16 November 2022

New changes made to Canadian student loans

Matthew Merkel, staff required — for a family size of one will increase from $25,000 to $40,000.

Changes to Canada’s Student and Apprentice Loan programs were recently announced by the Govern ment of Canada, including more flexible student loan repayment plans.

Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough, announced that as of Nov. 1, the zero-pay ment income threshold — the annual income needed before student loan repayment is

This threshold will be fur ther increased based on fam ily size. The cap on monthly payments will also be low ered from 20 per cent to 10 per cent of a person’s household income.

The federal government projects that these changes will positively affect 180,000 people yearly.

Two days later, more changes to Canadian student loans were announced.

As part of the federal gov ernment’s 2022 Fall Economic Statement, Canadian Dep uty Prime Minister and Minis ter of Finance, Chrystia Free land, introduced a new pro gram that will permanently eliminate interest on the fed eral portion of all Canada Stu dent and Canada Appren tice Loans, including those already being paid off.

The new program is set to begin in April.

According to Jesse Hajer, assistant professor in econom ics and labour studies at the University of Manitoba, stu dent loan programs are meant to improve access to educa tion and public services. He said that these programs are a response to the private mar

ket, which governments feel inadequately meets the needs of the public.

One of the federal govern ment’s goals in eliminating interest from Canadian stu dent loans is to help ease the burden of paying them off.

Hajer said that accumu lated debt can have a vari ety of impacts on individuals, such as preventing them from purchasing a home, starting a family or enjoying life after university. It can also shape one’s choice in career path.

“If you have to take on a huge amount of student debt to become a lawyer for exam ple, the type of jobs you’re willing to take on as a prac tising lawyer once you finish your program may be limited

to those that pay very high sal ary or high wage,” he said.

Hajer also added that hav ing a lot of debt in a popula tion reduces the amount of money available to be spent, which reduces demand in the economy.

Although the Liberal gov ernment outlined the need for this program in its elec tion platform, Hajer thinks that the pressure of inflation and the rising cost of living, as well as student loan forgive ness programs in the United States, helped influence the timing of the government’s recent announcement.

He is confident that these changes will help keep more money in people’s pockets, though he added that the average Canadian student is only expected to save $410 per year.

However, Hajer believes that there are other options that would be more benefi cial to students and the econ omy. He pointed to countries in Europe that use a model offering higher education for little to no tuition, and that offer financial supports that make university near-univer sally accessible.

With tuition fees that have quickly risen past the rate of inflation, as well as a model based on the premise that stu dents should pay for most of their education through tui tion fees, Hajer stated that Canada has moved further away from what other coun tries are doing. He believes there is a strong case to be made for low-barrier, accessi ble education.

He emphasized that even if tuition were free, many stu dents would still need to work, which could affect their learn ing.

“If we want to have a high-productivity, high-wage economy, we need more peo ple succeeding in post-sec ondary education,” Hajer said.

“That means people not only going to university, but having the resources while they’re at university and col lege to succeed. So, not having to work a full-time job while going to school to make ends meet.

“I think we need to take a step back and really look at supporting students in a more fulsome way.”

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U of M offers career mentorship for Indigenous students

New program offers culturally specific guidance and career planning

Ashley Puchniak, staff

The University of Mani toba’s Career Services recently launched its Indigen ous Career Mentorship Pro gram (ICMP). The program provides the opportunity for Indigenous students to be paired with a mentor from within the Indigenous com munity, while also help ing Indigenous students to become more informed about future career decisions.

The ICMP centres around an interview where stu dents can ask mentors ques tions about jobs in general ized industries. Some top ics that interview questions may focus on are a mentor’s achievements, work environ ment, work-life balance or the social recognition they experi ence as a result of their work.

Jordan Robinson, an Indig enous career consultant with U of M Career Services and the director of the ICMP, said the main goal of the program is “to connect Indigenous stu dents to Indigenous profes

sionals within generalized industries.”

Robinson explained that the program provides oppor tunity for Indigenous stu dents, as it creates connec tions in a professional and cultural way.

“I think that this program will provide Indigenous students the opportunity to increase their information and knowledge about spe cific workplace industries, as well as what it means to be an Indigenous employee within that workforce or industry,” they said.

Robinson stated that ICMP works to build more knowl edge about the workforce and what employment options are available to students after uni versity, as many students have a hard time with career deci sion-making.

“A lot of times students

struggle due to lack of infor mation or lack of knowledge around job occupations, or what kind of opportunities are out there,” Robinson said.

“So being able to connect with people who are already in a workforce will assist and

programs in the past.

Dreilich-Girard said that she thinks mentorship pro grams are beneficial to stu dents due to the interpersonal connections they create. She also highlighted that these programs benefit students and mentors alike, as both can learn from the experi ence.

that they’re able to succeed in every way possible,” she said.

Dreilich-Girard added that Indigenous mentors are in a position to help Indigenous students grow by sharing their unique lived experiences with their mentees.

support students in finding more information about those particular opportunities, as well as options for them selves.”

Chloe Dreilich-Girard, a Métis student at the U of M in the fourth-year of her degree, as well as the current presi dent of the Arts Student Body Council, offered some insight into the importance of this program based on her own experience with mentorship

“Mentor ship in general is something that I think everybody should partake in,” she said.

Although there is already a career mentorship program available at the U of M, Dreil ich-Girard thinks the launch of the ICMP is critical to many Indigenous students, as it offers a cultural connection to the professional world.

“It’s really great to see that the university is doing this, and making sure that they uplift Indigenous peoples and students, and really make sure

“You’re able to relate to them on a deeper level, which really helps I think, espe cially in navigating not only your education, but also your future career,” she said.

“The person that is with you has been through a lot of similar things that you’ve been through, and has been faced with the barriers, the racism, all those things that come unfortunately with the identity, but also all the great things.”

More information about the program can be found through the Career Services page on the University of Manitoba’s website. news@themanitoban.com

U of M sues multiple companies over building project

Lawsuit concerns structural and mechanical deficiencies within Innovation Hub

Matthew Merkel, staff

The University of Mani toba filed a lawsuit on Sept. 29 against several developers who consulted and worked on construction of the Smartpark Innovation Hub.

The U of M claims that the $45 million, 75,000-squarefoot facility has a number of “functional and operational defects as well as construc tion and Building Code defi ciencies.” Cibinel Architec ture Ltd., Bird Construction Group, Bird Construction GP Limited, Architecture49 Inc., Abesco Ltd., Peikko Canada Inc. and T.D. Enterprises Ltd. operating as Wescan Elec trical Mechanical Services were all listed as defendants.

According to the 31-page statement of claim, the U of M issued a request for pro posal for design and consul tation services concerning the construction of a multiuse, multi-tenant structure, to be built at the U of M campus Smartpark.

The U of M alleges that dur ing construction and after the building was completed, it was made aware of issues with the facility that displayed breaches of contract and duty, as well as negligence on the part of the defendants.

Specifically, the university claims that there are deficien cies involving the structural steel of the cantilever area from level 200 to 400 of the building, as well as the shor ing posts installed to tempor arily support this section of the facility.

Additionally, the U of M claims that the columns, steel beams and joists in this area became misaligned “due to the improper design and/or construction of the super structure of the building.”

The U of M also asserts that the facility had issues with insufficient airflow that did not meet building code. It fur ther alleges that issues with cooling capacity have made the building’s intended pur pose imprac tical and a health and safety risk to occupants, claiming that the temper ature in some areas of the building rose to nearly 40 degrees Celsius.

According to the lawsuit, the U of M was forced to hire third parties to address these cooling issues.

The U of M alleges that the structural deficiencies were caused by Cibinel, Bird, Abesco and Peikko. Cibi nel and Bird are also listed as being responsible for the

mechanical deficiencies in the law suit, along with Archi tecture49 and Wescan.

The U of M claims it demanded that the hired companies fix the structural and mechanical issues upon their discovery, but that the defendants refused to do so.

