Lifestyles 55 2021 06 June

June 2021

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Keep your eyes looking North to the future Part one of a two part series on Manitoba’s Northern opportunities / 3-6

Minister Blaine Pedersen excited about Northern mining opportunities

Watch this space!

Flin Flon is becoming the Arts Capital of North Central Canada

Hon. Blaine Pedersen

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The Hon. Blaine Pederson.

s Minister of Agriculture and Resource Development, I am optimistic about the future of the mining industry in Manitoba. The department, formerly the department of Agriculture, has expanded to include resource-based divisions including Mining, Oil and Gas, Forestry and Peatlands, Wildlife and Fisheries, Crown Lands and Water.

Since the new department was formed in October 2019, we have undertaken major changes in structure and operations. We have established a division focused on licensing and permits as well as on forestry and mining. We also have an Integrated Planning Division, which includes Indigenous Relations to facilitate relationship building and Crown-Indigenous Consultation to move projects forward. There have been significant improvements made in the department and more on the way, including the hiring of new staff.

We now have a single window permitting service and offer a concierge service to other departments as needed. Building an inclusive positive relationship with First Nation communities is critical to mineral u 4 ‘Northern mining opportunities’

Manitoba’s North uniquely poised to meet new world demands

Foresight, strategy an visionary thinking required to realize potential Doug Lauvstad

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ur world has changed.

It may not seem like it, as we cocoon in our homes, hopefully, at the tail end of the pandemic. But when we emerge, and we will, we will come out in a world amid revolutionary and evolutionary changes that could and should portend well for northern Manitoba.

Strategically, from a 30,000 foot level we should take the time to observe the abundance

of northern Manitoba, the potential for prosperity, and our position in the world economy.

If we are strategic, we will realize that much of the “Manitoba Advantage” resides in Manitoba’s North and we can seize the opportunity to create prosperity and growth for the people of the north and our province Let me explain: the world wants, and needs, what Northern Manitoba has.

But first, some key trends: • The world is transitioning to a low carbon future • Bio is the new gold

• Energy must be renewable • It’s all about the experiences The world is transitioning to a low carbon future: And all the infrastructure needed for transmission, all the electric vehicles and the need for electrical generation and storage will require massive amounts of industrial metals. According to Economic Forecasters Wood Mackenzie, this low carbon world will need at least $1.7 Trillion in mining investment “to help supply enough copper, nickel, cobalt and other metals needed for the u 4 ‘Manitoba’s North uniquely poised’

The fictional character Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin is Flin Flon’s mascot.

Crystal Kolt

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pecial places exist where abilities and ambitions for certain types of endeavors far exceed what one would expect in terms of community size, population, and resources. Flin Flon has developed a surprisingly strong arts environment, along with the demonstrated ability to use this significant asset to its advantage, and to think big. This environment has already attracted talented professionals to relocate to the area, and the potential for future arts related growth is exhilarating.

The Flin Flon Community Choir, formed in 1996, has sung in Carnegie Hall. The NorVA Centre, a thriving visual art studio and gallery, was the first art centre to receive provincial funding outside of Winnipeg. The Blueberry Jam Music Gathering grew to over 100 performers with an audience of 10,000 in just two years.

Believing in the Culture Days vision that Canada should have a national celebration of Arts and Culture, as Flin Flon’s Cultural Coordinator, I enthusiastically answered the call to join a Provincial Task Force leading Flin Flon into hosting over 140 events in this town of 5,000, consistently ranking #1 in the country for communiu 4 ‘Flin Flon'

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2

whatsupwinnipeg.ca

June 2021

ISSUES IN THE NEWS

Follow us online at: whatsupwinnipeg.ca Facebook: Lifestyles55 Twitter: @Lifestyles55 PUBLISHER Pegasus Publications Inc.

Time to remove the blindfold from the Golden Boy’s northern view

EDITOR Dorothy Dobbie dorothy@pegasuspublications.net EDITOR Emeritus Joan Cohen ART DIRECTOR Karl Thomsen karl@pegasuspublications.net GENERAL MANAGER Ian Leatt ian.leatt@pegasuspublications.net CONTRIBUTORS Gerrie Beachall, Volker Beckman, Brian Campbell, Dorothy Dobbie, Myrna Driedger, John Einarson, Erin Girouard, George Hacking, Peter Holle, Jim Ingebrigtsen, Krystal Kolt, Doug Lauvstad, Ian Leatt, Nicole Matiation, Fred Morris, Manitoba Seniors Coalition, Manitoba Association of Senior Centres, Connie Newman, Hon. Blaine Pedersen, Peggy Pendergast, Brent Poole, Darlene Ronald, Ian Ross, Senaka Samarasinghe, Trudy Schroeder, Devi Sharma, Elly Spencer, Jerry Storie, Wayne Weedon, Nathan Zassman.

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Copyright Pegasus Publications Inc.

Rugged northern Manitoba has alot to offer.

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hat does the North mean to you? Anything? Do you think about it at all? And if you do, what do you see? Wilderness? Hunters and fishers? Men in mining hardhats?

Here is what I see: Opportunity!

I see hard working people, both aboriginal and imported.

I see people who love the land and know how to husband it. I see developing towns and cities in tune with their surroundings while absorbing today’s technical culture and using it to harmonize with their environment.

I see traditional education melding with modern thinking and teaching. I see people eager to learn new skills. I see Dorothy Dobbie people who are fearless, people like Edna Nabess, who thinks nothing of bundling up and crossing a frozen lake for groceries, even though she owns a sophisticated craft store in Winnipeg.

I see Linda Markus and her family who farm 16,000 acres at the Pas, while Linda works in the school system to bring today’s knowledge to local people. I see Doug Lauvstad running a multi-campus university and reaching out from the Pas to show everyone the possibilities, and Volker Beckman from Thompson, striving to bring the good news about his town and its winter testing opportunities to the world. I see Crystal Kolt in Flin Flon bursting with energy to bring northern arts and arts learning to the planet (and doing it), offering opportunities to local indigenous people to sell their product on a global market. I see Wally Daudrich and his family building a future on offshore tourism while learning how to make Churchill self-sustaining by showing how to raise their own vegetables as he does for his lodge and the visitors. (He is growing apples and trying pears!)

I see Gary Eyres who left Australia to become the Thompson Vale president because he fell in love with the town, its people and its possibilities to revitalize their mining industry, only to be dismissed because he tried to implement those imminent dreams. I see Penny Rawlings, who took northern crafts through her Arctic Trading company to city markets and to the visiting world, thereby proving the monetary worth of local indigenous art and production. I see Senator

Pat Bovey, standing in the Senate to let her fellows know what can happen in Manitoba’s north.

I see the prospectors, spending their lives in the back of beyond tapping rocks for their riches and doing this more for a love of the life than the potential riches they will one day bring home. I see the investors willing to place billiondollar bets on those finds and, in the doing, teaching local people skills beyond their former imagination, willing to pay for young native kids to go to school, willing to clean up any trace of their imprint on the land once the minerals have been removed.

Folks, the possibilities are immense, but you need to look and support and see for yourselves. As Volker Beckman writes in this issue, “I always felt that it should be mandatory for all Winnipeg high school students to take a one-week field trip to Thompson and Churchill . . .” He is so very correct in this thinking. It would change the way we see the North and might wake us up to what is at our back door.

When this current government took office, the first thing they did was to commission a committee called, Look North, and now they are ready to really make things happen. On the front page, you have a commitment from the minister, following up on the promise of the premier. I spoke with Chuck Davidson who was instrumental in furthering the work of Look North and now is on the board of CEDEF, which is the agency charged with making things happened. They have $20 million to invest in business enterprises in the North and have over the past year placed $2.5 million of that money with solid looking propositions.

So, this issue is designed to provide you with an overview.

Next issue, in July, we will give you more specifics. Look for a story with Jamie Wilson, the chair of CEDEF. Look for an exciting story about a pipeline following the railway right of way, not to Churchill but to Port Nelson to carry oil being blocked in the east to ports in Europe (and if they want it) in Eastern Canada. Look for stories about lithium resources ready for development and about new gold mines in the offing where young local native people will play a big role. Looks for Indigenous partnerships in all these endeavors opening the doorway to a new relationship of equality and equal benefit.

Things are changing. The North is our future. Embrace it and, please, look north yourselves. I have taken you there in past stories. I have shown it to you in the Facebook Group, Manitoba Stay-cations. This summer, go see for yourselves and make sure you open your eyes to the future and the benefits by supporting our North.

Have a Safe and Happy Father’s Day

Heather STEFANSON MLA for Tuxedo

tuxconst@mymts.net

June 2021

whatsupwinnipeg.ca

3

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Northern mining opportunities Continued from page 1

and forestry development. Our Mineral Development Protocol sets the stage for a shared management approach.

We encourage and commend those companies who have built a positive working relationship with the local communities in advance of mineral development. The $20M Manitoba Mineral Development Fund, managed by the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce, supports new economic development partnership opportunities capitalizing on existing assets.

While the pandemic has posed social and economic challenges, it has also created new opportunities. I enjoyed participating virtually in the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s annual convention in March and recently in the Northern Miner Virtual Global Symposium, which both attracted investors from across Canada and around the world. Plans are underway to participate

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A look at the Thompson’s shrinking mining industry. in future events as well as the CCMEC conference this November, either virtually or in person.

The Manitoba Mineral Liaison Committee has been a tremendous help in finding solutions to reduce red tape when applying for permits and licenses. Their work continues to enhance Manitoba’s mineral profile investment opportunities.

There is renewed interest for investment in minerals and with Manitoba’s exceptional mineral profile. Since 2016, investment in mining, oil and gas has increased by 71 per cent. The advancement of electric vehicles also bodes well for Manitoba with our class 1 nickel, copper, zinc, lithium deposits, including an extensive list of critical minerals.

Mining companies are investing in green technologies for their operations. Our clean green energy network, reduction in the PST and other taxes, our road, rail and port connections are being noted by potential investors.

While the public has been focused on the pandemic, our department has continued to implement changes. Lowering taxes, reducing red tape, building positive relationships and partnerships continue to be a priority for my department and our government.

There is a great deal to be excited about looking ahead in the minerals sector of Manitoba. Our goal is to be the top attractive mining jurisdiction on the planet and we are committed to achieving this goal.

All the best.

The Hon. Blaine Pedersen is Minister of Agriculture and Resource Development for the Government of Manitoba.

Flin Flon: watch this space!

Continued from page 1

ties under 50,000 people and ranking #2 nationally, notably ahead of Toronto.

As the arts blossomed, it has become clear that Flin Flon is the cultural hub of Northern Manitoba. The arts community has begun to strive towards more ambitious projects that incorporate economic development and urban renewal. In 2007 the vision of The North Central Canada Centre of Arts and Environment (NCCCAE) was developed as a pathway forward. For over a decade, conversations with government, arts organizations, municipalities, artists, the public, educational institutions and the business community culminated in a 2017 Feasibility Study.

Following that study, more ideas swirled and morphed around the project in annual Inspiration Series Seminars with advice shared by visiting experts such as Jon Allen (architect and author of Drawing Geometry from London England); Jean Giguere (Order of Canada, Chair Emeritus of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Interim Chair of the Canadian Museum of History); Janice Price (President and CEO of the Banff Centre); Dorothy Dobbie (former Member of Parliament and founder and CEO of Pegasus Publications Inc.); and Hazel Borys (Managing Principal of PlaceMakers) in addition to local elders and regional knowledge keepers. The vision has matured, and a path has

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recently developed in December 2020, in the midst of COVID-19. Realizing that helping northern artisans promote, market, and sell their products online for fair market value would allow them to remain and flourish in their community, the Uptown Emporium was born.

Artists and artisans in the north now can create in their home studios with the ability to drop-ship their products provincially, nationally and soon internationally from their communities. This will be a game changer for the north!

If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is that we need a healthy built environment in which to work and live. We need beautiful things around us, things to amuse us and things to excite us. This summer the NCCCAE will build a community garden which will not only be a space to grow food but also a place to explore the intersection between art, nature, and healthy living. We need to learn about these things. There is a reason people are thinking hard about where and how they want to work and live. More eyes are looking north of the 49th parallel than ever before.

The future seems bright and like the north star, a Northern Centre of Art and Environment can guide us forward.

For more information: www.flinflonartscouncil.ca , www. uptownemporium54.com or www.ncccae.ca

Manitoba’s North uniquely poised to meet new world demands Continued from page 1

shift.” That’s trillion with a “T.” Northern Manitoba has these minerals.

According to the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, Manitoba already is producing 37.7 per cent of the Canada’s zinc output and is a major contributor of gold, nickel, copper and silver. Cobalt and Platinum Group Minerals are also produced in association with current mining operations. Currently, a number of companies are in the exploration and development stages for lithium and critical rare earth minerals.

As well, the Manitoba Department of Agriculture and Resource Development states on their website: “mineral resources with potential for future economic development include diamonds, platinum-group metals (PGM), rare earth elements (REE), titanium, vanadium, chromite, silica and potash.”

Metal deposits in Manitoba’s Precambrian Shield have been mined for decades, while large areas of high mineral potential in remote regions of the province remain under-explored when compared with similar regions elsewhere in Canada. (author’s emphasis) This represents a potential avenue for considerable growth in Manitoba’s mineral sector and may provide significant employment opportunities for northern and Indigenous communities near new mineral exploration 4

grown more defined.

Beginning with a desire to build a Banff Centre for North Central Canada, the vision has expanded to explore the commonalities between art and environment.

What makes a healthy environment? Of course, art and culture play a big role in answering that question and the mission of the NCCCAE would be to explore and demonstrate how.

The vision for NCCCAE is to lead national research in finding a balance in healthy northern living in the built environment and provide a unique backdrop for the understanding of our distinct cultural and Indigenous heritage through the lens of the arts.

The Centre would offer strong academic education and training opportunities in the arts and environment at all levels for regional northern and Indigenous communities while also welcoming and encouraging all students from Canada and beyond to take part in an extraordinary learning experience. It would also connect expertise in all art genres to the north finally giving sustained opportunity for the development of northern talent.

