News

New political party enters provincial race

Keystone party aims to implement a ‘bottom up’ approach

Matthew Merkel, staff

the newly-formed Keystone Party registered with Elections Manitoba On June 28. This granted the party the ability to endorse candidates on a ballot in the next Manitoba provincial election.

Although the Keystone party is in its infancy, core ideals have already been developed that shape its identity.

According to the party’s “statement of principles,” the maintaining of Canadians’ rights and freedoms, preserving a capitalist system that promotes free trade and private business and the limitation of governmental powers with an emphasis on empowering local municipalities are distinct qualities of the party’s identity.

Keystone party leader Kevin Friesen believes that through this model his government may help address Manitobans’ most pressing issues. Roads, infrastructure, healthcare, education and reconciliation are on the top of his list.

According to Friesen, the issues the party aims to address are “hot topics” concerning Manitobans.

“We didn’t form just to get one thing done now. This is a long-term project, we hope that this is a viable option for a long, long, time.”

Friesen also said that his party can help students. He believes that students today are in a tough position and deserve programs that will set them up for long term success.

He said the recession that the province is entering will be “very, very difficult” for students.

“It’s going to be very hard to get their feet under them.”

One priority for Friesen is establishing programs to help students gain that footing,

“A lot of you are going to be entrepreneurs and you’re going to want to build businesses, you’re going to do those things and it’s going to be very challenging. I think we all have to work together to get things rolling in a very different direction than they are right now.”

Another topic that has quickly become an embodiment of the party is its position on measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. On July 15, Friesen expressed his disapproval of these measures while speaking at the party’s public launch at Vimy Ridge Memorial Park.

With a hard stance against COVID-19 measures, traditionally right-wing views and a colour scheme that contains mostly purple, similarities can be spotted between the Keystone party and the People’s Party of Canada.

Even so, Friesen says that there is no affiliation between the two parties. He says that the purple found within his party’s logo is the result of a lack of options available due to colours being chosen by other parties, and that the difference between the two parties is much more than meets the eye. Friesen points to his party’s “bottom up” approach, with less power centralized in leadership as the main difference between the two.

Friesen said that he does not believe the two parties will ever have an affiliation.

However, he does recognize that many have labeled the party as right-wing. Although this may be the popular opinion, Friesen does not agree. He says that the Keystone party holds many left-wing ideas, and claims that when compared to the other political parties in Manitoba, it sits relatively in the centre of the political spectrum.

“I honestly think that we are a centre party, and that politics have moved so far left that we look right,” Friesen said.

“We would definitely have a right leaning when it comes to things like fiscal responsibility and getting our province out of the hole that we’ve dug, so people would put us on the right as far as that is concerned. They would definitely put us on the right when it came to things like making the government smaller and less government involvement in peoples’ lives.”

“The two parties that are the majority of seats right now, they are so far left right now that we would definitely be right of them, but I would still say that we have a centre thinking.”

Dallin Chicoine / staff / graphic

“I honestly think that we are a centre party, and that politics have moved so far left that we look right”

— Kevin Friesen, Keystone Party Leader

Expert Analysis

Professor Allen Mills does not agree with Friesen’s assessment .

The former chair of the University of Winnipeg political science department says that the NDP remains on the middle to left-wing of the political spectrum, while the Progressive Conservatives continue to occupy the centre-right.

Mills believes that the Keystone party may be in for a tough time while attempting to garner long term support.

He said that holding opposing views toward COVID-19 measures may not be enough to sway centre-right voters from a Progressive Conservative party departing the party.

“I’m not sure that it has any great consequence for the provincial Conservative party,” he said.

“I think that they’re nimble enough to head off any sort of concern that people have around the mandates, because I think that’s the issue that’s driven this particular development.”

Mills speculates that the Keystone party might find support in towns where there was a concentrated resistance to COVID-19 public measures in southern Manitoba. Even so, he still does not think that it will affect support for the Progressive Conservatives in that area, or give the Keystone party long term momentum there.

“This kind of concern may well resonate in those southern Manitoba constituencies where there was assorted resistance […] in places like Winkler, and Morden, Steinbach,

“I don’t see that the provincial Conservatives can’t head that off by adjusting to their concerns.”

