11 October 2023

News 3

Cruz-ing to victory

Former UMSU president becomes youngest woman

MLA in Manitoba history

Editorial 7

Unhappy birthday

Winnipeg’s 150-year history built on legacy of settler-colonialism

Comment 10

A Ki-new day

NDP majority government may be just what the province needs

Arts & Culture 14

Shop local, shop weird

Winnipeg Punk Rock Flea Market set to take over University Centre

Sports 20

Challenge accepted

Womens soccer gets leg up against U of W in first leg of Duckworth Challenge

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News

pages 3 to 4

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Research & Technology pages 5 to 6

Editorial page 7

Comment pages 8 to 12

Diversions

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Arts & Culture

pages 14 to 15

Sports

pages 17 to 20

This week’s cover: Jory Thomas is a Métis student at the University of Manitoba studying environmental design in the faculty of architecture. She is passionate about sharing her culture through her work and her art. This piece, titled “ The Wandering Bison,” relates to her family clan (Bison clan) and how she is proud to be one of the first in her family to be part of the U of M herd. The main colour in the piece, orange, is meant to symbolize reconciliation, a process that we must continue to work towards both in this city and on this campus.

Jelynn Dela Cruz youngest woman MLA in MB history

Former UMSU president is second youngest MLA elected in Manitoba

colton McKillop, staff

Jelynn Dela Cruz, born and raised in Winnipeg’s Radisson riding, is 23 years old. When Ed Schreyer was elected as the youngest MLA in Manitoba’s history, he was 22.

Last Tuesday, Dela Cruz, a former UMSU president, was elected MLA for Radisson, becoming the second youngest MLA in Manitoba’s history and the youngest woman ever elected to the legislature in the province.

Last Tuesday’s race saw Manitoba New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Dela Cruz defeat two-term Manitoba Progressive Conservative (PC) incumbent and Minister of Consumer Protection and Government Services James Teitsma by a margin of over 1,100 votes. Dela Cruz rode an orange wave that ousted the PCs and handed the NDP a majority government.

Dela Cruz called it “humbling in a way” to be one of the youngest people ever elected in Manitoba politics, and said she hopes someone breaks her record in future.

“I am just honoured to be the person at the table when it

comes to discussing solutions for a lot of the challenges that us youth have inherited,” she said.

Student politics and provincial advocacy went handin-hand for Dela Cruz. She got involved amid protests against Bill 31 — a piece of PC government legislation that lifted a cap on tuition increases. She said she attended a Canadian Federation of Students rally weeks before she began her first class at university.

“For me it was outrageous that so many sweeping changes were being made to post-secondary after we’d just seen those same changes be proposed to health care,” she explained. “It kind of set the tone for what was to come in the future years of the Conservative government that we managed to defeat in this election.”

Dela Cruz believes her time at UMSU helped her become familiar with the various political entities working in Manitoba and the process of lobbying and policy research.

During her time with the student union, she helped found the Manitoba Alliance of Post-Secondary Students,

NDP wins majority government

Kinew to be first provincial First Nations premier, Stefanson, Lamont resign

colton McKillop, staff

The Manitoba New Democratic Party (NDP) defeated the incumbent Manitoba Progressive Conservative (PC) party in last Tuesday’s provincial election, securing 34 seats against the PCs’ 22, forming a majority government and making NDP leader Wab Kinew the first First Nations premier in Canadian provincial history.

The night also saw the departure of two party leaders, as PC leader Heather Stefanson and Manitoba Liberal party head Dougald Lamont — who lost his seat to NDP challenger Robert Loiselle — both announced their resignations from leadership. Stefanson retained her seat in a race that saw her defeat NDP candidate Larissa Ashdown by just 263 votes.

By the end of the night, the Liberals had gone from three seats in the legislature to one. Then-leader Lamont told CBC News following his conces-

sion speech that the party was “basically wiped out.”

Long-time Liberal MP Jon Gerrard lost his seat in River Heights — one he had held since 1999 — to NDP candidate Mike Moroz. Cindy Lamoureux, the Liberal incumbent for Tyndall Park, held on to her seat.

Kinew asked Liberal voters to consider the NDP at the Sept. 21 leaders’ debate and a campaign event in Lamont’s riding of St. Boniface the week before the election.

The NDP ran a campaign centred on health care, promising to build new emergency rooms, increase surgical capacity and recruit hundreds of new health-care workers as part of what the party calls “the biggest health recruitment campaign in Manitoba’s history.”

The NDP received 45.5 per cent of the popular vote, with the PCs trailing at 42.1 per cent and the Liberals earning 10.6 per cent.

a provincial student advocacy group that represents more than 72,000 students, alongside former UMSU vice-president advocacy Kristin Smith.

“I think that really provided a taste of what it would be like in the legislature and speaking to even larger widespread policy,” she said.

She also highlighted the opportunities she had as UMSU president “to sit across the table — of course, over Zoom for the most part” from government ministers and opposition representatives with viewpoints across the political spectrum.

Dela Cruz also served on the U of M board of governors and senate, along with the university’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Task Force and COVID-19 Steering Committee.

After UMSU, she also worked for L’Arche Winnipeg, a charitable organization that provides supports such as job

training for people with intellectual disabilities.

Dela Cruz said one common trend she has encountered throughout her involvement in politics “is that a lot of folks around our age are unfortunately apathetic.”

“Meanwhile, there’s a whole lot of good that we can do together when we speak up for the things that concern us and the things that we’re passionate about,” she said.

“The youth as a whole have the potential to shape our future, not tomorrow, but today, and it’s a matter of motivating each other and bringing as many of our friends along for the ride as possible.”

Dela Cruz noted that student and provincial politics deal with many of the same issues, such as the rising cost of living and access to health care.

“Many international students to this day don’t have

access to the public healthcare system and that’s something that the NDP has vowed to bring back,” she said.

The PC government repealed legislation that granted international students free access to universal health care in 2018.

Dela Cruz said young people hoping to get involved in politics should consider what impacts them personally, as well as their communities and the rest of society, and should think about how these issues are interrelated.

“Us university students, we are a good example of people that need support in this community or in this province, and there’s a lot of inspiration and a lot of emotion that can be channelled for change through our own personal experiences.”

news@themanitoban.com

MuKa some music

Musical Kaleidoscope merges culture and music for UM students

Sarah cohen, staff

Musical Kaleidoscope is a place on campus where culture and music collide.

The club, called MuKa for short, is focused on this idea of bringing people from a variety of cultural backgrounds together to make music, according to second-year medical physics PhD student and president of MuKa Kaihim Wong.

“This is a club to see the potential of merging different cultures and instruments together in a song,” Wong said.

The club is brand new, having only formed in September, but its future is looking busy. In addition to music itself, Wong said club members may collaborate on music-related projects. The club is considering podcasts as a way to give people with musical backgrounds the opportunity talk about their musical journeys. This could serve as a way for those who may not be able to commit lots of time toward making music regularly with the group to get involved.

The group welcomes anyone who loves music, whether they have experience with an instrument or not. Wong said those with lit-

tle to no instrument experience who still love music and want to participate are welcome to shadow different music-making sessions the club puts together.

For those who do know how to play, MuKa welcomes all kinds of instruments from all cultures to join the team. The club’s intention is “ Once joined, members can help plan events or just participate in them. Events could range from just jamming to making music from scratch.

