Circus Play! - The Uniter

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Circus Play! - The Uniter
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                                                                                                                            VOLUME 74 // ISSUE 19 // FEB. 27
                                                                                                         Special

Circus
                                                                                                                  r
                                                                                                        UWSA re eport:
                                                                                                                sp
                                                                                                       online a onds to
                                                                                                               llegatio
                                                                                                                       ns
                                                                                                              P14

Play!

           The performers keeping circus arts
                    alive in Winnipeg

 Royal MTC's new                           One year of library                                    Dismantling
 season P7                                 security P13                                           'Corona-phobia' P17

                   T h e o f f i c i a l n e w s pa p e r o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f W i n n i p e g
Circus Play! - The Uniter
UWSA GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATES
CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT

                                                                                                UWSA
                 MAHLET
                 CUFF
                                                 KIRT                          JIBRIL
                                                                               HUSSEIN
                                                                                                GENERAL
                                                 HAYER
                 DEVOTE                          AWARENESS                     ENVISION 2020    ELECTION

CANDIDATES FOR VICE-PRESIDENT EXTERNAL AFFAIRS                                                  CANDIDATE
                                                                                                SPEECHES
                 SHAWNA                          ALEX                          BREANNA M.       February 24 & 26
                 PÉLOQUIN                        ILESANMI                      BELISLE          12:30PM
                 DEVOTE                          AWARENESS                     ENVISION 2020
                                                                                                The Hive

CANDIDATES FOR VICE-PRESIDENT STUDENT AFFAIRS                                                   VOTE
                NOELLE                         REZA                           MELANIE           MARCH 2
                                                                              WILLIAM
                SAGHER
                DEVOTE
                                               SAKER
                                               AWARENESS                      EVNVISION 2020
                                                                                                MARCH 3
                                                                                                MARCH 4
                                                                                                9AM - 6PM
2SLGBT* DIRECTOR                 ACCESSIBILTY DIRECTOR            ARTS DIRECTOR                 RIDDELL HALL
                                                                                                RICHARDSON CENTRE
                                                                                                MERCHANT’S CORNER
                JACOB K.                        SARAH                             WESLEY
                ANTMAN                          ANDERSON                          FALLIS        WITH A
                                                                                                MOBILE
                                                                                                STATION @
BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS DIRECTOR           COMMUNITY LIAISON DIRECTOR
                                                                                                10AM - 3PM
                                                                                                WII CHIIWAAKANAK
                                                                                                (MARCH 2)
                 HARSIMRAT S.                                CELINA
                 MALHOTRA                                    CLEMENTS
                                                                                                9AM - 6PM
                                                                                                BUHLER CENTRE
                                                                                                (MARCH 3)

GRADUATE STUDENT DIRECTOR                  CANDIDATES FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ DIRECTOR
                                                                                                9:30AM - 11:30AM
                                                                                                BUHLER CENTRE
                                                                                                (MARCH 4)
                                                                 HARSHLEEN SINGH
                                                                                                12PM- 4PM
                                                                                                3RD FLOOR
                                                                                                CENTENNIAL HALL
                                                                                                (MARCH 4)
 ALEXANDRA K. NYCHUK & NADIA
 M. CHAHARSOUGHI (Co-Directors)

RACIALIZED STUDENTS’ DIRECTOR
                                                                                                BRING YOUR
                                                                                                UWINNIPEG
                 ELLA
                 TAYLOR                                                                         STUDENT ID
                                                   ELSA OWUSU & ONYINYE F. IDIGBE
                                                          (Co-Directorship)                     TO VOTE!

CANDIDATES FOR SENATOR
                                                                                                QUESTIONS?
                                                                                                Email the Chief
                 ADA                                   CHETA D.                                 Elections Commissioner
                 CHUKWUDOZIE                           AKALUKA                                  at cec@theuwsa.ca,
                                                                                                and read Candidate
                                                                                                Bios at theuwsa.ca/
                                                                                                elections!

VOTE YES/NO ON THE U-PASS REFERENDUM QUESTION AT POLLING BOOTHS!
The City of Winnipeg has made a fee increase mandatory to continue offering the U-Pass. Are
you in favour of a U-Pass fee increase of $24.50 per term, amounting to a total U-Pass fee of
$160.75 per term (adjusted annually for inflation), to continue providing unlimited access to
Winnipeg Transit services for students?
Circus Play! - The Uniter
A note on
                                                                                                                                                                                       the editorial
                                                                                                                    on the cover
                                                                                                                   Circus performer Atom Dzaman
                                                                                                                                                                                       process
                                                                                                                   demonstrates his juggling prowess.                                  Around 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 25, The Uniter received
                                                                                                                                                                                       a news tip regarding allegations against current
                                                                                                                   Read more on page 9.                                                and former members of the UWSA executive,
                                                                                                                                                                                       which were published anonymously online.
                                                                                                                                                                                       With the help of the entire staff of our city and
                                                                                                                                                                                       campus section (city editor Lisa Mizan, city
                                                                                                                                                                                       reporter Alex Neufeldt and campus reporter
                                                                                                                                                                                       Callum Goulet-Kilgour), we managed to put
                                                                                                                                                                                       together as comprehensive an article as we
                                                                                                                                                                                       could on the shortest possible notice.
                                                                                                                                                                                           It can be frustrating to build a complex story
                                                                                                                                                                                       in 24 hours, especially when talking about a
                                                                                                                                                                                       subject that probably requires two weeks of
                                                                                                                                                                                       work to do it justice. It’s always true that there’s
                                                                                                                                                                                       never enough time, but it feels especially true
                                                                                                                                                                                       today. The article appears on page 14 of this
                                                                                                                                                                                       newspaper.
                                                                                                                                                                                           It’s fair to ask, “Why report on anonymous
                                                                                                                                                                                       allegations with no corroborating evidence?”
                                                                                                                                                                                       The editorial decision to publish this piece was a
                                                                                                                                                                                       complex one. But with the online attacks directed
                                                                                                                                                                                       at the UWSA coming just days before the general
                                                                                                                                                                                       election, it would have been irresponsible for
                                                                                                                                                                                       The Uniter to leave these claims unexamined.
                                                                                                                                                                                       Investigating the claims, who is making them and
                                                                                                                                                                                       giving the UWSA and all other relevant parties a
                                                                                                                                                                                       chance to respond is of paramount importance,
                                                                                                                                                                                       especially in an age when anonymous claims
                                                                                                                                                                                       floating in the social media ether can evolve from
                                                                                                                                                                                       disinformation to opinion to assumed fact within a
                                                                                                                                                                                       couple of retweets.
                                                                                                                                                                                           These allegations are not facts. Their veracity
                                                                                                                                                                                       hasn’t been verified. But the students going to
                                                                                                                                                                                       the polls deserve to be as informed as possible
                                                                                                                                                                                       before casting their vote. Building as complete
                                                                                                                                                                                       a picture as possible for students means letting
                                                                                                                                                                                       them know that these allegations exist. It also
                                                                                                                                                                                       means ensuring that those allegations are
                                                                                                                                                                                       scrutinized, rather than existing as idle gossip or
                                                                                                                                                                                       unchecked statements.
                                                                                                                                                                                           Whether these allegations stem from genuine
                                                                                                                                                                                       concern, misunderstandings or deliberate
                                                                                                                                                                                       attempts at campaign smears remains a
                                                                                                                                                                                       mystery. What we do know for certain is that this
                                                                                                                                                                                       campaign season just got a whole lot uglier.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           —Thomas Pashko

                                                                                                                                                                                       follow us
                                                                                                                                                                                       on social media
                                                                                                                                                          photo by daniel crump

People gather at the Millennium Library one year to the day that stronger security measures, including bag searches and metal detectors, were implemented. Read                        @TheUniter           @TheUniter        facebook.com/
more on page 13.                                                                                                                                                                                                                theuniter

