Year in review: A look back at 2018

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/12/2018 (2460 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In 2018, neighbours in southwest Winnipeg had to bid farewell to longtime community institutions, contributors, and caregivers.

On the heels of those farewells, however, were promises of new opportunity and rejuvenation.

Whether that’s saying ‘so long’ to Assiniboine Park’s Conservatory to make way for a biodome, welcoming new faces to City Hall as the longest serving council members leave public office, or inking an important agreement-in-principle to further reconciliation, the changes of the past year form the foundation of what is poised to be a fascinating experiment, otherwise known as 2019.

Here is a look back on coverage of the changes that made headlines in our pages this past year.

January

To begin the year, Assiniboine Park Conservancy announced it would be closing one of the community’s favourite winter retreats.

The park announced the closure of the nearly century-old Conservatory to occur in April.

Gerald Dieleman, project director for Canada’s Diversity Gardens and former head of horticulture at Assiniboine Park, said the closure was essential to making way for the new multi-million dollar biome project.

“We need to go through the process to focus attention on getting it built,” Dieleman said.
“It’s sad to see this go,” he added. “We know it’s all with the intent of building Canada’s Diversity Gardens, so that’s what we have to keep in mind when we’re talking about this — it wasn’t a snap decision, or in the sense that it was carelessly done; it’s part of the progression to get Canada’s Diversity Gardens done.”

February 

The local grocer for folks in St. Norbert closed its doors after a water pipe burst, flooding out the shop.
The Marketplace at 3477 Pembina Hwy. closed in mid-January, and officials with the company confirmed it would be closed indefinitely.

Vic Huard, executive vice-president of strategy with Federated Co-operatives Limited, said the company, which operated the business since 2002, was evaluating its options moving forward.

“There was significant damage, unfortunately, from the flooding. So obviously when something like that happens you’ve got to take the time to assess the damage to the structure, and work with our insurers and (take) all the necessary due diligence, and work with engineers to see where we’re at with the structure, and see what’s our best path forward,” Huard said.

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A local principal was recognized for being one of the best in Canada.

Troy Scott, the principal of Acadia Junior High School, was named one of 40 outstanding principals in the country by The Learning Partnership.

“I got into education because I love working with kids and I love building those supportive relationships with kids,” Scott told The Sou’wester. “When you’re doing it you’re enjoying it and you’re trying to help because you care and you don’t do it because you’re looking for recognition or praise.”

March

Families in Waverley West received some good news about education in their community.

The province announced funding for five new public schools in Manitoba in the 2018 provincial budget on March 12.

Two new English language schools were announced for Waverley West, part of the Pembina Trails School Division; a kindergarten to Grade 8 school and a Grade 9 to 12 high school will be constructed in the area of Bison Drive and Kenaston Boulevard. The two new facilities will be part of a community campus on the site that may include a regional recreation centre and library.

Pembina Trails superintendent Ted Fransen said he and members of the division‘s board of trustees were overjoyed at the news.

“It was a culmination of many years of hard work on the part of the trustees and senior admin and we were very pleased that our needs were understood and acknowledged by the province,” Fransen said.

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Two grade schools in Fort Richmond celebrated the inaugural season of Richmond Hockey.

Once a week, the students from Acadia Junior High School and Dalhousie School would go to the Richmond Kings site of the South Winnipeg Community Centre, where they began their day with an hour of hockey-related literacy activities. They would also write about skill development in their journals, spend time going over hockey strategies and set goals for themselves.

Next, they’d suit up for 40 minutes of ice time, during which coaches led them through drills before breaking into teams for a friendly match.

About 50 kids participated in the program  and each came to the program with a different backstory and level of hockey experience.

April

Volunteers with Operation Ezra finished the heavy lifting of sponsoring 10 Yazidi families to come to Winnipeg.

On March 29, Shireen Khudida, an 83-year-old matriarch, arrived at the Richardson International Airport with her seven family members from Turkey where they were greeted by over a hundred members of Operation Ezra and the Yazidi community.

Since March 2015, Operation Ezra brought 55 people to Winnipeg and raised nearly $600,000 to cover the costs of private sponsorship. The first family arrived in July 2016 and many of the 55 refugees have settled in the Grant Park and Earl Grey area.

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The groundwork  was laid for a “world-class” development on the former grounds of the Kapyong barracks after seven Treaty 1 First Nations and the Canadian government signed an agreement in principle over the long-contested property. 

On April 11, Chiefs Dennis Meeches (Long Plain First Nation), Jim Bear (Brokenhead Ojibway Nation), Glenn Hudson (Peguis First Nation), Craig Alexander (Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation), Derrick Henderson (Sagkeeng First Nation), Lance Roulette (Sandy Bay First Nation) and Francine Meeches (Swan Lake First Nation) joined Winnipeg South Centre MP Jim Carr and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan at Assiniboia Downs to put in writing the government’s intention to sell 110 acres of the former military base located along Kenaston Boulevard to the Treaty 1 First Nations.

