Trickster sequel balances humour, hardship

Letters, Aug. 18

A huge shout out to David Asper, coach Mike Raimbault and his staff, all those involved in game-day and office activities and all the Winnipeg Sea Bears players for an outstanding and very entertaining championship basketball season.

First week at supervised drug consumption site issue-free: premier

There were no issues to report after the first week of operations for Manitoba’s first supervised drug consumption site, Premier Wab Kinew said Tuesday.

The Winnipeg space, operating temporarily out of the fenced-off parking lot at 366 Henry Ave. while the adjacent building, which is to become the permanent site, undergoes renovations, opened Aug. 11.

Opening the long-awaited supervised consumption facility was a 2023 NDP election promise to keep people alive in the midst of a toxic street-drug crisis.

Kinew said the facility, which is being run by the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre for the province, had quietly served at least 125 clients as of earlier in the week.

City rescinds Balmoral Street property owner’s order to clean up encampment

A West Broadway landlord is off the hook for clearing a large riverbank encampment after the City of Winnipeg rescinded an order threatening to stick him with the cleanup bill.

Marvin Sharp, CEO of Astroid Management Ltd., which operates the Pen-Eve Apartments at 35 Balmoral St., said he received a call from the city Tuesday letting him know the order has been cancelled.

In a statement from the city, an official said the order was shelved due to an existing and active easement on the property.

“We have been communicating with the property owner throughout this process and they have been informed of this development,” a spokesperson said.

Trickster sequel balances humour, hardship

The sequel to Son of a Trickster (which was shortlisted for the 2017 Giller Prize) and the second book of B.C. author Eden Robinson’s Trickster trilogy, Trickster Drift follows 17-year-old Jared as he celebrates a year of sobriety and moves to Vancouver for college.

Oh, and he moves in with his Aunt Mave, whose apartment is a nexus of dimensions plagued by spirits and monsters.

Jared’s mother, a core character in the Haisla and Heiltsuk author’s previous book, is nearly absent from this one, but her ex reappears to stalk Jared — who just wants to focus on his sobriety and his school work and not have to deal with drama. But family equals drama, and Jared’s family just seems to keep growing. He reconnects with his mother’s estranged sister and comes to know his cousins, becoming embroiled in their lives.

At the same time, he forges closer connections to his father’s side of the family: nightmare creatures that sense in Jared some latent potential as the son of the supernatural trickster Wee’git. When an ocean otter stuck in a human body tells you that “you have a very strange life,” you need to rethink things.

Daycare, family centre addition will turn care home into intergenerational community hub

Seven-year-olds and 70-somethings will socialize daily when a 152-spot daycare opens inside of a seniors’ residence in Winnipeg in a couple of years.

Construction on a new wing of the Saul and Claribel Simkin Centre is scheduled to begin this fall, it was announced Monday.

The project won’t be complete for at least 22 months, but it’s already being touted as a made-in-Manitoba model for intergenerational community hubs across the country.

“It’s a real good idea to mix the younger generation with the older generation,” said Allan Rutherford, a 79-year-old resident of the 200-bed personal care home in Linden Ridge.