Rural roots inspire indie-pop musician

Rural roots inspire indie-pop musician

The first voice that can be heard on Ponteix’s new album is that of his 12-year-old cousin reciting a poem about Saskatchewan in French, one of a few decades-old recordings made by his grandmother he rediscovered while creating the record.

Ponteix is the project of francophone indie-pop multi-instrumentalist Mario Lepage, who turned to his roots, in both a familial and geographical sense, for the inspiration for his debut full-length, Bastion. Lepage grew up (and is still based) in St. Denis, Sask., a small French community about 40 kilometres east of Saskatoon. It was there he wrote the majority of the album, using his town as a symbol for everything he wants to be as an artist and pulling moments from recordings as a way to link his past with his present.

“I made myself the promise that I would make a record in St. Denis, not knowing what that would sound like or manifest as, and as time progressed I discovered that I had a strong connection to this rural area and particularly the space that it holds and the history that it holds,” says Lepage, 26.

“And as the songs progressed and it came towards the end, I discovered that it was very much an album that was sort of homage to that land. It has a lot of meaning in that sense, and the album is called Bastion, which is a symbol of resilience and this town is very much a symbol of resilience that has made me who I am.”

Western Manitoba communities begin return to normalcy after deluge

BRANDON — Municipal officials in Western Manitoba say their communities are slowly getting back to normal after severe flooding earlier this summer.

“A lot of people have gotten to the point where it’s no longer a disaster. It’s just really annoying and has to be dealt with,” Swan Valley West Reeve Bill Gade said.

There are still a lot of bridges and roads that are out of commission due to two rounds of flooding in June and early July, he said, but noted residents are able to go about their lives without much interruption.

“People have, for the most part, got their houses cleaned up to the point where they can go to work and not worry about them during the day,” Gade said.

‘Exciting news’ on rail relocation coming

Premier Wab Kinew is expected to make an announcement concerning long-awaited Winnipeg rail relocation later this week.

Former federal transport minister and Manitoba MP Lloyd Axworthy, who Kinew tasked in October 2024 with leading a two-year rail relocation feasibility study, confirmed there would be an announcement Wednesday.

“We’ve had this rail study group which I’ve chaired and we’ve been responsible for developing recommendations,” Axworthy said Monday.

The longtime champion for Winnipeg rail relocation, who is vacationing at his cottage on Lake Winnipeg, deferred to the premier’s office for information, but confirmed he will attend Wednesday’s news conference.

Mom grieves loss of daughter, 4, on Long Plain First Nation

The mother of a four-year-old girl killed and two other children injured on Long Plain First Nation said she raised concerns about their care months before her daughter’s death.

Letters, Aug. 13

Fears and jeers are not an appropriate response. The supervised consumption site debate too often assumes a false dichotomy: either supervised consumption or treatment spots, not both.