Wescan Construction Servi ces controller and finance div

ision manager Warren Nachti gall was the only person from the listed defendants to com ment on the lawsuit.

“The only statement we wish to make is we do not agree with the statement of claim and will be defending ourselves,” Nachtigall said in an email statement.

The University of Manitoba could not provide comment by press time.

photo / Faith Peters / staff

“The only statement we wish to make is we do not agree with the statement of claim and will be defending ourselves”

— Warren Nachtigall, Wescan Construction Services controller and finance division manager

“Mentorship in general is something that I think everybody should partake in”

— Chloe Dreilich-Girard, Arts Student Body Council president

U of M hosts student Career Month

University to offer events throughout the month

Alicia Rose, staff

Throughout November, University of Manitoba’s Career Services is hosting Career Month.

There will be a combination of both in-person and virtual events exploring career-re lated issues, a full list of which can be found on the Univer sity of Manitoba’s Career Ser vices website.

Marnie Bickerton, director of the Career, Community and Experien tial Learning Centre, said that Career Services pro vides a “full array” of ser vices, such as how to have a successful inter view, how to write a resume and helping to find opportuni ties for students who are near ing graduation.

“Career Services is really here as a support for students, regardless of where they are in their career journey,” she said.

This may include poten

tial students trying to decide which program to apply to at the U of M, or current students who are unsure of what career to pursue.

She said Career Services can help students with career planning, “whether that’s how to get involved, [or] how to build skills and gain expe rience that’s going to help you to get to that career.”

This includes acting as a

more than just their employ ment.

“ Your career is everything,” she said.

“It’s not just about work, it’s about your education, it’s about your involvement in activities and it is about that work piece.”

She said that Career Month is intended to get students to consider where they are in their “career journey,” and whether they need sup port in certain areas.

support system in finding part-time or summer jobs in a specific field.

Bickerton also explained that many students enter school set on a career, but after taking courses, they may change their minds.

She also emphasized that a person’s career encompasses

Bicker ton pointed out that some future employers have already started searching for summer workers, but “if they haven’t started yet, they start really quickly after the holiday break in January.”

Events will include the Uni versity of Manitoba volun teer fair on Nov. 16, organized by both UMSU and Volun teer Manitoba. There are also

numerous faculty-specific programs that are available both in person and virtually.

With Indigenous Stu dent Month also taking place during November, there will be an Indigenous career fair in Migizii Agamik on Nov. 23.

In addition to these events, Bickerton said that Career Ser vices will be “around campus, providing service to students.”

will be in the science tunnels and Elizabeth Dafoe Library.

For more information about Career Month events, please visit https://www.uma nitoba.ca/career-services/ca reer-planning/career-month.

On Nov. 15, Career Services news@themanitoban.com

Students still facing delays from MB Student Aid

Delays in communication and disbursements follow integration of systems

Colton McKillop, staff

With the fall semester more than half over, some post-secondary students are still facing difficulties getting into contact with Manitoba Student Aid (MSA) or securing funds, as the government is integrating the province’s stu dent aid program with the fed eral aid system.

In an email to the Mani toban, University of Mani toba Students’ Union (UMSU) president Jaron Rykiss said that the union has heard from “several students who have been struggling” with student aid.

“It is clear that this is a big issue and one that we do not take lightly,” he said. “We will continue to monitor the situa tion closely, going forward.”

In a written statement, Can adian Federation of Students Manitoba chairperson Marie Paule Ehoussou said that stu dents “are at their wits end.”

“In efforts to contact Mani toba Student Aid, [students] have called on average 30 times a day to speak to a rep resentative, only for their calls to drop,” she said.

“It has taken students hours if not days to get in con tact with a person from stu

dent aid.”

The Manitoba govern ment announced in July that it would integrate its provin cial student aid system with the federal aid program to “streamline and simplify” the disbursement and manage ment of funds.

MSA will administer exist ing loans until April, at which point the National Student Loans Service Centre will take the reins.

Minister of Advanced Edu cation, Skills and Immigration Jon Reyes said that the inte gration would “make it easier for students to manage [their funds].”

Under the changes, bor rowers will only take out one loan and make one monthly payment. For now, those with two existing loans will have to make two separate payments, one provincially and one fed erally, until April 2023.

The government also claimed that the changes will improve disability provi sions for users and eliminate restrictions limiting funding to one diploma, certificate or degree.

A written statement from UMSU in July stated that the union had not received any

requests to meet for consul tation on this decision, and expressed concern that the Manitoba government may use these changes as an oppor tunity to implement interest on provincial student loans.

UMSU additionally questioned whether remov ing “a provincial arm that is valued by many” was the best course of action, and sug gested that granting greater funding to MSA would be more beneficial than shifting “responsibility to the federal government which is harder to reach and is less accommo dating to specific provincial needs.”

Rykiss told the Manitoban in an email that he wished the government had been more transparent in making this decision, and said that con sultation meetings would have allowed UMSU to bring forward “concerns with delays that have been present with Manitoba Student Aid for a long time.”

Students have struggled throughout this year to secure funds or get in contact with MSA, facing long delays and dropped calls.

Early in the year, some stu dents still had not received

their funds for the 2022 win ter semester by March due to technical issues that the MSA website experienced in December of 2021.

Students had to wait until July for 2022-23 loan applica tions to become available, a delay the province blamed on changes to the system neces sary for the integration of the provincial and federal pro grams.

A system outage delayed the delivery of funds this Sep tember, and numerous stu dents were left without aid at the beginning of the fall semester.

Ehoussou argued that stu dents need stable student aid to deal with the “affordability crisis” she said they are facing.

“Students have been on the verge of being kicked out of their programs due to unpaid fees and not being able to pay for their tuition on their own,” she said.

Additionally, Ehoussou pointed out that many stu dents who have been able to make payments were only able to do so by spending their own often limited income, leaving them with less money for expenses such as rent, food and transportation, all

of which has increased in cost due to inflation.

Five other provinces — Brit ish Columbia, New Bruns wick, Newfoundland and Lab rador, Ontario and Saskatch ewan — have integrated their provincial loan programs with federal aid since 2001. These transitions were accom plished with minimal disrup tion.

Ehoussou said that the Can adian Federation of Students Manitoba “ brought these con cerns directly to the attention” of Minister Reyes as recently as Nov. 3.

Since that meeting, Ehous sou said that representatives of Reyes’s department have stated that they have been assured by university admin istrations throughout Mani toba that students awaiting funds are being allowed to continue their studies, as long as they inform their schools of their situation through the proper channels.

The federation added that they were told additional staff have been brought on to deal with the backlog.

photo / Faith Peters / staff

“

Career services is really here as a support for students, regardless of where they are in their career journey”

— Marnie Bickerton, U of M director of career services

Collaboration fosters prevention, treatment of diabetes

U of M researcher’s long-standing partnership with Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation

Elah Ajene, staff

ur body breaks down the food we consume into glucose and transforms it into cellular energy. Insulin — a hormone produced in the pancreas — functions in regu lating our blood glucose.

O

Diabetes is a metabolic dis ease in which the body pro duces insufficient insulin or cannot properly use the insu lin it produces. The disease is characterized by high levels of blood glucose, ultimately affecting how the body turns food into energy.

There is a rising trend of diabetes in Canada, with over 11 million Canadians living with the disease in 2022. Dia betes Canada highlighted this as an all-time high in the country, and no signs of level ling are seen in recent trends.

According to University of Manitoba professor and head of the department of community health sciences Sharon Bruce, the Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the country, with the dis ease affecting approximately 29 per cent of adults.

In 2001, Bruce was brought in as a partner of the Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation, where they developed a com munity diabetes advisory group to study the epidemi ology of diabetes within the community.

“We did two screening stud ies in 2003, and then we did a follow-up in 2011,” Bruce said. “We also looked at the rela tionship between stress and adversity and diabetes.”

Director of health services at Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation Virginia Lukianchuk explained that the collab orative research done by the team over the past 20 years has “allowed the community to access and make changes to services within the commun ity.”