The NCCCAE would provide an opportunity to leverage public and private investment and offer tailormade economic solutions created for the north, by the north. A promising pilot project for this purpose was

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and development projects.”

Bio is the new gold: Anyone buying a piece of lumber is experiencing the cyclical nature of the forest products industry. And this is being brought on by volatile markets, diminishing fibre supply, tariffs and trade barriers and other forms of protectionism. Demand for newsprint and paper is shrinking daily. As a result, the sector is being forced to diversify to sustainable, higher value products that offer significant economic opportunities and support the movement to a low carbon future An ever-growing crisis in plastic pollution will force the adoption of bio-degradable, environmentally sustainable products. Bioplastics, biochemicals, biomaterials and bioenergy are predicted to be flagships of the forest sector. For an example we can all relate to, Canadians use over five billion single use plastic coffee pods each year. We are moving away from single use plastic. Alternatives, made of compostable, bioplastics are being developed, and the demand for fibre and other wood products is expected to increase exponentially.

Northern Manitoba has the raw materials for the new bio industries. Our northern forests are large and relatively untapped. Government of Manitoba statistics indicate almost one half of

Manitoba’s landmass is made up of boreal and coniferous forest (26.3 million hectares of the province’s 54.8-million-hectare land base).

Energy must be renewable: According to Google’s corporate statement Google is the “largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world.” Microsoft, Amazon and all the other cloud services are right up there in terms of energy consumption. Artificial Intelligence, autonomous vehicles and all those zoom calls aren’t far behind in terms of demand for power. The information technology industries are built upon server farms, data storage and computers that use massive amounts of power and almost all the corporations in this sector have set a target of having net zero carbon emissions. Add to this the insatiable demand for electrical power electric vehicles will require and the demand for Manitoba Hydro’s abundant, environmentally sustainable energy becomes apparent.

It’s all about the experiences: A key trend in the travel and tourism is the rise of experiential tourism. People want experiences. They want to travel to unique locations, catch trophy fish, see and learn about the local biosphere, and, by the way, make it “Eco.” Northern Manitoba offers an abun-

dance of opportunity for the eco or experiential tourist – polar bears and belugas in Churchill, trophy fishing in any one of a hundred thousand lakes, festivals and events, or simply paddling on a pristine, undisturbed river.

The tourism industry in Manitoba contributes over a $1 billion to the Manitoba economy… and now in the post pandemic world the mantra of “make it eco and make it local” is resonated around the world. Without question, northern Manitoba is a world-class destination for the eco and adventure tourist.

Add to this abundance of raw material – in metals, wood products, water, landscape – good rail, road and air infrastructure, a deep seaport, and reliable, renewable energy and you have the foundation of an economic revival for Manitoba’s north.

Changes in the geopolitical landscape present enormous opportunity for Manitoba’s north. By doing nothing, the north exists at the margins of the economy. With foresight, strategy, some visionary thinking, and strong leadership, we can grow the economy of the province at the same time we provide prosperity for northern people and communities.

Doug Lauvstad is president of the University College of the North. Doug Lauvstad dlauvstad@gmail.com June 2021

Does Golden Boy face North with blind eyes?

Volker Beckman

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lthough I have lived on three continents, most of my life has been spent in Thompson, the Hub of the North. My father was a plumber contractor and built the first houses in 1958. Our family moved there a year a later. After graduating from university, I started my own design consulting business in Thompson in the early 1970s.

Over the past 50 years, I have seen the North go through cycles and spurts of growth, decline, stagnation, and prosperity, that often depended a lot on economic factors beyond our control, but also on many decisions made in Winnipeg.

Does the Golden Boy face north for a reason, or is that just empty symbolism? Look North, now CEDF, is trying and will hopefully be able to help address that.

To date, the North has always lacked influence whether it is with government or business. Considering the economic potential that has not been developed, all the people of Manitoba are the losers. Winnipeg has grown three-fold in my lifetime.

Yet, many northern mining and urban towns are shrinking. Northerners often feel alienated and left behind.

Are there solutions? Of course. I always felt that it should be mandatory for all Winnipeg high school students to take a one-week field trip to Thompson and Churchill and back south through Flin Flon, The Pas and Riding Mountain. Understanding this part of the province might encourage future leadership decisions to support Northern incentives and tax benefits that could encourage recruitment and retention of the skilled labour, investment, ideas, developers, and business talent that is needed.

Manitoba as green energy leader We keep trying. Manitoba has earned its name as the Winter Testing Capital of the World. We test for many of the big names in the automotive, aerospace and aircraft industries. We believe that electrical vehicles are the wave of the future, and we want to capitalize on this, To push this latest opportunity and expose our wonderful northern advantages we have come up with the first ever transcontinental and a Guinness World Record EV rally to run from the Gulf of Mexico 4,000 km north to the end of the road in Thompson and then by train to the end of the route at Hudson Bay. “From Palms to Polar Bears!” will draw attention of the world’s EV industry to Thompson and Manitoba and the green energy assets we have.

Five USA states including NASCO and seven Manitoba towns have committed to the event but to make it happen we must have level three chargers along the way.

It would make economic sense for Manitoba Hydro to build fast chargers along Highway 6 and 10, so that everyone in our province can overcome their range anxiety and purchase EVs. This is an investment that will pay big dividends over time by opening new opportunities in transportation and development.

From “model mining community” to “hub of the north” In the early 1970s Thompson’s population was pushing 23,000 people as the 3rd largest city in the province. The North generated huge amounts of revenue for Manitoba in mining and income taxes and hydro sales. Over the past few decades, the reduction of the private sector and a change of focus from private sector work to public support for health, justice, social services and even education has tilted the scale where northern urban economies need more money than they produce.

Now, government cheque days are the busiest shopping day every month in the Hub of the North instead of the day when miners would line up for their large pay cheques.

Thompson once had the world’s largest nickel mine complex with 4,400 high paying jobs. The mine used as much hydro as the City of Winnipeg. Today, Vale’s (formerly INCO) workforce has dwindled to about 700. Manitoba was one of the most attractive mining regions in the world. Today, it is in 37th position. This, even though the world’s demand for nickel will increase tenfold in the next 10 years due to the growth of electric vehicles.

Vale’s previous managers have said they believe there are still huge undiscovered reserves of nickel.

What does the province need to do to recoup the June 2021

revenue they have lost as the economy in the North shrinks? How do we encourage the mining industry to regrow and get us back to number one?

Tourism to the North Campgrounds and lodges are set against pristine lakes under the clearest sky, where listening to a loon cry or a wolf howl will stir your soul, but most Winnipeggers have never been north of Dauphin.

In the 1970s I was involved with the northern branch of the Tourism Industry Association of Manitoba. The focus was on the nearby northern states, but this attracted rubber tire traffic that would come fully equipped with their own campers, gasoline, and even food.

Our studies showed that international travellers from Europe would stay in the North six to seven days and spend a lot more on hotel and lodge space, canoe rentals, restaurant meals, guides, etc.

Churchill has proved this, but our tourism marketing initiatives often ignore the North. As an example, Travel Manitoba has a great “Staycations” campaign that promotes eight cool bridges to visit in Manitoba, but the stunning Pisew Falls Suspension Bridge is missing. There are few places in the world where you can see water falls from both sides of the river. Things like that get missed when well-intentioned planners do not live here.

Driving north In the Province’s recent budget, some $100 million will be spent on highway and bridge improvement on Highway 75 south and the Trans-Canada that flows east to west.

Yet, there was no money to re-open the outdoor washrooms at Devil’s Lake, a beautiful spot on Highway 6 an hour south of Grand Rapids. (Who wants to pee in the bush off the side of the road?)

The North needs some special attention Two-tiered government policies for the North should be considered where applicable to overcome obstacles and hurdles of distance, separation, isolation, and small populations.

A Northern Cabinet Office as a One Stop Shop that has the power to make decisions without having to travel to Winnipeg numerous times, would save northerners time, money and stress to develop their business or opportunity and to better deal with southern bureaucrats.

It will take a visionary new approach to harness the true resources of the North so the Golden Boy can truly reflect with pride the direction he is pointing.

Volker Beckmann is a Thompson businessman, recipient of: Order of Thompson, Senate Canada 150 Award, and the Rotary Paul Harris Award. He is a passionate northerner.

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5

The Education Modernization Act The Frontier School Division Serves unique needs in a unique region

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ike many government reports, the Report of and School Community Councils (FSD Local School the Commission on K-12 Education in Mani- Committees). Section 84(2) of the new Education toba is a carefully curated list of research re- Modernization Act, which outlines the new School sults and recommendations. And while the report Community Councils’ mandate, mirrors almost perfectly the language used in the old Pubconsiders some issues thoroughly, the lic Schools Act covering FSD School recommendations often seem to igCommittees. Frontier School Division nore what the Commissioners say they is the evidence that the model works. heard. This seems particularly true in Neither the Commission’s report nor the case of the proposed elimination of the government have provided evidence Frontier School Division (FSD). or justification for dismantling FSD. There are several ironies in the provThe irony of the government’s deciince’s seeming willingness to relegate sion goes deeper when one considers Frontier communities to a minor role that while proposing to adopt the FSD in the education of their children. First, administrative model for the province, FSD was created in 1965 to overcome it is eliminating the division which has the isolation and lack of success in so successfully used the model. At the graduating students from small, remote Jerry Storie same time the province has chosen, schools in rural and Northern Manitoquite rightly, to leave the Division Scoba. The neglect of isolated and Aborigilaire Franco-Manitobaine (DSFM) innal community schools had become so tact. The DSFM was created using the obvious that the province created a new model and a new division to take on the challenge Frontier School Division model. I know this because of improving on this dismal record. The Minister of I was Minister of Education when options for a Education, George Johnson, in speaking to the leg- Francophone school division were being considered. islation that created FSD, reminded the legislature I was one of those who promoted the FSD model of the failure of the bureaucracy to make headway in as a basis for the creation of the DFSM. Like FSD, educating and graduating students from remote and many of the 23 DSFM schools are situated in rural areas, and they could have been easily amalgamated northern communities.

He explained the necessity of creating a new divi- with local school districts in the new EMA. But that sion, with unique make-up and powers, by noting would not have respected the unique language and that the North had almost no high school graduates cultural needs of the Francophone communities or and that the new approach would put some mea- the province’s constitutional obligations. The FSD sure of control, and considerable resources, into the model, applied to the DSFM, offered the same kinds hands of local community members. It was a bold of cultural, language, parental and community benand necessary change that had a profound and posi- efits currently enjoyed by small northern, Metis, and First Nations schools in FSD. The similarities tive outcome for northern and Aboriginal students.

Ironically, the organizational model that was estab- between the circumstances of DSFM students and lished when FSD was created in 1965 is startlingly communities and FSD students and communities similar to the new administrative model outlined in makes the decision to leave the DSFM intact while the Education Modernization Act. It parallels the eliminating FSD seem particularly hard to underway Frontier School Division was structured and has stand.

Then the government chose to include FSD in a operated for decades, albeit without the democratic process supporting it. The government’s proposed regional group with Flin Flon, Thompson and The legislation creates a Provincial Education Authority Pas, three large industrial towns with little in com(FSD Board of Trustees), Provincial Advisory Coun- mon with Frontier and its communities. The expeccil on Education (FSD Area Advisory Committee) tation that FSD can successfully amalgamate with

three large, well-established school divisions with very different demographics, history, and organizational cultures, is deeply suspect. FSD operates more than 30 small schools and has approximately 6,000 First Nations, Metis and Northern students. The communities FSD serve have distinctive language, cultural and geographic needs that have been recognized and accommodated over the years.

The dynamics of this new arrangement make it unlikely that it will create a basis for improved student success. Like FSD, Flin Flon SD, Mystery Lake SD and Kelsey SD have their own organizational culture and connection to the community. FSD is a large independent school division, and it is hard to imagine how a collection of small schools spread across dozens of communities is going to successfully partner with three large industrial communities. For many parents and students in those isolated communities it means losing the support of an elected group of community members, many from Metis communities and First Nations. The possibility that their voices will be lost in this proposed regional entity seems likely. There are simply no obvious advantages for either FSD or the three large partner divisions in the proposed arrangement.

Frontier School Division is unique in Canada, and it has been uniquely successful. What was once a school division created for Northern and Metis communities has come to represent the broader northern community. The FSD family now includes a growing number of First Nations communities who have asked Frontier School Division to manage its schools in partnership with them. It is an arrangement that has worked to improve the educational outcomes and the hopes of many students in those communities. No compelling case has been made for the elimination of Frontier School Division. It seems likely that many parents and community members would respectfully ask the government to leave the future of Frontier community schools where it belongs, in the hands of FSD and its partners.

Jerry Storie is a former MLA for Flin Flon, Minister of Education, and FSD Area Superintendent. He has written a book, Becoming Family: Living and Learning at Frontier Collegiate, about the creation of FSD and student success.

Greenland’s welfare trap replays in Canada Resource development helps First Nations

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n April 2021, there was an un- it. They expect that Denmark will conusual amount of international at- tinue to foot the bill for nearly half of tention given to the Greenland government expenses.

Why work or take a risk? election. This is a vast country with a The question has to be asked: if tiny population of only 50,000. Evthe people of Greenland ery year, Denmark transare being subsidized to fers $700 million to help the tune of 26 per cent fund Greenland’s govof their entire economy, ernment. This is a huge where is the need to beamount of money, reprecome self-sufficient and senting about 26 per cent engage in an environmenof GDP or 44 per cent tally challenging project? of government spendThe Danish government ing. Amazingly, governtransfers $50,000 to evment spending equals 60 ery family in Greenland. per cent of Greenland’s Why would they have any economy. The money redesire to change that—to ceived from Denmark has Peter Holle develop a mine and see been crucial to Greenland the risks associated with a being brought into the Public major project? modern world in terms Policy It is far easier to simof living standards, eduply keep accepting $700 cation, health care, housmillion every year. This is the classic ing and life expectancy.

