Muslim student association serving thousands of meals during Ramadan at U of M

The University of Manitoba Muslim Students’ Association is serving more than 7,000 free meals during the month of Ramadan.

Le logo d’un francophile de cœur

Originaire du quartier Tyndall Park à Winnipeg, c’est pourtant à Saint-Boniface que l’anglophone Jonato Dalayoan a choisi de s’installer il y a 22 ans. “C’était mon premier domicile, et depuis je suis toujours resté ici avec ma femme et mes enfants.”

Lui-même d’origine philippine, et sa femme germano-philippine, ils ont pleinement embrassé Saint-Boniface, sa culture francophone, et bien sûr son Festival du Voyageur. “Mes enfants vont à l’école d’immersion française et parlent couramment le français, affirme-t-il avec fierté. Je les appelle mes francopinos! En fait, ils parlent très bien le français mais pas du tout le filipino.”

Le Festival du Voyageur, la famille Dalayoan y a donc passé de nombreuses journées à travers les années. Jonato Dalayoan raconte: “Je vis proche du parc Provencher et je me souviens que dans mes premières années à Saint-Boniface, il y avait des sculptures de neige du Festival dans le parc Provencher. C’était toujours quelque chose que j’avais très hâte d’aller voir.

“Aujourd’hui, on va souvent au parc du Voyageur avec les enfants. Le Festival a beaucoup changé dans les cinq à dix dernières années, il y a beaucoup de nouvelles activités, de nouveaux spectacles, de nouvelles musiques, c’était vraiment cool pour toute la famille!”

Study shows importance of local news

A new study shows the importance of local news to community knowledge, connections and democracy in small and mid-sized Canadian communities.

Noir et fier met les mots sur les maux

Noir et Fier revient jusqu’au 28 février pour un mois de festivités et d’animations placées sous le signe de l’échange et de la guérison. Wilgis Agossa, directeur artistique, nous en dit plus sur les nouveautés de la quatrième édition.

“Mots sur Maux,” voilà le thème du festival Noir et Fier cette année. La programmation a été pensée de façon à créer des temps d’échanges autour de diverses activités où des histoires touchantes pourront être racontées, celles des personnes noires.

La première nouveauté se tiendra au Théâtre Cercle Molière (TCM) lors des “Dimanches en famille”. Ce rendez-vous hebdomadaire, déjà en place au TCM, s’adapte pour proposer des animations telles que de la danse, du break, des jeux ou encore des contes pour “nous permettre de nous enrichir,” indique Wilgis Agossa.

En parallèle, un autre moment de rencontres se tiendra chaque milieu de semaine avec “Les mercredis je conte,” de 17 h 30 à 19 h. Le public pourra y découvrir des histoires de plusieurs peuples. “Dans les cultures noires, la tradition orale a une grande richesse, explique Wilgis Agossa. Quand on veut faire passer un message et dire les choses, on utilise le conte. Ce rendez-vous nous permettra de voyager vers un autre continent, que ce soit avec les contes d’Afrique centrale, d’Afrique de l’Ouest ou même des Caraïbes.”

Quand les émotions se dégagent des formes et des couleurs

L’artiste peintre Xavier Mutshipayi présente pour la première fois ses créations dans l’exposition Nouveaux Horizons à la galerie d’art du Centre culturel franco-manitobain (CCFM).

Il s’agit de la troisième présentation solo du peintre originaire du Congo. L’occasion pour lui de présenter une nouvelle facette de son travail. En effet, si Xavier Mutshipayi est plutôt connu pour son style réaliste, ses créations évoluent ici vers l’art abstrait et l’impressionnisme.

La galerie du CCFM accueille environ une dizaine de tableaux dont la majorité ont été conçus pour l’évènement. Parmi eux, quatre toiles arborent un style abstrait tandis que quatre autres reprennent les codes du mouvement impressionniste. Cette évolution artistique s’est développée au fil des années pour Xavier Mutshipayi.

“Comme pour l’homme, l’artiste grandit et change avec le temps. L’endroit où j’habite et mon parcours de vie m’inspirent dans mes créations. C’est pourquoi il y a beaucoup de portraits dans mes œuvres. À force de travailler, j’ai développé un style, une patte.”

Sweeping tariffs could be 3% hit to Canadian economy, even with carve-outs: report

TORONTO - A CIBC report says sweeping tariffs imposed by the U.S. could cost the Canadian economy as much as 3.25 per cent, even factoring in possible exemptions for the oil and gas sector.

An analysis published Tuesday examined four potential scenarios in which U.S. President Donald Trump slaps new taxes on goods imported from Canada, ranging from 10 to 20 per cent and with possible carve-outs for key industries.