It is not necessary to be a formal member to attend MuKa meetings or events. To join the club, email the group at musicalkaleidoscopeum@gmail.com. .

Wong said that there is no set meeting time or place MuKa yet, but if the club does not secure a space, it will proceed virtually.

The group is planning on hosting its first event soon with the hopes of spreading the word about its existence. Details of the event are still being determined, but more information will be made available on the club’s Instagram, @muka_um.

photo / Jelynn Dela Cruz / provided

City council shows support for Ukrainian sister city

Mayor’s office announced $15,000 contribution toward rehabilitation centre in Lviv

Aahan rajput volunteer

W

innipeggers met

Mayor Scott Gillingham’s affirmation of support for Lviv, Ukraine, with chants of “Slava Ukraini! Heroiam slava!” outside city hall last month.

On Sept. 28, the City of Winnipeg gathered to recognize the 50th anniversary of Winnipeg’s sister city relationship with Lviv.

Gillingham and Joanne Lewandoski, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Manitoban Provincial Council, were present for the announcement.

In 1973, Winnipeg mayor at the time Stephen Juba signed a sister city friendship agreement between Winnipeg and Lviv with the “goal of mutual respect, understanding and co-operation,” said Gillingham.

“Winnipeg is a city with deep Ukrainian connections,” coming from both immigration and its sister city

relationship with Lviv, Gillingham said.

He thanked Winnipeggers for welcoming Ukrainians who have come to the city over the past two years to live in Winnipeg permanently or to temporarily escape Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Gillingham looks forward to formally reaffirming the sentiments in November.

“Now more than ever, it is important that we show the people of Ukraine our support,” he said.

Gillingham announced that a $15,000 contribution from the mayor’s office budget will go to the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Centre in Lviv. The centre was an initiative that the Lviv city council chose for Winnipeg

that provides adults and children affected by the war with physical and psychological assistance.

The first Ukrainians immigrating to Manitoba arrived in the 1890s, and they were followed by thousands more, explained Lewandoski.

terms of “family, friendship, history and culture,” said Gillingham.

to support. UNBROKEN is a medical rehabilitation centre

UNBROKEN has already treated thousands of war victims and “will no doubt treat many more,” said Lewandoski.

Manitoba is full of people with Ukrainian heritage, she said.

With 100,000 Winnipeggers who identify as being of Ukrainian descent, there remain many connections between the two cities in

Gillingham reiterated that his “support for Ukraine remains unwavering.”

Mé tis journal co-founded by UM prof launches first issue

First Canadian journal to focus on specific nation will also feature poetry, stories

colton McKillop, staff

A new academic journal co-founded by a U of M professor and dedicated to showcasing Métis thought launched its first issue at the end of September.

The first journal in Canada to focus on work by members of a specific Indigenous nation, Pawaatamihk will feature sections devoted to poetry, visual culture and community stories in addition to academic papers and book reviews.

Lucy Fowler, one of the journal’s co-founders, co-editors and an assistant professor in the U of M faculty of education, acknowledged that there are journals that focus on Indigenous topics generally, “but some folks in our circles talked about how they didn’t always get to share their perspectives as Métis people in those spaces,” she said.

“There’s so much amazing Indigenous scholarship out there that there’s just not enough space.”

She also noted that many mainstream journals lack the network of Métis scholars needed to support reviews of books on Métis content, leading to articles not being pub-

lished. To address this, the editors of Pawaatamihk are building up a community of reviewers, which Métis scholars and community members can sign up for through the journal’s website.

Fowler said about 46 people initially signed up to offer their expertise, with more contacting them since the journal launched.

“So, there’s plenty of people that do this work and want to share their expertise and want to share that load,” she said.

Fowler said she and other Métis women scholars “from across the homeland” came up with the idea for the journal in 2022 while planning Mawachihitotaak, a Métis studies symposium.

“We decided that we needed a place to be able to publish for our people, that would be centring Métis voices and prioritizing those experiences and so we decided, ‘we’ll just start it ourselves,’” she said.

Fowler serves on Pawaatamihk’s Circle of Editors as co-editor for all scholarly submissions, alongside other Métis women.

“Typical journal boards are kind of hierarchical with a senior editor and then editors

beneath them, but we wanted to make this reflect our own worldviews and our own priorities as Métis women,” she said.

“We decided instead of having a hierarchical structure we would have a circle of editors, and so we all take on different roles within the backend of the journal to keep everything going and divide the workload that way.”

The name of the journal, a Michif and Cree word that approximately translates to “collective dreaming” or “a group of people dreaming,” was given to the Circle of Editors by Elder Verna DeMontigny following a meeting in November of 2022. The theme of the journal’s first issue celebrates dreaming.

The journal is open access and strives to include beginner scholars, thinkers who are 2SLGBTQIA+ or gender diverse and community members from outside academia.

The first issue will feature scholarly papers exploring research methodologies and theoretical approaches to analysis of Métis film. Pawaatamihk will also showcase a featured artist every issue.

“We started this edition with a feature on Jennine Krauchi who’s a really wellknown Métis beader here in Winnipeg,” she said, adding that an image of Krauchi’s work serves as the cover for the journal’s first edition. Fowler acknowledged that an academic journal featuring art or poetry is “not very common.”

“We really wanted to include it and forefront it in the journal because we believe so strongly in the knowledge of our communities and recognizing it as on the same level as academic research,” she explained.

She described the community stories section of the journal as a way for Métis people to share family stories, profiles of people within their communities and ideas

in a “less academically rigorous” form.

“Folks could share about activists in their community who are doing really important work that we don’t necessarily read about because it’s not deemed as academic, or it’s not written about in a research context,” Fowler said.

Pawaatamihk is open to all academic disciplines and may publish special themed issues in the future. Fowler hopes to eventually see an issue dedicated to Métis science.

Pawaatamihk is accepting submissions for its upcoming issue. The deadline to submit is Nov. 1.

news@themanitoban.com

photo / Lucy Fowler / provided

“Now more than ever, it is important that we show the people of Ukraine our support”

— Scott Gillingham, Winnipeg mayor

Research & Technology

Assistant professor sheds light on safer substance use

Supervised consumption, changing public perception key aspects of harm reduction

elah Ajene, staff

Harm reduction, a critical approach to addressing substance use issues, forms the foundation of assistant professor in the college of nursing Em Pijl’s research program. At its core, this set of strategies seeks to minimize the negative effects associated with substance use while recognizing the complex factors that contribute to it.

Pijl’s interest in harm reduction can be traced back to her prior work experience in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, one of Vancouver’s oldest neighborhoods and an area that has faced elevated rates of drug use.

This background naturally led Pijl to a continued focus on the same demographic, shaping the course of her research pursuits.

Now at the U of M, her work encompasses various critical aspects of harm reduction — including supervised consumption sites, opioid agonist therapy, safe supply initiatives and changing public perceptions of harm reduction.

Supervised consumption sites offer a controlled and safe environment for individuals to consume substances under medical supervision. Pijl explores the clinical and public health merits of such facilities, emphasizing that supervised consumption sites play a pivotal role in saving lives and reducing harm.

Opioid agonist therapy, another aspect of Pijl’s research, involves managing opioid addiction. Pijl focuses on finding ways to help successfully treat those with addictions to substances like fentanyl and heroin.

Safe supply initiatives aim to provide individuals with a safer source of drugs opposed to obtaining substances from a tainted supply.