The election became globally im- welfare trap on steroids. If the Danportant because an Australian/Chinese ish government now decides to end mining consortium wants to develop a this large transfer payment and govrare-earth mine in the country, which ernment services are slashed by 44 per some of the local people oppose. Inuit cent, there is a strong likelihood that people make up 90 per cent of the local Greenlanders may want to rethink population. The election result saw the their support for this mine to pay for ruling party overturned—with 37 per much-needed services.

So, what about government cent of the population voting for the transfer in Canada? winning anti-mining party, who will Unfortunately, we see the same perno doubt stop the development of this verse incentives operating throughout mine.

The Danish government was hoping Canada. We see transfer payments to that the mine’s development would al- provinces – which include complicatlow it to reduce its ongoing financial ed formulas on natural resources that subsidies to Greenland; however, the conveniently leave out hydro-electricpeople of Greenland decided against ity – thereby ensuring that Quebec re6

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mains a permanent beneficiary of large amounts of transfers (receiving substantial parts of its budget from other parts of the country as equalization payments).

Like other equalization-receiving provinces, Quebec operates a higher cost provincial government, particularly compared to its neighbouring province, Ontario, never having to face the challenge of actually paying the artificially inflated costs of services that they provide. There is no evidence that these transfer payments have resulted in services that are better than in other provinces and for the most part, the equalization-receiving provinces lag behind national averages in education and health-care outcomes.

In the Maritimes, not only do we see large cost-inflating equalization payments, but we also see EI payments which effectively pay people to stay at home, after they have spent six weeks fishing. Why get another job when they can collect pogey for 44 weeks of the year? It has stymied economic development in that region for generations as companies can’t find workers, despite locally high unemployment rates.

In rural Canada, we have seen hundreds of small towns wind up, with locals moving where they can obtain better economic and lifestyle opportunities. We now see 60 per cent of our First Nations people living off reserve, a number that keeps rising every year.

Despite most reserves remaining noneconomically viable, with growing numbers of First Nations people now

living off reserve, none of the 630 First Nations has been merged or wound down.

Why develop resources if government will pay to keep them in the ground?

Approximately two-thirds of First Nations reserves are under 500 people. Economic opportunities, health care and education are not possible for a First Nation of 300 people living in a remote area only accessible by air or winter roads. No matter how much good will or money a government provides, it is impossible for such a community to meet acceptable standards of health, education and employment in a modern context. As long as the government funds these satrapies, chiefs and councils, there is no economic impetus to change.

Canada is a rich country, with the majority of investment directed towards resource development. If we continue to subsidize areas that are non-economic, the standard of living in our country will continue to erode.

We constantly hear from new generations of Canadians, that they will be the first generation in Canada whose incomes will be less than their parents.

If we are unable to make hard decisions about resource development and, instead, divert funds to permanent welfare traps caused by non-economic programs and systems of government, then our standard of living for new generations of Canadians will continue to diminish.

Peter Holle is president of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

June 2021

Nordic walking poles help you keep fit!

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he Garden City Community Centre 55+ proConnie Mulholland, the fitness convener, mengram used to meet up inside the tioned that she is able to walk farther community centre where many and faster while using the poles. “We’re activities like bocce ball, coffee chat socializing, exercising all while physisessions and exercise programs took cally distancing. We plan to go walkplace, but with the pandemic restricing together as a group which makes us tions some have ventured outside to more committed to doing it." create new exercise opportunities. The Debbie Werboweski, a Maples resigroup now gathers at the Garden City dent, who suffers from knee pain, uses Collegiate track to take up the activity the walking poles to help give her arms of Nordic walking. more of a workout. “These poles are Walking poles aren’t just for hikgreat and help to take the pressure off ers anymore. Nordic walking provides of my knees.” Nordic walking turns a strength training, balance and fitness. simple walk into a full-body workout For this group it provides seniors a safer by incorporating the upper body and Councillor way to exercise outdoors during all seacore muscles more thoroughly. Unlike Devi Sharma regular walking, walking with poles sons. They enjoy this activity because it reduces the impact of pandemic isola- Inside City Hall en-gages the arms, shoulders, and back muscles with a short pumping motion tion and also allows them a safe outlet in each step. It is a safe activity for seto go outdoors and maintain physical niors who suffer from arthritis or are recuperating and mental health.

from or waiting for hip or knee surgeries.

The group eagerly meets up once or twice a week at the track and walk for a couple of hours. The members of the group travel from all across Winnipeg to meet up, walk and enjoy each other’s company.

I was happy to support the group with this initiative through a City of Winnipeg Wellness Grant. I had an opportunity to try out the walking poles. It was enjoyable and I could feel the workout factor.

None of the members in the group had used walking poles before so it is great they are trying a new way of being physically active while the community centre is currently shut down.

One of the positive things that has happened during this pandemic is how families and friends have taken to the many walking and cycling trails and parks in Winnipeg.

Do take time for yourself and enjoy the outdoors this summer!

Devi Sharma is the City Councillor for Old Kildonan, and Speaker for Winnipeg City Council.

Mother Nature in spring

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he weather is warming up, the winter is over, and garden on any scale that works for you! I love to plant there is much to look forward to. COVID-19 has perennials to make this time of year a fun revival of changed our lives for over a year now. It has been mainstays from my garden of the past year.

Another great addition to your garden are lilacs. Inchallenging for us all to adapt to this new reality. As we terestingly, bees love lilac plants. Their enter into the third wave, it’s important wonderful smell brings bees around from that we take care of our mental health. far and wide and also attracts butterflies.

I encourage everyone who is struggling The buzzing of a bee is a happy sound and to reach out, to access resources that are important to the health of our ecosystem. available, and to remember that it’s okay Planting food can be a lovely addition to not be okay. Please check out https:// to your backyard garden. Tomatoes, corn, www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/bewell/ for reand carrots, make for delicious cooking sources free of charge. supplies over the summer. On a smaller With the vaccine rolling out, I think scale, window herbs provide a fantastic we have reason to be cautiously optimissource of flavour for your meals. Who tic. I say ‘cautiously’ because even those doesn’t want the satisfaction of eating of us with the vaccine must continue to what you grow? be careful and vigilant. It’s important that Myrna Driedger Trails we continue to follow all public health orBroadway If gardening isn’t for you, there is still ders, physically distance, wash our hands so much benefit from spending time surproperly, and wear a mask. I received my Journal rounded by plants and trees. Spending vaccine as soon as I became eligible and I your free time outside in our gorgeous naencourage you all to do the same.

Here are some fun ways to connect with nature as the ture is a wonderful way to take advantage of spring and summer in beautiful Manitoba. Remember to physically weather warms up! distance with those from outside of your household, Gardening With the snow all melted and the sun shining, I have avoid crowded trails and spaces, and turn around and spent my spare time focused on my favourite hobby, gar- leave if your outdoor space becomes crowded.

Here in the constituency of Roblin, there are two large dening. This is a wonderful pastime for everyone who has a green thumb! And it is also one that can be done trails that provide ample opportunities to get outside while physically distancing. Gardening can be done in a and connect with nature. These are the Harte Trail in yard or in a window box. It can yield beautiful flowers Charleswood and the Grand Trunk Trail in Headingley. or useful cooking herbs. There are so many options to We also have many parks and open community areas.

Assiniboine Forest Nearby, the Assiniboine Forest is a fantastic place to experience nature within the city. This urban forest has many walking trails under a beautiful canopy of aspen-oak vegetation. These trails are groomed all year round and there are maps along to way to help visitors guide themselves. Depending on where you are in the forest, you will get to experience wetlands, ponds, meadows, or a treed area. The Charleswood Rotary Club has been dedicated to the forest since 1990 by providing volunteers and initiating or supporting many special forest projects. I want to thank the Charleswood Rotary for everything that they do.

There is no doubt that this is a tremendously challenging time. COVID-19 has come into our lives and changed so many things. While the vaccine brings hope, we must continue to be vigilant. Now is the time to continue to follow all public health orders, continue to physically distance yourself from those outside of your household, continue to wear a mask, and continue to wash and sanitize your hands often.

Be sure to check out www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/vaccine/ to find out when you become eligible for your vaccine.

In the mean-time, spring has sprung. While we might not be able to gather in groups, there is so much to do outside. Let’s focus our attention on the beautiful outdoors. The benefits of gardening, experiencing the trails, and walking through our urban forest can make for a wonderful and healthy activity.

Hon. Myrna Driedger is MLA for Roblin and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.

Why good balance matters as we age

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ost people wake up in the morning, get out of touch, how we feel pain and pressure, changes as we age. bed and start their day without thinking about “There is a reduced ability to feel the contact between balance. It’s something we take for granted as your feet and the ground.” we navigate around furniture or walk the family dog, but So is there a silver lining? The good news is that it’s nevit’s much more complicated than you’d think. Good baler too late to improve your balance, even ance requires many body systems workinto your 90s. The even better news is that ing cohesively to detect and understand balance training can prevent up to 40 per the world around you. It involves your cent of falls. “There is growing evidence visual system, the vestibular system (inthat we can slow down or even reverse ner ear), the central nervous system and some of these age-related changes,” Chrisan extensive network of position-sensing ta stated, “but to have an effect on falls, nerves (somatosensory system). And if all any given balance training program needs that wasn’t enough, even your muscles are to have 50 percent of the exercises balance pressed into action as you try to step over specific.” A recent study published in the the dog without falling as you rush out the online web edition of the British Medical door in the morning. Age-related changes Journal also supports this idea, finding to any of these areas then can affect your that the most successful exercise programs balance and result in a devastating fall. for fall prevention emphasized balance Physiotherapist Christa Rusk, a FallKrystal Stokes training. Balance focused programs resultProof certified balance and mobility ined in improved muscle strength, coordiHealthy structor who specializes in balance trainnation, reaction time, gait (how a person Living ing for older adults, said we rely heavily walks) and overall physical conditioning on our sensory system to maintain good including cognitive functions. balance. A deterioration in visual acuity (crispness), depth The type and duration of recommended balance exerperception and peripheral (side) vision can impact bal- cises varies - where to start depends a lot on where you ance. As early as age 30 you start to lose the hair cell den- are. If you’re already physically active with no balance issity in your inner ears that is responsible for sensing head sues, try challenging different body systems with weight movement. Age-related changes in reaction times, mus- shifting exercises like dancing, racquet sports or even Tai cle strength and cognition can also affect balance. “Ten Chi. To improve cognition, Christa recommends countpercent of adults over 65 and 50 percent of adults over ing or playing a word game while exercising. If you’re 80 have some deficits in cognition. This affects balance a beginner with some mobility issues for example (you as it makes it difficult for people to divide attention be- already use a walker or mobility aide), supervised, one on tween tasks, i.e., stepping around an obstacle while hav- one training with a physiotherapist is a good, safe place to ing a conversation,” Christa explained. Even our sense of start. “It is ideal to seek advice from a certified healthcare June 2021

professional. Physiotherapists are trained to assess and give advice; an assessment will tell you what part of balance you need to work on.” Most private health insurance policies will cover the cost of physiotherapy assessments and treatments up to a maximum amount.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s Staying on Your Feet program also has some home balance and strength exercises on their website, https://preventfalls.ca/ Here is a simple introduction to balance training: 1. Stand next to a sturdy counter for support and hold on.

2. Focus on a spot straight ahead and try to maintain good posture.

3. Lift your foot off the ground and hold it for 5 seconds.

4. Repeat with the other foot.

5. Do this 8 times on each leg.

Balance training must be done regularly to help reduce your risk of falls so talk to your doctor or physiotherapist and remember - it’s never too late to start! Christa Rusk runs her own mobile physiotherapy practice and can be found online at https://ruskphysio.com/ . To find a physiotherapist near you, please visit the Manitoba Physiotherapy Association at https://mbphysio.org/ . If you are concerned about falling, you may also want to consider a personal help button with fall detection technology. For more information, please visit https://www.victorialifeline.ca/.

The information in this article is meant to be informational in nature. Please consult a trained healthcare professional before starting any exercise program.

Krystal Stokes is the communications manager with Victoria Lifeline, a community service of the Victoria General Hospital Foundation. whatsupwinnipeg.ca

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The season is just beginning – lets barbecue!

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he barbecue! It’s that time of 6 tablespoons 36 per cent cream year, after what seemed like an endless winter, to clean the grills, The always useful, How to: This cut of steak is a little tricky to get fire the fuel and celebrate the great outdoors. The start of the season is always to the correct temperature, but I have greatly anticipated no matter where you faith in you all and know you will overcome its sheer mass. Turn are. To mark this celebrayour barbecue on and tion, let me introduce to heat through until you you the tomahawk steak, achieve a 300°F temperaa true behemoth of steaks. ture reading.

This cut of meat is Season the steak with one of the finest you can salt and pepper, be generpurchase. When cooked ous as this is a large piece correctly, it is packed of meat. This is where it with flavour and is most gets interesting: typically, definitely a belly filler. you would sear and flip Weighing between 30 to usually around 5 minutes 45 ounces, you can see per side, this time you why. In the truest spirit Ian Leatt are using your barbecue of meats, one piece could more like an oven. Place probably feed a small Foodies the steak on your grill family. It is the absolute and cook slowly, turn afultimate in lollipops. ter 5 minutes. Once both With an empty stomach, with aromascented air, with smiles and laughter, sides have browned, place on a higher with music playing in the background, shelf in your grill. Close the lid and leave to cook gently for ten minutes. Then let the feast begin. turn over for a further ten minutes. The reason for this is because this cut is so Here is what you will need: thick, you need to ensure it heats all the 2 tomahawk steaks way though.

1 whole head of garlic Check, using the thumb technique Salt and pepper (see below) as to the stage your steak 1 ½ cups soft butter is at. I like a medium to medium rare.

6 cloves garlic freshly crushed.

If you are unsure use a thermometer.

4 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley When the temperature inside the meat 3 cups roughly chopped mushrooms. reaches 110°F, remove from the grill and 2 vines of 6 small tomatoes wrap in foil for 15 minutes. The steak will continue to cook, only a little slowPeppercorn sauce er, and it will hold in all the juices.

