Whose story is being told? How perspectives shape our understanding

Please review each article prior to use: grade-level applicability and curricular alignment might not be obvious from the headline alone.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS People take part in a Red River Echoes community meeting at Vimy Ridge Park to discuss renaming the Wolseley neighbourhood in Winnipeg on Sunday.
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Group engages community on renaming Wolseley neighbourhood

Malak Abas 4 minute read Preview
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Group engages community on renaming Wolseley neighbourhood

Malak Abas 4 minute read Monday, Aug. 30, 2021

In 1870, Col. Garnet Wolseley led a military expedition into Manitoba to violently overthrow Louis Riel’s provisional government at the Red River Colony. On Sunday afternoon, a group gathered at Vimy Ridge Park to discuss how to push for the renaming of the neighbourhood that bears his name.

Red River Echoes, a Métis collective that first came together with the purpose of “bringing an alternative voice to what Métis people think in Manitoba” after Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand put out an ad with the Winnipeg Free Press in March in support of the Winnipeg Police Service, put together the rendezvous to take questions and comments community members might have around the growing conversation to rename Wolseley.

"With a lot of names being changed right now, we thought it was a good opportunity,” Red River Echoes member Claire Johnston said. “And Wolseley in particular has a really violent and negative association for Métis people, and also all other people of colour in who live in Winnipeg.”

In the months since the remains of 215 children were found in unmarked graves near a residential school in Kamloops, B.C., calls have been sparked across the country to rename landmarks named after people who had a hand in the colonization of Canada. In Winnipeg, Wolseley isn’t the first instance — calls to rename Bishop Grandin Boulevard due to its namesake’s hand in the residential school system have resulted in consultations and a possible recommendation for its renaming coming to city council this fall.

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Monday, Aug. 30, 2021
Supplied photos The cabin all closed up for the winter, way back in the fall of 1944.
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Swimming with local history

Laurie Mustard 4 minute read Preview
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Swimming with local history

Laurie Mustard 4 minute read Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021

Get the sunscreen, we’re going to Patricia Beach!

In fact, we’re even going to get a history lesson on who Patricia was, and why the beach was named for her.

The story all revolves around a summer cabin that was built at Patricia Beach back about 1944, at that time all privately owned by George and Olive Allen, and which still exists and thrives today on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg.

Gotta’ admit, I knew nothing of the history of Patricia Beach until a few days ago when I received a very interesting e-mail from Catherine Lee, George and Olive’s granddaughter.

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Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Craig Block, which has gone up for sale, housed perhaps the first Black union in North America, the Order of Sleeping Car Porters.
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Craig Block link to city’s Black history

Cody Sellar 4 minute read Preview
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Craig Block link to city’s Black history

Cody Sellar 4 minute read Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021

Above a fruit seller in a small brick building on Main Street, a group of Black railway porters made history.

The Order of Sleeping Car Porters, formed in Winnipeg in 1917, was North America’s first Black labour union. Five years later, they established offices and a meeting hall on the second storey of the building, the Craig Block, at 795 Main St.

Now, the building has hit the market, without any historical status protections or a bronze plaque to commemorate its history.

History writer Christian Cassidy said he’s seen the building, which recently housed retail store Ma’s Fishing, go up for sale once or twice in the past. Each time, he worries someone will buy it and knock it down. It’s one of last buildings that links Winnipeg to the history of its Black communities.

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Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES NDP Hydro Critic Adrien Sala: “It is taking far longer than anyone expected it to.

‘Ignominious anniversary’ of Hydro’s stalled broadband deal

Martin Cash 1 minute read Preview

‘Ignominious anniversary’ of Hydro’s stalled broadband deal

Martin Cash 1 minute read Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021

A year after Manitoba Hydro stopped taking on new contracts for broadband network access, and three months after Xplornet won the bid to manage that network, critics are complaining the continuing moratorium has left would-be customers in the lurch.

Adrien Sala, NDP critic for Hydro, is calling on the Progressive Conservative government to end the stop sell order and disclose the revenue losses suffered from the disruption.

“It is taking far longer than anyone expected it to and it is creating further and further delays for a lot of ISPs (Internet service providers), school divisions and regional health authorities that have asked for service upgrades,” Sala said.

A spokesperson for Reg Helwer, minister of central services, confirmed that the Xplornet agreement has yet to be finalized but is expected to be soon.

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Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021
ALEX LUPUL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Deb Kelley, shelter co-ordinator for the Manitoba Ferret Association No Kill Shelter, with Bear.
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Ferret shelter fears city’s proposed pet limit

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Preview
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Ferret shelter fears city’s proposed pet limit

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021

An animal shelter fears its network of foster homes could be at risk, should a proposed change to Winnipeg’s responsible pet ownership bylaw be approved.

Deb Kelley, a shelter co-ordinator with the Manitoba Ferret Association No Kill Shelter, said a newly proposed limit that each Winnipeg household be allowed a maximum of five ferrets would not support the shelter’s model of care. The shelter relies on multiple foster homes, ensuring all of them already own ferrets and are qualified to properly care for them.

As a result, many of those homes already contain up to six ferrets, before they take others in temporarily, she said.

