An appetite for support: Link found between eating disorders and gender identity

Toronto, Ont. — Alicia Pinelli was standing in line at the York University cafeteria during lunch when the reality of an eating disorder sunk in.

The province of Ontario had just implemented the Healthy Menu Choices Act, which requires regulated food services to publicly display the number of calories in their products.

Pinelli sunk to the ground, overcome with anxiety upon realizing the meal was 100 calories more than they thought.

For the social work student, who prefers to be referred to using the gender-neutral pronoun “they,” accepting the illness was only the first step toward recovery.

For Pinelli, who identifies as genderqueer — meaning a person whose gender identity or expression may not correspond with social and cultural expectations — finding appropriate treatment was more challenging than expected.

“It’s really disheartening to walk through this world feeling like something’s wrong with you because you can’t even be the right type of sick. It makes you feel like there’s only one way to be sick and one way to be validated,” Pinelli said.

Eating disorder rates are rising among transgender individuals, according to a 2015 study by the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute.

This research suggests they are more likely to develop an eating disorder if they experience gender dysphoria, the feeling of conflict when one’s biological makeup does not match their internal gender identity.

A review was conducted during the study on a clinical group presenting signs of gender dysphoria.

Five of the 97 patients presented what would be considered an eating disorder, and an additional 10 showed related symptoms.

Pinelli’s search for help was not easy. In researching recovery programs Pinelli found most of what was available assumed the user was heterosexual and cisgender — meaning non-transgender — and at times used incorrect pronouns and non-binary exclusive language.

Non-binary is an umbrella term that encompasses many gender identities that don’t match the traditional male and female genders.

Not all transgender and genderqueer individuals identify as non-binary, though.

“Most places that I looked at, they were either specifically female programming or specifically male programming, and there was really no integration looking at gender or looking at sexuality or anything of that nature,” Pinelli said.

Generalized services may not address the struggles that a non-binary person experiences, unlike someone who is cisgender and whose gender may not impact their disorder or the way they view their body in the same way, Pinelli said.

“Being someone who is part of the LGBT+ community I wanted services to reflect that because it is a large part of my disorder and a large part of my identity,” Pinelli said.

Eating disorders are often portrayed as a mental health issue that only affects young cisgender females. This misconception can yield stigmatizing results for individuals who don’t fit that profile, said Jody Brian, the executive director at Hopewell Eating Disorder Support Centre in Ottawa.

“The stigma around these diseases is heavy and it really limits an individual’s capacity to feel like they have a safe space to go if they want to seek recovery,” Brian said.

“Eating disorders are still seen as a phenomenon that just affects well-to-do white girls, and that’s not the case. It can affect anybody.”

Although there is no specific cause of an eating disorder, there are many contributing factors such as athletic pressures, genetics, and other psychological conditions, according to Statistics Canada.

Social media also has an enormous impact, said Dr. Josée Jarry from the University of Windsor.

“A lot of people are relying on feedback that they get on their postings. That is what triggers their level of body satisfaction. So if they get a lot of ‘likes’ or comments … then they feel better about their appearance,” Jarry said.

“But if they get not enough ‘likes,’ or not the right comments, or not enough comments, then they feel worse about the way they look.”

Some treatment in Canada is publicly funded, but these services typically have longer wait times compared to privatized care because there is less space available, although it can take several weeks to years to access either.

Waiting this length of time for treatment can sometimes result in a harmful or fatal outcome.

Additionally, most programs require a doctor’s referral. This would prove to be another obstacle for Pinelli.

When Pinelli disclosed to a family doctor within Toronto that they identify as genderqueer, the doctor informed Pinelli that he could no longer be their physician because he didn’t have the knowledge that was required to serve someone who is non-binary.

“It kind of left me at a crossroads of having to figure out how to access something that felt like it wasn’t made for me,” Pinelli said.

One in 200 youth develop feelings of gender nonconformity. Ten years ago that number was estimated to be one in 30,000, according to a report by the Mental Health Information Committee of CHEO.

This is one of the reasons why Dr. Stephen Feder, a co-director at CHEO’s Gender Diversity Clinic, believes the need for specialized services is more urgent than ever. “If you look at medical school and specialty training, currently there is very, very little directed toward addressing (non-binary individuals), so number one on the agenda would be to integrate this into school as a fundamental part of their curriculum,” Feder said.

He believes that frequently updating research, designing programs tailored for different populations, and increasing access to LGBT-friendly health-care providers can help accomplish this.

Pinelli, now 24 and recovered from bulimia, said that eating disorders are not a lifestyle or fad but a mental illness, and it’s crucial to treat them as such, which includes providing the appropriate type of health care.