1 tablespoon butter In a small pan, melt some butter and 2 large shallots finely chopped. add the crushed garlic and parsley, cook 3 teaspoons peppercorns, mixed colour gently for 8 minutes or so and the garlic 3 tablespoons brandy is clear. Set to one side.

150 ml red wine Using a large frying pan, melt some 150 ml beef stock

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butter in the pan, then place the mushrooms and whole clove of garlic halved and the vine tomatoes, season and leave to cook on the barbecue while the steak rests.

When you are ready remove the foil heat the barbecue to 425°F, place your steaks on the grill and sear for one minute then turn over and again after a further minute do the sides. Finally, once you have completed the sear, remove and place on a serving dish. Pour over the garlic butter. Add the seared mushrooms and vine tomatoes. Sprinkle some chopped parsley and place in front of your guests. You will forever be known as the steak genius.

Pepper corn sauce, sauce au poivre Place the butter in a large frying pan on a medium heat on the stove. Once the butter has melted add the shallots and peppercorns and cook until the shallots have softened. Add the brandy and cook off the alcohol.

Pour the wine into the pan, turn up the heat and cook until it too has reduced by half. Add the stock and once again reduce by two thirds. Stir the cream into

the sauce allowing it to thicken. Check that the sauce is seasoned to your liking, then serve as a side-dish to your steak.

Thumb technique: How to cook the perfect piece of steak: A simple trick on how to tell if your steak is cooked just the way you like it.

(Feel the palm of your hand, just below your thumb. It is a little soft and fleshy. This is what raw steak feels like when you touch. For a rare steak, bring your thumb to your pointing finger, and touch that same part of your palm again, it should feel slightly firmer? For medium rare touch your thumb to your middle finger. It has become a little firmer still, this is what medium-rare steak feels like. For medium move your thumb to your ring finger. This level of firmness means your steak is cooked medium. Finally for well-done touch your thumb to your little finger. That section of your palm will be fairly firm. This is what a well-done steak feels like.)

Ian Leatt is general manager of Pegasus Publications and a trained chef.

June 2021

June 15th is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Team up against elder abuse, wear purple on June 15th to show your support!

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orld Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) tress through verbal or non-verbal acts is marked each year on June 15. It is an official • Financial Abuse - the illegal or inappropriate use of United Nations International Day acknowlanother person’s money or property edging the significance of elder abuse as • Neglect - the failure to meet the a public health and human rights issue. needs of an older adult who cannot meet Since 2006, communities throughout their needs on their own the country and around the world have A & O: Support Services for Older honoured this day to raise the visibility of Adults provides elder abuse prevention elder abuse by organizing events to share services free of charge. The agency has information and promote resources and a confidential intake line for informaservices that can help increase the safety tion and referral. Anyone can call (204) and well-being of older adults. Elder 956-6440 and speak to an intake worker Abuse networks and organizations plan for more information. The agency delivA & O: activities across the country to mobilize ers the following elder abuse prevention Support Services for community action and engage people in programs and services: Older Adults discussions on how to promote dignity Elder Abuse Prevention Services and respect of older adults.

Registered Social Workers respond to What is elder abuse? the needs of individuals 55+ who are Any action or inaction by a person in a relationship experiencing neglect, emotional, financial, sexual or of trust, which jeopardizes the health, or well-being of physical abuse. Information and resources are provided an older person. to family and friends who may be concerned about an Forms of abuse: older adult.

• Physical Abuse - acts that include violence or rough Safe Suite Program treatment, or the threat of violence The Safe Suite Program provides temporary hous• Sexual Abuse - sexual contact with an older adult ing for individuals 55+, regardless of gender, who are without that person’s consent in need of a safe place to stay due to abuse or neglect.

• Emotional Abuse - any act that causes pain or dis- Clients are provided with furnished accommodations

for up to 60 days at no cost. Registered Social Workers provide counselling services and practical assistance in accessing housing, financial and legal services.

Older Victim Services The agency works in partnership with the Winnipeg Police Service to help individuals 60+ who are victims of crime. Program staff provides emotional support and counselling. They also provide information about the investigation, court procedures and assistance with the Victim Impact Statement and Compensation for Victims of Crime Programs.

You are not alone!

All calls are strictly confidential.

A & O: Support Services for Older Adults is located at 200-280 Smith Street, Winnipeg. Call 204-956-6440, email intake@aosupportservices.ca, or go online to www.aosupportservices.ca.

Legacy of learning: the RTAM Student award Peggy Prendergast

grams. The support we give provides a way for us to connect, often virtually, to ease the stress of both child and strughe Retired Teachers of Manitoba gling parents and the isolated older adult (RTAM) have an important role but, in the process, provides us with the to play in this panconnections to ease our demic. Support and enloneliness, stave off decouragement is what all pression, and provide us of us need in this stresswith a sense of usefulness. ful and often fearful and Social isolation during changing time. Volunthe pandemic has taken its teering retirees can be a toll on the older adult ofsteadying, positive influten inflicting sedentary livence in the world. Many ing because of the ‘stay at are able to connect with home rule’ we have been and support, their young living under. Disconnect Retired Teachers relatives: children, grandfrom social experiences is Association of children, nieces and nephalso connected with inManitoba ews as they attempt to creased mental health conlearn virtually and withcerns among older adults. out the same educational supports that The saving of dollars because of social are normally in place. Many of us as retir- distancing does not make up for the after ees can reach out to family members that effects of isolation resulting in loneliness are struggling to help their children learn and often depression. virtually. Some of us can actually learn to One of the areas of strength in our lives teach virtually and assist Senior Centres that RTAM is supporting is our young in teaching areas of interest to members relatives. RTAM is leaving a ‘Legacy of such as arts and crafts and exercise pro- Learning’ for our children, grandchildren,

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June 2021

nieces and nephews. RTAM is piloting a program, the ‘Student Success Portfolio’ that will be offered to our young relatives in High School. As has been noted in the past and on our website: www.rtam. mb.ca, the RTAM Endowment Fund, located at the Winnipeg Foundation, awards four, $1000 awards to Grade 12 graduates who are relatives of an RTAM member. This fund is growing exponentially and has doubled the value of its rewards over the past seven years.

The criteria stated on the RTAM Student Award application embodies the values retired teachers feel are important to those students seeking post graduate education: scholarship, community and school involvement as well as being sponsored by a relative who is an RTAM member. Post graduate education is expensive. There are many scholarships, bursaries and awards available to students, as well as provincial government programs such as Student Aid if students, first of all, know they exist and then send in an application. The ’Student Success Portfolio’ is meant to encourage and assist these student relatives to reach the

goal of entering a program of graduate education. The objective of this program is to provide, through the RTAM sponsor, an actual portfolio containing information with and for the student that will assist and encourage the young relative during their high school years to realize their education goals by applying for monetary assistance through these many award channels as well as the RTAM Student Award.

The benefit to the older adult is the relationship and sense of self-worth that will evolve in the RTAM member as they engage with and strengthen their connection with the student. RTAM members believe in, not only the personal value of education but the possibility of the monetary rewards it can provide throughout a lifetime. The support the family provides is invaluable. Income Security is a family affair – it passes from generation to generation.

Peggy Prendergast is president of Retired Teachers’ Association of Manitoba (RTAM).

To contact RTAM call 1-204-889-3660, email info@rtam.mb.ca or go online to www.rtam.mb.ca.

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Directory Northern AREA Jubilee Recreation of Cranberry Portage Legion Hall, 217 2nd Ave. SE, Cranberry Portage 472-3031 Snow Lake Seniors 71 Balsam St., Snow Lake 358-2151 The Pas Golden Agers 324 Ross Ave., The Pas 623-3663 Interlake AREA Gimli New Horizons 55+ Activity Centre 17 North Colonization Rd., Gimli 642-7909 www.gimlinewhorizons.com Gordon Howard Centre 384 Eveline St., Selkirk 785-2092 www.gordonhoward.ca Grand Marais & District Seniors 90 Matilda Ave., Grand Marais 998-1509 Riverton & District Friendship Centre 24 Main St., Riverton 378-2800 South Interlake 55 Plus 374 1st St. W., Stonewall 467-2582 www.si55plus.org Eastman AREA Beau-head Senior Centre 645 Park Ave., Beausejour 268-2444 East Beaches Social Scene 3 Ateah Rd., Victoria Beach 756-6468 www.ebseniorscene.ca East Beaches Resource Centre 3 Ateah Road, Victoria Beach 756-6471 www.ebseniorscene.ca Pat Porter Active Living Centre 10 Chrysler Gate, Steinbach 320-4600 www.patporteralc.com Central AREA Carmen Active Living Centre 47 Ed Belfour Drive, Carmen 745-2356 www.carmanalc.com Comfort Drop In Centre 31 Main St., Erickson 636-7895 Crystal City Friendship Club 117 Broadway St., Crystal City 873-2091

Dauphin Multi-Purpose Senior Centre 55 1st Ave. SE, Dauphin 638-6485 www.dauphinseniors.com Grandview Drop In 432 Main St., Grandview 546-2772 Herman Prior Senior Services Centre 40 Royal Rd. N., Portage la Prairie 857-6951 www.hermanpriorcentre.com Neepawa Drop In Centre 310 Davidson St., Neepawa 476-5103 www.neepawa.ca/district-drop-in-center Morden Activity Centre 306 N. Railway St., Morden 822-3555 www.mordenseniors.ca Minnedosa 50+ Centre 31 Main St. S., Minnedosa 867-1956

Winnipeg AREA 20 Fort Street Seniors Club 2200 - 20 Fort St., Winnipeg (204) 227-7104 Aboriginal Senior Resource Centre Winnipeg 527 Selkirk Ave., Winnipeg (204) 586-4595 www.asrcwpg.org A&O: Senior Centre Without Walls 200 - 280 Smith St., Winnipeg (204) 956-6440 www.aosupportservices.ca Archwood 55 Plus 565 Guilbault St., Winnipeg (204) 416-1067 archwood55plusinc.weebly.com Barbara Mitchell Family Resource Centre 51 Morrow Ave., Winnipeg (204) 946-9152 www.barbaramitchellfrc.ca

Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre 1588 Main St., Winnipeg (204) 339-1701 www.gwensecter.com Headingley Senior Services 5353 Portage Ave., Winnipeg (204) 889-3132 Ext. 3 www.headingleyseniorservices.ca Winakwa Active Seniors Club 980 Winakwa Rd., Winnipeg (204) 253-4418 www.winakwacc.ca Manitoba Korean Seniors c/o 388 Waverley St., Winnipeg (204) 837-3470 www.ksam.ca Pembina Active Living 50 Barnes Ave., Winnipeg (204) 946-0839 www.pal55plus.com Rady Jewish Community Centre 123 Doncaster St., Winnipeg (204) 480-7550 www.radyjcc.com

Pilot Mound Fellowship Club 203 Broadway, Pilot Mound

Bleak House Centre 1637 Main St., Winnipeg (204) 338-4723 www.bleakhousecentre.com

Plumas Seniors Club 102 White St., Plumas 386-2029

Brooklands Active Living Centre 1960 William Ave. W., Winnipeg (204) 632-8367

Rainbow Resource Centre 170 Scott St., Winnipeg (204) 474-0212, Ext. 211 www.rainbowresourcecentre.org

Portage Services for Seniors 40A Royal Road N., Portage la Prairie 239-6312

Broadway Seniors Resource Centre 823 Ellice Ave., Winnipeg (204) 772-3533 www.bsrc.ca

South Winnipeg Seniors Resource Council 204-478-6169 www.swsrc.ca resources@swsrc.ca

Centro Caboto 1055 Wilkes Ave., Winnipeg (204) 896-1962

Southdale Seniors 254 Lakewood Blvd., Winnipeg (204) 253-4599

Charleswood Senior Centre 5006 Roblin Blvd., Winnipeg (204) 897-5263 www.charleswoodseniorcentre.org

St. James-Assiniboia 55+ Centre 3 - 203 Duffield St., Winnipeg (204) 987-8850 www.stjamescentre.com

Creative Retirement MB 448 Burnell St., Winnipeg (204) 949-2569 www.creativeretirementmanitoba.ca

St. Mary’s Rd. Seniors 613 St. Mary’s Rd., Winnipeg (204) 257-0678 www.stmarysroad.ca

Sandy Lake Drop In Centre 100 Main St., Sandy Lake (204) 585-2411 Treherne Friendship Centre 190 Broadway St., Treherne 723-2559 Winkler Senior Centre 102 - 650 South Railway Ave., Winkler 325-8964 winkler55plus.com Brandon AREA Brandon Seniors for Seniors Coop 311 Park Ave., East, Brandon 571-2050 www.brandonsfors.ca Prairie Oasis Centre 241 8th St., Brandon 727-6641 Age Friendly Committee of Council - Brandon 638 Princess Ave., Brandon 729-2259 Killarney Service for Seniors 203 South Railway (204) 523-7115

Crescent Fort Rouge United Church 525 Wardlaw Ave., Winnipeg (204) 475-6011 Dakota Comm. Centre - Dakota 55+ Lazers 1188 Dakota St., Winnipeg (204) 254-1010 E206 www.dakotacc.com Elmwood East Kildonan Active Living Centre 180 Poplar Ave., Winnipeg (204) 669-0750 www.facebook.com/eekalc Good Neighbours Active Living Centre 720 Henderson Hwy., Winnipeg (204) 669-1710 www.gnalc.ca

Transcona Council for Seniors 845 Regent Ave., Winnipeg (204) 222-9879 Transcona Retired Citizens Centre 328 Whittier Ave. West, Winnipeg (204) 222-8473 Vital Seniors 3 St. Vital Rd., Winnipeg (204) 253-0555 www.stmarymagdelenewpg.org Winnipeg Chinese Senior Association (204) 291-9028 www.winnipegchineseseniors.ca

Sri Lanka 55+ Group Mother’s Day in Winnipeg Senaka Samarasinghe

M

ay 9th (Sunday) 2021 weekend was the Mother’s Day in Winnipeg. To honour the mother of the family to highlight the influence of mother in the society there were different events organized for 10

whatsupwinnipeg.ca

mothers such as delivered flowers and offered brunch or dinner. The committee of the Sri Lankan 55+ decided to deliver a pot of aloe vera (Komarika), an evergreen perennial can be used as an indoor ornamental decorative as a potted plant as well as can be used as skin lotion and topical medication.