“If we can provide people with a safer supply of drugs instead of a tainted supply, then there should be fewer opioid-related deaths,” Pijl said.

A significant part of Pijl’s research delves into understanding public perceptions of supervised consumption sites and harm reduction strategies.

Pijl is intrigued by the dichotomy in public opinion where some people fully support harm reduction initiatives, while others remain

resistant to their implementation despite having access to substantial information supporting the effectiveness of these strategies.

“I’m doing some work with people in other faculties as well, including sociology and psychology, to understand why some people have

services to these areas.

all the information and they still reject these services,” she said. She seeks to unravel the underlying reasons behind this divide, examining how emotions and cognitive biases influence individuals’ stances on harm reduction.

Additionally, Pijl extends her research into rural, remote and Indigenous communities in Manitoba, addressing the unique challenges faced when delivering harm reduction

She said a lack of supervised consumption sites in Manitoba has been a notable issue. Currently, Winnipeg has a mobile overdose prevention site run by Sunshine House, which began operating last October. However, the site does not receive any provincial funding. The government’s resistance to implementing such programs despite evidence of their efficacy remains a challenge, she said.

“Things may change with the change in government, but the government in Manitoba so far has actually withstood all our efforts to get supervised consumption programs in Winnipeg for these drugs,” she added.

Pijl emphasized the need for increased harm reduction services in Manitoba — viewing substance use and addiction not merely as individual problems but as public health

concerns demanding comprehensive solutions.

“I think Manitoba really needs to step up its game,” she said.

She stressed that the opioid crisis cannot be ignored and proactive measures are needed to address it.

Through her research, Pijl has found that the barriers to harm reduction are multifaceted.

Pijl said that the emotional responses of individuals, often rooted in deeply ingrained biases, serve as a significant barrier to the implementation of harm reduction strategies. She emphasized the need for productive dialogue that bridges the gap between opposing viewpoints, moving beyond divisive rhetoric.

meaningful action in Manitoba due to a lack of support from the government.

The lack of resources dedicated to mental health services compounds the problem. Pijl emphasized that access to treatment and rehabilitation remains limited, leaving many individuals struggling with addiction without adequate support.

“If Manitoba doesn’t have the resources to help people who are really struggling, then it’s just going to get worse,” she said.

Through her work, Pijl hopes to promote more productive dialogue regarding harm reduction.

“I wish we could come a little bit more towards the centre and try to understand each other just a little bit better so that we can have better conversations,” she said, “so that we can help people that are struggling without losing sight of some of the contextual pieces at play.”

She added that political leaders who dismiss scientific evidence and lack an understanding of the existing literature pose another significant hurdle, citing the report titled “Harm Reduction services in Winnipeg: A Consolidating Report and Call to Action,” which covers roadmaps that have failed to translate into research@themanitoban.com

graphic / Teegan Gillich / staff

“I think Manitoba really needs to step up its game”

— Em Pijl, U of M assistant professor in the college of nursing

Advancing microbial knowledge

Exploring the department of microbiology Cardona lab

elah Ajene, staff

How do bacteria thrive in diverse environments, including in the human body during infections and in industrial settings?

These types of simple yet profound questions are explored by members of the Cardona Lab to understand bacterial growth.

Led by U of M professor and associate head of graduate affairs in the department of microbiology Silvia Cardona, the Cardona Lab comprises approximately 10 members. This diverse team includes post-doctoral fellows, PhD students, master’s students and undergraduate researchers — each contributing to the lab’s dynamic environment and engaging in cutting-edge research from the undergraduate level onward.

“I’m happy to have people at different stages of training,” Cardona said.

The team’s research primarily focuses on deciphering the molecular mechanisms that govern bacterial growth, with an emphasis on essential functions crucial for bacterial survival.

The lab has different projects geared toward achieving this goal.

One of these projects involves using artificial intelligence (AI) to discover new antibiotics to combat infections, collaborating with researchers such as U of M associate professor in the department of chemistry Rebecca Davis, and Pingzhao Hu, U of M adjunct professor and Western University associate professor.

The team harnesses AI to predict the antibacterial properties of small molecules. Subsequently, these predictions are validated through laboratory experiments, allowing for the identification of potential antibiotics.

Once antibacterial activity is confirmed, the next phase involves investigating its mechanism of action. This

process seeks to understand how the antibacterial compound kills bacteria or inhibits bacterial growth, a critical step in antibiotic development.

Cardona and the team employ AI to predict the mechanism of action. These predictions are then verified through experimentation, often involving extensive collections of bacterial mutants — bacterial strains which have undergone genetic mutations, leading to alterations in their genetic composition

The use of bacterial mutants is instrumental in pinpointing the precise mechanisms by which antibacterial compounds exert their effects. By observing how specific mutants react to these compounds, the team can decipher the intricate mechanisms responsible for inhibiting bacterial growth.

“By playing with these collections and seeing which

mutants are more sensitive or more resistant to the drug under investigation, then we find the mechanism of action of the drug,” Cardona said.

Notably, the lab published a paper in Nature Communications in early August. The research focused on using large collections of bacterial mutants to uncover the mechanisms of action of antibiotics, specifically beta-lactam antibiotics — which are currently among the most important and commonly prescribed drugs.

By exposing the mutants to antibiotics, the team identified key functions that, when targeted, could enhance the antibiotics’ effectiveness — a crucial step in the fight against bacterial pathogens.

Beyond antibiotic research, the Cardona Lab also dedicates its efforts to biotechnology.

The lab explores functions that can be used to control

bacteria in environmental settings, with a particular interest in bioplastic degradation. Collaborating with department of biosystems engineering professor David Levin, the team investigates ways to address the global challenge of plastic pollution.

Cardona’s journey into science was driven by an innate curiosity that blossomed during her teenage years.

“Molecular biology was a way that I could understand life,” she said.

Today, collaboration remains a cornerstone of the Cardona Lab’s success. Cardona emphasized the enthusiasm and shared passion for science that unites her team, as well as the supportive atmosphere within the department of microbiology and the broader scientific community.

“We all share the passion for advancing the research,” she said.

“It’s great to get all together

toward a common goal.”

The World Health Organization highlights antibiotic resistance as one of the major issues currently affecting health and development around the world. This issue is made worse by the improper and excessive use of antibiotics.

Plastic pollution, another global threat, has huge effects on biodiversity and the environment.

With the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and environmental challenges like plastic pollution, Cardona believes it is important to conduct research that contributes to the development of realworld solutions.

“I like to focus my research on things that are meaningful for people,” Cardona said.

research@themanitoban.com

photo

/ Ebunoluwa Akinbo / staff

It’s almost Winnipeg’s 150, but we really shouldn’t be celebrating

Manitoba’s capital city built on a legacy of settler violence

Simon Pensato, staff

Winnipeg will mark its 150-year anniversary on Nov. 8, 2023. In the lead-up to civic celebrations, it is important to look at what Winnipeg’s incorporation meant to people at the time.

The recent victory of premier-designate Wab Kinew’s Manitoba New Democratic Party (NDP) was historic. It also calls us to look back into why Kinew would become the first First Nations premier of this province, which was founded by Indigenous people, over 150 years after it joined Confederation in 1870.

The years immediately following Manitoba’s incorporation were characterized by Canadian intervention in Manitoban political processes. These interventions lent incoming Canadians more power in the region and promoted intense unchecked violence against First Nations and Métis people in the province.

