ISSUE

VOLUME 62 2008/04/03 25 The university of Winnipeg student weekly

Exploring the possibilities of the city with our special urban issue April 3, 2008 The Uniter contact: [email protected] 02 NEWS

UNITER STAFF Ne w s Ed i t o r : St a c y Ca r d i g a n Sm i t h Ne w s Ed i t o r : Ks e n i a Pr i n t s E-m a i l : n e w s @u n i t e r .c a E-m a i l : n e w s p r o d @u n i t e r .c a

Managing Editor News Jo Snyder » [email protected]

Business Manager James D. Patterson » [email protected] Consumer culture: The battle of small corner stores

PRODUCTION MANAGER Melody Morrissette » [email protected] “The key difference is a more Photo Editor personalized business.” Colin Vandenberg » [email protected] Joe Kornelsen —Patrick Loewen, Copy & Style Editor Volunteer staff Jacquie Nicholson » [email protected] Corpell’s Water

NEWS ASSIGNMENT EDITOR ig box stores are increasingly Stacy Cardigan Smith » [email protected] moving into the city of Winni- peg, making it harder for smaller News Production Editor Bbusinesses to gain a foothold in the mar- Ksenia Prints » [email protected] ket. But smaller venues are finding ways COMMENTS EDITOR to fight back. Ben Wood » [email protected] “We are like small fish and they are like big fish,” said Mohammad Ayub. Arts & Culture Editor “Their prices are lower and they have Whitney Light » [email protected] more products.” Mohammad Ayub is the owner of Listings Coordinator Luxton Grocery in the North End. Hav- Kristine Askholm » [email protected] ing bought the 75-year-old company four years ago, Ayub said he was finding Sports Editor Kalen Qually » [email protected] it more and more difficult to compete in the retail market. Beat Reporter Often located on the fringes of Jenette Martens » [email protected] cities, stores like Wal-Mart, Superstore, and Home Depot are taking control of Young Food Mart is one of many examples of friendly neighbourhood corner store. Beat Reporter significant proportions of the retail mar- Cameron MacLean » [email protected] ket share. With big budgets and inter- said Gloria Hoeppner, the executive director of the small businesses in the West End. national recognition, large retail firms have the the West End Business Improvement Zone, ex- “We have 45 ethnic groups in the neigh- Beat Reporter money and space that smaller venues lack to buy Dan Huyghebaert » [email protected] plaining why there are fewer box stores in the bourhood, and 90 restaurants,” she said. “It’s a in large quantities and sell at cheap prices. area. She added the West End BIZ was interested huge attraction.” Not everyone is willing to face defeat. Win- Beat Reporter in attracting businesses of all sizes. The West End also has the advantage of James Janzen » [email protected] nipeg-based Corpell’s Water has been delivering Because box stores need tremendous being a walkable community. Both Loewen and bottled water in Southern Manitoba since 1991. amounts of space to hold the massive quantity Ayub agree that setting up within walking dis- Over the last 17 years it has outgrown several of of products they sell, they are often set up on the tance from the target community is one of the its bottling plants. fringes of city where the land is available. The most important factors in the success of a small t h i s w e e k ’ s contributors Patrick Loewen is the co-owner of Corpell’s community around the U of W is over 100 years business. Water. He felt that Corpell’s Water was able to Joe Kornelson, Brook Dymtriw, Sandy Klowak, Darrel old so it is difficult for large retailers to find the set itself apart by providing better service. Ronald, Stephanie Christie, Graham Podolecki, Graca space to set up. Resendes, Matt Prepost, Aaron Epp, Conrad Sweatman, “The key difference is a more personalized Hoeppner also emphasized the diversity of Kelly Nickie, Marko Bilandzija, Michael Collins, Trevor business,” he said of the differences between small Johnston, Cory Falvo, Rob McGregor. Chantal DeGagne businesses and large retail stores. “The real na- ture of our business is direct service where we

The Uniter is the official student newspaper of the University of deliver the product directly to the customer Winnipeg and is published by Mouseland Press Inc. Mouseland Press Inc. is a membership based organization in which students whereas box stores will often outsource the and community members are invited to participate. For more delivery.” information on how to become a member go to www.uniter. ca, or call the office at 786-9790. The Uniter is a member of the Loewen added that a business can com- Canadian University Press and Campus Plus Media Services. SUBMISSION OF ARTICLES, LETTERS, GRAPHICS AND pete on two of three fronts: quality, service, or PHOTOS ARE WELCOME. Articles must be submitted in text (.rtf) or Microsoft Word (.doc) format to [email protected], price. Since small businesses often can’t com- or the relevant section editor. Deadline for submissions is pete on price they will often have to choose 6:00 p.m. Thursday, one week before publication. Deadline for advertisements is noon Friday, six days prior to publication. The service and quality. Uniter reserves the right to refuse to print submitted material. The Uniter will not print submissions that are homophobic, In the community surrounding the Uni- misogynistic, racist, or libellous. We also reserve the right to edit for length and/or style. versity of Winnipeg, one will not find very many large retailers. CONTACT US » “We don’t have the large tracts of land,” General Inquiries: 204.786.9790 Advertising: 204.786.9790 Editors: 204.786.9497 Fax: 204.783.7080 Email: [email protected] Web: www.uniter.ca

LOCATION » Room ORM14 University of Winnipeg 515 Portage Avenue Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9

Mouseland Press Board of Directors: David EisBrenner (chair), Mary Agnes Welch, Rob Nay, Nick Tanchuk, Dean Dias, Brian Gagnon, Devin King, Meg McGimpsey, Ben Zorn, Scott Nasaty (UWSA) For inquiries email: [email protected] Cover Image Photography by Colin Vandenberg: see more on April 18th at 62 Albert, 3rd floor, $5, 7:00 p.m. contact: [email protected] The Uniter April 3, 2008 NEWS 03 c Thinking inside the box o lin vandenberg The second life of shipping containers

ing project in Steinbach using up to four steel Jo Snyder containers to design a house. STAFF Projects around the world using refurbished shipping containers are gaining notoriety for their innovation and creativity. Container City hipping containers are the standard in London, England, created a village near the method of moving goods around the harbour for apartments, artist lofts and office world. Now, some architectects are find- spaces. Most notably, a Dutch company called ingS they also make pretty good homes. Tempohousing has taken the business of renovat- The international shipping industry is re- ing steel containers to a factory level. sponsible for 90 per cent of world trade, accord- In the Netherlands, Tempohousing uses ing to the International Chamber of shipping, so standardized steel ISO containers and makes it should come as no surprise that there are an Old rail cars like these can be made into anything from artist studios, to emergency medical them ready to be shipped any- estimated 17 million containers in circulation units, to homes, to portable saunas. where with everything built in, around the world. Some 700,000 of these are including wiring, heating, bath- lying around, unused, in ports across the United room, and windows. In Am- States. sterdam, 1,000 units created an In Winnipeg, a short drive up McGil- entire container village used for vray west of Route 90 reveals our own stash of student housing. Stacked on top containers. of each other with balconies on Looking at any rail yard or shipping port, one side and a staircase on the one might notice these steel shipping containers other, students can live com- and see only one use for them. But architects all fortably and affordably in their over the world are beginning to see a new prom- container homes during their ise for the sturdy structures. studies. The village also includes “The potential for them is pretty amazing,” a cafe, a laundry facility, and a said Lancelot Coar, who teaches in the architec- small store. ture department at the University of Manitoba. This idea is perfect for uni- “Part of the stagnation in the vision of what versities lacking adequate and people see is possible is that there are so many aesthetic student housing. unknowns.” But containers can be more Coar is referring to the hurdle of rethinking than homes. our spaces, how we live in them and what they

Castor is a design company D could look like, as well as rethinking our stan- arrel in Toronto that makes anything dard building practices.

from antler headphones to hand Ro nald “We have to question what we do from the carved limestone credenzas. aesthetic all the way down to the materials,” he They also make portable saunas said. In recent years, these shipping containers have been gaining a new life through being trans- formed into cabins, portable power generators, cafes, saunas, artists’ studios, and homes. The containers’ sizes are standardized glob- ally, measuring on average 40 ft. long, 9.5 ft. high, and eight ft. wide, making them easy to transport using common means. Instead of wood framing, these steel containers require almost no additional strengthening. This has high potential for emergency housing and more. In Winnipeg, the idea is just starting to catch on. Ron Blatz at the Discovery Children’s Centre in St. James bought one as a quick solu- tion for a garden shed. “It was an instant fix,” said Blatz. “The se- curity is unparalleled. I don’t think you can burn them down.” D Though the garden shed has been covered arrel with chain link fence so tall plants can grow up Ro nald the side, its renovations are a small fraction of the potential of these boxes. Coar himself is currently engaged in a hous- Container housing in Venice Beach, California.

using modified steel containers. kinds of spaces that can be made,” said Lancelot Innovation and progressive Coar. “It’s more the fact that it’s the difference design are important, but reus- between buying something that can still be used, ing these containers has a more for very little money, versus spending money, weighty contemporary signifi- putting money into the industry to generate cance: they’re eco-progressive. new materials, taking new resources to create the “The main impetus for same product, essentially, in the end.” considering all of this is not “If we can tap into that existing potential just all of the potential and the we start having a great impact on our carbon potential for all of the different footprint.”

“We have to question what we do from the

D aesthetic all the way down to the materials.” arrel arrel —Lancelot Coar, Ro nald Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba April 3, 2008 The Uniter contact: [email protected] 04 NEWS Exchange art gallery wants in on Portage makeover James Janzen Winnipeg Students’ Association president, nor Beat reporter Vinay Iyer, one of the incoming co-presidents, was available for comment on the matter. Some may worry about the encroachment ith the Greyhound bus depot set to of the Plug In on the territory of other area gal- relocate from Portage Avenue to the leries such as the Winnipeg Art Gallery, The Winnipeg airport in 2009, there has Label, and the University’s Gallery 1C03. Wbeen a lot of backroom rumouring about what’s Kiendl sees Plug In’s presence on Portage going to fill the building—and an Exchange Dis- as complimentary to other galleries in the area, trict art gallery is right in the middle of it all. claiming the influx of art into the downtown The Plug In Institute of Contemporary “We’re looking to enhance would be mutually beneficial and would tar- Art is eyeing the location with plans to create a get not only students but all the community downtown arts and culture hub in conjunction [the building’s] role as a members. The Winnipeg Art Gallery, which sits just with the next door University of Winnipeg and pedestrian thoroughfare.” c other art galleries in the vicinity. o lin vandenberg a block away from the bus depot, may stand to “Plug In is going through an organizational —Anthony Kiendl, Plug In benefit from the move. Helen Delacretaz, WAG’s transformation,” said Plug In ICA director An- Institute of Contemporary Art head of exhibitions and public programs, said the thony Kiendl. He added the gallery intends to gallery welcomes the idea of Plug In snuggling expand and diversify its audience by enhancing up almost next door. its programming abilities and providing space for “Anything that brings excitement to the artists in residence. and administration Bill Balan prior to its public students to eat, shop, study, listen to speakers, downtown we’re supportive of,” said Delecretaz, The combination of having new student proposal to move into the building. and possibly drink. mentioning possible coordination between the and artist housing so close to campus might open Balan could not be reached for comment. While stating a student pub could “defi- two galleries who have been supportive of each up some interesting internship opportunities for Moving from their current location to the nitely” be integrated into the plan, Kiendl said other in the past but have not spoken directly arts students at the university, Kiendl said. bus depot spot would more than double the gal- the gallery was not looking to operate the po- regarding the possible move. The U of W carries a 25 per cent stake in the lery’s space and open up room for projects run tential watering hole themselves, only to provide The makeover of Portage Avenue, -spear bus depot building, making its participation nec- either by Plug In or in conjunction with the U the space. headed by University of Winnipeg expansion essary for most new initiatives in the building. of W. Coupled with President Lloyd Axworthy’s projects, looks set to continue. President Axwor- Kiendl acknowledges this. Anything that “We’re looking to enhance [the building’s] mention of the possibility of a campus bar in thy recently announced that his stay is being ex- the gallery does to the building will have the uni- role as a pedestrian thoroughfare,” Kiendl said, a recent Winnipeg Free Press article, this news tended until 2014. The integrated use of the bus versity in mind, he said. noting that students often walk through the should excite those U of W students who have depot by Plug In and the University of Winnipeg According to Kiendl, the gallery has spoken depot. been entertaining the idea. could follow in the footsteps of other examples of extensively with U of W vice-president of finance This expansion could mean new places for Neither David Jacks, current University of the University’s efforts to give itself more breath- ing room. Who needs art anyway? City’s experiment with minimalist arts funding could turn sour sarily sure we need to be supporting “We’re not turning our backs on Sandy Klowak [public art] at the same level that we the arts,” he said. Volunteer staff had before,” he said. However, Fort Rouge-East Fort Fielding explained that in a re- Garry councillor Jenny Gerbasi is not cent poll, the property tax freeze was convinced the cut won’t reappear in embers of Winnipeg’s arts listed as the number one priority for years to come. community are worried citizens. Gerbasi led a about the city’s future He suggested motion to restore Mas a cultural centre after the recently “Public art is the city should en- public art fund- approved Winnipeg 2008 operating courage the private something that ing at the Spe- budget drastically cut the city’s arts sector to take over cial Meeting of funding. defines a city.” funding and pro- Council last week, The budget, passed last week, duce more art for —Tricia Wasney, calling the cuts included a $400,000 cut to Winni- the city, such as “a step backward peg’s public art program, as well as a Winnipeg Arts the sculpture out- into mediocrity.” $320,000 reduction in Arts, Enter- side the Richardson Council She voted against tainment and Cultural Grants. Building. the budget, which “It’s always a disappointment to St. Charles councillor Grant passed 11-5. see funding for the arts clawed back,” Nordman also feels the budgetary cuts “Public art plays a huge role in said Anthony Kiendl, director of Win- represent Winnipeggers. He said his what makes our city interesting, vi- nipeg’s Plug In Institute of Contem- constituents have made it clear that brant and a place unlike other places,” porary Art. emergency services and city infrastruc- she said in the meeting. “More than anything, it sends a ture are the top priorities. “Too bad some members of this message that the municipal govern- Nordman stressed that the sub- council don’t have an understanding ment doesn’t value art.” stantial cut to arts funding is a one- of how beneficial this program is.” “This cut is particularly surprising year reduction only. because it goes against everything that c o lin vandenberg has been built up in the last four or Willia m five years,” Kiendl said, explaining that in the past, the city has been very sup- E a k portive of public art programming. in “Public art is something that de- fines a city,” said Tricia Wasney, public Winnipeg artist David Perrett feels that cuts to programming discourage art manager for the Winnipeg Arts artists from staying in the city. Council. The 80 per cent cut to the Win- lack of results. tively affect Winnipeg’s budding art nipeg Arts Council’s public art pro- David Perrett, a Winnipeg artist, scene. gram will put an end to all projects set said it is a shame to cut programming “The caliber of the work being to start this year. The program began before the public gets to see what it produced here is phenomenal,” he in 2004 and it supports artists in can do for the city. said, adding that keeping artists here residence, community art endeavors, “[Public art] gives people a place is getting harder, and cuts like these commissioned projects, and collabo- to go… a real sense of pride,” he said. don’t help. rations with the Downtown Business Perrett has been commissioned St. James-Brooklands council- Improvement Zone. by the public art program to work on a lor Scott Fielding explained that arts Wasney said that because most project at the University of Winnipeg, funding isn’t a priority for taxpayers. public art projects are multi-year pro- which will not be affected by the cuts. “We need to spend the taxpayers’ cesses, City Council may be reluctant He worries the cuts will nega- money more wisely… I’m not neces- to maintain funding due to perceived “Table of Contents” by spmb_projects, Eduardo Aquino and Karen Shanski. contact: [email protected] The Uniter April 3, 2008 NEWS 05 Renovated bookstore seeks to inspire downtown Winnipeg c o lin vandenberg Alex Garcia Volunteer staff

he owner of an Exchange District used bookstore has taken it upon himself to breath new life into the downtown. TKelly Hughes has owned the Aqua Books used bookstore for the past nine years. After con- tinued success he decided to move and expand the bookstore from its current Princess Avenue location to a new building on Garry Street. What makes this move different from oth- ers are the details going into the revamped Aqua Books and what it will mean for urbanization in Winnipeg. A new urban Hughes has a fairly unique vision for his new location, one that draws greatly on the ideas home for of urban development and revitalization. He “The grassroots people have to plans to not only maintain the used bookstore, which serves a double purpose by providing a writers be active in the urbanization of gathering place for the local literary community, Downtown because the top down but also to introduce a fully licensed bistro and shows big a space for rent exclusively for writers, with one approach just isn’t working.” in-house writer at all times. promise —Kelly Hughes, Aqua Books “My whole thought process concerning Aqua Books was to bring people together to a place where they could talk and be creative, Kelly Hughes and his wife Candance, who will be the chef at the future bistro, are hoping to attract people downtown with the new Aqua Books which is part of the reason why I put the writ- complex. ers on top of the bookstore and the bistro,” said thing. It’s just common sense.” out because there is nothing for people to do. Ev- approach just isn’t working,” Hughes says, refer- Hughes. Bringing together artists and authors in a erything shuts down at five or six, it’s like we’re a encing the control of downtown powerhouses “How much more inspiration do you need creative, environmentally-friendly place were conservative Presbyterian town that doesn’t want like the Downtown BIZ and CentreVenture De- than to be on top of a ton of books and a new not the only reasons for Aqua Books moving people frolicking in the streets at night,” he said. velopment Corporation. bistro full of people?” locations. He admits that downtown will never have Whether other people follow Kelly’s exam- Making the new Aqua Books a renovated Hughes felt the downtown area had lost the same attraction that places like Corydon or ple and try to bring—and keep—people down- multi-purpose building goes beyond creativity to its vibe, and that people had no reasons to stick Osborne village do, simply because it isn’t as town is yet to be seen. include an environmental aspect. around after their shift, concert, or convention. densely populated, but he still thinks that there Opening day for the new location is still up “It’s not about being the biggest tree hug- He hopes Aqua Books will provide them with the is potential for the area. in the air, but is being informally slotted for Apr. ger,” said Hughes. “Using an old building that inspiration to do so. “The change has to come from the bottom 15. had a lot of character and a ton of potential in- “The people you see downtown are tourists. up. The grassroots people have to be active in the More information can be found at http://www. stead of building a brand new one just seemed They come, do what they have to do and then get urbanization of downtown because the top-down aquabooks.ca. to make sense, as did using it for more than one Ne w s Ed i t o r : Ks e n i a Pr i n t s April 3, 2008 The Uniter contact: [email protected] E-m a i l : n e w s p r o d @u n i t e r .c a Ph o n e : 786-9497 06 NEWS Fa x : 783-7080 Local Locals apprehensive about city budget News Briefs Cameron MacLean Compiled by Stephanie Christie Beat reporter