The Committee planned to deliver a pot with aloe vera plant to each mem-

ber mother living in various locations within the City of Winnipeg. For this mission, a few volunteers agreed to handover the pot and plant among our mothers. We followed appropriate precautions provided by local health authority during the process of handing over aloe vera pots among mothers.

Correction: Our May issue incorrectly

reported: In time, Mr. Subramaniam and his wife Prema immigrated to Winnipeg to…This should have read: “He (Mr. Hemasiri Perera) migrated with his loving wife Prema to Winnipeg to spend their retirement life with their daughter Nirosha..” (Mr. Hemasiri Perera’s teacher was Mr. Subramaniam). Our apologies to Sri Lanka 55+ Group and Mr. Subramaniam.

June 2021

Lessons learned in Home Care

This article was written by Loraine Stuart, Brian Howe and Beverly Magalas. They are the children of the late Ronald Howe who passed away on February 28, 2021 while waiting communication between Hospital/Community Home Care to be paneled and reunite with his wife of 70 years at Lions Manor.

S

elf-Taught Lessons of Home Care Management: • Select an Advocate. This person could be a family member or close family friend, clergy or neighbour. Request that his person participate in any conversation, meeting or assessment of the client to ensure the client’s health is accurately being described.

Remember, two sets of ears are better than one when discussing health care options.

• Ensure your Health Care Directive is on file with the Advocate being the proxy.

• Meet the Home Care Case Manager in person, with your Advocate. Get the full name of the Case Manager.

• Do your homework prior to meeting the Case Manager. There is information online about Home Care. Prepare a set of questions ahead of the meeting.

For example: how does Home Care handle the transfer of medical information and how are medical updates distributed to those performing the care. Never assume the case manager provides all the information.

• At the meeting with the Case Manager, take notes and record the visit. Get the Case Manager’s card and contact information. Ask for their education background: are they a nurse or a Social Worker? Each discipline has different qualifications.

In the event of the Case Worker being away, who is second-in-command? Get the contact information for that person or the Team Leader.

• Provide accurate family contact information to the Case Manager and remember to update this information in writing if it changes.

• Request a complete copy of your written assessment and keep it in your file. Make sure to read through the assessment in full. Make corrections if necessary and then request a new copy once the corrections have been implemented.

• Keep this assessment in your file. Make sure other family members know how to locate this assessment.

• Start a journal regarding medical issues. Do not assume that the Home Care worker visiting you has current or relevant medical information. You must constantly inform the workers or staff at any hospital vis-

its of current medical status. It may involve repeating yourself several times to ensure the information is accurately conveyed. Hospitals do not convey medical status to Home Care and vise versa. They are completely separate programs and do not communicate with each other even when you in hospital.

• Ensure that the Home Care workers and hospital staff are aware that your Advocate must be present for any new assessments.

• You and your Advocate may not always be aware that an assessment is being done, as interviewers do not always identify their role and the you may not completely understand the purpose of the assessment. The Advocate should always be present to help clarify the purpose of the assessment. We can’t stress this enough!

• Arrange regular meetings with the Case Manager and schedule the next meeting before you leave. Prepare and keep notes of all interactions.

• Different disciplines in Health Care will be doing different assessments. Always get a business card from assessor and request a copy of the assessment in writing. Make any corrections and request a new copy with the amendments. Share this assessment with case manager via faxsimile.

• Place signage on the door of your residence if you wish outdoor footwear and coats to be removed.

• Communicate of any hearing and/or any vision issues. Never assume that the worker entering the home is aware of handicaps that are not obvious. Clients with dementia or those with vision problems may think that their residence is being broken into, so again, signage asking workers to announce themselves is necessary.

• Be aware that Home Care workers are task driven.

They have a set time for the tasks they are performing and will not deviate from their assigned duties. For example, if they have a bath scheduled for 20 minutes once a week but they need to help the patient with undressing and that takes 20 minutes, the bath will be rescheduled.

• If your disability involves their vision, obtain plain language documents detailing the extent of their ability and deliver to Case Manager. (For example, the patient may be unable to read a clock, or can not see food on their plate etc.) “Legally blind” can have a huge range of vision levels, and some patients although legally blind can still operate a motor vehicle. Make sure vision issues are clearly stated, as Home Care does not recognize a loss of any level of vision as a disability.

BE SAFE

AND CONNECTED

especially now.

About Morning Breeze HealthCare

Brian Campbell

G

enaro Guevarra brings both clinical and human experience to his business and instills his passion for helping people and every member of his staff.

The goal of Morning Breeze HealthCare is to make life better for the clients they work for and their families.

Their plan is to make a positive impact in the lives of others.

Morning Breeze HealthCare offers a personal touch to their clients. Professional expertise, combined with human compassion and empathy, are the key values that their clients can expect. Clients are all treated with dignity and respect and the staff make it a point to understand and respond to their needs.

Morning Breeze HealthCare’s goal is to improve the quality of human life by engaging clients in preventative healthcare methods and role modelling healthy behaviours. This involves using many traditional methods of living a long and healthy life. For example, following the old standard of drinking at least eight glasses of water per day. People tend to forget the powerful health benefit of simply keeping oneself hydrated. Other examples include getting adequate sleep, managing and minimizing stress, getting regular exercise, and eating well, using the Canada Food Guide.

The Covid-19 pandemic has posed a serious threat to the health and general well-being of many people, both physically and mentally. The over-all goal of Morning Breeze HealthCare is to provide the support to help their clients live their lives to the fullest.

The staff of Morning Breeze HealthCare has been trained to deal professionally and compassionately with clients suffering with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Every client is treated as an individual with unique needs. They offer a specialized program for working with clients dealing with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and those exhibiting responsive behaviours (also referred to as aggressive behaviours). Morning Breeze HealthCare staff are trained in the use of the P.I.E.C.E.S. program, a well-accepted form of approaches, utilized by many health practitioners in the community.

Genaro has extensive work experience, spanning more than twenty years, of working with people with develJune 2021

opmental disabilities, with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. He has compiled a handbook of data from a variety of specialists dedicated to working with people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, using compassion, empathy and professionalism, as opposed to the use of anti-psychotic medication. His approach to care for people with these conditions stems from his deep desire to improve the quality of life through the use of compassion and showing empathy to their unique needs. He imparts this knowledge, training and compassion to the staff of Morning Breeze HealthCare so they are able to meet the unique needs of their clients.

The specialized dementia training and compassion of their staff in dealing with clients with dementia and responsive behaviours is one of the main ways that Morning Breeze HealthCare stands apart from their competition.

Morning Breeze HealthCare provides part-time, fulltime and casual staff for Health Care Facilities, and they provide support workers for their clients to stay within their own homes. They have a belief that, if at all possible, and with the proper support, the best place for their clients is in their own homes. The Covid-19 pandemic has taught the general public and all levels of government that living in clusters, such as a long-term care home, is less than ideal when dealing with a virus-transmitting pandemic. Even the best run facility can have difficulty meeting the demands of curtailing the spread of a virus in such an enclosed space. Studies have shown that, for the most part, people live longer and fuller lives in their own homes, provided they have the proper care. Morning Breeze HealthCare is here to provide that care.

Morning Breeze HealthCare wants to work hand-inglove with community leaders to respond to the needs of the community and provide the best health care that they can. They plan to do their part to educate the public about best practices in healthy lifestyle and disease prevention. They hope to be the go-to place for health care and healthy lifestyle.

The bottom line is that Morning Breeze HealthCare is here to help people; to help their clients to live the best lives they possibly can, and to help ease the minds of their clients’ families and caregivers, by making sure that their clients are in the best possible hands. Morning Breeze HealthCare is here for you.

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whatsupwinnipeg.ca

11

El Sistema Winnipeg: The First Ten Years

E

leven years ago in early July, the board members of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra met for the last meeting of the year. It was a heavy agenda with many big decisions related to the budget for the coming year and other items of note. One of the agenda items was also the recommendation from WSO administration for the WSO to start a Sistema inspired music education and social change program in Winnipeg. There had been much debate around the table over the months about the wisdom of a professional symphony orchestra taking on the Trudy Schroeder commitment for this Random kind of very engaged, intensive, and expensive Notes program. The people who had hesitations about this venture were very aware of the great difficulties inherent in just running and finding funding for the orchestra itself. Would we not be wise to just “stick to our knitting?”

Eventually at the end of the meeting, I made a last ditch plea for authorization to do a one year pilot project, and if it did not work out, we would cancel the program at the end of the school year. In a close count, the board gave me the authorization to run the pilot project for a year.

We had already established a link with the Seven Oaks School Division’s Lydia Heydrich to run the pilot program in Elwick School. The school division would provide the teaching space, one qualified music education specialist teacher, and school busses should they be needed. The WSO would provide the specialist instrument teachers, the instruments, the curriculum, connection with the orchestra, and program coordination through the WSO’s Education and Community Engagement Department.

I have long been inspired by the quotation attributed to Goethe, “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of

A teacher of the Sistema program visits students at Elwick School in May 2021. initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issue from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

Begin it now.” But in the case of Sistema Winnipeg, I could see this in action in a way that I have never seen providence working before.

When people learned of this intensive approach to providing opportunity for children and youth in Winnipeg who would never have the chance to have daily music training classes on orchestral instruments, the helpers started to appear. Of course, we had to learn how to ask for help, and where to go. The Winnipeg Foundation and the Loewen Foundation were the first to step in with financial help for this initiative, but many individuals and groups stepped up to help as well. People donated unused instruments, and we were also able to get wonderful pricing for new instruments in sizes for children. Other Sistema inspired programs in Canada and throughout the world, including the founding Sistema program in Venezuela

were generous with advice and best practices for starting a program. Winnipeg Harvest helped with providing after school snacks for the children in the first year.

We started the first year with 40 students at Elwick School. The students were unauditioned, and selected on the basis of the commitment of the child and the parents or caregivers to make attendance at Sistema Winnipeg a daily priority. There was a fair bit of trial and error involved in developing the program in a way that would work and would be sustainable.

But the results of ten years of work in Sistema Winnipeg have been remarkable. As Dr. Francine Morin of the University of Manitoba’s School of Education reports, in her forty years of researching and studying educational programs to assist high risk children in developing the skills that will help them forge a bright and opportunity filled future, she has never seen a more powerful program than Sistema Winnipeg.

What have the first ten years of the program delivered? The program has grown to welcome 150 students per year in a four different schools. Children and their families have profoundly changed their interaction with the education system. We have seen children whose attendance records and academic results have improved dramatically. Friendships have been made, much music has been learned, confidence and capacity have soared, and we are now starting to see graduates of the program return to Sistema as interns and teaching assistants to help the next generation of Sistema Winnipeg participants.

Much to my surprise, the WSO has not been able to gain steady program funding for Sistema Winnipeg from the provincial, federal, or municipal government.

If the program is to grow to its potential, public sector funding will be required in the long term. However, each year we have individuals, corporations and foundations step up with generosity, and each year we have managed to find enough community generated funding to keep this program going, growing, and changing the lives of children note by note.

As I listen to the children perform, I am overjoyed that we were able to start this very worthwhile program, and that the link to the WSO and the orchestra members is solid and inspirational.

Trudy Schroeder is the Executive Director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

Manitoba becoming a movie mecca

H

ot Docs, Canada’s premiere documentary fes- ban producer Merit Jensen Carr, MMP produces blue tival, just wrapped its 2021 edition having chip feature science and natural history documentaries screened a wide range of documentaries from for CBC’s the Nature of Things and for Arte in EuCanada and around the world. It’s one of the biggest rope along with factual series that are viewed around the world. international documentary festivals and Reef Rescue, produced by MMP for kicks off the market circuit for docuCBC’s hit series The Nature of Things, mentary filmmakers and producers from is a recent example of MMP’s internaaround the world. Next up is Sunny Side tional success. It won “Best Long Form of the Doc and Sheffield Documentary Conservation Film” at the Jackson Wild Film Festival in France and the UK reMedia Awards, one of the top compespectively followed in the fall with the titions for factual productions, and it oldest festival dedicated to documentary, was nominated for Best Long Format the International Documentary Festival Natural History Program at “The Buzzin Amsterdam (IDFA). Prior to COies”, run by the premiere international VID-19 Manitoba filmmakers and proconference World Congress of Science ducers would attend those events in per& Factual Producers. The company has son to meet with broadcasters, funders Nicole Matiation also been nominated for, and won, sevand other producers. eral Canadian Screen Awards. You can Our province is a well-known hub for Movie find a full list of accolades on the MMP movies of the week – like Hallmark’s Making website. holiday films – but our local industry extends far beyond into animation, series, MMP is just one example of a local features and, of course, documentary. We produce doc- company that produces documentaries. Zoot Pictures umentary of all types; shorts, features and series that is currently focused on feature documentaries and has feature local and international subjects for audiences in two in production for the international market – one on Manitoba and around the world. the Canadian architect behind the building of the Paris Recently, you may have seen Manitoba’s North fea- Opera at Place de la Bastille and another on the Maya tured in a several productions. Arctic Vets, Ice Road civilization. Frank Digital also makes feature documenTruckers and Kingdom of the Polar Bears all included taries for television. episodes or segments in or near Churchill, and they Manitoba production companies also produce factual were all made possible through talented and hard- series. Frantic Films is certainly one of the most wellworking documentary filmmakers in Manitoba. known having produced several award-winning series: Merit Motion Pictures (MMP), the local production Till Debt do us Part, Still Standing, The Baronness Von company behind Kingdom of the Polar Bears, and the Sketch Show and Backyard Builds. Ice Road Truckers series Arctic Vets, is at the forefront of documentary was coproduced by the Indigenous-owned company production in Manitoba. Owned and run by Manito- Eagle Vision, which is also the company behind the fea12

whatsupwinnipeg.ca

ture documentary When we were Children and the series Taken. Farpoint Films produces Ice Vikings, which is set in Gimli, Manitoba along with other factual series that have international locations. Ice River Films, a newer Manitoba production company just released Going Native, featuring Canadian humorist and author Drew Hayden Taylor who was born and lives on Curve Lake First Nation (Anishnawbe) in Ontario. Nüman Films co-produced First Contact with local indigenousowned company, Animiki See. Manito Média produces the very successful Au Pays des Michifs and Production Rivard has several factual series in production including Main à la Pâte featuring Winnipeg chef Luc Jean.