Soldiers in the occupying army, led by Col. Garnet Wolseley, enacted a “reign of terror” against First Nations and Métis Manito -

bans. Racist mobs ransacked Métis-sympathetic newspapers, so reporting on incidents of violence was limited. Following the murder of Elzéar Goulet in 1870 and the violent assault on his daughter Laurette, those responsible saw no legal repercussions, although authorities knew who the attackers were.

Amid this reign of terror, in 1872 — two years after Manitoba was annexed to Canada — Manitobans participated in their first federal election.

Voters in the villages of St. Boniface and Winnipeg faced intimidation and assault when a group of racist Winnipeg settlers stormed across the Red River to demand the addition of several anglophone residents to the St. Boniface voter’s list.

Rioters shot and beat voters in the St. Boniface polling station before charging back across the river and enacting chaos on Winnipeg’s as-yet-unpaved streets. Fortunately, the shooter, James Farquharson, had bad aim, which is the only reason no one died.

One of the leaders of the 1872 election riot was Fran-

cis E. Cornish, who would become the first mayor of the city of Winnipeg in its inaugural election in January 1874.

Cornish was incredibly bigoted and bad-tempered. He often overtly insulted his opponents, referring to one fellow politician as a “full grown dog,” and the chief of provincial police as a “toad-eating Communist.”

As one of the first lawyers in the province at the time, Cornish was among those responsible for ensuring people engaged in racist attacks against Indigenous Peoples living in Manitoba got away with their crimes.

Some Manitoba residents had concerns about Winnipeg becoming the capital city of the province — several of those pushing for its incorporation were among those encouraging and participating in racist violence, including Cornish.

Dr. Curtis James Bird, a member of a prominent Métis family, had been formally appointed as coroner for the Council of Assiniboia before the Red River Resistance and

continued in this role in Louis Riel’s Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia. As the speaker of the legislative assembly of Manitoba, he ruled a proposal for Winnipeg’s incorporation to be out of order in 1873. After this, he was called out on the pretense of a medical emergency and attacked with either hot tar or oil.

Despite a reward of $1,000 offered to turn in those responsible, no one was ever charged in connection to this assault.

Winnipeg’s eventual incorporation in November of that year meant victory for those who had been attacking Indigenous Manitobans without recourse for the past three years. Cornish’s election win in 1874 cemented unchecked settler violence as an implicitly accepted fact of existence in the province.

Ingram beat a lawyer involved in the prosecution so badly he was blinded in one eye.

Cornish and Ingram both lost their jobs in 1875, but their time in power shows that settler-colonial violence was not only tolerated but an integral part of the fabric of our city.

Although I’ve lived in Winnipeg all my life, I didn’t learn about these events in either elementary or high school. It wasn’t until I got a job as a tour guide in Winnipeg’s Exchange District that I started learning more details about our foundation as a city. A lot of this information is scattered across the internet, on HTML pages maintained by dedicated amateur historians or in uploaded PDFs of texts like Alexander Begg’s and Walter R. Nursey’s 1879 book Ten Years in Winnipeg. When we celebrate historic milestones like Winnipeg’s 150-year anniversary or the inauguration of the first First Nations premier in Manitoba history, it is important to ask which stories are left out.

Cornish’s pick for the first chief of the Winnipeg Police Force, John S. Ingram, was also a participant in the 1872 election riot, and was similarly known for his violent behaviour. Following trials related to the election riot, editor@themanitoban.com

U of M prof soft on Putin An alumnus’s thoughts on a professor’s interactions with

Matt Soprovich, volunteer

Iwas reading a CBC News article last week about comments that Russian President Vladimir Putin made regarding former Canadian Speaker of the House Anthony Rota’s resignation. Rota had invited a former Nazi Ukrainian soldier to be honoured in Parliament.

This was when I came across a familiar name in a rather unfamiliar geographical location: University of Manitoba professor Radhika Desai in Russia.

I am an alumnus of the department of political studies and I am a former student of Prof. Desai. I cannot say that I aligned with all of her positions at the time, but after finding out that she had spent part of last week shilling for warmongerer Putin, I found her actions to be particularly disgusting.

According to Aurora Student, most Thursdays professor Desai has scheduled classes. Last Thursday as of the time of publication, Desai was halfway across the world in Sochi, Russia attending the annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club.

A discussion club may seem like a noble endeavour in a free and democratic society. However, in Putin’s Russia, public discourse is manipulated, and dissenters are repressed and punished. I would be shocked if this Valdai forum was anything more than premeditated theatre for Putin to stroke his own ego.

While in Sochi, Desai had the rare opportunity to ask Putin a question directly. Did she plead for him to stop his awful war? Did she demand answers for his many war crimes? Sadly, no.

Desai opened her comments by thanking Putin for

Russian president

Let me put it another way: Desai had the opportunity to publicly hold the war criminal Putin accountable for his actions. Instead, she chose to lick his boots and assist him in stroking his ego.

This act is repulsive and morally reprehensible.

Desai has shown no public remorse since. In a subsequent interview with the CBC, she said that Canadians have “convinced ourselves that basically everything Russian is bad.” That claim is a stretch at best. More accurately, basically everything today that results from Putin’s dictatorial rule is bad.

Putin led Russia into a war with Ukraine. That is bad. Hundreds of thousands have died. That is bad. Russian missiles struck a Ukrainian grocery store and killed more than 51 civilians on literally the same day that Desai was acting as Putin’s lackey. Professor Desai should not need it spelled out to her that these are terrible atrocities.

have attended this forum in order to “have dialogue with the other side.” There was a time in which this excuse may have been defensible, but due to Putin’s long list of cruel and genocidal actions, we are long past that point.

Further, Putin certainly does not deserve to have an academic travel from Canada to Russia in order to act as his stooge. There is nothing redeeming in Desai’s sick attempts to help paint Putin and his warmongering regime in a flattering light.

Rather, she is morally bankrupt.

Presumably, last Thursday Desai had a class to teach. Instead of teaching in person, she perplexingly travelled thousands of kilometres in order to make indefensible comments and lob softball questions to perhaps the most evil man in the world today. Desai should have stayed in class.

his talk at the forum, calling it “well informed” and “historically very instructive and thought provoking.” She next referred to the Canadian Parliament as “a laughingstock of the world” due to former Speaker Rota’s public gaffe.

Desai then baselessly claimed that Western democratic leadership is entrenched in “ignorant, hubristic notions.” She ended by lobbing a softball question to Putin, asking him what his thoughts on the Speaker Rota scandal were.

The olive branch that Desai

extended gave Putin the opportunity to denigrate his Western opponents, claiming that Rota was either an “idiot” or a “bastard.” He then went on to repeat one of the most egregious lies of the Russia-Ukraine War, namely that the purpose of Russia’s illegal invasion was the “de-Nazification” of the sovereign nation of Ukraine.

Putin’s remarks were prepared and questions from the audience had been submitted prior to the talk. The entire act was calculated and was political theatre from the start.

Desai claimed in that same CBC interview that her actions were motivated by “anti-Russian propaganda [that] has been wall to wall in countries like Canada,” and that the current war was provoked by the West. These disparages should be called out for what they really are: gutless parroting of popular false narratives propagated by government-controlled Russian state media. If Desai has any sort of examples of anti-Russian propaganda that allegedly pervade Canada right now, she must prove her claim.