UNITER STAFF                               Staff photographer
                                           and online content co-ordinator              contributors                             contact us                         Submissions                               Corrections
Managing Editor                            Callie Lugosi » callie@uniter.ca
Thomas Pashko » editor@uniter.ca           STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER                           comic                                    General Inquiries                  Submissions of articles, letters,         In the Feb. 16 article “Reframing
                                           Keeley Braunstein-Black » keeley@uniter.ca   Keegan Steele                            204.988.7579                       graphics and photos are                   austerity,” we stated that,
Business Manager
Olivia Norquay » businessmgr@uniter.ca     STAFF Illustrator                            Photographer                             editor@uniter.ca                   encouraged, however all new               according to a Manitoba Health
                                           Gabrielle Funk » gabrielle@uniter.ca         Carly Boomer                             www.uniter.ca                      contributors (with the exception of       report, seven Manitobans
Creative director                                                                                                                                                   letters to the editor) must attend        died due to inadequate air
Talia Steele » creative@uniter.ca          Features REPORTER                            writers                                  Advertising                        a 45-minute volunteer orientation         ambulance access, then later
                                           Keesha Harewood » features@uniter.ca         Lys Botsula                              204.786.9790
Arts & culture EDITOR                                                                   Christina Hajjar                                                            workshop to ensure that the               incorrectly stated the number
Beth Schellenberg » culture@uniter.ca                                                                                            » For inquiries email:             volunteer understands all of the          of deaths as 30. There were
                                           Arts & culture Reporter                      Michelle Karlenzig                       businessmgr@uniter.ca
                                           Naaman Sturrup » naaman@uniter.ca                                                                                        publication’s basic guidelines.           30 incidents recorded in the
features EDITOR
Katherine Cao » featureseditor@uniter.ca                                                                                         Room ORM14                         Next volunteer workshop takes             report, with seven resulting in
                                           Arts & culture Reporter                                                                                                  place Wednesday, March 4 at 5             deaths of patients. The Uniter
                                           Hannah Foulger » hannah@uniter.ca                                                     University of Winnipeg
City EDITOR                                                                                                                      515 Portage Avenue                 p.m., in room ORM14. Please email         regrets the error.
Lisa Mizan » city@uniter.ca                city Reporter                                                                                                            volunteer@uniter.ca for more
                                                                                        Mouseland Press Board of                 Winnipeg, Manitoba                                                           In the Feb. 3 article “The many
COMMENTS EDITOR                            Alex Neufeldt » cityreporter@uniter.ca       Directors: Kristin Annable (chair),      R3B 2E9                            details. Deadline for advertisements
                                                                                                                                                                    is noon Friday, six days prior to         confusing paths to Canada,” we
Haley Pauls » comments@uniter.ca           CAmpus REPORTER                              Anifat Olawoyin, Larissa Peck,           Treaty One Territory
                                                                                                                                                                    publication. The Uniter reserves          referred to Oumer Ahmed as
COPY & STYLE EDITOR                        Callum Goulet-Kilgour » campus@uniter.ca     Andrew Tod and Jack Walker               Homeland of the Métis Nation                                                 an employee of "the Manitoba
                                                                                        » For inquiries email: board@uniter.ca                                      the right to refuse to print material
Danielle Doiron » style@uniter.ca          VOLUNTEER CO-ORDINATOR                                                                                                   submitted by volunteers. The Uniter       Network of Newcomer Serving
                                           Tamika Reid » volunteer@uniter.ca                                                                                        will not print submissions that are       Organizations." He is actually
PHOTO EDITOR
Daniel Crump » photoeditor@uniter.ca                                                                                                                                homophobic, misogynistic, racist or       an employee of the Manitoba
                                                                                                                                                                    libellous. We also reserve the right      Association of Newcomer
                                                                                                                                                                    to edit for length/style.                 Serving Organizations. The
                                                                                                                                                                                                              Uniter regrets the error.
Circus Play! - The Uniter
4           The Uniter // February 27, 2020

                 Whose
                 House?
                    n a Chigbo’s
                Ugon use
                    ho

                                                                                                                                                                 photos by keeley braunstein-black

Ugonna Chigbo in his home

A warm family
home
  KEESHA HAREWOOD

  FEATURES REPORTER         @KEESHAHAREWOOD

    For Ugonna Chigbo, the volunteer
                                                         1                                                     2
    co-ordinator at CKUW, the best part of
    the job is meeting volunteers and bringing
    their ideas to life.
       “Many people, when they come to the
    radio station, are like ‘oh, I want to make
    a radio show,’ and I’m like ‘yeah, you’re in
    the right place!’”
       Chigbo first started out at CKUW
    as a volunteer during his first year at the
    University of Winnipeg.
       “It all started in my first year and just
                                                        3
    trying to find out what groups to be part of,”
    he says. “This was something my dad did.
    He did college radio back in the day, mostly
    French, and it was just amazing. I like to
    kind of follow in his footsteps.”
       On top of producing various radio
    shows, Chigbo spends a great deal of
    time recruiting volunteers. At times,
    encouraging people to participate can be
    a challenging aspect of the job.
       “Some people are thinking ‘the radio’s dead,
    the radio’s dying, it’s a dying medium,’ and so
    we’re keeping that alive.
       “Not everyone wants to stay in that radio
    tradition.”                                         4                                                      5
       This doesn’t stop Chigbo from reaching                                                                                                                6
    out to both high school and university
    students all over Winnipeg to keep the            1) A dense textbook             3) The ideal study                6) A momentous
    radio tradition alive. “I find those ways         “I had to do the whole          space                             souvenir
    really helpful to spread the knowledge and        training for this course,       “A friend of mine says a clean    “This was from my time in New
    let people know the radio exists, and (they)                                      desk is a sign of a sick mind.”   Orleans, and believe it or not, it
                                                      and so it was like a whole
    should definitely be a part of it.”
                                                      weekend of practice and                                           was once filled up to here with
       For anyone who might be apprehensive
    about volunteering, Chigbo encourages people      then exams as well.”            4) It’s always worth              margarita, and man, it was a
    to “just try it out (and) come have fun.”                                         it for the uniform                fun night. In New Orleans, they
       He says “people listen to the radio, but       2) Now that’s                   “This is one of the cool things   know how to party.”
    people don’t always see themselves making         creative                        I wear with pride.”
    the radio. People assume that there’s this        “My brother, he made this for                                     7) A couple of
    ‘radio voice,’ and you need to have this          our parents. It’s duct tape.”   5) A beautiful family             awards
    radio mentality. Honestly, there’s no                                             “As you can see, my eyes are      “These awards are from
    such thing as a ‘radio voice.’ Everyone is                                                                          CKUW.”
                                                                                      closed. I think I was tired
    unique in their own sense, and so I always                                                                                                               7
    emphasize that message especially.”                                               that day.”
Circus Play! - The Uniter
ARTS                                                                                                                                        The Uniter // February 27, 2020
                                                                                                                                                                                                              5