End to the tuition freeze? ow that the dust has settled following University students across the province last Wednesday’s municipal budget may no longer enjoy the tuition freeze that has vote and Winnipeg is faced with a new been in place since 1999. Nspending policy, questions are arising about the The Doer government is toying with the idea of scrapping the freeze, the Winnipeg direction the city is taking. Free Press reported recently. A cloud of uncertainty and controversy sur- The NDP did not promise to maintain rounded this year’s budget from its inception. the freeze in last year’s election platform. The Included in the budget were significant spending provincial government has recently announced cuts to social services, crime prevention initia- new rebates for students who stay in province tives, arts and cultural programs, and sidewalk or move back to Manitoba after graduation. and park maintenance. Both University of Manitoba president The cuts elicited a strong response from Emoke Szathmary and University of Winnipeg anti-privatization activists, who accused the president Lloyd Axworthy have called for an mayor of sacrificing the needs of the general pub- end to the freeze. According to the Free Press, lic in the interest of eliminating the controversial they have suggested tuition should increase at the rate of a “university price index” which business tax. would account for the fact journals, laboratory “Simply said, he has a different view of equipment and supplies rise faster than the what the city needs, obviously, than what the consumer price index. general public actually believes and does need,” A four per cent increase for universities said Mike Lennon, spokesperson for Winnipeg has been suggested. Is Not for Sale. Windy prairie good for WINFS staged a demonstration in front something after all of City Hall the morning of the budget vote in The wide open and bloody cold opposition to the cuts. The group formed in re- Manitoba prairie will soon be home to one of sponse to what it views as a privatization agenda the biggest wind farms in Canada. at City Hall, as represented by the final report Manitoba Hydro recently announced it of the Economic Opportunity Commission re- is in final negotiations with BowArk Energy leased last June. of Calgary to build the farm outside of St. Joseph, located east of Altona, the Winnipeg The report listed a number of ways the city “Our municipality is Free Press reported. can reduce spending in order to phase out the BowArk will build a 300 megawatt farm, business tax, including selling off or contracting delving into areas where, which will generate enough electricity to out non-essential services, expanding the use of frankly, it shouldn’t be.” power 100,000 homes. The project will cost public-private partnerships, and improving finan- $750 million. cial relationships between levels of government. —Adrienne Batra, There could be as many of 190 turbines “The thing [Katz] seems to be thinking here Canadian on the farm. is that Winnipeg is a bunch of assets, and com- The farm will be about three times the modities, and taxpayers,” said Lennon. Taxpayers Federation size of the province’s other wind farm located “There’s a whole bunch of other things to a

at St. Leon. vandenberg o lin city. There’s a culture here.” c Ontario has a wind farm that is 600 However, this year’s budget does not at all megawatts, but it has multiple locations, the said Batra. sources of revenue for some American cities… Free Press stated. reflect the recommendations made by the EOC, due to the fact that there was no reduction in “Business owners are job creators. Govern- some of them have upwards of almost 30 sources Provincial population ments don’t create jobs,” she said. of revenue to derive their municipal financing.” on the rise the business tax, said Adrienne Batra, provincial But there is more to attracting business to These can take the form of user fees or various Manitoba is growing, and not just in our director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation the city than simply cutting the business tax, said other forms of smaller taxes. waistbands either! and one of the authors of the EOC report. The province saw some of the highest “If you go through it, line by line… there Lennon. “We as a community need to start figuring net population gains in 2007 compared to are generally increases in most areas, and that is “We could improve our arts and cultural out how we want to move forward to provide the both previous years and to other provinces, attributed to increases in salaries and benefits,” community. We could make our city a place services citizens want,” said Distasio. Statistics Canada recently reported. said Batra. where lots of people want to live,” he said. Manitoba’s population increased by Batra says that the city needs to take a seri- Cutting funding to crime prevention pro- 13,100 people in 2007, the second-highest ous look at the services it is providing and ask grams and graffiti removal may act as a deterrent Next issue of the increase since 1972, a provincial press release itself: “Is it a core service? Is it essential?” to businesses, he said. stated. “Our municipality… is delving into areas Rather than focusing on eliminating the Uniter out May Our population increase in 2007 was business tax, Winnipeg should be trying to di- ahead of the national average for the first where, frankly, it shouldn’t be,” said Batra. versify its revenue sources, said Jino Distasio, 29th! The first time since 1984 and was fourth best among Winnipeg is currently one of only four director of the Institute of Urban Studies at the provinces. major cities in Canada that has a business tax. of four awesome Furthermore, 9,200 more individuals Eliminating it is essential to making Winnipeg University of Winnipeg. came to Manitoba over the last year than left, attractive to businesses looking to locate here, “In Canada, we’re over-reliant solely on summer issues. for an increase of 7,781 more than the year property taxes,” said Distasio. “If you look at the before. This is the highest level in 35 years, the province reported. Manitoba also welcomed close to BYstacy cardigan-smith 11,000 international immigrants in 2007. Q: What are some urban initiatives others cities are doing that Car thefts down you would like to see implemented in Winnipeg? Although the city was shocked when a cab driver was recently killed after his taxi was Audrey Kwasnica Karen Bowman William Brown struck by a stolen SUV, the number of auto St. James resident Charleswood resident, downtown West End resident thefts is actually on the decline. For mental health and Child and employee We need some more security According to the Winnipeg Police, Family Services, I’d like to see I would like better street patrolling around here. We need more more of the crisis unit staff go [downtown] so the streets are police officer to check on statistics show that auto thefts declined by 40 with an officer to assess the situa- safer and people will come out… things. per cent in January and February of this year tion because they’re more trained When there’s events happening when compared to 2007 rates, CBC Manitoba to deal with the mentally ill. I have downtown, people feel safe but a mentally challenged daughter when there’s not, you need patrols. recently reported. and this happens when she goes March figures show the same downward with the police, she gets scared trend. and [she] acts out more violently. Antonio Lanzellotti, a driver for Duffy’s I’d like to see that changed. Taxi, was the third person to die in an auto Connie Spence Mohamed Almahdi Tarina Paquin theft-related accident in the city during the North End resident Downtown resident, recent Grade 10 University of past year, CBC reported. I’d like to see more outdoor immigrant Winnipeg Collegiate student community stuff for kids The City of Winnipeg or the Some sort of amusement like games and BBQs. University of Winnipeg should for teens because there’s not provide newcomers or the much you can do here unless immigrants with basic computing you create it yourself. Places [skills]. The world is changing to hang out inside. rapidly…this would help newcom- ers to acquire jobs very easily. Ne w s Ed i t o r : St a c y Ca r d i g a n Sm i t h contact: [email protected] The Uniter April 3, 2008 E-m a i l : n e w s @u n i t e r .c a Ph o n e : 786-9497 Fa x : 783-7080 NEWS 07 City threatens new rules on protests Recent events leave some questioning protesters rights

Dan Huyghebaert Beat reporter

recent motion passed by city hall calling for a restriction on signs used by protes- tors leave some wondering about its im- plicationsA on people’s right to protest. This is just one of many signs that the culture of protesting is changing in Winnipeg. A peaceful protest last month about Can- ada’s involvement in Afghanistan featured po- “It is not appropriate for the city to suggest passing rules on peaceful demonstrations.” —Glenn Michalchuk of Peace Alliance Winnipeg lice photographers and a paddy wagon. More recently, however, a March 26 demonstration at City Hall protesting the city’s budget was over- shadowed by a man carrying a placard depicting Mayor Sam Katz as Adolf Hitler.

CBC reported councilor Harry Lazarenko vandenberg o lin called for new rules on protests, including ban- c ning signs that are defamatory, promote hatred, A group of protesters under the banner ‘Winnipeg Is Not For Sale,’ and others gathered to protest the proposed city budget. or are in “bad taste.” City council passed a motion last Wednes- “The question is who is going to decide passing rules on peaceful demonstrations,” Mi- Michalchuk. The group approached the van and day the 26th denouncing the placard, said what is appropriate for a protest,” said Glenn chalchuk said. was told the police was photographing the dem- Councillor Lazarenko, who supports freedom of Michalchuk of Peace Alliance Winnipeg, who “It’s an over reaction to an isolated incident onstration in case any problems arose. speech. was at the protest at City Hall. that was not approved by the rally organizers last “It was unwarranted police surveillance,” “We shouldn’t be muzzled, then it would be “It was peaceful and orderly. There was one week,” said Darrell Rankin, a member of Win- said Michalchuk. He explained protesters were just like living in Cuba or China,” he said. “But individual who had nothing to do with the or- nipeg Is Not for Sale, a new and informal group intimidated by the photographing. we should have a common sense approach and ganizers who made comments and statements concerned about the direction of the city. The The situation soon became ugly as a secu- have (the signs) in good taste,” he said, adding it’s that had nothing to do with the demonstration,” group, who were present at the rally, deny any rity guard came out and accused the group of up to each individual to take responsibility. Michalchuk said, adding that anyone can come connection to the individual holding the sign in trespassing, followed immediately by nine police All this has peace activists worried about to an open protest. question. “He was never a part of any organizing cars and a paddy wagon. their right to peaceful protest. “It is not appropriate for the city to suggest activity for the rally,” said Rankin. “I felt I was in the middle of a Twilight Zone In March, Peace Alliance Winnipeg held a episode,” Wasylycia-Leis said. “People should demonstration to protest Canada’s decision to have a right to demonstrate peacefully without extend their military presence in Afghanistan to threat of reprisal or fear of consequence.” 2011. The mission has thus far cost 77 Canadian Wasylycia-Leis said she will be writing a let- military personnel their lives. ter to Police Chief Keith McCaskill. Michalchuk said they were protesting the “They need to justify that kind of deploy- war of occupation in Afghanistan and demand- ment when other areas of the city need police ing the immediate withdrawal of Canadian staffing,” she said. troops from the region. “It is normal procedure,” Winnipeg Police “There are political solutions and peaceful spokesperson Sergeant Kelly Dennison said of approaches,” said Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP MP the photographing. for Winnipeg North, who was also at the protest Dennison also said the use of a paddy along with about 80 people. wagon on stand-by happens “quite often” for While the protest started out ideally, Win- demonstrations. nipeg Police made their presence felt early. “It’s a precautionary measure,” Dennison “Police approached us at the start and told said. “If an assessment is made that it may be us that they would be there in case anything required than we’ll send it out.” should occur, such as a counter demonstration, “This kind of action shouldn’t be the norm,” which was fine by us” Michalchuk said. Michalchuk digressed. “People should speak out It was only afterwards the group noticed against it.”’ an unmarked van containing two police person- —with files from Jo Snyder nel taking pictures of the demonstrations, said NFAprilebruaryovember 3, 2008 28, 1, 20072008 The Uniter contact: [email protected] 08 SEnewsCTION

You are what you eat: the debate over food charters International ies in Food Security, welcomes this the Canadian Association of Food in their ability to set the tone of Ksenia Prints evolvement in food charters. Banks, just over 700,000 individu- discussion. News production “For the longest time, people als receive groceries from food banks “Food charters are important News Briefs editor didn’t even think of food security in across the country every month. in terms of guidelines for policies Compiled by Brooke Dmytriw urban areas,” said Rocha. “I don’t know how successful that will provide the community Dope on the go She believes food charters fit food charters have been anywhere,” with a direction of where they want LOS ANGELES: Medicinal marijuana ecent changes in signatories better in the hands of provincial said Suzi Bonk, chair of Agape to go,” she said. “It might take time is now available for purchase from vending to Canadian food charters and regional partnerships. Table For Kids, a Winnipeg soup for these principles to be operation- machines in California. are redefining the concept “There are a lot of things kitchen providing children with alized, it’s a policy process.” Patients will have to provide a prescription Rand its effectiveness. On March 13, that cities do on [matters of] food warm meals three times a day. “But it’s important because and their fingerprints before gaining access The University of Winnipeg became you establish these things in the to the vending machines. According to BBC the first Canadian university to sign public domain.” News, patients will then be provided with a card a food charter, signalling a change The real benefactors of food allowing them to access the dispensers whenever in the understanding of food secu- charters should be local farmers, necessary. rity and those responsible for it. whose produce would be guaran- Eleven U.S. states currently allow the use “If the university takes a teed a local audience. of marijuana for medicinal purposes; marijuana stance, we’re a big presence that But the real- has been known to relieve pain and stimulate other organizations start taking ity isn’t always that simple. appetite in the sick and terminally ill. notice of,” said Laurel Repski, Uni- Many local farming organizations Despite its acceptance in the medical have agreements in place with local community, it is not recognized by the federal versity of Winnipeg’s vice-president farmers guaranteeing a quota of government and is a banned substance under the of human resources, audit and sus- 1970 Controlled Substances Act. tainability. “I think we can educate local purchases. These agreements and contribute to economic devel- are the way provincial governments opment in the community if we can support local agriculture. There- A beauty pageant with a twist fore, these farming communities do LUANDA, Angola: A beauty pageant for find areas to source locally.” not need the charters’ emphasis on landmine victims aims to raise awareness about Food charters are a statement local food. the thousands of women who have been maimed of intent proclaiming a commu- by landmines. nity’s commitment to food security. Some farmers benefit from The pageant was coordinated by Angola’s They are usually composed by cit- the infatuation with pineapples in de-mining commission. BBC News reported the ies or municipalities and include wintertime, impossible without ag- Miss Landmine Survivor pageant was organized only one signatory. Toronto was “For the longest time, people ricultural trade. by Madalena Neto with the goal of restoring the the first Canadian city to instate a didn’t think of food security “We’re able to grow canola, confidence of victims. city-wide food charter in 2001, and not many states in the U.S. are able

Angola is littered with landmines from since then, many other municipali- in urban areas.” c to grow it, so we trade them canola a 27-year-long civil war. De-mining has been ties have followed suit. In May of o lin vandenberg for oranges,” said Carol Dalgano, going on since the war ended in 2002, but 2006, Manitoba became the first —Cecilia Rocha, Centre for a grain and oilseeds farmer from landmines continue to kill and maim Angolans province to expand the initiative to Studies in Food Security Newdale, Manitoba. “We can’t across the country. the regional level. grow bananas and oranges.” The result of over 70 rounds Despite this, most farmers Murder knows no age of consultation, the Manitoba Food welcome food charters. SAO PAOLO, Brazil: A 16-year old Charter attempts to outline the ”The effect [of a food charter] adolescent has confessed to 12 murders, making ideal relationship between produc- [which] depend on other levels of “These things are only as effec- is indirect, it perhaps increases the him one of the youngest serial killers ever ers and consumers, aim towards en- government,” she said. “There are tive as their implementation,” she awareness of locally grown food… caught. suring the availability of “nutritious different circles of policy and action said. “It’s critical that all stakehold- and makes people more aware of The boy’s identity cannot be revealed by and affordable food” from local that need to come together for food ers [and all levels of government] the effects international trade agree- Brazilian police because he is a minor. producers and balanced interna- security.” participate.” ments have on the local economy,” The killings took place over the last three tional trade—the meaning of food In the case of the MFC, vari- According to Arlene Kravitz, said Karen Armstrong, assistant months. The youth admitted he killed his victims security. ous provincial departments have director of communications at the manager for the Manitoba Chicken to exact revenge or during fits of rage, however Universities could serve as helped fund the consultations and Greater Vancouver Food Bank So- Producers. police inspectors believe the boy also received inspiration for other organizations are taking the suggestions to heart, ciety, no food banks receive govern- MFC’s Doucette reports other enjoyment from the murders. considering joining a food charter. said Doucette. The provincial gov- mental funding. regional organizations are express- According to the Associated Press, ernment as a whole is not a signa- Experts recognize this ing interest in the Manitoba Char- Brazilian police in the city of Novo Hamburgo “Through education you’re tory to the charter. discrepancy. ter’s model. These include Food have enough evidence from six of the slayings to looking at food security at the ho- The effectiveness of food “Food charters by themselves Down the Road Kingston in On- convict the youth for murder. listic, but also at the operational level,” said Kreesta Doucette, exec- charters in ensuring food security will not offset food security, because tario, and a group in B.C. utive director of the Manitoba Food is constantly debated. While the you need the policies and action “How it pulls people together Bulgarian freak show food may be available, the access to that will make them come true,” is what makes it more than a piece put to an end Charter (MFC). ROME: Two Bulgarian sisters were rescued Cecilia Rocha, director of the food is questionable. According to said Rocha. of paper,” Doucette said of the char- by police after officers had been advised that a Ryerson University Centre for Stud- the Hunger Count report 2007 of The value of food charters lies ter’s provincial approach. circus was forcing one of the girls to swim with piranhas for spectacle. The circus, located near Naples, forced the elder sister into a transparent swimming tank U of W unveils new approach to student services with flesh-eating fish while her younger sister area, but Brown was not sure where Questions can be directed was put in a container where snakes were thrown online registration under the name upon her for the amusement of patrons. Stacy Cardigan Smith of the Student Information System that would be. to Kelly Brown at 786-9337 or The sisters reportedly earned 100 euros a News assignment editor (SIS), will kick off in time for June The full project is expected to [email protected]. week and resided in a trailer intended for animal registration, Brown said. be implemented by fall 2009. transport. SIS will replace U of Three Italians were arrested for the girls’ he University of Winnipeg W’s antiquated and time- mistreatment, reported Reuters. is gearing up to offer a new consuming in-person reg- and improved model for istration system. India brings witch hunts back studentT services. But SIS is just one NEW DELHI: Journalists filmed an Indian The One-stop Students Ser- facet of the 1S3 project. woman being beaten by a mob because they vices (1S3) project will streamline 1S3 will eventually believed her to be a witch. student services, offering admission, offer a three-pronged ap- The incident occurred in Dumaria, where registration, financial aid, housing, proach for students, with the woman was tied to a tree and slapped and tax receipts, transcripts, and billing online self-help service, insulted by villagers, as well as had her hair cut off. and payment services all from one telephone and e-mail ser- The footage was passed on to authorities location. vice, or in-person service, and police arrested six people. Among those “We haven’t found another Brown explained. arrested were Ram Ayodhya, who hired the university in Canada that has this It is hoped both stu- woman for her powers as a witch and healer. He one-stop model,” said Kelly Brown, dents and staff will benefit paid for the woman’s services to help with his U of W’s executive director of stu- from the project as routine wife’s health. When the wife’s health worsened, dent services. questions will be routed he gathered a mob to punish the woman. The program is being modeled online, and staff will re- CNN reports mob justice is becoming after the University of Minnesota’s ceive special training to more common in India. In August 2007 a man system of the same name. ensure they can better help accused of stealing was beaten and dragged by a University of Calgary might students. motorcycle while police looked on. have a similar program, Brown 1S3 will likely see all added. student services programs The first part of the project, and staff relocated to a new contact: [email protected] The Uniter NovemberApril 3,1, 20082007 SECnewsTION 09 LED lights considered for city fixtures

