Welcome back, Kevin! This is the first in a series of republished of articles by Kevin Klein, Publisher of the Winnipeg Sun. Kevin and I agree that the media should be truthful and open to all opinions. We hope you enjoy what he has to say, whether you agree or not. I will also be presenting my view in the Sun. – Dorothy Dobbie
I’ve been warned to watch my back. “You can’t keep writing about politics,” they say. “People are getting mad, and it won’t end well for you.” Why? For telling the truth? I was tagged as a concern during my time in politics because I wouldn’t go along to get along. Now, as a writer for the Winnipeg Sun, Portage Graphic Leader, and Kenora Miner News, I’m facing similar pressures. Some have suggested that if I write about one party, I should criticize the others equally. Is this really what people want — selective reporting that avoids offending political leaders and their supporters? It’s disheartening to think that’s expected. This past weekend, I wrote a piece about politicians taking money from special interest groups and why some cultural and religious groups receive substantial funding while others don’t. It wasn’t a one-sided critique — I called out both the PC party and the NDP.
Life happens and gratitude matters
Trudy Schroeder
If we are watchful, the presence of great and good fortune in our lives, even when we feel that we have been thrown far off the course we had expected, would be ours. In this season before Christmas and the New Year, we need to learn how to plan and watch and pray (if we are the praying types) or manifest (if we are the manifesting types) or hope (if we are the hoping types). Perhaps most importantly, we need to find ways to learn to be filled with wonder and gratitude for the lives we lead and the opportunities that come our way during the holiday season and throughout the year.
Canada’s Local Gardener Editor, Shauna Dobbie
You used to know it as Manitoba Gardener, but COVID left a hole in the market, so we decided to invite the whole country to the Manitoba garden table. It is still published here in Winnipeg under the supervision of Shauna Dobbie, my daughter. Same great information about local garden conditions, filled with beautiful photos as well as beautiful writing. Our editorial board agrees that our climate in zone 3 sets the standard for the country – you can go a bit further zone-wise in either direction but no matter where you live you can’t go far wrong with Manitoba-based advice. A subscription is just $35.85 for one year or go digital for half that. Better still, take three years for just $98.40 – plus you get a bonus package of Sea-
Kevin Klein
Dorothy Dobbie
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PUBLISHER
Pegasus Publications Inc.
EDITOR
Dorothy Dobbie dorothy@pegasuspublications.net
ART DIRECTOR
Karl Thomsen karl@pegasuspublications.net
GENERAL MANAGER
Shauna Dobbie shauna@pegasuspublications.net
CONTRIBUTORS
Ron Arnst, Hon. Uzoma Asagwara, Lori Blande, Romel Dhalla, Dorothy Dobbie, Shauna Dobbie, John Einarson, Stefano Grande, Jim Ingebrigtsen, Kevin Klein, Ian Leatt, Myron Love, Marty Morantz, Fred Morris, Doyle Piwniuk, Seneka Samarasinghe, Trudy Schroeder, Wayne Weedon.
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More on the media and staying alive in print – is it worth $5 a month?
This seems to be becoming the media issue of Lifestyles so I will add my comments to those of Kevin Klein and Ron Arnst.
They are talking mainly of what goes into the editorial pages. I have little to add, We all have the same basic philosophy: Freedom of expression is fundamental to democracy. You tell the “truth” as you see it and hope others will do the same. If we differ, we expect some of you will agree and some not, but what you really want is a chance to use your mind and decide for yourself, given the facts. I believe that it helps you to know if the writer has a bias so I always announce mine. The old way was to pretend you didn’t have a bias or to hide it and try to stick as close as possible to neutrality – a nice idea but, well, we are all human. But that is just my opinion.
want magazines, despite the advice from ad agencies to advertisers that the internet is a more measurable field. That very well may be true for the big nationals, but it is not true for local firms, who just get lost in the clutter, options and fickleness of the audience.
What I would really like to talk about is how we small publishers can survive. Pre-COVID, Pegasus had as many as 10 print magazines and papers at one time. Now we are down to two: Lifestyles and Canada’s Local Gardener. We used to have a staff of around 15 to 20 and an office in Ontario and at one time an office in Red Deer, Alberta. Now we all work from home, and our staff is down to 4 plus two part-timers.
Even with these cuts and taking advantage of every grant opportunity out there, it is still a very tough row to hoe. This is mainly due to the impact the Internet has had on our advertising base. We have been wrestling with this emerging issue for a decade but despite all our attempts, we have not been able to realize all the good things that the some large media is garnering from that quarter.
We are not alone. Shauna is on the Board of the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association and all are having the same problems. We have a partnership arrangement with Harrowsmith who are in the same boat. Most of our Manitoba competitors have retired from the field. The exception is the B to B (association ) publishers.
WE stay alive through paid subscriptions for the Gardener and cash flow from newsstand sales – because people still do
Government advertising would help. The big giveaways and grant are costly to access and manage. The federal government spent $140 million on advertising in 2023. I was not able to find the Manitoba budget because it seems to be recorded by activity rather than with a global figure, but it is significant.
It would be a tremendous boon for all of us in the print media if governments were to hive off a significant portion of that spending for the local market. And it would help if they would use that money to let Canadians know what they are doing instead of trying to market to us.
Well, that’s my rant, except for one more thing. We have to pay the printer – the second biggest expense next to staff. He has mouths to feed too. So, to make it easy for you to get your Lifestyles without have to fight your way through the snow to the nearest community newsstand (hoping there is still one left), I would ask if you would be willing to spend $5 a month to have it delivered to your door (the post office wants a cut, too).
Go here to sign up: https://lifestyles55.net/. We can accept your payment monthly so you will hardly notice it. If you are snowbirds and want your copy digitally, just let us know and we will send you the link while you are away.
Thanks for listening to my tale of woe. We are going to carry on carrying on despite the challenges, because that’s what we publisher types do.
And I have some cool things line up for you next years, including a monthly column from Zofia Dove who will talk about weird and wonderful life experiences, a new column by Marshal Murdock, the CEO of NeeStaNan, and I hope to introduce you to some amazing achievers from Fox Lake as we explore the North and it potential. Kelvin Will be back in May. Shandy Walls will tall up more about the Springfield region and much more.
Happy reading!
Dorothy Dobbie
Parental rights are fundamental
When and how did the “rights” of a parent to be the first guardian of a child’s welfare come into question? The claim that parents do not have first rights is completely illogical. The most important, most sacred duty in a person’s life is the good and welfare of their children. That is a law of nature.
Of course there are exceptions; if the parent is ill or incapable of caring for the child, then someone else must step in. But those are exceptional cases and relatively rare. In the vast majority of cases, parents love their children and recognize that it is their duty to care for them, to guide them toward adulthood, and to protect them from harm.
Society agrees with this to the extent that the Lord’s prayer has been removed from schools in respect to parental rights to bring the child up in the religion of their choice. Nor would anyone agree to enable a child to get a tattoo, to cut their hair, to take medication or any number of other things without parental knowledge and consent.
this way: “In the United States, most people are assigned both a biological sex and gender at birth based on their chromosomes and reproductive organs. However, there is an important distinction between biological sex and gender. Biological sex, such as male or female, commonly refers to physical characteristics. Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, and actions people take on, usually in relation to expectations of masculinity or femininity.”
Yet, it is the contention of some today that a child, who has been influenced by presumptive caregivers, often teachers, has the right to proclaim a change of gender and name and hide it from their parents. The proponents say that this is not an intrusion into the jurisdiction of the parent to provide guidance and protection to the child because some parents cannot be trusted to provide that care and guidance to the child. They contend that they know more than the parents about the welfare of the child and imply that many parents will react in a way that is harmful to the welfare of that same child.
Following this logic, it appears that a parent has the “right” to bring up the child in the religion of parental choice, to govern how they appear in public and to instill in the child the parents’ principles and beliefs, but only until it comes to assuming a new identity and gender. At that point, the immature understanding of a child can make an accomplice of his teacher to assume and override the wisdom of the parent.
The contradictions in this are stunningly evident.
I am not ignoring the fact that there are some children who have biological gender issues. This is often detected by both the parents and the child before they even start school. It is an issue between parents, the child, and their doctor.
Sadly, it is not simply the issue of changing one’s name and acting out a desire to have been born as a different gender. Gender dysphoria is not uncommon around the time of puberty when hormones are wreaking havoc in the body and mind of the child. It may be lasting, and it may not. This requires medical help, not the judgement of a teacher overriding the understanding of the parent.
Arizona State University puts it
Children’s rights
Should teachers be required to tell the parents of students who come to them with concerns about their gender?
Dobbie vs Dobbie
The key phrase above is “socially constructed roles”, and this implies something influenced by the popular modes of the times. We have been through many of these events during my lifetime – false memory, anorexia, bulimia and so on. Today, "social contagion" promoted through cultural narratives, social media, and peer influence undoubtedly prompt some young people to identify as transgender to explain their feelings of confusion that are natural to growing up.
This sort of transference is not new. Think back to the false notions about the witches of Salem. Mass hysteria had women being hunted down based on the belief that they were bewitched. Some even “confessed” to being witches thanks to the overpowering effect of this hysteria.
Many parents understand that children go through some tough times at puberty – some more than others but they know their child better than anyone else – and they have their own ways of helping their kids deal with these troublesome feelings. But hiding them behind the “protection” of a secretive teacher is not only troubling, it is potentially dangerous to the child.
Why dangerous? Think about the child. He or she may take steps to change their gender or adjust their gender identity only to find out a short time later that, indeed, this is not how they really feel or who they are. The walk back is not easy. If hormonal or surgical interventions have taken place, it may be irreversible.
I trust a parent’s instinct about this to be more acute than that of a teacher or a guidance counsellor. And if, indeed, this is to be a lifelong change, then I believe it is up to the parent to help the child through that decision-making process.
One last thing. What if the child doesn’t want to tell the parent? This, to me, simply indicates that they instinctively know that the parent will counsel waiting until they are older to make irreversible or hasty decisions. That does not make for a bad parent, but for one whose wisdom is nearly always proved to be right.
Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have implemented policies that teachers must inform parents if a student identifies as transgender, regardless of the student’s wishes. While parental rights are important, it is crucial to remember that children, too, have rights, and these rights are internationally recognized and protected.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which Canada ratified in 1991, sets out a framework for understanding children’s rights. This landmark document states that children are entitled to protection, education, healthcare, and freedom of expression. Importantly, it also affirms that children have the right to participate in decisions that affect their lives in accordance with their age and maturity. Articles 3, 12, and 16 state:
transgender or questioning child in an abusive or unaccepting home, such policies can be catastrophic, silencing them when they most need support. Research has consistently shown that rejection by parents or an inability to talk to anyone can lead to increased rates of depression, anxiety, and even suicide among LGBTQ+ youth.
Now, I will mention that with kids’ consideration of their gender identities, some will come to early conclusions that they won’t stick with. My husband and I know a few of our kids’ friends who have let their pronouns or new names just fade away as they’ve become older. With those kids, why get their parents into a dither about a little experimentation? Exploring their identities is a normal and important part of growing up. Mandating parental involvement at every turn adds unnecessary stress and may cause harm – especially if the parents are not prepared to support their child’s journey.
• Article 3: The best interests of the child must be a primary consideration in all actions concerning children.
• Article 12: Children have the right to express their views freely in matters affecting them, and those views must be given due weight based on the child’s maturity.
• Article 16: Children have the right to privacy, including protection from arbitrary interference in their personal lives.
These articles are not abstract ideals; they are clear directives that put the child’s best interests and agency at the forefront. When policies require teachers to breach a child's privacy, they ignore these fundamental rights and put children at risk. These principles underline that children are not just extensions of their parents but are individuals with their own rights and dignity.
When a child comes out as transgender, it is often the culmination of deep self-reflection and personal understanding. For many young people, the decision to share this information with a teacher rather than a parent reflects trust and a sense of safety. Teachers, in turn, have an ethical responsibility to create a supportive environment for students, particularly when those students face stigma or rejection at home.
Some kids can’t or don’t trust their parents to talk to them rationally about questions of sexuality and gender identity. Yet a confused child needs someone to talk to about these things. Policies that force disclosure rob children of the chance to seek help in environments where they feel safe. For a
Parents undoubtedly play a critical role in their children’s lives. Most – but not all –parents provide love, guidance, and support as their children grow. Recognizing children’s rights does not diminish parental rights, it enriches them. A healthy parent-child relationship is built on trust, communication, and mutual respect. When children feel safe to share their thoughts and feelings with their parents, stronger bonds are formed.
Teachers are often the first adults outside the family to whom children turn when they are navigating complex emotions or experiences. Educators should be empowered to support students while respecting both the child’s rights and the role of parents.
Policies that mandate automatic disclosure to parents risk undermining the trust students place in teachers. Instead, schools should adopt guidelines that prioritize the child’s well-being, including working with the student to determine the best way to engage parents, if appropriate, and offering support resources for families.
The loudest voices in this debate often claim to champion 'parental rights.' But what about the rights of children? Children are not possessions. They are individuals with autonomy and dignity, and their right to privacy must not be dismissed to appease political agendas or placate parental insecurities.
We must continue to have a society where children feel safe and valued, not one where their rights are sacrificed to political pressure. The “parents’ rights” mantra sounds really good the first time you hear it, but if you stop and think, it really doesn’t consider children’s rights as distinct.
By upholding the principles of the UNCRC and respecting children’s autonomy, we protect not just their rights but their very futures.
Dorothy Dobbie Shauna Dobbie
u If you have something to say,
out and say it!
Continued from page 1
newspapers — to inform them without bias, spin, or picking a side.
Winnipeg already has two major media outlets that clearly pick sides. That isn’t our approach, and it never will be.
The state of politics today is so juvenile, like a never-ending game of cat and mouse. I was genuinely proud when I was elected as an MLA. Losing my mother to domestic violence shaped my dream to push for stronger penalties against spousal abuse and support services for victims. Once inside the legislature, however, I quickly learned that it was all about fitting in, knowing your place, and biding your time. “Go along to get along,” they’d say, just like my time at City Hall. I vividly remember my first budget meeting as a city councillor. It was a major responsibility — my first time overseeing such a large budget. I asked for details and relentlessly requested more information. I didn’t apologize for that. I wanted to be well informed.
“If you just sit back for a couple of years and don’t make any waves, you’ll get your turn — your ward will get something from the budget.” That’s how it worked, they told me, but that’s not why I was elected. I wasn’t elected to be a spectator, to play political games, or to quietly go along while waiting for some future reward.
To my former colleagues in politics, let me be clear:
I’m not working against you — I’m working for the people who support our newspapers. I made a promise to deliver well-balanced news and honest opinions. If you’re upset by my column about funding for activists, or our first political podcast with Royce Koop — let me remind you that I don’t work for your political aspirations. I work for the people who subscribe to our paper, both online and in print. They deserve truthful, unbiased reporting. They deserve more than what they’re getting from politicians who prioritize personal gain over public service.
This city is small, folks. Rumors and gossip spread like wildfire. “Gossip is the devil’s radio,” as they say. Respect isn’t given just because you hold a title, however, it’s earned through your actions.