Bruce described her work and partnership with the com munity as “the most reward ing aspect of [her] career.”

“Working with Sandy Bay, they’ve always been very forward thinking, they’re very much innovators, very independent, and always look ing to and really interested in partnerships, and how work ing together can produce the best outcomes for people in the community,” she said.

In diabetes progression, long-term complications often arise, including heart and blood vessel diseases, neuropathy (nerve damage), hearing impairment, kidney damage and damage to the feet.

Bruce highlighted work

done from the Manitoba Cen tre for Health Policy, which found that the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Coun cil — which includes the Sandy Bay First Nation — had the highest rate of diabetes related below-the-knee ampu tations in the province.

— Virginia Lukianchuk, director of health services at Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation

betes would have to travel out of the community to the near est care providers, which were at least an hour away, to get standard care,” she said.

adequately supporting the needs of the community.

“It’s just under a hun dred thousand [dollars] a year, for a popu lation of five thousand individuals with 29 per cent prevalence of dia betes, so that’s very underfunded,” Lukianchuk said.

Through collaborative efforts, the team has been able to assist with referrals for those requiring additional care, while also providing community members with one-on-one education.

“We did a lot of work on foot problems, and we found a very high prevalence rate of dia betic neuropathy,” she said.

Beyond the individual risk factors for diabetes, Bruce noted key structural and sys tem-level risk factors contrib uting to high trends, such as the initial absence of a com munity-led foot program to check the feet of individuals with diabetes.

Bruce pointed out that only 22 per cent of affected people in the community had ever had their feet checked.

“So individuals with dia

Another key finding was the extent of early stage chronic kidney disease in the com munity — largely facilitated by the lack of access to phys icians for required routine assessments and monitoring of patients.

“The majority of the servi ces are to the nearest health facility, which made Portage la Prairie kind of our go to place for our community members,” Lukianchuk said.

Bruce explained that deci sions at the government level regarding funding for these health systems were not

Lukianchuk explained that due to the funding model still not representing the needs of the community, Sandy Bay was forced to make chan ges within its community care program to further sup port diabetes care, while also developing a foot-care pro gram and a healthy lifestyles program.

Lukianchuk said that the community is “trying to invest in programming for healthy lifestyles for individuals in the community, regardless of what age they are, so that they can prevent disease.”

“We worked with Sandy Bay to develop some of the networks with specialists and with primary care people, so that individuals who we found in the community who had chronic conditions, had risk factors for diabetes complica tions, we could provide servi ces so that they could access care,” Bruce said.

Lukianchuk emphasized that the long-term goal is dia betes prevention for younger populations and maintaining affected individuals’ current health stages.

“It’s treatment and preven tion at the same time,” she said.

graphic / Jenna Solomon / staff

“It’s treatment and prevention at the same time”

Get a grip (on your trash), stop littering

Clean up after yourself, ya filthy animals!

Thomas, staff

As we move further into November, I still find myself thinking of summer. I think back to the heat, the feeling of relaxation and, most importantly, no school.

Lately, there’s another thing that I’ve thinking about — my summer jobs.

Most students have worked a job during the summer. Whether you worked as a camp counsellor or in an office, you probably have some good memories of your summer job. You might even have parents who, before the summer even began, told you that your job would “make you memories that last a life time!”

This past summer, I had two jobs that left lasting impres sions on me.

One of these jobs was at The Forks, where I worked at a shop called Planet Pantry. There, I helped customers fill jars with our bulk products and educated them on how they could be more sustain able in their everyday lives.

Yes, I made great mem

ories, but I also learned about the harsh impacts of climate change, and how we as a soci ety aren’t doing enough to fight against it.

I also worked as a land scaper and garbage remover for KD Landscaping. Every day, I went to work at or before 5 a.m., where I picked up gar bage, watered flowers and occasionally mowed grass. I loved my job, and I took pride

would pick them up. Even the flowers I watered every day were sometimes torn out and thrown on the ground.

I picked up every cigarette butt and every tiny piece of plastic, knowing that later in the day the ground would be dirty once again. Although I was disgusted by the litter I gathered every day, I found the work rewarding and I was dedicated to making the prop

constantly pick up trash. I thought the university would be clean. After all, decent uni versity folks don’t litter!

Boy was I wrong.

I have no idea what campus looked like pre-pandemic, but this year I see garbage every where.

I get off the bus to see masks blowing in the wind and papers crumpled on the ground. I step in cigarettes and banana peels as I make my way to University Centre.

ous. Even though workers get paid to clean, we shouldn’t be throwing our garbage on the ground just because it’s some one’s job to pick it up. I feel for the staff that have to do this every day, and I know it never gets better.

The University of Mani toba has multiple sustaina bility strategies in place to help reduce our impact on the environment, but it is also up to us to help keep our campus and rest of the city sustainable and clean.

in making things look beauti ful and neat.

However, picking up gar bage almost every day made me sick and tired of litter. Before work, I would pray that there wouldn’t be any garbage to clean up that day. Sadly, this was never the case.

In every neighbourhood we went to, there was all sorts of garbage lying around, like ripped up papers and fast food packaging to paper cups and scraps of metal. Multiple people littered right in front of me, throwing wrappers on the ground knowing that I

erties we cleaned litter-free.

All summer, garbage haunted me, and it became my mission during and out side of work to pick up litter. I felt bad, not only for the Earth riddled with garbage, but also for the workers like myself who cleaned up trash every day. A part of me hoped that if I picked up garbage in pub lic, maybe others would follow my example.

Eventually the summer came to an end and I began to look forward to going to university in-person, where I thought I wouldn’t have to

People even litter inside. I leave at the end of the day and food is left out on tables, with receipts from the cafeteria scattered on the floor.

I thought I could take a break from picking up litter, but I find myself trying to pick up garbage at school, even if I have no time.

Before, I used to brag that my generation doesn’t litter, but I can’t say that anymore. Have we gotten to the point where we just don’t care?

I know what it feels like to pick up garbage for a living. It can be exhausting and tedi

So, if you’re reading this, please don’t litter. Don’t rely on staff or other people to clean up your mess. If one gar bage can is full, go to another one. If your peers litter, tell them to pick up after them selves. It is so simple and easy to avoid littering, and if we work together we can combat this issue.

Jory

graphic / Jenna Solomon / staff

Recent referendum comes with years of UMSU politics

Students’ union carried years of messy politics into 2022 vote

Mathew Scammell, volunteer

The University of Mani toba Students’ Union (UMSU) has once again held a vote in an attempt to legit imize their efforts to leave the Canadian Federation of Stu dents. The previous vote, held in 2018, was a non-binding plebiscite where a clear major ity of UMSU members voted to remain a part of the feder ation.

The historical context of this saga, however, often evades students who typically only spend three to five years earning their degrees.

There has been a lot of information thrown around recently regarding the nature of the dispute, especially by current and former UMSU executives, so I’d like to use my lengthy U of M experience to offer a more nuanced per spective.

My first term at the U of M was in fall of 2012, and the very next year saw an UMSU election unfold that would become pivotal in the defeder ation campaign that followed.

The 2013 election saw Al Turnbull defeat incumbent Bilan Arte’s second run at the presidency, with Turnbull going on to win the next elec tion in 2014 as well.

Arte, meanwhile, went on to assume leadership of the Canadian Federation of Stu dents’ Manitoba branch, and later took the helm of the entire organization as chair person.

Disputes between UMSU and the federation didn’t take long to start after Turn bull took office. UMSU execs spent hours in September of 2013 tearing out Canadian Federation of Students pro motional pages from some 20,000 student agenda books, all because UMSU believed it should be able to renege on its contract and purchase the books from a different dis tributor at a lower cost.

The very next month, UMSU set up an ad hoc com mittee to review its relation ship with the Canadian Feder ation of Students.

UMSU also switched health insurance providers in 2013 from Green Shield Canada, a non-profit insurance service, to Studentcare as an oppor tunity to save student money.

