Atlantic Ballet of Canada to launch Indigenous dance program in Moncton this fall

Dustin Byfuglien gets warm welcome at alumni game

To say that Dustin Byfuglien wasn’t a fan of the spotlight is an understatement of epic proportions.

The guy with the personality that was larger than life preferred to keep that side of him mostly contained behind the hallowed halls of the Winnipeg Jets locker room.

Since he unexpectedly stepped away from the game in the fall of 2019, Byfuglien has limited his rare interviews to discussions about fishing, happily leaving the NHL game in his rearview mirror.

But on Saturday morning, there was Byfuglien standing in the newly-renovated Jets’ dressing room, holding court with a group of reporters hanging on his every word prior to the alumni game that was part of the 2026 Heritage Classic.

‘Exciting’ turn for mayoral candidate as election race enters final stretch

A small but steady stream of voters arrived at a Portage Avenue diner Sunday to meet Noah Redden, just two days after a new poll suggested the 27-year-old has emerged as a player in Winnipeg’s race for mayor.

Once a low-polling candidate, the software developer is now in third place with 14 per cent support, tied with candidate Mike Vogiatzakis, an Abacus Data survey released Friday shows.

Incumbent Scott Gillingham remains in the lead with the support of 36 per cent of decided voters — 19 percentage points lower than a September survey conducted by Abacus for the Free Press.

The new data placed former city councillor and Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Kevin Klein in second place with 19 per cent support — a drop of four percentage points since September.

Atlantic Ballet of Canada to launch Indigenous dance program in Moncton this fall

MONCTON, N.B. – The Atlantic Ballet of Canada is spearheading an Indigenous dance program this fall that will allow eight dancers to train close to their communities and culture. Nipahtuwet Naka Wespahtuwet Possesom (Paul), who is the director of Atlantic Ballet Indigenous, said there are no professional training programs in Atlantic Canada and that the ballet’s initiative is filling an important gap. The dance training program will be in contemporary style, but also include traditional and ballet, making it a holistic format that will give students access to a wide range of opportunities in their professional careers, he told reporters. […]

Memorable Jets debut for Mercer

It didn’t take Dawson Mercer long to find out what a friendly Manitoba reception looks — and sounds – like.

The newest member of the Winnipeg Jets was taken aback when the public address announcer singled him out on the walk to the ice at Princess Auto Stadium, prompting the crowd to provide a warm ovation for Mercer prior to the 2026 Heritage Classic game with the Montreal Canadiens.

“It kind of caught me off guard when I got introduced when I was walking out there, so that was pretty good to get that welcome,” said Mercer, who was acquired from the New Jersey Devils in Friday’s blockbuster deal for Connor Hellebuyck. “Having the Jets flyover was pretty sick. That was pretty memorable also.”

Although he was held off the scoresheet in Sunday’s 2-1 loss, Mercer made a favourable first impression, taking 20 shifts for 15:22 of ice time, recording two shots on goal and a blocked shot while skating alongside captain Adam Lowry and Isak Rosen (who scored the lone goal for the Jets).

Opening of Portage and Main shows even seemingly insurmountable impasses can be overcome

There are places in a city that become more than places. Portage and Main is one of them. For generations of Winnipeggers, the intersection has represented downtown, traffic, development and civic identity. Its reopening to pedestrians in 2025, after 46 years of closure, was about more than crossing a street. It was a reminder that decisions made by one generation can shape the choices available to another — and that even seemingly permanent decisions can be reconsidered.

I have spent much of my professional life thinking about Winnipeg as a planner, working in public, private and non-profit settings. My PhD research gave me an opportunity to examine Portage and Main differently: not simply as a debate about cars and pedestrians, but as a window into how power operates in a city. I reviewed 569 archival documents spanning the 1960s to the present, interviewed 48 planners with experience in Winnipeg, and mapped the relationships between planners, politicians, developers, engineers, residents, businesses and advocacy groups.

What emerged was a story about how planning decisions become embedded in a city’s institutions, agreements, infrastructure, professional practices and political expectations — shaping not only what gets built, but who gets to influence what gets built.

The closure of Portage and Main in 1979 did not remain a decision confined to a particular political moment. Over time, it was reinforced by development agreements, physical infrastructure, property relationships, traffic-engineering practices, administrative routines, and public narratives about mobility and downtown revitalization. The people who made many of those original decisions eventually left office. The arrangements they created remained. Later planners inherited them.