Instead of getting upset about the reporting, perhaps it’s time to look in the mirror. We aren’t the ones who tried to slip a questionable “car rental expense” into a campaign budget. We didn’t post a letter supporting a student accused of anti-Semitism. We certainly didn’t have campaign staff orchestrating events for new party leadership. We’re just doing our job — reporting the news for the people who trust us to keep them informed.
I’m not here to gain favour with political elites. I’m here to deliver the news without playing favourites. It’s
sad that some feel threatened by that. The truth isn’t always comfortable, and it’s certainly not convenient for those who have things to hide. That’s the job I signed up for, I don’t owe anyone the courtesy of selective reporting, and I won’t start now.
If you’re mad, that’s okay. If you feel like circling the wagons against me — go right ahead. I’ve faced more difficult fights. I’ve survived a toxic political environment, one filled with cliques and personal agendas that had nothing to do with serving the public. I’m done with that, but I’m not done speaking the truth. I’m not backing down because a few people don’t like what I have to say. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. When I see this kind of reaction, it tells me I’m on the right track. We can and must do better. Politicians shouldn’t be worried about who gets criticized, they should be concerned about the real issues facing our communities. We need transparency, not cover-ups and backroom deals.
If you have something to say, come out and say it! I’m not afraid of criticism. I won’t tolerate being told to keep quiet for the sake of someone’s political comfort. I’m here for the readers, for the people who want the real story, not a filtered version designed to placate the powerful. That’s the commitment I made when I took on this role, and it’s one I intend to keep.
Can you trust the print and broadcast media while keeping it alive?
Welcome! Before I launch into today’s topic, I feel I owe you at least a brief introduction. My working career has been dedicated to public communication. I was a broadcast journalist for 19 years, a political communicator for 9 years, and a public and media relations professional for the last 20 plus years of my working life. As you could easily guess I am a “news junkie”.
It seems fitting that my inaugural contribution is about the media and government subsidization in specific. The thought of news media outlets supping at the public trough gives me the “willies”. My consternation is more about the undoubtedly negative impact on public trust in the media than the possibility of “free money” skewing news reporting. The importance of perception in the media and in politics cannot be overstated.
According to various public opinion polls carried out over the last 12 to 18 months, trust in news media is declining among Canadians. The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism pegged Canadians’ trust in the media at 39 percent, down from 55 percent in 2016. Similarly, a Privy Council Office survey found that Canadians were split on the media’s ability to act in the best interests of the public.
had a negative impact on public trust. But it is not the only factor in declining public faith.
For some time now, many newsrooms have adopted as their mantra a quote dating back to the late 1800s: “The job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” This is the foundation statement for a new form of news reporting called “advocacy journalism”.
The moniker, advocacy journalism, accurately describes the practice and displays its greatest flaw. You can advocate for a cause or an individual or a group. But if you are true to the practice of journalism you cannot advocate because it means taking sides. Promoting one side of a story is not good journalism and it is not what the news consuming public wants. Would you trust the account of someone who you knew to be favouring one particular viewpoint? Likely not.
The hub.ca and Public Square Research conducted polls on Canadians’ trust in the media, but they also asked for opinions on government funding of the media. Their findings were interesting. First of all, not many Canadians were aware of government handouts to the news media. Just 28 percent were either following the issue closely or generally aware of the subsidy. When asked how they felt about the government paying part of journalists’ salaries, 7 in 10 were opposed. According to the poll results, concern about government subsidies for the media centered on objectivity and the ability of subsidized media to hold government to account, a function highly valued by Canadians.
It seems clear that the perception created by news outlets accepting government subsidies has
If the glaring contradiction of advocacy journalism is not enough, the call-to-action adopted by advocates/ journalists appears to be a misquote.
On October 7, 1893, Chicago Evening Post journalist and humorist Finley Peter Dunne introduced his readers to a fictional Irish bartender Mr. Dooley. Dunne’s weekly column, which featured Dooley’s satirical sayings about the political and social issues of the day, became a syndicated feature for Harper’s Weekly and Collier’s Weekly.
The quote in question was drawn from the following Dooley rant.
“The newspaper does everything for us. It runs the police force and the banks, commands the militia, controls the legislature, baptizes the young, marries the foolish, comforts the afflicted, afflicts the comfortable, buries the dead and roasts them afterward.”
A pretty scathing review and far removed from a rallying call for journalists.
While the impact of news media subsidies is negative for public perception of media fairness and honesty as well as contributing to the erosion of public trust, there is also a strong case for financial assistance to the news business. There is little
debate about social media’s reaping of advertising dollars that once went to print and broadcast media outlets. The Canadian Media Guild estimates that 10,000 journalism jobs have been lost in the past five years as news outlets have cut staff or closed entirely. I will resist expanding on what I believe to be terrible management decisions by news corporations that led to this disaster. Suffice to say, help was/is needed.
The federal government, after heavy industry lobbying, agreed to a subsidy program backed by legislation requiring social media giants like Google, Meta (Facebook) and X (Twitter) to pay for using Canadian news content. Only Google has agreed to pay ($100 million). The others have retaliated by blocking access to Canadian news through linking. But are subsidies the best way to provide the help needed?
The province of Ontario has decided to use the spending power of the public purse to deliver financial aid. They have allocated a specific percentage of government advertising spending to provincial media. This approach delivers additional revenue to news outlets without looking like outright payola.
The Manitoba government is about to embark on a fact-finding mission on the need for subsidies for provincial media. The all-party committee, yet to be established, is going to consider, among other ideas, something similar to the Ontario plan.
I think Manitoba has an opportunity to come up with a plan that is unique and quite helpful. With major media outlets such as the Winnipeg Free Press and the CBC gobbling up federal subsidy cash, it would seem to make a lot of sense to earmark a portion of provincial advertising spending for smaller local and regional news outlets – print, broadcast and online. This would help maintain and support local news reporting, protect or perhaps even increase jobs, and ultimately boost local economies.
Canada’s news outlets – national, regional and local – are a critical piece of our democracy as well as a significant contributor to the economy. Ensuring the health and longer-term viability of this pivotal industry is not only a national priority but a local one as well.
Ron Arnst
Kevin Klein
Highway 23 comes back to life!
Last Month the Association of Manitoba Municipalities gathered in Winnipeg for their annual fall convention. As the MLA for Turtle Mountain, I have always been enjoyed this opportunity to meet and engage with municipal representatives from across Manitoba. Representing as large a geographic area as Turtle Mountain, these conventions are one of the only chances to meet with both the RM of Grasslands in the West and Lorne in the East (of my constituency).
I want to extend a hearty congratulations to new AMM President Kathy Valentino and Vice Presidents Brad Saluk and Scott Phillips on their elections.
Manitoba succeeds and grows when all levels of government work together and see eye to eye. When I was Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, I quickly learned that we get so much further working with municipalities as partners. When local leaders advocated for roadwork projects, they were doing it from a place of authority and expertise and looking back I am so glad that we listened to them.
ways to bank on. Now we have created a route that business and tourism alike enjoy. It is a rewarding sight to see a group of motorcyclists out for a Sunday ride passing RVs coming back from a weekend getaway in the region, all choosing this route because they know there are no surprises. This gives local businesses access to additional revenue sources and a chance to state their case. With the increase traffic on highway 23, many businesses such as restaurants, retail stores and grocery stores have expressed how happy they were to see the additional customers sending money in their establishments.
Doyle Piwniuk News from Turtle Mountain
The farming community in the region will now benefit from the new restoration of highway 23. Since farm operations are getting bigger, inland grain terminals are located further away, and they are using larger semi-trucks to haul their gain and other farming products to market; properly built highways are required throughout the Province of Manitoba.
After a busy season of road construction, Highway 23 is now open and ready to ride!
for a trip next summer to take a ride down Highway 23 to see the beauty of Turtle Mountain Constituency.
A great example of this is the work that was done on Highway 23, where this local artery has been revived and now supports all forms of economic prosperity in the region. Manufacturing and agricultural producers need the certainty of safe and well-maintained high-
Local leaders knew that this work was needed and they advocated for it, and we were proud to be able to partner with them to deliver for Manitobans. Far too often we focus our discussions on economic development externally, rather than how we can encourage Manitobans to access their own province. It might not be historic Route 66, but I encourage anyone looking
Editor’s note: Having just had the opportunity to take Hwy 23 on the way home from the International Peace Garden, I can vouch for what a pleasure the drive was – so smooth it felt like flying. We cannot take the importance of excellent infrastructure too seriously here in Manitoba. It is part of our duty to maintain it for safety and continued prosperity. Congratulations, Doyle! – dd
Doyle Piwniuk is the MLA for Turtle Mountain. His column will be an ongoing feature in Lifestyles to help promote our knowledge and understanding about the amazing things happening in the part of our province.
Justin Trudeau’s two-month tax trick
On November 21st, Justin Trudeau announced a so-called tax break for all Canadians.
The reality?
This is a tax trick not a tax break. His government is proposing that the GST/HST be temporarily paused on holiday essentials, like groceries, restaurant meals, drinks, alcohol, snacks, children’s clothing, and gifts, from December 14, 2024, to February 15, 2025.
Manitobans get the short end of the stick once again as the GST is collected separately from the PST Manitoba. So while Manitobans will only receive a 5% break on the GST, in HST Provinces like Ontario there will be a 13% temporary tax cut at the checkout.
Mr. Trudeau also announced the so-called Working Canadians Rebate.
On top of the GST cut, they intend to send $250 cheques in the New Year to the more than 18 million Canadians who make less than $150,000 annually. The price tag of this massive tax rebate? $4.7 billion.
M.P. Marty Morantz
The reality is that the Liberals already plan to raise your taxes again in the spring when they increase the Carbon Tax and excise taxes even higher. That’s why it’s a tax trick.
Temporary tax holidays don’t boost sales; rather, they change the timing of purchases, meaning that consumers will try to cram their purchases into the two month period in order to take full advantage of the temporary tax break.
This is also stressful for small business owners who have to change their point of sales systems twice in two months to accommodate the changes. If they make a mistake, they may end up owing penalties to the government.
The Prime Minister has said himself that these types of massive payouts actually cause inflation, which is the last thing we need now that inflation has just started to come down.
These inflationary pressures will cause the Bank of Canada to keep interest rates higher for longer , keeping your mortgage payments higher for longer.
What's more? Some of the most vulnerable populations such as seniors, those who are living with disabilities, and those who started working in 2024, are not eligible for the rebate.
Instead, the Prime Minister has weirdly decided that people who are making $150,000 a year are the ones that need help the most. A two-person household with an income of $300,000 will receive two $250 cheques, but seniors on fixed incomes will receive $0.
One-time inflationary tax rebates such as this are a terrible way to provide tax relief.
The Prime Minister is quite literally giving you $250 out of your own wallet.
Canada’s economy is in trouble.
GDP per capita is lower now than it was in 2015.
Workers in the United States earn substantially more than in Canada and this gap is getting wider.
Also our Federal budget is not in surplus.
The $4.7 Billion in $250 cheques is being borrowed and you’ll have to pay interest on that debt. It’s like taking $250 cash out on your credit card and telling yourself you’re ahead by that amount. It makes no sense.
If Mr. Trudeau was serious about boosting Canada’s economic growth, he would axe the Carbon Tax permanently to make Canada's economy competitive with the United States.
Increasing the Carbon Tax and Capital Gains taxes at home will make Donald Trump very happy as it will cause Canadian Investment and jobs flow into the United States.
So remember the next time Justin Trudeau tells you he is giving you a $250 cheque he is paying you with your own money. It’s money coming out of your pocket and the pockets of your children and grandchildren who will have to pay the interest on the debt these cheques are creating.
The government claims they are supporting Canadians with these measures. They believe that by giving you your own money, you will forget about the economic disaster they have created in Canada. When the next federal election is finally called, Canadians will see through the smoke and mirrors of this tax trick and elect a Common Sense Conservative Government that restore the promise of Canada.
Marty Morantz is MP for Charleswood-St. JamesAssiniboia-Headingley.
The dangers of UV radiation
Did you know that 80% of our lifetime exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation occurs before the age of 18? Children receive 3x the annual UV exposure than an adult. The lens of the eye of a child under the age of 10 have not matured sufficiently to become effective filters of UV radiation and therefore allows more than 6x the amount of UV radiation to penetrate more than an adult’s eye. Long-term exposure can result in cataracts, macular degeneration, corneal damage, pinguecula and pterygium growths and may increase the risk of eye melanoma.
The most important source of this damage is exposure to UV radiation at a young age. UV exposure is at its peak when you are at high altitudes, snow-covered landscapes, bright sandy beaches, or near reflective bodies of water. Reflected UV light is just as damaging as direct UV. Water reflects up to 100%, snow reflects up to 85%, dry sand and concrete reflects up to 25% and grass reflects up to 3% UV radiation. Sunglasses are just as important for protecting your eyes as sunscreen is for protecting your skin. Sunglasses should especially be worn between 10 AM and 4 PM, when UV exposure is
the most dangerous. Melanin in darkcoloured eyes acts as a protection pigment. Blue irises have less of this pigment and are therefore at greater risk. UV rays can also cause damage in tanning booths and is higher in certain occupations such as farmers, lifeguards, welders, and construction workers. Regardless of the eye colour, location or occupation it’s important for everyone to wear sunglasses yearround. When looking for sunglasses, make sure the labels say 100% UV protection against UVA and UVB, or 100% protection against UV 400, in order for the most protection. Talk to your Optometrist about early detection of eye diseases and appropriate sun protection.
Dr. Romie Dhaliwal, B. SC., O.D. is the owner and optician at Academy Optical.
Romie Dhaliwal Eye Care
Liberals are not classically liberal anymore
Classical liberalism is a force for good. It champions individual liberty, free markets, limited government, and the rule of law. Throughout the centuries, this philosophy has driven societal evolution, particularly in advancing the rights of minorities and the oppressed. Without classical liberals, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here, typing this out. If the government of the UK around the turn of the 19th century hadn’t restrained and ultimately contained the British East India Company, which had run amok in the Indian subcontinent enslaving and massacring tens of thousands my ancestors might have been killed or enslaved. Emerging British liberalism ended the EIC’s monopoly, brought religious diversity and acceptance, and eventually paved the way for India’s self-governance.
reduction in poverty in human history. Tens of millions of people in developing nations left subsistence farming behind to move into cities. Global literacy soared, industries thrived, and modern infrastructure brought electricity, appliances, and modern medicine to millions. These achievements were historic.
Romel Dhalla On The Money
You might be asking yourself, “Why call it "classical," Romel?” Because the origins of liberalism were rooted in ideals that emphasized free markets, individual liberty, and limited government. These principles spread democracy, encouraged individual ownership of property, and fostered global trade. Since the publication of Adam Smith’s seminal work, The Wealth of Nations, classical liberalism has evolved into what we now know as “modern” liberalism. Leaders like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or President Barack Obama embody this shift, where the state has grown considerably, individual freedoms have been constrained, and social welfare has taken center stage.