To be clear, Putin is a liar, a warmongerer, and a barbaric aggressor. Putin does not deserve our sympathies. He does not deserve a public platform in which to perpetuate his lies. Desai claimed to

I believe that students of the University of Manitoba should expect more from their faculty. This is not a matter that students should shrug off. Everyone should expect better than this.

There is a vital importance to academic freedom. It is one of the pillars of institutions of higher learning. But there is also accountability to be had with freedom, and this should be considered well beyond the limits. If Desai has any moral backbone, she should resign from her position immediately for engaging in such a reprehensible act.

comment@themanitoban.com

graphic / Teegan Gillich / staff

Clear skies in Manitoba’s future

NDP’s election victory means new future for Manitoba

braden bristow, staff

After a long fifteen-hour shift serving my beautiful province working for Elections Manitoba, enduring a paper cut and a nick from a pair of scissors, I came home to good news.

On Oct. 3, the 43rd General Election in Manitoba came to a thrilling end, and that’s when we heard: the Manitoba New Democratic Party (NDP) would form a majority government.

Well, to be fair, “good news” is an opinion until the NDP proves itself as leader of this province, but I am optimistic. Having won 34 out of the necessary 29 seats to secure a majority in the Legislative Assembly, the NDP finds itself in a comfortable position going forward.

Not only was the NDP victorious, but Dougald Lamont, leader of the Manitoba Liberals, and Heather Stefanson, leader of the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives (PC), both stepped down as leaders of their respective parties.

Wab Kinew, leader of the NDP, has become the first Indigenous premier in Manitoban history since Anglo-Métis premier John Norquay

was in office between 1878 and 1887, and the first First Nations premier in Canadian provincial history.

But enough talk about the elections, let us look at what the NDP has in store for Manitoba. A major piece of the NDP’s platform has been fixing the disastrous state of the health-care system brought about by the Conservative government led by ex-premier Brian Pallister, and more recently, Stefanson.

Within the realm of health care, the NDP promises to hire the 300 nurses cut by the PCs, construct three new emergency rooms in Winnipeg and hire and educate numerous additional health-care professionals such as doctors and nurses.

If the NDP keeps true to these promises, the party could revolutionize health care in the province and save lives that would have been lost under the PCs’ tenure.

Having personally sat with my grandmother — who was experiencing severe pain — in Grace Hospital for 10 hours, I can attest that the health-care system in this province is in

free fall.

The NDP also promises to build additional social housing and more affordable housing. The key terms are “social” and “affordable.” The 2021 Census showed that there is a discrepancy between the number of dwellings in Manitoba, 571,528, and the number of occupied dwellings, 518,054. Were the issue of homelessness in Manitoba simply a result of lack of homes to go around, the difference between these figures would be smaller.

Meanwhile, the PCs sold

sures, but apparently, this has not been the case until now.

Every day that passes without these crises being resolved is a day a Manitoban’s life is at risk — or simply worse off — than it should ever have to be. The 2022 Health Status of Manitobans Report found that 13,699 Manitobans died potentially avoidable deaths between 2012 and 2016.

more social housing units than they even bothered building over the past 7 years.

On a moral level, one would hope that an empty home and a person lacking a home is an easy equation to solve. However, our society does not operate on what is most moral. Health care and housing are critical issues. Ideally, I would also like to think that keeping Manitobans alive is more important than the money saved on budget cuts and clo-

Furthermore, 1,256 Winnipeg residents experienced homelessness in 2022. These issues are both preventable and fixable. While not every death can be avoided and not every person can be taken off the street, there are clearly problems in this province that have simply not been addressed.

The PCs have brought us to the precipice of this crisis. You may feel that is simply because they are the victim of conditions greater than themselves or because they actively degraded these systems. My opinion is firmly the latter. Regardless of the cause, the PCs have failed to do anything about it, but the NDP has promised to at least try.

promises that I find exciting for several reasons. Some are devious ideological reasons — such as watching the province descend into communist NDP rule. Others are basic moral reasons, such as not wanting people to suffer needlessly. Of course, until the NDP proves itself on the battleground that is the Legislative Assembly, its promises are just that: promises.

Don’t get me wrong, the victory of the NDP over the PCs is major, and the election of an Indigenous premier is a victory in and of itself. But I will hold my applause until the NDP shows it is trying its best as the leader of our province and using its newfound power to help Manitobans.

That being said, I would prefer an ineffective progressive government over a conservative government frothing at the mouth looking at the potential financial gains of privatizing tap water.

The NDP has numerous comment@themanitoban.com

graphic / Teegan Gillich / staff

The PCs have failed to do anything about it, but the NDP have promised to at least try

Canada’s housing crisis culmination of capitalism

There is no fixing what is fundamentally broken

Jessie Krahn, staff

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives closed out the better part of a decade of austerity consistently, if nothing else. The Manitoba government has reportedly sold off more social housing to the private sector than it funded over the past seven years.

This, after the Right to Housing coalition called on the province to supply 1,000 rent-geared-to-income housing units annually for 10 years, on top of maintaining existing stock. Although the province funded 287 projects, it sold off 374, leaving Manitoba’s social housing stock at a deficit of 87 since 2016.

The news hits harder as the so-called “housing crisis” looms over most young people’s futures in Canada. Housing in Toronto is ranked among the most overvalued housing markets in the world, surpassing cities like New York, Los Angeles and Paris.

Won’t the private sector simply fill in the vacuum left by social housing, offering cheap rental units to meet demand?

Unfortunately, no. As much as people love to gesture to a god-like figure of “the market” that keeps society well-oiled and running, the market will only make this problem worse. Writer Karl Beitel argues that not only will the market never supply housing affordable to most people who need it in urban centres, efforts to make housing cheaper — like densification and increasing supply — will not reduce prices “within the current capitalist context.”

What is being called a housing crisis is a crisis of capitalism. The public’s allergy to addressing the issue directly is permitting governments’ limpidly passive approaches to alleviating a disaster.

Well-intentioned critics of the housing crisis argue it’s a result of insufficient stock. Increased demand supposedly leads to shorter supply, and therefore prices increase when supply is scarcer. Offering more supply to meet demand theoretically ought to ease the currently burdensome cost of housing.

Economic truisms like supply and demand overlook vast swaths of reality. For one thing, land is a finite resource. Increasing the supply of land in downtown Toronto is impossible. We can only densify cities, building upwards and using the same land to house more people.

But even increasing supply through densification is

not the cost-reducing measure it seems. In cities that are already much more densely populated, the cost of building increases because hurdles like demolishing pre-existing structures protract development periods.

The longer a project takes, the more costly it becomes. This means it takes longer to recoup development costs and then turn a profit. In short, the market encourages developers to create luxury units that are out of reach for most people living in cities, because units with higher prices are quicker to yield a profit and justify investment.

In contrast, social housing does not need to turn a profit. There is no market pressure to do more than recoup costs on social housing.

Never mind the possibility that the supply already exists and is just managed improperly. CBC reported that while over 5,000 people are on the waitlist for Manitoba Housing units, nearly 2,000 units are currently sitting vacant in the province. Many of the units are in states of extreme disrepair, a sign of poor stewardship on the province’s part.

Even luxury units are often vacant in urban centres. Beitel points out that many luxury rental units are kept that way purely for the comfort of rich people who may use them

when they come into town.