The costs of the new plan for U of M students increased in 2015 to surpass the Green Shield cost by almost $100. This increase was followed by a reduction of coverage in 2016, again undermining the original justification offered by UMSU for the change in insurance providers.

Another major disagree ment between the union and

the Canadian Federation of Students came to a head in 2015, when UMSU refused to pay $640,000 in dues owed to the federation. Apparently, UMSU refused to pay because the federation was ignoring its requests to change ownership of the umsu.ca domain.

At the time, UMSU’s domain was being hosted on a server through the Canadian Feder ation of Students. Despite this specific issue being resolved later that year, the amount owed to the federation grew to almost $1 million by 2016 before it was finally paid in full.

The animosity didn’t stop there, though, as 2016 and 2017 were full of Canadian Federation of Students-re lated drama for UMSU execu tives.

UMSU vice-president exter nal Wilfred Sam-King alleged that he was prevented from speaking at a federation-or ganized demonstration in early November of 2016. Later in the month, UMSU president Tanjit Nagra lost her election campaign for national chair person of the Canadian Feder ation of Students. By Decem

ber, the UMSU executives had convinced UMSU council to demand a formal apology from the national executive of the federation for alleged harassment at the federation’s recent National General Meet ing.

These events set the stage for late 2017, when UMSU council voted to hold the pre viously mentioned plebis cite in January and Febru ary of 2018 on whether or not

remain part of the federation, the execs recommended that the UMSU board of directors vote against affirming mem bership within the Canadian Federation of Students.

was withholding from the fed eration, Turnbull said, “If you want to leave, you’ve got to follow the rules to leave. And not paying fees is definitely an easy one for a judge to look at.”

students wanted to continue membership in the Canadian Federation of Students.

Despite the majority sup port for continued member ship in the federation, the UMSU execs continued their defederation efforts, lobby ing the Progressive Conserv ative-led Manitoba govern ment to amend the Univer sity of Manitoba Students’ Union Act. The amendments introduced a mandate that all membership in external organizations be affirmed by a council vote every two years.

Later in 2018, the very same year that students voted to

This vote was required due to the UMSU Act amendments made earlier in the year, which the previous execs had lob bied for. Denied the popular support of the student body via the plebiscite, UMSU execs had shifted strategy in order to “legitimize” their defeder ation efforts, instead enlist ing the sup port of provincial politicians and members of the UMSU board.

And now once again, after having withheld over $1 mil lion in membership fees from the Canadian Feder ation of Students, UMSU is being sued. This time is dif ferent though, because UMSU now claims they are no longer a member of the federation. Much can be said about Turn bull, who started most of this mess, but even he was very careful around the defedera tion question.

In early January 2015, when speaking about the fees UMSU

A couple weeks later he added, “If we wanted to leave, this is the worst way to go. A judge in Manitoba would just say, ‘this is illegal, you’ve got to pay them.’”

Things have changed since 2015, such as the UMSU Act amendments, but contractual obligations remain unfulfilled and I believe that this leaves UMSU open to liability. The Canadian Federation of Stu dents has their bylaws, and if they are followed properly student unions can defeder ate successfully.

It is unfortunate that the current UMSU executives have shown such a wild dis regard for legal responsibil ities, but only time and a court of law will tell what happens next.

graphic / Dallin Chicoine / staff

The current UMSU executives have shown such a wild disregard for legal responsibilities

Repeal of Bill 28 a win for labourers

Ontario educators stand strong despite abuse from Ford government

Braden Bristow, staff

A strike mandate was approved by 96.5 per cent of the 55,000 workers repre sented by the Ontarian School Board Council of Unions.

The council demanded a wage increase of $3.25 an hour per year, equal pay for tem porary and casual workers, improvements to vacation time and benefits, paid prep time and violence prevention training.

However, education unions were mandated back to work because of Bill 28, legislation created by the administration of Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Coercively titled the “Keeping Students in Class Act,” the bill was an effort to force workers to accept a contract despite the union-approved strike action and mediation.

Not only was the bill abhor rent on a moral level, but it also tried to ignore fun damental Canadian rights and freedoms. As laid out in an explanatory note from the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Bill 28 is “notwith

standing sections 2, 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms”.

“Notwithstanding” means that the bill invoked section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which allows for provincial governments to create legislation that would operate in spite of certain sec tions of the charter.

The sections that Bill 28 intended to sidestep certainly made it problematic. Section 2(c) of the Charter ensures the right to peaceful assembly, section 7 guarantees the right to life, liberty and personal security and section 15 estab lishes equality and equal pro tection under the law.

Bill 28 tried to invoke a clause to ignore all of these rights. Further fuelling this abuse-of-rights fire is the fact that the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the right to strike as fundamental in 2015. While a legally complex issue, this bill was very arguably an abuse of Canadians’ rights through legal loopholes.

Following the introduc

tion of the bill came massive backlash from organizations across the province.

However, on the morning of Nov. 7, Ford announced that the government would repeal Bill 28 after the fierce opposition from education workers. This blatant abuse is indicative of the government’s underlying opposition to the labourers of Ontario and the labour movement in general.

The law also would have set a dangerous precedent for labourers across the country, as it could have emboldened other provincial governments to simply overrule strike action and impose unjust con tracts onto labourers.

This is especially relevant in Manitoba, as last month the Winnipeg CUPE Local 500 was facing strike action. In addition to CUPE Local 500’s recent potential strike action, there was last year’s educa tion strike by the University of Manitoba Faculty Associ ation. If legislation such as Ontario’s Bill 28 passed in Manitoba, the provincial gov

ernment may have forced con tracts and a return to work on both organizations.

This is the state of labour relations in our country.

Because of anti-labour legis lation, unions and labour ers in Ontario were forced to put themselves in harm’s way through strike tactics that were made illegal.

How can labourers hope for a fair deal when their own governments are willing to

force contracts on them with out fair negotiation?

The fallout from the Ford administration’s actions, which earned the wrath of unions and workers alike, has yet to be seen in full. As with all union affairs, we can only hope that the workers get a fair deal for all their effort.

Welcome to the future?

Saudi Arabian project The Line pushing civilization to new ground

Sarah Cohen, staff

Imagine you wake up in the heat of summer. Beyond the city walls it is over 40 degrees, with sandstorms raging. But you get out of bed and go for a walk in your carless, cli mate-controlled community. You live in the future.

This future may not be out of reach.

Speculation has risen that construction has begun on a 170-kilometre-long, 200-metre-wide vertical city spanning across the Tabuk province of Saudi Arabia. The project is part of the Saudi Vision 2030 to revitalize the country.

NEOM, an organization based in Saudi Arabia, is behind the revolutionary civil ization project known as The Line. Crown Prince Moham med bin Salman announced designs for the city on July 25 of this year. The Line is one of three regions being developed by NEOM, along with Trojena and Oxagon — a mountain tourism location and another futuristic city, respectively.

The Line will be home to nine million people, and residents’ well-being and health will be prioritized over infrastructure. A high-speed rail system will take residents

anywhere they want to go within the structure, and will be able to go from one end to the other in only 20 minutes.

All residents will have access to sports facilities, uni versities, health care and other necessities and leisure activ ities. The Line is also expected to create 380,000 jobs by 2030.

Residents will be able to save on expenses like cars, and the fast rail transit will leave more time for family. Best of all, in my opinion, will be the immense attention to inte grating nature and sunlight into everyday life.

The city itself is a glimpse into what I believe people fifty-some years ago thought this decade would look like. I think it could be a place for humans to thrive and live the lives they dream of living.

It will cost hundreds of bil lions of dollars to build The Line, and the project will require the best in engineer ing, architecture and con struction .

At its best, the project will provide all that it prom ises and truly be the sustain able living environment it is designed to be. However, that is without taking into con sideration things like Indigen ous displacement and climate

change.

The al-Huwaitat people of the Tabuk province are allegedly being forcibly removed from their land for NEOM to construct The Line, and have asked the United Nations to investigate the actions taken by the Saudi government. Indigenous people should not be removed from their lands for govern ment gain.