Many emerging filmmakers also get their start in documentary. Local production company, Wookey Films, run and operated by sister-brother team Janelle and Jérémie Wookey, offers the perfect example. The Wookeys launched their careers with Mémére Métisse, a short documentary that aired across Canada winning the Cynthia Lickers-Sage Award for Emerging Talent at ImagineNATIVE 2008. Since then, Wookey Films has continued to produce documentaries in feature-length, short form and series. Most recently, they produced Tracie Leost: you can have it all for the By Her Rules series on the Olympic Channel.

You can watch the many great documentaries and factual series filmed and produced by Manitobans, on CBC, Gem, Radio-Canada, Tout.TV, TV5Unis, APTN, Bell Media, Crave, Bell MTS Fibe TV1, YouTube, Vimeo and Netflix. You can also find some, along with many other great Canadian films, on the National Film Board of Canada’s website. Local film festivals: Gimli Film Festival, Gimme Some Truth, Cinémental and Freeze Frame provide another opportunity to see Manitoba-made documentaries.

Nicole Matiation is the director of OnScreen Manitoba.

June 2021

Timootayowin: A journey to understanding through the art of theatre Ian Ross

I

remember hearing a teaching about a young person who was struggling with giving in to forgiveness or anger towards someone else and they sought the wisdom of an elder. The elder explained that these feelings were like two wolves within the young person, and both were fighting for control over how the young person would deal with things and that eventually one wolf would grow and live strong within them. The young person asked which wolf this would be and the elder said, “The one you feed.” Gratefully, I can share that the time to feed and foster Indigenous theatre creators in Manitoba has taken a huge leap forward with the establishment of Pimootayowin Creators Circle at Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.

For a long time there has been a need for the development of capacity within the Indigenous theatre community. It’s not that there isn’t strength, talent and people who are capable of creating theatre arts within Manitoba, but it’s my opinion that there should be more Indigenous people practising this art form. In particular, the art of

The Pimotayowin Creators Circle includes Lynette Bonin, Jim Compton, Rosanna Deerchild, Katie German, Kathleen MacLean, Dave McLeod, and Tracey Nepinak. play creation. There are far too many Indigenous stories to be told and far too few Indigenous people writing these stories.

Pimootayowin Creators Circle was created with the help of Kelly Thornton, Artistic Director of Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. The intention of creating this circle was to develop the capacity of Indigenous artists in the ability to

create plays or other forms of theatrical expression. Storytelling has long been a part of Indigenous culture and the fostering of Indigenous play creation is a natural extension of this cultural tradition.

Pimootayowin is a word meaning journey and it was chosen to reflect the creative process that this creators circle was to undertake. Often when artists make a piece of art involving story it is described as a journey and in fact, the story itself is often a journey, which makes sense, since all stories are quests.

The talented artists involved in this process all have fantastic writing skills but not necessarily much experience in play creation. They have experience in creating poetry, songs, screen and teleplays. Now all are gaining experience in creating for the stage. For me, it has been an absolute pleasure to dramaturg their work and to share with them the craft of playwriting.

Each of the artists involved has created the initial draft of a play for the stage and they will be shared as digital readings in Pimootayowin: A Festival of New Work which takes place June 8 to 12, 2021. For more information go to RoyalMTC.ca Ian Ross is a Governor General Award-winning playwright from Manitoba.

Opera lover Audrey Hubbard helps keep the story going Darlene Ronald

A

udrey Hubbard has seen opera grow and change a great deal in Manitoba throughout her 93 years.

By making a planned gift to Manitoba Opera’s Endowment Fund, she is excited to be part of that growth well into the future.

Audrey caught the opera bug as a young girl during the Second World War. A traveling company had come to town to perform in the old auditorium (now the Archives Building behind the Bay), and Audrey’s father took her family to see Rigoletto.

“I had no idea what to expect. I’d never seen a live play before!” Audrey recalls. “It was in Italian and I couldn’t follow the story at the time, but the music really hit me.”

After that, Audrey remembers having to travel all the way to Minneapolis with

her sister to get her fill of live opera. That is why it was especially thrilling for her when the newly formed Manitoba Opera mounted its first production in 1972.

She recalls her first experience with Manitoba Opera fondly. “It was the concert version of Il Trovatore. I couldn’t wait to see them put on a full production with costumes after that.”

Since then, Audrey attended almost every Manitoba Opera production until mobility became an issue.

“We went all the time. Having the opera here was great for developing wonderful Canadian singers.”

Now she listens to opera at home and in the last year, has been taking advantage of all the concerts available online.

“I was listening to Lucia di Lammermoor the other day and it reminded me of the last time I saw it in 2003 with Tracy Dahl as Lucia. It was amazing. You don’t need to go to New York to see talent like that.

She’s living proof that you can have a fab-

ulous career and be based in Winnipeg.” ning, and with a bequest to the EndowEarly in the company’s history, Audrey ment Fund, she will be part of that story decided to become a Manitoba Opera do- for decades to come. nor, making her first gift in “The performing arts add 1974. It was important for immeasurably to what our her to give because she loves city offers. I want them to the art form. continue and to give work “As I can’t be a performer to local people. I want them myself, the best I can do is to be in Winnipeg – because help those who can. It makes I love this place. To me, it’s me feel part of it.” home,” says Audrey.

In later years, Audrey deAudrey encourages others cided to add a gift in her will who share her deep love of to go to Manitoba Opera’s opera to consider making a Endowment Fund. She loves gift to the Endowment Fund. the idea that her gift will be “You don’t have to have MO Donor, Audrey invested at The Winnipeg loads of money. If you would Hubbard, May 2021.

Foundation. like to see that something “It will keep on long after goes on forever and still be a me,” she explains. part of it, it’s the thing to do.”

With a clear love for her city and for For more information on making opera the performing arts, Audrey is thoughtful part of your legacy, contact Manitoba Opera’s about her legacy. She has been a part of Director of Development, Tania Douglas, at Manitoba Opera’s story since the begin- 204-942-2163, tdouglas@mbopera.ca

Letters

Why exclude seniors under 75?

Re: Budget 2021 (Lifestyles 55, May 2021 issue, Page 4, Highlights of the recent federal budget of interest to seniors).

I

am a senior in the 65 to 74 age group that was excluded from the Old Age Security (OAS) increase in Budget 2021.

Mr. Yves-Francois Blanchet, Leader, Bloc Quebecois party, had presented a Budget 2021 amendment to Parliament so that all seniors would be included in the Old Age Security (OAS) increase. Mr. Blanchet said that excluding the 65 to 74 age group was age discrimination. International Human Rights, Article 25 (1), states: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, June 2021

and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”

A single senior who lives on OAS @ $618.85 a month equals $7,462.62 a year (before taxes), plus the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), maximum benefit of $923.71 a month which adds up to $11,084.52 a year (before taxes).

If the single senior does not have a Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or a work pension, the combined amount of $7,462.62 (OAS) plus $11,084.52 (GIS), will give a total income equal to $18,547.14 a year (before tax). A person working for the minimum wage in Manitoba receives $11.90 per hour.

If the person works eight hours per day x 20 days per month x 12 months @ $11.90 per hour – they will earn $22,848 (before taxes) a year. The NDP requested that a national standard be set for the minimum wage at $15 an hour by the federal government. This $3.10 increase to the minimum wage

iswconsidered to provide workers with sufficient income to live on.

A single senior’s income is $4,300.86 less than a minimum wage worker today who earns $11.90 per hour. Every person (which includes all seniors) should have the right to a standard of living adequate for their health and well-being during the time of this COVID-19 pandemic crisis; especially when the epidemic has had the negative affect of increasing the Cost of Living; therefore, placing more pressure on the 65 to 74 senior group living on a limited (fixed) income while trying to cover expenses, for example, to live In their own home, in a rental apartment, in assisted living or in a nursing home.

The amendment, presented by the Bloc Quebecois to Parliament, to include all seniors in the OAS increase, was defeated by the Liberals and the Conservatives. Budget 2021 (with the exclusion of the 65 to 74 senior group) was approved by the Liberals and the NDP. The Bloc Quebecois have not given up on pursuing the federal gov-

ernment to make the necessary change so that low-income seniors would not be pushed further into poverty.

I am thankful that the Bloc Quebecois are standing up for all seniors, which include the hardest hit low-income seniors. I am still hopeful other parties will join the Bloc and become motivated to change their former stance to include all seniors in the OAS increase.

L. Jansen, Winnipeg, MB

Canadians racist?

Re: Lifestyles 55. May 2201, page 5, Are Canadians intrinsically racist? Only its Government things so!

I

would suggest Mr. Holle read, “The Skin We're In” by Desmond Cole.

Canada is just as racist as the USA, we are just more covert. Systemic racism is, unfortunately, alive and well in Canada. He might also read, “An Inconvenient Indian”.

T. Webster whatsupwinnipeg.ca

13

Winnipeg’s colourful Memorial Park

D

edicated on September 28, 1962 by Lieutenant Governor Errick Willis and Premier Duff Roblin, Winnipeg’s Memorial Provincial Park, located on a triangular plot of land north of the Legislative building, bounded by Osborne Street to the west, Memorial Boulevard to the east and Broadway Avenue to the south, went on to become the epicenter of all things hippie in downtown Winnipeg in summer months.

Originally the location of the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Science, the facility John Einarson was abandoned in the Local Music 1950s when the U of Spotlight M consolidated its various schools at the Fort Garry Campus in south Winnipeg. A proposal to demolish the vacant building and erect a new City Hall was abandoned after veterans protested over the possible relocation of Winnipeg’s war cenotaph. An alternative put forth by several local legions urged the provincial government who owned the property (purchasing it from the City of Winnipeg for $120,000) to turn it into a park dedicated to the memory of our fallen soldiers.

A commemorative plaque on the property was inscribed, “To the honoured dead this park was dedicated in memory of their sacrifice in war and peace to create this province and preserve this nation.”

The smallest of Manitoba’s provincial parks at two hectares (4.5 acres), the crown jewel of the property is the fountain and pool, officially and rather unimaginatively titled City Hydro Fountain. On hot summer days you can still find young people wading in the pool or simply cooling their feet despite signs posted nearby forbidding such actions. The most famous set of feet to wade into the Memorial Park fountain was rock star Janis Joplin, in town for the Festival Express concert at Blue Bomber Stadium the next day. Surprisingly, no one took notice of her amid the convivial communal atmosphere of a hot June 30, 1970 day. The tranquil pastoral vibe impressed the Queen of the Hippies who remarked to a Winnipeg Free Press reporter, “There was an entire beautiful crew of people just lyin’ around and playin’ the guitar. If you walked into a fountain in

John Einarson ready to take you on a virtual tour of Winnipeg music history We're ready to go for the Zoom digital Magical Musical History Tour of Winnipeg music landmarks. Here are the details and how to book your virtual seat on the tour bus.

It'll be a blast.

Memorial Park hosts a hippies wedding reception in 1972.

Join local music historian and author John Einarson as he guides you through the streets of Winnipeg on a unique, one-of-a-kind tour of the city’s illustrious rock ‘n’ roll history. See the house where Neil Young lived and began his song writing career, where he made his first recordings and played his first live performances; see the house where Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman of The Guess Who wrote These Eyes, No Time and others as well as where Burton Cummings composed Share The Land, Rain Dance, and more; see the school where Neil Young sat on the steps and “dreamed of being a star”; where Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO) was first conceived; the house Terry ‘Seasons in the Sun’ Jacks grew up in; the spot where Neil Young met Joni Mitchell; plus much, much more.

New York City, you’d be in jail in five minutes.”

By the latter sixties, hippies and flower children, armed with guitars, bongo drums and, one assumes, bags of marijuana, had taken over the grounds of the park. ‘Rick the Freak’ Swanson, an American draft dodger, organized informal Sunday concerts on the property. “It was a ‘happening’ every day with hundreds of kids sitting all over,” recalls one frequent visitor. “Everyone was a little stoned and if you got too hot you jumped into the fountain.”

Volunteers from CRYPT (Committee Representing Youth Problems Today) provided security and assistance with bad drug trips. And if you got the munchies, you could wander over to The Bay’s flagship store and dine at The Paddlewheel before returning to your spot in the park.

“Memorial Park was an oasis where we sought refuge from the stifling conventions of the time,” smiles Barb Allen. “You could meet like-minded souls from such exotic places as Toronto, Vancouver, even the North End!” Adds Jerry Dykman, “Most of the hippies hung out around Osborne Village just walking up and down doing their drug deals.”

A Taste of Manitoba event occupied the park on several occasions with tasting booths spread out across the field. Other such events took place in the park over the years. Concerts of all varieties have been a frequent attraction. I myself recall playing with the SRO on a temporary covered stage at the east side of the park with power supplied by a portable generator. The Guess Who blocked traffic in all directions as thousands descended on the property in September 1970 for a free concert in the park.

While Memorial Park had a laidback atmosphere

in abundance, what it lacked was a restroom. In 1973 the provincial NDP government proposed the erection of a public washroom located at the south end of the park near Broadway. Fearing this would become a public eye-sore, Mayor Steven Juba was vehemently opposed. He and NDP Minister of Public Works Russell Doern, MLA for Elmwood, engaged in a very public spat that, in the end, saw the “Broadway Biffy” built. It was torn down in 2006.

The iconic City Hydro Fountain is closed for much needed repairs. The province has yet to commit funds for the improvement and updating of Memorial Park.

e watched an amazing Home Routes/ nities to experience live music of the highest calibre in Chemin Chez Nous concert by Zoom last their own hometowns.

