Gen Xers find love and work in ’90s Toronto

A day on the campaign trail: Winnipeg's mayor, seeking a second term, does double duty

In the weeks leading up to the civic election, Scott Gillingham has been performing a juggling act: he’s running to be Winnipeg’s 45th mayor, while still serving as its 44th.

“If someone asks me about the campaign, I’m going to answer them. But I think for most people, I’m the mayor of Winnipeg, even if I’m showing up as a candidate,” Gillingham, 58, says. “I try to do all I can to maintain that distinction.”

The Free Press joined Gillingham on a recent rainy September Saturday on the campaign trail, where he served in both roles during an event-laden day. City council’s final meeting before the Oct. 28 election was days earlier.

In Winnipeg, it’s rare for an incumbent to be defeated. But Gillingham knows his win in 2022 wasn’t exactly a landslide — he won with 27.5 per cent of the vote — and he’s been thinking about his second term ever since.

Six high school hockey programs ceased operations following new Hockey Manitoba policy

She lived the best of both worlds.

For the last three years, the 17-year-old wore a sweater for two different hockey programs — her high school team and AAA club in the Manitoba Female Hockey League — and was preparing to flourish in both colours again this winter.

Recently, however, the blue-liner was disappointed to learn she is no longer eligible to play her Grade 12 season with her school owing to a new policy imposed by Hockey Manitoba that bans players from participating in the Manitoba Women’s High School Hockey League if they are rostered on a U18 AAA team.

The rule applies to all athletes who play for both Winnipeg-based and rural AAA teams.

Gen Xers find love and work in ’90s Toronto

If Alex Pugsley, author of The Education of Aubrey McKee, were to choose an alternate title for his most recent novel, “An Ode to Gen X” could be an option.

The characters are intense, with their creativity, angst, rebellion and ability to take life far too seriously (as one is apt to do in their 20s, navigating first loves and first jobs in 1990s Toronto).

The Education of Aubrey McKee is a followup to Pugsley’s debut novel about the same character. Pugsley has been nominated for Canadian Comedy Awards, Gemini Awards, Hot Doc Awards, National Magazine Awards and is a winner of the Writers’ Trust Journey Prize. He also wrote and directed the film Dirty Singles. The third book about Aubrey McKee, Silver Lake, is forthcoming.

For those who read Pugsley’s first novel about Aubrey’s adventures as an anxious teenager in Halifax, seeing him become an uncertain adult is a natural trajectory. Twenty-something Aubrey has moved to Toronto to invent his grown-up persona and establish himself as a writer.

U of W Collegiate students thank residential school survivors with the lessons they’ve learned

It’s become a back-to-school tradition for teachers to invite Indigenous elders to their classrooms to share first-hand accounts about the ongoing impacts of Canada’s residential school system.

This fall, the University of Winnipeg Collegiate was among the schools that sent an invitation — but its purpose wasn’t to educate students about the system’s horrors.

“Truth and Reconciliation week is so emotional and draining for residential school survivors,” said Christine M’Lot, a longtime instructor of the school’s Grade 9 truth and reconciliation course.

“I wanted to do something a little bit different and offer a thank you.”

From the starting gate to the home stretch: Here’s to you, Bud

No more horsey dreams. My Dad died last Sunday. He was 89.

He was sitting on the steps at the front door tying his shoes, waiting for the neighbour to pick him up for church, when he just slumped over. The neighbour tried CPR. The paramedics arrived and did what they could.

But he was gone.

He wasn’t in the best of health, but he was still sharp mentally and he could get around the house with a walker. And lately our conversations had become much more animated, especially when it came to his new horse. After decades of not owning a racehorse, he had a new two-year-old at Woodbine.

J’accuse!: Kinew uses French to fry interim Tory leader over alleged caucus subterfuge

NDP Premier Wab Kinew took a dig at the Progressive Conservatives’ leadership change while facing off with Obby Khan’s short-term replacement for the first time in question period Thursday.