Further, a scientific pub lication from March 2022 asserted that without major climate reform efforts, the Arabian Peninsula will reach temperatures that pose risks to human existence by the end of the century.

The Line’s goal to be cli mate controlled would mean that a cooling system would need to be put in place. Cool ing systems need energy to

run and while NEOM claims that The Line will be pow ered by renewable energy, all energy technologies we cur rently have create emissions at some stage. This means that The Line would contribute even more to the rising tem perature.

There would be an immense amount of energy needed to keep the projected millions of residents in a livable environ ment.

At least Prince Mohammed isn’t ignoring or denying cli mate change. This raises the question of whether The Line and NEOM are a ploy to make millions, or whether the orga nization truly wants to create a utopian society and live up to all its promises.

I think this project is fasci nating, a good idea and could make it easier to live a sus tainable life. I think it’s a lit tle too late, though, unless its construction is a way to house humans after the planet inev itably becomes uninhabitable — but that raises many other questions.

The Line is great in theory, but the results of the project could go either way.

graphic / Dallin Chicoine / staff

graphic / Jenna Solomon / staff

In defence of ‘The Crown’

The Royals have bigger issues to worry about than Netflix series

Dina Hamid, staff

The British Royal Family should be scram bling to save face as a new batch of drama has surfaced with the highly anticipated release of the new season of The Crown

This season is especially scandalous, as it follows the highly contro versial and pub lic cheating affair of then Prince Charles during his mar riage to the late and beloved Princess Diana.

In case you’re unaware, The Crown is a fictional Netflix ori ginal drama that draws inspir ation from the lives of the late Queen Elizabeth II and her

family. The television show recreates the political and per sonal historical occurrences that shaped Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.

Controversy has been glued to the series since its creation, with many accusing it of being exploitative and damaging to the Royal Family. This has led to calls for the show’s cancel lation from former prime min isters, cabinet members, royal experts and royalists alike.

After six years of airing, the show finally added a dis claimer for season five stat

ing that it is a fictional drama tization. This was done in response to the pressure and criticism the streaming giant received when Oscar-win ning actress Dame Judi Dench wrote an open letter calling the show “cruelly unjust” and requesting that it include the disclaimer at the beginning of each episode.

Under normal circum stances, I could understand the uproar over the uncom fortable and intrusive nature of this show. Nevertheless, these circumstances are dif

ferent, thus my level of sym pathy is also different.

If an average Joe across the block had a major streaming service produce and profit off a drama inspired by two gen erations of his family’s dirty laundry, I could understand and support the fury. I would be upset too.

However, if I got £86.3 million from British tax payers to fund my lavish life style and to perform royal dut ies, I think I could find it in my heart to let it slide.

It’s very difficult for me to sympathize with the concerns regarding the show since I think they are unnecessary and misplaced, especially

considering that the series never claimed to be an accur ate account of royal history.

I can’t help but hope that the monarchy must have something more productive to do instead of focusing its energy on a Netflix series.

The monarchy is a damag ing, exploitative and cruelly unjust archaic system that serves no real purpose in mod ern society other than to serve as a tourist trap for the U.K. The very least they could do is provide inspiration and enter tainment to their citizens.

The very least they could do is provide inspiration and entertainment to their citizens

graphic / Dallin Chicoine / staff

Brazil elects Lula to stay green

President da Silva brings hope to Brazilians and environmentalists

Lucas Gomes, volunteer

Brazilian left-wing can didate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — popularly known as “Lula” — defeated right-wing incumbent President Jair Bol sonaro in Brazil’s national elections on Oct. 30. The vic tory turns over a new page for Brazilians and environment alists, as Lula has promised a reduction in deforestation and the renewal of social wel fare programs.

Lula’s victory came by a razor-thin margin, receiving 50.9 per cent of the vote to Bol sonaro’s 49.1 per cent.

Despite failing to secure another term as president, Bosonaro has already had a significant impact on Bra zil’s foreseeable future. He received immense inter national criticism for signifi cantly increasing deforesta tion in the Amazon rainforest, his incredulous stance on science and his administra tion’s mistreatment of Brazil’s Indigenous communities.

Bolsonaro’s time in office came at a cost — the degrad ation of the Amazon. From August 2019 to July 2021,

deforestation of the Amazon increased by a whopping 52 per cent relative to the previ ous three-year period. Dur ing this time, clearance of the Amazon amounted to over 34,000 square kilometres, an area larger than Belgium

Complimentary to Bolso naro’s tyrannical rule of the Amazon were his administra tion’s substantial cuts to sci entific research. The Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Develop ment, as well as the Coordin ation for Improvement of Higher Education Personnel — two leading agencies sup porting scientific research in Brazil — saw budget cuts of 45 per cent under Bolsonaro.

Lula previously held tenure as president of Brazil from 2003 to 2011, during which time Brazil flourished eco nomically due to a rise in com modity values and exports to China.

What followed was an expansion of social programs, including the esteemed Bolsa Família, a social welfare pro gram that subsidized low-in come families with children

on the condition that they consistently attend school.

Lula left office with an 83 per cent approval rating. How ever, his popularity plum meted in 2017 after accusa tions of corruption surfaced. Federal prosecutors accused Lula of receiving a luxury apartment as a bribe from a construction company in exchange for oil contracts.

Lula was later convicted and imprisoned, but profusely denied the allegations and appealed the decision, claim ing that the judge’s ruling was politically charged. His claims were not far-fetched, as the judge who sentenced Lula was appointed as Bolsonaro’s jus tice minister shortly after the trial.

Lula’s claims eventually proved legitimate. In 2021, the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil overruled the senten cing as they found that Lula’s right to a fair trial had been compromised, and all charges against him were annulled. Regardless, the sentencing left a stain on Lula’s polit ical status. A poll in Septem ber 2022 found that 40 per

cent of voters believed Lula’s conviction was unjust, while 44 per cent believed he was rightfully convicted. The sen tencing, accusations and lin gering confusion of his inno cence significantly impacted Lula’s run in the 2022 election.

However, Lula’s defining policy proposals ahead of his victory emphasized social and environmental policy, two pressing matters for Bra zilians and international environmental activists.

Lula plans to re-establish his admired Bolsa Família program in an attempt to miti gate poverty within Brazil. The new version of the pro gram proposes that low-in come families receive R$600 ($149 CAD) a month, with an additional R$150 ($35 CAD) for families with children under age six. The program stipu lates — as it did in Lula’s first two terms — that the children attend in school in order to receive funding.

requires children to receive necessary vaccinations.

Lula has also taken a hard stance against Bolsonaro’s egregious destruction of the Amazon. He plans to reduce deforestation immensely, renew global relationships and propose plans for rain forest protection.

However, proposals of environmental protection and social welfare policies come with congressional bar riers. Due to the narrow elec tion win, Brazil’s congress has a near-majority of Bolsonaro’s allies. Their system of checks and balances could impede Lula’s policies.

Regardless, Bolsonaro’s removal is a win for environ mental activists.

The world will be watching as Lula’s third and arguably most important presidential term begins Jan. 1, 2023.

Additionally, in spite of Bolsonaro’s anti-vaccination stance and poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bolsa Família program also comment@themanitoban.com

To complete Sudoku, fill the board by entering numbers 1 to 9 such that each row, column and 3x3 box con tains every number uniquely

In Hidato, fill the board by continuing the chain of numbers from 1 to 100 mov ing any direction or diag onally to the next number.

In Straits, like Sudoku, no single number can repeat in any row or column. But rows and columns are div ided by black squares into compartments. These need to be filled in with numbers that complete a “straight.” A straight is a set of num bers with no gaps but can be in any order, eg [4,2,3,5]. Clues in black cells remove that number as an option in that row and column and are not part of any straight. Glance at the solution to see how “straights” are formed.

9 such that each row, column and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely. For many strategies, hints and tips, visit www.sudokuwiki.org If you like Str8ts check out our books, iPhone/iPad Apps and much more on our store.

