Work permits extended to 2027 for international grads

The federal government is offering a reprieve for international graduates who found work and settled in Manitoba, giving the province more time to process a backlog of provincial nominee applications.

Craft ministry crochets scarves, tuques, more for vulnerable Winnipeggers

It’s a sunny summer’s day with barely a cloud in the sky but Winnipeg’s bitter winter is already on the minds of the folks gathered in the small library at Epiphany Lutheran Church (200 Dalhousie Dr.).

Every first and third Wednesday of the month, armed with needles and hooks, they knit and crochet for two hours, transforming “oodles of yarn” into scarves, tuques and headbands, to be distributed to the city’s most vulnerable residents.

The church’s volunteer craft ministry was resurrected in early 2023 by Lynnette Stamler, a retired nursing academic who returned to Manitoba after a 27-year career abroad.

“The group had started several years ago when a few ladies got together to make prayer shawls which they gifted to individuals in need. Then during the COVID-19 pandemic it went the way of all good things,” Stamler explains.

Teen urges premier to reject data centre, ‘put people and the environment first’

A 17-year-old who started a petition against the construction of an AI data centre northwest of Winnipeg has made a personal appeal to the premier to stop it.

Leona Gollub emailed Premier Wab Kinew to voice her concern about the environmental impact of a 5.5-megawatt AI data centre that’s being built on Brookside Boulevard in the Centreport industrial area in the Rural Municipality of Rosser, northwest of Winnipeg.

She said she worries about the noise and light pollution that would be emitted by the facility, and the massive amount of electricity it will require that could instead power people’s homes.

The premier, who recently rejected a data centre in Île dês Chênes, southeast of Winnipeg, thanked her for her concern in an email but did not go beyond that.

Roughing it (less): Handy items for novice campers to make the great outdoors tolerable

I hate camping.

I loathe the very idea of leaving the comfort and safety of home to sleep in a random field, where not only will I be exposed to the elements, but will also be at the mercy of all manner of creatures, from ursine to canine to insectan.

I do not want to hike up a hill just to share one outdoor tap with 12 others, standing alongside them as I brush my teeth.

I do not want to queue for 15 minutes, then part with a $2 coin to wedge myself into a shower stall just to stand under a piddly stream of lukewarm water while trying my best to swiftly soap up and sponge off lest I irk the rapidly growing line of campers outside.

Hemingway’s masterpiece on Spain’s bull runs turns 100 years old with its allure intact

PAMPLONA, Spain (AP) — Bill Hillmann has been gored three times while running with the bulls in Spain, but he wouldn’t miss this year’s San Fermin festival for anything.

It marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ernest Hemingway ’s book “The Sun Also Rises” that launched the future Nobel Laureate to literary fame and put Pamplona on the map for millions of people around the world.

On Monday, the festival kicked off with a firework blast over a jam-packed plaza. The first of eight bull runs is on Tuesday.

Hemingway’s 1926 novel captivated generations of readers with its sexy Jazz Age tale of American and British bohemians trying to fill some inner void with the distractions of exotic travel, vast quantities of alcohol and the anguishing pursuit of impossible love.

‘Death is everywhere:’ Alberta art exhibit on mortality is actually full of life

EDMONTON -

In a corner of the Royal Alberta Museum, two chalkboards hang on the wall to capture random thoughts on death.

One scribbler wants to come back as a grilled cheese sandwich.

Several, before they breathe their last, want the hometown Edmonton Oilers to again win hockey’s Stanley Cup.

Businesses report ongoing struggle amid reduced walk-by traffic 1 year into Graham Avenue transit corridor rework

Layoffs, squeezed profits, reduced hours and a downsizing have plagued Graham Avenue businesses in the year since buses were removed from the former Winnipeg Transit strip.

A convenience store along the road doubled its footprint two years ago. Now, it’s operating in half the space: a wall was built in the middle of the shop last month, creating room for a new tenant.

Across the street, bong seller Aluminum Sound has laid off two staff. It’s one of at least two companies to lessen its employee count following the Transit overhaul.

“You could fire a cannon down Graham Avenue a lot of the time and not have to worry about any casualties,” said Aimee Peake, owner of Bison Books.

New Kevin Walters Plaza graced by art with heart

Tears fill the eyes of an Ojibwa sculptor from Peguis First Nation as he talks about the spiritual journey and deep friendships that came out of creating his first public art piece.

Harm-reduction efforts may often seem imperceptible — but it’s the only way to lasting change

To live in Winnipeg now is to become entirely too skilled at looking away from what we cannot bear to see: the tents, the tarps, the man lying face-down on the street.

Citizenship ceremony at The Forks welcomes 23 new Canadians on Canada Day

The sun peaked out of the clouds just before noon, shining down on The Forks just as the site’s Canada Day festivities were getting underway. The timing could not have been better: the sunbeams arrived just as Citizenship Court Judge Suzanne Carrière spoke from the CN Stage, and uttered the words that 23 people from 12 countries had waited years to hear.