‘Unique and irreplaceable’
Remembering Andris Taskans: rock of the Winnipeg literary
community
                                                      Margaret Sweatman, a U of W pro-
                                                   fessor and author, says, “when he edited
 hannah foulger                 @foulgerscovfefe   your work, it was with the intention of
                                                   making it the best it could be, and this
 arts and culture reporter                         impersonal, scrupulous attention to
                                                   detail brought us all to seek a professional
                                                   attitude to our writing.”
   Writer Carolyn Gray took the reins as              “He was also invested in making sure
   editor of literary journal Prairie Fire at      that writers got paid,” Bitney says. Where
   the end of 2019, taking over from the           the Manitoba Arts Council was con-
   legendary Andris Taskans, who died on           cerned, Prairie Fire was “a labour of love”
   Sept. 27, 2019. Taskans, whose parents          according to Bitney, but Taskans fought
   were post-war Latvian immigrants, was           for funding to pay the writers a profes-
   a born-and-raised Winnipegger who               sional wage for their work.
   “became, at some point, Mr. Winnipeg,”             But Taskans was more than a great
   his wife, Katherine Bitney, says.               editor. He was a force of nature who
      A champion of Winnipeg and Man-              made change and knew where change
   itoba writers, Taskans founded Writers          was coming from.
   News Manitoba with Bitney and some                 “Editorially, he was really good at cre-
   friends in 1978. It was later reborn as         ating special issues and seeing what was
   Prairie Fire in 1983, the Winnipeg-based        coming and who needed to be supported
   literary journal which has published the        and needed to be celebrated. It was his
   early works of Vern Thiessen, Catherine         baby to support cultural groups,” Bitney
   Hunter, Margaret Sweatman and Joshua            says. “There was a Jewish writing issue,
   Whitehead.                                      two francophone issues, three Indige-
      He also was a driving force behind the       nous issues, and he was very supportive,
   creation of the Manitoba Writers’ Guild         particularly of Indigenous writers.”
   and the Manitoba Magazine Publishers’              “Andris was unique and irreplace-
   Association.                                    able. He was crucial to the creation of a                                                                                                      supplied photo
      He wrote poetry and published a              writing community and brought to the
   chapbook with Turnstone Press called                                                           Prairie Fire founder Andris Taskans, who died on Sept. 27, was a major figure in Winnipeg's literary world.
                                                   arduous and very often thankless work
   Jukebox Junkie, but Taskans loved and           a lucid objectivity and his quiet generos-
   prioritized editing. He started editing         ity of spirit,” Sweatman says. “He would       experienced authors alike with respect                        “His last issue that he sequenced, he
   in high school with a small paper and           attend readings by unknown writers (like       and genuine interest in our work,” poet                    sequenced in the hospital. And he looked
   during his days at the University of            Sweatman, in 1980) and suggest that we         Angeline Schellenberg says.                                at me, and he said ‘I love doing this!’ He
   Winnipeg (U of W), he edited Mandala,           submit to Prairie Fire.”                         Taskans was tireless in his commit-                      was editing to the end,” Bitney says.
   the precursor to Juice Journal, in which           “What sticks in my mind is the hum-         ment to the craft of editing and the sup-
   his poetry was also published.                  ble way Andris treated brand-new and           port of writers.

Canada is good enough
Young artists highlight just how supportive the flourishing
Canadian music industry is
 naaman sturrup              @naamansturrup        and I would love for this city to always be
                                                   my home base.”
 arts and culture reporter                            Lindsay Thomson is a Winnipeg-based
                                                   artist and the leader of the indie band
   Although Canada may have a smaller              LLUX. After the group’s performance
   music industry than the United King-            at the Good Will earlier this year, the
   dom or the United States, there are a           band released the singles ‘The Drive’ and
   variety of opportunities to grow here,          ‘Molly.’
   and there are young artists taking advan-          Thomson recently moved to Winnipeg
   tage of them.                                   and after taking a songwriting program
      Matthew V, a young pop artist based          in Ottawa, the artist is ready to spread
   in Vancouver, B.C., has an upcoming             her wings in Manitoba.
   Canadian tour opening for the synth-pop            “Winnipeg is a perfect city to come in
   singer Ralph. The tour starts in Victoria,      and learn some new music,” she says.
   B.C. on March 10 and, after travelling             “I feel so grateful to be in Winnipeg.                                                                                               carly boomer (supplied)

   British Columbia and Alberta, stops in          Everyone is so supportive.”
                                                      Matthew V says that the last two            Local musician Lindsay Thomson, singer and guitarist of LLUX
   Winnipeg at the Good Will Social Club
   on March 16.                                    years have been eye-opening for him,
      Matthew V has trained in classical           as he discovered just how vast the music
                                                   industry is in Canada. He reveals one             Though these artists are based in dif-                 did not like, I do not think I would take
   music since childhood, and though he                                                           ferent provinces, create music in differ-                 that opportunity. I am very lucky to have
   went to London, England to pursue a             of the main influences behind career
                                                   growth and success:                            ent genres and appeal to different audi-                  a team that lets me make things that I
   four-year musical program, his priorities                                                      ences, one commonality that shines in                     want to make.”
   quickly changed after coming back home.            “We live in the age of the internet, and
                                                   people can really get the ball rolling from    both is humility.                                            Thomson concurs and says, “I would
      “When I came home in the summer                                                                Matthew V says, “as I have had more                    love for this to become a career, but you
   after my first year abroad, I ended up          wherever they are,” he says.
                                                      “Once you have a good product people        experience in this industry, I have found                 do not have to reach a crazy level of star-
   signing a record deal with 604 Records                                                         that I am now less focused on the amount                  dom to have a career.
   in Vancouver,” he says.                         can connect with, anyone can get started
                                                   from wherever they choose to. There is         of success that I have and more focused                      “Having a nice, humble fanbase would
      “At that moment, I decided to stay                                                          on making things that I am proud of.                      be great.”
   here and pursue a musical career on             no roadblock that can inhibit an artist’s
                                                   career in Canada, especially in 2020.”            “If a big record company offered me
   home turf. Vancouver feels like home,                                                          guaranteed stardom to make music I
Circus Play! - The Uniter
6             The Uniter // February 27, 2020

                                                                                                                           arts BRIEFS
CKUW top 30                                                                                                                   beth schellenberg // arts and culture editor                    @bethgazellenberg

