You’re only as stuck in union as you choose to be

Garden grandees

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity at Robert and Susan Choquette’s spacious rural property in Oakbank. They have been busy preparing multiple gardens for winter, digging and storing scores of canna rhizomes, and bringing tender plants indoors for the winter.

The couple’s stunning property was featured on this year’s Gardens of Distinction tour by Nature Manitoba which was held on July 4.

Visitors were wowed by the abundant plantings of flowering annuals in a long, curved border at the entrance to the garden. A mixed planting reminiscent of a traditional formal border includes marigolds and classic red salvia (Salvia splendens) with taller layers of colourful zinnias and stately, white-flowered Nicotiana.

“I would have had more zinnias this year if it hadn’t been for the cold weather we experienced in spring,” says Robert, who is an avid gardener. “I transplanted 350 seedlings in the spring and kept them in our gazebo, but I only had one heater running and 80 per cent of them died.” Robert started new plants from seed and filled one entire bed with zinnias which quickly grew thigh-high once warmer temperatures arrived.

WAG-Qaumajuq names first Indigenous director, CEO

John Mahli Lawa’ Hampton has been selected to take the helm of Canada’s oldest civic art gallery, WAG-Qaumajuq announced Thursday.

Alberta: More federalist than you thought

Avert your eyes if you don’t like hard-core. This is a hard-core column about the hard-core Alberta separatists who hijacked a party, corrupted a process and failed in their fevered fervour to break up Canada.

First, be of good cheer. Canada won Monday night’s referendum in Alberta. Decisively. Three-quarters of the votes cast were for Option 1: “Alberta should remain a province of Canada.” Only one in four Alberta voters opted for a referendum on separation.

Alberta won, too. That strong vote against separation means the province can look ahead, confident the independence fever dream is boxed. A true win-win and a sad rarity in politics these days.

Be warned, though. Those hard-core separatists are hard dogs to keep on the porch, as the expression goes. They are already agitating to be taken more seriously than the votes warrant. They intend to flex whatever muscle memory remains to depose Premier Danielle Smith from her leadership of the United Conservative Party. Dis-united Conservative Party, anyone?

Another strong outing from Skinner, but Jets unable to lock down lead

DALLAS — Stuart Skinner did everything in his power to ger the Winnipeg Jets back in the win column.

A 35-save effort included plenty of highlight-reel moments, but the Jets were unable to lock down a lead late in the third period and lost 3-2 in overtime to the Dallas Stars on Thursday at American Airlines Center.

“Stu kind of got us a point there, to be honest with you,” said Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi. “They were better than us. Their structure, they played a really tight checking game, and we couldn’t really get much going offensively. They obviously outplayed us, and when you give up that many chances, eventually, Stu can’t stop everything.”

Both of the goals the Jets allowed in regulation came with Stars goalie Jake Oettinger on the bench in favour of an extra attacker — once on a delayed penalty call during the third period and then with two minutes to go in the third period when Mikko Rantanen found Roope Hintz alone in the slot.

Down-to-earth diner fuses Filipino flavours, family and fortitude

There is a photomontage on one wall of Charlee’s Restaurant & Lounge devoted entirely to enduring Elmwood businesses such as the Thirsty Duck Café, Kool Deelites, Bath Fitter and Video Cellar.

Little did Charlee’s owner Charlie Villapando know as he was stringing the black-and-white shots together that his no-nonsense, homestyle diner at 185 Stadacona St. would grow to be a pillar of the working-class community, as well.

It was definitely a struggle for the first year and a half, Villapando admits, seated inside the 160-seat establishment that will toast its 20th anniversary in December. Besides relying largely on friends and family members who were willing to wait on tables for free, he was alone in the kitchen for 15 hours a day, seven days a week.

“I can’t tell you how many times I slept here on four chairs pushed together, simply because it would be 2 a.m. by the time I was done cleaning and whatnot, leaving just a few hours before I had to be back for breakfast,” he continues, casually dressed in jeans, sneakers and a dark cotton hoodie. “Thinking about it now, I probably should have put a cot in my office, except I never wanted to make it too comfortable. Thankfully, more people started to find us, I was finally able to afford staff and here we are, almost 20 years later, with me sleeping much better.”