A purchase price was not disclosed and the Canada Lands Company will retain 50 acres of land.
The agreement in principle will guide the development of a final settlement agreement (which will confirm the sale, price and future use of the land), officials said.

May

It took 30 years, but the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market now has a four-season canopy.

The market opened for its 30th anniversary season on May 19 beneath its brand-new, highly anticipated canopy.

Marilyn Firth, executive director of the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market, said the final touches were being put on $551,000 project (which ballooned from $447,000 budget originally proposed) and would be ready to welcome vendors and shoppers on opening day.

“We’re very excited,” Firth said. “This is such a game changer to be able to have the producers under the canopy who often have products that are damaged by weather.

“For those vendors they’ll be able to come on the bad weather days, when before they’d often have to cancel.”

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A tiny discovery in Manitoba’s Spirit Sands emphasized the immense biodiversity of the province.

A bee collected by Jason Gibbs, an assistant professor of entomology at the University of Manitoba, during a hike with his partner through Spruce Woods Provincial Park is a new species of cuckoo bee now bearing his name.

The Epeolus gibbsi was collected in July 2017 when Gibbs and Yuko Nozoe, his wife, were out for a walk in the desert-like area. Of the dozens of specimens the pair collected that day, one stood out from among the rest.

Gibbs sent the specimen to a colleague at York University and on May 8 read about the new bee in an article by Thomas M. Onuferko titled A revision of the cleptoparasitic bee genus Epeolus Latreille for Nearctic species, north of Mexico.

June

A flood of emails and letters from residents in Bridgwater Lakes calling on the City of Winnipeg and Manitoba Housing to put their differences aside and turn on the community fountain paid off this month.

The fountain at Water Bend Plaza, which doubles as a splash pad for the neighbourhood, was put into operation on June 22 after  not being turned on for the season due to a bureaucratic dispute.

“I’m absolutely ecstatic,” Tracy Arias, a mom and Bridgwater Lakes resident, said. “That was our summer plan, to play in the fountain. That’s how we spend our summers in Winnipeg.”

At the time, a spokesperson for Manitoba Housing said the corporation’s responsibility to operate the fountain ended in fall 2017 and was to be transferred to the City of Winnipeg, as per a development agreement, and as such they did not turn the fountain on this spring. The City told Manitoba Housing they were not prepared to operate the fountain, the spokesperson added.

July

A family’s evening walk through King’s Park in Fort Richmond ended in tragedy after a 58-year-old man drowned in a reed-filled retention pond.

On Mon., July 23, Winnipeg police said emergency crews were called to the park at 9:34 p.m. in response to an unconscious man being pulled from a pond.

Const. Tammy Skrabek said the family was walking its dog off-leash when the animal wandered into a pond next to the dog park area.

Skrabek said the dog became caught in reeds in the pond, went under the water, and the man went into the pond to try to rescue the animal.

“In doing so, he also got caught up in the reeds and my understanding is that (because of) some of the deep mud that was there he wasn’t able to swim,” Skrabek said.

August

Crescentwood welcomed a new cafe to the neighbourhood, operated by two familiar faces.   

The Canteen opened at 160 Stafford St., serving up coffee, smoothies, baking, and snacks from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

The coffee spot just north of Grosvenor Avenue was the latest offering from Miles and Danielle Gould, owners of The Grove, and Osborne Village’s The Cornerstone Bar and Restaurant. For eight years, the idea for a coffee shop along the popular dining corridor was percolating in Miles’ mind.

“I knew this is what the neighbourhood was crying out for,” Miles said. “We live in the neighbourhood and our kids go to school right down the street, so we’ve had parents when we drop off our kids say ‘Why isn’t the Grove open before 11 a.m.? We want somewhere to go for coffee.’”

September

On Sept. 5, University of Manitoba president and vice-chancellor David Barnard publicly apologized to students who allegedly experienced sexual assault and harassment at the hands of professors while acknowledging investigations into the actions of other faculty members were underway.

Barnard said the university investigated incidents of inappropriate behaviour, including sexual harassment and assault on campus, over the last few years and called the behaviour horrible and appalling.

“Today I am here to apologize to students who have experienced such inappropriate behaviour,” Barnard told a media conference, where student body representatives were in attendance. “I am deeply sorry.”

The apology came with the release of a letter of employment that was issued to former music professor Steve Kirby. Kirby was hired by the U of M in 2003 and retired in June 2017 amid allegations of sexual harassment.

The U of M investigated the allegations against Kirby, determining they had merit.

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The final plans for a new $30-million, 80,000-square-foot fitness club in Bridgwater Centre were approved by Riel community committee on Sept. 12.