January 27—February 2, 2020
TW = This Week // LW = Last Week // ! = Local content // * = Canadian Content
                                                                                                                           Pop Up Drag Show                                            Sea Moya (Germany)
TW	LW	 C	Artist	Album	Label
1    4    !     Cantor Dust                                  Too Many Stars                          Self-Released
                                                                                                                           Don your finest threads and head down to Club 200           Catch kraut-beat-indie rockers Sea Moya at the
                                                                                                                           (190 Garry St.) on Friday, Feb. 28 for a pop-up drag        Handsome Daughter (61 Sherbrook St.) on Tuesday,
2    1    !     Mariachi Ghost                               Puro Dolor                              Sugar Gator           show! The lineup will feature local sweethearts and         March 3. Special guests, including local electronic/
3    26   !     William Prince                               Reliever                                Six Shooter           secret, oh-so-special guests and is sure to be a            house act French Class, are opening, and the show is
4    NE	 *      Andy Shauf                                   The Neon Skyline                        Arts & Crafts         fabulous time. The show starts at 11:30, and cover is       an early one, with doors at 7 p.m. Music starts at 7:30
                                                                                                                           $5.                                                         p.m. sharp, and cover is $10.
5    NE	 *      The Quivers                                  Nice To Meet You                        Transistor 66
6    NE		       Rez Abbasi And Isabelle Olivier	Oasis	Enja/Yellowbird
7    15   *     Wolf Parade                                  Thin Mind                               Royal Mountain
8    5		        Los Straightjackets                          Channel Surfing	Yep Rock
9    18		Various Artists                                     Desert Sessions Vols. 11 & 12           Matador
10 13		Various Artists                                       Back From The Canigo: Garage Punks      Staubgold             Micah Erenberg/Slow                                         Urban Ecology Walk:
                                                             Vs Freakbeat Mods Perpignan 1989-1999
                                                                                                                           Leaves                                                      Energy and the Cosmic
11   12   *     Booster Fawn                                 Psychic Laundry From Smoke              Self-Released
                                                             And Mirror World                                              Local songwriting darlings Micah Erenberg and Slow          Whole
                                                                                                                           Leaves will play tunes at the Times Change(d) High
12 RE	 *        The Flamingos Pink                           Kustom Kreme                            Label Étiquette                                                                   Barbara and Clarence Nepinak, Allen Sutherland, Dave
                                                                                                                           and Lonesome Club (234 Main St.) on Saturday, Feb.
13 2      !     Begonia                                      Fear                                    Rex Baby              29. Erenberg will play with a full band, and Slow           Pancoe, John Wyndels and Cary Hamel will lead an
14 8      *     Fly Pan Am                                   C'est Ca                                Constellation         Leaves as a duo comprised of Grant Davidson and             evening walk-and-talk on Saturday, Feb. 29 from 5 to
                                                                                                                           Rej Ricard. The show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $15       7 p.m. The walk will focus on the connection between
15 NE	 *        Destroyer	Have We Met                                                                Merge
                                                                                                                           and can be purchased at Eventbrite.                         urban and ecological systems and will end around a
16 21		Various Artists                                       Symphonic Plunderphonic                 Silber                                                                            fire at The Forks. For more information and to reserve
17 NE	 *        Alex Cuba                                    Sublime                                 Caracol                                                                           a free spot, visit Eventbrite.
18 30 !         Greg Rekus & The Inside Job                  Death & Taxes                           Self-Released
19 NE		         Bleach Day                                   As If Always                            Birdwatcher
20 29		         Mr. Elevator                                 Goodbye, Blue Sky                       Castle Face
21 RE	 *        Geoff Berner                                 Grand Hotel Cosmopolis                  Coax
22 NE	 !	Hut Hut	Hut Hut Hut
23 27     !     Smoky Tiger                                  The Premium Qulaity: Royal Rumpus
                                                                                                     Self-Released
                                                                                                     Transistor 66
                                                                                                                           Keynote: Dr. Otto on                                        Decolonizing Lens: Art and
24 NE	 *        L'electrique Brelant                         Le Ciel D'hiver                         Arachnidiscs          ”Gender, Sexuality, & the                                   Activism
25 NE		         CEL (Felix Kubin & Hubert Zemler)
26 NE	 !	Hearing Trees
                                                             CEL
                                                             Bones
                                                                                                     Bureau B
                                                                                                     Self-Released
                                                                                                                           Bauhaus“                                                    The Decolonizing Lens is hosting a screening of Invasion
                                                                                                                                                                                       at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (300 Memorial Blvd.) on
27 RE		         Paint Fumes                                  What A World                            Get Hip               Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art (MAWA) and the            Thursday, Feb. 27, followed by a discussion about the
28 RE		         Little Fyodor                                Pithy Romantic Ballads                  Self-Released
                                                                                                                           School of Art are co-presenting a keynote lecture           Wet’suwet’en Nation’s efforts to protect traditional
                                                                                                                           by Dr. Elizabeth Otto on Friday, Feb. 28. Otto is an art    territory and the role art can play in political activism.
29 NE		         Jon Hassell/Farafina                         Flash Of The Spirit                     Tak:Til/Glitterbeat   historian and the author of numerous books, and her         The event is free, but 100 per cent of all donations will
30 NE		Oiseaux-Tempete                                       From Somewhere Invisible                Subrosa               work focuses on gender, sexuality, queer identites,         go toward the Wet’suwet’en Nation at the Gidimt’en
                                                                                                                           occult spirituality and architecture. Otto’s lecture will   Access Point. Doors open at 6 p.m., the film screens at 7,
                                                                                                                           take place at MAWA (611 Main St.) at 7 p.m.                 and the panel discussion starts at 7:30.

                  Allthe
                 All  thebest
                          bestininthe
                                   the
              2019/2020   academic
              2017/18 academic        year!
                                    year!
Circus Play! - The Uniter
ARTS                                                                                                                                                                The Uniter // February 27, 2020
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        7

                                                                                                                                                                                                             supplied photo

A promotioal image for Children of God, the musical written by Corey Payette. Payette will direct Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre's production of the play in 2021.

Theatrical shift
                                                                                                                           “It is such a gift to have a play like            nights at the Warehouse. The festival
                                                                                                                        The Wolves, because it is the ensem-                 will also feature a series of panels and
                                                                                                                        ble of nine soccer players and one soc-              cabarets but won’t feature the indepen-
                                                                                                                        cer mom,” Thornton says. “I love the                 dent theatres that the Master Playwright
                                                                                                                        opportunity. We are going to (cast) nine             Festival did.
Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s new season reveals new                                                                  young women, local Winnipeg actors,                     “I’m seeing the gap now for indepen-
priorities                                                                                                              next-generation actors, and really show
                                                                                                                        their stuff.”
                                                                                                                                                                             dent theatre,” Sami Desiree, the artistic
                                                                                                                                                                             director of Beau Theatre Co., says. “The
                                                              Calpurnia by artistic associate director
                                                              Audrey Dwyer.                                                “The last goal is ‘connecting with our            Master Playwright Festival has always
  hannah foulger                  @foulgerscovfefe               The second was “captivating our                        community,’” Thornton says. This is                  been a great opportunity for indepen-
                                                              audience (by) creating a balanced play-                   most apparent with The Bridge, a new                 dent theatre or community productions
  arts and culture reporter                                   bill that has beloved classics,” Thorton                  festival which will replace the Master               to mount something and still get some of
                                                              says, like The Sound of Music, which has                  Playwright Festival, which ran from                  that audience base that goes and makes
                                                              salient and contemporary themes. “The                     2000 to 2020. The festival featured one              these houses full. (Often) it is really hard
    The Royal Manitoba Theatre Cen-
                                                              von Trapp family were displaced. They                     RMTC production and a non-juried                     to reach those audience bases.”
    tre (RMTC) launched its season pro-
                                                              were wartime refugees ... this is a story                 selection of plays produced by indepen-                 Thornton says The Bridge is not meant
    grammed by new artistic director Kelly
                                                              which sadly continues to resonate.”                       dent theatre companies in the commu-                 to be “a cookie-cutter replacement” for
    Thornton. There is a clear shift in direc-
                                                                 Another classic, The Three Musketeers,                 nity. Each year focused on a particular              the Master Playwright Festival. She
    tion from previous seasons, highlight-
                                                              adapted by Catherine Bush, will con-                      “Master Playwright,” including John                  plans on doing some kind of town hall
    ing stories from and about women and
                                                              quer the mainstage. “My mandate with                      Patrick Shanley, Caryl Churchill, Ste-               to engage with smaller theatre compa-
    BIPOC.
                                                              that one is to bring some of the most                     phen Sondheim and ending with 2020’s                 nies to find out what their needs are.
       “When I was still going through the
                                                              exciting swordplay onto our stages,”                      ShakespeareFest.                                        “I do have ideas in terms of what I see
    hiring process (to become) the artistic
                                                              Thornton says.                                               “The Bridge is a new initiative, (an)             as the needs of the community. (RMTC
    director at RMTC, I articulated three
                                                                 This season will also have a large                     annual festival that unpacks some of                 has) a responsibility for people’s liveli-
    priorities,” Thornton says. “One is ‘cul-
                                                              opportunity for young women actors.                       the issues that are on our stage. In 2021,           hoods, which is why I’m trying to get as
    tivating our voices’ ... I really believe in
                                                              Sarah Delappe’s The Wolves, the Pulitzer                  (the theme is) Art and Reconciliation,”              much local Winnipeg talent onstage (as
    putting Canadian playwrights on our
                                                              Prize-nominated play about a girls’ soc-                  Thornton says. Children of God, a musi-              possible), including local designers. I’m
    stage and as many local playwrights as
                                                              cer team, will be produced at the Tom                     cal about an Oji-Cree family in a resi-              interested in helping build capacity for
    possible.” Seven of the shows this season
                                                              Hendry Warehouse.                                         dential school, will play the mainstage,             independent companies,” she says.
    are by Canadian playwrights, including
                                                                                                                        and two shows will play on alternate
Circus Play! - The Uniter
Circus Play! - The Uniter
Feature                      Words and Photos by Keeley Braunstein-Black                                          Staff Photographer                             @ keeley_image

Circus play!
    The performers keeping circus arts alive in Winnipeg

Charles Lauder, who performs as Sleepy the Clown, hard at work with a giant balloon