“We’re here for every ferret in need, whether it’s old, young, sick, healthy. If the bylaw goes through where each household can have only five ferrets, that would devastate our foster home space,” said Kelley.

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Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021
ALEX LUPUL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Janelle Wride, Delivery Coordinator for Fireweed Food Co-op, and Paul Dyck, a volunteer, pose for a photo with their vegetable stand as part of Fireweed's Veggie Van program on August 19, 2021. The program offers affordable local produce to those in lower income neighbourhoods.
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Veggie Van to bring fresh produce to inner city residents

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview
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Veggie Van to bring fresh produce to inner city residents

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021

A farmer’s market on wheels is hoping to put a dent into the problem of food deserts in Winnipeg’s inner city

Fireweed Food Co-op has launched its new Veggie Van pilot program, which brings subsidized local produce into Winnipeg’s inner city neighbourhoods through a mobile market on Thursday afternoons. The West Central Women’s Resource Centre was the first stop on the Veggie Van’s inaugural tour last week.

“We have zucchini, beets, yellow onion, carrots, sweet corn,” says Fireweed’s food hub delivery co-ordinator Janelle Wride, while standing behind a table piled high with colourful vegetables. “Those are most of the basic items that we have available from the producers right now and each week it’ll change a little bit.”

The goal of the program, she says, is to combat food insecurity by offering cheap, nutritious produce for sale in underserved communities.

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Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Dietitian Raschelle Sabourin teaches clients how to practise intuitive eating, where diet mentality is rejected and hunger cues are observed and honoured.
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Pandemic isolation impacted our relationship with food, self-image

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview
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Pandemic isolation impacted our relationship with food, self-image

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Monday, Aug. 23, 2021

Food has been a global preoccupation during the pandemic. Home cooking became a necessary lockdown pastime and sourdough bread became shorthand for the many food trends that tore through social media. At the same time, one Winnipeg dietitian has seen a rise in emotional and disordered eating over the last year and a half.

“A lot of the things that people use to cope have changed,” says Raschelle Sabourin, a registered dietitian who runs a virtual nutrition counselling practice locally. “People were more isolated and there’s a lack of routine… and people’s relationships changed, so that caused more stress and people are sometimes using food to fill that void.”

Sabourin says that while using food as a coping mechanism can be a quick fix for quelling difficult emotions, the comfort of binge eating doesn’t last.

“For the short term, they might feel really good, but in the long term they’re not feeling good after emotional eating,” she says.

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Monday, Aug. 23, 2021
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is greeted by Cowessness Chief Cadmus Delorme on the Cowessness First Nation, Sask, Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Indigenous issues no longer stuck on back burner

Niigaan Sinclair 5 minute read Preview

Indigenous issues no longer stuck on back burner

Niigaan Sinclair 5 minute read Monday, Aug. 23, 2021

Manitoba follows a standard formula for federal elections: other than the affluent suburbs, Winnipeg votes mostly Liberal while everywhere else — besides the north — goes Conservative.

With support for provincial Conservatives waning, anger at Justin Trudeau for calling an election during a pandemic, and the rise of the provincial NDP, there are strong indications that predictable Manitoba seats are up for grabs.

The appearance of Trudeau and O’Toole in the city Friday is evidence.

Why would both visit on the same day NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh toured unmarked graves at a former residential school in Saskatchewan?

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Monday, Aug. 23, 2021
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Ainsley Krone, acting advocate, Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth, speaks during an announcement with Families Minister Rochelle Squires at the Manitoba Legislative building Tuesday morning.
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Manitoba youth concerned about mental health: survey

Malak Abas 3 minute read Preview
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Manitoba youth concerned about mental health: survey

Malak Abas 3 minute read Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021

Young people surveyed by Manitoba's children's advocate say they need better mental health and addiction services, as well as anti-poverty programs.

The advocate, an independent office of the Manitoba legislature, consulted with almost 300 young people who live in various regions of the province. A report based on their feedback, “The Right to Be Heard”, was published Thursday.

Generally, youth in the north were more likely to say they are concerned about poverty and substance abuse, while those living in Winnipeg were more likely to select racism and mental health issues.

“A report like this allows us a really incredible opportunity to sit down internally and think about how the projects that we have underway, how the projects that we’re maybe considering embarking on, align with what youth want us to be focused on,” said acting children's advocate Ainsley Krone said.

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Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021
CAROL SANDERS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Morgan Fontaine (nee Sizeland), left, grew up blocks from the rez school in River Heights and first met Ted Fontaine, right, when he was one of the
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City considering new name for park near former residential school to honour Indigenous leader

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Preview
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City considering new name for park near former residential school to honour Indigenous leader

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021

AS a residential high school student, the site now known as Wellington Park offered him rare moments of joy.

As an adult survivor of that system, it helped trigger both positive memories and quiet, disturbing flashbacks.

Theodore Fontaine, who died in May, found more than a chance to play hockey and baseball at the Assiniboia Indian Residential School, according to his wife Morgan Fontaine.

“These fields, this was just for him a time of that little taste of freedom that he longed for.… It was just before his seventh birthday (that) he lost his freedom,” she said.

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Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021