c public affairs manager with Manitoba Dan Huyghebaert o lin vandenberg Beat reporter Hydro, adding that the uses of LED lights are broadening. Schneider said that Manitoba Hydro new North American initiative and the City of Winnipeg are currently encouraging a switch to LED experimenting with LED bulbs in traffic lights in all city fixtures just may lights. beA what Winnipeg needs to cut its energy “We are looking into their real life bill and become more energy efficient. survivability. We have to see if they func- Several North American cities have tion in a winter climate environment,” joined the LED City initiative in an ef- Schneider said. fort to use LED lighting technology as an Alec Stuart, the City of Winnipeg’s energy efficient alternative to the current environmental coordinator, said the city lighting system used by the majority of has been using LED bulbs in traffic lights cities. on a trial basis since 1995. Since 2006, the Although more expensive than tra- city’s policy has been to install LED lights ditional incandescent lights, LED lights in all new and damaged traffic lights in (Light Emitting Diodes) burn less energy. conjunction with Manitoba Hydro. And because LED bulbs do not have a fil- “There’s been about $85,000 in sav- ament to burn out, they have a longer life, ings over three and a half years,” Stuart lasting an average of 10 years with little said. to no maintenance. They also contain no While Stuart called the conversion mercury and provide brighter light, with of traffic lights “a no-brainer,” he won’t go that far with streetlights. an ability to focus light better. The initiative started in Raleigh, North streetlights to LED technology. “We’re not quite sure where the technology The United States Department of Energy Carolina and has expanded to include Ann The city also estimates it can cut greenhouse is at,” he said, adding that public works is track- said a mere 50 per cent conversion to LED bulbs Arbor in Michigan and Austin in Texas. Canada’s gases by 18,000 tonnes. ing that information. for streetlights can result in $17 billion in savings very own Toronto also joined, projecting savings “We have a very active program to support annually. of $6 million a year by converting its 160,000 new lighting technology,” said Glenn Schneider, City-proposed ring road financially unfeasible, says expert Graham Podolecki built and crumbling infrastructure. Volunteer staff “These large projects are going to be built while inner city community centres and libraries are closing,” he said. Leo also wondered where the city recently found $14 million city-appointed task force recommended building a ring- to expand Kenaston Avenue through Waverly West. road system around the inner-city, a project that could “Ring roads would be a useful function if the city had its have long term effects on Winnipeg’s inner-city. planning house in order,” he said. AThe Mayor’s Trade Council, comprised of nine local busi- The Trade Council was not mandated to examine the details ness and economic leaders, advised completing the partially built or the costs of the design, Lorenc said. ring road formed by Sturgeon Road, Lagimodiere Boulevard and “We are aware [that] the city doesn’t have a bottomless pit,” most recently the proposed Chief Peguis Trail thoroughfare. City Lorenc said. Council approved the proposal 10-4 on March 19 and agreed to Instead, what they focused on was ways in which the city have a plan of implementation by July. could access available funds, such as federal financing and funding The Trade Council stressed the route’s importance to the through private public partnerships. city’s economy, stating that it can improve the city’s economic Canada has a few examples of ring road systems, notably in efficiency, especially towards the transport industry. Edmonton and Calgary. Ring road construction is also a common “We’re not building anything that in the past hasn’t been building patter in the United States. contemplated by the city,” said Chris Lorenc, Trade Council chair These are often the traits of larger and more financially sound and president of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association. cities, said Leo. Christopher Leo, urban politics professor at the University “Ring roads would be a useful The city should first deal with its aging roads and sewers, of Winnipeg, agreed “the case for a ring road was a good one.” which will be very expensive to fix if the city waits until they break, “It would be a useful function to divert traffic from the inner function if the city had its said Leo. Much of Winnipeg’s roads and sewers are over fifty years c city,” he said. planning house in order.” o lin vandenberg old and some in the inner-city are as much a century old. But Lorenc said that is not the plan’s goal. To help the lack of funds the city raised water and sewer “It’s not intended to increase traffic, it’s intended to localize —Christopher Leo, rates 11.6 per cent over the last year, and before last month’s bud- trade routes,” Lorenc said. Department of Politics get, Mayor Katz wondered about lifting the decade-long freeze on “Where we have located the trade route system is on yet to property taxes. be built connectors that do not go through existing residential “The city is digging itself into a hole,” said Leo. “We do not areas,” he added. Urban politics expert Christopher Leo believes ring roads have the money.” The report advocated widening Kenaston Boulevard while could work if Winnipeg had its finances in order. Trade routes could mean a lot of jobs for Manitobans. also connecting Chief Peguis Trail to Brookside Boulevard and “You should be aware that trade provides 200,000 jobs…we even westward to Sturgeon Road. Sturgeon Road would then For example, $12 billion worth of product is shipped via cannot put at risk [our] ability to be effective movers of trade,” connect with Moray Street down to an extended Bishop Grandin Highway 75 connecting Winnipeg to the U.S. alone, he said. Lorenc said. Boulevard. The plan’s mess of highways could end backfiring. Leo -ex The development of the trade route system would ease traffic pressed worry the city’s plan would be a reckless permission of —With files from Stacy Cardigan Smith issues and help facilitate a billion dollar industry, Lorenc said. mass highway projects, all the while ignoring the city’s already April 3, 2008 The Uniter contact: [email protected] 10 editorials Editorials one great city ings, and world class skate parks. In all of ting the city with LED lights, and the trail Jo Snyder these things lies an enormous amount of blazing Manitoba Food Charter. We also Managing Editor potential, some of it realized, and some of write about some common concerns, like it not. the city’s massive cuts to arts funding and This week’s Uniter has an urban its reactionary rules on protesting. And oh Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if theme. The staff and writer’s here all share my god do we ever hate urban sprawl. they be not altered for the better designedly. a connection to the city, with similiar Last, we’ve compiled a light-hearted —Francis Bacon hopes and visions to my own. This week feature on innovations and ideas that are is the last of our regular issues (stay tuned taking off in other cities that we think ecent headlines in the local news for four hot summer issues), so the Uniter could work here. This list is by no means don’t offer much comfort for those explores some exciting projects already in complete, and we anticipate your capacity who already feel shitty about our the works in Winnipeg. For example, we to imagine is as large as your ability to criti- Rcity: stabbings on Smith Street; deadly car have stories on Plug In’s potential move to cize. Thanks for reading. crashes with stolen vehicles along Portage the Grey Hound building beside the uni- Avenue; execution-style mass murders at After you’ve done a thing the same versity and the new and exciting commu- c the hands of gangs in the North End; the nity space that move could create, as well way for two years, look it over care- o lin vandenberg closing of much needed drop in centres, like as the innovative Aqua Books project em- fully. After five years, look at it the Kali Shiva AIDS Services Centre, due ploying Jane Jacobs-style renovation right with suspicion. And after ten years, to lack of funding. Even important artists here downtown, where we need it most. throw it away and start all over. are leaving the city—I’ve heard people say We cover the environmental benefits to fit- —Alfred Edward Perlman that you need to be in Toronto to sell art from Winnipeg—but these are only a few examples. These events cast a dark shadow on our city, causing people to wildly point their fingers in all directions. But people can really get up their own asses about the negative aspects of this place. I moved to Winnipeg ten years ago. I was fresh out of high school with a year of college under my belt and needed an expe- rience so far removed from what I already knew. So I picked a place I knew almost nothing about. (I had a Propagandhi re- cord, so I at least knew that Ska sucked – but for the record, Winnipeg has a really respectable and thriving Ska community.) For me, Winnipeg has been a city of great opportunity. Its relatively small size in comparison to its enormous efforts to stay on the cutting edge makes it a place where a novice can turn into a pro, and be recog- nized for it. Winnipeg also quickly became my home. It taught me things about music, writing, architecture, and art. So, it’s more difficult for someone like me to criticize this place, though I’m no fan of urban sprawl, boarded up stores, short-sighted Mayors, or funding cuts to the arts. But you have to be part of the so- lution. You can’t just ditch out on the problem and set up your dream shop in another town that has its own shit ditch to wade through. If you don’t like some- thing, change it. When I think about Winnipeg, a city I already love, I see great things: art, culture, music, heritage build- contact: [email protected] The Uniter April 3, 2008 comments 11

Co m m e n t s Ed i t o r : Be n Wo o d Comments E-m a i l : c o m m e n t s @u n i t e r .c a Bourgeois urban development nesses are an essential but not a sufficient compo- population. example, may provide kids with much-needed Ben Wood nent of community development on their own. A vision for urban development should in- inspiration, motivation, encouragement, and Comments editor The big-ticket items that our city continu- corporate the oft-neglected areas surrounding our confidence so that they don’t become involved ously favours may put up the front of develop- downtown—areas such as Centennial, William with gangs. The long-term value of this—even in ment or progress but ultimately lack in any sub- Whyte, Point Douglas, and Lord Selkirk Park, economic terms—seems self-evident. o what extent are the debates surround- stance. They give reasons for people who live on for example. There have been many efforts in our Unfortunately, there is no long-term plan- ing urban development and renewal in the city’s edges to venture downtown while simply recent past that have attempted to ‘revitalize’ or ning evident in the vision City Hall has for Winnipeg predominantly bourgeois? ignoring the inner-city population’s needs. ‘renew’ our city’s centre that have not recognized Winnipeg, which may explain the logic behind TYes, some of the ideas, such as rapid-transit or The new Manitoba Hydro building, for ex- periphery communities. the proposals in the recent budget—such as the bike paths, transcend class boundaries. However, ample, will be a refreshing view on downtown Operation Clean Sweep, for example, at- $400,000 cut from the arts, which helps fund I think that dialogue surrounding downtown re- Portage Avenue, and the (hopeful) increase of tempted to reduce the level of crime in the Spence places such as the Graffiti Gallery and Art City. vitalization and investment should be careful not downtown foot traffic can increase public safety, neighbourhood and while this initiative may have The voice of the bourgeois (admittedly, my- to further gentrify the area. but what happens in the evening, or on the week- been successful, it only pushed crime and gang- self included) needs to stop dominating the urban First, it is important to think of our city’s ends? Empty streets and wasted space—more of related activity into adjoining communities. development discourse. Development plans must centre as not only including the easternmost the image our downtown is known for. Downtown development, revitalization, re- come from residents of the community and be edge of Portage Avenue, the Exchange District, Just the same, the expansion of the univer- newal, or whichever buzzword is currently popu- concerned with sustainable planning and long- and Broadway from Main to Memorial/Osborne. sity may be a good thing for current or prospec- lar, needs to incorporate these areas and their ideas term community growth; these areas are not just There are many communities surrounding these tive students—who predominantly are those in for the future. The sum of each community’s de- a place to set up shop for the day, only to return to areas who are ignored as soon as they are deemed the economic position to afford tuition—but velopment goals should form the larger plan for the city’s outer edge when the sun sets. to have nothing attractive to suburban commut- what about the need for adult education, ESL city development. Our current city budget, how- The more the city ignores the needs of in- ers or business developers. classes, or other alternative forms of schooling ever, lacks such a plan. ner-city residents, the more the neighbourhoods The recently passed city budget completely that many inner-city residents need? This is yet And when such budget proposals are met of our city’s centre will look like so many of the polarizes the Katz-favoured business-centered another example of the needs of the upper and with disapproval, we are told to consult our busi- businesses along Portage Avenue: open Monday development strategies from their antithesis, middle class taking precedence over those needs ness textbooks, which ultimately are to be taken as to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed week- community development. The Economic Op- of the residents within our inner city. the authoritative text on development. This logic ends and holidays; specializing in catering to the portunity Commission’s suggestion to eliminate Development strategies in our city’s centre has trouble recognizing the benefits of investment needs of the suburban, middle/upper class down- business taxes, paying for this cut by reducing must be responsive to the needs of community in lower income/inner-city neighbourhoods, town employees. public services, would only further alienate inner- residents; it should not just be a place that caters which may not immediately be seen in monetary city residents from their neighbourhood. Busi- to its Monday to Friday, nine-to-five suburbanite terms. Investment in public art programs, for Approaching Politics: It’s Not About Five Smooth Stones David EisBrenner well move to Scotland, since they’ve popular every election amongst the ignore the minor annoyance that is to have accomplished more from sit- created the tuition-free utopia that 1,000,000+ people in Manitoba, as negative press releases containing ting down once with CBS than de- is sought here. A utopia that won’t well as among the other 30,000,000+ half-baked arguments that the people cades of angry yelling and protesting “To every complicated prob- happen here anytime soon. It won’t people in the rest of Canada. Before of power outside our school’s walls has managed to do. Instead of call- lem, there’s a simple solution—that is happen as long as our students’ asso- his political career, he headed up for laugh at when it finally makes its way ing them homophobic (as protestors wrong.” ciation is perceived (which they are) seven years what is the largest union around as a joke email. of CBS have been known to do) he —H.L. Mencken as a joke by those same people out in in the province, whose strength is in As much as I would like to say asked them how a solution could be n her March 27th response to “the real world” from whom they are its power to negotiate. I’m exaggerating, I write this in all reached; the answer is simple enough Lilith Bauer (“That’s what friends desperately vying for attention (the Lloyd Axworthy was in the fed- seriousness. The people on the front and could have the whole issue re- are for—communication, trust media and public). It won’t happen eral circle of power (Cabinet) for 11 lines advocating for us don’t seem to solved very soon. Iand working together”), Bora Kim as long as our students’ association years, five of those as Foreign Affairs understand what they’re dealing with. We need to thank Kim for giving called for a “productive discussion,” is seen by politicians as advocating Minister. Looked at another way, he Once they comprehend the nature of us the framework for how we must but this won’t happen as long as against initiatives that are good for cut his political teeth before most of the arena they’ve joined, then rational approach issues. She’s absolutely right personal attacks are included in the Manitoba students while at the same the students at U of W were a glim- negotiation can start us down a road that we need “communication, trust discussion. It must be a discussion of time saying they represent the undis- mer in their father’s eye, and was to successes. and working together” when dealing ideas, and I want to honour her re- puted voice of students here (as was negotiating with world leaders as An example of what I’m sug- with friends, but we need to take that quest and contribute to what I hope done with the fight against the Mil- Foreign Affairs Minister before those gesting was seen just two weeks ago, same tack when approaching our sup- will become a productive discussion. lennium Scholarship Foundation). same students were out of elementary when the UWSA’s LGBT* director, posed “enemies” as well. When she discusses student The problem is that the people school. Jonathan Niemczak, met with repre- David EisBrenner is co-host of apathy in her letter, Kim essentially who need to be convinced in order Rational negotiation and coop- sentatives from Canadian Blood Ser- The Fishbowl, the U of W’s student says that students would get more for the UWSA to achieve their larger eration is the currency these people vices (CBS) regarding the donation politics radio show at http://fish- involved if they had more time. And political goals respond best to logi- deal in, and they quite effectively of blood from gay men. He appears bowlshow.wordpress.com. they would have more time if they cal arguments, not actions based on didn’t have to work so hard in order doublethink as we all too often see to pay off their high tuition fees— from those in political power (even her solution being working together student politicians, such as actively to lower the fees so that students can campaigning against the Millennium get more involved. The idealism of Scholarship Foundation while at the this solution is commendable, but same time saying the Foundation is the practicality of it as a solution is good for Manitoba students). questionable. The simple response—the wrong The tuition freeze has been in response—to this argument is to dis- place nearly a decade, and in that time miss it as defeatist. It is only defeatist there have been substantial efforts by insofar as we are living in defeat. It is the province’s student unions to keep realist, and anything else is denial. I fees down and to increase funding to would rather be surrounded by defeat our schools. The University of Winni- than by denial, as there is then one peg Students’ Association keeps tell- less step towards the success that we ing us that these efforts have largely all desperately want. failed, as the freeze (while still tech- As Kim stated, once problems nically intact) has been circumvented are pointed out (which must be en- by additional (ancillary) fees that are couraged), we need to start thinking being imposed by our school. We’re of solutions. To that end, let me offer moving into the tenth year of this this observation to her, to the stu- battle that has apparently been a se- dents, and to the UWSA. ries of losses—not victories—and this We are playing in the realm of is what she says the involvement of giants. students hinges on. Gary Doer has led this province If that’s the case, we may as for nearly a decade and gets more Denis Vrignon-Tessier April 3, 2008 The Uniter contact: [email protected] 12 comments A practical route to a cycle-friendly city

and Kildonan Park together), it wasn’t cycling as transportation is to put bike Robert Galston much, just a painted white line and lanes on existing roadways. In many cyclist icon on the side of the road. streets, there is sufficient room for a But that’s often all you need, and it is simple four or five foot wide lane to s a fair-weather cyclist in the certainly better than nothing. go without encroaching on parking or midst of a spring that doesn’t According to local cycling advo- motor vehicle lanes. There is no reason seem to be arriving, writing cates, this short stretch in Point Doug- why a bike lane shouldn’t be painted aboutA cycling is something I do hoping las is the first roadway in modern-day on any of these streets. that it will somehow bring summer a Winnipeg to have a dedicated bike A dedicated bike path on a right- little quicker. With summer comes the lane (for the exclusive use of cyclists, of-way may be a good way to bring a thrill of rushing past poor suckers who not cyclists and transit buses thrown cyclist from one macro-destination to are stuck behind the wheel in rush in together). another in comfortable conditions, hour traffic on hot Friday afternoons In spite of being one of Canada’s but it cannot serve the tens of thou- in busy downtown streets (while obey- poorest cities, Winnipeg often seems sands of micro-destinations cyclists go ing traffic laws, of course), or riding to avoid doing things cheaply and to every day: 123 Elm St. to Gunn’s across town at night with a group of practically. Civic improvements are Bakery, Pho No. 1 to Bar Italia, The friends and a flask tucked snugly in usually done for show, and things here Fyxx to the Duckworth Centre, etc. my back pocket. Sigh, one day soon... are measured in dollar figures, with That is why streets matter, and A century ago, there were bicycle the thinking that the more dollars for cyclists, that is why bike lanes on lanes that ran along the streetcar tracks spent, the better it must be—regard- streets matter. in the centre of Portage Avenue from less of how much or how little all of lin vandenberg o lin Main Street, all the way out to a little that money actually benefits the pub- http://riseandsprawl.blogspot.com/ c ways past Assiniboine Park. On sum- lic. Something as simple and inexpen- mer evenings hundreds of cyclists were sive as painting dedicated bike lanes said to travel up and down this route. on streets—something that should be Sadly, Portage Avenue of today one of the fundamentals of road work is an intimidating, inhospitable place in 2008—can’t seem to get done. for bicycles, and it is common to hear The construction of the new $1.7 people say that if the streets were more million bike path on the old Marconi accommodating, they would cycle rail line in East Kildonan was an- more often, or even at all. And while nounced with extensive media cover- Winnipeg may never be the next Co- age and a gaggle of politicians eager to penhagen, where some 32 per cent of out-green each other. But even with commuters travel by bicycle, the ad- the poor reviews it has received from dition of significant and well-planned some of its users aside, the Marconi routes may entice more people to path does not link East Kildonan with join Winnipeg’s hardy core of bicycle downtown or St. Boniface. Without commuters. on-street bike lanes at some point, it In October of last year, a new never will. piece of infrastructure opened up in How could a bike path serve stu- the city, and in spite of it being by dents at the University of Winnipeg, all accounts green, and located in the or office workers at Portage and Main? inner city, it came without any of the Are there any abandoned rights-of- media attention and tri-level glad- way nearby? It would be physically im- handing that usually goes along with possible for a bike path to serve Win- this sort of thing. nipeggers who live around, let’s say, It was simply a bike lane, located Mountain and McGregor, Ellice and in Point Douglas on Annabella Street Langside, or Morley and Osborne. It between Higgins and Sutherland Av- is in compact, central neighborhoods enue. Part of the North Winnipeg like these where higher-than-average Parkway (which, when completed this numbers of people commute by year, will link The Forks, Waterfront bicycle. Drive, Point Douglas, Scotia Street The simplest way to encourage c o lin vandenberg contact: [email protected] The Uniter NovemberApril 3,1, 20082007 SEletteCTIOrNs 01313

Ma n a g i n g Ed i t o r : Jo Sn y d e r Letters E-m a i l : e d i t o r @u n i t e r .c a

Re: ‘Waverly West revealed’ article The Voices from the Depths that Lilith was expressing concern with lacking to have a reasonable chance at university. We all I wanted to comment on the excellent a voice in the UWSA. When this is an organiza- want to be active members that engage in issues. and well-written article by Robert Galston. His of Bulman Centre tion that is to be representing student voice, I But sometimes I think all that gets tied up in the If you’ve been reading the Uniter, you points are well made. However I cannot agree find it troubling when those involved encoun- politics of things. I’m as guilty – if not the most might notice that there have been a couple the West End is ghettoized. We are in growth ter such cold responses. Creating dialogue is guilty – of that as anyone else. letters printed by UWSA co-ordinators. They and renewal mode. We still have a ways to go important, especially in an organization like Rather than pursuing points of difference, haven’t been particularly friendly. It’s not un- but many are discovering this community is a the UWSA. Whether or not said dialogue was we need to work on building our similar ideas. common, as for a long time the UWSA has been great place to work, do business, shop, dine, opened in the right way in this case is perhaps We need to recognize strengths and move for- an organization which grossly polarizes those walk, live and enjoy...and call home. Property another matter. ward with those while also making improve- involved. As well, this is a good example of one values are increasing and businesses are finding Dialogue is important. It’s essential for ments on out weaknesses. I’ve learned, altogether UWSA member being criticized when their our location affordable and just what they want anything and anyone to evolve and grow. I can too late, that picking fights (particularly in the opinions don’t match those of other members and need. There are many unique and interest- safely say that my attempts at creating dialogue pages of the Uniter) is no way to move forward of the UWSA. Often voices are marginalized by ing neighbourhoods within and going for a walk have often been hostile and vitriolic. This, I be- with an organization with so much potential. the ‘majority’ of the UWSA, who will call them reveals something new and special each time. lieve, is a result of the polarizing aspect of the I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. I’m try- unproductive or dangerous voices. We are not without our challenges, but we rec- UWSA that I mentioned earlier. I found that, ing to become a better person. I’m trying to ex- Being one who is often considered ‘a critic’ ognize them and are working hard to make good as my time in the UWSA grew on, I became a plain, as best as I can, that we need to not simply of the UWSA, I can empathize with Lilith. I change happen. worse person. I became angrier and lost some of work with each other but respect each other to – though many will not choose to believe it – Again, I enjoyed your article and look for- my common sense. I engaged in senseless debate see our points of common interest. I encourage have been critical with the UWSA because I care ward to reading more of you work. in a manner that was unprofessional and unchar- all others to try the same. I implore Lilith, Bora, about it. It was the very same reason I chose to acteristic of the person I want to be. It was that and all those involved in the UWSA – and even run for the Board of Directors of the UWSA. Best regards, realization that began my slow distancing from those not involved in the UWSA – to remember I had opinions, yes, and I often pursued them the organization. It’s almost as though we take that we are all human beings. In the long run, doggedly, but the core of the matter was that Gloria Cardwell-Hoeppner CHRP, CIM. P.Mgr. the most extreme points of our philosophies so we’re here to make this a generally better place it was an attempt to make the UWSA a better Executive Director that we don’t have to concede any similarity to for everyone. It’s perhaps strange to be hearing place for everyone. There is absolutely a clique West End BIZ our ‘opponents.’ that from me, the most scurrilous of critics, but that exists in the UWSA of neo-leftists which But we aren’t opponents. We’re working who better to know madness than the madman may or may not be a majority of the UWSA; at together. Believe it or not, we all share, for the himself? the very least, theirs is the loudest voice. I believe most part, the same general ideas. We all want Devin King