The three-storey, $30-million, 80,000-square-foot Altea Active Club, which broke ground in October, is set to offer a skating lab; rock climbing gym; Himalayan salt inhalation room; ninja obstacle course; boutique group classes and training studios; hot yoga; child-minding; a 25-metre saltwater family pool and splash pad; 160 pieces of cardio equipment; and a private women’s-only centre with a saltwater aquafit pool and strength and training area.

When the club opens in late 2019, at least 95 group fitness classes included in membership will be offered weekly.

October

The country turned a new leaf with the legalization of cannabis on Oct. 17.

In Fort Rouge, the occasion was celebrated by Meta Cannabis, which opened its first location at 23-584 Pembina Hwy.

Meta Cannabis is the recreational arm of the Ottawa-based National Access Cannabis company, which founded its operations in the medical marijuana business.

Opaskwayak Cree Nation is a major shareholder in National Access Cannabis and chief Christian Sinclair sits on the company’s board of directors.

“I think it’s a very historic day and we’re very proud as the largest private shareholders of National Access Cannabis and Meta to be able to see our vision come to life through the strong management and leadership of the board and the team at Meta/National Access,” Sinclair said.

“It represents economic reconciliation to allow us to be able to create a new form of revenue and to diversify our holdings that we have within OCN and to bring outside revenues from other locales that we have ownership of right across Canada.” 

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Three new councillors were elected to City Hall to represent southwest Winnipeg.

Sherri Rollins, 43, was elected by voters on Oct. 24 to fill the seat left vacant by former councillor Jenny Gerbasi.

“This campaign was also a love note to Jenny Gerbasi,” Rollins said after being elected. “I’m not Jenny 2.0 but I know some bit of her heart and I know to complete her legacy I’m going to have to step up my support for women in politics, I’ll have to maintain support for the active transportation she championed… and I’ll have to know my centre, to step up when progressive politics at City Hall needs help.”

In Charleswood-Tuxedo, former publisher Kevin Klein won an open four-way race for the council seat. The ward was without an incumbent as former city councillor Marty Morantz turned his attention to federal politics.

Morantz was selected to be the Conservative candidate for the Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley riding in the upcoming federal election.

And finally Markus Chambers, a relatively new arrival on the political scene, won the seat in the newly formed St. Norbert-Seine River ward. Chambers, 54, won with 5,391 votes. His nearest rival for the seat, Nancy Cooke, had 4,827 votes. Chambers, a River Park South resident, was the manager of a provincial nominee/employer engagement program.

November

A committee of local veterans and active duty members of the Forces came together to plan a Remembrance Day Service for the 100th anniversary of armistice.

Combined, the members of the Joint Veterans Association have over 150 years of service in the forces, both for Canada and allied nations.

The Canadian Vietnam Veterans Association, Canadian Peacekeepers Association, Royal Canadian Air Forces 17 Wing, Portuguese War Veterans, Aboriginal Veterans Autochtones, ANAVETS, Royal Canadian Legion, Hong Kong Veterans Association, and the Korean Veterans Association, among others, are represented by the Joint Veterans Association and are part of the planning process for the independently organized Remembrance Day ceremony.

Armand Lavallee, chairman of the Joint Veterans Association, said the assembly of various veterans associations is voluntary and the work carried out by committee members is done enthusiastically, though there are jokes about being “volun-told.”

“We’re here as different veterans organizations, but we operate like a fellowship,” he said. “We work together and it’s not a matter of saying you do this or you do that, it’s more lenient than that.”

December

University of Manitoba grad and newcomer Annette Riziki was the province’s latest Rhodes Scholar.

Riziki was one of 11 Canadian recipients of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. The postgraduate award to the University of Oxford is valued at more than $90,000 a year and supports two to three years of study at the U.K.-based institution.

Riziki, a faculty of arts graduate and research assistant, said she was taken aback by the results of her application.

“It’s such a competitive process to go through and all the students who were called for the interviews were strong students who had ambitions and big goals,” she said.

“I’m excited to see where it’s going to take me. I’m not expecting it to be a smooth road but whatever comes, I think I will figure it out as I go along. I’m waiting to see what’s going to happen next.”

In 2011, the 22-year-old arrived in Canada as an immigrant from Uganda. Her family fled their home in the Democratic Republic of Congo as conflict and war gripped the country in the mid 1990s.

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A long-awaited, and previously promised, $16-million expansion and renovation to École Noël-Ritchot will be going to tender in 2019, the provincial government told the community in December.

The expansion will include eight new classrooms, a new gymnasium, a new child care centre (with 74 spots) to wrap around the northwest side of the building. Interior renovations will include transforming the gym into a multipurpose room and music room, enhancing amenities for students with disabilities, and new, larger windows. A new bus loop and parking lot are also in the plans.

“I think a lot of parents are very excited about the news and now it makes it a lot more attractive for parents to bring their kids here because we will have all the necessary space to focus on our mandate,” Bernard Lesage, the elected chair of the La Commission scolaire franco-manitobaine, said.