Pinelli, who is entering a master’s program to study critical social work, hopes to research the correlation between gender dysphoria and the prevalence of eating disorders further.

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About this piece: This article was originally written for a class. It was published in the Toronto Star on June 28.

Curious conservationists walk coast to coast

When Sean Morton approached Sonya Richmond in a pub 24 years ago, and Morton asked Richmond if she liked hiking, who knew it would someday lead to a cross-country foot tour?

Their shared love for hiking and nature has brought them through Spain’s Camino de Santiago and across several hundred kilometres of Canadian trails. But their latest expedition was unlike anything the couple, who are in their mid-40s, have endeavoured before.

They sold their house and left their demanding day jobs in southern Ontario for something much grander — the world’s longest recreational trail.

Fewer people have hiked the 28,000-kilometre Trans-Canada Trail than have walked on the moon. But not unlike a space mission, Richmond and Morton had something special to keep them motivated as they battled — and conquered — extreme heat, forest fires and a hurricane: curiosity.

The underlying reason for their journey was to bring citizen science to the forefront and urge Canadians to pay nature the attention it deserves.

“We set out with the goal of inspiring people of all ages, cultural backgrounds, orientations, identities, genders to just get outside and connect with nature through birds, and learn more about this vast, incredible country for themselves,” Richmond told the Sun earlier this month.

If people fall in love with nature, they will feel more inspired to protect it, she said.

Before their Trans-Canada Trail adventure, Richmond worked as a bird researcher and data analyst. Morton, meanwhile, left his PhD program in interdisciplinary humanities to become a wildlife and landscape photographer.

As Richmond said, Canada is a vast land, which makes it nearly impossible to study the various plant and animal species that call it home. There simply aren’t enough experts and scientists to monitor everything that goes on here. That’s where everyday Canadians come in. Ordinary people can contribute to the collection of scientific knowledge through a practice known as citizen science.

An example of this is the annual Christmas bird count that takes place throughout North America every winter. People in more than 2,000 locations across the Northern Hemisphere will track the number of birds they encounter in a single day, whether it’s in their own backyard or a designated area in the field. The information collected by thousands of volunteer birders forms one of the world’s largest sets of wildlife survey data, according to Birds Canada. The results are used by conservation biologists, environmental planners and naturalists to assess the population trends and distribution of birds.

“It’s incredibly important for conservation. It has a huge positive impact,” Richmond said about citizen science. “By bringing people in and encouraging members of the general public to upload the observations they’re making, we have a shot at monitoring how our wildlife populations are doing.”

Richmond and Morton left Cape Spear, N.L., in June 2019 and spent the next three years — except for travelling back to Ontario to hibernate during the winters — trekking across Canada. They reached the finish line in Victoria, B.C., on Nov. 24 of this year.

Their expedition quickly garnered attention at the national level, including a sponsorship from the Royal Canadian Geographic Society as well as an acknowledgment from the prime minister himself.

Along the way, they spoke to nature groups, classrooms and ordinary passersby about their journey and the importance of conservation, particularly relating to birds. Many people reached out to Richmond and Morton afterward to share their own stories about connecting with nature.

“We helped people across the country, especially a lot of kids, actually connect with nature, start listening to the birds, start looking around. And that was our goal. I mean, that was just an amazing feeling to think that we might have helped people make that connection,” Richmond said.

Birds are important indicators of environmental change — this is part of the reason why the couple decided to highlight them throughout their trip. According to their blog, birds provide essential ecological services, such as pollinating plants, dispersing seeds, and helping control insect populations. When bird populations decline, it can be an indication of larger problems in nature.

While the topic of climate change and environmental caretaking can be politically charged, Richmond said she observed a shared sentiment among Canadians from all walks of life, whether they were fishermen in the Maritimes, farmers in the Prairies, or foresters in British Columbia.

“Talking to people from all these different backgrounds, one thing is abundantly clear. Everyone, no matter who you are, where you sit on the political spectrum … we all want one thing, and that’s to have clean air, clean water and the same opportunities for our children and grandchildren to work and play in the landscapes that we all grew up in,” she said.

“I think that’s a really important starting point.”

• • •

Richmond and Morton didn’t intend for the trip to last as long as it did. But like most things, the COVID-19 pandemic forced its way into their plans like a stubborn stone stuck in their shoe. They had one hiking season under their belt before the pandemic emerged in March 2020 and they were forced to take a hiatus.

In the meantime, as they waited for “stay-at-home” orders to lift, they kept in shape by hiking 10- to 20-kilometre loops around their neighbourhood.

While lockdowns delayed and shortened their time on the trail, the pandemic did offer the couple several bright spots as well.

“There was a bit of a silver lining for us, in that so many people during that time were looking for new ways to connect with nature. And our outreach really fit what a lot of people were looking for,” Richmond said.