 Charles Lauder                                                          whole gamut of disciplines depending on what you want          “People, as adults, we wear what we present to the
 (Sleepy the Clown)                                                      to focus on.” Sleepy enjoyed acting as a child and as a     world. It's not necessarily our own proper true selves.
                                                                         teenager met “a clown minister.”                            There is the version of ourselves that we show to the people
 Winnipeg Circus Club – president
                                                                            “He would travel across Canada doing clowning            at work, there is the version we show to our parents, there
                                                                         workshops and presentations and summer camps.               is the version we show to our friends, and, as a clown,
 Charles Lauder (Sleepy) is the current president of the                 Meeting him and learning from him in his workshops          what I like to say about clowning is it is an exaggeration
 Winnipeg Circus Club (WCC). This is the third time                      over the course of four to five months hooked me on the     of the human spirit.
 Lauder has been elected to the position.                                whole clowning thing,” Sleepy says.                            “As a clown, it is all about the emotional connection
    One of the reasons Sleepy loves being a clown is                        “There is an essential truth to being a clown in front   with the audience, whether that audience is one person or
 “because you can dabble your giant tippy-toe in pretty                  of people. That kind of negates it being a mask. There is   500. As a clown, you do the simple things that everybody
 much anything,” including juggling, balloons, comedy,                   truth of character between you and the audience that you    does, just more exaggerated or more ridiculous.”
 stage shows and birthday parties.                                       need to let go of yourself and become one with what you        Sleepy says “being a clown is awesome!”
    Clowning is a “whole thing in itself. It encompasses a               are doing.

                                                                                                                                             COVER FEATURE CONTINUES | NEXT PAGE >>
Circus Play! - The Uniter
: continued               Circus Play!

  Ezra Lazar - treasurer of the Circus Club – juggler                       Karrie Blackburn - professional hula hooper

  Ezra Lazar is a juggler and         bounced off the ground. Lazar’s       Karrie Blackburn is a professional hula      narrow-minded and singular. There
  member of the International         favourite thing to juggle is          hooper who has been performing for           are so many things you can do with a
  Jugglers’ Association (IJA) and     bouncy balls, because they “let       10 years. She started out for fitness, and   hoop. By design, it’s infinite.
  is currently the treasurer of the   you do more tricks.”                  then it became about travel and learn-          “Even just having a young child, they
  Winnipeg Circus Club.                  He is a member of IJA Con-         ing around the globe. She then came          can spin the hoop like a top, with older
     Lazar started juggling while     tinue, a program where kids can       home to “share my passion for the hula       kids they can spin it on the arms. It gets
  in high school. The biology         learn to juggle and get a button      hoop with others.”                           rid of that playground shaming and
  teacher, who was also a juggler,    when they learn a new trick.             Blackburn started hooping when she        invites everyone to play. The only wrong
  took it upon himself to teach       “We want to encourage kids to         met a woman on a camping trip who            way to do it is if you are not smiling. It’s
  everyone. While Lazar started       learn,” he says.                      had “four hoops, rocked out and did all      a hula hoop. You can’t do it wrong if
  performing with a prop called          Lazar will perform on March        of these amazing things.” She vowed to       you're smiling,” Blackburn says.
  a Diabolo, he switched to jug-      8 as part of the annual show-         learn to hula hoop and “lost 75 pounds          Blackburn has been an instructor
  gling because his friends were      case while juggling apples. “(I’ll)   in two years and traveled to 18 differ-      for six years. “If people give me a min-
  doing it.                           hopefully not get too much apple      ent countries with my hoops after that,      ute of their time, I can have them hula
     He recently started learning     juice everywhere!” Lazar says.        because what’s next when you are given a     hooping around the waist.”
  stilt-walking and bounce-jug-                                             whole new lease on life?”                       Blackburn performs with some fire
  gling, where the balls are                                                   “It really does bridge the gap of play    hoops, ambient animation with LED
                                                                            between all generations. When we             hoops, single, multi and double hoops.
                                                                            think of hula hooping, we think of it        “There is so much variation within it,”
                                                                            spun around our waist. But that is very      she says.

  Gabriel Wendt -           amateur - rope dart – first performance coming up!

                                                                                                             Gabriel Wendt is a member of the Winni-
                                                                                                             peg Circus Club and practices rope dart,
                                                                                                             an adaption taken from martial arts.
                                                                                                                Wendt joined the club because of an
                                                                                                             interest in juggling and says “I came
                                                                                                             with the understanding that I would
                                                                                                             learn juggling. I had no idea about the
                                                                                                             rope dart until I got here.”
                                                                                                                Wendt was looking for something that
                                                                                                             provided more exercise. “With juggling,
                                                                                                             I found it was a lot of upper-body work
                                                                                                             (not like lifting weights or anything),
                                                                                                             but with rope dart, you have to move
                                                                                                             your whole body.
                                                                                                                “I think the circus arts are very valu-
                                                                                                             able for children and for adults. It’s good
                                                                                                             exercise. It’s fun. It’s something entirely
                                                                                                             new and different that you wouldn’t be
                                                                                                             able to get from the internet.”
                                                                                                                While “just a learner,” Wendt has vol-
                                                                                                             unteered to be in the annual showcase
                                                                                                             on March 8.
Atom Dzaman - professional juggler – has juggled                                    April - amateur – stilts, slackline, juggling,
a kitten                                                                            hoops, etc. – Here for fun!

 As a professional juggler, Atom          juggling and fell in love with it,” he       April is just getting comfortable        was about five years ago. The kids
 Dzaman’s favourite thing to juggle is    says.                                        on stilts after attending a work-        on stage were so articulate, and
 balls, even though one time he jug-         Dzaman has travelled with jug-            shop about a year ago where              everybody had something to offer,
 gled a kitten. Yes, it is still alive!   gling and more. Today, he is doing           participants made stilts. “I didn’t      and everybody was having a good
    He works mostly with his moth-        mostly online videos and is a “farm-         practice very much until a few           time and in a good mood. So I
 er’s company, where “she makes jug-      ing artist,” Dzaman does juggling            months ago.”                             decided to check out the club.
 gling balls by hand.”                    and art, and in the summer farms                April does slackline, juggling,          “Part of it is where they have it.
    Dzaman started juggling at the        organic produce in Ethelbert, Man.           poi and hoops. “I don’t do any of        They let the neighbourhood kids
 age of eight and was raised in a fam-                                                 them expertly. I am here for fun,”       in and let them use props,” April
 ily circus of sorts. “I saw my dad                                                    April says.                              says. “It’s a whole lot of fun.”
                                                                                          “The first showcase I went to

Mahlet Starr
Tiauni  Cuff -(she/her)
                performer -and
                            “I’m  starting to give less of a shit”
                               teacher

                                                                                   Tiauni Starr has a background in             The flow classes consist of 30
                                                                                   dance (jazz, ballet, tap) and “it         to 60 second dance routines that
                                                                                   just felt like a natural progression.     participants build. According to
                                                                                   I went to my first festival, which        Starr, “one of the most common
                                                                                   was Summer of Sound, and a cou-           questions that I get is ‘why can’t I
                                                                                   ple of mutual friends had a hoop,         flow? I know all of these tricks, but
                                                                                   and I was like ‘WOW! That's so            I can’t put them together.’ The flow
                                                                                   cool!’ And I thought to myself,           classes help you combine them.”
                                                                                   ‘I could probably do that,’ so six           Performing regularly, Starr
                                                                                   months later, I bought myself my          does single, double and cir-
                                                                                   first hoop.”                              cus-style hooping (with four to six
                                                                                      Starr is a self-taught hooper          hoops). Eventually, Starr would
                                                                                   who learned a lot of her skills by        like to incorporate aerial hooping
                                                                                   watching YouTube videos (by cre-          into her performance.
                                                                                   ators like Deanne Love) and on               Starr performs at weddings,
                                                                                   websites like hoop-trix.com.              corporate events, raves, birthday
                                                                                      Starr teaches three different          parties, fundraisers and festivals.
                                                                                   technique levels and a flow class         “I love sharing what I can do with
                                                                                   and says “coming from a dance             other people, and hopefully I can
                                                                                   background, I find that many dif-         inspire others.”
                                                                                   ferent hoop and flow artists lack            According to Starr, the com-
                                                                                   the fluidity of dance. They know          munity is welcoming, friendly,
                                                                                   all of the tricks really well. They       helpful and supportive, even
                                                                                   just lack the dance.                      worldwide. “You can go anywhere
                                                                                      “Everyone has a different flow,        in the world, and there are tons of
                                                                                   but with my classes, I really want        hoopers,” she says.
                                                                                   to incorporate technique and flow.”
: continued            Circus Play!