With modern liberalism, free-market thinkers have been replaced by global institutionalists – advocates of international NGOs with unchecked regulatory power held by unelected bureaucrats. This shift has accelerated over the past two decades, marking a stark contrast with leaders like President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Those leaders, celebrated as classical liberals, enacted tough yet intelligent policies. They balanced state power with individual freedoms, kept global institutions in check, and championed free trade. Life in the West during their tenure was better. Standards of living in the West were ubiquitously high, and the liberalization of international markets led to the largest
Majestic felines
In veterinary medicine we always love the “national days”. They help us connect with the community about our love of animals simply by their very presence. In light of the recent passing of National Cat Day, which flooded our social media feeds with all your majestic felines, we thought it would be fun to talk cats in all their glory.
Obviously, we know that cats are not just small dogs. But have you ever asked yourself how cats came to be our companions? The evolution of the house cat is fascinating, and our knowledge of it is still evolving. It was long thought that they were only domesticated approximately 4,000 years ago, although there is some newer evidence showing that they were beloved up to 10,000 years ago. For comparison, dogs are thought to have been domesticated 15 to 20,000 years ago.
Cats were likely self-domesticated: human civilizations created large amounts of waste, which subsequently attracted large numbers of rodents, and the cats followed. Over time and generations, those that tolerated humans, were genetically favoured and a “domesticated” cat emerged.
Of course, by the time the Egyptians entered their Golden Era approximately 3,600 years ago, cats were fully domesticated. They were common household members and even revered as a deity. All cats are thought to descend from the Felis lineage and, at present, evidence from a 2007 study
But today’s liberals are no longer champions of free markets or individual liberty. Everything now comes with a side of government intervention. The way governments handled –or mishandled –the global COVID-19 pandemic is a case study in authoritarian overreach. Faced with uncertainty, they defaulted to mandates and lockdowns that curbed freedoms and undermined trust. Even if one views these measures that were taken during COVID-19 as a once-in-a-century policy blunder, modern liberalism remains influenced by socialist and Marxist ideologies. These philosophies have taken liberalism down a dim path, eroding many of the benefits of classical liberalism. This trend is stark in the West and increasingly evident in authoritarian-leaning regimes like Russia, Brazil, China, and India, where state control often eclipses individual freedoms.
Consider two glaring examples of this overreach: climate alarmism and social equity policies, including Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. First, let’s talk about the climate. Yes, the climate is changing, and yes, there will be consequences. But how severe and how soon? Modern liberals have created a global cult around the belief that climate change is an existential threat. It is not. Are weather patterns more erratic? Are there more climate-related events? Yes, and yes. But there are also about four and a half billion more people living on Earth today than in the 1970s – many in regions previously uninhabited. Even if one accepts that carbon emissions are the main culprit, reducing them to 1970s levels with today’s population is unfeasible without draconian economic consequences. Such measures would push millions back into poverty or even pre-industrial conditions. Yet modern liberals push ahead, promoting carbon taxes and the mas-
suggests that domesticated house cats from all over the world descend from the lineage of the wildcat subspecies Felis silvestris lybica, which originated in the Middle East.
It is interesting to consider that our felines are very different from most of our other domesticated species. They are obligate carnivores, with a limited ability to digest anything but meat. They have even lost the ability to taste sweet carbohydrates. Their ability to digest carbohydrates is less than that of dogs or even humans, as their enzymatic activity is lower in the mouth and intestine. This is particularly important as many of our cats get a large proportion of their energy intake in the form of kibble, a high carbohydrate food. They have special nutritional needs, including higher nitrogen and niacin
sive, expensive development of unreliable renewable energy infrastructure. The results of these policies have been uneven, contributing to poor energy distribution in countries like Germany and arguably playing a principal role in the global inflation crises we face today.
Now let’s turn to DEI. Social equity initiatives have been an unmitigated failure in many Western corporations. Initially embraced as a form of virtue signaling, these policies have led to poor outcomes. The list of brands damaged by DEI efforts includes Gillette, Budweiser, and Disney. Many companies are now retreating from equity programs and returning to merit-based operations. Governments, however, continue doubling down on DEI, despite its clear shortcomings. Western healthcare, education, and even individual freedoms such as free speech have all deteriorated over the past 20 years. The middle class bears the brunt of these failures, while elites with private access to superior services remain insulated. Modern liberalism, in its quest for social equity, has paradoxically deepened inequality. This tragic irony would almost be laughable, if its consequences weren’t so deeply harmful.
One of the most significant consequences of modern liberalism’s overreach has been the rise and reelection of President Donald Trump. His brand of populism emerged as a direct response to liberal policies perceived as intrusive and elitist. Perhaps today’s liberals will take this as a wake-up call. Perhaps they will purge socialist ideologues from their ranks and return to the philosophy of Clinton, Chrétien, or even Tony Blair. Many yearn for the liberals of old. For all our sakes, let’s hope they make a comeback.
Romel Dhalla, is President of Dhalla Advisory Corp., provides strategic corporate finance advice to companies and high net worth individuals and was a portfolio manager and investment advisor with two major Canadian banks for 17 years. Contact him at romel@dacorp.ca. Any views or opinions represented in this article are personal and belong solely to the author and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.
requirements, the need to ingest preformed vitamin A, and an absolute requirement for the essential amino acid called taurine. A deficit can result in developmental issues, or heart and eye conditions in adults.
Since feline dietary requirements are so different, it is not surprising that feline drug metabolism is also extremely unique. While this matters less to the average cat owner than it does to their veterinarian, it means that very few over-the-counter, accessible medications are safe and this is very important to keep in mind.
Felines also hold a special place in the household. They are very unlike dogs, which have been bred for specific tasks throughout history. As mentioned, the house cats likely domesticated themselves, and they CHOSE to tolerate humans due to the offsetting benefits. Is it any surprise, then, that they have held onto many of their natural instincts? They have instincts to chase prey, climb, and mark their territory, and they value their own
personal space (though not always that of others). Their love must be earned more than that of dogs. Those cats who have managed the feat are special indeed.
Of course, it is also worth mentioning that the diseases cats develop are often unique. They are known to hide their pain and discomfort more efficiently and can go undiagnosed for long periods of time. Be aware of your felines, especially as they age, as signs and symptoms can be subtle. Contact your veterinary team if you have any concerns. And don’t forget to ensure you have a veterinary team for your companion. Many cats go far too many years without any medical care.
Until next time fellow paw print loving friends!
Silver Heights Veterinary Hospital is proud to serve the Winnipeg region, and is located on Ness Avenue in St. James. Contact them at 204-504-5600 or visit their website at silverheightsvethospital.ca
Clive Ramage lived a life of adventure
Many years ago, I read a memoir by the western novelist Louis Lamour. One observation stood out for me. He wrote something to the effect that an adventure is damned uncomfortable for the adventurer. It is much easier reading about adventure in the comfort of your home.
I fully agree. I have read many an account of adventure in places I would never dream of going. There was the chronicle of a couple of young ladies from Ontario who successfully cycled the entire silk road from Turkey to Tibet, the story written by a British fellow walking from the source of the Nile in eastern Uganda to the Mediterranean, the British actor Ewan McGregor and his buddy Charlie Boorman, travelling around the world and through Russia by motorcycle and the Canadian woman who is a world leader in exploring underwater caves.
My own big adventure was more than 50 years ago when I decided to bicycle through Europe in the winter. I was young and foolish. It was my first time overseas and I was about to depart from the two travelling companions whom I had accompanied to London. It was the end of October, and I figured that, as I didn’t have a lot of money with me, the cheapest way to travel would be to buy a bicycle in Amsterdam, cycle through Europe to Greece, sell the bicycle and take a boat or flight from Greece to Israel. I knew that winter in Europe couldn’t be anywhere as cold as Winnipeg. I never really thought how I could cycle up high mountains or get through snow covered mountain passes.
The first frost hit on my third day out. Even though I wasn’t dressed for winter, that didn’t discourage me. What finished me was spending a full day cycling in a steady drizzle from Paris southwest to Chartres. I returned by train, ditched the bicycle and booked a student ticket on a Mediterranean cruise to Israel.
Over the course of my writing career, I have had the opportunity to interview a few local adventurers. The one who stands out was Clive Ramage.
Clive was colourful character. Garrulous and interesting, the British-born Clive was a lawyer by training –but his real passions were travel to exotic destinations and mountain climbing. And the latter is where he ran a cropper.
The fair-haired, slightly-built, soft-spoken Ramage began climbing mountains in the summer of 1986, shortly after passing the Bar in Winnipeg. “I had a friend in Alberta who invited me out to do some climbing,” he recalled in an earlier interview. “I had been working to put myself through school and hadn’t had a real holiday in some years. I accepted the invitation. We climbed Mount Edith near Banff. And I got hooked on climbing.”
Ramage has climbed many peaks over the years, most recently Mount Toubkal in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco last fall, without incident. However, in January, 2014, he made what can only be described as a rookie mistake.
He was in California for a two-week holiday. He flew to Las Vegas where he rented a car and drove to Palm Springs. He stopped off at Joshua Tree National Park, where he did some climbing. “It was so warm that I climbed wearing just shorts and a T-shirt,” he recounted. From there, he went to Santa Monica, San Diego and Ensenada (across the border in Mexico,) Oceanside, California, and, finally, near the end of the trip, to the 14,505-foot-high Mount Whitney in the High Sierras. “I drove to Mount Whitney, parked my car and began my ascent of the mountain,” he recounted. “I was lured into a false sense of security. While the rest of North America was struggling with brutally cold temperatures, California was having a heat wave. It felt like summer at the base of the mountain. I checked the weather forecast and was further reassured. I decided not to take the snowshoes I had just bought. Because I figured I could do the climb and back in a day, I took a light pack with me.”
In hindsight, Clive recognized where he went astray. He lost the trail and ended up in deep snow. That slowed him down. He thought he could see the ridge that he was aiming for – but he was already off track. He pushed on past the tree line to a section of rock and ice.
“I decided to use my ice axe to create steps in the ice instead of putting on my crampons,” he said. “That took a lot more energy than I expected. “I’m not sure exactly what happened after that. Maybe it was altitude sickness.”
At that point darkness began to set in and he lay down, 13,000 feet up the mountain wearing Israeli army fatigues, an army sweater and a baseball cap, waiting to die. He passed out, waking eight hours later.
“I woke up in the middle of the night to this horrible smell,” he recalled. “I had vomited all over myself. Somehow, during the night, I had managed to put on my North Face down jacket, two toques and three pairs of mitts.”
He wasn’t sure that he was really alive at first, but he remembers the scene around him was beautiful. “There was a full moon overhead and I could see the frozen lakes below,” he says. “I was shivering uncontrollably and sure that I was dying of hypothermia. I didn’t expect to survive until daylight. I began to pray for death.”
But the sun came up and provided enough warmth for Ramage to melt some of his water. He also had a little bit to eat with him. Still, with the sun going down again, the temperatures dropping, his hands numb and being in a lot of pain, he figured it was just a matter of time before he became totally dehydrated. He decided to try to speed up the process of dying by trying unsuccessfully to cut his right wrist.
“Suddenly, I stopped shivering, my pain dissipated, and I heard a voice in my head telling me that I had been laying here for 40 hours and wasn’t dead yet and that I wasn’t going to die,” he said. “My entire attitude changed. I wasn’t looking forward to another night out
there, but I figured out that if I started out early enough in the morning, I could get out.”
The second night, he recalls, seemed longer than the first night, but he had an ipad with him to keep him company. At 9:00 A.M., he got up (“I didn’t realize that my feet were frozen,” he says) and started down the mountain. Part way down, he came across a stream where he took in a large amount of water. When he reached the ice pack, he glissaded down using his ice axe for support. He got back down to the lower trails just before dark and found his way back to his car in the dark using his headlamp. He then drove to the nearest hospital.
After three days in that California hospital, he was airlifted back to Winnipeg where close friends let him stay with them until he could go back home on his own.
“They messed up in that hospital in California,” he noted. “They should have put my frostbitten feet in warm water, not on a heating pad which they did,” he says. “When I came back here, my feet looked like slabs of meat. It’s a miracle that I am still alive.”
The ordeal cost the adventurer some of the toes on his right foot. He also needed skin grafts and other surgery on his foot.
Despite his near-death experience on Mount Whitney, Ramage told this reporter that he was eager to return to the mountain one day and conquer the summit. And he might even return to the place where he almost died and revisit the memorial cairn he left there.
It was not to be.
Not quite five years later, I received a call from a mutual friend. Clive had been reported missing. He was in the habit of spending the winters in Uruguay. For some unknown reason, he was in a southern Brazilian city called Florianopolis. He had left his hotel room late on a Saturday evening – leaving his passport and money in the room.
His body washed up on shore a couple of days later. There were three possibilities – mishap, foul play or suicide – although a friend in Winnipeg told me that Clive was afraid of the water.
It was unlikely that the Brazilian police would have been much interested in figuring out what happened. My own speculation is that Clive never really recovered from that near death experience on a mountain in California.
Myron Love
Mount Edith, near Banff, where Clive caught the climbing bug. Photo by G Yancy.
Life happens and gratitude matters
Continued from page 1
This is particularly pertinent in times of trouble, change, sadness, sickness, and despair. Sometimes amazing things are happening right before our eyes and in our lives, yet we are not capable of detecting the miracles because we are so intent on the miracles having a different shape. We often feel that we are certain of the shape of the answer to our current problems and heartfelt dreams, and we fail to see the solutions that coming into our lives in extraordinary ways.
Some examples of our self-induced blindness to the miracle solutions we can find to our pressing problems come in the form of somewhat joking stories.
During the days before the recent hurricanes in the American South, people were strongly advised to take measures to storm proof their homes as much as possible and then leave the area and go to safer communities or cross into other states that were not in the direct line of danger from the storms. People were advised that should they try to weather the storms in their houses, it was not certain that rescue crews would be able to reach them to save them if things were worse than anticipated. There were stories going around about past dramatic rescues, including one also one (likely highly embellished) story of a family trapped in a house praying to God for their rescue. The family members prayed fervently to God to save them, and they all moved up to a rooftop position to await their rescue by the hand of God. A rescue
boat came by, and they turned away the offer of assistance because they were waiting to be rescued by God; their neighbors offered to help by sharing their rescue plan, and even a rescue helicopter came to their aid, but the people refused the help because they were waiting for God to rescue them. Well, the family perished and went to heaven and asked God why their prayers for rescue were not answered, and apparently God replied, “Who do you think sent the rescue boat, the neighbours, and the helicopter?”
This story is clearly an invention, but it does speak to our inability to see the solutions that are right before our eyes and understand that sometimes they are our miracles.
I can give a personal example as well. Several years ago, a business partner of the WSO, as an expression of thanks for our business, invited me to attend a Jets Game in the company’s private box. Well, you may be shocked to learn that I had only attended one other professional hockey game in my life, and that was in Quebec City in 1980. I decided to accept the kind invitation, and I went off to watch the Jets game in Winnipeg. I enjoyed the group of people the company had gathered. There was pleasant and lively conversation before the game, very good snacks and drinks provided, and comfortable seating to watch the game. The crowd members cheered, the lights and visuals were stunning, and every-
one was remarking on what an astonishing and almost miraculous event was occurring right before our eyes. I was taking my cues from my neighbours and cheering (quietly) when it seemed appropriate, but I could not really tell when there was a great play or what looked like another fight. People seemed to have all kinds of information on season statistics and remarked on the playing quality of each player with a lot of knowledge. However, I truly could not tell that it was a remarkable game, maybe the best game ever. A miracle of sorts was taking place before my eyes, but I was not aware enough about the intricacies of the game to detect the miracle.