Managing Editor The Uniter is looking for an organized and highly motivated individual to take the position of Managing Editor. Qualified candidates should possess excellent editing skills and be famil- The following positions are based on a be responsible for ed- Arts & Culture Editor iar with Microsoft Office, Creative Suite, Canadian Press Style 30-week term running Aug. 20 2008 – Dec. iting and will work ($170 per week) Guide, and Mac OSX operating system. 4 2008, and Jan. 1 2008 – April 2 2009. with the Managing The Arts & Culture Editor will be responsible The Managing Editor will work closely with the Business Successful applicants will be expected to Editor to develop a for organizing a 4-5 page section consisting Manager to oversee the daily operations of the Uniter. As well, he spend volunteer hours during the summer healthy dialogue be- familiarizing themselves with the position, of timely coverage on a broad range of local, or she will work closely with section editors and volunteer writ- tween the Uniter and attending a mini-journalism conference independent, and original arts, music, and ers on story ideas, style and voice. The Managing Editor will also its readership. organized by The Uniter, and planning for entertainment topics. The A&C Editor will work to maintain the quality of the newspaper and ensure that the year ahead. Staff members are expected work closely with volunteer and staff writers Beat the Uniter remains an open and engaging place to work, volun- to attend weekly staff meetings and actively to edit, write, and assign well-written com- Reporter teer, and learn about journalism and media. engage in the development of their position mentary on music, film, visual arts, theatre Other responsibilities include writing editorials and oc- throughout the course of their employment. X 4 and more. The A&C Editor must ensure the casional content for the Uniter, chairing weekly editorial board For further information, call 786-9790 or section has quality visual content to accom- ($60 per week) meetings, aiding the Production Manager in layout of the paper, email [email protected]. References, and at pany articles. The A&C Editor must also cul- The Beat Reporter will least two writing samples must be attached to long-term content planning, coordinating workshops for staff tivate relationships with promoters, record la- work closely with the resumes. If you are applying for photo editor, and volunteers, maintaining healthy relationships with the com- bels, artists and public relations departments news team to write two please bring a portfolio to the interview, if munity, coordinating weekly covers, and working on other proj- selected. Mail, or deliver resumes in person, nationally, locally, and internationally. assigned stories per ects throughout the year that pertain to the strategic plan as laid to The Uniter Office, ORM14 Bulman Centre, Sports Editor week and arrange for out by Mouseland Press and the board of directors. 515 Portage Avenue, Wpg, MB R3B 2E9, or corresponding visual This position is requires a time commitment of 35-40 hours ($100 per week) email your resume to [email protected]. content. The chosen per week. It is a salaried, two-year term. The Sports Editor is responsible for 2-3 pages candidate should dem- Please send your resumes, with a cover letter, at least three of compelling sports coverage with a specific Only those applicants selected for interviews onstrate a critical eye published works, and two references to [email protected]. The focus on campus sports events, clubs and will be contacted. Applications are encouraged for news content and closing date for this position is May 2, 2008 at 12 p.m. The start from all interested parties. other activities. This person will work with should possess superior date is July 14, 2008. volunteer and staff writers to edit, write, and writing and interview- APPLICATION DEADLINE FOR ALL assign sports stories, commentary, and analy- ing skills and work POSITIONS IS APRIL 18TH, 2008 AT sis as well as develop and maintain positive well under the pressure providing volunteer and staff writers with 12:00 PM. working relationships with campus athletic of deadlines. A familiarity with the university support, story development, and story ideas. teams, departments and directors. Coverage and student issues is an asset. The Beat Re- The News Assignment Editor will work as a Photo Editor should reflect a broad range of sports, fitness, porter must be able to work in collaboration team with the News Production Editor. and leisure activities. Successful candidates with others and well as independently. ($100 per week) Listings Coordinator will work closely with the Photo Editor to en- We are looking for an individual to take, so- ($85 per week) sure excellent visual content. News Assignment licit, and organize photos to accompany arti- Editor The Listings Coordinator will be responsible cles, to be used as cover images, and for photo Comment Editor for collecting and compiling on and off cam- ($110 per week) essays. The Photo Editor will co-ordinate ($85 per week) pus event listings for the Uniter’s comprehen- The Uniter is looking for an organized in- photo assignments with section editors and The Comment Editor will coordinate a weekly sive listings section. The Listings Coordinator dividuals with excellent leadership skills to develop visual content with our Production 2-3 page section full of well written and com- will also be responsible for familiarizing fac- coordinate a comprehensive 4-5 page news Manager and Managing Editor. Applicants pelling arguments and opinions on a variety ulty, student groups or other interested parties section that will examine university, local, must be familiar with Photoshop and Mac of current events and issues. The successful on and off campus with the procedures for national and international issues relevant to OS X. The Photo Editor must attend story- applicant will ensure all commentary is fair submitting listings. In addition, the Listings the Uniter’s diverse and knowledgeable read- board meetings and should actively engage and balanced. The Comment Editor must be Coordinator will be required to submit several ership. In addition to demonstrating a critical with the campus photo club and other volun- familiar with a wide variety of campus, local, small photos related to events to supplement eye for news content, the News Assignment teer photographers. national, and international issues of relevance the listings section. The successful candidate Editor will be responsible for assigning, re- to Uniter readers. The Comment Editor will must be highly organized. searching, and writing news stories, while April 3, 2008 The Uniter contact: [email protected] 14 features

Partying like a rockstar, on the street Cameron MacLean

othing brings people out quite like a big street party. When a community shuts down Na major street to traffic and opens it up to pedestrians, shopkeepers, and entertainers, it sends a positive signal and invites people from surrounding communities to come down and see what’s happening. The fact that it’s free just makes it that much more appealing. This isn’t to say that Winnipeg doesn’t already have a number of great street festivals, but other cities, like Montreal, take it to a whole new level. Every summer, festival season opens and closes with massive street festivals stretching for several blocks on boulevard Saint-Laurent, one of Montreal’s busiest and most culturally significant streets. At just about any time in between you can find a party going on somewhere. Last July, La Sainte-Catherine celebre brought almost 300,000 people downtown for a massive sidewalk sale, and dozens of other festivals, big and small, animate downtown Montreal all summer long, generating lots of positive attention and revenue for downtown businesses. With a vibrant arts community, tons of great and interesting downtown businesses, and no shortage of streets, this is one idea that could easily be adapted to Winnipeg. Presently, events like the Ellice Street Festival and Osborne’s Canada Day festival draw out Public latrines: Left with your pants hanging large crowds, but only for one or two days, and the potential exists for so much more. Stacy Cardigan Smith “If it was something that was happening weekly, it would really profile downtown as a happening place to be,” said Jennifer Verch, manager of communications and marketing ublic urination is bad enough when intoxicated frat boys make late night use of alleyways and for the Downtown Business Improvement Zone. Pbuildings, but when unsightly men urinate in bus shelters in the middle of the afternoon, there’s a Imagine: every week, a major street shuts down to traffic and pedestrians, real problem. performers, and shopkeepers mingle and interact. There are literally dozens of possible Penchants for exhibitionism aside, Winnipeg has a scarcity of public washrooms, especially when locations around downtown. Existing street festivals such as the Ellice Street Festival and semi-public businesses, such as shopping malls, close at night. Public urination and defecation are not the Graham Avenue Mall Festival could be expanded to stretch for blocks and last even only gross, but also highly unhygienic. longer. Other possible sites could be Broadway, Provencher or even, dare I say, Portage The city’s only public washroom at the corner of Broadway and Memorial was closed a few years Avenue. ago, said City of Winnipeg communications officer Terry Aseltine, noting the province operated those It’s quite simple: just set up some road blocks and invite everyone to come down. washrooms. “I think there’s a really great community feel,” said Verch. “Just to get people to In a recent report submitted to the City of Victoria, B.C., downtown community development come out, be part of something bigger, and also to see downtown in a new light and see coordinator Michael Hill identified three populations that were in need of public washroom facilities in the the different businesses that are downtown.” city’s downtown area: street people; visitors such as downtown workers and shoppers; and late night bar goers. Each group has different needs. To combat late-night urinators, Victoria drops off KROS portable urinals in two downtown locations every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from about 10:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. “We’re not trying to provide a service for bar patrons. We’re trying to intercept a problem,” Hill said. The city is eventually looking to install Urilift “pop-up” urinals, which are self-cleaning and retract into the ground during the day, leaving the streets clear for pedestrians. However, Victoria has not yet been able to get a local supplier, Hill said. Homeless people and daytime users have different requirements. To serve these demographics, many large cities are installing self-cleaning public washrooms, but these are not without their problems. While Calgary and Vancouver recently installed automatic public toilets (APTs), Seattle is in the midst removing theirs after a failed trial period. APTs generally allow each patron 10 minutes of privacy before the door swings open. Calgary’s new APTs are free and feature easy-listening music, Maclean’s reports. When a person has finished up, the seat retracts into a compartment, where itis disinfected, and the floors are sprayed clean. APTs are also expensive to operate, but while some cities offset these costs with advertising, Hill is weary of sponsorship. “There’s a cost there in terms of having more advertising in your city.” For the sake of citizens’ stomachs, Winnipeg should consider installing either urinals or 24-hour public washrooms. Because seeing an obese man whip it out on Graham Avenue is enough to turn anyone away from downtown living.

A way to recreate summer during the winter months James Janzen enizens in the capital city of Kazakhstan have found a way to bring back the heat and avoid the winter boots even during the dead of winter. DWinnipeg could benefit from their creative approach. For the last two years the residents of Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, have been watching the giant tent-like structure of the Khan Shatyry Entertainment Centre rise above their cityscape. The first of its kind, it sits atop a concrete base spanning 200,000 square meters. The structure itself rises a full 350m into the sky. Covered in a nonstick plastic material stronger, lighter, and more light-conducive than glass, the Khan Shatyry will recreate summer on the inside while it’s -30 degrees outside. Terraces will stretch up inside the tent and include public green spaces, a tropical water park, a waterfall, cultural entertainment venues, restaurants, cafes, and retail outlets – all of which will be lit at night by built-in roof lights. The complex is due to be open to the public this summer. With a geographic and meteorological story nearly identical to that of Winnipeg – intercontinental, sweltering in the summer, and so cold in the winter it hurts to breath – Astana’s ambitious project might strike a chord with Winnipeggers weary from winter’s sub-zero temperatures. Built over a section of Assiniboine Park, for example, a similar tent project would offer Winnipeg’s frostbitten citizens refuge from the bitter January cold. Patrons could keep up their golf game, go for a swim, toss a Frisbee, and enjoy the patio life. Also, it would keep zoo animals warm. Yet when asked about the viability of such a structure in Winnipeg, architect Dennis Kwan of Prairie Architects was skeptical. He was concerned about the financial and ecological impact of creating an artificial environment that large. “Probably the biggest difference [between Winnipeg and Astana] is that they have a very valid energy source,” Kwan said. “I would say our society is just not ready for something on this scale.” Still, after contacting Foster & Partners, the UK architecture company behind the Khan Shatyry, the company was standing firmly behind its summer 2008 opening date. Final building costs were listed as confidential but Kazakhstan, a relatively newly independent country rich in oil and gas reserves, has not been shy of grandiose architectural feats. Winnipeggers can look for it in the news later this year and start dreaming of their own summer tent to keep warm under during the frigid winter months. contact: [email protected] The Uniter FebruaryApril 28, 3, 2008 feSEatCurTIOesN 15

Splashing the city green Ksenia Prints

n the sea of glass, metal and concrete that cities are Ibecoming, finding a green corner is exceedingly difficult. Green building initiatives, like rooftop gardens and water catchment projects, help create vibrant and ecological urban landscapes. Rooftop gardens are a fixture in many cities throughout the world. From Baroque-period buildings in Florence to rich penthouses in Dubai, people who can afford it have been building their own corners of paradise. But North American cities like Winnipeg should be able to make this commodity accessible to everyone too; in Montreal, rooftop gardens are a standard feature. Several rooftop gardens already exist throughout the city. Red River College installed one on its Princess Street campus, and the Mountain Equipment Co-op store has a corner of lush prairie grass on its roof. It is home to many native insects and small birds. “People are very curious. It’s not a common thing in Winnipeg,” said Donna Hall, sustainability coordinator with MEC. “It should absolutely be replicated, and it will be when there’s more awareness of green building practices.” The MEC garden is watered through a rainwater harvesting system, which is also becoming the norm in green building standards like Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Rainwater harvesting is a water catchment mechanism that allows rainwater to be collected in a big tank, located under or aboveground, and then used for irrigation, toilet flushing, or even shower water. “Harvested water is very safe for many uses… It is high quality water,” said Khosrow Farahbakhsh, an assistant professor of engineering in the University of Guelph. Farahbakhsh is currently researching large-scale rainwater harvesting for entire cities or provinces. This is common practice in countries like Australia and in some North American cities and municipalities like B.C.’s Salt Spring Island. The city of Austin, Texas requires it in all new building projects. Rainwater harvesting could work perfectly in Winnipeg, which is covered in blooming plants and trees every summer. It could help decrease the city’s water bill, according to Farahbakhsh, and would make rooftop gardening much more viable. Rooftop gardens themselves are not easy to install, but they’d be perfect for new building initiatives like the U of W’s Richardson College for the Environment and Science Centre, or the new Manitoba Hydro building. “It’s something you really need to design into a structure,” said Hall. “[But] it fits so well with building a green building.”

Percent for Art: Development that pays off Whitney Light

ublic art can foster a city’s image and identity, but it’s hard to pull Poff without funding. Enter the Percent for Art funding strategy: one per cent of the total cost of a new capital construction project is set aside for public art, which is created either on or Imagine off the building site. With millions of dollars pouring into new skyscraper projects, the budget for art can get pretty big. Consider, for Winnipeg... example, the new Manitoba Hydro building going up on Portage Avenue, which has a Six ideas for budget of $258 million. If a Percent for Art strategy was in place, up to $2,580,000 the new urban could be set aside for art in a publicly accessible area— landscape though an upper limit on the contribution can be negotiated. Artists could then propose designs that take into account the site- specific factors. Self-serve bicycle rental Most forward-thinking cities have a Percent for Art policy. Seattle adopted such a policy in 1973, New York in 1983 and Jo Snyder Calgary just recently in 2004. Toronto and Vancouver take the idea hen my best friend came home from Paris last fall, even further: all major developments in Toronto, including private Wwhat left the biggest impression on him was not sector ones, are encouraged to help create public art as laid out in the Eiffel tower, or the Louvre, but rather an innovative the Toronto Official Plan. In Vancouver, public art is funded both and incredibly successful self-service bicycle transit through an annual allocation from City Council and a Percent for Art system called Velib. Parisians have mastered the bike requirement of eligible private developments. share program, where people can grab a bike and Winnipeg Arts Council’s manager of public art, Tricia Wasney, ride to another station for as little as one Euro. The would like to see a varied approach to art funding in Winnipeg. original plan was to cut down on congestion in the city Percent for Art in addition to the already-existing annual base via discouraging vehicular traffic, but of course the allocation would be ideal, she said. side effects are many: affordable transportation, better “If there were Percent for Art [policies] then you know the health, tight abs and strong calves. amount would fluctuate, but if you had a base amount you could pay Bike rental stations aren’t unique to Paris, for the running of the program. For me that would be the best-case however. In Copenhagen, the bikes are all painted white scenario,” said Wasney. and fitted with advertising to offset the costs of repairs. In Denver Colorado, the bikes are donated and painted a checker pattern; inner-city “It’s important to have the private sector involved, too, but I youth programs perform all the repairs. Minneapolis started one of the first bike swap programs in the United States in the late ‘90s. Their think art’s one of the things the city should invest in as a public bikes were donated, painted yellow, and eventually the program received funding from the city. Theft and vandalism are always a concern, amenity.” but programs have worked around this with card systems, coin locks, and other innovative ways to prevent the bikes from going missing. Already Winnipeg’s public art program has completed some In Kingston, Ontario there is a uniform key, and one key costs $5 and opens every lock. successful projects; the Vimy Ridge Memorial Park Table of Contents Montreal has recently started one of the largest self-serve bicycle rentals in North America, according to the Gazette. The project will and Millennium Library’s The Illumination. be city-run and have local designers and artists design the bikes and the stands. Montrealers should expect to see a few thousand bikes In the works are artist-designed bike racks for Broadway swarm their city by September 2008. Avenue, a sculpture for Assiniboine Park, and artist-designed transit This idea was attempted in Winnipeg under the name the White Bike Program in the early ‘90s, though little progress has been made shelters for the U of W. since the program disbanded shortly after, having had most of its donated bikes stolen or vandalized. Public art builds and enriches communities. A Percent for Art But just think how great it would be to jump on a bike and get from the Exchange to the Village for a dollar, and then leave it there strategy would help Winnipeg’s public art collection grow. for someone else to use. People from out of town can explore the city for very cheap. Some seasonal interruptions would have to be considered, but we can’t let the weather here hold us back—not here, not now, not ever! So what else does Paris have that Winnipeg doesn’t? Over 371 km of cycling lanes. We’re going to have to work on that. April 3, 2008 The Uniter contact: [email protected] 16 arts & culture

