Columns

  • SUVs, Winnipeg’s apex predator

    Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) are quickly becoming a consumer favourite in Canada, with sales tripling in the last 10 years. They have ample cargo space, high seating with great visibility, and, according to ecologist Andreas Malm, you should deflate the tires of each one you see.

  • Higher education in Ukraine and Canada

    My four years of higher education in Ukraine flew by quite fast. Last summer, I already had my bachelor’s degree in transla- tion, somehow managed to combine remote education in Ukraine while being in Canada and started going to University of Winnipeg at the same time.

  • Breaking through the Saint-Boniface ceiling

    I couldn’t wait to leave Saint-Boniface behind me when I was growing up. Yet I’m still very much nestled within its confines, not for want of trying.

  • What the history of streetcars tells us

    I often see people commenting on photos of Winnipeg in the 20th century on social media. Many of these comments express yearning for a time when Winnipeg was a multi-modal city.

  • Farm, table, landfill

    As the total at the grocery register seemingly climbs every week, many Canadians are looking to save money however they can. Buying discounted food close to its expiration date could help shoppers avoid sticker shock while even unintentionally reducing carbon emissions.

  • What’s post-Soviet life like?

    Growing up in a post-Soviet country was an interesting experience. One of the things I remember is just how empty our apartment was.

  • Financial shame in a vibecession economy

    Money shame keeps me up at night, so I find myself going to the gym more, and more, and more. I hit the bag to stop thinking about the gnawing feeling in the pit of my gut. I spin furiously to squeeze every drop of anxiety out of my pores. I lift heavy to get strong enough to build a fortress around me. “This is good for my mental health,” I think.

  • First left-wing mayor rode anger toward streetcars to office

    A day before the November 1922 Winnipeg civic election, mayoral candidate and alderman J.K. Sparling ran an ad in the Manitoba Free Press attacking his opponent S.J. Farmer.

  • The young and the climate anxious

    Climate anxiety has pushed many young people to jump to action. Noticing their governments are not taking steps to avoid climate catastrophe, they have begun to work together to try to ensure a livable future.

  • Life in Canada and Ukraine

    Coming to Canada, I had many different expectations based on stereotypes about maple syrup, hockey, politeness and wearing shorts during snowstorms. Many of the things turned out to be quite true, but to my surprise, there were many other elements of this country I did not expect.

  • The 1906 streetcar strike

    A black-and-white photo of a crowd of strikers overturning a streetcar has become one of the most endearing images of the 1919 General Strike. When the event was memorialized with a statue on Winnipeg’s main street, it became one of the signature images associated with the city.

  • New environmental minister changes lanes

    During this past provincial election, the Progressive Conservative Party and NDP battled over healthcare, crime and homelessness. The parties mostly left the environment out of the discussion.

  • Examining the English language

    “How many languages you know, that many times you are a human being.”

  • Faith

    In the place I grew up, church was at the centre of everything. Sweethearts met at Bible study, married in the chapel and made their friends over years of smalltalk and tea each Sunday after church.

  • The streetcar emerges

    The terms “suburbs” and “suburbanization” often bring to mind the period after the Second World War, defined by rows of bungalows on tree-lined streets. Another image of the suburbs are the more recent stucco McMansions in far-flung areas of the city with garages standing guard over sidewalk-less streets.

  • Ceasefire now!

    On Oct. 7, while gathering with my family for Thanksgiving dinner, I saw the news from Israel. Like all decent people, I viewed the aftermath of Hamas’ massacre with horror.

  • A nightmare for elm trees

    In front of Kilter Brewing Co. stands a beautiful elm tree. It’s taller than the building, and its branches spread out to shade nearly all of the patio. Right now, it’s covered in artwork from visitors during Nuit Blanche. Initials within hearts, smiley faces and abstract squiggles decorate the trunk and limbs, but, unfortunately, so does a stark, orange spray-painted dot in the middle of the trunk.

  • Drowning in tech junk

    In the modern world, tech junk inundates people’s daily lives. Old phones, chargers with frayed cables or the rarely spoken-to Google Nest devices represent the outdated, worn out or useless.

  • The issues of foreign psychology

    Coming to Canada as a person from a Slavic country, my view of psychology was very different from how people here usually think of the discipline.

  • White lies

    Sometimes, I feel like the wrong kind of African. I came to Canada when I was 17. Now, I am a citizen. All the time, I get the question: “have you gone back to Kenya since you left?”

    I get it from immigrants and Canadians alike, and each time my answer is the same.

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