“You are Canadian.”

In the seats facing the stage, Nathan Poole beamed. Originally from Saint Paul, Minn., he came to Winnipeg in 2000 to study music at the University of Manitoba. Manitoba soon became home, and he eventually met his husband, Brandon, here.

“I had to become Canadian, obviously,” he laughed. “You get married to a Canadian, you have to become a Canadian.”

Do online influencer posts count as news? Younger Canadians more likely to say yes

OTTAWA - Younger Canadians are more likely to say posts from influencers and online memes count as news, while the amount of news content on social media has dropped, a new report says.

"News organizations have long acted as information gatekeepers, determining which information reaches the public," says the report from McGill University’s Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy, released Tuesday.

"However, Canadians are now exposed to a wide variety of content producers, from influencers to citizen journalists, memes, and AI-generated posts, blurring the boundaries of what counts as ‘news’ and making perceptions of newsworthiness increasingly subjective."

Respondents were asked to rate different types of content that described a major political event on a scale from "definitely not news" (zero points) to "definitely news" (10 points).

Alberta separatists gain partial court win, referendum petition to be verified

EDMONTON - The group behind a petition for a separation referendum in Alberta has won a partial victory in court.

An Alberta Court of Appeal judge ruled on Monday that the signatures on the petition can be counted and verified and that the results can be shared publicly.

Justice Alice Woolley, in a written decision, said not verifying the signatures now could create more problems later on should things change with larger issues that have yet to be decided in court.

"People who signed the petition may move or die. They may change addresses or phone numbers. Trust and confidence in the security and integrity of the collected sheets will begin to erode (if they're not verified now),” Woolley wrote.

Indigenous artifacts also deserve legal protection

The trafficking of items of civilizational, cultural and historical significance is a global issue.

Saigon Centre residents fear loss of Vietnamese cultural space after Manitoba Housing takeover

Longtime tenants of a social housing project built in Winnipeg for Vietnamese refugees nearly 40 years ago fear its takeover by Manitoba Housing will ruin their main-floor cultural centre.

Saigon Centre at 458 Balmoral St., which was run by the Vietnamese Non-Profit Housing Corp. since opening in 1989, was put up for sale in March because it was $3 million in arrears on its mortgage.

Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corp. is taking over the 54-unit building and the government department is working on integrating it into the provincial housing portfolio, a spokesperson confirmed recently.

While rent levels are protected under a caveat that was enacted when the building opened, residents say they’re about to lose access to their cultural centre. The large room on the main floor is used for community gatherings, health and wellness activities for seniors, festivals, language-learning classes and other events over the last four decades.

Le pari water-polo de Jayden Del Campo

Le water-polo est arrivé naturellement dans la vie de Jayden Del Campo. Issu d’une famille de sportifs, son père et son grand-père pratiquaient aussi ce sport, une passion qui s’est transmise dans la lignée familiale.

“Mon grand-père a joué dans l’équipe nationale de Cuba et mon père jouait aussi. J’avais comme quatre ans quand mes parents m’ont poussé dans l’eau pour que je commence à jouer.”

Bien que les débuts aient été difficiles — il n’aimait pas être dans l’eau et nager avec un ballon était un vrai défi il a fini par tomber en amour avec ce sport. C’est un chemin qu’il a suivi jusqu’au bout, en devenant entraîneur au Club Vortex, et en acceptant une bourse d’admission à l’Université McKendree aux États-Unis, où il a rejoint l’équipe de water-polo.

Pourtant, malgré une certaine popularité au sud de la frontière et en Europe, la communauté de water-polo reste très petite au Canada. “C’est une communauté qui est vraiment petite au Manitoba. Un de mes buts, c’est de faire grandir ce sport. Pas seulement au Manitoba, mais partout au pays.”

Rituals of ceremonies the cornerstone of Hindu weddings

Taking place over three to five days, a Hindu wedding is steeped in timeless traditions and curated customs.

While the grandeur of Hindu weddings strikes stunning notes, the rituals of the ceremonies remain the cornerstone of the celebration. The rituals are sacred offerings to seek blessings from the Divine and family and friends for the bride and groom to have a healthy and happy life.

Deeply anchored to the wedding rituals, called shaadi ki rasmein, is the role of family members. In Indian culture, it is believed that a wedding is an alliance of two families, not only an alliance of two people. Dates for the wedding ceremonies are sought by a Hindu priest who reads the bride and groom’s horoscope, or kundali to determine the auspicious time, or muhurat for the celebrations. Parents of both sides are consulted in this special first step.

While some wedding rituals are common across different regions of India, others are unique to a particular region. Among Indo- Caribbeans of the Hindu faith, wedding rituals vary. One of these cherished rituals is the Maticoor, or Matkor ceremony, which symbolizes that by expressing gratitude to Mother Earth, the lives of the new couple will be happy and harmonious.

