Volunteer at Festival du Voyageur

This year’s Festival du Voyageur will take place from Feb. 17 to 26. in the St. Boniface area, which hasn’t happened since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers are searching for more than 300 volunteers to help with the event. For more information about volunteering, go to app.betterimpact.com.

CF Polo Park development plan

On Thursday, Jan. 12. Shindico Realty and Cadillac Fairview announced a $1 billion project to transform 84 acres of vacant land and parking-lot space in the Polo Park area. The project proposal focuses on adding new parks, greenspace, pedestrian and cycling transportation infrastructure. Architect Brent Bellamy says the design is an opportunity to shift the city’s focus from driving to walking or biking.

Millennium Library to reopen Monday

The Millennium Library is scheduled to reopen on Monday, Jan. 23. after closing its doors for a month following a fatal stabbing. According to a news release from the City, the library will enforce use of a walk-through metal detector, a metal-detector wand (to be used if an alarm sounds). Two Winnipeg police officers and four security guards will work onsite. The library will also have two trauma-informed community-safety hosts and community-crisis workers who are able to connect visitors with social services.

Provincial campaign to end school absenteeism

The Province is planning to spend roughly $500,000 on a new campaign spreading awareness about chronic school absenteeism, promoting the benefits of regular attendance for children. In November 2022, the Winnipeg School Division said that, on average, 20 per cent of students were absent from school. Critics are questioning the focus of the campaign as opposed to funding nutrition programs and more health and wellness resources.

Affordable Indigenous housing coming to Young Street

Opaskwayak Cree Nation has partnered with the federal and provincial government to build a seven-storey, 69-unit apartment complex near the University of Winnipeg. This affordable-housing project will be owned and operated by Opaskwayak and available to Indigenous students, seniors and families. The $17.4 million project is set to be completed by summer 2024. Forty per cent of the suites will rent between $680 to $730 per month with the remaining suites ranging from $900 to $1,600 per month, depending on the size.

First Nation-led feasibility study expected in March

A committee consisting of family members, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and Long Plain First Nation, RCMP, Winnipeg police and officials from the municipal and provincial government, is studying the feasibility of searching the Prairie Green landfill for the bodies of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) says they expect to complete the study by March 31, which will include recommendations, budgets and timelines for a thorough search. The AMC says Brady Road landfill may require its own feasibility study.

Published in Volume 77, Number 15 of The Uniter (January 19, 2023)