Fall writer-in-residence explores disability and humour

Jacob Scheier offers advice and feedback to writers through December

Jessie Krahn, staff

As winter creeps up and the cold sets in, finding the energy to make things can be a tall order. Creative writers in Manitoba may look to U of M’s fall writer-in-residence at the Center for Creative Writ ing and Oral Culture to pro vide a burst of motivation to get cracking.

The fall writer-in-resi dence, Jacob Scheier, is a poet and essayist with a broad range of interests. Scheier’s most recent poetry collec tion Is This Scary? explores mental and physical illness. The poems are often autobio graphical, drawing from Sche ier’s own experiences with ill ness.

Scheier said his poetry reaches toward “colloquial, conversational and talky” styles which are accessible to mainstream audiences, rather than the rarefied feel of trad itional lyrical poetry.

When asked to describe his style, Scheier said, “it doesn’t feel alienating in that it’s [not] this high diction, high art, modernist T.S. Eliot what ever kind of object that might make one feel they’re not wel come to read it unless they have a PhD in English litera ture or something like that.”

At the same time, Scheier draws influence from auth ors who incorporated autobio graphical elements into their work like Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell and Anne Sexton.

“They were breaking at the time a taboo in writing about their autobiographical experi ences about mental illness, and psychiatric institution in particular,” he said.

Much as Plath’s poetry contrasted lively rhymes with the uncomfortable real ities of mental illness, Sche ier’s poetry in Is This Scary? playfully subverts conven tions while grappling with

the pains of depression. The poems chronicle a struggle with depression, including an episode which led him to a psychiatric ward in Toronto, Ont.

One poem in Scheier’s col lection, “Dear Sam, This Isn’t a Suicide Note” shows the poet-speaker developing a strong bond with a fellow res ident in a psychiatric ward. The speaker and his friend intellectualize about suicide and their illnesses, and even tually the speaker admits to hoping his companion never resorts to that option.

At once sorrowful and funny, Scheier’s speaker pokes fun at himself and sheds tears often in the same verse.

As a secular Jewish person, Scheier said a self-deprecat ing, tongue-in-cheek humour comes through in his poems, evocative of a “rich tradition” of similar humour in Jewish culture.

The title of one of Schei er’s poems, “Palinopsia Song or Ode to Some Fucking Bird,” is an irreverent reference to the poet John Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale.” The poem shows the multiple and some times clashing influences behind Scheier’s work.

“It’s hard to think of some thing, at least in literature, as far removed from a kind of self-depre cating Jewish humour than the Romantic poetry — like capital ‘r’ Romantic poetry — and this awe in the face of the sublime, while I’m also writing very much about the everyday monotony of the depression,” Scheier said.

“So, the contrast is very deliberate as well as being an homage.”

Humour is especially important for exploring the

realities of mental illness, which many people are not used to, so that they can “stay within the discomfort,” Scheier explained.

Concerning writers in the U of M community or through out Winnipeg seeking guid ance, Scheier said that he aims to advise writers on how to improve, and to point out strengths in their writing.

“I ask people to send me their work a little ahead of time, a sampling of their work, and try to ascertain as best I can the intent, the intention, and then make some notes,” he said.

In working with writers he hopes to give critiques which help people to realize their

intentions.

For writers who are still looking to take their first step, Scheier said that figuring out whether they want to write for themselves or for an audience is important.

“If you don’t have a com pulsive desire, which for some reason I have and other published poets have, to really see your poems in print, really do almost anything else with your life, because it’s a strangely com petitive world with no money in it,” he said.

Ultimately, Scheier empha sized that reading a lot and reading widely is crucial for developing one’s style, includ ing works from the literary canon and outside of it.

“Read contemporary writ ers who are BIPOC, queer writ

ers and so on, writers with dis abilities, as well as under standing the tradition that they are ultimately writing out of and having some kind of dialogue with,” Scheier advised.

“There’s some quote out there about, ‘one needs to read 500 poems before they can write one,’ and that general idea I think is useful. I don’t think you need to write 500 poems, but I think the reading is crucial.”

Members of the Manitoban writing community can book a free virtual consultation with Jacob Scheier by email ing ccwocwir@umanitoba.ca. He will be in residence until Dec. 16.

photo / Jacob Scheier / provided

“I think the reading is crucial” — Jacob Scheier, fall 2022 writer-in-residence at the U of M

’Toban turntable

meadows — ‘walking music’

Alex Braun, staff 4/5 stars

W hat do you think about when you go for a walk? For me, a walk is how I make sense of things, the time when I reflect and sort through my life. Meadows captures this feeling of quiet reflection on its album walk ing music

Isiah Schellenberg has long been a presence in the Winni peg indie scene, fronting the bands Notme and Brite. His songwriting and voice are instantly recognizable — hypnotizing, emotional and simple, taking cues from lo-fi heroes like Elliott Smith and Alex G.

The 11 tracks present on

walking music are ambi ent, lo-fi folk taken to its most intimate, with barely strummed guitars, cozy synth pads and near-whispered vocals. It is a cozy sound, per fect for a long Winnipeg win ter and a long walk in the snow

Opening track “525” envel ops the listener in blankets of guitar and spoken word sam ples while Schellenberg’s cata tonic voice drifts in and out,

Third track “Gemini” is a gorgeous little pop song, with a chorus that sees Schellen berg exploring his underutil ized falsetto range, lifted by chiming guitars and a cozy pad of synth.

Rounding out the album’s excellent opening sequence is “late spring,” which marks the point where momentum on the album slows slightly.

murmuring a simple melody.

Following up is “viper,” a depressive meditation on fam ilial strife and inherited sad ness, with a defeated refrain of “the guilt runs through my blood.”

After the short interlude “leaving,” we get “fumble,” a pretty but kind of slight song, remin iscent of Can adian private press great Lewis Baloue and a re-recorded, slightly expanded version of “honey tea” from meadows’ previous album, wild flower.

The instrumental title track is quite lovely though, and the

added texture from the layers of field recordings makes it an atmospheric and engrossing listen.

Ninth track “flowers” is a winding, rambling song with a bit of a ’60s psychedelic vibe, bringing a little burst of energy to the record. Mean while, proceeding song “try” is a bit flat and depressing, lacking dynamics.

’Toban about town — Next Stop Café

Pembina café serves up unique takes on diner staples

Jessie Krahn, staff

Winnipeg’s restaurant scene has drastically shifted in the past three years. Even though some of the city’s sig nature watering holes could not weather hard times even before the pandemic, some eateries promise to stave off a diner’s drought.

Filling in the gap left by the old Pembina Village Restau rant at 333 Pembina High way, Next Stop Café brings Ira nian and Western fusion food to the fore at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Next Stop’s breakfast menu, available until 3 p.m., fea tures a range of familiar egg dishes and omelettes with an assortment of sides. While the breakfasts have been a hit with everyone I have brought to the café, a little more diver sity outside of just eggs would make the restaurant an ideal morning haunt.

The lunch and dinner menus are expansive, with kebabs, wraps and a broad range of burgers. The hot dog burger and the chicken burger showcase Next Stop’s versa tile offerings and high qual ity. Many of the burgers come with a tart “secret” sauce and the restaurant’s logo branded into the buns for a little fun flair.

Next Stop’s felafel wrap is always a favourite with the company I bring along.

Aside from these savoury

selections, the cafe’s dessert menu shines, particularly their monu mental milk shake menu.

Each iteration is sweet and creamy without tasting arti ficial. The list features reli able standbys like chocolate

or strawberry milkshakes, but its more experimental sesame

banana, pistachio, saffron and tiramisu flavours are equally satisfying.

After my tours through Next Stop’s offerings I always caffeinate with the restau rant’s unique selection of coffees. The café is one of few places in the city that serves Turkish cof fee, a type of unfiltered coffee

But closing track “wither” is a great one. The song and arrangement are barebones — vocals and one guitar track, no chorus, no bridge, just verses and a repeated guitar riff — but it is gorgeous. Schellen berg sings in this low, raspy range with so much texture and depth, and the melody has a perfect melancholy.