Another huge question mark over housing supply is what effect short-term rental services like Airbnb have on the market. The company claims that listings on Airbnb account for less than one per cent of the market share in Canada, but that is not an insignificant amount when so many Canadians are squeezed.

Researchers from McGill found that in 2018 alone, over 31,000 units in Canada were likely taken off the rental market because they were used so often as Airbnbs. McGill researchers also found that in June of 2023, over 86 per cent of the short-term rental listings on the service were entire homes. In June 2023, researchers estimate there was a 19 per cent increase in rents in B.C. from 2022 because of the impact of short-term rentals.

While there is not enough data on Airbnb specifically, it undoubtedly is part of the problem.

University of Manitoba professor of economics Fletcher Baragar and University of Ottawa professor Mario Seccareccia explained in a 2008 paper that the home is the primary form of capital for many people. On top of that, there is a cultural expectation that housing will always — eternally — be a sound investment.

Beneath headlines about young people being priced out of home ownership, there is a deeper anxiety that without home ownership we will lose our best investment option and therefore prospects for social mobility or security.

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) does not promise a livable income in retirement. In fact, CPP payments are on average around $770 monthly. Without a house, what are we to do in our old age?

Disappearing homeownership opportunities wouldn’t be so bad if the rental ecosystem wasn’t atrocious. My rent will be increasing by almost 6 per cent next year. The increase tacks on more than an extra month’s rent to the annual amount the unit costs to lease. The company that owns my building justifies this increase because new flooring was installed in my building, and they divided the cost across all units.

New flooring wasn’t installed in my unit, though. The building has also had pharaoh ants since before I moved in, and the company does the bare minimum to deal with them.

requests are approved too. The price of rental two-bedroom units increased by over 11 per cent in 2022 and 2023 in Winnipeg.

Arguably, these increases ensure landlords can do necessary reparative work. But the thing is that repairs always add to the landlord’s capital, meanwhile stained carpeting, permanent pest problems and banged up cabinetry never depreciate even if they ought to.

This is the problem: the line cannot always go up. Housing as it is valued should not project growth into eternity because that is impossible and bad.

It is imperative that we understand exactly to what extent the market is exacerbating the housing crisis as well as how a lackadaisical government allows the problem to run wild. If we don’t, people start filling in the gaps with very troubling myths and hearsay. In particular, many Canadians have been convinced that Chinese investors have inflated the price of housing.

This is a Sinophobic myth that I suspect is derived from white people simply noticing people of East Asian descent more often. One report stated definitively this is a myth, which makes the feds’ decision to ban foreign investors for two years look ineffectual at best.

We have to stop averting our gaze from the real problem. What we call the housing crisis is a natural consequence of capitalism. Maintaining wealth inequality, where some people can afford lots of property and some people can’t, is extremely expensive for most of society.

The market will not save us. We need radical solutions to remedy a radically awful problem. One of those solutions is for the government to buy out the private sector and put those units out at a price that’s affordable to most people. This might require a combination of hefty vacancy taxes to outright expropriating properties hoarded by investment firms.

People need to start taking action. Tenants in Toronto are going on rent strikes in increasing numbers to protest colossal rent hikes. Ultimately, we have to de-financialize housing and demand our governments provide secure housing for all immediately.

As of Jan. 1, 2024, Manitoba’s rent increase limits will rest at 3 per cent, with any increases beyond that needing approval from the provincial government. Most above-guideline increase comment@themanitoban.com

graphic / Dallin Chicoine / staff

To complete Sudoku, fill the board by entering numbers 1 to 9 such that each row, column, and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely. In Straights, like Sudoku, no single number 1 to 9 can repeat in any row or column. But rows and columns are divided by black squares into compartments. Each compartment must form a “straight.” A straight is a set of numbers with no gaps but it can be in any order, eg [7,6,9,8]. 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.

Straights Puzzle by Syndicated Puzzles Puzzle by Syndicated Puzzles

“everything , everywhere” by Isaac Aserra Model : Danika Coulthard

Punk’s not dead: It’s back and shopping local

Winnipeg Punk Rock Flea Market coming to U of M Oct. 14 and 15

Jacob Davis, staff

With its foundation built on the love for Winnipeg’s long-standing music scene and DIY subculture, the Winnipeg Punk Rock Flea Market (WPRFM) is a DIY craft fair where the weird, the alternative or the simply curious can purchase goods made by local vendors from across Manitoba. From Oct. 14 to 15, WPRFM will be taking over the second-floor multi-purpose room in UMSU University Centre for its fall market, which will feature live DJs and over 90 vendors.

Em Curry, organizer of WPRFM, grew up in Winnipeg’s punk scene. They started going to concerts at a young age, and had an incredible experience being in an environment where they were accepted for who they were by like-minded individuals.

They said digging deeper into the punk and art scene reveals how full of talent the city and province is.

“I’ve always been so blown away by the arts community in Winnipeg and that we’re kind of on our own here,” Curry said. “We’re in the middle of the Prairies, we’re far away from a lot of stuff and so we’ve created our own culture and our own communities, and I think that’s really incredible and super important to continue to foster.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Curry returned to Winnipeg after living in the United States for several years. As lockdown measures ended and business began to reopen, Curry felt there was a lack of an alternative atmosphere within businesses and markets.

“I went to some markets and things like that and I just wasn’t really finding what I was looking for,” they said. “Where was the weird alternative stuff? Where was the stuff

that excited me personally?”

Drawing on their experiences with punk rock flea markets in the United States, Curry decided to take a stab at hosting their own market, and WPRFM was born.

The first WPRFM debuted back in April at the Orioles site of Valour Community Centre, and the turnout was beyond what Curry had anticipated.

“We initially assumed maybe 500 people would show up and that would be a great day — everyone would have celebrated that,” they said. “But it turned out more than double that amount of people showed up.”

Curry said the space was simply not designed to accommodate such a large turnout. To help meet the demand for space at the fall market, UMFM, the U of M’s campus radio station, came to Curry with a proposition.

UMFM station manager Jared McKetiak approached Curry about hosting the fall market at the U of M and sat down with them and their team to help make it happen.

McKetiak said he contacted Curry out of personal interest. He had attempted to attend the market back in April with his daughter, but they were unable to get in because of the length of the line.

This experience led him to consider the possibility of hosting a similar event on campus, something he said had crossed his mind in the past.

McKetiak is no stranger to the strange and unusual, having worked at, managed and frequented record stores for a number of years. One of his jobs was at the Music Baron, a record store downtown with a basement floor called The Cellar.

He described the music the Cellar sold as being “outside the lines,” and said a lot

of folks from the punk scene spent time at the store.

“Winnipeg has always had a really, really great DIY scene, very good punk scene, very good art scene, but I think that obviously, with the pandemic, folks were kind of forced into their homes and weren’t allowed to connect,” he said.

McKetiak liked the idea of bringing together those who might not usually be seen going to markets.

“My people are the weirdos and the freaks and the outsiders, and I don’t say that with any sort of disdain,”

he said. “That’s the kind of people I love.”

He added that UMFM has “always been kind of a haven for people who also like different things.”

UMFM will be tabling at the market as a way to go back to basics for station promotion. The station’s Instagram and Facebook pages have been blocked by Meta in response to Bill C-18, which requires tech companies to pay Canadian news organizations when using their links. Meta has responded to the bill by blocking all Canadian news

content on its platforms.

