New documentary looks at possible end of immigration in Canada

Lauded Manitoba author chronicled life in the Interlake

Longtime Manitoba author, editor and professor David Arnason died on Monday at age 86.

‘Parental rights’ issue resurfaces

Trustee campaign material that condemns rainbow flags is being met with outrage of all kinds, written complaints and, in one case, a cease-and-desist order.

“Parental rights,” including questions about classroom diversity, equity and inclusion policies, are resurfacing heading into school board elections across Manitoba.

“People are trying to advance their politics and their issues while simultaneously calling teachers ideologues and brainwashers,” said Shannon Moore, an associate professor at the University of Manitoba who studies sexual health education. “And I find that rich.”

Moore said parents have a right to choose independent school or homeschool, but they do not have a right to dictate curriculum that is currently developed using research and mainstream morals.

We used to love a good thunderstorm

Growing up on the prairies, even as a city girl, summertime thunderstorms were always cause for excitement. That first rumble signalled it was time to go search for the sleeping bags.

We’d cuddle under them on the front step, under the awning, as we watched the rain pour. And we’d stay out there until we were soaked.

If the lightning wasn’t bad enough for our parents to call us in, we neighbourhood kids would then throw on our bathing suits and go play in the warm puddles. It was some of the best stuff of summer.

As a mom now, with a little girl of my own, I was excited to watch her growing up loving Winnipeg thunderstorms, too.

Quilt tradition from Underground Railroad period big part of new exhibition

Long before she became a professional quilter, Melinda Clayton Patterson used to watch her mother make quilts from clothing scraps and cardboard templates.

“I came from a family of 14 kids, so going to whatever the store was back then, K-Mart or Woolworth, to buy quilts or blankets for 14 kids was just not feasible because the people were not wealthy,” she says.

“Quilts were not viewed as art. But when I came to Winnipeg, I started taking quilting seriously in my 30s … the heritage came later.”

Today, the 61-year-old native of East Preston, N.S., lives in Winnipeg, stitching together stories of her Black Loyalist heritage and Preston’s foundational role in the birth of Canadian Black culture.

Police officer faces charges of domestic assault

A Winnipeg police officer has been charged after police said he broke into a woman’s home and attacked her.

Police were sent to a home on Wednesday shortly before 10:20 p.m., the Winnipeg Police Service said in a Thursday news release. When officers arrived, they found the man, 20-year member in his 40s, inside a home assaulting the woman, the release said.

The man was taken into custody and the woman was given medical aid.

She told officers the man broke into the home, threatened to kill her and then attacked her.