Ar t s & Cu l t u r e Ed i t o r : Wh i t n e y Li g h t Arts & Culture E-m a i l : a r t s @u n i t e r .c a Settling into the mystery teaches me as well.” He points to “Faith the Bow” from his first Matt Epp latest disc as an example. The song, which deals with Christian themes, has resonated so deeply with a friend of his who practices Buddhism that she CD hinges on got the refrain, “Knowledge the arrow, faith the bow” tattooed on her arm. faith, friends, “It’s just a testimony to the idea that connecting with people is the most important thing,” Epp said. and connections DeNatale has witnessed the connections Epp has made, and describes him as gracious and Aaron Epp humble. Volunteer Staff “Matt does his music 100 per cent,” DeNa- tale said, “meaning if he’s trying to make a con- nection [with the audience], it’s Matt the musi- hy Winnipeg singer-songwriter cian, but at the same time, it’s Matt the person.” Matt Epp chose to title his 2005 Matt Epp releases Orphan Horse at the WECC on April 9. Dan Donahue, who has worked with Epp debut You’ll Find Me Alone is a mys- on all three CDs, agrees. Wtery, because it’s unlikely there’s a musician in the Instead he turned to solo acoustic mate- ate 10 tracks that sound simultaneously classic “Amongst his peers, Matt is highly re- city with more friends and acquaintances. rial like “She’s High Water” and “My Love Will and new. spected,” Donahue said. “I’m not just limiting When it came time to record 2006’s Love Come.” Both songs appear on Epp’s latest CD, Lyrically, the disc covers similar territory as that to a musical perspective. His whole persona, in Such Strong Words, Gilles Fournier, Dan Orphan Horse, which he’ll release Wednesday his previous efforts: faith and relationships. God and his devotion to the way he lives his life. . . Frechette, Kristjanna Oleson, Ron Halldorson night at the West End Cultural Centre. and girls always seem to be on Epp’s mind, and Matt’s the real thing.” and members of The Duhks, The Waking Eyes “I know this album is more like me than nowhere is that more apparent than on “Sophia,” Now that Orphan Horse is ready to be re- and Twilight Hotel were just some of the people anything has been before,” Epp said, sipping a in which the titular character commits suicide leased, Epp is looking forward to touring—and who showed up to help. The assembled cast of pint of Fort Garry Dark. Recorded live-off-the after her lover leaves her, and “Love is a Camel,” making more friends and connections. musicians filled out Epp’s folk sound, creating a floor in five hours this past December, Orphan in which Epp sings, “The prairie ocean was whip- “At my shows I usually share what’s on my disc more musically diverse than his first. Horse captures the essence of Epp’s live show: ping the beach without mercy / And ‘Oh my God heart,” Epp said. Sometimes that means saying While the 27-year-old is grateful for the just him, singing and playing the guitar and how great thou art’ was all that I could say.” a lot, and sometimes that means saying nothing contributions his friends made, he admits now harmonica. “My faith infects everything in my life, but at all—it depends on what he’s sensing from the that he was “hiding behind a lot of stuff” on San Francisco-based singer-songwriter (and it’s not like I have an agenda,” said Epp, who be- crowd. that album. He thought performances by better- Epp confidante) Jesse DeNatale describes it as an came a Christian around the same time he started “Music is mysterious,” Epp concluded. known musicians would equal more listeners. album “where Frank Sinatra meets Ryan Adams playing music just over five years ago. He doesn’t “Doing this whole thing is a mystery.” He was wrong. When it came time to tour, Epp and walks with Sam Cooke to Woody Guthrie’s pretend to have all the answers, and he certainly See Matt Epp at the West End Cultural Centre on couldn’t play most of the songs because he didn’t house.” It’s an apt description, as Epp manages doesn’t aim to evangelize. “It’s about connecting Apr. 9 with guests Kerri Woelke and Brian James. have a full band with him. to tap into a variety of musical traditions to cre- with people’s hearts, and writing something that Visit www.myspace.com/mattepp. T-Tigers, toasters, flowers and fistfights keeping up with themselves. Aaron Epp “They’re constantly writing music that’s be- Volunteer staff Mahogany Frog get yond their ability,” Petkau said. “It forces them to become better players—to let their hands catch up with their brains.” esse Warkentin hoped to be famous by now. moody on Do 5 But as much as they challenge their musi- Growing up listening to Smashing cal limits, Warkentin said the band tries to write Pumpkins and Nirvana, he had high expec- songs that audiences will be able to relate to and tationsJ when he formed Mahogany Frog with connect with emotionally. Graham Epp in 1998. “The actual melodies we’re playing are sup- “We had grand ideas of being rock stars and posed to be catchy,” he said. “When we orches- playing music that everyone loved. Then we lis- trate the songs, we’re trying to make it a lush, tened to jazz,” said Warkentin, 28, drinking beer palatable experience.” in an Osborne Village bar. Mahogany Frog is currently on a Canadian “If we had never heard jazz, I bet we’d be tour promoting Do 5. Ten years after starting the famous by now.” band, Warkentin isn’t concerned about whether Hearing jazz inspired the instrumental or not their music will ever make them famous. quartet—which in addition to Warkentin and “We just want to be involved with music,” Epp on guitars and keyboards also includes Scott he said, “and be surrounded and inspired by peo- Ellenberger on bass and trumpet, and JP Perron album was recorded in seven months at Win- rips them out of your hand and punches you in ple and bands we respect.” on drums—to incorporate new sounds into the nipeg’s MCM Studio. The relaxed recording the face.” psychedelic rock they started off playing. schedule and unique environment, which is usu- Most musicians he knows wouldn’t be able See Mahogany Frog at the West End Cultural Cen- The addition of jazz, lounge, prog and elec- ally used to record acoustic and choral music, al- to keep up with the band in terms of both musi- tre on April 27 with guests The Hummers and Slat- tronic elements resulted in a sound uniquely lowed the band to experiment with different mic cal chops and songwriting creativity, Petkau said. tern. Visit www.mahoganyfrog.com. theirs. The band releases its latest CD,Mahogany set-ups and amplification techniques. The guys in Mahogany Frog even have trouble Frog Do 5, at the West End Cultural Centre on The resulting 47-minute, nine-song disc April 27. kicks off with “G.M.F.T.P.O.,” a brief rocker As its title suggests, Do 5 is the band’s fifth with a crushing, triumphant gallop that disin- release. Their third, 2004’s Mahogany Frog Vs. tegrates into feedback. “Last Stand at Fisher Mabus, was a one-hour affair consisting of five Farm” is a prog-rock spaghetti western score, and complex, experimental songs. The follow-up, “Demon Jigging Spoon” is a loungey rocker built 2005’s Mahogany Frog on Blue, featured songs around Warkentin and Epp’s ever-present analog that were faster, shorter and more concentrated. keyboards. Do 5 lands somewhere in between. The highlight, however, is “T-Tigers & “Vs. Mabus was an experiment in compo- Toasters,” an 11-minute track that seesaws be- sition,” Warkentin said, noting the band has tween haunting, ambient passages and guitar- “boiled down” its sound in recent years. “With driven, fuzz-infused freak-outs. On Blue, we said, `Screw it, we want to be heavy “They’re quite capable of writing very beau- and we want to rock.’ On Do 5, we found a me- tiful music, but they’re also quite happy to jump dian. It’s still heavy, but we were able to saturate on you with feedback and noise,” said Mike the sound a lot more.” Petkau, who produced, recorded and mixed Do Saturated, lush, tight, explosive—these are 5 and also worked on the band’s last two discs. all words Warkentin uses to describe Do 5. The “It’s like the album gives you flowers, and then Ar t s Ed i t o r : Wh i t n e y Li g h t contact: [email protected] The Uniter April 3, 2008 E-m a i l : a r t s @u n i t e r .c a arts & culture 17

The Uniter Fashion Streeter is an ongoing documentation of creative fashion in Winnipeg TH inspired by the Helsinki fashion blog www.hel-looks.com. Each week will feature a new FESTIVAL STARTS APRIL 9 ! look from our city’s streets and bars in an attempt to encourage individual expression and celebrate that you are really, really good looking. Want to show off your style? Contact [email protected]

7FH?B/#')"(&&.7FH?B/#')"(&&. JIE<B7K=>J;H 7EKI;E<9EC;:O mmm$m_dd_f[]Yec[Zo\[ij_lWb$Yec J^[i[I^emi WdZEj^[hiEdbo J>;:;87J;HI  '(9EC?9I?D7 '/$/+ I?D=B;I>EM Ida 9EC?9I:;87J;M?J> “I don’t sew, >eij[ZXo0 79EC8?D7J?EDE< I just cut until IJ;L;F7JJ;HIED <79J7D:

AL J>;:7HA7D:IJEHCOI>EM T AN H

EKHNNNH7J;:I>EM$7BM7OIJ?J?BB7J?D=" C eij[ZXo0 C?A;M?BCEJ w J>;?CFHEL IKF;HIJ7HII>EM ?CFHELIKF;HIJ7HIHEC7D:7DOBE 7D:J;H;I7F7LB?D;A7H;@E?D;: <[Wjkh_d]0 EDIJ7=;M?J>IJ;BB7HBE97BJ7B;DJ HEC7D:7DOBE ;#9K<<;L;D?D=M>;H; 7DOJ>?D=97D>7FF;D J>;H;7IED78B; 799ECCE:7J?EDF7D;B J>;:;I?I>EM (EMI7J;7IJ?D:?7D7D: IEKJ>7I?7D9EC;:O?IJ>; <[Wjkh_d]0 8?==;IJJ>?D=I?D9;8EBBOMEE:$ I78H?D7@7B;;I Are you feeling lucky? =[j(&e\\j^[i[]h[Wj\[ij_lWbi^emi m^[doekki[j^[YeZ[ÇbkYaokd_ÈWj mmm$j_Ya[jcWij[h$YWeh-.&#))))$LWb_Zj^hk7fh$.$

J^[ NAprilovember 3, 2008 1, 2007 The Uniter contact: [email protected] 01818 SEARCTSTIO & NCULTURE cd REviews ARTS BriefS Compiled by ADAM GREEN PANIC AT THE DISCO GENGHIS TRON Pretty. Odd. Jo Snyder Sixes & Sevens Board Up the House Rough Trade Decaydance Relapse Records

Getting Axl to give it up ain’t easy, baby Measured over the The boys formally known as After the android uprising of 2079 Now if there are contemporary Guns course of his discog- Panic! At the Disco have fi- this album will serve as the global N’ Roses fans left on the planet (meaning raphy, Adam Green’s nally become men. In addi- anthem for our robotic overlords. those who liked The Spaghetti Incident?), albums display a tion to dropping the signa- Perhaps not, but a boy can dream then there is no doubt some demand for the impending Chinese Democracy. Ten years in changing listenabil- ture “!” in their name, the can’t he? Genghis Tron have suc- the making, the illusive album was scheduled ity level that follows the band has traded in their cessfully honed their demented to be out March 2007. Maybe Axl wanted to trajectory of an inverse Palahniuk-inspired lyrics cybergrind sound to neck-break- wait for the Olympics to debut his potentially parabolic curve. His first two records (self-titled and and Moulin Rouge-like theatrics for ‘60s inspired attire ing perfection on this, their sophomore record. Stylistically, political effort, but either way the fine folks at and flower power. Gone are lyrics laced with pop cul- Dr. Pepper aren’t having any of it. According to Garfield) are amateurish and unrefined. His next two Board Up the House is very similar to the Crystal Castles-meets- Yahoo! News, the soft drink company pledges (Friends of Mine and Gemstones) are fantastic anti- ture references. In their place are lyrics about march- Dillinger Escape Plan sound they introduced on their debut LP to give everyone in America one free can of folk/pop masterpieces. His most recent two (Jacket ing bands and moons, lots and lots of moons. Gone is the Dead Mountain Mouth. Qualitatively, it’s a vast improvement. soda if the album is released by the end of Full of Danger and Sixes & Sevens) are overblown synth-and-electronic-loaded instrumentation. Instead The production is crisper, the hooks are stronger, and the songs 2008. They want that record, and they want we’re given stripped-down acoustic guitar, horns, fiddles, it now! Axl released a statement on the Guns and pretentious. Interestingly enough, the amount of are more melodically focused. The vocals alternate between N’ Roses official web site saying that he was crude humour in Green’s songs follows an inversely probably an oboe or two, and other peculiar wind instru- throat-searing shrieks and clean singing that’s reminiscent of surprised and happy to have the support of Dr. proportional line, whereas the complexity and amount ments. As a result, their sophomore album is an overzeal- Maynard James Keenan (Tool). Although this formula has been Pepper and that, as far as he knew, it wasn’t of embellishment in his songs follows a directly pro- ous throwback to a long forgotten era, 15 tracks desper- used ad nauseam by countless hardcore and metalcore bands a gimmick by their management. But still, no portional line. Where these two lines intersect is also ately searching for a sense of coherence. Love them or before them, Genghis Tron manage to make it sound fresh and date set. There is some speculation that Slash can’t have any of the free Dr. Pepper. the apex of the aforementioned listenability curve. We hate them, Panic at the Disco wrote a one-of-a-kind first unique. Make no mistake about it, folks: this ain’t no easy listen- can therefore conclude that too much or too little of record that many bands won’t ever write in their career. ing bullshit. This is challenging experimental music with wacky New Comedy Network show both crude humour and embellishment will be detri- After showing such promise, Pretty. Odd. is an album that time signatures galore and evil intentions. Nonetheless, if you set to shoot in the city mental to a record’s listenability quotient. Solve for x. will undoubtedly have 15-year-old fangirls (and, admit- have enough patience, the spastic, inhuman, atonal aggression House Party is a new show by Winnipeg —Rob McGregor tedly, this 20-year-old fanboy) wondering if this is all found here will eventually transubstantiate into awe-inspiring talent and it started shooting last week. There some sort of joke. will be six episodes, each one following a 2.5 out of 5 magnificence. Let this album function as your gateway drug into different character through their personal —Matt Preprost the avant-garde soundscape. experience at a particular house party. Maybe —Rob McGregor it’s like the way viewers have to follow the characters on Lost around, but funnier and with more beer drinking and fewer plane crashes and confusing inter-mysterious- Man Man island-alliance politics. Winnipeg comedy Rabbit Habits Malcolm Bauld BROCK TYLER staples Sarah Constible and Matt Kippen write Anti- the show. You may remember Constible from Covered in Dust Unclosing the oft-hilarious Royal Liechtenstein Comedy Anti- is the right label for Art of the Underground Records Independent Theatre. these hipsters if for no For fans of Billy Bragg Singer-songwriters are so common other reason than they Bringing the mix tape back, and Joe Strummer, that one can’t help but wonder if it’s get to be label mates and making it better Malcolm Bauld is all been done before. With Unclosing, Well you can decide for yourself if you with Tom Waits. This the man for you. Edmonton’s Brock Tyler hardly makes think it’s better, but a new way of sharing your record often congers favourite tunes with friends is lighting up the But there is more to a case to argue against this state- up images of the eccen- Internet. Muxtape is a site that allows users to the Montreal-based ment. He borrows from Ben Gibbard, tric musician with tunes like “The Ballad of Buttered upload mp3s and create mix tapes. You can singer song-writer Sufjan Stevens, and many others organize your songs by dragging them around Beans,” but even more so with gravelly bar songs like than sweet folk tunes with a sharp edge. Malcolm’s who have come before him throughout this 11-song disc. Still, it’s and then send the link to all of your friends. “Big Trouble.” Man Man are one of those spectacular hard to resist a CD that was made with such care. That’s not to say it Probably to avoid any copyright action, the most recent effort, Covered in Dust is almost an ep- groups that cross the lines between being in a band songs can’t be downloaded. The site is still in ilogue on one of the greatest, and most under ap- sounds laboured or forced. Rather, it means that from the sweet love and scoring some sort of flamboyant musical com- its early stages, so likely it will only get better. preciated bands in Canada, The Frenetics. It’s a songs, to the ornate production, to the screen-printed CD packaging, plete with stilts, a piano, whiskey, hussies, and maybe This is not for the mix tape purist, however. toned down version of his former musical pursuits, Unclosing is the work of someone who took the time to fully realize his What used to make a mix tape was the labour- a little monkey. Maybe they’re a carnival of a band. vision. Tyler wrote, recorded and performed everything himself, aug- but with every thing that makes him Malcolm Bauld intensive time it took to transfer all the songs, Other stand out tracks are “Top Drawer” and “Mister menting his nearly-whispered tenor and gently strummed acoustic handwrite the song titles (colour coded for in tact: his extremely strong vocal melodies, expert Jung Stuffed.” This record, if you don’t already have guitar with drums, bass, banjo, claves, bells and the occasional horn genre, and possibly with small hearts beside musicianship, and sensible arrangements. With ADD, makes it impossible to sit still, as most great re- part. Standout tracks include “It Will All Come Right,” “The Devil’s on the saucily suggestive ones), and the sheer over a decade of musical experience under his belt, delight of giving it to your love interest, cords should. Horseback,” and “Hangman,” in which he uses the children’s game as Bauld brings us the energetic peaks of songs like hoping intensely that they would find the —Jo Snyder a metaphor for the breakdown in communication between two lovers. “Charity” and the thoughtful valleys of ballads like deeper meaning in every song and love them It’s hard to say sometimes when a singer-songwriter’s doing just a just as much. But, I don’t know, a link in your “The Night I searched for You.” The album features little too much soul-baring, but Tyler seems to have found the balance. email is pretty cool too. guest appearances from members of Snailhouse, Catch the Winnipeg expat live when he plays at Canadian Mennonite The Sainte Catherines, and the Statues. University on April 27. —Jo Snyder —Aaron Epp 95.9 FM CKUW Campus/Community Radio Top 10 CD – Albums March 26 - April 1, 2008 ! = Local content * = Canadian Content RE=Re Entry NE = New Entry LW TW Artist Recording label

2 1 *Jason Collett here’s to Being Here arts and Crafts 15 2 Various Artists Juno OST Rhino 3 3 *Black Mountain in the Future Scratch 5 4 !Gorgon Corpse Whale Transistor 66 11 5 !Jana Ting/Aiza Luna Jade & Pearl Independent 6 6 Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend XL 16 7 !Oldfolks Home We are the Feeding Line independent 10 8 Eat It’s Not the Eat… alternative Tentacles 7 9 Buzzcocks 30 Cooking Vinyl 8 10 !Various Artists Unity: A Tribute to Desmond Dekker Bacteria Buffet Ar t s & Cu l t u r e Ed i t o r : Wh i t n e y Li g h t contact: [email protected] The Uniter FNebruaryovemberApril 28, 3,1, 20082007 E-m a i l : a r t s @u n i t e r .c a ARTS & CULSECTTURIONE 19

After a brief Back on track breakup, Moments of Brilliance

Matt Preprost ready to release Volunteer staff their third EP

ocal pop-punk act Moments But while some bands would see of Brilliance hope their strong this as a disadvantage, Tennant sees it friendships and melodic style as an advantage. “It definitely allows Lcan launch them out of the local music us to stand out more,” he said. scene and into the bigger spotlight. Currently, the band has just fin- Together since 2004, their soph- ished recording a so far unnamed third omore year in high school, the band EP, a record described by the band as is Krys Tennant (guitar, vocals), Jared sounding like “Paramore, except with Alderson (guitar, lead vocals), Ste- a male singer.” ven Foster (bass) and Brendan Scott Produced by two-time Juno (drums). The four best friends have Award winner Brandon Friesen (who come a long way since playing cov- has worked with artists like Nickel- ers of AFI and The All-American back, Chantal Kreviazuk, and Come- Rejects. To date, they’ve released two back Kid), the band will be working EPs—which together have sold over Left to right Moments of Brilliance are Steven Foster, Brendan Scott, Krys Tennant, Jared Alderson hard to promote their new work this 1,500 copies—and have refined an summer by touring across Canada. edgy pop-punk sound composed of ferent projects, we realized how much So you can’t argue that Win- a definitive niche with their pop-punk The CD release is scheduled for May heavy rhythms and infectiously catchy we missed each other and playing to- nipeg hasn’t embraced Moments of sound. 24 at West End Cultural Centre. hooks, brought together by lyrics that gether as Moments of Brilliance.” Brilliance as one of its own. In fact, “It can be difficult to find shows range from hopelessly hopeful to bril- After a few months, the band re- the reception the band has received [in Winnipeg],” said Foster. “With the Check out Moments of Brilliance at the liantly bitter. grouped. “We worked some issues out has been overwhelming, both locally shows that we can get on, it’s hard for Ellice Theatre on April 18, and at Label Their first EP, boys.in.rehab., was between each other and started hang- and internationally. They’re pushing us to be accepted, because we are the Gallery on April 27. Visit www.mys- released in 2005. Their song “Prom- ing out more often, which solidified 14,000 friends on MySpace. odd band out.” pace.com/momentsofbrilliance ise” earned a rotation spot on Power our friendships,” said Tennant. “That’s In a local 97 and made it onto the River City when we started to take ourselves more scene full of Rawk Show compilation album the seriously as a band.” hardcore and same year. But then the band broke Described as a “collage” of songs screamo-in- up. Sort of. and styles, Dispatch Reverb was re- fluenced acts, They’re a little “We weren’t jamming and were leased to a sold out crowd at the West however, the hardly hanging out,” Scott recalled. End Cultural Centre in December of band has found “But after awhile, and playing in dif- 2006. it tough to find bit country mental to pop to arcade-metal solos to folk to beat-boxing guitar ripping rock,” said Wynd. Local band Raised in rural Manitoba, the countryside has left a deep impression on the band. Perse connects “Having a rural background, we feel a con- nection to that ideology,” said Wynd. “There is something beautiful about living and working to the soil, with the land. In the city I find that there is a definite separation between life and land. There keeps the rock are plenty of excellent things about urban life to connect to but I think it is important to hold on to the notions of growing your own food and connecting with the earth. One of the most spe- Jo Snyder and Whitney Light cific examples of this in our music is the song “Garden” on our upcoming EP. It is about a love erse (pronounced just like purse) is made of the city but a constant conflict between living up of four young men (David Bryan here and needing to be able to live in the coun- on guitars/vocals, Aaron Johnston on try and garden.” Pguitars/vocals/drums, Robin Bryan on drums/ An EP release is expected some time in vocals/guitars, and Eryn Wynd on bass/vocals). June. It’ll be titled Power Lines and Pigeons, Prai- They are all capable singer-songwriters in their ries and Pastures. After that the band will head own right, but since 2006 they’ve been writing out East for a fall tour. songs together, experimenting with genres, and You can catch the band at the Crescent in a sense, covering all their bases. Fort Rouge United Church on April 4 playing “Our music ranges from ambient-instru- with Ian La Rue and the Condor.