As the pandemic barred most people inside their homes, they turned to virtual and digital forms of communication, such as Zoom. This gave the couple an opportunity they might not have otherwise had, which was to reach more Canadians in all corners of the country through the computer screen.

While the pair urge Canadians to get outside, they also recognize the reality of the digital-dominant world we live in. Telling children — and even adults — to drop their phones or other devices in favour of spending time outside can be a “difficult sell,” Richmond said.

But technology and nature aren’t mutually exclusive. There are apps such as iNaturalist, a social network for sharing biodiversity information. Users can upload images of the organisms they meet in their daily lives and connect with other community members on the app.

“If you can take it with you and use it as a tool to help conservation or to help build that connection … you’re using your screen to help bridge the gap between the natural landscape and the digital one.”

The pandemic was just one of the handful of roadblocks the couple faced on their journey. You can add extreme weather and climate events to that list. They were in Halifax when Hurricane Dorian ripped through Eastern Canada, and in British Columbia they faced forest fires and trail washouts.

But one of their most challenging days on the trail was in Emerson, Man. It was close to 50 C, Richmond recalled, and there wasn’t a sliver of shade in sight.

“Getting into Emerson is one of those days that really sticks in our mind, like that was just so hot.”

Manitoba is often shunned for its flat prairie and seemingly unadorned landscape. But Richmond said the province is simply misunderstood by the rest of Canada. Heading into the Prairies, their supporters lamented the “flat” and “boring” landscape on their behalf, telling them to get through the region as quickly as they could.

But after visiting Manitoba for herself, she said those sentiments are “completely untrue.” From species of ground squirrels they had never seen before to bears in soy fields and towering grain elevators, Richmond said Manitoba was one of the places that surprised them the most.

“We learned about the grain elevators … it’s this icon of the Prairies, and now they’re endangered because they’re sort of falling out of history. You know, [there are] all these amazing things that you don’t think about until you go exploring. And I think visiting Manitoba was just incredible for us, like we learned so much there and it is so beautiful.”

• • •

Richmond and Morton are now back in Ontario, recovering from three years on the road, but their journey isn’t over yet. Their next endeavour will bring them to the Arctic Circle — a first for them both — next spring. There, they will attempt to complete the last leg of their Trans-Canada Trail tour.

The trail through the Northwest Territories follows mostly highways and roadways instead of a footpath, and the terrain is hilly and mountainous. Because of the remote nature of the territory, the resupply points are few and far between, meaning the pair will likely have to carry more food and water on their person as well as mail themselves packages. Groceries in the North are also much more expensive compared to Southern Canada.

“I think we’re expecting it to be a bit harder than anything we’ve encountered,” Richmond surmised.

Once the pair complete their trek through the North, they will join the few people who have dared to travel the trail from coast to coast to coast.

“It’s just a vast undertaking,” she said. “And getting as far as we did from the Atlantic to the Pacific was a pretty surreal kind of moment, it was hard to believe we’d actually done that.”

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About this piece: This article was originally published in The Brandon Sun on Dec. 28, 2022.

Grow-ops threaten community well-being, residents say

Old Kildonan residents want cannabis grow-ops out of neighbourhood

Winnipeg, Man. — Residents of Old Kildonan say the presence of medical cannabis grow-ops in residential areas is posing health and safety risks to homeowners and their families.

The issue has percolated for many years, though the concern has escalated since cannabis was legalized in October 2018. Residents are once again turning their heads to the problem.

“We started walking through our neighbourhoods and over the winter we noticed … the horrid smell that was coming out of these different homes,” Eddie Calisto, who has lived in Amber Trails for 29 years, said, referring to the skunky odour of cannabis.

Calisto, 61, said she believes houses in the neighbourhood are being purchased for the sole purpose of establishing large-scale grow-ops.

“Why are people buying $400,000 and $500,000 homes, spending $5,000 to $10,000 on setting up these homes for the purpose of growing for their own use? It just doesn’t add up,” she said.

This is one of the reasons why Calisto and fellow residents believe there is criminal activity linked to many of these alleged grow-ops, and as a result, have created a petition requesting the City of Winnipeg to take action.

The petition calls on the City to implement a bylaw to remove commercial-scale Health Canada-approved medical cannabis grow-ops from residential communities. The petition, containing upwards of 140 signatures, calls for grow-ops of 20 or more plants to relocate to industrial zoned areas.

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Potential for four licences per location

According to Health Canada, an individual seeking to grow cannabis for medical purposes must first obtain a prescription from their health-care practitioner and then apply to the federal government for a licence. If approved, the individual may also be authorized to produce medical cannabis for one other person if they are deemed a ‘designated person’ — someone who is selected by an individual to grow medical cannabis on their behalf.