Speaking with reporters on Monday evening, Trump said he's thinking about hitting Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent tariffs on Feb. 1.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said Canada would respond and that "everything is on the table."

‘A divine feeling’: Mosque becomes a reality for Morden’s Muslim families

There’s a new place of worship in Morden — the city’s first mosque.

Operated by the Pembina Valley Islamic Society, the mosque is located in an 1,800-square-foot former commercial space in a downtown strip mall on North Railway Street.

Approval for the mosque, called a masjid in Arabic, was granted by Morden city council on Dec. 23.

The mosque, which will serve about 150 Muslim families in the area, joins 17 other places of worship, all of them Christian, in the city of nearly 10,000 people.

How changing demographics and tastes are shaping Canada’s grocery stores

It’s mid-December at a large supermarket in Mississauga, Ont., and Christmas music plays softly over the speakers as customers roam the aisles, picking the perfect lemon and eyeing the large olive counter in the middle of the store.

But this isn't just any grocery store. Walk past the produce and the olives, and you'll see trays of tabbouleh, hummus and fattoush, as well as shawarma cooking on rotating spits. Further, you’ll find a large dessert section with neat displays of golden baklava and other sweets. Behind two swinging doors, rows of puffed-up pita bread emerge on a conveyor belt from the oven, ready to be packaged and sold to customers.

This is Adonis, a Middle Eastern grocer that got its start in Montreal in 1978. The grocer is gearing up to open its 16th store, this one in London, Ont., next summer to meet demand from customers who often travel weekly to shop at the Mississauga location.

Specialty stores like Adonis are enjoying growth thanks to not only immigration but also the more diverse tastes of younger generations.

Serving — and feeding — the community

A group of young Muslim men walked up and down Main Street Saturday morning offering sandwiches, loaves of bread and cans of pop to Winnipeg’s homeless population in the spirit of holiday giving.

“This is what I was taught from a very young age, to volunteer for a good cause and to give back,” said Faraad Tahir, who has been a part of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association since he was a boy.

Tahir and others from the 50-person group spent the morning making more than 100 sandwiches before loading up their vehicles and heading downtown. The group handed out the food and drinks to people outside of Main Street Project and Siloam Mission before they planned to give out the remainder — if there was any — at Portage Place.

Tahir, 22, came to Winnipeg from Pakistan as a child and immediately felt the group’s community support.

Canadian judokas Gauthier-Drapeau, Reyes win bronze at Tokyo Grand Slam

TOKYO - Canadian judokas François Gauthier-Drapeau and Kyle Reyes earned bronze medals Sunday at the Tokyo Grand Slam judo event.

Gauthier-Drapeau, form Alma, Que., finished with a bronze in the men's under-81 kg category when opponent David Karapetyan failed to show up for the medal bout.

“My opponent hurt his shoulder in the match before ours. To be honest, I’m very glad to accept the medal, but I would have liked to fight for it," Gauthier-Drapeau said.

"It always feels a bit weird when you take your bows and then it’s suddenly all over. There’s something missing."

Peacemaking and Canada’s international reputation

For many years, Canada had a much-lauded and highly respected reputation for peacekeeping — it helped define our national identity.

It started back in 1956. That’s when Lester Pearson, then minister of external affairs, proposed the creation of a United Nations peacekeeping force to resolve a crisis in Egypt when Great Britain, France and Israel attacked that country after it nationalized the Suez Canal.

The introduction of peacekeeping troops, including from Canada, stabilized the situation and allowed the belligerents to work out an agreement to end the fighting. For his efforts, Pearson was awarded the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.

For decades after that crisis, Canada remained at the forefront of international peacekeeping operations. Altogether, the country sent about 125,000 trained peacekeepers on over 50 peacekeeping missions around the globe.

Les Aces de Saint-Anne lancent une soirée francophone

Le Comité culturel de Sainte-Anne lance sa première soirée de hockey francophone. Le 7 décembre à 19 h, les Aces de Sainte-Anne affronteront les Hawks de Notre Dame à l’aréna Maurice-Chaput.

L’idée vient de la “voix des Aces” Marc Connelly, s’inspirant des soirées thématiques dans les sports professionnels. “C’est une manière d’encourager les gens à venir à nos parties,” explique-t-il.

Peu après avoir proposé l’évènement à sa mère, Diane Connelly, secrétaire au Comité culturel, un nouveau sous-comité a vu le jour pour organiser la soirée.

“On veut essayer de mettre autant de français qu’on peut dans la fête, ajoute Diane Connelly. Une grande soirée est planifiée, car on veut que la ville sache, qu’au rural, on fait des choses!”

Manitoba to consider support for news outlets

The Manitoba government says it is dedicated to protecting democracy, journalism and freedom of the press and plans to strike an all-party committee to determine how best to do that.