See Perse live at Crescent Fort Rouge United Church on April 4. Ar t s & Cu l t u r e Ed i t o r : Wh i t n e y Li g h t April 3, 2008 The Uniter contact: [email protected] E-m a i l : a r t s @u n i t e r .c a 20 ARTS & CULTURE c theatre REview o lin vandenberg

Having Hope at Home PTE season closes Prairie Theatre Exchange March 27-April 13 with a heartfelt Graça Resendes family story Volunteer staff

irected by PTE artistic director Rob- ert Metcalfe, Having Hope at Home follows a family who have forgotten whatD it means to function as individuals, and as a community. Playwright David S. Craig, who has been praised by NOW Magazine as “one of the top twenty playwrights in Canada,” tells with humour what it’s like to want our “children to turn out better than [we] did.” You won’t be disappointed if you find your way to Prairie Theatre Exchange’s final show of the season. It’s an amusing and witty comedy of hope and renewal and the journey is filled with so much laughter that it will move you to tears. The Bingham family congregate at Grandpa Russell’s (Reg Dreger) farmhouse as granddaughter Carolyn (Mairi Babb) nears her due date in Having Having Hope reminds us of family quirks that Hope at Home. may drive us crazy but that we also love, even if we’re not ready to admit it. This is a play for of Russell’s urban professional son Bill (John B. Franco-Manitoban actor Gabriel Gosselin The baby’s arrival hastens reconcili- anyone who has a family. Lowe) and daughter-in-law Jane (Terri Cher- plays Michel with a romantic side. He’s a Quebe- ations between Russell and Bill, Bill and The Bingham family is getting ready to wel- niak). It’s a story of clashing ideas and clashing cois farmer supporting his partner while working Carolyn, Michel and Bill, Jane and Dawn, come their newest arrival. But there’s lots to be tempers. out issues with his own family by moving safely Carolyn and Jane, and Bill and Jane. Each done before the stubborn, rebellious, and nine- University of Winnipeg alumnus Terri a province away. He still finds himself, however, contraction pushes the individuals to say what months pregnant Carolyn (Mairi Babb) can set Cherniak is vibrant as a reserved, level-headed, in a minefield of family dramatics. He tries to they have to say. There’s hope that their vulner- the stage for her disapproving parents to become expectant grandmother who loses it: Jane butts avoid Jane’s probing questions and passionately ability will lead each to come out of isolation. “the loving grandparents” she dreams they’ll be. heads with midwife Dawn (Jan Skene), fearing stands up to Bill to prove his love and devotion Capturing the hard parts of family life, Having The setting is Grandpa Russell Bingham’s (Reg she may be the mother Carolyn always wanted. to Carolyn. Hope at Home reveals that the chaos and dysfunc- Dreger) drafty yet cozy farmhouse, where his Bill’s clash with Dawn is professional: as The mischief-making grandfather, cleverly tion of the Bingham family is underlined by love. granddaughter Carolyn and her francophone head of gynecology, he fears for the safety of his acted by Reg Dreger, leads the others toward the As physical and emotional distances are bridged, partner Michel Charbonneau (Gabriel Gosselin) daughter and grandchild at the “hands” of the respect, tradition, and family that all the charac- each character explores who they are, where they live. They’re preparing for the long overdue visit midwife in the unsterile farmhouse. ters long for. come from, and where they are going.

Local Soap Scum Soap on stage theatre troupe offer melodrama with Kathleen Gallagher Volunteer staff a dose of improv

t a conventional improv but the scenes themselves are left up such spontaneous moments but stop show, the actors are on to the actors. Nonetheless, it’s a per- the scene when it’s lost momentum. a blank stage, wearing formance best described as collab- And seeing as it is a soap opera, theirA street clothes and creating char- orative, as the colourful atmosphere the humour does not inhibit the acters and situations as they go. Space is punched up by the brilliant mo- melodrama. There’s silver makeup Quest defies this. In this improvised ments only good improv can create. and dedication to smath, yes, but soap opera, which plays every Mon- “I say math smath! Smathematics is there is also love, heartbreak and ha- day at 8:00 p.m. at Park Theatre, the the true universal language!” Scott tred. Here’s an unknown gem in Win- actors have prepared characters and Cranwill declared as former evil ge- nipeg theatre, available to you every costumes and a continuous storyline. nius Milk. Apostle’s job is to keep Monday night. A musician/narrator and techni- cian heighten the action. A director guides the story. This is unlike any other theatre in Winnipeg. Space Quest was conceived by c one of its actors, Peter Nadolny. Last o lin vandenberg year, Nadolny created Soap Scum, the production company behind the show. “Soap Scum was created with the intention that in every season each character would have a continu- lost his body to evil genius the Black them an offer at the top of the scene, ing storyline and each season would Hand (Montebruno), a former evil which gives them something to drive be completely different,” said actor genius (Cranwill), and a tough chick forward the scene with.” Chantel Marostica. named Talya (Gillespie). Each wears The narrator announces which Last season the cast, which also an elaborate and humorous costume characters are about to enter a scene includes Yanin Gillespie, Scott Cran- and is accompanied by a personalized and why it is they are talking to each will, Cory Wojcik and Davide Monte- theme song performed by musician/ other. bruno, were guests and crewmembers narrator Tim Cranwill. “The director is able to be of a cruise boat. This year they are This season there’s also a direc- the eyes and ears of the audi- members of the Space Quest team. tor, Randy Apostle. ence. He knows when it’s time The crew consists of a zombie “The director guides the mad- to end a scene better than the ac- (Nadolny), a sexbot (Marostica), a ness,” said Marostica. “He puts char- tors do,” Marostica explained. warrior ape (Wojcik), a professor who acters in scenes together, and gives Apostle may act as the guiding hand, Ar t s & Cu l t u r e Ed i t o r : Wh i t n e y Li g h t contact: [email protected] The Uniter April 3, 2008 E-m a i l : a r t s @u n i t e r .c a arts & culture 21 c Jump start on the arts o lin vandenberg Conrad Sweatman “The more people who are trained in our Volunteer Staff arts and cultural industries, the stronger the sec- tor grows. The stronger the sector, the more jobs will be available to youth entering the field,” she new arts mentorship program for 16 to said. 24-year-olds launched last November was A few mentees admit, however, that their positively received by the aspiring artists involvement in the program has led them to andA cultural workers who participated. The Arts question whether a successful career in the arts and Cultural Industries Association of Manitoba might be less attainable in Winnipeg than in helps youth get experience in either the creative, other major Canadian cities. technical, or administrative aspects of an artistic “I have realized that there are more opportu- discipline. Selected participants attend monthly nities than I first assumed, but not as many as in workshops and are matched up with a mentor a larger city like Toronto, which not only would who aids them in work on a specific project or at have a larger demand for more stations but more an arts organization. In recent interviews, ment- finances to pay reporters,” said Bibo. ees expressed almost unanimously their satisfac- Mentees in other disciplines feel confident tion with the program. that the province offers both the resources and “I feel the program has not only been a suc- the creative support to develop a successful ca- cess up to this point but an eye-opening expe- reer. “I definitely think that I could follow this rience,” said Amanda Bibo, who is interning in discipline into a professional career within the broadcasting at Shaw TV with mentor Joanne province,” said Kathleen Hiley, a contemporary Kelly. dancer interning in dance administration at In addition to helping its participants cul- Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers. “Manitoba tivate career skills, the program provides an in- has a wonderful dance community.” troduction to the local arts community and the “I generally believe that Manitoba is a vi- opportunity to network with some of its players. able place to succeed in the arts. Arts grants in Sasha Amaya, who interns in administration at Manitoba seem relatively accessible,” said Justine the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and helped Kelly, who worked as an administrator at the conduct panel discussions at this year’s New bilingual offices of Freeze Frame. “I view Mani- New Music Festival, said she feels “lucky just to be toba’s bilingualism and multiculturalism as an able to meet the people I do and be in the atmo- advantage as well, as people are perhaps more mentorship sphere of a symphony orchestra.” welcoming to different ideas and perspectives, The program is the only multi-disciplinary which is what art is all about.” program a mentorship program in Manitoba and receives In addition to the above mentioned men- its funding from the provincial government. Ac- torships, this year’s program included opportu- success, say cording to program coordinator Talia Pura, the nities in music production, music composition, province has backed it in hopes that by providing fine arts, and writing. Individuals interested in participants aspiring artists, technicians, and arts administra- proposing a mentorship and participating in next tors with opportunities and training in their field, year’s program should go to www.creativemani- they will not feel they have to leave the province toba.ca. Information about next year’s program to pursue a career. will be available on the website in June. Kathleen Hiley (above) is a contemporary dancer interning at WCD. Art does a community good Many community members have participated in footprints—that was like 20 years ago. And they WITH ART public art project made all the this project, including staff and students of El- were like, `I bring my kids there and show them wick Community School and Maples Collegiate, what I did.’ So that idea is kind of what I’m tell- difference for Elwick Community Centre families, parents, children and senior citizens. ing the kids [at Elwick]—they can come back “It took awhile for people to start coming here in 10 years time and bring their kids.” Winnipeg Arts Council—recently pointed out out and bringing the kids. But once people heard Melman Komar pointed out the new level Kelly Nickie that many civic benefits can come from public more about the project, they liked it a lot and of community respect from local youth. Helping Volunteer staff spending on the arts. started to come out to the community centre,” to make the mosaics “has made the youth respect Not only does art beautify a space, but it said Melman Komar. the art… They realize that they do not want to can bring civic pride as well. This happened to Jana McKee, community connector at El- ruin it with graffiti because it is something im- he local arts community lost its battle great effect at Elwick, located in the Maples at wick Community Centre, explained the enor- portant that they put the time and effort in. It with the city last week when the 2008 30 Maberley Road. Local artist Dimitry Melman mous difference the project has made in the com- brings a sense of pride.” operating budget cut public art funding Komar wanted to help revitalize the community munity: “The project has been an opportunity for Melman Komar also voiced one of the fromT $500,000 to a mere $100,000. and its old, rundown community centre that had the adults to have candid conversations about the most important messages as to why public art is Mayor Sam Katz warned that without fund- been shut down for 12 years. community, their issues and concerns. Amongst important. ing cuts, he would be forced to end an 11-year “Some people didn’t even know that this was the youth, they were happy to have somewhere “I’ve been an artist for most of my life and freeze on property taxes in the next budget. The a community centre,” he said. “Once the mosaics to go. Our children and families don’t have the for kids to come out and create art, it brings ev- news of the arts cut has disappointed many art- are done, it’s going to brighten things up.” resources—transportation, financial—to go erybody together to voice their views—through ists and community members. The participants He came up with the idea to create colorful much farther than two or three blocks.” paint, or tile—that will eventually come together of the WITH ART public art project at Elwick mosaic tiles to decorate the outside of the centre. McKee also said the project will have some as one. It’s about sharing as well, it’s about people Community Centre—which was funded by the relevance for the future for those involved. coming together and communicating on each “I remember running into someone who other’s art. Whether it’s mosaic or any other form was part of the zoo when they did the hands and of art, it brings symbolism.” Jana McKee

Students work on the WITH ART mosaic project at Elwick Community Centre. The project was funded through the Winnipeg Arts Council and artist Dimitry Melman Komar worked with the community to realize the mosaics, which will eventually cover the exterior of the Centre. April 3, 2008 The Uniter contact: [email protected] Want to submit your listing to Uniter Listings? Email your listings to [email protected] Listings Co o r d i n a t o r : Kr i s t i n e As k h o l m E-m a i l : Listings@u n i t e r .c a Deadline for submissions is Wednesday, eight days before the issue you’d like your Ph o n e : 786-9497 @ listing to first appear in. The Uniter publishes on Thursdays, 25 times a year. 22 LISTINGS uniter.ca Fa x : 783-7080 »ON CAMPUS ANAK CONVERSATIONAL TAGALOG WORKSHOPS Developed in coop- eration with the University of Hawai`i. Classes are suitable for those who OPPORTUNITIES do not have any Tagalog background or those who would like to practice some of their vocabulary. Thursdays in May from 6 - 8 p.m. $75 regis- EVENTS tration fee (includes four classes and materials) Email the University of BRIDGING THE GAP An innovative environmental learning program Winnipeg Filipino Students’ Association at [email protected] for more information. STUDENT CABARET. Will you read us a poem? Can you sing us a song? provides free full-day field trips for Grade Four students from Winni- Do you have any fancy steps you can show us? Can you do that thing peg’s School Division’s Inner-City School District. Students visit two of where you put the pennies on your elbow and then catch them in your Winnipeg’s largest, high quality natural areas-the Assiniboine Forest and KAPATID IN-SCHOOL MENTORSHIP PROGRAM Partnering university fist? 3-5 minute performances are ideal. The UW Department of English Living Prairie Museum. Students engage in curriculum based, hands-on students with Filipino new comer high school students as in-school invites students and alumni to a cabaret at The King’s Head Pub, 120 King learning activities and participate in initiatives that show respect, grati- mentors. Weekly Mon-Thurs from 4-5 p.m. Learn how to become St. (Exchange District). Mon, Apr 7. Show starts at 7 p.m. tude and appreciation of Manitoba’s natural environment. Bridging the eligible for the UWFSA Bursary. To volunteer email the University of Gap volunteers are invited to assist in a wide range of activities as part Winnipeg Filipino Students’ Association at [email protected] for more YCL WEEKLY MOVIES Come to room 2D11 (Duckworth, 2nd floor) of the University of Winnipeg’s Experiential Learning Program, Sustain- information. Thursdays at 7 p.m. E-mail [email protected] to add yourself able University Now, Sustainable Earth Together (SUNSET). Contact to notification list for movie details. Kate Dykman 789-1435.

Colin Vandenberg Photography »AROUND TOWN Art opening and Fundraiser.

CONCERTS April 18th at 62 Albert St. 3rd floor. 7:00 p.m. $5. The Crooked Brothers With poetry by Rachel Reimer-Vandenberg.

“Omand’s Creek”

at 6:30 p.m. for evening shows and at 1:30 p.m. for matinees. Tickets the Snake; Boyhood in Birnie & the Bush, 7 p.m. • Apr 17: Margaret $7 Gallery members, $9 adults, $8 seniors and students. Available in Shaw-MacKinnon, launch of The Beech Nut of Big Water Beach, 7 p.m. Apr 11 at the Folk Exchange person at the WAG and Ticketmaster 789-3333 or www.ticketmaster.ca • Apr 21: Theatre Night with Bruce McManus, 8 p.m.

CINEMATHEQUE 100 Arthur St. 925-3457 Apr 3: Wayne Newton’s MCNALLY ROBINSON POLO PARK Apr 7: Henry Kalen’s Manitoba, 7 THE GORGON With Search + Destroy, Calculus Affair and The Sweet Vegas Birthday Party, 9:30 p.m. • Apr 4-10: Days of Darkness, 7 p.m. p.m. • Apr 8: Wilma Derksen, launch of The Emerald Angel, 7 p.m. • Nothings. Thurs, Apr 3 at the Royal Albert Arms. Doors 10 p.m. • Apr 4-6: The Cool School, 9 p.m. • Apr 4 & 5: Viva, 11:30 p.m. • Apr Apr 9: Ariole K Alei, reading H.O.P.E. = Healing Ourselves and Planet 7-9: Blade Runner: The Final Cut, 9 p.m. • Apr 10: George Clinton: Tales Earth: A Blueprint for Personal and Collective Change, and presenting GEORGE JONES Apr 3 at the Burton Cummings Theatre. 7:30 p.m., of Dr. Funkenstein, 9:30 p.m. her first children’s book, Imagine This...A ‘Law of Attraction’ Book for tickets $55 and up at the door. Children, 7 p.m. • Apr 10: Carol Matas and Perry Nodelman, launch of GLOBE CINEMA Portage Place Now playing: Caramel; Funny Games; The Ghosthunters 1: The Proof that Ghosts Exist, 7 p.m. DJs MEN (JD Samson and Jo Fateman of LE TIGRE) w/ DJ Mama Cuts- The Counterfeiters. Call 69-GLOBE for details. worth and Tandem. Fri, Apr 4, 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Club Desire. Tickets $12 in THE WRITERS’ COLLECTIVE PRESENTS THE MARIE BARTON POST- advance at Mondragon, Into the Music, Music Trader, UW Info Booth, PARK THEATRE 698 Osborne St. 478-7275 Apr 6: Colombian Associa- CARD FICTION CONTEST Send us a postcard along with a story that re- $15 at the door tion presents Te Busco, 6:30 p.m. • Apr 9: CCPA Film Series presents I lates to the image. The relationship between the story and postcard can Know I’m Not Alone by Michael Franti, a musical journey through war be as tangential as you like, so long as there is some clear connection DAVID JALBERT, PIANIST Honouring the memory of the late Arthur and occupation in Iraq, Israel, and Palestine. 7 p.m., $5. to the image or place. All entries must include $5 entry fee; free to WC Rubinstein on the 25th anniversary of his death by performing great members. Stories must be original, unpublished works of fiction of 500 works by Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin and Liszt. Sun, Apr 6, 2 p.m. words or less. Contest open to everyone. For complete rules and prize at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (Muriel Richardson Auditorium). Tickets $25 information, visit our contest weblog: http://thewriterscollective.word- at the door (cash or cheque only), or at McNally Robinson Booksellers Days of Darkness press.com/ 2008/03/14/marie-barton-postcard-fiction-contest-2008 or (credit cards accepted). Student tickets $5 at the door only. email [email protected]. Contest closes Apr 8.

DOWNTOWN COFFEE GROUND Featuring Kayla Luky, The Magnificent, THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS / WRITERS’ COLLECTIVE 2008 SHORT Infinity. Apr 7, 7:30 p.m. at the Red Road Lodge 632 Main St. $6 at the FICTION CONTEST Stories must be original, unpublished works of door. fiction between 1000 and 1500 words. For complete contest rules as well as a printable entry form, please visit our contest weblog: http:// SEASONS FOR PEACE & NON-VIOLENCE ANNUAL WINNIPEG MUSI- thewriterscollective.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/contest-short-fiction- CIAN SHOWCASE Featuring Jaylene Johnson, Alexandre McGowan, JA 2008-in-association-with-the-winnipeg-free-press or email writerscol- Suss, Lindsey White, and more! Apr 8 at the Park Theatre 698 Osborne [email protected]. Contest closes Apr 8. St. Doors 7 p.m., show 7:30. Tickets $15, available by contacting SPAN at [email protected] or 788-4445 or at the Park Theatre. Proceeds to be donated to charity.

MATT EPP CD RELEASE With Kerri Woelke and Brian James. Apr 10, 8 p.m. at the WECC. Tickets $10 in advance, $12 door. Apr 4-6 at Cinematheque galleries THE CROOKED BROTHERS Apr 11 at the Folk Exchange. Doors 7 p.m., show 8. Tickets $5 in advance, $7 at the door.

