Jesse Cook, Jann Arden set Winnipeg dates

All about Pep

He won’t be involved, but Sunday’s Manchester Derby (10:30 a.m., FuboTV) will be all about Pep Guardiola.

It was 10 years ago that the ex-Bayern Munich and Barcelona manager, hired that summer by Manchester City, oversaw his first local clash against Manchester United. Then, like now, the match came early — on Matchday Four. And then, like now, it was played on the enemy patch at Old Trafford.

United is hoping the comparisons end there, because City prevailed 2-1 back in September 2016 and Guardiola went on to win 16 derbies to the Red Devils’ nine. He also shifted the balance of power away from a club that was only three years removed from Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement and still expecting a quick return to glory.

In Guardiola’s glittering decade in English football he guided the Sky Blues to six Premier League titles and, in 2023, the league, FA Cup and Champions League treble — a feat theretofore achieved only by United.

Ferraro, Skinner getting lay of the land before training camp starts

They’ve both been around the NHL block a bit, but make no mistake, Stuart Skinner and Mario Ferraro are experiencing some “new kid at school” type jitters this week.

The pair were prized July 1 free agent signings by the Winnipeg Jets and are now quickly trying to get the lay of the land — from teammates and systems and structure to restaurants, schools and the best routes to the rink — in what is a frantic time on both a professional and personal level.

“It’s a big change, right?” Ferraro said Wednesday following a pre-training camp skate at the Hockey For All Centre.

“Like moving cities, getting settled somewhere else, with my family, my wife, my daughter, our two dogs. But I think it’s gone really well and smooth. We found a great place here, and we’re really happy with where we’re living.”

U of M students call for ban on far-right group

Some University of Manitoba students are calling on their school to ban a far-right group from campus after posters promoting mass deportations were found during the summer break.

More than 50 people rallied on Wednesday, the first day of classes, to make known their concerns about a group called the Dominion Society of Canada.

The protest was organized after a supporter of the self-described nationalist group posted a video over the Labour Day weekend that shows him putting up flyers in Fort Garry.

“Canada is a really beautiful country and I have been welcomed here by a lot of beautiful people and it’s been amazing, but when I see harmful rhetoric online and now, on campus, it gives me a lot of anxiety,” said Ela Ancheta, an arts major at U of M.

Childfree Winnipeg group gives women without kids a place to gather

Katelyn Sawatzky founded Childfree Winnipeg Women in 2021 to bring together women who don’t have kids — be it by choice or circumstance — and do not plan on raising children.

The group is designed to help them share experiences and build meaningful friendships.

The community welcomes cisgender, straight, transgender, bisexual and lesbian women. Parents, including empty nesters and men, are turned away.

“Our group is a safe space where women can hang out with other women without being asked when you’re going to have kids or why you don’t have kids … where you don’t feel like you have to validate or defend your choices in any way, because everyone gets it,” Sawatzky says.

Canadians loving Carney’s decision to stand tall against floundering U.S. bully

It’s hard to imagine a more dramatic political contrast than the one unfolding on opposite sides of the Canada-U.S. border.

Mark Carney is fighting a trade war with Donald Trump, taking the occasional verbal punch from the American president and imposing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products.

And the prime minister is being rewarded for it politically.

Trump, meanwhile, is fighting pretty much everyone he can find — including some of America’s closest allies — and his own voters are increasingly giving him the political equivalent of a raised middle finger. That’s quite a tale of two leaders.

Letters, Sept. 11

In his letter to the editor — "Both education systems work", Sept. 9 — Paulo Borges states he “pays 100 per cent” of his school taxes, even though his children do not attend public school. I don’t think he’s unique — all property owners pay the full amount of school taxes, regardless of family status. He went on to suggest he “saved” the government money.