 Mateo Lopez - fire performer

                                                                    Mateo Lopez uses a wide variety of        requires knowledge of safety. “The
                                                                    props for fire spinning. “I myself        danger in fire spinning is very real,
                                                                    have many, such as poi, whip, staff,      and there is a high risk of injury
                                                                    sword and my favourite, rope dart.”       when fire spinning. People should
                                                                       Lopez further demystifies fire         only learn if they are very serious
                                                                    performance by saying “we set fire        about performing and should look
                                                                    to wicks made of a fiberglass/Kev-        to learn from someone experienced
                                                                    lar blend material that is soaked in      and knowledgeable in under-
                                                                    a flammable fuel, such as naptha,         standing the bylaws and the safety
                                                                    kerosene or lamp. Depending on            requirements involving any fire
                                                                    the performer or performance,             arts practice.
                                                                    fuels may be mixed to add dura-              “In the summertime I hold
                                                                    tion to the burn time of the prop.”       weekly meet-ups in the park to teach
                                                                       Lopez started six years ago in         those seriously interested about the
                                                                    Tofino, B.C. “I was telling a friend I    city bylaws regarding fire safety and
                                                                    made (who spun fire), how I wanted        performance, as well about the use
                                                                    to learn, as I was inspired by seeing     of different fuels and the hazards
                                                                    my friends spin fire in the park here     regarding fire spinning and the gear
                                                                    in Winnipeg. She then told me she         required to spin fire safely. I can be
                                                                    was going to pop my fire cherry, and      reached either through the Win-
                                                                    the next night, I spun a fire staff for   nipeg Circus Club Facebook page
                                                                    the first time. From there, I soon        or the Winnipeg Fire & Flow Arts
                                                                    made my own staff and rope dart to        Facebook page or on Instagram
                                                                    practice with.”                           @freespiritfire.”
                                                                       While he loves fire spinning,             He also comments on the commu-
                                                                    “the sound the fire makes as it           nity in Winnipeg. “I feel blessed to be
                                                                    moves through space, there's some-        a part of the fire community here in
                                                                    thing almost therapeutic about it;        Winnipeg and to be able to collabo-
                                                                    the feeling of being connected and        rate with the many talented people in
                                                                    comfortable with something that           this city. It’s like a dream come true,
                                                                    instinctively we as humans fear”,         and I continue to look forward to my
                                                                    Lopez cautions that fire spinning         career as a fire performer!”

  Upcoming Events:
  Eccentric Performing Workshop          WCC Festival Weekend Circus Jam                      Winnipeg Circus Club 8th Annual
  with Iman Lizarazu                     Saturday, March 7 from 6 p.m.                        Showcase
  Saturday, March 7 from 10 a.m.         to 9 p.m.                                            Sunday, March 8 from 2 to 5 p.m.
  to 2:30 p.m.                           Winnipeg Circus Club                                 Jubilee Place, 180 Riverton Ave.
  195 Collegiate St.                     185 Young St.

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city                                                                                                                                    The Uniter // February 27, 2020
                                                                                                                                                                                                    13

Winnipeg for All
Budget for All and Millennium for All one year after library
security measures
                                                 Winnipeg both at a ward level and at a
 alex neufeldt                                   community level.”
                                                    Sarah Broad, who lives downtown
 City REPORTER        @alexejneufeldt            and has been a member of Millennium
                                                 for All since its inception, says the group
                                                 began as an email chain organized
   Feb. 25 marked the one-year anniversary       through Facebook after the Millennium
   of the introduction of private security       Library introduced stringent security
   guards using metal detectors and per-         measures.
   forming bag checks at the Millennium             “The first thing that we seized on
   Library.                                      was the library management had not
      Millennium for All, a group dedicated      consulted with the community at all
   to “organizing against the forced bag         before implementing the security. They
   searches and metal detector scans at the      had consulted with the police, a private
   Millennium Library” and Budget for All,       security company and the library work-
   a “coalition of communities, organiza-        ers’ union,” she says.
   tions and folks against the proposed cuts        The group held a community consul-
   to the 2020 Winnipeg budget,” are mark-       tation, which also engaged the library
   ing the occasion with a week of events to     workers, and began attending city coun-
                                                                                                                                                                                      photo by daniel crump

   raise awareness of the militarization of      cil meetings to discuss how “weird it had
   downtown and the funding cuts many                                                          People gather at the Millennium Library one year to the day that stronger security measures, including bag
                                                 been to have no consultation with com-        searches and metal detectors, were implemented.
   Winnipeg libraries face.                      munity members before doing some-
      In two weeks, Budget for All will host     thing so drastic and so unprecedented,
   transit-related events, and there will be a   nationally. This is not done across Can-      Broad says. The cuts included the fund                     Cuts to community services are pro-
   day of action on March 14.                    ada,” Broad says.                             for an alternate response among many                    posed for every ward except Waverly
      Chantale Garand, who manages                  Over the summer, while the City pre-       deep cuts to community services. “I                     West. A full list of cuts is available at
   social media for Budget for All and helps     pared a report on the security measures,      think that really helped mobilize peo-                  budgetforall.org.
   plan events, says organizing around the       Millennium for All created their own          ple who could see that this was going to                   “We’re taking away from our core,
   municipal budget has brought many             report to be released the same day and        really gouge everybody.”                                from our marginalized and vulnerable
   groups within the city together.              broadened their base. The City’s Com-            Gerand says the first meeting of Bud-                folks, and putting that into the most
      “Trying to organize around the bud-        munity Services branch voted to fund a        get for All drew 70 participants from                   affluent neighbourhood in the city
   get might seem difficult to some folks,       decrease in library security and work on      dozens of organizations across the city.                (Waverley West), which isn’t to say that
   but it’s very grassroots-oriented and         alternative solutions to the concerns of      While this might seem like a lot of dif-                that community doesn’t need resources,
   focused on individuals and how they           library staff.                                ferent interests, Gerand says they think                but is to say that we have a problem if we
   relate to community,” they say. “With            “Then the budget talks started, and        “there comes a general understanding                    aren’t able to provide those services to
   the City planning to cut all community        they were so drastic and frightening,”        and respect for one another, and that                   the rest of the city,” Gerand says.
   services, it really does impact the core of                                                 we’re all there for the same reason.”