Meadows has delivered yet another great collection of songs only meadows could write. Any fan of indie and lo-fi should seriously consider walking music to soundtrack their next stroll.

Walking Music is available on major streaming services.

arts@themanitoban.com

which is served retaining the very fine grinds used in the brewing process. Next Stop serves the drink with a small shot of water and a sweet to rinse your mouth and counter the bitterness.

The staff are very friendly and anticipate questions before they are asked.

One recent addition to Next Stop’s staff is a tray-carrying, singing kitty-shaped robot. The robot’s front has a screen showing emoticon faces to match the tone of its songs.

What is initially a cute and quirky novelty on first encounter, the robot starts to wear thin with each sub sequent visit, as it causes an excited uproar among new customers every time it rolls out of the kitchen.

Overall, Next Stop has a tasty range of filling dishes that are great as a morning boost or a cap on a long day.

Next Stop Café is open from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sat urdays and Sundays.

arts@themanitoban.com

photo / Faith Peters / staff

photo /meadows / provided

Next Stop’s felafel wrap is always a favourite with the company I bring along

Meadows has delivered yet another great collection of songs only meadows could write

Warming hut designs for Nestaweya River Trail revealed

U of M’s faculty of architecture is among the invited designers

Damien Davis, staff

R eturning for its 13th year, Warming Huts v.2023: An Arts + Architecture Competition on Ice revealed its winners, invited artists and the first participants in its new high-school component on Nov. 10.

The competition and invi tations involved artists designing new warming huts for placement along the Forks’s Nestaweya River Trail on the Red and Assiniboine rivers.

The winning huts this year are “Hayspace” by Philipp Gmür and Hugh Taylor, “Curtain” by Alejandro Felix and Fang Cui and “Meanwhile We Still Dream” by Lindo Jia and Jay mon Diaz.

Among the huts designed by invited artists was the U of M’s faculty of architecture submission, “Flowing Lands.”

Mira (Mimi) Locher, dean of the U of M faculty of architec ture, said in a press statement that “the faculty of architec ture is very excited to be part of the warming hut tradition again this year.”

Locher said that this year’s project “will engage the com munity in structures that emerge from the frozen river

Jason Hare, manager of the U of M’s digital fabrication lab known as the FABLab, told the Manitoban that the faculty of architecture always has a spot in the exhibition held for it and its entries. The oppor tunity is passed around and a written internal submission is sent to the faculty.

Explaining the origins of

the design side.’”

Hare explained that the design was inspired by Win nipeg’s accumulation of snow, and that the team recalled childhood memories of snowpiled hills with “waves coming off them.” The space itself will interact with falling and blow ing snow, shaping the snow into mounds with fencing.

The question that the team came across was, “can we use this simulation tool to attempt to simulate big ger snow collec tion agents?” he said.

Hare added that beyond the technical aspects of the hut, the spirit of the structure would lie in creating a snow fence that would shape snow in an interesting way, with the intention that kids and their families would feel encour aged to play on the resulting snow piles.

“If mystery could come into it, that’d be even better,” he said.

Hare said that as a child, everything feels “so titanic and magical,” and he hopes there will be a level of play and magic that individuals feel while interacting with the structure.

The warming huts will be finished and out on the river trail by the end of January.

and intersect with the wind to capture the dancing snow that falls from the winter sky,” add ing that “the resulting snows cape will be a playground for the public, and the shift ing forms will be the subject of continuous study for our team.”

this year’s design, Hare said, “we were doing some inter nal research of flow simula tions through digital models, and as we were doing that we were starting to realize, ‘Oh, this would be good if we could test it at a really large scale and get students involved in

“Then we would perform that on the river and we’d actually be monitoring it all winter. So that’s what we’re going to do, we’re going to be recording the information of the snow collecting, and then matching against the simula tion to see if we can draw it in tighter together.” arts@themanitoban.com

“The faculty of architecture is very excited to be part of the warming tradition”

— Mira (Mimi) Locher, dean of the faculty of architecture

photos / Ebunoluwa Akinbo / staff

U of M FABLab manager Jason Hare alongside the faculty of architecture’s warming hut submission, “Flowing Lands.”

The Bisons men’s hockey team hosted the University of Calgary Dinos this past weekend.

photos / Matthew Merkel / staff

Bisons cross country team wrap up

Cross country team concludes season with U Sports Championships

Katie Kirkwood staff

The Bisons cross country team’s season came to a close with the U Sports Cham pionships this past weekend.

The team kicked off the sea son in early September, with great running times in the Bisons Time Trial, including top five finishes from Amy Klippenstein, Angela Kroeker and Hailee Morisseau, who all went on to compete in the U Sports Championships.

On Sept. 30, the cross coun try team competed in the Roy Griak Invitational held in Minneapolis, Minn., where three of the herd made it into the top 50.

In the men’s 8k event, Jus tin Kroeker placed 46th, while in the women’s 6k, Klippen stein placed 36th and Angela Kroeker placed 45th.

Following this event, the Bisons made their way to Cal gary for the Stewart Cup. The herd killed this event with great placing, and pushed the Bisons into the Canada West Championships.

In the men’s race, Jus tin Kroeker placed first with a time of 25:06. Following

shortly after, Calvin Reimer crossed the finish line in third place with a time of 25:29.

The women’s event saw great times from Morisseau, who placed seventh with a time of 30:47, and Angela Kro eker, who placed 13th. Klip penstein finished off her race in 22nd place, with a time of 33:56.

At the Chris McCubbins Provincial Championships that took place the following Saturday, Noah Fillion qual ified for the Canada West Championships, posting a time of 27:44 in the 8k.

The Canada West Cham pionships were hosted by Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C. on a course that had diverse terrain, rang ing from grass to gravel. The course also featured a hill, making the race that much more challenging.

Despite coach Claude Berube wanting to finish somewhere in the top 25 to 30, the runners still placed well with a majority in the top 50.

Reimer had a great run, placing 30th, Justin Kroeker placed 41st and Noah Fil

lion placed 64th. The wom en’s team placed well too, with Angela Kroeker placing 36th and Morisseau placing 38th.

To finish off the season, the herd hopped on a plane and headed east to compete in the U Sports Championships this past Saturday, Nov. 12. The event was hosted by Dalhou sie University in Halifax, N.S.

The day of the race was windy, cold and wet. Spec tators could be seen wearing rain ponchos over their jack ets, hats and mitts.

The U of M sent four com petitors — Klippenstein, Angela Kroeker, Morisseau and Reimer.

The Bisons’ best placings were held by Morisseau, who placed 56th out of 150, and Kroeker, who placed 67th. Klippenstein placed 86th while Reimer placed 102nd.

It was a respectful conclu sion to a good season and cross country fans are sure to be looking forward to seeing where next season will take the herd.

Sports teams’ schedules

U of M Bisons — Women’s Basketball

Alberta Pandas @ Bisons

Nov. 4 — Final: 69 – 64

Alberta Pandas @ Bisons Nov. 5 — Final: 79 – 55

Bisons @ Fraser Valley Cascades Nov. 11 — Final: 54 – 84

Bisons @ Fraser Valley Cascades Nov. 12 — Final: 58 – 69

U of M Bisons — Women’s Hockey

Alberta Pandas @ Bisons

Nov. 4 — Final: 5 – 0

Alberta Pandas @ Bisons Nov. 5 — Final: 3 – 2

Bisons @ Calgary Dinos Nov. 11 — Final: 0 – 4

Bisons @ Calgary Dinos Nov. 12 — Final: 5 – 4 / OT

Bisons @ MacEwan Griffins Nov. 18 — 8 p.m.

Bisons @ MacEwan Griffins Nov. 19 — 4 p.m.

U of M Bisons — Women’s Volleyball

Bisons @ UBC Okanagan Heat

Nov. 4 — Final: 0 – 3

Bisons @ UBC Okanagan Heat Nov. 5 — Final: 1 – 3

Brandon Bobcats @ Bisons Nov. 18 — 6 p.m.