“If there’s a business landscape that makes it much more difficult for journalists to keep doing that important work, I think there is a need to have a conversation about some form of public support or at least a fair hearing of those issues,” Premier Wab Kinew said Friday.

The promise will be unveiled in Tuesday’s throne speech, which kicks off the new legislative session.

The committee would “look at the future of journalism in the province, including whether there’s public supports that might be needed, or to discuss whether a specific percentage of government and Crown corporation advertising should be dedicated to supporting local media,” Kinew said.

Lacina Dembélé: le chemin vers son identité

Arrivé à l’âge de quatre ans au Canada, après une étape par le Québec, Lacina Dembélé pose ses valises au Manitoba. Son chemin se passe sans accroc jusqu’à un retour dans son pays d’origine, la Côte d’Ivoire, qui bouscule sa vie et son identité.

C’est une histoire de famille qui a amené Lacina Dembélé au Canada en premier lieu. “J’ai grandi dans le petit village de Kolia, à environ sept heures de route d’Abidjan. Mes parents étaient séparés. Après quelques années auprès de ma grand-mère paternelle, j’ai déménagé chez ma tante à Abidjan pendant une année.

“Mon père était déjà au Canada parce qu’il avait fui le pays en raison de l’instabilité politique. Il m’a donc sponsorisé pour que je puisse le rejoindre.”

Les souvenirs de Lacina Dembélé de son enfance sont heureux. “C’était une nouvelle aventure pour moi. Je vivais mon premier hiver, j’ai des photos de moi avec ma première combinaison d’hiver avec un pantalon vert et un blouson bleu. Impossible de me perdre dans la neige. Quand je pense à mon enfance, j’étais tout le temps content parce qu’il y avait toujours quelque chose de nouveau.”

The gift of hijab: Fashion designer found empowerment in modesty

As a Muslim woman living in Canada, Hafsa Altaf faced countless challenges on multiple fronts when navigating the fashion industry as a woman in a hijab.

Rejected by local trade shows and craft markets and criticized by detractors in the South Asian community who disapproved of her sartorial ambitions, the 27-year-old artist and designer remained undaunted.

Undeterred by naysayers, she relentlessly called and emailed event organizers, determined to convey the values and mission of her label, Fashion by Hafsa.

Facing down the conservatism of her community was an altogether different struggle, but it was also one of the “greatest things” she has ever done, says the Pakistani-born Canadian, who moved to Saskatchewan with her family when she was four.

Vehicle hits cyclist at downtown protest about woman fatally struck by police cruiser

A protest at Portage and Main Wednesday, to denounce the death of an Indigenous woman who was fatally struck by a police cruiser, was the scene of violence as officers stayed back from the intersection at the request of demonstrators.

The Winnipeg Police Service said officers “were strategically placed out of view” of the intersection, which had been shut down by about 100 people beginning during the noon hour. The rally was called to mark the death of Tammy Bateman, a homeless woman in her 30s who died after being struck by a police vehicle at the Fort Rouge Park riverside homeless encampment Monday night.

About 20 minutes after the protest began, a driver in a Chrysler New Yorker tried to drive north on Main Street at Portage Avenue, but was blocked by several protesters. The motorist drove through the blockade and struck a cyclist who was blocking the way. The bike was dragged by the vehicle.

Several protesters, who wore vests emblazoned with “Crazy Indians Brotherhood,” jumped on the vehicle and kicked its windshield. Another demonstrator jumped in the passenger side of the vehicle. As the male driver accelerated through the blockade, the protesters fell off and out of the car.

Manitoba bans cellphones for K-8 students

Manitoba has announced a ban on cellphones in elementary schools and strict rules to silence devices and keep them out of sight during Grade 9-12 lessons next month.

Kindergarten to Grade 8 students will be barred from using phones at any point in the school day, including during lunch and recess.

High schoolers will be asked to leave their phones in their locker, with a teacher or at the principal’s office when classes are in session.

Teenagers can access their devices on breaks and when a classroom teacher approves usage for educational purposes.

Canadian news engagement down significantly one year after Meta’s ban: study

MONTREAL - A new study is painting a grim portrait of how local Canadian news outlets are struggling to reach audiences one year after Meta began blocking Canadian news content on its Facebook and Instagram platforms.

The Media Ecosystem Observatory study published today finds that Canadians’ total engagement with news content on social media has been reduced by 43 per cent, despite efforts to increase social media engagement on other platforms.

The social media giant banned Canadian news content after Ottawa passed the Online News Act in June 2023, which compelled tech companies to enter into agreements with news publishers for the use of their content.

Local news outlets, many of which rely on Facebook, have been especially hit hard — 30 per cent of them are now inactive on social media, the study found.