Protesters denounce controversial exhibition at rights museum

More than 200 people demonstrated outside the Canadian Museum for Human Rights Friday evening to protest the exhibition about the mass displacement of Palestinians in the 1940s during the Arab-Israeli war.

Outside the museum at The Forks, the sidewalk was lined with people wearing white and blue clothing while waving Israeli flags and holding placards that denounced the display.

Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present focuses on the Nakba, in which an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were displaced between 1947 and 1949. The exhibition documents Palestinian Canadians’ experiences through art, photos and text.

One protester said she worries students and other groups who visit the exhibition will get a one-sided version.

Director brings Métis identity, language to silver screen

TORONTO — Métis culture has been around for centuries, but films set in the Métis world remain rare.

The new movie Blood Lines is intended to help fill that gap. Written and directed by Métis actor Gail Maurice (best known in these parts for playing the fiery title character of the locally lensed 2024 drama Aberdeen), it is set in an Ontario Métis community.

Maurice stars as Léonore, a mother who seeks to reconnect with her grown daughter Beatrice (Dana Solomon) after years of alcohol-fuelled neglect.

Beatrice is unforgiving, and is soon distracted by the presence of a new woman in the community. Chani (Derica Lafrance) has come to town searching for her biological family. Clearly enamoured, Beatrice offers to help.

Winnipeg Habitat home brings tears to the eye of single dad from Africa

Suleman Gado’s eyes filled with tears when the keys to his first house in Canada were placed in his hands Friday morning.

Beside him, his two sons, Gado and Mohammed, watched quietly as years of sacrifice and perseverance paid off.

“Very exciting day to me,” Suleman said. “And very emotional because I do not believe what I’m seeing today. A lot of amazing people who came out.”

Originally from Ghana, Suleman left his home country in 2015 to seek safety and a brighter future.

Palestinian Canadians share keepsakes, memories in CMHR’s Nakba exhibition

Fouad Sahyoun was four years old when his family fled their home in Haifa amid bombardment from encroaching Israeli paramilitary forces in 1948.

“We took a few suitcases and (some) money and we went to Alexandria. We were never allowed to go back,” said Sahyoun, a Palestinian Canadian living in Montreal. “When the money ran out, we became real refugees.”

The 82-year-old is one of an estimated 750,000 Palestinians forcibly displaced in 1948 following the partitioning of Palestine and during the creation of the State of Israel. This event is known as the Nakba, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic.

Sahyoun’s story and the deeds to his family’s seized property in Haifa are included in Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present, a new exhibition open to the public Saturday at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Exhibit on displaced Palestinians set to open at human rights museum amid criticism

WINNIPEG - The head of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights says it's unfortunate a trustee resigned over an exhibit about displaced Palestinians but she stands by the decision for it to open to the public Saturday.

The exhibit, titled "Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present," focuses on people affected by the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe. About 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced in 1948 during fighting over control of what is now Israel.

The exhibit has been in the works for four years, though Palestinian Canadians have been calling for their stories to be told at the Winnipeg museum since it opened in 2014.

Jewish groups have raised concerns that the exhibit could fuel antisemitism by not providing more historical context and that it was created without sufficient consultation and transparency.

World Cup a mosaic of the human experience

On June 13, the third day of the ongoing World Cup, Morocco played more than a quarter of its Group C match against Brazil without a single Moroccan-born footballer on the pitch.

Instead, the starting eleven deployed by manager Mohamed Ouahbi between the 64th and 89th minutes included players from Belgium, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Canada. (Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was born in Montreal.) Ouahbi, himself, hails from metropolitan Brussels.

According to the BBC, nearly 25 per cent of the players at this tournament were born in countries other than the ones they’re representing.

One of the more prominent examples of this experience is Luca Zidane.

Michael J. Fox and father of Nickelodeon slime among Order of Canada appointments

Michael J. Fox wears his Order of Canada pin everywhere.

He wears the little white pin on talk shows; he wears it to meet up with friends — his fellow Canadian New Yorkers Martin Short and Lorne Michaels make sure of it, he quips. And he wore it when he accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the final days of Joe Biden's presidency.

"My intrinsic Canadianism is a bigger part of me than my relationship with the States," he says on a video call from New York, Emmy Awards lined up on the shelf behind him.

The actor and Parkinson's advocate has worn the white pin for 16 years, since he was first named an officer of the Order of Canada. But he'll soon be able to upgrade to the red version of the snowflake-shaped insignia as he's promoted to companion, a higher rank within the order, whose living membership is capped at 180.

Bruce Oake Recovery Centre staff lead participants from darkness, despair of addiction

The Bruce Oake Recovery Centre is awash in summer light. Sun streams through the tall windows at the end of each hallway; through the glass walls of the group rooms, where the men here to recover from addiction are meeting; and through the entry atrium, where an urn holding the ashes of the centre’s namesake rests inside a glass case.