Flin Flon, which regular readers will now know as week. It featured Old Man Luedecke, a fantastic singer-songwriter from Chester, N.S. It was Music City, had the unique distinction of being the only town in Canada to host two conwonderfully informal with many audicerts for each visiting musician, duo or ence members writing song requests trio. We sincerely believe that they loved into the chat function and the performer us for it and that many performers have able to respond to individual audience fond memories of our little northern members in real time. Home Routes/ paradise. In the early days (Ha-that is Chemin Chez Nous is a Winnipeg based the title of an excellent Old Man Luorganization which in its 14 years of edeke song and we weren't even tryoperation has brought magnificent folk, ing!) almost all of the musicians who blues, Celtic and Americana musicians graced our informal stages were from from across Canada and many from the outside Manitoba but when we were USA and even the UK and Ireland to hosts to the brilliant Manitoba fiddler, perform in mostly small towns.

Sierra Noble our ticket lines (Okay, they The business model is the brainchild Elly Spencer were the phone lines at our house and of Mitch Podolak and Ava Kobrinski, The arts from the home of our co-hosts Ann Ross and founders of the Winnipeg Folk Festival Doug McGregor) blew up with requests and the West End Cultural Centre and up here we moved those shows into Johnny’s former (Mitch) and brand new (Ava) reSocial Club. Sierra played two sold-out cipients of the Order of Manitoba. Kobrinski is the general manager and Podolak’s role of shows and came back a year later to perform another executive director has been assumed by son Leonard SRO show and collect a five-string fiddle customsince Mitch’s death in 2019. What they created was a made specifically for her by local luthier Alistair Calseries of folk music concerts that take place in people’s ligari who she now refers to as ‘Uncle Al’.

But back to Old Man Luedeke, who is not old and homes for small audiences for a nominal cost. Before they were halted by COVID-19, ticket prices were does have a real first name, that is Chris. We were in our family room which is the site of Home Roots $20.

The musicians are juried by the staff and chosen for shows when we were able to have a real audience excellence. There are 10 ‘routes’ covering the coun- gather. We could have up to 40 people in that room, try from the Maritime provinces in the east to British smiling and clapping along when invited, to see the Columbia and the Yukon Territory in the west. Musi- traveling performers sent forth by Home Routes/ cians go on tour for two weeks at a time and play 12 Chemin Chez Nous. Last week however, it was just concerts, each night in a different town with a differ- the two of us. The concert was fantastic, but our reent host. Each stop can see six different acts per year, sponse was different.

We were able to comment on what we were seemainly through the fall and winter months, leaving summer open for folk festival travel. It was a great ing and hearing right out loud in a way that would way for concert goers in rural and northern commu- be deemed unacceptable in a true concert setting.

This was a live concert, but we knew we could not be heard by anyone else. My husband Tim can sing so never feels nervous about singing along, but we were quite self-conscious with only one other person in the room, even though knowing all the words is our super-power. Our spoken commentary was the aspect that most surprised us.

We were not rude or dismissive of others, but it did beg the question, will we be able to recommit to acceptable concert behaviour when we are able to gather once again? Will we be content to just sit there and listen when we are part of a crowd again or are there others just like us who have become used to calling out to performers who cannot hear us? It is an interesting question for a town like ours where almost all audiences are small, and everyone knows each other so almost automatically feels comfortable.

When Johnny’s Social Club reopens (under new and exciting management!) will we still be the usually respectful, quiet and joyful crowd or will we hold onto our new, home viewing behaviours and talk over performers’ song introductions, feeling that we can rewind and re-hear? What will Keith Reed do? Will audiences want to gather in the even smaller spaces that are family homes to see artists perform? Will artists be willing to travel to Flin Flon or other little outof-the-way places to perform?

We do not fully realize how lucky we are in this astonishingly beautiful corner of the world. We have the luxury of space and the ability to engage in many of our outdoor hobbies in a safe, socially distant way in both winter and summer. Even artists can enjoy performing their art practice privately and with the new skills being perfected by some (cheers, Trevor Sytnyk!) publicly through social media, for the safe enjoyment of all. So, step up, Flin Flon. Get vaccinated. Let’s find a way to put our new viewing habits to the test. It may or may not be pretty, but we can make it safe for all.

Home roots

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whatsupwinnipeg.ca

The tour features a video of vintage photos and music as well as John’s colourful stories and points of interest. In the 1960s Winnipeg was the rock ‘n’ roll capital of Canada. See and hear why on this exciting tour.

You can sign up for the trip from anywhere in North America. https://heartlandtravel.ca/book-a-tour/virtualmagical-musical-history-tour/ You can also hear John’s radio show at https://whatsupwinnipeg.ca/ - Ed.

June 2021

Perennial pandemic gardener Gerrie Beachall

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he pandemic is the last thing anyone wants to credit for renewal. I realized that without this pause I would not likely have renewed my interest in gardening.

My story is not unique, I grew up on the prairies and spent many hours on my grandparent’s farm. One of my favorite memories is spending time in their massive garden. Their garden felt like it was at least an acre big!

My brother and I played for hours outside “working” in the garden. I am certain that it was my grandparents who did the actual work, but they let us do some digging, planting, and weeding. Our favorite task was the picking and eating.

I was fortunate enough to grow up with a love for fresh garden produce. This has led to my love-hate relationship with gardening. As an adult, I have moved around the country and lived in various homes. I have always found a way to have plants outside, even if it was in containers. At one point, my boyfriend owned a house where I was determined to put in a garden. I worked hard and dug up a patch of the back yard that got some sun. I was successful in growing corn that year, but I don’t think I grew the right kind as it was too bitter to eat.

Many houses and gardens later, I arrived at the home we now live in. We have been here for over 15 years.

When we arrived the flower beds were overgrown with perennials. I made it my mission to rescue these hardy

plants. At first, I felt a respect for them as they had survived severe neglect. I attempted to thin them, move them, and generally love them. No matter how much sweat equity I put in, they did not look healthy. I became very busy in my professional life and with my children and left the garden to its own devices for a few years. When I resurfaced, I realized that my dedication to the previous owner and the hardy plants was unrewarded. It was time to make the investment and hire a landscaper to restore the flower bed to its previous glory. I am not one to spend money lightly, it was a huge step for me to admit defeat and part with my hard-earned money. It was also hard on my ego to admit that maybe I had not inherited any of my ancestor’s talent for growing things.

Everything was planted in the fall and I was assured that by the next fall I would have a beautiful, thriving, low maintenance flower garden. Spring arrived and things were very small and new. I held onto my hope that if I watered and weeded, by fall I would be rewarded. Fall arrived and things still did not look good. I called the company and was reassured that I had made a great investment and to be patient. I anxiously awaited the next spring. I noticed the plants were very slow to come up. I had followed the maintenance instructions perfectly. By mid- summer some of the plants were completely nonexistent. I called the company again and was informed that sometimes it takes a couple of years for them to take. I was beginning to doubt the wisdom of my investment while secretly hoping that this confirmed that I was not the

only one who struggled to get things to grow.

The following year the garden was only partially intact. I had been duped! I threw up my hands and endured the teasing from my husband that somehow my garden dreams were just not meant to be. Other than occasional weeding and watering, I left it alone and suffered the sadness of an unfulfilled garden.

Fast forward to 2020. The pandemic arrived before gardening season. By the time planting season arrived we were all ordered to stay home. Now I was forced to face my failure and devise a new plan. There was literally nothing else to do so I planned to revive my gardening bug.

I researched and studied and cleaned out the flower bed. I carefully selected plants and planted only a few at a time to see what would take. Slowly over the summer of 2020, under constant attention the garden began to perk up. The old, long finished plants were replaced by new, vibrant, hardy ones. There were colors starting to show themselves and neighbors were no longer laughing and pointing. My self-image was being restored and dreams of bigger, better plants were developing. 2021, the second spring of shutdowns has allowed me to continue to spend time nurturing my garden. I have done more research and planted some new plants of different varieties and colours. I am enjoying my renewal of the hobby of selecting, planting, and nurturing my garden.

While I join most people in hailing the end of the pandemic, I fear that once my life resumes its previous, hectic pace my poor garden will be looking for a new mistress.

Some things to consider for that new deck you are thinking of building

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here are many questions you think of when buildWith materials list and plan in hand, visit your favoring and designing a deck. We all have a vision in ite lumberyard to get an estimate for the cost of mateour own minds, and what you see on TV could rials. Tip: avoid Saturdays, when staff are likely to be be yours. It’s an investment of time and money weighted most busy. Explain your plan with the against the joy it will bring. staff, listen to their ideas and techniques.

To start, sketch your ideas down on a Stay away from lumber that appears piece of paper. You do not have to be an wet, it will shrink and might twist and architect to visualize your dream. Go to distort as it dries. Good material is always your local hardware store and look at the dry and straight. Compare the different products available, and find some literakinds of deck boards and railing material. ture and pricing on these products.

Does it meet your expectations? Price all Having spent time reviewing the prodyour material. Then, ask for a discount. ucts, use a tape measure to figure out the We are in Winnipeg after all! rough dimensions: length, width, height.

When the lumber arrives, you are all You can mark out the space using some set to go. You should have already laid sticks and string lines. Also note any unout the post and foundation locations. usual features and potential problems that This can be a little tricky, especially on Brent Poole may arise as you lay it out. This would inuneven surfaces. It needs to be accurate; Home clude checking for overhead wires, height this is a critical time. If you aren’t fully and depth of the deck, etc. Complete a Improvements confident, consult your contractor. They more detailed drawing with actual meaunderstand layout principles to help you surements. check your work.

Take the rough design to your local contractor. They Finally, give yourself plenty of time to complete the will go over your plan with you, helping size beams and deck. As a rule, projects take longer than you might first joists, checking that the railing is a satisfactory height and imagine, but the quality you achieve through discipline generally will be a good source of technical information. is well worth the effort.

Discuss these ideas in detail. They, too, are interested in A quick guide to some common deck-building overyou building a high-quality, safe deck. Ultimately, they sights will help you with issues such as permit requirements.

Despite your skill and patience, time and effort, three

unseen enemies eagerly await the opportunity to reduce your new deck to a pile of surplus wood: • A weak design may cause it to collapse; be sure from the outset to use quality material.

• Rot can steadily erode its strength; ensure you use treated wood, protect it with a good quality stain and sealer protector.

• Harsh weathering can crack the wood and weaken its joints; be mindful of the elements, paying attention to any sign of erosion or damage.

Now that it is complete, sit back and enjoy your hard work; smile, laugh and live happy.

Brent Poole is the owner operator of Handy Hands Construction, which he has run with his father Jim since 1997. A carpenter by trade, Brent enjoys all types of projects. “We’re not happy until you are happy!”

Sometimes it takes a village

George Hacking

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love a nice condo or a simple bungalow home. Both fit my retirement vision but there are so many options and ideas in the market today. It's worth a look, if just to keep up. If you Google 55+ you will primarily see assisted living type homes or apartments. These advertisers are spending money to fill their pipeline with renters and many facilities are building in more than two beds and two baths. What they are selling in many cases is community, and for good reason.

Seniors who have a community and stay engaged have statistically better quality of life and health outcomes.

These facilities are selling engagement and I celebrate the advancement in the industry. Those that supply meals like assisted living facilities and those that support community and independent living June 2021

are really improving quality of life.

I was listening to Ideas on CBC last year and heard a great story about the UK Ministry of Loneliness. Improved engagement resulted in reduced emergency room visits and depression related events in communities involved in the program. The point is loneliness and isolation are the enemies of seniors and their physical and mental health.

Turning back to real estate and housing, architects and designers are trying to create engaging spaces that make people healthier. In rental markets it creates stable tenants, happy in their locations and there are many flavours to choose from, from single family homes to condos, life leases, modified life lease, capital investment rentals, co-ops and straight up rental properties, choice is not the issue; finding the right balance is. As a REALTOR®, I am professionally inclined to ownership, but I realize renting is a great

option. In these overheated markets selling a home and renting until it cools down could be a great strategy. Also, as single-family homes are selling in more heated competition than condos or attached dwellings your dollar may go further with these purchase options. There’s even competitive pressure in the cottage market as the travel ban made people stay closer to home, looking for that getaway.

What it adds up to is greater density combined with engaging activity and, in many cases, meals designed by dieticians then prepared by chefs in communal settings. As the vaccinations roll out the ability to socialize will be an incredible burden lifted from the hearts and minds of seniors and families everywhere. Fitness and mental engagement are central to the strategy of client retention because once you care about your neighbour it's harder to leave and easier to support those around you.

Costs vary greatly. The median target range for affordable senior rentals is between $1,700 to $2,400/month according to a 2020 City of Winnipeg study.

With full-service meal accommodation you can expect to be in the $3,000$4,500 range so there's plenty of variability in price and service.

In summary I believe there is a renaissance in lifestyle for seniors. Our ability to direct care from health mandates and innovation in mobility and medicine means seniors are living longer, with more control of their lives. So be active, find the right living conditions to be happy and successful. The important thing is to live long enough to become a problem to your children, and if you can, make a difference in your community.

George Hacking who is an award winning realtor at Century 21 Advanced Realty on The Hacking Home Team. whatsupwinnipeg.ca

15

Garrioch Avenue, was the address for achievers part of their lives on Garrioch.

To celebrate the 100th Anniversary of St. James (starting just west of St. James Audrey Sheardown was a Manitoba Street to Sturgeon Road) breaking away Archery Champion. Wayne Hodgins and from Assiniboia to form John Rayner (coached by their own municipalhis father Win) played in ity, I have two Cententhe First St. James Civic nial projects. I am doing Centre Hockey game. Terry street profiles. This column Sheardown, an Eaton's infeatures Ferry Road. I am terior designer, decorated also asking for public input the Winnipeg Arena for the in compiling a list of 100 1967 Pan Am Games. Tim Great St. James Citizens.