While it does not exclusively air news content, UMFM is required to produce a certain amount of local news as a community radio station, and so its accounts have also been affected by Meta’s ban.

Originally, WPRFM was going to kick off UMFM’s annual Pledge-O-Rama, a fundraiser it typically puts on every October. However, the station has decided to postpone the drive until April because of its limited ability to promote the effort on social media.

McKetiak said UMFM is planning a newsletter, and will be collecting names and emails for a subscriber list at the market. Those who sign up will have an opportunity to win a variety of different prizes ranging from stickers to tote bags and mugs.

For Curry, the long-term goal of the market is to make it into a “legacy event” that brings community together and supports local vendors two or three times a year.

Curry hopes that being in a bigger venue with the potential for an even bigger crowd is an exciting prospect for the makers and vendors involved in the event.

“Everything I do is to try and help them sell their goods and help them live out their dreams of being an independent artist, or making enough money to be a legitimate side hustle or whatever it is,” they said. “I want to help them do that.”

Winnipeg Punk Rock Flea Market will be held Oct. 14 and 15 from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the University Centre second-floor multi-purpose room.

arts@themanitoban.com

photo / Em Curry / provided

’Toban Listens: Lore

Exploring folklore, legends and historical stories that go bump in the night

Jacob Davis, staff

What was the first urban legend you ever heard?

For me it was “The Licked Hand,” a tale about a girl at home alone with her dog that ends with animal death and the phrase “humans can lick, too” written on the wall in blood.

When I heard the story for the first time at a sixth grade sleepover , my friends and I debated whether or not the version that had just been told was entirely authentic, as some of us knew another version with slightly different details.

Although we didn’t realize it at the time, we were participating in an oral tradition — keeping a folktale alive.

This repetition of oral tradition and speculating origins of stories is what Lore, a critically acclaimed podcast created and hosted by Aaron Mahnke with its own television adaptation, dives into in episodes.

Lore takes you through some of history’s darkest moments, examining stories riddled with superstition,

the supernatural and folklore. The podcast has been around for over eight years, debuting in March of 2015 with its first episode, “They Made a Tonic.”

The episode recounts and examines the 1892 Rhode Island Mercy Brown vampire incident, in which rural townsfolk exhumed the body of Mercy Brown, extracted some of her organs and burned them. They then made a tonic from the ashes and gave it to Brown’s brother, who was dying of tuberculosis, hoping that it would cure him.

Mahnke explains how this chain of events caused Brown to become known as the first American vampire, and talks about why, at the time, people believed it was logical to behave in a way we would now view as outrageous.

One of my favourite things about Lore, other than it being one of my first introductions to podcasts, is the empathy it brings to its stories. Mahnke puts listeners into the headspace of people who lived in a time where much was unknown and how through human ingenuity these stories formed, some still having

cultural significance and relevance in the present day.

Episodes of Lore tend to reach 30 minutes in length which could be perfect as ambience while commuting to campus or studying.

Despite running for more than eight years, the podcast hasn’t slipped in quality at all and has even extended its world. . In May of this year, Mahnke introduced a miniseries called Lore Legends that uploads in between Lore episodes.

Lore Legends concerns itself with legends that don’t have much historical proof behind them, but that have significant history themselves in society.. For instance, in the miniseries’ third episode, titled “Ghost Ships,” Mahnke discusses the sea and different tales of haunted ships and their ghostly inhabitants.

Even here in the miniseries, however, Mahnke still manages to provoke human empathy in me, which is why both Lore and Lore Legends excel at the “scary story” podcast format.

Mahnke understands that people are at the core of all

these tales. The retelling of their stories, whether in a half-hour podcast episode or by a bunch of kids at a sleepover arguing over the details, ensures that these figures are remembered.

With Halloween approaching, Lore is a fantastic way to prepare your palate for a holiday steeped in its own rich

history and legends.

Lore can be found on Spotify and at the Lore podcast website at https://www.lorepodcast.com/episodes.

arts@themanitoban.com

graphic / Teegan Gillich / staff

Recapping 2023 on the links

Bisons golf season wraps up for winter

Grace Anne Paizen, staff

The Bisons golf season wrapped up for the winter with the CanWest Championships last week from Oct. 2 to 3. Hosted by the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades, the tournament was played at the Ledgeview Golf Club in Abbotsford, B.C.

The team finished seventh overall in the tournament, with rookie Jose Mekish-Lacquette topping the Bisons leaderboard, shooting an impressive +10 over the two days on the par 70 course. Mekish-Lacquette shot only two over par during his second day on the Abbotsford links.

Bisons veterans Lachlan Allerton, Cole Peters and Trent Robertson shot +16, +20 and +24 respectively, while second-year golfer Jordon McDonald shot +27.

In comparison with other prairie schools and when accounting for the fact the B.C. teams can essentially play the links year-round, the Bisons put in a good performance at CanWest. According to Robertson, the championship was “tough,” as it rained “nonstop the first day.”

“There’s such fine margins and I just think we came out on the wrong side of those fine margins,” Robertson said regarding the tournament.

“Some guys did definitely step up in moments, like Jose and Lachlan played really nicely at times.”

While the championship was played on the same course over the tournament’s two

days, in some United Statesbased tournaments, the herd would see a different course each day.

“It can help to play the same course a few days in a row,” Robertson said.

“It’s nice to kind of figure out your lines, but at the same time, sometimes you play those courses and you struggle on a course on the first day and then you get to the new course and you can kind of forget about the things that happened yesterday.”

For his own part, Robert-

son does believe sometimes changing it up is better for the mental side of the sport.

“My record on some golf courses, I’ve bogeyed or double-bogeyed the same hole,”

of 2023, shouting out Jack Rudick’s day one performance at the St. Cloud Country Club course in mid-September, where he shot just three over par.

Robertson was also impressed by Allerton’s comeback in the Twin Cities Classic, where the veteran stormed back after going +14 in round one of the tournament, shooting one stroke under par his second day.

“Chase [Janas] put some good rounds together,” Robertson added. “Jose impressed me a lot. I think he’s got so much potential.”

Robertson also said golf coaches Derrik Goodwin and Devon Schade were completely supportive throughout the season and that “the team got a lot closer” as the season wore on.

Robertson explained.

“You get weird mental things like, ‘ah, I don’t like this hole.’”

As for the CanWest tournament, Robertson noted there were positives for the team,

however the herd was not thrilled with the results.

“We’re not necessarily happy with how we played,” Robertson said.

“We love the support, but also it’s important that people know we do have a standard we’re striving for and we kind of failed, but while we failed, we learned a lot.”

As for what to improve on going forward, Robertson said the team already has plans for the winter.

As the team awaits a hopeful wildcard placement at nationals in 2024, Robertson believes the herd’s performance at last season’s tournament merits the Bisons a spot.

The Bisons made the cut during last season’s nationals for the first time since 2018.

The team finished the tournament 10th overall, with Peters shooting +12, Robertson shooting +19 and Derek Benson shooting +28.

“I feel like we kind of earned a spot for nationals next year,” Robertson said.

Robertson also highlighted his teammates’ top moments sports@themanitoban.com

Sports teams’ schedules

photo / U of M Bisons Golf / provided

“I feel like we kind of earned a spot for nationals next year”

—

Trent Robertson, Bisons golf veteran

Get to know your Bisons: Brenna Nicol

Forward, women’s hockey

Grace Anne Paizen, staff

Bisons women’s hockey forward Brenna Nicol knows growing up in the small town of Nipigon, Ont. contributed to her love of the game.

