsity swimmer, it remains to be seen how the Bisons will go about putting points on the board throughout the season. The herd missing such an instrumental swimmer in relays and individual races will make for an interesting season to see how the team will prevail.
When asked about how Wog’s departure has affected the team, Carlos said “I think her aging out gives us all the opportunity to step up and all kind of take over, and I feel like we can place the same if we all race super well.”
Team unity is essential to achieve success in this competitive swimming year and with spirits high after the season’s first meet, unity will play an essential role in the performance and execution of racing this season.
Carlos added that “the team, we’re all super close, we’re all really good friends and I think that plays a huge part in how we all perform at our next meet.”
With the continuous momentum and personal bests that the team has found this early in the swimming season, fans can hope that the herd will continue to impress at the upcoming College Cup, which takes place Nov. 5 to 6 in Vancouver, B.C.
sports@themanitoban.com
advance to the Hardy Cup final to compete for redemption after last year’s loss.
— Grace Anne Paizen, staff
Bisons hockey
Following a 4-2 start to the regular season, the University of Manitoba Bisons men’s hockey team has fallen to 4-4 after facing off against the Mount Royal University Cougars in a two-game series this past weekend. The Bisons would drop both games 4-0 and 7-2 respectively.
The Bisons struggled immensely in game one, and were inevitably swept by the Cougars. Bisons goalie, Ross Hawryluk, made 46 saves with
a 92 per cent save rate. Despite Hawryluk’s herculean effort, the Cougars attack would prove to be too much for the Bisons.
Game two was heartbreaking for the herd. Despite netting two goals this time around including the game’s first, the Cougars unleashed an onslaught of scoring that overwhelmed the Bisons defence. The Bisons were locked down offensively and only got off 13 total shots, a stark contrast to the Cougars’ 47.
The Bisons women’s team didn’t fare any better against the Cougars squad, also losing both games.
Going down 2-0 in the first period of game one, Bison
forwards Kate Gregoire and Norah Collins stormed back to tie the game 2-2 with a goal apiece in the second. However, the comeback would fall short as the Cougars would score late in the third to win the game 3-2.
Game two was worse with the Cougars sweeping the Bisons 4-0. After this weekend, the women’s squad fell to 3-5 on the season. This weekend, the Bisons will face off against the University of Alberta.
— Kieran Light, staff
sports@themanitoban.com
Rollercoaster home openers
Bisons volleyball teams host exciting up and down weekend
Kieran Light, staff
This past Saturday, the University of Manitoba Bisons men’s and women’s volleyball teams both hosted their first home games of the year against the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack.
The women’s team dominated, securing its first win of the season after a stellar performance by left side Light Uchechukwu, who was named player of the game.
The first set began with both teams going back and forth on quick scoring runs. However, the Bisons side would find its groove, making an 18-3 run and finishing the set with a score of 25-14.
The following two sets were nothing short of domination for the Bisons. The WolfPack was unable to score more than twice in a row for the entirety of the second and third sets.
The Bisons won both, 25-18 and 25-11 respectively, to complete the three-set shutout.
Uchechukwu led the team with 12 kills along with four assisted blocks, an outstanding performance for which she was awarded player of the game.
“It’s so nice to have a home game,” Uchechukwu said in an interview after the game. “There was a really good crowd.”
“There was a really good crowd”
— Light Uchechukwu, left side
However, the men’s team could not replicate this success, losing to the WolfPack in an exciting and close four sets.
It took some time for the men’s team to find a rhythm, beginning the first set down 11-6 and ultimately losing 25-16.
In the second set however, the Bisons managed to keep up with the WolfPack, with outside Eric Ogaranko netting three kills and a service ace to give the Bisons the set 25-22.
The following sets would spell heartbreak for the herd, unable to win in each despite having leads in both.
The Bisons began the third set going up 10-5. Unfortunately, the WolfPack went on a five-to-one run to cut the lead to one. The set remained a tight race all the way to the end, where the WolfPack
would eventually take it 25-23.
The fourth and final set of the game was by far the most exciting, going into overtime. The set began with the Bisons once again jumping ahead to an early lead, however the WolfPack stormed back to tie the game.
The remainder of the set was packed with quick scoring runs, with each team losing and reclaiming the lead, and the Bisons tying the game 24-24 forcing overtime play.
A couple rallies later, the Bisons had the lead 26-25, only needing one more point to win the set, and possibly extending the game. Unfortunately for the herd, the WolfPack reclaimed the lead for a final time and on a thrilling final volley, took the game with a kill by Rylan Ibbetson.
Service errors were the Bisons downfall, with 20 to Thompson Rivers’ 15.
After the game, head coach Arnd Ludwig said that the missed serves restricted them offensively, not allowing the team to do what it does well.
When asked about what put the WolfPack over the edge in close sets, Ogaranko stated that the Bisons’ inconsistency resulted in the loss of close sets, adding that the team’s energy was “up and down.”
The Bisons men seemed to take their coaches feedback to heart after the home opener as they stormed back on Sunday to beat the WolfPack in three straight sets, matching the women who once again stampeded over Thompson Rivers with another three-set stomping.
The women’s team has improved to 2-2 on the season, and the men’s to 1-3 after the weekend.
Both teams are set to meet with the UBC Okanagan Heat in British Columbia Nov. 4th and 5th.
photos / Matthew Merkel / staff