McIsaac, a blind swimmer, Please send me between 1 won 28 medals in four Paraand 100 nominations. I lympics Games. McIsaac acknowledge that any list was the 1982 Manitoba of 100 great St. James’s Athlete of the Year and is Fred Morris citizens will be far too short. a member of the Manitoba The people on the list will Sport and Paralympic Hall From the desk not be ranked. Contact me of Fame. McIsaac innovated of a gadfly at fredmorris@ hotmail. the use of the tapper.

Swimmer Sean Grassie com or 207-1061 Sargent Avenue R3E 3M6. won the 1999 Manitoba Junior ChampiGarrioch Avenue runs in a u-shape onship and three Manitoba Mixed Chamoff Mount Royal Road. pionships. The 2009 team won the Canadian Mixed Championship and a bronze hen I fly into Winnipeg, Gar- medal in the World Championship. Also, rioch Avenue is the last residen- Grassie won the 2014 World Curling tial street that I see from the air. event Mother Club Fall Classic. Sean was The 1956 Henderson Directory featured the Skip for these victories. He has written the first listing of Garrioch Avenue resi- two sports books: The Kings of the Rings dents. On July 24, 1956, the new St. James and 150 years of Sport in Manitoba.

City Hall at 2000 Portage Avenue officially Barry Burns, a Global and CJOB News opened. Pastor Eric Sigmar an original resi- Anchor, grew up on Garrioch. In 2006, dent of Garrioch Avenue gave the benedic- he went to Afghanistan to report on the tion. On the December 7, 1957 Christmas Canadian Mission for 16 Chorus radio card page of the Winnipeg Free Press, Betty stations. Barry, a long-time reservist, reguAnne Boulton and her young family are larly volunteers to serve as the master of pictured in a Christmas card entitled "Hark ceremonies for Remembrance Day servicthe Herald Angels Sing". During the early es, and Cadet ceremonies.

Richard Cassidy, a corporation lawyer, years, Garrioch Avenue held a Canada Day fireworks celebration. After the March 4, and Queen’s Bench Judge Ted Glowacki 1966 blizzard, the front page of the March lived on Garrioch. Ernie Schell, another 7 Winnipeg Free Press features adventur- Garrioch resident, was tenor soloist. He ous people jumping off the roof of Silver worked as investment advisor for RBC Heights United Church into the high snow Dominion Security, eventually becoming drifts. Many well-known people have lived vice president.

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IF YOU ARE A SENIOR. . . . . .

You should consider having the following in place Will The preparation of a will may seem like a daunting task, however, it is essential to ensure that your property is disposed of according to your wishes upon your death. If you pass away without a valid will, the law states what is to happen to your estate.

Power of Attorney A power of attorney is a document which appoints an individual to handle your affairs in the event you become mentally incapable of making your own decisions. Nothing prevents you from continuing to make your own decisions while you are still competent.

A power of attorney is an extremely valuable document to have in place in case anything happens to you which affects your mental ability, such as a stroke, coma or dementia.

Health Care Directive (Living Will) A health care directive, commonly called a living will, is a document which appoints an individual to make decisions with regard to your health care only, while you are alive but unable to express your decisions yourself. This document is distinct from a power of attorney and deals only with health care decisions such as whether life sustaining treatments, such as CPR or blood transfusion, should be continued or withdrawn.

Standard Fees* Last Will and Testament Power of Attorney Health Care Directive * plus GST and PST - Rates are per person.

$225.00 $175.00 $ 75.00

Seniors $200.00 $150.00 $ 50.00

Home and hospital visits are also available $250.00* (includes both meetings) *plus GST and PST TACIUM VINCENT & ASSOCIATES 206 St. Mary’s Road, Winnipeg, MB R2H 1J3 DAVID G. VINCENT (204) 989-4236 www.taciumvincent.com

16

whatsupwinnipeg.ca

Wally Sine a well-known car salesman lived on Garrioch. (1) Wally is featured as a customer in the Silver Heights Restaurant's 50th Anniversary book.

Garrioch is named after Alfred Garrioch (1848 to 1934), an Anglican minister and author. Five St. Stephen's Lutheran pastors: Sigmar, Walter Becker, Richard Faust, Winn Mott and John Kunkel and their families lived in the Garrioch par-

sonage. Between the late 1950s and early 1970s St. Stephens owned a second Garrioch Avenue house that served as a parish hall. A kindergarten operated out of this parish hall.

Silver Heights United was built in two stages at 199 Garrioch. The annual fowl suppers and monthly book sales became community events. The church building is now used by the Church of Christ (Iglesia Ni Cristo).

Please send me your nominations for the 100 Great St. James citizens. For more information, I can be contacted at fredmorris@ hotmail.com or at 207-1061 Sargent Avenue R3E 3M6. – Fred Morris.

Note: (1) I bought my first car, a new 1973 Ventura, from Wally.

••• Fred Morris is a Grandfather, Sports Fan and Political Activist.

Death by unintentional suicide

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5, Canada's most-watched are not needed. Rather than diagnoscurrent affairs and docu- ing EII and trying to do something mentary television program, about it, doctors are simply treating revealed that twice as many people are the symptoms which bad emotions dying from mistakes made by medi- produce, symptoms such as high blood cal doctors than from pressure, gastro-intescatching the Covid-19 tinal diseases, migraine virus. Yet, Covid-19 headaches, angina pecis considered to be a toris, and hundreds of pandemic while doctor others. Most Canadians induced deaths are not. have never heard of EII Why is this? and nobody has ever The constant worry explained to them how and anxiety produced by their bad emotions are the fear of Covid-19 is killing them. killing more people than Over eighty years the virus itself. Canada’s ago, the Canadian docnumber one cause of tor and researcher, Hans Wayne Weedon sickness is emotionally Selye, in his laboratory, induced illness (EII). proved that bad emoFood for More Canadians are suftions make people physThought fering from EII than ically ill, often resulting all other illnesses comin death. He also proved bined, yet, most people have never that good emotions make people well. heard of EII. When a person with an Countless researchers have verified ulcer, severe abdominal pain, diver- Doctor Selye’s findings in their own ticulitis, or a host of other problems, laboratories. seeks medical advice, doctors do not People complain about someone spend the hours necessary to convince giving them “a pain in the neck”, the patient that their bad emotions when, in fact, it is their reaction to are making them ill. Instead, doctors someone’s irritation which is giving tend to treat patients with the tools them a pain. Nobody can make you they have readily available, drugs and angry, you choose to be angry, and operations, which do not get to the your anger results in pain and evenroot of the problem. Operations can tually physical illness in one or more be risky, and drugs usually have long places in your body. lists of side effects.

The habit of living with bad emoFor over 2,000 years, EII has been tions is learned in childhood from written about, and one hundred years one’s family, and from television, ago, the famous Mayo brothers who newspapers, friends, school and dayfounded the Mayo Clinic, declared care. Many families are dysfunctional, that more than half of our hospital continually in a state of belligerence, beds are occupied by people with EII. chaos and unhappiness. Family memMany books describe how EII may bers constantly try to control the other be cured when people change their members of the family while trying attitudes and begin exchanging their to prevent anyone from controlling bad emotions for good emotions. In them. his book, How to Live 365 Days a When you feel anger, resentment, Year, Dr. John Schindler, gives a full worry, jealousy, indignation, hopeexplanation of how EII works and lessness or rejection, do you not feel how anyone may cure themselves of a tightness somewhere in your body? their ailments. Doctor Schindler sug- This is part of our animal reactions to gested to some of his patients that danger. However, when you feel sethey should read the book, Pollyanna, cure, loved, useful, helpful and part of which describes a young girl who ha- a caring community, do you not feel bitually reacts to any event, good or relaxed? It is the monotonous repbad, with gladness. Doctor Schindler etition of unpleasant emotions, the stated that anyone in a few hours may constant tightness of muscles, which learn how to cure themselves of EII, result in EII, which eventually brings by learning how to change their way on actual physical diseases and often of thinking. As the world famous psy- death. If everyone suddenly gave up chologist, William James, pointed out, bad emotions and started to live reif one changes their attitude, they will laxed lives, many doctors believe up change their life. And, this includes to three-quarters of all illnesses would ridding themselves of EII. vanish.

In his book, Confessions of a MediLet’s think about that. cal Heretic, Dr. Robert Mendelsohn Wayne Weedon is an Indigenous Mandescribes how the majority of opera- itoba writer of novels and short stories. To tions being performed are not neces- sample his wonderful work go to Wattpad. sary and most drugs being prescribed com.

June 2021

PUZZLES

Crossword Across 1. Stylish 5. Scorekeeping abbrs.

9. Fitzgerald and others 14. Eye part 15. Leak 16. Bald comic strip character 17. Face east 19. English derby site 20. He’s coached Bears and Saints 21. Request to a waiter 23. Gambling site (abbr.)

25. Ristorante wine 30. Gifted students, maybe 33. Take measures 35. Sound of nostalgia 36. CEOs’ carriers 37. King Cole and Turner 39. Smelled awful 42. Proofreader’s mark 43. Curtain 45. Island party 47. Optional rte.

48. Mr. Bean portrayer 52. Type of Hyundai 53. Expedition, e.g.

54. Newswoman Gwen 57. Perfume maker Nina ____ 61. Shakur of rap 65. 1980 and 1988 67. Shock 68. Reproductive cell 69. Backward servant?

70. Library gizmo

71. Shakes off 72. Start of the Boy Scouts oath Down 1. Oaf 2. Spy Mata ____ 3. “This ____” (planned Michael Jackson concert series ) 4. “Enterprise” crew member 5. “Silent Spring” topic 6. Bric-a-____ (gewgaws) 7. Currier and Ives print, for short 8. Formal delivery 9. Book of the Bible 10. Back talk 11. Some Blu-ray players 12. In past time 13. Starter with phony or pathetic 18. Buttocks, to an anatomist 22. Sorority letter 24. Jewish rite 26. Like a big fan 27. ___ Games (ancient Panhellenic contest) 28. Fad pencil-topper doll, once 29. “The stage ___” 30. City where Canada’s parliament meets 31. IRS employee (abbr.)

32. Cue stick application 33. Pianist Watts 34. Yuletide song 38. Extend across

Word search

40. Rapa ___ (Easter Island, to natives) 41. Nebr. neighbor 44. Tempter 46. Excessive interest 49. Canine cry 50. Pin-cushion owner 51. City of northern Spain 55. Jeans name 56. Praise highly

58. Superman portrayer Dean 59. Stuff (in) 60. “As God ____ witness...”

61. Little one 62. Thurman of “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” 63. Tap gently 64. Georgia neighbor (abbr.)

66. Afternoon hrs.

Sudoku

Puzzles’ solutions on next page

Atones Beefy Bittersweets Booth Brick Burrs Cowers Design Enthusiasms Erode Evils June 2021

Excepts Feeding Ferns Goods Harps Hobby Keyed Lifts Lobed Lunged Merriest

Often Policed Price Range Recurs Responsibility Ridden Roofs Rustler Scapegoats Secrete

Shook Steal Stool Swish Swore Tactful Tepee Tuning Wades Whilst Yowls

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17

What is a boy?

A

rthur Godfrey was a popular in assorted sizes, weights, and colors but U.S. broadcaster and enter- all boys have the same creed, to enjoy every tainer for fifty years ending second of every minute of every hour of evin 1979. One of his ery day and to protest with biggest hits What is a noise their only weapon, Boy. Godfrey delivered when their last minute the words in a monois finished and the adult tone voice with some males pack them off to bed soft, sentimental music at night.

Boys are found everyin the background. I where. On top of, underfelt it would be fitting neath, inside of climbing in the month that honon, swinging from, runours dads of all ages to ning around or jumping go back in time and reto. Mothers love them, member what it was like little girls hate them older to be a boy.

Jim Ingebrigtsen sisters and brothers tolerHear the timber Godate them adults ignore frey’s voice as you read Is It Just Me... them and heaven protects slowly with feeling the them. words to What is a Boy. A boy is truth with dirt on its face, wis••• Between the innocents of babyhood and dom with bubble gum in its hair and the the dignity of manhood, we find a de- hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.

When your busy, a boy is an inconlightful creature called a boy. Boys come

siderate, bothersome, intruding jangle of noise. When you want him to make a good impression his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a savage, sadistic jungle creature bent on destroying the world and himself with it.

A boy is a composite. He has the appetite of a horse, the digestion of a sword swallower, the energy of a pocket-sized atomic bomb and the curiosity of a cat.

He has the lungs of a dictator, the imagination of a Paul Bunion, the shyness of a violet, the audacity of a steel trap, the enthusiasm of a firecracker and when he makes something he has five thumbs on each hand.

He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, comic books, the boy across the street, woods, water … in its natural habitat.

Large animals, Dad, trains, Saturday mornings and fire engines.

He’s not much for Sunday school, company, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neck ties, barbers, girls, over-

Puzzles’ solutions

coats, adults or bedtime.

Nobody else is so early to rise or so late to supper. Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, and dogs, and beetles. Nobody else can cram into one pocket a rusty knife, a half-eaten apple, three feet of string, an empty Bull Duram sack, two gum drops, six cents, a slingshot, a chunk of some unknown substance and a genuine supersonic code ring with a secret compartment. A boy is a magical creature.

You can lock him out of your workshop but you can’t lock him out of your heart.

You can get him out of your study but you can’t get him out of your mind.

Might as well give up.

He’s your captor, your jailer, your boss, your master. He’s a freckled faced pintsized cat chasing bundle of noise.

But when you come home at night with only the shattered pieces of your hopes and dreams He can mend them like new with those two magic words … Hi Dad. ••• Godfrey recorded What is a Boy in 1951. Those little boys would be well in their seventies now. So, remember … every old man was once a little boy.

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Serving north-eaSt, South & South-eaSt Winnipeg FeAtured ProPerties ADAMAR MANOR

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RENOVATED 1 BEDROOMS STARTING AT $1,195 RENOVATED 2 BEDROOMS STARTING AT $1,475

RENOVATED 1 BEDROOMS STARTING AT $1,125 LARGE 2 BEDROOMS STARTING AT $1,150

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For inFormation or to arrange a viewing, contact our Leasing agent at 204-940-3477 or by email at leasing@edisonproperties.ca

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