“I think my dad had a pair of skates on me as soon as I could stand up,” Nicol said. “Every year he and a buddy down the street would make a backyard rink and I would be out there every night.”

With few sports being offered in the small town, Nicol fell in love with hockey. However, like many smalltown kids pursuing their dreams on the rink, it would literally be a long road for Nicol to pursue her passion.

“There [weren’t] really any options for competitive hockey in Nipigon,” Nicol explained. “I was playing boys every year and then there was a team in Thunder Bay — which is an hour away from Nipigon.”

Nicol said her dad and grandfather took turns driving her back and forth to play in Thunder Bay, an hour each way, “probably five days a week.”

“Then once I got to high school, it was just kind of like, ‘okay, we got to go on the path to billeting,’” Nicol said.

A common practice for young hockey players moving away from home to play on competitive hockey teams located in bigger cities, billeting places young hockey hopefuls into homes of families living in those cities.

“My billets were honestly just amazing to me,” Nicol said.

“I really am grateful for everything that they did for me those four years, and I owe them a lot to get me to where I am today.”

In Grade 11, Nicol was invited to a Bisons women’s hockey spring camp, not knowing she “was on the

coaching staff’s radar at all.”

In addition to the University of Manitoba being the closest U Sports school to Nipigon with a hockey program, Nicol credits fellow Bisons forward Molly Kunnas for helping her along the way to a career with the Bisons.

“I got to hear her experience with her recruiting process and hear what she thought about the team,” Nicol explained.

“I’ve been really good friends with Molly pretty much our whole lives. I started playing with her when I was around 10 years old [...] so that was a huge part in me coming here.”

Nicol also noted that after her U of M visit, she could see

that the school offered her what she wanted academically and hockey-wise.

In her third year of eligibility with the team this season, Nicol’s 2022-23 season was commendably impressive.

The forward scored her first U Sports goal against the MacEwan University Griffins last

katchewan Huskies. She averaged over one shot per game played last season with the herd, and in the regular season opening series game she played in this September against the Huskies, Nicol recorded two shots.

explained. “I landed a job and never looked back.”

Having spent three years as a firefighter, Nicol became a crew boss for the first time this summer, explaining her position as “a supervisor role in fire suppression tactics.”

“I wasn’t fully in charge,” Nicol said, “there was still someone on my crew above me, but my job was just to help things run a little more smoothly.”

Nicol loves the adrenaline rush that comes with the job despite the uncertainty that also comes with fighting wildfires.

“As soon as that alarm goes off, you’re on a helicopter and you’re taking off and you have no idea where you’re going and you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into,” Nicol continued. “You could be gone for one night, you could be gone for 14 nights.”

While Nicol enjoys the community of her off-season job, she takes that same reliability to the rink, focusing on being a player her teammates can count on “to be a physical presence and work hard.”“I might not score a million goals, but I’ll be working,” Nicol said.

November in a game where she also recorded an assist.

In fact, Nicol had six assists last year, including a fourgame streak of assists last November against the Griffins and the University of Sas-

While Nicol’s budding record on the ice is commendable enough, in the off-season, she fights wildfires. Stationed in Geraldton, Ont., approximately two hours away from Nipigon, Nicol had “always known about the fire base.”

“And then when COVID hit, I was 18 and I just decided to go take a weeklong course of wildland firefighting,” Nicol

Unsatisfied with how the women’s hockey season ended last year — the herd just missing the playoffs — Nicol and the Bisons are looking to harness their potential as a group this season and work on “getting better every day.”

As for life post-U Sports, Nicol is just happy to finish her degree and her run with the herd.

“I don’t have anything set in stone,” Nicol said.

“I’m kind of just taking it day by day and year by year.”

sports@themanitoban.com

photo

/ Matthew Merkel / staff

“I think my dad had a pair of skates on me as soon as I could stand up”

Brenna Nicol, Women’s hockey forward

The herd sweeps first leg of Duckworth Challenge Bisons women’s soccer dominates series against Wesmen

Grace Anne Paizen, staff

The Bisons women’s soccer team kicked off the Duckworth Challenge this past weekend with a bang. The herd swept the University of Winnipeg Wesmen, going 2-0 over the weekend, winning the first leg of the 202324 Duckworth Challenge and collecting some much-needed conference points.

The Duckworth Challenge was established in the 199192 season by Henry E. Duckworth, who held tenure as University of Winnipeg president and as University of Manitoba chancellor at different points in his career. The event was created with the intention of fuelling the cross-town rivalry between the two universities. Currently, the Bisons hold the most wins in the Challenge, with a record of 15-9-7.

The Challenge consists of men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s volleyball and women’s soccer, and is a best-three-out-of-five

series.

In women’s soccer, which was added to the Challenge in the 2013 season, the Bisons have dominated the Wesmen. The last time the Wesmen beat the Bisons in the regular season was in October of 2016.

The first game of the weekend series on Saturday afternoon at IG Field was incredibly physical. The herd dominated play, registering 26 shots — including 13 shots on the Wesmen’s net — while Bisons veteran goalkeeper Karina Bagi only faced six shots on net.

Rookie midfielder Lulu Bordeaux was in the starting lineup for still-injured defender Ava Memka, fitting right in with the veterans and making solid defensive plays.

Veteran forward Nicole Davis relentlessly pressed the Wesmen’s defence and forward Janelle Chomini pressured the Wesmen’s goalie late in

the second half.

The game remained tied until the 82nd minute, when rookie midfielder Taryn Cabak recorded her third goal of the season off a pass from defender Breyanna Johnston-Krulicki. The Bisons went on to record their third win of the season with the 1-0 finish, shutting out their cross-town rivals and winning the first contest of the Duck-

relentlessly once again, the herd’s second goal came minutes later with a header by rookie defender Evelyn Lekivetz — her first goal with the herd — off a Johnston-Krulicki corner kick.

The Bisons took a 2-0 lead into halftime, recording seven corner kicks in the first half alone.

herd had registered nine corners and eight shots on net in the 3-0 win.

Bagi faced four shots on net on the afternoon, securing back-to-back shutouts against the Wesmen for the herd. The Bisons goalie will have two more games this season to tie or surpass the women’s soccer program saves record.

worth Challenge.

The herd picked up where it left off in the second game against the Wesmen on Sunday afternoon. Making the trek to the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex, the Bisons opened the scoring early in the fifth minute of play with a fantastic corner kick from captain Jessica Tsai, who bent the ball straight into the net.

Pressing the Wesmen

The second half was more of the same with a late goal — and first of the season — by forward Paris Sidhu, putting the Bisons up 3-0. Johnston-Krulicki recorded her second assist on the day and third assist of the weekend with the goal.

There was a scary moment late in the game when Bisons forward Camila Goldsztein went down after knocking heads with Wesmen defender Sydney Arnold. Luckily, both players were able to walk off the pitch of their own accord.

With the weekend sweep, the Bisons leapt over the University of Regina Cougars in the standings, capturing fifth place in the Canada West Prairie Conference.

The herd will host the Cougars on Saturday at home on the West Turf Field before playing its final game of the regular season against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies at IG Field on Sunday.

By the end of the game, the sports@themanitoban.com

The last time the Wesmen beat the Bisons in the regular season was in October of 2016

photos / Matthew Merkel / staff