Justin Bieber announces ‘Swag ll’ will arrive Friday

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.

Gillingham pledges police, firefighter staffing increases to serve growing population

Scott Gillingham is promising to set long-term staffing targets to raise the ratio of firefighters and police officers to Winnipeg’s population, if re-elected as mayor next month.

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.

Online fundraiser for ‘polite, modest farmer’ facing firearms charges sending message, neighbour says

Thousands of dollars have been raised to help cover the legal fees of a Manitoba man charged after he allegedly fired a gun at thieves during a theft on his farm in August.

CEO, philanthropist Doug Harvey has died

Doug Harvey, a Winnipeg business titan and philanthropist, has died after battling cancer for more than a decade.

Harvey gave millions of dollars to Winnipeg organizations while he was CEO of DHL Group, a nationwide network of businesses that support heavy duty truck and trailer users.

Loren Remillard, CEO and president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, said the business community is mourning the loss of the influential businessman who helped shape Winnipeg.

“We are a transportation and logistics hub in Winnipeg and it was partly the result of geography, and a big part because of leaders and visionaries like Doug Harvey,” he said.

Manitoba mineral production set to triple, premier says

Premier Wab Kinew said Tuesday Manitoba plans to triple mineral production in the next five years “to unlock a new era of wealth creation and growth.”

“We’re going to make sure that opportunity is spread throughout the province,” he told a news conference at the Canada investment summit in Toronto.

The province is working with industry and Indigenous governments to send a message to investors that “we’re going to do mining right in Manitoba,” the premier said.

For too long, Manitoba has lagged behind neighbouring provinces, Kinew said.