Fast Pitch hits home run
Winnipeg Foundation provides charities with funding and
training
 alex neufeldt
                                                 viduals and community organizations of
 City REPORTER        @alexejneufeldt            African heritage. Susan Berthiaume is
                                                 the director of child and youth care pro-
                                                 gramming at Ndinawe, a not-for-profit
   The Winnipeg Foundation’s fifth annual        organization dedicated to helping at-risk
   Fast Pitch competition concluded this         youth in Winnipeg. Both say the train-
   week, with winners announced the eve-         ing has been incredibly valuable.
   ning of Feb. 25. The event features “12          “I’ve been able to articulate our work
   charitable organization finalists deliver-    in a concise way and clearly state what
   ing powerful, high-energy cases for sup-      the needs are,” Kuet says. “It’s a long-
   port – in three minutes or less – with        term investment in terms of not only
   $26,000 in prizes at stake.”                  the awareness you bring to the organiza-
      Jennifer Partridge, the strategic proj-    tion, but also yourself as a leader and the
   ects associate with The Winnipeg Foun-        skills you gain.”
   dation, describes Fast Pitch as “a warm          “You could use that in other plat-
   and fuzzy Dragon’s Den for the charita-       forms, but also the individuals that you
   ble sector.”                                  speak to may not come in contact with                                                                                                       supplied photo
      “We pair 12 executive leaders from         you without this platform. Having the
   charities in Winnipeg up with coaches         opportunity to make those relations can       For charitable organizations that need to pitch themselves to potential donors, The Winnipeg Foundation's
   from the business community, and              help you to really connect with them          Fast Pitch event provides valuable training.
   together they work on a three-minute          down the road or strengthen relation-
   pitch to tell us what they do, why they       ships between organizations,” he says.        tale has been challenging but in the best               in Winnipeg lack the kind of marketing
   do it and what $10,000 would do and              Berthiaume says that compared to the       way,” she says.                                         platform that Fast Pitch provides. “They
   why it matters.”                              prizes, “the bigger draw was to be able to       This process includes networking                     also don’t always have the opportunity
      The training takes place over six          participate with and speak to an entirely     with the business sector and between                    to meet people from other backgrounds
   weeks, culminating in a showcase              different group of people than I’m nor-       charities.                                              like lawyers or marketing and commu-
   where winners can receive grants of up        mally able to speak to. We preach to our         “Already, Mandela is coming to speak                 nication professionals or accountants.”
   to $10,000. But even if they don’t score      choirs often, and this is really unique,      to our classroom,” Berthiaume says.                        She says the initiative was inspired
   the grand prize, taking part in six weeks     to speak to people who don’t have that        “I’m not one to naturally want to (net-                 by a Fast Pitch event she attended in
   of pitch training and networking is           context.”                                     work), and the majority of us are pretty                Calgary several years ago. “What I saw
   rewarding for participants.                      “I’m not sure you could take a course      shy or introverted and focused on our                   was incredible, because all the charities
      Mandela Kuet is the acting executive       that would teach you what I’ve learned        work, so this is valuable in a lot of dif-              came together and were really support-
   director for African Communities of           in the past few weeks. To be able to          ferent ways.”                                           ing one another, and I learned so much
   Manitoba Inc., a non-profit, non-sectar-      distill our 13 years into a three-minute         Partridge says many smaller charities                about the community.”
   ian organization, bringing together indi-
CAMPUS                                                                                                                                                                                                     special
                                                                                                                                                                                                           reporT

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 supplied photos

Left to right: Mahlet Cuff (vice-president external affairs), Meagan Malcolm (president), Natasha Reimer Okemow (former vice-president internal affairs), Noelle Sagher (vice president student affairs)

Election mudslinging                                                                                                     manager got the mail, she basically said,
                                                                                                                         ‘What the hell is going on?’ And that’s
                                                                                                                         how things started to get out.”
                                                                                                                                                                                   dents any money.
                                                                                                                                                                                      When reached for comment, the Man-
                                                                                                                                                                                   itoba NDP said, “The Manitoba NDP
                                                                                                                             He claims that, at this point, rather                 cannot comment on unverified allega-
Online attacks prompt response from UWSA                                                                                 than announce the mistake, the UWSA                       tions. Political donations are publicly
                                                                                                                         had people with knowledge of the inci-                    reported and accessible. We're proud that
  thomas pashko                                                                                                          dent sign non-disclosure agreements.                      many Manitobans volunteer and work on
                                                                  A subsequent tweet read, “Two of the                       He says he has not received a response                our candidates' political campaigns.”
  managing editor               @thomaspashko                  UWSA executives responsible for this are                  from the UWSA.                                               The @stopuwsacorruption account
                                                               now running again. If they want our votes                     “Kerman” also claims that he con-                     only had 17 followers, one of whom was
                                                               shouldn’t they be transparent and tell us                 fronted vice-president of student affairs                 Kirt Hayer, a candidate for UWSA pres-
     The University of Winnipeg Students’                      what really happened instead of wasting                   Noelle Sagher about the allegations, and                  ident who is running on a slate opposing
     Association (UWSA) is denying anony-                      student money and then hiding it from                     that Sagher expressed doubt that the stu-                 Cuff and Sagher. Another account that
     mous allegations that its current executive               everyone?” The account was removed                        dent body would care if he were to take                   (until recently) followed @stopuwsacor-
     covered up embezzlement by a former col-                  from Twitter the afternoon of Feb. 26.                    the information public.                                   ruption belongs to a campus group called
     league who was removed from office. With                     An Instagram account with the handle                       “Kerman” says he is upset that “rather                the Cultural Celebration Club (CX3).
     the allegations coming just days before Uni-              @stopuwsacorruption was created on Feb.                   than coming clean and saying, ‘A mistake                  Hayer is the founder and leader of CX3.
     versity of Winnipeg (U of W) students go                  25 and repeated the claims made on Twit-                  was made. This is what happened,’ they                       In a phone conversation with The
     to the polls for the 2020 campus election,                ter. The account was deleted on Feb. 26.                  try to cover it up. They try and continue                 Uniter, Hayer said that he does not know
     it’s indicative of a messy campaign season.                  In an emailed statement to The                         to maintain their oligarchy.                              who is behind the online accounts.
         On Sept. 30, 2019, the UWSA                           Uniter, the UWSA categorically denied                         “Frankly, it disgusts me, as someone                     “I feel like (the current UWSA exec-
     announced that Natasha Reimer                             the allegations.                                          whose money is going towards this. I                      utive) kind of lacked in a few ways, but
     Okemow, the vice-president of internal                       “We can confirm that the accusations                   don’t know how much of my money actu-                     I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they
     affairs, had been removed from her posi-                  are completely false,” wrote UWSA chief                   ally went into it because of the lack of                  were actually corrupt,” Hayer says. “(The
     tion in a motion ratified on Sept. 24 by                  operating officer Karolya Vargscarr. “No                  transparency.”                                            anonymous Instagram) followed me.
     the UWSA board of directors.                              funds were embezzled or donated to a                          In an emailed statement to The Uniter,                Lots of people have been following me
         “The removal was due to Conflict                      political campaign. As publicly disclosed                 the UWSA stated that “No student/                         (during the election), so I’ve just been
     of Interest, that is through violation of                 in social media and on our website in                     UWSA money was donated to (the) NDP.                      following everyone back. I didn’t think
     UWSA Bylaw 7.6,” the announcement                         October 2019, the VPIA was dismissed                      We have no affiliations to any political                  it would be an issue, but I’ll probably
     read, adding, “As an elected Executive                    due to a conflict of interest, and person-                party. We didn’t receive any handwrit-                    unfollow it now that that’s the case. I
     Director of the UWSA, the Vice Pres-                      nel matters are subject to confidentiality                ten note from Wab Kinew or donate any                     didn’t really think much about it. I just
     ident Internal Affairs role is a full time,               obligations on both sides and cannot be                   money to the NDP. The VPIA’s dismissal                    hit the ‘follow’ button.”
     salaried term position. For confidential-                 disclosed publicly.                                       was not related to Wab Kinew and/or                          In addition to the allegations, “Ker-
     ity and privacy reasons, the details of the                  “The UWSA is taking legal action                       the NDP. None of the directors signed                     man” also retweeted statements from
     conflict of interest are available only to                against those making these defamatory                     an NDA. They legally can’t discuss any-                   another user that were critical of the
     the Board of Directors.”                                  and false statements.”                                    thing said in Closed Sessions of the board                UWSA executive’s support for local
         Okemow ran on a slate alongside cur-                     In a phone conversation with The                       meetings because of confidentiality agree-                protests in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en
     rent UWSA president Meagan Malcolm,                       Uniter, the person behind the Twitter                     ments and Acknowledgment of Responsi-                     land defenders. When asked if he was
     vice-president external affairs Mahlet Cuff               and Instagram accounts, who admitted                      bility agreements that were signed when                   motivated to make allegations against
     and vice-president student affairs Noelle                 to using “Anthony Kerman” as an alias,                    they started as Board of Directors. No                    the UWSA because of political disagree-
     Sagher. Cuff and Sagher are currently                     expanded on his allegations, claiming                     meeting (with Noelle Sagher) took place                   ments, “Kerman” did not respond.
     running for president and vice-president                  that his source for the information is                    ... No exchange (like the one described by                   The Uniter stresses that we were
     student affairs, respectively.                            someone currently under a non-disclosure                  “Kerman” with Sagher) took place.”                        unable to find any evidence substanti-
         In recent days, anonymous allegations                 agreement.                                                    At press time, The Uniter was unable to               ating any of the claims made by “Ker-
     have appeared online alleging that the                       “Kerman” claims that student funds                     verify the identity of the person behind                  man.” Okemow did not respond to The
     dismissal came as a result of embezzle-                   were misused by Okemow independently                      the Twitter account or whether it actually                Uniter’s request for comment by press
     ment. A Twitter account created on Feb.                   to make a donation to the provincial New                  belongs to a U of W student. Their claims                 time.
     24 under the handle @KermanAnthony,                       Democratic Party (NDP).                                   have not been verified, and our research
     which claims to belong to a University                       “She made (a political donation) with-                 yielded no evidence that a political dona-                Voting for the UWSA general election runs
     of Winnipeg education student, tweeted                    out the consent of the rest of the union,                 tion was ever made to any political party                 from March 2 to 4. Polling stations will be
     that the “UWSA caught their VPIA                          and the only reason that the union found                  by either Okemow or the UWSA.                             open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Riddell Hall,
     embezzling student funds and donat-                       out was because it was a substantial                          There is evidence suggesting that                     the Richardson Centre and Merchant’s Cor-
     ing them to a provincial political party.                 enough donation that (provincial NDP                      Okemow may have volunteered for MLA                       ner. Mobile voting stations will also be open
     Instead of making this public, they fired                 leader) Wab Kinew sent a handwritten                      Uzoma Asagwara’s campaign for the                         on March 2 at Wii Chiiwaakanak from
     the individual and forced everyone to sign                letter thanking the union, and he sent it                 NDP nomination for the riding of Union                    10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on March 4 in the
     an NDA (non-disclosure agreement). Not                    to the union mailbox, because the NDP                     Station. While that volunteer work may                    Buhler Centre from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and
     only did they misuse student money, they                  thought it was all above board, that it                   have violated the UWSA’s conflict of                      in Centennial Hall from 12 to 4 p.m.
     tried to cover their tracks completely.”                  was a regular thing. So when the general                  interest clause, it would not have cost stu-
The Uniter // February 27, 2020
                                                                                                                                                                                                            15