This makes me consider all the times that I am quite certain that I know what is in my best interest and the shape of the solution to problems at hand. These stories remind me to look more discerningly at the people and events in my life and consider that the miracles in my life may well be happening before my eyes through events and people and opportunities that I have not even considered as solutions.
I am going to try to become more conscious of the daily wonders and joys in my life to be more conscious of the great answers that are often in plain sight. On the advice of a friend, I have started a gratitude journal, and as I look back in that book, I see the evidence of many wonderful people and opportunities that have been answers to my hopes and dreams.
Happy Holidays!
Trudy Schroeder provides project planning and management services to the community through Arts and Heritage Solutions.
Great books for gardeners for Christmas
weed, a supplement that will perk up their indoor plants as well as the garden this spring. We will send your gift recipient their first issue and the seaweed along with a Christmas card from you – even if the Post Office stays out and it comes late. You can order at https://localgardener.net/shop/ or call Karl at (204) 940-2700 to place your order.
Chasing Nature: an ecologist's lifetime of adventures and observations
By Robert E., Wrigley, PhD
A wonderful gift for nature-inclined readers. The author, formerly the Manitoba Museum Director and Curator of the Assiniboine Park Zoo, presents a fascinating chronicle of his life’s experiences with 750 species of animals, plants and fungi. The 230 accounts are filled with hands-on wisdom, adventure, and amusing anecdotes. Fully illustrated with colour photographs, drawings, and cartoons by Rob Gillespie. 367 pages of delight and knowledge. $25.00 if picked-up in Winnipeg; if mailed add $19 Canada Post contact: robertwrigley@mts.net Also available from https://localgardener.net/shop/
10 Neat Things 2
By Dorothy Dobbie
Everything you always needed to know about things you never think about in the garden and beyond. We started with 10 Neat Things produced by Shauna and me. It sold out so I produced a second book that covers some other things we didn’t get to in the first book. It is a compendium of photos and facts, both common and uncommon about things such as the fact that sow bugs are crustaceans with feet, or that beets contain betains that are essential to heart and liver, that dahlias were fed
by the Aztecs to epileptics and that hostas are edible. This is the perfect book for the instant experts in the family. $29.95 plus postage. Call Karl at 204-940-2700 or online at https://localgardener.net/online-store/ Also available at McNally Robinson.
The Prairie Garden
By the Prairie Garden Committee
The latest issue of The Prairie Garden annual is now available at your favourite garden stores, McNally Robinson and online at https://www.theprairiegarden.ca/ order. This year the topic is budget minded gardening, plus many other stories including one on songbirds. In all, this little Journal contains 50-plus stories containing practical garden advice from experienced, hands-on gardeners who know how to stretch a dollar. Learn the best
ways to propagate plants, how to save seeds and what seeds you can save here, growing fruit in a cold climate, building a garden from scratch, and much more. This is a great gift for the budget-minded at only $19.95, plus tax and shipping.
A Collection of Culinary Memories
By Ian Leatt
Not just any old cookbook, A Collection of Culinary Memories is a nostalgic look back at a Jersey Isle’s kitchen where Ian grew to love the magic of cooking. A classically trained chef, he brings those special techniques to both his grandmother’s recipes and those he encountered throughout Europe and abroad. Beautifully illustrated with Ian’s own photographs of his creations. Readers who have been following Ian’s recipes for years will now have their very own collection, all in one place. $29.95 plus shipping. If you are in Winnipeg, call 204-940-2700 or online at https://localgardener.net/online-store/
Canadian Lily Hybridizers and their Lilies
By Leanne Dowd
This is the book that every lily lover has been dying to get their hands on. Identifies and illustrate hundreds of lilies hybridized by Canadian growers. Cross referenced and indexed with an additional 40 pages of information on lilies and their breeders. The book is a labour of love by gardener Leanne Dowd, who is carrying on the garden traditions of the previous owners of her Neepawa property, well known lily growers Bill and Alice Moger, and of her neighbours, the Strohmans of the Lily Nook. 192 pages, hard cover. $53 plus tax and shipping. Call 204-940-2700 or online at https://localgardener.net/online-store/ or call 204-940-2700 for pick up instructions.
Trudy Schroeder Random Notes
Go North with us!
Dorothy Dobbie
Most of my readers know how excited I am about the North and all its possibilities. Now I want to share the adventures with you.
I am taking a tour of like-minded individuals to the north over the last week in June 2025, leaving on Friday June 20 and returning to Winnipeg on Friday, June 27. We board our luxury bus early in the morning then drive up through Riding Mountain National Park, stopping there for lunch. Then it is up Number 10 to Dauphin, and finally to Flin Flon for the first night.
Touring Flin Flon the following day, we will visit the famous Flintabbatey Flonatin statue, designed by cartoonist, Al Capp, creator of Lil’ Abner. You will learn the romantic story of how the town and its Saskatchewan neighbour of Creighton got their names. You will get a taste of the vibrant arts community in town and see the old mine headframe, visit the lake in the centre of the town and much more.
We then leave for The Pas, an hour and a half away. The Pas was once the centre of trade in the west when it was a key trading post called Fort Paskoya, built way back in 1740.
You think of The Pas as way up north, but it has the same growing season as Portage la Prairie and is very close to the same latitude as Edmonton. Rather than a mining town, it has a rich agricultural heritage with deep alluvial soils brought from across the Prairies by
Lazy Bear Lodge.
the North Saskatchewan River. The Pas is the headquarters of the University College of the North.
After overnighting in The Pas, next day, we will briefly tour Clearwater Lake, explore the caves, then off to Thompson, about 4 hours away. Overnight in Thompson followed by some morning down time and a late breakfast. We tour the town until we board the train to Churchill that evening at 5:00. We overnight in private sleepers on the train, arriving in Churchill around 8 a.m. where we check into the rustic Lazy Bear Lodge, Churchill’s most famous inn.
Over the next two days, we will go boating with belugas, take the Arctic Crawler or travel by boat to see polar bears up close in Hudson Bay. We will have an excursion to Fort Prince of Wales, tour the town and tundra, visit the Itsanitaq Museum and gift shop
and the famous Arctic Trading Company, and tour the town. We may take a dogsled ride on wheels, and we will certainly visit the “weather station”!
We leave, tired but thrilled, the following evening at 7 p.m. and overnight on the train once more, arriving in Thompson early in the morning, where our bus will be waiting to whisk us back down to Winnipeg. If we are not too tired, we may want to stop and explore the amazing Steep Rock on the esatern shores of Lake Winnipeg on the way back. It is worth the trip.
I promise you amazing beauty, wildflowers along the roadsides, magnificent trees, fabulous pristine lakes and all sorts of wonderful surprises.
We have room only for 10 couples so call us for details and book early. Call me or leave a message at (204) 940-2716.
Tourtière, a pie unlike no other, brought to you from Quebec
As the festive season once again falls upon us all, it’s the time of year that the traditional foods spring to my mind – none so much as the wonderful tourtière. I have always enjoyed a slice (perhaps two), at this time of year. Not just because it is a pie, you understand, but more for the seasonings that compliment it and remind me so much of this time of year.
help bind the meat, while celery and onion compliment the aromatics. The aroma is irresistible, the spices such as allspice, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg elevate the dish. Traditionally, they are all part of the Christmas réveillon and New Year's Eve festivities.
Ian Leatt Foodies
Originating in the province of Quebec, tourtière, this French-influenced pie is often made with pork, veal, and or beef. Mashed potatoes are blended to
Tourtière is basically a sexy way of saying “meat pie.” Having been in existence since the 17th century it has yet to lose its spiced meaty gusto. “You can’t take a trip to Quebec without ever trying a slice, nor should you ever leave any of the delicious flaky pastry behind.”
Here is what you will need:
For the Pastry
3 cups all-purpose flour
Sea salt
1 cup shortening
¼ cup cold water
For the Filling
700 grams red potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons Sea salt
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
500 grams ground lean beef
500 grams finely ground lean pork
2 ½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 medium egg, beaten
4 tablespoons milk
The all important how to:
For the pastry
In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour and salt then add the shortening and, using your fingertips, combine until the flour resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and gently knead until a dough has formed.
Turn out dough onto a cutting board. Divide into two (230 gram) disks. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.
The Filling
Place the potatoes inside a large pot then add 1 tablespoon salt, cover with cold water. Bring to a boil on a high heat and cook until fork-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and transfer half of potatoes to a medium bowl. Mash remaining potatoes in the pot. Using a large skillet place on the stove over a medium-high heat, add the oil and butter. Once the butter has melted, add the chopped onion, chopped celery, minced garlic, and season with salt. Stir occasionally until onions are translucent and celery is tender.
Add finely chopped rosemary, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves. Cook, stirring, until spices have warmed through. Add coarsely ground lean beef and pork, season with salt. Cook, stirring to break meat into pieces with a wooden spoon, for 8 minutes.
Once the meat is cooked, remove from heat and stir in mustard and mashed potatoes. Fold in remaining cubed potatoes, making sure not to break into pieces. Leave cool at least 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, unwrap one dough disk, then roll out to a 12" round. Place in a 10" (2") pie dish or large cast-iron skillet. Tuck in edges and refrigerate again until cold, 30 minutes should do the trick.
Preheat oven to 350°. Roll remaining disk to 12" round. Remove the pie base from the fridge, place all the filling into pie dish base. Beat the egg and milk together, using a pastry brush, brush around the edge of the pie, then place the second round on top to cover. Crimp edges with your fingertips. Finally, brush top and edges of the dough with the beaten egg milk mixture.
Bake the tourtière until the crust is golden brown, 1 ¼ hours or so. Let cool before slicing, then sit back and enjoy.
Seasons greetings to all you lovely people. May 2025 be a year unlike any that has come before it, fun, memorable, and prosperous.
Ian Leatt is a trained chef from across the pond.
Seeing the sights in and around Churchill.
Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board: A pioneer in Canada
Founded in 1903, the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board (WRREB) proudly stands as one of the oldest real estate boards in Canada. “We hold the distinction of being the longest continuously running real estate board in the country,” states Jeremy Davis, WRREB’s director of external relations and market intelligence. “While there may be older boards, ours has never paused its operations, making us the first in Canada to reach a centennial milestone.”
Celebrating
150 years of Winnipeg
This long-standing history roots the WRREB deeply in the community, marking a legacy of professionalism and dedication to Winnipeg and the surrounding market region. WRREB’s founding was in response to a rapidly growing real estate sector, as a group of 12 visionary businessmen sought to create order in an otherwise speculative market. Originally known as the Winnipeg Real Estate Exchange, it was incorporated on March 18, 1903, with James Scott serving as its first president. At the outset, the new board numbered 48 members.”
In the WRREB’s early days, Winnipeg’s population was expanding at a record pace, with new homes in areas like Maryland, Langside, Young, and Sherbrook priced between $900 and $3,000, while upscale residences along Wellington Crescent were around $6,000.
“Our organization included many of Winnipeg’s founding visionaries who were vested in growing the city as the Gateway to the West.” Davis observes.
He references a plaque in the basement at City Hall dedicated to prominent Winnipeggers who lost their lives with the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912. Among the names are those of Mark Fortune, and John Hugo Ross. Fortune was the 1906 President of the Winnipeg Real Estate Exchange and was successor to Ross.
The real estate profession has evolved tremendously since those early days, moving from a booming market of speculation to a cornerstone of community and economic development. Today, real estate serves as an economic engine, stimulating job creation, infrastructure development, and community growth across Winnipeg and southern Manitoba. As housing needs shift, WRREB has worked in tandem with industry partners, advancing training standards, ongoing professional development, and oversight regulated by the Manitoba Securities Commission and the Real Estate Services Act.
Over the years, the WRREB’s fortunes have ebbed and flowed in lockstep with the history of Winnipeg. Today, the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board, under the leadership of current CEO Mariana R. James, represents over 2,500 professional residential and commercial realtors along with affiliate members from appraisal, property management and the financial services industry across southern Manitoba, with the exceptions of Brandon and Portage la Prairie. The board advocates for housing initiatives and strategic infrastructure to meet the community’s needs, all while supporting diverse municipalities within the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region.
To keep the public informed, WRREB hosts events like the annual Market Insights, where industry experts discuss housing trends and economic forecasts. Its publication, the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate News, has served as a premier source of information since its debut on January 9, 1981, reaching over 500,000 page views monthly online and printing 10,000 weekly copies for distribution. The newspaper, he says, is available in high traffic locations such as financial institutions, grocery stores and various realtors’ offices in Winnipeg and the surrounding areas.
Beyond real estate, WRREB’s impact extends to its philanthropic efforts. Through its Gimme Shelter event, WRREB raises funds for the Manitoba REALTORS® Shelter Foundation, which supports shelters and services for vulnerable groups in the province.
As Davis explains, current market conditions have returned to pre-pandemic norms, with forecasts of further interest rate cuts ahead and year-to-date increases to sales over 2023. “Federal initiatives like the Housing Accelerator Fund, along with Mayor Scott Gillingham’s recent announcement of 8,000 new housing units approved this year, reflect posi-
Marina
R. Jame, CEO of the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board accepts the 2024 AEN Award of Excellence.
tive momentum for our region.”
Davis points out that WRREB’s CEO, Mariana R. James, has been instrumental in driving the board’s success and modernizing its approach to meet the evolving needs of the real estate industry. Her exceptional leadership and dedication were recently recognized when she received the prestigious Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) Award of Excellence, a testament to her significant contributions to the field. Under James’s guidance, WRREB has made significant strides in advocating for REALTORS® and enhanc-
ing industry standards, helping to position the board as an innovative leader in both regional and national real estate. Her vision and commitment have not only propelled WRREB forward but have also strengthened its role as an essential economic engine within the Winnipeg community and the greater southern Manitoba region.
With ongoing growth, WRREB continues to play a vital role in building communities, empowering residents, and supporting economic stability throughout Winnipeg and its surrounding communities.
Choosing funeral and cemetery plans can be overwhelming to a grieving spouse. Plan the details now. Together. Order your FREE Estate Planning Kit by calling or visiting the locations listed below.
Glen Eden Funeral Home & Cemetery 4477 Main St., West St. Paul, MB 204-982-8300
Desjardins Funeral Home 357 Des Meurons St., Winnipeg, MB 204-233-4949
*Research conducted by Willful and Arbor Memorial Inc. in a 2020 survey.
Myron Love
Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board office at 1240 Portage Avenue.
Winnipeg – the City of Song
Winnipeg’s connections to Roy Rogers, Lucille Ball, Oscar the Grouch, Charlie Chaplin . . .
Throughout the year, Winnipeg has been celebrating its 150th birthday with a variety of music events and celebrations intended to showcase our community as The City of Song. In my final City of Song feature I thought I would share some of the fascinating stories from our rich and diverse musical history. I hope you have some fun reading these. They are in no particular order.
The Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC recognizes these two songs as among the greatest cowboy songs of all time: “Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds” and “Cool Water”. Both songs were composed by Winnipeg-born singersongwriter Bob Nolan (born Clarence Nobles on Lansdowne Avenue in Winnipeg’s North End). Nolan and Ohio-born wannabe cowboy Leonard Slye formed The Sons of The Pioneers singing group in 1933 and enjoyed huge success across North America singing Nolan’s songs. Along the way, Slye changed his name to Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys, and went on to star in some 90 movies alongside Nolan and Dale Evans.
months later the group was invited to perform at The White House by request of US President Richard Nixon’s daughter, Trisha. However, the band was requested not to play their hit single “American Woman” because of its perceived anti-American sentiment. The group agreed to the request and refrained from performing it that evening.
Informed by CKRC record producer Harry Taylor, “You’re a good guitar player kid, but you’ll never make it as a singer” at a local recording session in 1965, Neil Young carried on undaunted. In 1972 Young’s multi-million selling album Harvest was declared the greatest album of the year. The Winnipeg kid who couldn’t sing sang on every track including his only #1 hit “Heart of Gold”.
cranky character, Oscar the Grouch, after him.
It's documented that the first song teenage Liverpool lad John Lennon learned to play and sing on a guitar given to him by his birth mother was “Cool Water”.
In 1970, Winnipeg’s Guess Who sold more records that year than the entire Canadian music industry combined. They even outsold The Beatles that year. The band’s hit single “American Woman” stayed at #1 on the coveted Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks in May 1970. Three
St. Boniface-born singer Lucille Starr (born Lucille Savoie on Langevin Avenue) became an international recording sensation in 1964, when her recording of “The French Song” produced by Herb Alpert of Tijuana Brass fame reached #1 in a dozen countries including The Netherlands where Alpert held the top spot for 19 weeks straight. Lucille was also the singing and yodeling voice of Cousin Pearl on the popular television show The Beverly Hillbillies. Lucille became the first Canadian female country music singer to sell over a million copies of a record, six million to be exact.
Following a successful career on the local pub circuit, a hit single (“Can I Come Near”) and a Juno Award, in the 1980s singer-songwriter Graham Shaw relocated to Toronto where he quickly established himself as one of
the top commercial jingle songwriters. His many jingles included “You’re on Your Way With Esso” along with jingles for The Bay, Home Hardware, Canadian Tire, Budweiser, 7-Up, Labatt’s, Bacardi Breezer, and Bell Canada to name a few. He also wrote and produced jingles featuring megastars Celine Dion and Anne Murray. Shaw composed all the incidental music for CBC TV’s Newsworld network.
Born on Lusted Avenue in the Point Douglas neighbourhood in Winnipeg, singer-songwriter, radio and television host Oscar Brand became acknowledged as the foremost authority on folk music in North America often called in to declare the provenance of disputed songs. His weekly WNYC radio show Folksong Festival ran for more than 60 years and provided the first airplay for artists such as Bob Dylan. He also hosted the Canadian television music showcase Let’s Sing Out. As a member of the inaugural Children’s Television Workshop which created Sesame Street, Oscar was so fastidious in the plans for the show that the other members named the
On a single night in August 1964 at downtown Winnipeg supper club The Town ‘n’ Country on Kennedy Street just north of Portage Avenue, three of the greatest guitar players to ever come out of Winnipeg, or Canada for that matter, played on the same night one after the other. First up was Neil Young & The Squires followed by Chad Allan & The Reflections featuring Randy Bachman on guitar. Last up was incomparable jazz guitarist Lenny Breau backed by Ron Halldorson and Reg Kelln. While Young and Bachman went on to huge success in the rock music pantheon, Breau revolutionized guitar playing jazz, earning the title of the greatest guitar player in the world. In 1913, a vaudeville entertainer from New York was appearing at the Empire Hotel cabaret adjacent to the CN rail station on Main Street south. He was staying at the La Claire Hotel on Garry Street. While there, he received a telegram from silent movie producer Mack Sennett to come to Hollywood to make movies. He then wrote to his brother on La Claire Hotel stationary that he wouldn’t be returning home but would instead be taking the Pine to Palm train from Winnipeg to Santa Monica, California. The entertainer’s name: Charlie Chaplin.
A budding teenage singer-songwriter, in Winnipeg to visit his father, decided he would like to busk at The Forks for the summer singing his own songs. As is the procedure, he was required to audition for Forks Corporation officials who turned him down for a busking license, deeming him not good enough for Forks patrons. A year later this young man was one of the biggest stars in international pop music. His name: Justin Bieber. But he’s never played at The Forks.
Fred's response to the November 26, 2024 Arlington Street bridge news
The replacement of the Arlington Street bridge has been debated for anywhere between 42 and 78 years.
On November 21, 2023, the Bridge was suddenly closed for safety reasons. More studies followed
An Administrative Report about the Arlington Street Bridge was presented to the Public Works Committee on November 29, 2024. That report acknowledges that Winnipeg City Council on June 20, 2019, approved the replacement of the Arlington Street Bridge. However, the current Winnipeg City Council, elected in 2022, started another study as to whether the current structure could last another 25 years. It is interesting to note that 13 out of the current 16 members of City Council were on the Council that voted in 2019 to replace the bridge. Finally, after these recent studies, the
November 29, 2024 Administrative Report concludes:
“Further study determined it is not feasible to repair the existing truss spans of the bridge due to deterioration and lack of strength to support construction loading and operations.”
Do we need a new bridge? I again quote from the Report:
“Morning peak traffic at McPhillips underpass now lasts an hour longer and afternoon peak traffic lasts two hours longer.”
The 2023 media release announcing the closure, and the November 29, 2024 Report both state that the Arlington Street Bridge requires repairs even when it is not in use. Also, remember there is a workplace underneath the Bridge.
There is another alternative. Rail relocation. On
October 15, 2024, the Province launched another study about rail relocation. The report is expected to take two years. WE CAN WAIT NO LONGER. The need for a new bridge or a road connection (with rail relocation) of the west end Arlington Street with the north end Arlington Street is immediate.
Do other areas of Winnipeg get more immediate attention to their problems? Perhaps. In April 2024, several cars were disabled by flat tires by potholes on an east bound stretch of Abinojii Mikanah. The road has been completely resurfaced. City Council must decide between a completely new bridge (my preference) or rail relocation. Winnipeg City Council must fast track their choice. Fred Morris is a Grandfather, Sports Fan and Political Activist.
The Sons of the Pioneers (Nolan bottom left, Rogers centre).
Lucille Starr.
Graham Shaw (centre).
Oscar Brand.
John Einarson Winnipeg City of Song
Educator, entertainer and philanthropist continues to support WSO's Sistema Winnipeg program
On Saturday, November 16, at Calvary Temple, Winnipeg singer and educator, philanthropist and influencer Paul Ong presented his 10th Concert for a Cause with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO). The concert’s beneficiaries were the WSO’s Sistema Winnipeg music and education program for at-risk youth and Answering the Cry of the Poor (ANCOP Canada), whose single-minded mission is to help the poor. Sistema Winnipeg will benefit from the concert with increased funding dedicated to the Yap-Ong Family Fund, an endowment at The Winnipeg Foundation. Ong hopes to build the fund with contributions from future concerts, creating a lasting impact in the community. “It’s great to know that you can leave a legacy and sustain charitable giving this way,” says Ong.
“What a memorable Concert for a Cause 2024!” says Ong. “Thank you to everyone who made our 10th Concert for a Cause with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra such a huge success! Together, we raised over $88,000 for our amazing beneficiaries, and I couldn’t be more grateful for your support. There is something so special about being a part of something bigger than all of us, and to see it all unfold right before our very eyes is something so powerful. This milestone is a reminder of the incredible sense of community we’ve built together. Here’s to the power of music, giving, and the strength we have when we come together. Thank you, Winnipeg, for being a part of this journey! You are the heart of this cause!”
“Sistema Winnipeg is forever grateful for the ongoing advocacy and support we receive from Paul. The generous gift the program receives helps us continue to make long-lasting impacts on the communities and students we serve daily. Thank you, Paul, for your efforts and support for the community and Sistema Winnipeg!” says Jeffrey Acosta, Manager of Sistema Winnipeg.
Sistema Winnipeg was founded in 2011 and serves youth in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in what are considered at-risk communities, helping inspire youth to make a difference in their world and communities.
The program is a unique partnership between the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Seven Oaks School Division and Winnipeg School Division, providing music education to children for two hours after every school day. Students receive an instrument, a nutritious snack, and a safe space to learn and flourish, while making friends and memories to last a lifetime – all at no cost to families!
Sistema Winnipeg serves about 150 children from grades one to 12 at two main school communities: Elwick and King Edward community schools, along with satellite instruction provided weekly at Isaac Newton School and St. John’s High School.
Ong has collaborated as a guest artist with the WSO for many years, performing with the orchestra in 2015 and eventually was the first local Filipino Chinese artist to be accompanied by the WSO for a full concert in 2019 and again in 2023. He’s also been a guest performer at the WSO’s annual
Lifestyles 55 Digital Radio
Meet our newest broadcaster, Bryan Capon
Bryan Capon has joined the jocks on Lifestyles55 Digital Radio with a new show called Close to the Edge. As the name implies, he loves music that is a little “out there”: new wave, punk, and alternative sounds.
Bryan is a born and bred Winnipegger although he spent 12 years in Vancouver – but we have forgiven him for that. A musician
Community Celebration and the orchestra’s Lunar New Year Celebration. Sistema Winnipeg has been a recipient of Ong’s fundraising concerts numerous times.
When he and his family moved to Canada in 2010, Ong thought he had left his passion for singing behind. A few years later, in 2012, he would find himself back on the stage as a semi-finalist on Canada’s Got Talent. In 2015, he represented Canada at the World Championships for the Performing Arts (WCOPA) in Hollywood, California.
Ong was recognized as part of CBC Manitoba’s Future 40 Under 40, where the public broadcaster chooses ten people under 40 who are making a difference in their communities. He was also named Ace Burpee’s Top 100 Most Fascinating Manitoban. This year, 2024, Paul received the Manitoba Philanthropy Award for Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser.
Concert for a Cause has raised funds for various charities in Manitoba. Proceeds from the yearly concert have supported military families, the Children’s Heritage Fund, food and shelter programs, Cancer Care and Sistema Winnipeg.
himself, he dabbled in the local music scene in the 80s, playing in basements and frat houses. He still performs for his own enjoyment and that of his cats, Patty and Selma.
Tune in Saturdays at 9:00 p.m. Maybe he’ll give you a homegrown earful from time to time. Listen at http://www.lifestyles55radio.ca/
Paul Ong performs at his 10th Concert for a Cause with the WSO
A Ghost from Christmas Past
The old man died young. Well, relatively young. He was sixty-five, when in October of that year, just two months short of getting a monthly pension cheque, he passed unexpectedly. He had planned on saving some of that money for a trip back to the old country the following summer. He wanted to visit his older brother and sister one last time. They both still lived in the same farmhouse they all grew up in.
The old man wasn’t prone to sentiment. He never spoke of his youth, his older siblings or his parents. He was only eighteen years old when he left home and journeyed to a new land in search of a new life. He worked hard and eventually married and raised a family. When Christmas time rolled around, he was always in charge of the tree. He chose it, placed it in the right spot in the living room and took charge of the trimming. All in proper order. The lights go on first, then the decorations and finally the garland.
evening. That’s when the dog started pacing nervously around the old farmhouse whimpering a little as he did.
Eventually, everyone became curious as to what was bothering the dog. Frigg went toward the door and began scratching it wanting everyone to know she wanted out now. The father put down his book and went to the door thinking nothing more than the dog wanted to go outside to relieve itself as she usually did this time of day. That’s when he heard bells far off in the distance.
Shaft bells, or sleigh bells as we have come to know them, are not just ornamentation, they were said to be good luck charms, they would protect against disease and injury and they would ward off evil. Soon everyone was straining on the front stoop straining to see who was coming up the road. A light snow was falling so it was not yet possible to see who the visitor might be.
Any second now the family would be able to see the horse-drawn sleigh carrying what most likely is a friendly neighbour dropping by to wish everyone the best of the season. “God Yul!” was what they were expecting to hear. The bells were getting very near but still, no one could see anything except the dog who was now so frantic. She seemed to be sweating with what they now recognized as fear.
The bells were now the loudest they had ever heard from any sleigh or horse and the sound was passing right before them. Then the chimes slowly disappeared as the invisible sleigh, horse and presumably the driver made its way down the path toward the main road until there was no longer any sound. There were no marks in the freshly-fallen snow where there should have been from the sleigh’s runners. Frigg calmed down and whimpered only once before turning around seeking the comfort of a warm fire and a peaceful night.
The father, mother and three children stood for a moment in awe, they looked at each other but said nothing. They too returned to the living room where the fire was stoked with another log.
The only story he told, which he only told once, was not exactly a happy, yuletide yarn. He would have been about thirteen years old at the time and it was very close to Christmas. It was early in the evening and he and his family had just finished supper. They and their dog Frigg had settled in for a quiet, simple
Sri Lankan Seniors
Daya Completed His 50th-Year Sri Lankan Seniors Manitoba (SLSM) paid a debt of gratitude on Oct. 25, 2024, to Daya Perera as the second past president of SLSM (2018/2020). This marked his 50th year of serving the community in Winnipeg.
President Doreen displayed a poster and arranged a cake cutting ceremony and group photo to grace the occasion.
In 1982, when Sri Lankans tried to establish Sri Lankan Association Manitoba (SLAM) 39 households agreed for the venture. Out of those, 30 families got together and established SLAM on Feb. 4, 1984. Castus Peiris was the elected president and Daya, as a young social worker, became a sports committee member.
Frigg was no longer whining and whimpering but outright barking and the barking was getting more frantic by the moment. So much so the father grabbed the big dog by the collar and held on tightly fearing it would become uncontrollable. The bells seemed to be getting closer.
Lankan Seniors organization. I relied heavily on Daya to help establish the framework. Finally, he called a meeting at his home with a few past presidents and board members. Based on that discussion SLAM called a meeting on June 23, 2017 with SLAM Seniors at Community Hall, Pembina Trails Library and instituted Sri Lankan Seniors Manitoba.
Daya took the initiative to establish the Bloomfield Cricket and Cultural Club in 2002. This club is helpful not only for Sri Lankan cricketers but also to cricket players from the other countries.
I went to Canad Inns Fort Garry on April 23, 2016, to help the volunteers who were busy with hall arrangements for the New Year Ceremony. That is when I met Daya, who was there with other volunteers. As soon as Daya saw me, he asked whether I had a good sleep last night. I was surprised as Daya correctly read my thoughts. That was my first great event as the president of SLAM. Because of that, I did not have a good sleep.
When I conducted the first board meeting as president of SLAM (June 22, 2016), there were five new proposals. One of them was to establish the Sri
That event occurred more than one hundred years ago and was told to me more than fifty years ago by the old man I mentioned. I know it’s a true story because…my father never lied.
Listen to Jim’s podcasts on Lifestyles 55 Digital Radio. Find Radio Redux, and Mid-Century Memories at www. whatsupwinnipeg.ca/lifestyles-55digital-radio/
Urban Buddhist Monk from Sri Lanka
Peter Bastians was elected as the first president.
Sarath Abeysekara (Past President, SLAM) started a fundraising campaign to establish a Buddhist Temple in Winnipeg.
Daya, who was a nonBuddhist, was one of the first to contribute. During my decade of associating with Daya, I got the feeling that he was well on the path to liberation because of his noble deeds sans greed (lobha), ill-will (dosa), and delusion (moha).