Student union discusses in-person classes, international student health care

<

Cont’d from front page

The union’s campaign will advocate for the province to provide free health care for international students once again.

This contrasts with UMSU’s stance last year, which proposed to allow international students to buy into Manitoba’s health care, a position that the union pragmatically adopted due to the Manitoba government’s apparent unwillingness to reinstate universal health care for international students.

Representatives from UMSU recently met with Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration Jon Reyes to discuss the need to address international students’ health care. They are working to co-ordinate another meeting regarding the issue at the end of August. UMSU would be willing to collaborate with the provincial government if it is receptive to the proposal, but is prepared to hold a month of action to pressure them if it is not.

“We really want to highlight the fact that international students get overlooked a lot of the time, so we’re looking to create an international student welcome guide,” said Rykiss.

“We’re meeting with our marketing team to make sure it looks great and reads easily,” said Rykiss.

Rykiss also highlighted the importance of providing support and information to domestic students.

He added that he hopes to draw attention to “the fun stuff” of campus life such as orientation events, concerts and finding new friends and community “that can surround them for their next three or four years or more at the campus.”

“We’re looking to have a street party on UMSU street one of the days [and] we’re looking to have a concert at the Burton Cummings Theatre,” he said.

Rykiss said UMSU was also planning a festival to showcase local music and vendors, adding that more information about the concert at Burton Cummings would be available soon.

staff Dallin Chicoine / graphic /

news@themanitoban.com

Campus station knocked off the air following building blaze

<

Cont’d from front page

Station manager Jared McKetiak, who first became involved with the station in May 2001, reported that in all his time as an employee of UMFM he has never seen “a prolonged outage like this.”

Now, McKetiak said the station is “feeling pretty fortunate” that it was back up and running so soon.

He said his correspondence with representatives of the Richardson Building indicated that the supplies necessary to get UMFM back on the air needed to be flown in from out-of-province.

“It was looking like there wasn’t going to be a full restoration of power until Friday morning, but when we came into work Wednesday morning, we were suddenly back on air,” he said.

Despite the outage, McKetiak reported that “it didn’t affect the normal day-to-day.”

The station still broadcasted 24/7, with radio show hosts coming and going from the station and sending in their programs from home. The one difference was that listeners were only able to tune in via the station’s website.

Part of UMFM’s allure for McKetiak is the station’s ability to adapt, like interrupting programs in the middle of the day to “jump on and talk about things that matter.”

“The format of the station, the fact that it’s campus and community, it allows us to adapt very, very quickly, and change and do things that commercial radio stations [can’t],” he said.

He emphasized the importance of having “diversity in media here in the city.”

“I think that it’s important that people can choose to turn their dials to UMFM and they’ll hear sort of an eclectic mix of music and talk programming that they’re not going to get anywhere else.”

news@themanitoban.com

Manitoba’s youngest now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine

Moderna shot available for eligible children 6 months to 4 years old

Matthew Merkel, staff

On July 20, Manitoba Health announced that vaccine eligibility would expand to include children aged six months to four years old. The decision was made after the federal government and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) approved a Moderna vaccine for younger Canadians.

Currently, only 14,900 doses are available for the 76,700 children in Manitoba that fit within the age group, so supplies will be limited.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis children are prioritized to get the vaccine. Children who suffer from chronic illness or have underlying medical conditions will be among the first to receive their dosage as well.

Kevin Coombs, a professor in medical microbiology and infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba believes that this new round of vaccinations will help fight the spread of COVID-19 among multiple age groups. irrespective of age, the better for the rest of the population, through the process of ‘herd immunity’,” said Coombs in an email interview.

“If there are fewer susceptible hosts, then the virus cannot spread as efficiently.”

More than two years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine mistrust continues to circulate among different groups around the country. Coombs respects that some people may be apprehensive to getting the vaccine, but insists that the positives outweigh the negatives. He states that parents should assess the risks of a COVID-19 vaccine like they would any other.

“Some people may object to children getting the vaccine at what might be perceived as early, but there are several vaccines given to children even younger,” said Coombs.

