Canadian sculptor carves out new book

Winnipeg, police and downtown crime

A safer downtown is not much use if people are still afraid to walk there.

That is the uncomfortable message from Winnipeg’s latest police citizen survey, and one city council should take seriously.

Downtown crime has fallen this year, according to the most recent police statistics. Violent crime is down even more. But for most Winnipeggers, the downtown still feels like a place to avoid, particularly after dark.

Only 44 per cent of survey respondents said they feel very or reasonably safe walking alone downtown during the day. At night, that number plunges to just eight per cent. Among women, it is an appalling three per cent, compared with 14 per cent of men.

Federal Court awards OCN $27M, 62 years after construction of hydro dam

The Federal Court has ordered Ottawa pay Opaskwayak Cree Nation $27 million over damages suffered due to the construction of the Grand Rapids hydro dam in the 1960s.

In a decision dated Sept. 3, Federal Court Justice Sébastien Grammond says the federal government had a fiduciary duty to protect the community from the impacts of the dam.

“When the Crown exercises a discretionary power over an Indigenous interest, it has a fiduciary duty and it must exercise the discretion in the best interests of the Indigenous group,” the ruling said. “Canada breached its fiduciary duty to OCN because it approved the (project) without ensuring that the impacts of the Grand Rapids dam on OCN’s traditional way of life were mitigated or compensated.”

The First Nation took the federal government to court in February over impacts on the community after the dam, located about 145 kilometres southeast of Opaskwayak Cree Nation, was installed on the Saskatchewan River in 1964. The case was heard over 14 days in a judge-alone trial in Winnipeg.

MMF walks away from bid to buy Fort Garry Hotel

The Manitoba Métis Federation won’t buy the historic Fort Garry Hotel, President David Chartrand said Monday.

Sweeney’s sexist U.S. gambling-site ad isn’t the real problem

Until very recently, there was no reason to connect actress and model Sydney Sweeney with online sports betting. But the degrees separating these two culture trends evaporated in short order this week.

Sweeney, a pop culture icon who is a source of endless speculation in political circles, made a big splash with a provocative advertising campaign for Novig, a new-generation sports gambling site in the United States. In a promotional video, Sweeney appears largely nude, with strategically placed sports equipment and her long, blonde hair providing just enough cover to keep from being classified as pornography.

“Think you know sports?” Sweeney says seductively in the opening of the video, with two footballs hiding her breasts. “Prove it.”

Novig is a “peer-to-peer” gambling app that allows people south of the border to bet against each other on the outcomes of professional sports, as opposed to betting against “the house,” as is the case with traditional sports books. And it just so happens that Sweeney, either from a direct investment or as payment for her participation in the ad campaign, is now an equity partner in Novig.

Powerful personal drama provides both bark and bite

Well before playwright Rafaella Marcus’ words have the chance to entangle us in the stickiness of Sap, the performance space initiates the task in director Elio Zarrillo’s staging of this discomfiting and affecting story of restraint and liberation.

Shortly after the audience takes its seats in four segments surrounding a central channel — a shimmering tunnel containing cellist Grace Morningstar — it becomes clear as actors Hera Nalam and Liz Whitbread make their way around the tight corners of David Oro and Hazel Venzon’s set that certain actions will go unseen unless viewers keeps their heads on a swivel: in a production meant to uproot understanding, a fixed perspective will never do.

In this vulnerable and powerful production from Theatre by the River (105 minutes) the actors meet the excellence of Marcus’s twisty script, which calls for emotionally draining and jolting depictions of a relationship headed down a rocky road.

Nalam plays a young communications pro for a women’s aid charity whose dating life is a work in progress. She’s bright and optimistic, taking notice of elements of nature that nobody else seems to recognize. On her daily commute, she looks out from the bus window in awe of a home overflowing with branches and leaves.

CEO, philanthropist Doug Harvey has died

Winnipeg philanthropist Doug Harvey has died.

Harvest Manitoba honoured the 72-year-old in a social media post Wednesday. It said Harvey is remembered as an extraordinary friend to the food bank and as a champion of the people.

“For decades, Doug gave generously, helping us provide millions of meals to Manitoba families facing food insecurity,” Harvest said in the post.

“Doug’s generosity and compassion touched more than our organization alone, and his legacy of giving will be felt across the many causes he championed throughout his life.”