CARIBOU w/ Fuck Buttons. Sun, Apr 13 at The Royal Albert Arms Hotel. “Winter Parking” Tickets $16.50 at www.ticketworkshop.com theatre, comedy & dance

HOUSE OF DOC CD RELEASE Fri, Apr 25 at the WECC. Doors 7:15, Show 8. Tickets $12 in advance @ Ticketmaster and WECC MANITOBA THEATRE CENTRE Until Apr 12: The Syringa Tree. Tickets MAHOGANY FROG CD RELEASE Sun, Apr 27 Doors 7:15 Show 8. Tick- $13 to $59.36. For show times and to buy tickets, call the MTC Box ets $10 in advance @ Ticketmaster, WECC, Into the Music and Music Office at 942-6537 or visit www.mtc.mb.ca Trader SOAP SCUM PRODUCTIONS presents Space Quest, an improvised space comedy on Mondays at the Park Theater 698 Osborne St. at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 and available at the door. FILM literary Janice Kenworthy at Gallery Lacosse 2008 WINNIPEG INERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL All films at the Berney Theatre, Asper Jewish Community Campus, 123 Doncaster St. Tickets are available by calling the Rady Jewish Community Centre COLIN VANDENBERG PHOTOGRAPHY Art opening and fundraiser. April at 477-7510 or on-line at www.radyjcc.com. Apr 3: The First Time I Was MCNALLY ROBINSON GRANT PARK Apr 4: Storytime with Curious 18th at 62 Albert St. 3rd floor, 7 p.m. With poetry reading by Rachel 20, 7:30 p.m. • Apr 5: Aviva My Love, 9:30 p.m. • Apr 6: Little Heroes, 2 George, 10 a.m. • Apr 8: Travel Talk by Travel Cuts about SWAP (Stu- Reimer-Vandenberg. $5 at the door. Additional viewing Sunday April p.m. The Rape of Europa, 7:30 p.m. • Apr 7: Praying With Lior, 7:30 p.m. dent Work Abroad Program), 8 p.m. • Apr 15: The Manitoba Historical 19th from 1-4 p.m. • Apr 8: Beaufort, 7:30 p.m. • Society - Short-listed authors for the 2008 Margaret McWilliams Award for historical writing will be presenting their nominated works, 7 p.m. • 2007 CANNES LIONS Best commercials from around the world. Until Apr 16: Arthur D. Stevens, launch of Tales of Apr 5 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Shows at 2, 7 and 9 p.m. Doors open CONTINUED» Listings Co o r d i n a t o r : Kr i s t i n e As k h o l m Want to submit your listing to Uniter Listings? Email your listings to [email protected] contact: [email protected] The Uniter April 3, 2008 E-m a i l : Listings@u n i t e r .c a Deadline for submissions is Wednesday, eight days before the issue you’d like your Ph o n e : 786-9497 listing to first appear in. The Uniter publishes on Thursdays, 25 times a year. @ Fa x : 783-7080 LISTINGS uniter.ca 23 AROUND TOWN (CON’T) » 9: Neal Pinto • Apr 10: Ash • Apr 11: The Nods • Apr 12: The Liptonians DENTS CLASS An opportunity to meet with other students and Canadian ACEARTINC 2nd floor, 290 McDermot Ave 944-9763. Until Apr 5: Re: tour kick off 9p.m. • Apr 14: Jeremy Williams friends while learning English and the Bible. Elim Chapel 546 Portage Location, featuring Boja Vasic/Vessna Perunovich (Toronto, ON) Scott Ave at Spence St. (enter from rear parking lot) Sundays noon-1:30 p.m. TIMES CHANGED HIGH AND LONESOME CLUB 234 Main St. Apr 3: Conarroe (London, ON). Gallery hours: Tues-Sat 12-5. For information call Val & Veda Chacko 257-1670. Burning Hell, Jenny Omnichord, Little Buddies • Apr 4: Ridley Bent and CRE8ERY 2nd floor 125 Adelaide St. “Embedded” Featuring work by: Grant Davidson • Apr 5: Sudbury Saturday Night feat. Andrew Neville Catherine Jordan; Juan Pablo Tovar and Bennie Peters (University of and the Poor Choices • Apr 11 & 12: The Swiftys CD Release • Jam Manitoba, School of Art) hosted by Big Dave Mclean every Sunday night volunteer opportunities GRAFFITI GALLERY 109 Higgins 667-9960. Opening Apr 3: Surface - A WEST END CULTURAL CENTRE 586 Ellice Ave Apr 4: Tom Paxton w/ Fred Thomas Solo Exhibition. Opening Reception Apr 3 from 8 p.m. - 12 Lindsay Jane • Apr 5: Nancy White w/ Joe Jencks • Apr 6: Todd Snider w/ a.m. Lindsay Jane • Apr 9: Matt Epp CD Release • Apr 11: Benefit for victims of war in Sudan feat. Hot Dogg, Troy Westwood, and guests • Apr 12: TEEN TOUCH INC is looking to expand our volunteer base. Virtual Help, GALLERY LACOSSE 169 Lilac St. 284-0726 The Common Thread by The Details, Mike Trike & The Coast • Apr 13: Sinfoni a newly formed position is an online tool which allows Manitoba youth Janice Kenworthy. Hours: Tues-Fri 11-6, Sat 10-5. and their families to connect with trained volunteers using a live chat THE ZOO Osborne Village Inn 160 Osborne St.Apr 4: O.C.D., One Bullet platform. Our 24 hour helpline is also in need of volunteers. Both op- Resolution, Pornocracy • Apr 5: Kurt Cobain Tribute feat. Giv’R, Ends & PLUG IN INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART 286 McDermot Ave portunities require 30+ hours of training, and allow you to work from 942-1043 Dream House: Annual Fundraising Exhibition. Fundraising auc- Means, HCE, with guests (all door proceeds will be donated to Youth your home. Helpline/Virtual Help volunteers must be 18+. Other op- tion of original art works by local and international artists Apr 4 at 8 p.m. Speak) • Apr 10: Weatherman Underground, with DJs Rob Vilar and Jamall Knight • Apr 11: Dayglo Abortions, Dreadnaut, The Civil Disobedi- portunities are available for youth under 18. Please contact our office SEMAI GALLERY Basement Corridor 264 McDermot Ave 275-5471. ents, The Hearsemen - Advance tickets $12 or $15 at the door • Apr 12: for additional information. Applications can be found on our website at Until Apr 25: Release Metaphors: Mythos and Messiahs - Paintings by Dayglo Abortions, Amongst The Filth, Igor & The Skindiggers, Nailbrick www.teentouch.org Jenny Arenson & Drawings by Patrick Treacy. Hours: Tues-Sat 12-6 - Advance tickets $12 or $15 at the door THE RAINBOW SOCIETY IS LOOKING FOR DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS URBAN SHAMAN 203-290 McDermot Ave 94-2674 Until Apr 26: Cul- to help out with exciting events in February, March and April. Please tural Mediations, Rosalie Favell. Hours: Tues-Fri 11-5, Sat 12-5. call 989-4010 or fill out an online application at www.therainbowsociety. com VAULT GALLERY 2181 Portage Ave Gallery hours 11-5 Tues-Sat “ab- community events straction/ distraction”, featuring works by emerging, mid-range and THE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE NEEDS VOLUNTEERS To work with new- established artists. comer children and youth in the following programs: 1. Sports Club - Tuesdays from 6-8 p.m. @ Sacre-Coeur; 2. After School Education (ESL) WINNIPEG ART GALLERY 300 Memorial Blvd. 789-1760 Subconscious FORESTS OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS Fundraiser for Boreal Forest Net- City • Edward Burtynsky: In the Pursuit of Progress • Gu Xiong: Red work & Boreal Action Project. Apr 3 at the Pantages Playhouse Theatre. – Wednesdays from 5-7 p.m. @ 511 Ellice Ave; 3. Youth Empowerment River • The Harry Winrob Collection of Inuit Sculpture • Through the Open House at 6 p.m., main event at 7. Featuring multi-media presenta- (cooking/art classes) – Fridays from 5-7:30 p.m. @ Int. Centre. For more Eyes of a Child tions, art & photo exhibit, silent auction, boreal & organic food, youth info, contact Si il: [email protected] or 943-9158 ext. 285. area & activities. Performances by Michael Dudeck, Northern Lights, To apply contact Marsha: [email protected] or 943-9158 ext. Fire Dance/Glow Show by Wildfire. Tickets $20, available at Mondragon 260. The International Centre is located at 406 Edmonton St. and Osborne Village Ink. NEEDS CENTRE FOR WAR AFFECTED FAMILIES is looking for vol- bars, cafes & venues MANITOBA CRAFTS MUSEUM AND LIBRARY 4TH ANNUAL ARTISANS unteers to work with immigrant and refugee children and youth. The MARKET Featuring a fabulous array of unique handmade items will be Needs Centre provides accessible services and programs to children/ for sale, including fiber arts, wood, glass, jewellery and more. Apr 5 & youth from the ages 5-18. Programming includes arts, crafts, music, 6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at FortWhyte Alive 1961 McCreary Rd. For ACADEMY FOOR DRINKS MUSIC 437 Stradbrook Apr 3: Papa Mambo • details, call 487-6117. computer skills, employment, educational and EAL activities. For more Apr 4: Retro Rhythm Revue and the Brunos • Apr 5: Alexander McCowan information, contact Jodi Alderson, Volunteer Coordinator at 940-1265 and DJ DLO DINNER WITH FRANK O’DEA Co-founder of Second Cup. Apr 9 at the or email [email protected]. Inn at the Forks. Fundraising dinner for Siloam Mission. Call 943-1907 CANDOR SHOP 390-K Provencher Blvd. Apr 7: The Fo!ps w/ Brent or visit www.siloam.ca for more information. BE A VOLUNTEER LITERACY TUTOR WITH FRONTIER COLLEGE! Randall, 8 p.m. • Apr 10: Ridley Bent w/ Chris Dunn, 8 p.m., $10 • Apr Work with children, youth and adults in schools and community cen- 11: Urban Jazz Trio, 8 p.m., $8 CAVERN 112 Osborne St. Downstairs Apr GREEN PROGRAMS AT THE MILLENNIUM LIBRARY Apr 9: How to tres around the University of Winnipeg. The commitment is one hour 4: Astronuts • Apr 5: D’Ubervilles • Apr 11: Solutions • Apr 12: Chasing Become a Green Commuter, presented by Resource Conservation per week through the school year. Call 253-7993 or email cgartside@ Mercury • Every Wednesday: Big Dave Mclean Manitoba, noon-1 p.m. • Apr 15: Growing Good Food, 5-6:30 p.m. To frontiercollege.ca for more information. Literacy is an essential skill in register, call 986-4294. KING’S HEAD PUB 100 King St. Apr 3: The Magician • Apr 4: The Brag- today’s world. At Frontier College, we believe it’s a fundamental right. garts • Apr 5: The Hazy Pilgrims • Apr 6: All the King’s Men • Apr 7: The GIANT GARAGE / RUMMAGE SALE at St. Mary Anglican Church in 42% of adult Canadians have trouble with everyday tasks that involve Magician • Apr 8: Comedy Night • Apr 9: Electric Soul • Apr 10: The Charleswood. Fri, Apr 11 from 5 to 8 p.m. and Sat, Apr 12 from 9 a.m. reading. Through a network of thousands of volunteers, Frontier College Magician to 3 p.m. in the Parish Hall at 3830 Roblin Boulevard at Haney (just over is helping people to realize their potential and seize the opportunities that the Charleswood Bridge). White elephant tables, book tables, fish pond come their way. See www.frontiercollege.ca. LO PUB Sat. April 5: Les Jupes w/ Oldfolks Home and Codename: Sharks for kids, household items, clothing and other miscellaneous treasures • Fri. Apr 11: Angry Dragons • Friday Apr 18: Charles’ Gallery • Sat Apr for sale. 19: Mod Club Presents: Back to Basics • Sat. April 26: The Getdown w/ The BEAT! Deejays • Fri May 2: WTF? (Where’s the Funk?) • Sat May 3: WALK 4 DARFUR On Tues, Apr Sheena Grobb, Andrew Braun, and Laura Smith • Fri. May 9th: Ghost 29 there will be a rally at the Bees (Halifax) w/ guests • Sat. May 10: Sean Brown w/ Guests • Fri. May Legislative Building, from 12 to 1 16: Katie Murphy w/ guests • Sat. May 17: Les Jupes w/ The Paperbacks p.m. This rally will be in support and guests • Fri May 30: Charles’ Gallery • Sat. May 31: The Getdown w/ of the people of Darfur. At this The BEAT! Deejays event, you will have the opportu- nity to stand with millions of other MCNALLY ROBINSON GRANT PARK Apr 4: Keith Price • Apr 5: Marianne people across the world, to pres- D’Elia • Apr 12: Katelyn Dawn • Apr 18: Rosemarie Todaschuk Trio • Apr sure our governments and stand 19: Bob Watts. Shows at 8 p.m. in the face of genocide. Come out in support of the people of Darfur MCNALLY ROBINSON POLO PARK Apr 4: Le Duo • Apr 5: Flo Soul • Apr and enjoy and hour of music, 11: Sue and Dwight • Apr 12: Andrew Thompson and Andres Morican • dancing, speeches and a chance Apr 18: Jodi King. Shows at 8 p.m. for your voice to be heard. For OZZY’S 160 Osborne Downstairs Apr 4: Humane Society Fundraiser more information check out www. feat. Five Hundred Pound Furnace, Suiciety, Afflicted Faith, Tinnitus - walk4darfur.ca. Advance tickets $10 • Apr 5: MetalMania • Apr 11: The Doldrums, with BUSINESS SMARTS – CAREER guests MANAGEMENT FOR SELF- PYRAMID CABARET 176 Fort St. Apr 3: Search for RA, Born of the Fire, EMPLOYED ARTISTS Three-day Bubba the MC, The Experiences Band • Apr 4: Search for RA, Weather- intensive workshop presented by man Underground, Race Car, Underachievers, Richard Brilliant the Arts and Cultural Industries Association of Manitoba. May 5, 6 REGAL BEAGLE 331 Smith St. Every Wed at 9 p.m.: The Marlborough & 7 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Day 1: Men • Every Thurs at 9 p.m.: Shandra and Jason The Big Picture, Day 2: Marketing Yourself, Day 3: The Nitty-Gritty. ROYAL ALBERT ARMS 48 Albert St. Apr 3: The Gorgon, Search and Workshops take place at The Destroy, The Calculus Affair • Apr 4: The Nutty Klub w/ Footwerk, Mike B. Bilingual Centre 614 Des Meu- • Apr 5: C’Mon, Hot Live Guys, Starvin’ Hungry - $7 at the door • Apr 9: rons. Admission: FREE for ACI New Model Army, Ian Larue, The Condor - tickets $12 at Into the Music, Members, $35 Non-Members and Music Trader and online at www.ticketworkshop.com • Apr 10: Raiden includes membership. To register, • Apr 13: Caribou, Fuck Buttons • April 17 Carpenter, Anthem Red, The call 927-ARTS (2787) or visit: Paperbacks www.creativemanitoba.ca/index. php?pid=90 SHANNON’S IRISH PUB 175 Carlton St. Apr 3: Bottlecaps • Apr 4 & 5: Dust Rhinos • Apr 7: Jeremy Williamez • Apr 8: Shouting Ground • Apr FREE INTERNATIONAL STU-

Andrew Neville and the Poor Choices

Apr 5 at Times Changed April 3, 2008 The Uniter contact: [email protected] Want to submit your listing to Uniter Listings? Email your listings to [email protected] Listings Co o r d i n a t o r : Kr i s t i n e As k h o l m E-m a i l : Listings@u n i t e r .c a Deadline for submissions is Wednesday, eight days before the issue you’d like your Ph o n e : 786-9497 @ listing to first appear in. The Uniter publishes on Thursdays, 25 times a year. 24 LISTINGS uniter.ca Fa x : 783-7080

AWARDS & FINANCIAL AID The Awards and Financial Aid staff of the University of Winnipeg provides our student body with current information on award opportunities. This information is updated weekly.

The Association of Universities and Colleges Papers previously submitted for class membership in the Progressive Economics photo identification (driver’s license, health of Canada provides 150 scholarship pro- assignments are encouraged. Forum. insurance card, student ID card, passport, or grams on behalf of the Federal Government, citizenship card) and your social insurance UNIVERSITY domestic and foreign agencies, and private For more information or to enter the contest Deadline: all essays must be postmarked no card or any Government of Canada official sector companies. Check out website www. please go to: http://www.sochistdisc.org/ later than May 1, 2008 document containing your Social Insurance essay-contest.htm OF WINNIPEG aucc.ca Look under the heading Scholarships MARK AND DOROTHY DANZKER SCHOLAR- Number. open to the public. Deadline: essays must be postmarked on or SHIP FOR EXCELLENCE Manitoba Student Loan documents can before April 15 Deadlines: Various Together with the Jewish Foundation of Mani- be validated by providing a copy of your PHYLLIS P. HARRIS SCHOLARSHIP toba, the Folk Arts Council of Winnipeg is identification with both your name and SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SCHOLAR- pleased to present five Mark and Dorothy current signature (example, driver’s license, INTERNAL AWARDS: SHIPS This scholarship is endowed in the memory Danzker Scholarships of Excellence for the passport, banking card). The Manitoba Round Table for Sustainable of Phyllis P. Harris. For over thirty years preservation of cultural heritage. UNIVERSITY OF WINNIPEG GRADUATE & DID YOU KNOW... You can check the status Development has established annual scholar- Phyllis Harris was an inspiring presence in PROFESSIONAL STUDIES APPLICATION of your student aid application, find out ships to assist post-secondary students in the world of family planning, volunteering Five scholarships of $1,000 are awarded on EXPENSES BURSARY both her time and services in Edmonton and an annual basis to applicants who demon- what documentation is still outstanding, and Manitoba who pursue studies and undertake update your address information and much This bursary assists students with respect throughout Canada. strate an active involvement in preserving research that embraces the spirit and more on line? Go to www.manitobastu- to the high costs associated with applying cultural heritage through volunteer work, principles of sustainable development. The scholarship (between $2,500-$3,000) dentaid.ca MySAO to log into your existing to Graduate and Professional Schools. employment or contributions to a cultural will be awarded to an individual currently account. Applicants must meet the following criteria: The non-renewable $6,000 graduate scholar- activity in the general community. ship and the $1,500 college and university enrolled full-time in undergraduate studies in • Have a minimum GPA of 3.55 in the the general field of human sexuality with the To be eligible you must: DID YOU KNOW… If you are a student who previous academic year. undergraduate scholarship awards are open has had past Government Student Loans and to students in any field of study offered at an intent to pursue a degree in the field of family • Be accepted or be currently enrolled in a • Be registered in the final year of an honours planning or population issues. The field is recognized post-secondary institution within you are currently a full-time student, please or four-year degree program in Arts or approved Manitoba post-secondary institu- fill out a Schedule 2 document to remain in tion. These scholarships are not available broadly defined to include biology, education, Canada; Science, or in the final year of the Integrated history, medicine, political science, • Be 17 to 25 years of age; non-payment status. Please come to Student B.Ed program. to employees of the Province of Manitoba Services in Graham hall, where front counter or their spouses, common law partners or psychology, international studies, social work • Be a resident of Manitoba for at least 50% • Have documented financial need: a Canada or sociology. Applicants must be a Canadian of your life; staff can help you with this form. Student Loan/Provincial Loan or a Student dependants. citizen or landed immigrant with previous • Demonstrate an active involvement in DID YOU KNOW... Manitoba Student Aid line of credit at a banking institution. The awards are to cover the cost of tuition, work or volunteer experience in the general preserving cultural heritage; • Full-time and part-time students may apply. staff is on campus on Fridays from 1 - 4p.m. books, fees and other education expenses. field of human sexuality. • Volunteer in a cultural activity in the general To set up an appointment time, phone Applications are available in the Awards community; 786-9458 or 786-9984 The graduate student recipient of the Sustain- For more information or to apply for • Have a GPA of 3.0 or better. office located in Student Services. Students able Development Scholarship Award will this scholarship, please refer to the may apply any time during the Fall/Winter The Awards and Financial Aid staff at the also receive recognition as the International website: http://www.ppfc.ca/ppfc/content. For further selection criteria or to download University of Winnipeg will continue to keep academic year, providing that funding is Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) asp?articleid=120 an application, please visit: www.folklorama. available for this bursary. Applications will be you informed of available awards, scholar- Scholar of the Year. The scholar will receive ca/youth_scholarship.php ships and bursary opportunities. evaluated on a first come, first serve basis. special privileges at the Institute, including Deadline: April 30, 2008 special access to the IISD Information Deadline: May 9, 2008 Financial Aid Websites INTERNATIONAL STUDENT BURSARY PROGRESSIVE ECONOMICS FORUM Centre, and will be invited to present their PROGRAM ANNUAL STUDENT ESSAY CONTEST MANITOBA STUDENT AID PROGRAM Canlearn Site www.canlearn.ca findings to the Manitoba Roundtable on (MSAP) Spring Term International Student Bursary Sustainable Development. The Progressive Economics Forum aims to Manitoba Student Aid Program www. Applications are now available. promote the development of a progressive Canada Student Loan Applications for the manitobastudentaid.ca For more information, or to apply for these economics community in Canada. The 2008 Spring Term are now available online at Criteria: awards please go to: http://www.gov.mb.ca/ PEF brings together over 125 progressive website www.manitobastudentaid.ca Surfing for dollars? Try these two websites • Must be an international student attending conservation/susresmb/scholarship/ economists, working in universities, the for more award opportunities. The University of Winnipeg on a Student Identification Requirements for your Canada Deadline: April 4, 2008 labour movement and activist research Authorization. organizations. Student Loan document have been updated. www.studentawards.com • Must have documented financial-need. You will now need to present 2 forms of THE SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF www.scholarshipscanada.com • Must be registered on a full-time basis: Prizes will be awarded to an essay of identification to validate your identity: a valid DISCOVERIES ESSAY CONTEST minimum 60% course load - 9 credit hours 5,000-10,000 words on any subject related

for a single term. The Society for the History of Discoveries to political economy, economic theory • Must be pursuing a University of Winnipeg announces its fifteenth annual prize essay or an economic policy issue, which best degree program. contest. Founded in 1960, the purpose of reflects a critical approach to the function- • Must show satisfactory academic progress: the Society is to stimulate teaching, research ing, efficiency, social and environmental successfully complete at least a 60% course and publishing in the history of geographical consequences of unconstrained markets. load. exploration. We now call for essays on the A cash prize of $1,000 will be awarded the • Must maintain satisfactory academic topics embraced by the Society’s name: winner of the graduate competition; and Challenging Puzzle level: standing: maintain Regular Status or a “C” the history of discoveries. Essays may deal $500 will be awarded to the winner of the average (2.00 Grade Point Average). with voyages, travels, biography, history, undergraduate competition. cartography, techniques and technology, Applications are available at The University or other aspects of discovery. The primary Open to all Canadian students, studying of Winnipeg’s Awards department, located in purpose is to enlighten the reader on some full-time or part-time in Canada and abroad, Graham Hall, at Student Central, or online to aspect of the exploration of our world. as well as international students presently MyUWinnipeg, Awards website. Applications studying in Canada. Students must have should be returned to the Awards depart- The contest is open to post-secondary been/be enrolled in a post-secondary Sudoku provided by www.krazydad.com. Used with permission. www.krazydad.com. by Sudoku provided ment. students from any part of the world who will educational institution at some point during not have received a doctoral degree before the period of January 2007 - May 2008. Deadline: April 21, 2008 April 15, 2008. The essay (research paper) shall be original and unpublished, in the Detailed contest rules and previous winning English language and of no more than 6,000 essays are posted at www.progressive- EXTERNAL AWARDS: words, including footnotes or endnotes. economics.ca/student-essay-contest/. All entrants receive a complimentary 1-year AUCC AWARDS