Brandon Bobcats @ Bisons Nov. 19 — 5 p.m.

U of M Bisons — Men’s Basketball

Alberta Golden Bears @ Bisons

Nov. 4 — Final: 81 – 100

Alberta Golden Bears @ Bisons Nov. 5 — Final: 88 – 93 / 2OT

Bisons @ Fraser Valley Cascades Nov. 11 — Final: 73 – 61

Bisons @ Fraser Valley Cascades Nov. 12 — Final: 92 – 53

U of M Bisons — Men’s Football

Conference Playoffs Hardy Cup Semifinal:

Bisons @ Saskatchewan Huskies

Nov. 5 — Final: 9 – 37

U of M Bisons — Men’s Hockey

Bisons @ Alberta Golden Bears

Nov. 4 — Final: 1 – 7

Bisons @ Alberta Golden Bears Nov. 5 — Final: 1 – 7

Calgary Dinos @ Bisons

Nov. 11 — Final: 8 – 2

Calgary Dinos @ Bisons Nov. 12 — Final: 4 – 2

MacEwan Griffins @ Bisons Nov. 18 — 7 p.m.

MacEwan Griffins @ Bisons Nov. 19 — 2 p.m.

U of M Bisons — Men’s Volleyball

Nov. 4 — Final: 2 – 3

Nov. 5 — Final: 3 – 0 UBC

Nov. 11 — Final: 0 – 3 UBC

Nov. 12 — Final: 3 – 0

Nov. 18 — 7:45 p.m. Brandon Bobcats @ Bisons Nov. 19 — 6:45 p.m.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Western

Nov. 13 — Final: 20 – 28 Grey Cup:

Nov. 20 — 5 p.m.

Winnipeg Jets

Montreal Canadiens @ Jets

Chicago

Dallas

Jets

Nov. 3 — Final: 2 – 3 / OT

Nov. 5 — Final: 0 – 4

Nov. 8 — Final: 1 – 5

Nov. 12 — Final: 2 – 3

Nov. 13 — Final: 3 – 2 / OT

Anaheim Ducks @ Jets Nov. 17 — 7 p.m.

Pittsburgh Penguins @ Jets Nov. 19 — 6 p.m.

Carolina Hurricanes @ Jets Nov. 21 — 6:30 p.m.

sports@themanitoban.com photo / Brooke Jones / provided

On a snowy Saturday afternoon, the Bisons fell to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in the Hardy Cup semifinal game 37-9.

photos / Heywood Yu / provided

The herd swims into podium finishes

Bisons women impress at championship meets

Quinn Mayhew, staff

The U of M Bisons swim team took on the 2022 Odlum Brown Colleges Cup on Nov. 5 and 6, where it both triumphed and fell short of expectations.

With Kelsey Wog aging out of varsity swimming, the team had a difficult time earning points in events that would have been easily mon opolized by Wog in this year’s Colleges Cup.

Last year with Wog racking up points, the U of M ranked fifth in the U Sports results tally for the months of Nov ember and December. After the recent results from this year’s Colleges Cup, the swim team ranks seventh, fall ing two spots from last year’s results.

Even without Wog compet ing, the team prevailed, with a total of five podium fin ishes accomplished by Dora Modrcin, Megan Mozill and the women’s 4x50 freestyle relay team.

Modrcin medalled in both the 50-metre backstroke and 50-metre butterfly, coming in first in the backstroke with a time of 28.03.

Mozill swept up two of the other podium finishes, com ing in second place for both the 100 and 200-metre back stroke.

The herd continued to roll into podium finishes with the women’s 4x50 freestyle relay, in which Hannah Schanel, Kelsey Fillion, Georgia Pen gilly and Modrcin placed third.

With the women’s portion of the swim team keeping the U of M in the upper tier of the U Sports rankings, the men’s side struggled with the highest men’s squad finish as eighth place in the 4x50 free style relay, and Carson Beggs finishing ninth place in the 100-metre breaststroke as the highest men’s individual fin ish.

With the results of the Col leges Cup meet still fresh, the Bisons hosted the Bisons Sprint IM Invitational on Nov. 12.

The meet yielded impres sive results, with five first place finishes — from Modrcin, Fillion and Brayden Stacey — and many members of the team achieving per sonal bests.

One of the many feats from the weekend included Andriy Usan taking off time of his 100-metre individual medley, finishing with a time of 1:03.93 and coming in sixth.

Another notable perform ance came from Cameryn Car los, who finished third in the 50-metre butterfly.

The recent individual per sonal bests the herd is achiev ing could potentially put pres sure on them to perform well in upcoming meets.

With the Canada West Championships at the end of November, the expectations for the new rookies seem to be mounting under the high accomplishments the team’s

veterans keep achieving. While the women of the team achieved all the podium finishes and made up most of the points, the men have some big shoes to fill in the upcom ing championships of the sea son if they want to contribute to the U of M’s U Sports rank ings.

The next meet for the herd

are the Canada West Cham pionships which will be held from Nov. 25 to 27. With all the momentum and spirit that is building, fans can hope that the swim team will continue to achieve podium finishes.

sports@themanitoban.com

Bison briefs

Bisons basketball

Both Bisons basketball teams kicked off their regular seasons on Nov. 4 and 5.

The men’s team started the season off strong, handing the University of Alberta Golden Bears squad its first regular season loss in over a year.

The game was an eventful one with the teams neck and neck up until the last quarter, where the Bisons took con trol of the game and never lost the lead to the Golden Bears, trampling Alberta 10081. Impressively, five of the Bisons players scored points in the double digits, Elijah Lostracco leading the team with 24 points.

The second game was a double-overtime thriller, the Bisons defeating the Golden Bears 93-88. It was first-year

Simon Hildebrandt who put up a great fight at the end of the game, making both free throws near the end of second overtime to secure a Manitoba 90-88 lead. With strong defence from Isaac Miller-Jose, the Bisons came together to finish the game tri umphantly with a five point 93-88 win.

Unfortunately, the women’s team did not have such a suc cessful weekend, with both games ending in a loss.

The first game against the University of Alberta Pandas was intense. The game was close up until the fourth quar ter when Alberta pulled ahead by 15 points. Although, with strong efforts from Lauren Bartlett and Autumn Agar, the Bisons were able to nar row the lead, finishing off the game only five points behind

the Pandas, 69-64.

The women’s team strug gled throughout their second game of the weekend. As each quarter passed, Alberta con tinued to pull ahead, with a halftime score of 38-28. Despite the growing point gap, Manitoba never stopped trying and continued to put up a good fight. The Pandas won game two 79-55.

This last weekend, the men’s team trampled over the University of the Fraser Val ley Cascades 73-61 and 92-53, respectively. The women’s team lost their two games against the Cascades 84-54 and 69-58.

— Katie Kirkwood, staff

Bisons football

The U of M Bisons foot ball team fell short in a blus

tery Snow Bowl against the Saskatchewan Huskies in the Hardy Cup semifinal game Nov. 5.

A rematch of last year’s Hardy Cup final, the Huskies triumphed over the Bisons 37-9.

The snowy conditions were the largest factor in the game, where field position became king.

The herd only had two points in the first half off a Saskatchewan safety, while the Huskies walked into half time with a 26-2 lead.

In the early minutes of the second half, Manitoba came to life with Bison defensive line man Collin Kornelson inter cepting the ball off a tip from fellow defensive lineman Tristan Francis.

Three plays later, on a dar ing third and eight from the

Saskatchewan 30-yard line, quarterback Des Catellier threw for a touchdown to receiver De Shawn Le Jour, cutting the Saskatchewan lead to three possessions after a Niko DiFonte extra point.

However, the Bisons come back would stop there, only winning the third quarter on the lone touchdown drive of the game. The Huskies would go on to put up another 11 unanswered points in the fourth, securing their place in the Hardy Cup final.

The silver lining of the herd’s season is Catellier becoming the Bisons all-time passing leader.

— Grace Anne Paizen, staff

photo / Faith Peters / staff