“Vaccines still are much safer than getting infected.” M’s faculty of education, thinks that more vaccines available for children is a positive. After student teaching in an elementary school for more than a year, she hopes that children are given every opportunity to learn in a safe classroom environment.

“It just helps people come back to school quicker,” said Gingras.

“I think the pandemic did a lot of damage to the grade schooling system […] and it’s really frustrating. I’m genuinely scared for a lot of kids because of how much they have missed out on with remote learning.”

“The kids are not academically where they should be.”

Vaccine appointments for eligible children can be booked by a parent or caregiver using the online vaccine finder or by phone at 1-844-626-8222.

Eligibility for the six months to four year age range is expected to expand once a new shipment of vaccines arrives in late July or early August.

staff Dallin Chicoine / / graphic

No federal plan, funding for anniversaries of treaties

Report shows government unprepared to commemorate 9 treaties

Colton McKillop, staff

A federal government briefing document prepared for CrownIndigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) — the government agency responsible for managing relations between Canada and First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples — revealed last Tuesday that Ottawa has no plans or funding allocated to commemorate the upcoming anniversaries of numerous treaties.

Out of the 11 numbered treaties, nine will reach significant milestones between 2021 and 2027. These anniversaries will mark 150 years since the signing of Treaties 1-7, 125 years since Treaty 8 and 100 years for Treaty 11.

The briefing note was released to the Canadian Press through access-to-information legislation and highlights the relationship between CIRNAC and Canadian Heritage, the department tasked with organizing and funding historical anniversaries such as the 150th anniversary of Confederation. The two departments have been in communication regarding funding requests for the past year due to the large number of upcoming treaty anniversaries.

The report also points out that although Treaty 1, Treaty 2 and Treaty 11 were commemorated last year, these events should not be seen as a standard for future events due to the COVID-19 pandemic reducing their size.

Additionally, Canadian Heritage and other government agencies only provided limited funding for the commemoration of the three treaties in 2021.

These numbered treaties gave the Canadian government access to huge sections of land, and promised reserve land, payments and other rights to First Nations communities in return.

Many Indigenous people argue that these promises and treaty rights have never been fully respected.

Damon Johnston, president of the Aboriginal council of Winnipeg, said the government’s lack of preparation was not surprising and pointed to the Canadian government’s long history of ignoring treaties.

Johnston said that treaties have been essentially frozen in place since the Indian Act was established in 1876.

“We had no rights, we werent Canadian citizens,” he said. “We couldn’t hire lawyers to defend out treaty rights or to take the government to court for that.”

“The meeting of expectations of Indigenous peoples around treaties leaves a lot to be desired,” he said.

Despite the treaties’ written forms lacking specific details on some issues, Johnston called them the “core of the relationship” between Canada and First Nations and argued that they need to be renegotiated in a modern context.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada’s final report advocated that the federal government collaborate with residential school survivors to develop an approach to Canadian Heritage commemoration that centres on reconciliation.

Although he commended them for making “some good effort” towards respecting treaty rights, Johnston said it’s possible the government doesn’t want to “open a can of worms” by drawing attention to the treaties and the obligations contained within them.

“We’ve had better outcomes overall with Liberal governments than we’ve had with Conservative governments, but there’s still I think a lot to be desired in terms of our relationship with this government,” he said.

When asked if he thought the release of this report would encourage the government to change course and provide a more concrete plan, Niigaan Sinclair, acting head of the department of Indigenous studies at the University of Manitoba, expressed doubts and offered a view similar to Johnston.

/ staff Ebunoluwa Akinbo photo /

“I think that while this government is doing more than the previous premier, there are other issues that this government chooses to make their priorities,” Sinclair said.

“This government is interested in Indigenous peoples on its own terms, and that has a lot to do with resource projects, but not when it comes to substantive and systemic change.”

Government officials argued that celebrating the signing of treaties would be a fairly inexpensive way of advancing reconciliation, but lamented that Ottawa has so far offered little financial support to do so, partially because there is no dedicated source of funding.

Officials found that no federal department has a plan or funding in place for upcoming treaty anniversaries.

news@themanitoban.com