In short, Daya is my mentor in this part of the world.
Wynn Ferguson conducted her onehour Yoga session followed by a light meal at the above occasion.
The visit of Ven. Thalalle Chandakiththi Thera to Winnipeg
I learned of Ven. Thalalle Chandakiththi Thera’s visit to North America from Most Ven. Thrikunamale Ananda Maha Nayake Thera.
Based on this, Ven. Chandakiththi Thera requested that I communicate with Prof. Nimal Gamage, Denver, Colorado. Nimal contacted my friend Lal Perera and Samantha Nagahawatta in Calgary and Ms. Shiroma Saputhanthri in Toronto.
After discussions with all of them, Ven.
I like to introduce Ven. Talalle Chandakitti Maha Thera (Bhante) as an Urban Buddhist Monk. He is the Chief Abbot of the Na-rada Bauddha Dharmayatanaya situated in Colombo 7, which is a high-status area within the Municipality of the City of Colombo. Devotees who participate in its activities come not only from within the city limits but also from the Colombo Metropolitan Region. To commemorate Bhante’s 50th birthday, its devotees have identified about fifty projects to accomplish during next year. Most of the projects are to mitigate urban and rural poverty. Bhante has established a spacious Mindfulness Centre named Pänasiha Senasuma in a serene environment at Alawwa in the Kurunagala District. Majority of devotees of the Dharamayatanaya are employed in the private sector under stressful conditions and the Mindfulness Centre, which is less than two hours drive from Colombo, gives an opportunity for them to get mental relaxation through meditative practices.
disseminating the Dhamma with youthful vigour not only in Sri Lankan but also in foreign counties including North America, Europe, Japan and the Middle East.
Besides the Buddhist missionary work abroad, Bhante conducts innumerable Dhamma Sermons broadcast over TV and Radio and many of them are on YouTube. He has authored more than 60 publications and is a prolific composer of Sinhala lyrical songs. As at present there are over 110 lyrical songs to Bhante’s credit.
Current responsibilities of Bhante, among others, are being (1) Chief Abbot of Na-rada Bauddha Dharmayatanaya, Colombo; (2) Founder and Head of Pänasiha Senasuma International Buddhist Centre, Alawwa in Kurunegala District; (3) Founder and Advisor of Siri Rahal Senasuma, Anuradhapura; (4) Patron and Founder of Dharmadeepa Foundation, Colombo; and (5) Adviser, Dharmavijaya Foundation. In addition, eight novitiate monks are undergoing training under his tutelage.
Towards end of the 1990s, the late Madihe Pannasiha Maha Nayaka Thera shifted the Buddhist Information Centre to the current location and named it the Narada Centre in memory of Venerable Narada Maha Thera of Siri Vajiraramaya, a pioneer in Buddhist missionary work in the West. Bhante Chandakitti continues this noble work of
Chandakiththi Thera’s Winnipeg visit was confirmed for Nov. 6, 7 and 8, 2024.
I share merits with all of them! Suranga and I went to Winnipeg airport on the morning of Nov 6, 2024, to receive him.
When Ven. Chandakiththi Thera visited in June 2014, he stayed at our home and we were happy to welcome him once again. We converted our home to an Awasa Geya which is suitable to accommodate for a Buddhist Monk.
I got an appointment with Ven. Amitha Samadhi Thera from Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery in Winnipeg to visit with Ven. Chandakiththi Thera on Nov. 6, at 4.00 pm. Accordingly we were there on time. Ven. Amitha Samadhi, and two Monks namely Ven. Kalyana Samuddha Thera and Ven. Kamala Tissa Thera joined for the Dhamma discussion.
His first visit to Winnipeg was from June 14 to 17, 2014. His second visit was from Nov. 6 to 8, 2024. I was privileged to arrange both the visits.
The year 2025 will be a landmark year for Bhante. He will be celebrating his 50th birthday and his 36th year of being ordained as a monk.
Canadian Human Rights Museum
I communicated with Sarah Schwendemann, Director, Partnerships and Visitor Growth of Canadian Human Rights Museum and arranged a guided tour for Nov. 7. Ven. Chandakiththi Thera, Suranga joined the tour.
Sarah arranged for Kiersten to conduct the tour for the three of us. Halfway through the tour, an employee of the CHRM, Raymond, joined us. Raymond had spent time in Sri Lanka and can speak well in Sinhala.
The Leaf: Living Classroom Canada’s Diversity Gardens is a living classroom where school and community groups can participate in environmental and cultural education programs year-round. Plants around the world are growing under controlled environment.
Senaka Samarasinghe
Royal Pandit Ven. Talalle Chandakitti Maha - Thera
Jim Ingebrigtsen
Arrival of Ven Thalalle Chandakiththi Thera to Winnipeg.
Visiting the Leaf.
A religion of slavery
The 272, a book written by investigative journalist Rachel L. Swarns, describes how the Roman Catholic Church built its massive fortunes in North America on the backs of slaves. This book is not available in local libraries and is not being reviewed by major publications such as the Winnipeg Free Press. One wonders if this book is not being passively censored.
In North America, the Roman Catholic Church has owned more slaves than any other group or individual. In Maryland, as an anti-slavery movement was picking up speed, to avoid losing their property, the RC Church began moving their slaves to the south. Two of these slaves, Isaac Hawkins and Susanna Queen, were newlyweds of only four months when they were forced to endure a monthlong journey of over a thousand miles by foot and flatboat along the Ohio River from the church’s tobacco plantation in White Marsh, Maryland, to Florissant, Missouri.
flogged and he also witnessed a woman slave who, having refused to remove her own clothing, was forcibly stripped naked, tied down, and properly thrashed while the other slaves, as a lesson to them, were forced to watch the proceedings.
Wayne Weedon Food for Thought
After arriving in Florissant, Isaac and Susan settled into a crowded, one room log cabin that doubled as the kitchen and laundry. They shared this cabin with two other enslaved families who had accompanied them on their journey, Thomas and Molly Brown, as well as Moses and Nancy Queen.
These six slaves were forced to commence the difficult work of creating what would become a Jesuit seminary. Besides working on the construction of new buildings, they were forced to do other work, including, farming, sewing, laundering, and cooking for the Jesuits.
On May 8, 1824, Susan Hawkins gave birth to a son, Peter, who, during his lifetime, experienced the brutality of enslavement at the hands of his Jesuit masters. Peter was present when Jesuits had enslaved men
At the end of the Civil War, when slaves were emancipated, Peter’s title was changed from slave to indentured servant, and he continued to work and live at the seminary until his death in 1907.
It wasn’t just the Catholics; many different Christian denominations not only condoned slavery, but also owned slaves and profited from the slave trade. This is all part of our hidden history which schools have failed to teach students, and human rights museums ignore.
Princeton University was founded as the College of New Jersey to train ministers for the Presbyterian Church. Princeton has recently made their archives available to researchers who would like to ascertain how many slaves lived and worked on the Princeton campus, what their living conditions were like, and what eventually happened to these slaves.
Carter Dowling, a former slave, described how he had escaped from his owners, the Baptist Theological Seminary in Northern Virginia. With the help of the notorious abolitionist, William Still, Dowling eventually made his way to Canada and to freedom.
Frederick Douglass, a former slave, in his autobiography, describes his experiences with Christianity, “In
running thither for shelter and succor, we have only fled from the hungry bloodhound to the devouring wolf — from a corrupt and selfish world to a hollow and hypocritical church." Douglass preferred to have an atheist for a master, stating, the more religious and pious a slaveowner is, the more vicious and abusive he is. The law backs his actions, and his southern religion sanctions them.
The astonishing thing is, many former slaves who were owned by various Christian institutions, as well as the descendants of these slaves, have clung to their religion which has a god who not only condones slavery, but also has commanded his followers to apprehend their enemies and force them into slavery. Former slaves have passed on this fear of a vindictive god and the fires of hell to their descendants, despite scientific evidence that it is all nonsense. As Seneca stated, “Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.” Indeed, many slaveholders found religion to be a very useful tool for brainwashing their slaves; to make them believe they are inferior beings who are unable to learn how to run their own lives.
Alfred Adler, the founder of Individual Psychology, tells us these former slaves and their descendants have an inferiority complex which makes them afraid of making decisions and taking charge of their own lives. They continue to look for a master, natural or supernatural, who will make decisions for them, and who will run their lives for them. By clinging to religion, they continue to be slaves, on a voluntary basis.
Wayne Douglas Weedon is a Manitoba author who writes a combination of fictional and factual stories, essays, and novels.
On the road with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
On Saturday, September 12, 1959, I attended my first Blue Bomber Game. My father George and I sat in the north end zone of the relatively new Winnipeg Stadium. The Bombers defeated Saskatchewan 41 to 14. The Bombers had won their previous game against Saskatchewan 61 to 8 at Taylor Field in Regina. I became a die heart Bomber fan.
In 2006, I finally became a Winnipeg Blue Bomber season ticket holder. Between 1968 and 2009, I had attended a few CFL games in Hamilton's Civic Stadium, Regina's Taylor Field, Edmonton's Clarke Stadium and Calgary's McMahon Stadium. None of these road games involved the Bombers. In 2012, I decided that all my road games would feature the Blue Bombers. I have attended five Blue Bomber Road games in Calgary, Regina, Vancouver and Montreal. My bucket list includes seeing the Blue Bombers play in Edmonton, Hamilton, Toronto, and Ottawa.
Calgary and McMahon Stadium (2 games September 14, 2012, and November 3, 2017)
Season game and secure their first ever home playoff game at Investors Group Field.
Ben and I took the Sky Train on a frigid minus 23 Degree Celsius evening. Dan Lefevour started at quarterback in place of the injured Blue Bomber quarterback Matt Nichols. With first place locked up, Calgary started Andrew Buckley another Backup quarterback. There was little offense in the Bomber 23 to 5 victory The most interesting memory of the game played was the lack of fans. There appeared to be only 5,000 people in the stands. The Box Score listed the attendance as NA. Did the extreme cold make some fans stay at home? The Bombers went on to lose their home playoff game to Edmonton. Calgary lost the Grey to Toronto.
Fred Morris From the desk of a gadfly
McMahon Stadium reminds me of Winnipeg Stadium in the 1960s. On August 15, 1960, Bud Grant's Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated Calgary 38 to 23 in McMahon's first game. A few years later, Kenny Pleon and Ken Neilson combined on a 109 Touchdown pass to help Winnipeg defeat Calgary 19 to 12 in the third and deciding game of the 1965 Western Conference Final. It is a record that has been tied but can never be broken.
There have been many Calgary triumphs over Winnipeg. On September 14, 2012, my son Ben and I witnessed one of the worst performances of the games in Blue Bomber history. The Stamps, led by former Bomber Quarterback Kevin Glen, defeated the Bombers 44 to 3. The Bombers did not make the 2012 playoffs. However, better days were just around the corner for the Bombers. Mike O’Shea won the 2012 Grey Cup as the Special Teams Coordinator for the Toronto Argos. In December 2013, Mike became the Head Coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. By 2017, the Bombers were in the second year of their current eight consecutive seasons of making the playoffs. However, the hosting of a home playoff game seemed elusive. As I was leaving Investors Group Field after a loss to BC, I announced that I would go to Calgary (the trip had been already planned) to help the Bombers win the Final Regular
Mosaic Stadium Regina (Game 3 September 2023)
My daughter Lisa and I drove to Regina for the Labour Day Classic. Mosaic, an impressive stadium, opened in 2016. Mosaic is the stadium where the Bombers won the 2019 Western Final when Saskatchewan's quarterback (not their kicker) hit the goal post on the game's final play. After we arrived in Regina, we were unaware that the game was almost postponed due to the smoke from the forest fires.
The game turned out to be a real classic with a couple of late lead changes. The game included a penalty likely called by the command center for a dirty hit on Bomber quarterback Zach Collaros. The Bombers lost 32 to 30 in overtime. The game did not turn out to be an indicator for the rest of the season. The Bombers would go on to finish First and lose the Grey Cup to Montreal in the last 11 seconds. Saskatchewan did not win another game in the 2023 season
BC Place an Indoor Stadium
Vancouver (Game 4 August 18, 2024)
BC Place opened in 1983 and underwent renovations in 2010. My sister Rose and I took pictures at the Terry Fox Plaza, and in front of the nearby Rodgers Arena. I added a visit the following day to the BC Sports Hall of Fame which is part of BC Place. The Bombers representing the East have played two BC Place Grey Cup Games. In 1990, the Bombers demolished the Edmonton Eskimos 50 to 11. In 2011, the Bomber lost 34 to 23 to the hometown BC Lions.
The 2024 Bombers were struggling with a three and six record. BC was five and four. BC seemed to
have received a great boost with the return of Canadian quarterback Nathan Rourke from the NFL. In 2022, Nathan had been the Outstanding Canadian Player and had won the Top Performer in five out of the 10 games that he played. During his outstanding 2022 year, only one team was able to defeat Nathan. The Blue Bombers won both games against Nathan. During the 2024 game, the Bombers continued to find a way to defeat Nathan. The final score was 20 to 11 with most of the BC points being scored in last two seconds.
McGill Stadium the Oldest CFL Stadium (Game 5 October 26, 2024)
In October 2024, the Toronto Argos halted the Bombers 8 game winning streak with a 14 to 11 victory at Princess Auto Stadium. The game was decided by the Bombers being inches short on a Third Down gamble. The Bombers would have to win the final game in Montreal to ensure a first-place finish. For the second time in seven years, I was going to the final Blue Bomber game on the road that had significant implications in the standings.
Montreal Alouettes play in the 109 year old McGill Stadium. McGill had hosted the 1931 Grey Cup. In 1962, the Bombers lost an exhibition game 53 to 0 to the Als at McGill. The Bombers recovered and won the two-day, 1962 Fog Bowl Grey Cup. Montreal lost the Eastern Final. I suppose that exhibition games do not mean anything.
For the second straight road game, I had a great seat at mid-field. The last two minutes of the game will long be remembered. With a minute and 15 seconds left, the Bombers trailing 27 to 25, tried a 61yard field goal into the wind. The Field Goal was no good. The Bombers hopes for a win and a First finish seemed to have fallen short. After Montreal failed to get a first down, the Als had to punt. Mother Nature suddenly intervened. The wind intensified and completely changed direction. The Montreal punt only traveled 21 yards. The Bombers were suddenly in Field Goal Range. Sergio Castillo made the game winning last play – a 51-yard field goal.
Conclusion
After winning 10 out of their previous 11 games, the Blue Bombers lost the 2024 Grey Cup with a bad and unlucky Fourth Quarter. The Bombers blocked a punt but lost the ball on a penalty. Seems weird?
Nevertheless, I will continue my road trip next season. Hopefully the Bombers can win their third Grey Cup of the current era at Princess Auto Stadium on November 16, 2025.
Fred Morris is a Grandfather, Sports Fan and Political Activist.
How Santa brought joy back to the world
T’was the night before Christmas and all through the land, Santa noticed more COVID fear being fanned. This just isn’t right, he told Mrs. Claus, I think it’s high time I took up this cause. He went to his workshop, he worked while he thought, How this virulent virus could best be forgot. He remembered last Christmas when folks all alone, Celebrated with sadness by zoom and by phone. He remembered old folks by themselves in their beds, While visions of grandchildren danced in their heads.