                                                                                                      Andrew Forbes
                                                                                                      Instructor, Department of Theatre and Film, U of W
                                                                                                        Keesha Harewood                                          perspective on filmmaking.
                                                                                                                                                                     “I was able to look at a lot of things
                                                                                                        features reporter             @keeshaharewood
                                                                                                                                                                 initially through the lens of the cine-
                                                                                                                                                                 matographer,” he says. “But I found
                                                                                                          Although Andrew Forbes has taught                      that since I started teaching, I have
                                                                                                          at the University of Winnipeg since                    become ... a smarter storyteller.”
                                                                                                          2006, it was only recently that he                         In particular, Forbes has grown to
                                                                                                          started teaching full-time for the                     appreciate “being part of the storytell-
                                                                                                          Department of Theatre and Film.                        ing team as opposed to highlighting
                                                                                                             Forbes says “it’s a change” and “the                the photography of one specific part of
                                                                                                          switch to full-time was a surprise.”                   the process.”
                                                                                                             Despite his experience working for                      In terms of creating a story, Forbes
                                                                                                          12- to 16-hour stretches doing produc-                 always reminds his students that “the
                                                                                                          tion, Forbes says teaching full-time                   best camera you have is the one you
                                                                                                          presents its own unique challenges. He                 can shoot with, so make a movie with
                                                                                                          compares it to being in the prep stage                 your phone.”
                                                                                                          of filmmaking without ever progress-                       “It’s doable now,” he says. “The
                                                                                                          ing to the actual shoot.                               technology is there in service of story.
                                                                                                             However, despite adjusting to a                     It’s always about that. I’m just saying
                                                                                                          different pace, Forbes has found that                  what every other artist is saying.”
                                                                                                          being in the classroom changed his

                                                                                                          If you could have any                                   If you could only watch
                                                                                                          superpower, what would                                  three movies for the rest
                                                                                                          it be?                                                  of your life, what would
                                                                                                                                                                  they be?
                                                                                                          “Time management would be a good
                                                                                                          superpower.”                                            After careful deliberation and
                                                                                                                                                                  significant anguish, Forbes concluded
                                                                                                                                                                  that his three movies would be: Monty
                                                                                                          What was your worst                                     Python and the Holy Grail, The Tree of
                                                                                                          grade in university?                                    Life and Last Night.

                                                                                     supplied photo       “A solid C+ average.”

‘Reconciliation
& its Discontents’
U of W hosts timely panel discussion
 callum goulet-kilgour                              nous Canadians,” he says.
                                                       This discussion surrounding reconcili-
 campus reporter          @cgouletkilgour           ation is timely, especially amid the ongo-
                                                    ing work of the Wet’suwet’en Nation land
                                                    defenders in northern British Columbia
   On Friday, Feb. 28, the University of Win-       and national solidarity protests.
   nipeg (U of W) will host “Reconciliation            “I do believe that our understanding of
   & its Discontents,” a panel discussion on        reconciliatory practice has been troubled
   the state of reconciliation with Indige-         recently in ways that have a lot to do with
   nous peoples in Canada. This event, held         decades of unresolved abuse, mistrust and
   from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in room 3C01,       indifference suffered by Canada’s Indig-
   is part of the Department of Political Sci-      enous peoples, particularly in relation to
   ence Speaker Series.                             questions of land and natural resource own-
      The panel will feature Dr. Jacqueline Roma-   ership, use and stewardship,” Muller says.
   now, Dr. Allen Mills and Dr. Adam Muller.           “I’d like to suggest that, as a nation, we
      Muller, professor and director of the         are really only now starting to understand
   Department of Peace and Conflict Stud-           how and why reconciling will remain so                                                                                                           supplied photo
   ies at the University of Manitoba, says          challenging,” he says.
                                                                                                      Dr. Adam Muller, professor and director of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of
   in an email to The Uniter that “events              One of the other panellists, Dr. Allen         Manitoba, will be one of three panelists taking part in the "Reconciliation & its Discontents" panel.
   like this one provide an opportunity for         Mills, is a retired professor of political sci-
   interested persons to gather together in a       ence and senior scholar at the U of W. He
   supportive environment, share their per-         believes that, over the past few decades,         much has happened and how deep has it                    larger process and discussion.”
   spectives and work with others to become         there has been progress in terms of recon-        penetrated the wider society,” Mills says.                  The third panellist, Dr. Jacqueline
   clearer about what reconciliation means          ciliation with Indigenous peoples.                   He believes that free and public events               Romanow, is chair of the Department of
   and how to achieve it.”                             “There has been in the last 30 or 40           like this panel discussion are beneficial.               Indigenous Studies at the U of W and has
      “It’s so important that we get a better       years a political awakening among Indig-             “Any decent society is better off if we               experience working “directly with First
   understanding of what we all need to             enous leaders and a greater awareness of          have an honest and candid discussion                     Nations governments for almost 10 years,
   do – and it is clearly much more than we         the history of Indigenous issues in Can-          about these important issues as much as                  providing economic development and
   are currently doing – in order to prop-          ada,” he says, noting, however, that this         possible,” Mills says, adding that even                  management advisory services as well as
   erly align the needs, interests, hopes and       progress is “not fast enough.”                    though events like these may appear small                comprehensive program and project evalu-
   desires of Indigenous and non-Indige-               “Like all change, the question is how          and insignificant, they are “part of the                 ations,” according to the university website.
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