Sagkeeng’s Finest get ready for prime time

Posted: Last Modified: | Updates

Advertisement

Advertise with us

A trio of Manitoba teens are in Toronto this weekend preparing for the final of City TV's Canada's Got Talent.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/05/2012 (5217 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A trio of Manitoba teens are in Toronto this weekend preparing for the final of City TV’s Canada’s Got Talent.

Vince O’Laney and Brandon and Dallas Courchene from Sagkeeng First Nation danced their way into the finals this Sunday and Monday.

The group, called Sagkeeng’s Finest, put together a routine based on traditional square dancing.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS From left, Sagkeeng's Finest (Dallas and Brandon Courchene and Vincent O'Laney) rehearse before they head out to compete in the finale of Canada's Got Talent.
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS From left, Sagkeeng's Finest (Dallas and Brandon Courchene and Vincent O'Laney) rehearse before they head out to compete in the finale of Canada's Got Talent.

The Free Press caught up with the teens in Winnipeg this week as they perfected their routine in a local dance studio.

Video by John Woods

video player to use on WFP

Advertisement Advertise With Us

History

Updated on Friday, May 11, 2012 11:31 AM CDT: adds video

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

MEG ROBINSON OF PGA TOUR AMERICAS Daniel Svard, of Sweden, sets up for a tee shot at the Manitoba Open on Saturday. Savard holds a two-shot lead heading into the event's final round.

Swede leads Manitoba Open, Winnipegger sits 33rd

Mike McIntyre 6 minute read Preview

Swede leads Manitoba Open, Winnipegger sits 33rd

Mike McIntyre 6 minute read Yesterday at 6:53 PM CDT

From Lars-Erik Sjoberg to Thomas Steen to Viggo Bjorck, there’s no shortage of Swedish athletes who have quickly become fan favourites here in Winnipeg.

Daniel Svard is hoping to add his name to the growing list.

Although he wields a golf club and not a hockey stick, the 23-year-old from Stockholm is opening plenty of eyes this week at Elmhurst. He carries a two-shot lead into Sunday’s final round of the Manitoba Open, looking to close out his first professional victory in his just his fourth career tournament.

Svard fired a six-under 66 on Saturday to move to 14-under through 54 holes of the PGA Tour Americas event.

Read
Yesterday at 6:53 PM CDT
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Stephen Giesbrecht shows where the base of a new community mailbox was burned, before the box was even installed.

Residents fear mailbox crime sprees

Morgan Modjeski 4 minute read Preview

Residents fear mailbox crime sprees

Morgan Modjeski 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Some North End residents are concerned new community mailboxes will become a target for vandalism and crime after the base of one was recently lit ablaze — before it was even installed.

The community mailboxes started to show up on Andrews Street within the last two weeks. Some have been installed, while at other locations, only the concrete foundation is in place.

“They just dumped them on the boulevard,” said Stephen Giesbrecht, who lives beside one of the boxes in the St. John’s neighbourhood. “They dumped them on the corner and then they were gone.”

One of the concrete slabs has already played host to a fire and some of the hardware needed to install the mailbox melted.

Read
Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Woodworker Marina Bulan with one of her charcuterie boards in her workshop on Monday.

Wooed by wood, Cedarella founder takes pride in handcrafted designs

David Sanderson 8 minute read Preview

Wooed by wood, Cedarella founder takes pride in handcrafted designs

David Sanderson 8 minute read Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT

Marina Bulan is the founder of Cedarella, a two-year-old venture that turns out eye-catching wood products such as jewelry, kitchen decor, children’s toys and, most recently, metre-high outdoor planters that double as home street-number indicators.

Ahead of immigrating to Winnipeg a decade ago from their native Russia, Bulan and her partner thought it would be prudent to conduct some research on their soon-to-be new home, a city they knew next to nothing about.

Imagine their surprise as they were viewing the 2007 surrealist film My Winnipeg, which comically blends historical facts about our burg with what Winnipeg-born writer/director Guy Maddin has termed “mystical hypothesizing.”

(For instance, there is no proof that, as reported in the award-winning flick, Winnipeg is the sleepwalking capital of the world, and that residents keep keys to their former abodes on their person in the event they turn up there during a bout of somnambulism.)

Read
Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT
BRANDON SUN FILES A liquor mart employee helps stock American alcohol onto shelves

Plenty of alternatives to U.S. wines on the shelves

Ben Sigurdson 5 minute read Preview

Plenty of alternatives to U.S. wines on the shelves

Ben Sigurdson 5 minute read Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT

In February 2025, Manitoba (and most other provinces) pulled American liquor from store shelves as part of the ongoing trade dispute with the United States.

Then in December, the province followed a similar course to others and put American booze that was already on hand back on shelves, selling off inventory that had been wasting away in warehouses for months, and directing proceeds from those sales to charities.

Lineups sprung up at numerous stores as consumers snapped up bestselling American products — think Maker’s Mark, Jack Daniel’s, Apothic Red and the like. After that initial rush, what was left has been languishing on shelves ever since, with many products eventually being drastically discounted for a quick sale, lest they become too long in the tooth.

I decided early on not to write about/review U.S. products in this space until things were well and truly sorted. But a few months back, I found myself in the mood for a big, oaky red wine and — in a moment of weakness, or nostalgia, or maybe just curiosity — I picked up a $30-ish California Cabernet Sauvignon.

Read
Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks about Canada's response to new U.S. tariffs as Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and chief trade negotiator Janice Charette listen during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Patrick Doyle

Five Things: PM Carney explains why Canada left the U.S. negotiating table

David Baxter, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Five Things: PM Carney explains why Canada left the U.S. negotiating table

David Baxter, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 1:58 PM CDT

OTTAWA - Canada is preparing to hit the U.S. with dollar-for-dollar tariffs in response to new 50 per cent duties on $28 billion worth of Canadian products that took effect when talks between the two nations collapsed as negotiations neared the finish line. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney was quiet publicly during the final days of negotiations, but now has now explained his rationale for telling the Canadian negotiating team, led by Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and chief negotiator Janice Charette, to leave the table.

Restrictions on further trade deals

"The U.S. Introduced at the last hours, in the last hours, efforts to restrict our ability to have other trade deals. You heard me say a moment ago, what we've accomplished in the past year, 20 new deals, economic and security partnerships, the prospect of doubling our market access because we believe in free trade. We're the partner of choice in many respects for countries around the world and the Americans wanted to restrict that. They had language that what they wanted to restrict that, unacceptable," Carney said during a press conference on Parliament Hill.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 1:58 PM CDT
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has not shied away from expressing his feelings about U.S. President Donald Trump.

Kinew’s message for PM: don’t back down

Niigaan Sinclair 5 minute read Preview

Kinew’s message for PM: don’t back down

Niigaan Sinclair 5 minute read Friday, Aug. 21, 2026

Let it be known that when Canada’s provinces and alcohol industries needed a defender, Canada’s first First Nations provincial premier was their greatest warrior.

This is, admittedly, a provocative opening line — referencing historical and cultural intersections and relying on a stereotype or two.

It’s impossible, however, not to see how important the nearly Canada-wide provincial-led ban on the sale of U.S. alcohol is to Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew.

It’s due to his stand on national matters like these that he’s become very popular — according to polls, the most popular premier in Canada — and has been empowered to take on the mantle of one of the captains of “Team Canada” on economic, political and domestic issues.

Read
Friday, Aug. 21, 2026