I have to do something, he thought in despair, Or the reindeer won’t be able to take to the air. He picked up a hammer giving delicate taps, To the finishing touches on some new cellphone apps.
The Journal
Then, out on the lawn, there arose such a clatter, That he sprang from his bench to see what was the matter!
And there on the crest of the new-fallen snow, Shone the answer he’d been trying and trying to know.
I’ve got it! he chortled, joy flooding his face, I know how to put happiness back in its place! He twiddled his mustache, a finely honed trick, As he conjured the product, he needed – real quick! And there on the workbench, something started to grow;
Little vials of a substance that started to glow. It’s the happy elixir, he said with a smile.
I should have enough in a very short while, To give to the people throughout the whole world. This will not have patents. It will be joy unfurled, And free for the masses, both the rich and the poor. They’ll be equally treated by me, that’s for sure!”
He hitched up his suspenders and pulled on his hat, He gave Mrs. Claus a kiss and a pat.
Then he sprang to his sleigh with his bag full of joy, And he called to his team, “We’ve got a new toy!” They took off quite smoothly, gliding up to the moon, As he cried, “Joy is coming your way very soon!”
The very next morning we felt what he meant, As that inner glow spread from the vials that he sent.
Fear was banished, the virus disappeared with a whine,
People realized that every little thing would be fine. That inner glow started by St. Nick’s little vial, Is always there waiting; we just need to smile. I promise you friends, we will all be okay, I am sending you hugs. Please! Enjoy Christmas Day!
– Dorothy Dobbie
2021
The following story is part a new feature, a fictional work by our columnist Wayne Weedon, The Journal. Wayne is a brilliant writer whose style consists of simple declarative statements that stick in your mind as he leads you through an intricate web of circumstances to reach the lesson he set out to teach.
The Journal
Pregnant and deserted by her lover, a young girl moves in with her grandfather. When the baby boy is born, the grandfather agrees to look after him so his granddaughter may go to work. Despite the age difference, the relationship between the boy and his great-grandfather was more like two siblings than that of an adult and child. As this boy grew into a young man, he loved to look back and tell stories about his great-grandfather, whom he always called “Pops”. Hank, a former Blood Indian from Alberta, gave Pops a handwritten journal. Pops gave it to his great-grandson, asking him to read it. It became a lesson in history.
June 10, 1947
I was beginning to understand some of the old tribal beliefs. Even though we are both of mixed races, having more European than Native American blood in our veins, we both identify with Native Americans. She always used the term, professed to believe, whenever she spoke about Christian leaders. She believes these people are hypocrites who have habitually used God and The Bible to control others.
As usual, she stood up straight and tall while scanning the audience, “I have asserted what they are passing off as divine teachings is just a bunch of hogwash written to justify their actions. I will begin to tell you the truth, as I see it.” She spoke clearly, distinctly and with many appropriate pauses to allow the audience to soak in and digest her words. She told me, she learned public speaking at Cambridge University in England. How many Canadian half-breeds have studied at Cambridge? I wonder if she is telling me the truth.
Pointing to her chest, she began, “To the original people of the Americas, it was common to believe this is not you. The belief is that you reside in this body. But you are not this body. When we speak of I we are referring to the conscious form of energy which moves in and out of the body which You are now residing in.”
There was another pause. I don’t know if anyone in the crowd understood what she was saying. I have read some of Rudyard Kipling’s books, so I am somewhat familiar with transmigration of souls. I was wondering what she believed the traditional native philosophies are. We all sat quietly and patiently, waiting for her to continue.
“In the Americas, before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1480, there were at least two thousand tribes of people living on these lands. Each of these tribes was quite different from the others.” She paused when she noticed a little murmuring in the south section; “You are wondering why I said 1480 rather than 1492? Obviously, you have not read Francis Parkman nor some of the other historians who claim Christopher Columbus arrived on the east coast of Canada in 1480 when he was a cabin boy on a trading ship from Bristol. The Spanish knew about these voyages, but they wanted to make claims on land by declaring they were the first Christians to set foot on it. So, the Spanish pretended they had no knowledge of the English being there first. The Spanish also knew, these English sailors were travelling secretly to avoid any taxes and tariffs. They were in no position to dispute Spanish land claims.”
She explained, “Using the Papal Bulls known as The Doctrines of Discovery to justify why they believed it was their right to conquer, kill, and enslave Native Americans, Spain and other Christian countries re-
ferred to the indigenous people as heathen savages, even though it was obvious these “savages” were a more advanced and superior race. In what is now Mexico and Central America, there were several civilised cities. One city was described as having more than twohundred thousand inhabitants. At the time, this city was four times the size of London, England. I have journals, written in Spanish, which describe these cities and what the inhabitants possessed. These cities had running water and sewage treatment. The people made fine porcelain, crockery, wool and cotton clothing. Besides evolving cotton, our ancestors developed and cultivated many food plants: tomatoes, peppers, oranges, cacao, peanuts, cashews, pineapples, avocados, vanilla, potatoes, sunflowers, string beans, papaya, squash, and what we now refer to as corn. Europeans were happy to take these superior plants back home for their farmers to grow.”
I was wondering if anyone in the audience thought about the impact her statements could have. She was turning our world upside down. Not too many years ago, the authorities could have hanged her for blasphemy and treason. Even today, there is still the threat of her going to prison. What was going to be the outcome of all of all of this? Where did she get her information?
“As I was saying, in 1480 there were at least two thousand tribes in the Americas. Some of these inhabitants were very dark, just like some of the people who are native to West Africa, while others were tall and blonde with very light skin. These blonde Indians, or Yellowheads as they were known, lived right here where we are today. These people spoke Welsh, so we presume they came from Wales. Why do we ignore evidence which indicates blonde Indians existed? Why do the authorities hide the evidence which indicates Chinese ships had moored off both the east and west coasts of America long before 1480, proving the Chinese circumnavigated the globe long before Magellan? I will tell you why. It is because it would not be to the best interests of the people who are in control. They need justification for their having conquered, robbed, killed, and enslaved our ancestors.”
After a long pause, she continued, “What happened to these various American tribes? I will tell you what I believe. The light-skinned ones assimilated into the new society. Our conquerors captured many of the dark-skinned ones and sold them into slavery either in the Americas or in Europe. Many of the North American natives fled to Central and South America. Most were systematically exterminated or worked to death as slave labour. How many died in Spanish gold and silver mines?
“I will tell you what life was like on the American plains in the fifteenth century. The first Europeans who arrived described life on the plains as being in heaven. In 1492, over two hundred million people lived in North America. In what is now Colorado and New Mexico there were cities of sixty thousand people during the winter months. During the summer, these people went north with the herds of bison. There were over two hundred million bison and one hundred million antelope on the plains. Some now extinct species of bison were well over six-feet tall, much larger than the one species of bison which has survived their efforts to exterminate them all. These were not wild ani-
mals as depicted by Hollywood and the mass media. These were domesticated animals, much the same as the reindeer of the north which have also been domesticated. Our people travelled with these animals from south to north and back south with the seasons. The bison provided for our needs. From them we obtained wool, meat, milk, and many of our tools and implements. There was no need to kill and store meat. We butchered animals, as we needed them. We had ponies to ride, and we had llamas and alpacas for pack animals.
“There were established trade routes through the central plains and along the mountain ranges so goods could be traded amongst all peoples of the Americas. There were at least two thousand different languages and dialects. However, people managed to communicate by sign language. Children learned sign language at a young age. Except for being used by deaf people, this form of communication has all but disappeared.
“Our ancestors associated and interbred with Chinese people who came regularly to both the east and west coasts of America. When the Chinese visited, they brought with them many people from foreign lands who worked on the Chinese ships. We have identified these people as Australian, African, Asian, and East Indian. Spanish records tell us they discovered people who spoke a Chinese dialect in what is now New Mexico.
“In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when Europeans came to the Americas, they could see only one thing on the prairies, and that was land. This land was worth a lot of money. But this land had no value while wandering animals which did not recognise fences and borders inhabited it. These conquerors realized these animals, as well as the people, would need to be exterminated.”
I am beginning to be a little worried. If the authorities ever caught wind of what she is telling us, I don’t think her life would be worth a plug nickel, even though, in my opinion, she is telling nothing but the truth. I have heard many theories about Europeans visiting and trading with people in the Americas long before Christopher Columbus. Of course, this trading would be done in secret to protect the traders’ golden goose. The ruling kings and queens would have demanded a portion of the pie.
She told me she has personally seen ancient European settlements on the east coast of Canada which predate the fifteenth century. In California, Chinese ships have been discovered several hundred yards from the shoreline. These ships are at least six hundred years old. June 12, 1947
Today’s meeting was uneventful. Several of the women spoke about the need to have proper schools on the reserve so that the children would not be taken to residential school. I am sure this will never happen. The authorities wish to continue with their brainwashing which assures they will always have complete domination and control over the Indian population. She has told nobody except Mrs. Letandre and me about her plans to start a school. Who will be her students? What will she teach?
Next Month: The Journal Continued.
Wayne Douglas Weedon is a Manitoba author who writes a combination of fictional and factual stories, essays, and novels.
The Life Leases Act - The good, the bad and needs improvement
In this article I am going to explain a couple of the main points of The Life Leases Act of Manitoba. I will outline the sections the Manitoba Life Lease Occupants Association (MLLOA) is advocating to have changed and the ones we have succeeded in having amended (in 2023).
The Life Leases Act (The Act) was given royal assent on June 29, 1998, and came into effect on December 1, 1999. It is supported by Life Lease Regulation 143/99 and Investment Restrictions Regulation 129/99.
each existing life lease was summarily terminated, and the new owner was under no obligation to repay any or all of the entrance fee.
Prior to June 2023 most people, living in life lease buildings, did not realize that under Section 15 (2) their entrance fee was not protected in a case where the complex was sold due to a mortgage sale, a tax sale or a foreclosure under The Real Property Act. Unless the purchaser agreed otherwise,
Fortunately, all that changed. The Life Leases Act was amended to remove Section 15 (2) (a) from The Act. The new owner is now required to return the entrance fees (without interest) if the tenant(s) move out. This amendment was vigorously championed by the Manitoba Life Lease Occupants Association (MLLOA).
The down side to this change of landlord (owner) scenario is that the existing life lease is voided. You have the right to occupy your suite until the end of the month in which the lease is terminated at which time your new owner is at liberty to increase your rent going forward.
Section 16 of The Act says the landlord
must maintain a reserve fund to pay for unforeseen major repairs or replacements in the complex. These expenses can include windows, roof, heating and cooling systems, elevators etc. Unfortunately, the dollar amount required for the reserve fund can’t be legislated so it’s up to the landlord to be fiscally responsible and plan for the eventuality of major repairs. Any shortfall in the funding may be charged back to residents as a special assessment.
The MLLOA was successful in advocating for the critical requirement of compelling a landlord to conduct a reserve fund study. Until the fall of 2023 this was not the case. This process involves a property condition assessment and capital replacement reserve study. Results enable the landlord’s board of directors and the property management company to properly budget for a healthy reserve fund. The Act now includes this vital piece in Section 16.1(1) and 16.1(2). This part should receive royal assent soon. The change also requires that the study be completed by a suitably qualified assessor.
Financial reporting - Section 18 re-
Staying trim while trimming the tree!
The holidays are a great time for connecting with family, sharing joy, and enjoying some of the beauty of winter. What we need to be mindful of, is the plentiful, heavy food we eat around this time of year. It’s not just the family feasts either – between advent calendars and Christmas cookies, snacking on sweets can contribute to overeating as well.
Especially as we get older, overeating can take its toll on our bodies, even if it's just around the holidays. Unwanted weight gain, spikes in blood sugar, and improper nutrition are all possibilities. While the occasional indulgence around the holidays is just fine (go ahead and enjoy that eggnog), being mindful about what we eat can make us happier and healthier.
Here’s three tips on how to watch what you eat:
Eat more slowly
When the table is packed with festive food, and conversation can distract you, it’s easy to eat quickly and without being mindful of what's going into your mouth. When this happens, we can easily devour our meal, knowing second helpings are coming right behind them.
When we eat quickly, however, sometimes our bodies don’t get a chance to let us know they feel “full.” There’s generally a delay between when you feel satiated, and
Those of you who grew up in the 50s and 60s were most likely exposed to playing cards as a form of entertainment. Back then, there were no computers, cell phones or I-pads, in fact, we had three channels on a black and white TV so keeping ourselves amused came in the form of 52 3" x 2" cards.
I remember growing up where after Sunday dinner came the playing cards and such games as "99", "fish", "31" and gin rummy kept us busy until bedtime.
Today, because of technology, the joy of playing cards is a dying form of entertainment. Yes, you can play solitaire and other card games on the computer but it is not the same. Learning to put on a “poker face” comes with practice and was surely needed when playing in a group and the prize was in the form of 3 nickels
While these are great memories from our childhood, a poker face is not needed to join in a game of canasta or cribbage at the Young at Heart Seniors Club. Canasta
overfull. During that time, it’s easy to continue eating, even if that will lead to discomfort later. By taking time to eat slowly, we give our bodies a chance to catch up.
Be mindful about alcohol
It’s easy to indulge in a few drinks over the holidays. And in moderation, alcohol is often a fine accompaniment to food. That said, being mindful of what we drink is a key part in not overeating. While scientists aren’t precisely sure why, alcohol consumption is frequently associated with overeating. Making sure you don’t overindulge with alcohol will prevent overindulgence with food, too.
And, while a bottle of beer doesn’t seem like much, alcohol is full of empty calories that can contribute to weight gain. When you consider your consumption, think about a drink the same way you would a snack, and make sure your portions reflect that.
Drink plenty of water
Water is truly the greatest beverage – it keeps us hydrated and healthy without adding a single calorie to our diets. Water has the added benefit of filling up our stomachs so that we’re less inclined to fill up on food. Keeping a glass of water handy throughout your holiday activities is a good idea.
Another reason to consider drinking
water regularly is that often our bodies misinterpret thirst for hunger. The sensors in our body can send very similar signals for both hunger and thirst, and when we’re surrounded by holiday goodies, it can be all too easy to reach for a treat before a sip of water. But try having a drink instead and see how you feel! While overeating can be all too common this time of year, there are steps you can take to manage it properly. Try eating more slowly, minding your alcohol con-
quires the landlord to present the audited financial statements to the tenants (within 6 months of the end of the fiscal year) for the life lease complex. The landlord is obligated to hear and respond to any questions and concerns from the tenants with respect to the financial statements (including audited statements), operation of the complex, investments, the reserve and refund funds, revenues and expenses and the budget details for the current fiscal year.
This article is a small view into The Life Leases Act of Manitoba. There is so much more to The Act that can’t be covered in one piece of writing; more coming in the April issue.
MLLOA and the Manitoba Non-Profit Housing Association will be hosting an information session on The Life Leases Act in early April. Member buildings will be informed once details are finalized.
For more information please check out our website at www.mlloa.ca.