ACROSS 36- Prophet 70- Long fish; 28- Frequented by rooks 1- Jester 38- Large artery 29- Dense element 5- Bristle of barley 40- Breezy DOWN 30- Female horses 8- Practice pugilism 41- Strange and mysterious 1- Bog 31- Ply Sudoku #25 12- Teheran’s country 43- Type of packsack 2- Oil-rich nation 33- Attempt, a score in 13- Farewell 45- Mark of Zorro 3- Hindu lawgiver rugby 15- Impulse to act 46- Pay beforehand 4- Tempt 35- Cereal grass 16- Tirade 48- Departs 5- Passage into a mine 37- Nothing, in Nice 17- Resides 50- Indigo 6- Marry 39- Sour in taste 18- Splotchy 51- Genetic messenger 7- ___-do-well 42- Monumental 19- Having all the sides 52- Posed 8- Eat dinner 44- Japanese syllabic script equal 54- Subject to cannibalism 9- Arrange in order of 47- Memorable mission 22- Eccentric 61- Bones found in the hip priority 49- Suitcase 23- Male swan 63- New Zealand aboriginal 10- Elderly, matured 52- Bank deposit? 24- Equipment 64- Thought 11- Comic Foxx 53- Drug-yielding plant 26- Roman general 65- Coil 13- Montgomery’s state 55- Sleeps briefly 29- Caprice 66- Pertaining to the eye 14- Grammarian’s topic 56- Words of denial 31- Metro area 67- Narrow strip of wood 20- Come up short 57- Coloured part of the eye 32- Engage in histrionics 68- Portable shelter 21- Race parts 58- Doing nothing 34- Lute of India 69- Lisa, to Bart, briefly 25- La Scala solo 59- Ardor

26- Crawl 60- Consumes Used with permission. www.BestCrosswords.com. by puzzles provided Crossword Last Issue Puzzle Solutions: 27- Mental lapse 62- Appropriate; Crossword #25 contact: [email protected] The Uniter NovemberApril 3,1, 20082007 SESPORCTIOTSN 25

Sp o r t s Ed i t o r : Ka l e n Qu a ll y Sports E-m a i l : s p o r t s @u n i t e r .c a Parkour: jungle gym anywhere Running, climbing, jumping and back-flipping with no strings attached Michael Collins would be the skateboarding of 10 years ago. And spots around the city, security at about three- members. I was humbled. And intimidated. The when I say 10 years ago, I mean before the parks, quarters of these venues ask us to leave. But the skill level of some traceurs was mind-boggling, Volunteer staff before the movies and the gear, before the explo- good thing is we never deface any property, like like their ability to launch themselves six feet in sion of the sport. I am talking about skateboard- with a footprint or anything. It’s different than the air and then vault over a series of obstacles. ing in the era when it was quieter, but just gain- skateboarding.” Or hang themselves horizontally from a flagpole am a convert. Not a religious convert, or ing momentum as a major pastime. There were And I discovered myself how different it using only their arms. Or run up a wall and do even a two-point convert—I have a backflip. I was assured that with a bit been converted as a follower of the of training, I would be able to do that, Iemerging sport, “parkour.” too, but I knew better. An hour and a For those who are unaware of half later, we stopped for the day, and I parkour, it is essentially using your have never been more stiff and sore in body to get over natural and man-made my lifetime. obstacles with as much speed, agility, I had to ask a hated question to originality, and style as you can. Actu- Arc afterwards, a question that is very ally, a great example is from the open- divisive in the PK community: Why ing scene in Casino Royale, where James isn’t parkour a competitive sport, or Bond is chasing a suspect through a perhaps even an Olympic sport? construction site. The suspect is played “Many traceurs want it to become by Sebastian Foucan, and he is the co- an Olympic sport, or at the very least founder of parkour, aslo known as “free have more competitions. They want running.” it to become commercialized, because Participants in parkour call their they understand that it’s cool, trendy, sport PK, label themselves traceurs (as and requires a lot of skill… they want the sport originates in France), and to go pro in PK, get sponsored and en- most give themselves clever and mys- dorsed, all the stuff skateboarding fell terious nicknames to add a bit of allure into. We’re worried that if this happens, and intrigue to their sport. PK will lose its fun and its style, and I interviewed two of the best of create traceurs for the wrong reasons.” Winnipeg Parkour, the organization It’s easy to dismiss PK as a fad or behind parkour in our city. These two

o Trev just an exercise to prepare you for more shall be referred to (at their preference) mainstream sports. But it appears that by their nicknames: Arc and C-Mac. More photos r J there is an extremely loyal fan base to They believe that one of the most ap- oh n on back page sustain the sport and an increasing pealing parts of the sport is that it is s en number of participants; many want to possible for everyone to do it and is learn how to do a back-flip up a wall, easy for beginners to pick up. Parkour, made famous by Sebastian Foucan (Casino Royal), is catching on in Winnipeg. or flip over obstacles. And with the “[Parkour] is a good sport for be- atmosphere PK creates, it’s easy to get ginners, because it’s not really a com- involved in it. I once was a firm believer petitive sport—everyone kind of helps many hassles between skaters and authorities, as was. After the interview, I was invited to par- that the only sports worth participating in were everyone to learn. If you’re a natural athlete, you they didn’t want skateboarders becoming a pub- ticipate in their gym session. I expected to be, already mainstream, like basketball or football will definitely pick it up faster, but everyone can lic menace. Traceurs are on the receiving end of as a reasonable athlete, decent at parkour and or hockey. But I am now a parkour convert—a jump into PK and figure it out pretty fast,” said a lot of this police hassle right now for the same probably comparable to some of the younger traceur. Arc. reasons. And truer words were never spoken. After According to Arc, “I hope [parkour] doesn’t the interview, I got a flash tutorial about park- go the way of skateboarding, like skateboarding our, and everyone there was very inclined to see in the ‘60s. I mean, it’s kind of trendy and un- someone much worse than them learn the ba- derground, and we don’t want it to explode in a sics of the sport. It was unlike every other sport I commercialistic frenzy.” have engaged in where there has been some level C-Mac chimed in with, “The police have of competition, simply because every single per- been getting pretty aggressive in Europe, where son there was committed to advancing the skills the sport’s most popular, and have begun taking of the person next to them, rather than working measures against PK. They’re starting to paint on their skills alone to make themselves better walls and surfaces with a slippery paint, so you than their teammates. can’t run over it. But in North America, atten- An interesting comparison to Parkour tion from security varies. At local parkour hot NAprilovember 3, 2008 1, 2007 The Uniter contact: [email protected] 26 SESPORCTIOTSN Pride on the line

Roland Delorme. Both fighters are relatively Members of inexperienced compared to others on the Col- osseum fight card (Sabourin has a 2-0 record in Winnipeg’s top competition while Delorme is 2-1), but they will be in the caged ring representing the top clubs in Winnipeg: Sabourin from Team Canada and MMA clubs Delorme from Winnipeg Academy. Represent- ing rival clubs could be cause for added pressure, to battle at but it doesn’t seem to affect the focus of either fighter. upcoming event As Delorme offered, “They are the two main clubs in the city, but I don’t think of it like that.

It’s not a big deal. He’s just another body in front o alv

of me, another guy to fight. We both go in there f y

Kalen Qually r

and have a job to do so it doesn’t really bother o

Sports editor me. I train just as hard as if he’s anybody else.” y c n b

Similarly with Sabourin, Mundruca isn’t o i afraid of whether he will be focused for the fight t ra ow, Winnipeg is small.” or where his loyalties lie. A phrase everyone in this ust “Ronson is a hard guy, doesn’t give up, and ill town has sputtered at one time. man that guy gives it all. I guarantee Ronson will Possibly“W after finding out that their boss used to extra pressure on Delorme, Brigham said, “Once teach. We might win some and lose some but I not give up. Ronson has heart, man… I don’t get drunk with their uncle in high school or that they’re actually in there fighting, I wouldn’t say know that when my guys fight, they will be ready even have to tell that kid. He knows it. He wants it’s any more rivalry than any other fight.” for a fight.” a classmate washes dishes at the same Boston to do it for his coaches and he wants to do it for Pizza as a friend from hockey. Winnipeg’s popu- Munduruca also doesn’t think the extra Which is good news for MMA fans plan- his gym. He’s all fight. There’s nothing I have to incentive is necessary. “I don’t have that little ning on attending Colosseum VIII in June. With lation is largely built on two degrees of separa- say to him.” tion. This is part of the problem when it comes bullshit of saying, ‘Ah, that gym is better than pride on the line, these local fighters will be pre- The coaches aren’t shoving the rivalry down ours!’ I know my guys. I know the Jiu Jitsu that I pared for a battle. to local mixed martial arts fighters. In one way or their fighters’ throats, either. Not putting any another, everyone knows everyone. Winnipeg is one of the top cities in Canada for MMA, but it’s not a very big city. When MMA started to take off in the late 1990s, there was basically one club that the top fighters in Winnipeg trained out of. That club, International Mixed Martial Arts, was the home of eventual UFC and TKO fighters Joe Doerk- sen and Chris Fontaine, as well as some of the city’s top MMA trainers, including Rodrigo Munduruca and Curtis Brigham. “Winnipeg had a really strong head start over the rest of Canada and our club at the time was one of the best in Canada,” said Brigham. “Since then the rest of the country has caught up. I still think Winnipeg is in the top three, or maybe four or five in Canada.” Brigham left International in 2003 to start his own gym, Winnipeg Academy of Mixed Martial Arts. Meanwhile Munduruca, who is originally from Rio De Janeiro and arrived in Winnipeg in 1999 to teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at International MMA, eventually joined Muay Thai kickboxing champion Giuseppe DeNatale to form Team Canada MMA in December of 2007. Team Canada and Winnipeg Academy are proud and accomplished MMA clubs in Winni- peg, and like in the movie Fight Club, their rules clearly state loyalty and devotion are necessary to fit in. Team Canada MMA Centre Rules might not be as demanding as, “Do not talk about fight club,” but the final line of the rules given to all members reads: “Students of Team Canada MMA Centre must not train at nor be members of any other MMA facility.” “It’s not out of just loyalty but you won’t grow (as a fighter),” said Munduruca, defending the club’s rules. “You’ll be learning, what, like 20 different styles from 20 different trainers? You won’t have any (fighting styles).” Brigham, however, did admit that being true to your club is important for other reasons, especially in dealings between rival clubs. “I try to keep a real tight team and I like it better. While fighting is individual, it’s a team sport in a way because you need so many people to help you prepare and get ready for it. We try to keep things tight in a team sense… It doesn’t help when we have people sharing when there is competition between us, either. Then you don’t have to worry about who’s on whose side, really. It makes it uncomfortable.” Many of the top MMA shows that come to Winnipeg are put on by Colosseum Fight- ing Championship, and the upcoming event, Colosseum VIII: Caged Mayham, will include several local fighters. As Brigham anticipates, “The hype is bigger and I’m looking forward to this show more than any other because of (the local) matchups.” One match that promises to be most in- triguing is that between Ronson Sabourin and contact: [email protected] The Uniter April 3, 2008 SPORTS 27 From Russia with tough love “It mimics the action of jumping without actu- Kettlebell training ally getting up in the air and shocking the joints. You activate the glutes, hamstring, lower back, is the best quads, everything that is required for jumping but you’re just not leaving.” Kettlebell training is also one of the best workout you’ve forms of strength training available, not only because it builds muscular strength, but also never heard of because it builds practical strength, such as grip strength and core balance. “Machines are very guided movement. Kalen Qually They’re not very functional in the real world,” Sports editor explained Vasallo. “It’s not like you have wires guiding you when you carry your groceries or books. Why would you train with guided move- he email read, “I was just wondering ment? It’s just not right.” if you or the Uniter would like to do While kettlebell training offers the best a feature article on Russian kettlebell practical strength training, the results of it as a training?”T pure strength training method are undeniable. This email was from Sherwin Vasallo and, Developed by the Russians, kettlebell training although random and unexpected in its origin, allowed them to dominate weightlifting for a it seemed like a harmless request. After quickly long time. During the mid-1980s when kettle- jogging my memory, though, I remembered bell training was first introduced to the United where I had heard that term, Russian kettlebell States, the USSR was already proving its benefits training, before. at the Olympics, specifically in 1988 in Seoul I had read a breakdown of Russian kettle- when the USSR took gold in all five heavyweight bell in an issue of Maxim magazine a long time classes of the weightlifting events. ago and from what I could remember it seemed If you are wondering why kettlebell train- insane. The graphic in the magazine depicted ing is still largely unknown in Winnipeg (Vasallo a frightening Soviet brute (who bore a striking is one of only three people in the city certified resemblance to Zangief from Street Fighter II) in kettlebell training), it is growing wildly in swinging a massive metal ball between his legs. popularity. It’s forgivable if the name of gold It included a brief history of Russian kettlebell, medallist Alexander Kurlovich doesn’t ring a bell telling of how it was used since the 1700s, pre- (lifted 1,019 pounds once—no big deal), but dominantly by the Soviet Union in training one guy you probably have heard of is Ladainian soldiers (and Zangief, apparently). Tomlinson. Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers Sherwin offered a free lesson in kettlebell running back and former NFL MVP, is widely training, so after reflecting on the email, with regarded as one of the hardest working players the mental image of Zangief swinging a wreck- in the NFL, and in an interview on 60 Minutes, ing ball, I decided to give it an honest try. And Tomlinson revealed that he uses kettlebells in his like the confident bodybuilder I am, I invited training regimen. This is not surprising, consid- a friend to come with me, as to divert some of o ering that nothing LT does on the football field alv the ass-kicking I anticipated. f resembles “guided movement.” y r

Luckily, Sherwin bares no resemblance to o There are several ways to get into kettlebell Zangief and the 35-pound kettlebells we used y c training. You can buy instructional DVDs on- n b o were hardly wrecking balls (Note: To clarify i line or check out a kettlebell class with Sherwin t what a kettlebell is, it is a weighted cast iron ball ra Vasallo. There is more information on kettlebell that you hold by an attached handle). The first ust training on AccelerationPerformance.ca. You exercise we did was the “kettlebell swing.” The ill can also check out examples of kettlebell work- kettlebell is swung repeatedly, while maintain- outs on YouTube. ing a squat position, from chest height down run off a treadmill at the same time. THIS was membership.” Whether you are an elite athlete looking between the legs at an intense pace. Along with the ass-kicking I had anticipated. However, this statement might sound fa- for a better way to train or an Average Joe try- the swing, we did a couple more exercises using As I would learn, and as Sherwin and I miliar. There are many products claiming to save ing to find a quick, effective, affordable way to the kettlebells. They were “the squat” and “the would later discuss, my entire aching body rep- you from that horrific commercial gym no one get fit, kettlebell training is definitely for you. It snatch.” With the snatch, the kettlebell is lifted resents the benefit of using kettlebells. With- seems to have time for. But it isn’t just conve- may seem unconventional due to its ballistic and from the ground to the chest and then punched out trying to sound like a Tae-Bo commercial, nience or cost that makes kettlebell training a intense nature, but its unique exercises are what into the air in one fluid motion. Drop back to anyone can have a quick and effective full-body superior workout. There are aspects of kettlebell make it superior to many training methods. I, a the floor and repeat. workout using just kettlebells. exercises that simply can’t be mimicked by weight self-proclaimed Average Joe, challenge you to try We would later combine these three exer- “When we did our [kettlebell] certification machines, or by Billy Blanks. it and discover an ass-kicking workout you won’t cises, along with a series of sit-ups and an agil- course, the big thing that was driven into our For one, kettlebell training’s cardio work- soon forget. ity drill, to form a five-minute circuit. The result heads was that a kettlebell is a portable gym,” outs take care of joints like Bob Marley. was general exhaustion and soreness in my whole said Sherwin Vasallo. “There’s a million and “A lot of people try to take up running body, akin to having lifted my max bench, doing one exercises you can do with a kettlebell with- but their knees hurt. Kettlebells alleviate tons of sit-ups until I could hardly breathe, and being out the expensive equipment or the expensive grinding pain on the knees,” explained Vasallo.

When asked what teams he was part of and what awards he has earned, Lyon simply stated that “there are a lot.” He snagged himself Local Olympian countless awards at events ranging from the Pan Am Games to Canadian and international competitions. There are too many to name, but success Jason Lyon hopes to take his has definitely followed him to an Olympic qualifier in May, where he will compete to attain one of the two spots for archery given to Canada. When asked whether he had an idol that he looked up to while he was Robin Hood act to Beijing training, Lyon said, “I never look at other archers as idols because at this level, you don’t want to give the mental edge to your opponent just because you see them as an idol. I do however look at other coaches and athletes in other sports as idols, such as (Wesmen coach) Larry McKay who I see rep- Marko Bilandzija resent a great deal of sportsmanship. Also Alexandre Despatie, Tiger Woods Volunteer staff and Lebron James.” About the present political climate in China and the resulting ambiva- lent feelings of some toward the Beijing Olympics, Lyon said, “I feel that ason ‘Jay’ Lyon is a Winnipeg-born archer and a likely contender for politics should stay out of the Olympic Games, and really, I just want to the upcoming Olympic Games being held in Beijing, China. compete and win my country some medals.” Now 21-years old, Lyon took up archery after watching his Lyon has worked hard ever since he picked up his first bow and has brother,J Blair, compete. Lyon took the advice of his big bro and picked up experienced many successes throughout his journey. He said he feels his a bow in 2002. One year later he represented Manitoba in the 2003 Cana- efforts have finally paid off and have led him to experience the greatest dian Winter Games, where he picked up a bronze and a gold medal and has competitive stage for archery. continued competing ever since. NAprilovember 3, 2008 1, 2007 The Uniter contact: [email protected] 28 SESPORCTIOTSN

Arc and C-Mac practice Parkour, the new urban sport, in Winnipeg. See page 25 for full article. o Trev r J oh n s en o Trev o Trev r J r J oh n oh n s s en en