Lori Blande is a Member at Large on the MLLOA board. She is living in a Winnipeg life lease.
sumption, and drinking lots of water, and you’ll be able to enjoy the season. And don’t forget, with Heart to Home Meals, you can enjoy food that has been selected not only because it’s delicious, but also because it has been properly portioned and selected for its nutritional value. Get in touch today and find out how we can help with your meals this holiday season. We wish you the best over the Holidays as you celebrate the season with Friends and loved ones.
meets every Friday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Windsor Community Centre, 99 Springside Drive. If you don't know how to play, no worries, you will be a pro in a couple of hands.
Cribbage is twice a month in the afternoons. Our next cribbage afternoon is Wednesday, December 11th from 1:003:00 p.m. And for those who are bridge players, we will be starting in January 2025.
Another pastime we did back in the 50s and 60s was to put together puzzles and we have a great puzzle group which meets twice a month on Monday afternoons. Our next meeting is Monday, December 16th from 1-3:00 p.m.
For more information on our activities or to view the newsletter for the YAH Seniors Club. please check our website windsorcc. ca or phone the office at 204-233-0648 Rosie Schau is the Program Chair for the Y.A.H. Seniors Club located at the Windsor Community Centre, 99 Springside Drive.
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.
Winnipeg, MB R2H 1J3 DAVID G. VINCENT (204) 989-4236 www.taciumvincent.com
Lori Blande Life Lease News
Creative Retirement Manitoba Inc. 204-481-5030, hello@crcentre.ca www.crcentre.ca
WINNIPEG
20 Fort Street Seniors Club
2200-20 Fort Street / FortStSeniors@Shaw.ca
Manitoba Association of Senior Communities
Rady Jewish Community Centre 123 Doncaster Street / 204-477-7539 lmarjovsky@radyjcc.com / www.radyjcc.com
Comfort Drop In Centre 31 Main Street 204-636-2047 / areas@mymts.net
FLIN FLON
Flin Flon Seniors 2 North Avenue / 204-687-7308
A&O Support Services for Older Adults Inc. 200 -207 Donald Street 204-956-6440 / Toll Free: 1-888-333-3121 info@aosupportservices.ca www.aosupportservices.ca
Archwood 55 Plus 565 Guilbault Avenue / 204-416-1067 archwood55@shaw.ca archwood55plus.wildapricot.org/ Bleak House Centre 1637 Main Street / 204-338-4723 bleakhousecentre@gmail.com www.bleakhousecentre.com
Brooklands Active Living Centre 1960 William Avenue W 204-632-8367 / bpscc@mymts.net
Centro Caboto Centre 1055 Wilkes Avenue / 204-487-4597 ext. 1 executivedirector@cabotocentre.com www.cabotocentre.com
Charleswood Active Living Centre 5006 Roblin Blvd / 204-897-5263 info@charleswoodseniorcentre.org www.charleswoodseniorcentre.org
Crescent Fort Rouge 55 Plus 525 Wardlaw Ave. / 204-299-9919 cfruc55Plus@gmail.com www.crescentfortrouge.ca
Dakota Community Centre 1188 Dakota Street / 204-254-1010 ext. 217 seniorresources@dakotacc.com www.dakotacc.com
Dufferin Senior Citizens Inc.
377 Dufferin Avenue / 204-986-2608 Elmwood East Kildonan Active Living Centre 180 Poplar Avenue / 204-669-0750 healthrelations@chalmersrenewal.org chalmersrenewal.org
Fort Garry Seniors Resource Council 200 - 270 Donald Street / 204-792-1913 fortgarry@aosupportservices.ca www.aosupportservices.ca/resources/seniorsresource-finders
Golden Rule Seniors Resource Centre 625 Osborne Street / 204-306-1114 goldenrule@swsrc.ca facebook.com/goldenruleseniors
Good Neighbours Active Living Centre 720 Henderson Hwy / 204-669-1710 admin@gnalc.ca / www.gnalc.ca
Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre 1588 Main Street / 204-339-1701 becky@gwensecter.com / www.gwensecter.com
Indigenous Senior Resource Centre Inc. A1- 100 Robinson Avenue / 204-586-4595 executivedirector@isrcwpg.ca www.asrcwpg.ca
Manitoba Korean 55+ Centre 900-150 River Avenue 204-996-7003 / www.ksam.ca
North Centennial Seniors Association of Winnipeg Inc. 86 Sinclair Street / 204-582-0066 ncsc@shaw.ca / www.ncseniors.ca North Point Douglas Seniors Association 49 Euclid Ave. / 204-880-1655
Pembina Active Living (55+) 170 Fleetwood Rd. / 204-946-0839 office@pal55plus.ca / www.pal55plus.ca
The Salvation Army Barbara Mitchell Family Resource Centre 51 Morrow Avenue / 204-946-9153 sheila.keys@salvationarmy.ca
South Winnipeg Seniors Resource Council 117-1 Morley Ave / 204-478-6169 resources@swsrc.ca / www.swsrc.ca
Winnipeg Chinese Senior Association 204-291-7798 / wcsa.wpg@hotmail.com www.winnipegchineseseniors.ca
Y.A.H. Seniors Club
Windsor Community Centre, 99 Springside Dr. 204-233-0648 / yah@windsorcc.ca
BEYOND WINNIPEG
BEAUSEJOUR
Beau-Head Senior Centre 645 Park Avenue 204-268-2444 / beauhead@mymts.net
BINSCARTH / RUSSELL
Senior Services of Banner County 204-532-2391 seniorservicesofbannercounty@gmail.com
BOISSEVAIN
Seniors’ Services of the Turtle Mountain Area seniorservicetm@gmail.com / 204-534-6816
BRANDON
Brandon Seniors for Seniors Co-op Inc. 311 Park Avenue E / 204-571-2050 reception@brandons4s.ca www.brandons4s.ca
Health Checks - 204-728-1842 brandonmbhealthchecks.ca healthchecksbrandon@gmail.com
CARMAN
Carman Active Living Centre 47 Ed Belfour Drive / 204-745-2356 www.activelivingcentrecarman.ca
CRANBERRY PORTAGE
Jubilee Recreation of Cranberry Portage Legion Hall 217 2nd Ave. SE / 204-271-3081
CRYSTAL CITY
Crystal City & District Friendship Club Inc. 117 Broadway St. / 431-867-0122 crystalcityfriendship@gmail.com
DAUPHIN
Dauphin Active Living Centre Inc. 55 1st Avenue SE / 204-638-6485 www.dauphinseniors.com
DELORAINE
Deloraine Community Club Inc. 111 South Railway Ave E / 204-747-2846
Seniors’ Outreach Services of BrenWin Inc. 204-747-3283 sosbrenwin@gmail.com / sosbrenwin.com
GILBERT PLAINS
Gilbert Plains and District Community Resource Council Inc. / 204-548 4131 gpdcrc@mymts.net / gpseniors.ca
Gilbert Plains Drop In Centre 22 Main Street North / 204-548-2210
GIMLI
Gimli New Horizons 55+ Centre 17 North Colonization Road 204-642-7909 / gimli55@mts.net www.gimlinewhorizons.com
GLADSTONE
Gladstone Seniors Inc. 32 Morris Ave. North / 204-385-2205
GRAND MARAIS
Grand Marais & District Seniors 36058 PTH 12 / gmdseniors@gmail.com www.gmdseniors.ca
GRANDVIEW
Grandview Seniors Drop In 432 Main Street / 204-546-2272
HAMIOTA
Hamiota 55+ Centre & Restore Community Co-op Inc. 44 Maple Avenue / 204-764-2658
KILLARNEY
Killarney New Horizons Centre 520 Mountain Avenue www.killarneymbseniors.ca
Killarney Service for Seniors 415 Broadway / 204-523-7115 seniorservice@killarney.ca
LA BROQUERIE and STE. ANNE Seine River Services for Seniors Inc./ Services Rivière Seine pour aînés Inc. 93 Principale Street 204-424-5285 / labseinerss@gmail.com seineriverservicesforseniors.ca
LUNDAR
Lundar Community Resources 35 Main Street / 204-762-5378 lcrc@mymts.net
MANITOU
Pembina Community Resource Council 315 Main Street 204-242-2241 / pembinacrc@gmail.com
MINNEDOSA
Minnedosa Senior Citizens Assoc. 31 Main Street S 204-867-1956 / mdsasca@gmail.com
MORDEN
Morden Activity Centre 306 N Railway Street / 204-822-3555 mordenactivitycentre@gmail.com www.mordenseniors.ca
NEEPAWA
Neepawa Drop In Centre 310 Davidson Street / 204-476-5103 Neepawa-dropin@outlook.com www.neepawa.ca/district-drop-in-center
NOTRE DAME DE LOURDES Club D’age Dor Notre Dame ndslchezsoi@gmail.com / 204-248-7291
PILOT MOUND
Pilot Mound Fellowship Centre 203 Broadway Avenue / 204-825-2873
PLUMAS
Plumas Seniors Citizens Club Inc. 102 White Street / 204-386-2029
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE
Herman Prior Senior Services Centre 40 Royal Road N. / 204-857-6951 hermanpriorcentre@gmail.com www.hermanprior.com
Portage Service for Seniors 40A Royal Road N. / 204-239-6312
East Beaches Resource Centre 3 Ateah Road / 204-756-6471 ebresourcec@gmail.com ebresourcec.weebly.com
VIRDEN Seniors Access to Independent Living 204-851-2761 / sail.cao.2023@gmail.com
WINKLER
Winkler & District MP Senior Centre 102-650 South Railway Avenue 204-325-8964 director@winklerseniorcentre.com www.winklerseniorcentre.com
A senior’s advocate is now in place
Being the Minister for Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care and Deputy Premier continues to be the greatest honour of my life. Every day I have the opportunity to meet with Manitobans throughout the province, many of those being hard-working and dedicated seniors giving back to their communities.
Recently, I got the chance to join folks at Fred Douglas Place in Union Station to discuss issues affecting seniors like healthcare, affordability, and housing. It was clear from our conversations that it is thanks to seniors that our province will be thriving for generations to come. Seniors play such an important role in our families, in our communities, and in our province.
In November, we passed the Senior’s Advocate Act so that seniors’ voices are always heard in Manitoba. Seniors, caregivers, family members, and community organizations have been advocating for this legislation for years. When we were elected last fall, establishing a senior’s advocate was my top priority. For far too long, the issues affecting seniors in this province were ignored or put to the side.
investigate systemic issues such as healthcare, affordability, and housing affecting seniors, and then make recommendations to government. We are signalling to seniors and their families that we hear you, we are listening, and we stand with you.
The advocate will ensure that seniors’ issues are taken seriously. Establishing a senior’s advocate is one of many steps we’re taking to ensure that every Manitoban can age with dignity.
We all want to see ourselves and our loved ones age in a healthy and dignified way. My top priority is to ensure that Manitobans can live full and independent lives for as long as they are able.
Uzoma Asagwara Minister's Message
The advocate will work to protect seniors’ rights,
Every day at Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba, we’re inspired by the families brave enough to share their stories to help and inspire others.
I want to introduce you to a family that will be together for the holidays, thanks to the dedicated teams at Manitoba’s only children’s hospital helping both a young girl named Haylie, and her father, Mike.
Watch Haylie’s story at goodbear.ca/Haylie.
A healthy lifestyle starts when you’re a kid, and it doesn’t just boil down to individual choices. For many, systemic barriers get in the way of practicing a healthy lifestyle. We want to support the health of Manitobans throughout their lives and do the work to remove systemic barriers. Some of the ways we’ve done that is introduce a universal school nutrition program, increase access to mental health services, open more primary care clinics, and add staffing to the healthcare system so you can get the care you need.
unable to stay awake or drink more than one or two ounces of milk at a time.
One of Haylie’s doctors noticed Mike had a congenital disorder called Hirschsprung’s Disease (HD). A specialist performed a biopsy and confirmed Haylie has the same condition.
“Both Mike and Haylie are alive today because of the knowledge and care we have received from specialists at Children’s Hospital,” says Jayme, Haylie’s mom.
When Haylie was first born, she struggled to breathe. She was rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at HSC Children’s Hospital to help her breathe. Mike and Jayme knew something further was off when Haylie was
With HD, a section of the intestine develops without nerve cells to stimulate movement through the colon. This can cause terrible discomfort, with symptoms including swollen belly, constipation, vomiting and reduced ability for the child to thrive.
When Mike was 36 hours old, he was airlifted from his hometown of Dauphin, Manitoba to Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg because his belly had become distended. He was diagnosed with HD, and a pediatric specialist saved his life by removing the affected part of his colon, which was a few centimeters long.
You are never too young (or too old) to start thinking about healthy aging. I do my best to practice a healthy lifestyle. Whether it’s stress or time management, it’s not always easy to maintain a healthy habits. That’s why I keep it simple. Eating my daily veggies, getting a quick 15 minutes of exercise at home, and spending time with my family. Healthy living doesn’t have to be anything fancy – you don’t need any equipment to do a quick strength-training exercise – it’s all about consistency and taking care of yourself in ways you can enjoy.
This holiday season, it is so important that we all take care of our health to protect our loved ones and our communities. I want to encourage everyone to get their covid and flu vaccines if you haven’t already. You can contact your primary care provider, walkin clinic, extended hours clinic, pharmacy, or local public health office to get your free flu, COVID-19, and pneumococcal vaccines. For more information about Manitoba’s immunization program and eligibility requirements for vaccines visit Vaccine Eligibility | Health | Province of Manitoba (gov.mb.ca).
As always, I am grateful to serve as the Minister for Health, Seniors, and Long-Term Care for the best province in the world. I wish you all a safe and healthy holiday season.
The Hon. Uzoma Asagwara is the Minister of Health, Seniors and Long-term Care and Deputy Premier
But Haylie’s diagnosis was more severe. Haylie’s entire large intestine was affected as well as much of her small intestine. Jayme remembers the very emotional moment when they were told their baby was much sicker than doctors had expected.
Since Haylie’s diagnosis, she has had a total of 30 surgical procedures and has spent over 200 nights in Children’s Hospital. Doctors have tried many times to connect her small intestine with the end of her colon, but every time she encountered issues. Without the ostomy bag, she needed painful irrigations several times a day – which could last hours – and was unable to eat so needed to be tube fed for up to 23 hours a day.
After trying many different treatments from surgery to Botox injections to massage, in early 2024 – at the age of five – the surgical team put in Haylie’s ostomy bag again, and now she’s thriving.
Haylie embraces her ostomy bag and even has a “stomy bear” who wears a bag cover matching hers every day. She loves food and her family jokes she’s
making up for lost time by eating as much as she can. Haylie also enjoys swimming, crafts and doing gymnastics with her sister, Jaedyn.
Haylie’s parents are grateful for the amazing care their family continues to receive at Children’s.
“Children’s Hospital is our safe place. When Haylie has been very sick, we know when we take her there, she will get the proper treatment.”
Donate before December 31, 2024, and thanks to the generosity of the K + P Talbot Community Fund and the Talbot Family Foundation, your gift will be matched. That means $5 becomes $10, $25 becomes $50 and $50 becomes $100.
Let’s make anything possible. Please make your special holiday donation at goodbear.ca today to DOUBLE your impact for kids like Haylie.
From all of us at the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba, we’re wishing you and your loved ones a safe and happy holiday season.
Stefano Grande is the president and CEO of Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba.