The number of plants a licence holder may grow depends on their prescription and whether they are tending plants indoors or outdoors; a prescription of one gram per day means an individual may have five indoor plants. Up to four licences can be linked to one location, meaning one house may contain hundreds of plants at a time.

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The document describes various potential effects of large cannabis grow-ops in houses:  mould, fire hazards, pungent odour, declining property value, and being a target of crime and/or violence.

“In many cases, these homes are vacant. The windows are often covered, air conditioning units run year-round, yards are poorly maintained, and multiple security cameras are installed. The stench that emanates from these properties is often unbearable,” the petition states, estimating that at least 30 homes in Old Kildonan have been purchased for this purpose since 2017.

Coun. Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan) said she has been fielding complaints from residents and co-organized a community meeting in July to discuss their concerns.

“City council has directed our own public service to reach out directly to federal counterparts to advance this discussion. Given this activity is federally regulated, I have called upon the federal government to provide greater guidance in this area and have had collaborative discussions with MPs and MLAs serving in north Winnipeg,” she said in an email statement.

Sharma added the City is researching how other jurisdictions across Canada are handling similar issues in order to inform Winnipeg’s own decision-making.

Kevin Lamoureux, the member of Parliament representing Winnipeg North, said he rejects the idea that an individual would need more than 10 plants and ultimately believes there is a criminal element involved in this matter.

“The essence is that you have laws that allow for individuals that get prescriptions to grow medical cannabis or cannabis for medical purposes. And you have these unscrupulous characters … that, through loopholes, have found ways in which they can grow excessive amounts of cannabis, ludicrous amounts of cannabis. They are doing a huge disservice to our communities, they are causing all sorts of problems.”

Kildonan-St. Paul MP Raquel Dancho claims part of the problem is Health Canada is blocking law enforcement from accessing essential information needed to perform investigations. Dancho brought the matter to the House of Commons on Oct. 1:

“Health Canada is refusing to share critical information that law enforcement needs in order to shut down any illicit grow-ops. Medical cannabis can be grown safely, but there is a loophole that is impacting the safety and quality of life of my constituents,” she said in her reply to the Liberal’s throne speech, which took place Sept. 23.

Dancho told the Times she believes a “reasonable limit” needs to be placed on the number of plants an individual can have.

“I do feel that this is connected to criminal activity. We don’t know for sure, though — that’s being investigated. But for what we can see in other provinces that have connected it to criminal activity, I think we should be concerned.”

Dancho referred to a bust which took place in Ontario’s Niagara Region last month: provincial police seized more than 100,000 plants grown under the guise of medical use but were actually being rerouted to the illegal market.

Lamoureux and Dancho said they will continue to pursue a solution at the federal level.

To spread more awareness of the issue, Calisto said, the group of petitioners will soon launch a Facebook page and distribute flyers across the neighbourhood.

“The email list is growing by the day.”

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About this piece: This article was originally published in the Times newspaper on Oct. 14, 2020.

Tension tags along with social agency’s relocation

Winnipeg, Man. — Sscope arrived in North Point Douglas in August with dreams of making the Neechi Commons building its permanent home.

But the social agency’s relocation was met with tension among some area residents.

Sscope, which stands for Self-Starting Creative Opportunities for People in Employment, moved into the empty Neechi Commons building at 865 Main St. last month, after vacating its previous location at 1466 Arlington St.

Established in 1991, Sscope provides employment opportunities to individuals living with mental health issues and operates an on-site second-hand thrift shop. In March, Sscope converted to a temporary shelter for unhoused individuals.

Now that Sscope has relocated to the corner of Main Street and Euclid Avenue, executive director Angela McCaughan said, there is much more space to fulfil Sscope’s dreams.

“We were busting at the seams even prior to COVID. After we turned our thrift store into a 24-7 safe space because of COVID, I knew right away we have to leave. So, I have been eyeing this building for a few years,” McCaughan said. “But it’s a perfect place for us. It’s like it was made for us.”

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Sscope move prompted in part by resident complaints

Sscope’s relocation from Arlington Street to Main Street was precipitated by its landlord initiating the termination of its lease agreement and ultimately giving Sscope a new move-out date of July 31.

In March, when COVID-19 arrived in Manitoba, Sscope converted its space at 1466 Arlington St. into a temporary shelter for unhoused individuals. Executive director Angela McCaughan said many services in Winnipeg had been reduced or discontinued and the homeless community had fewer places to turn to, which is why Sscope decided to offer a 24-7 safe space.

However, that decision did not come without repercussions — for Sscope and residents living near the organization.

Bob and Debbie Zelnick, a retired couple that has lived near Sscope’s former Arlington location for around 30 years, recalled a number of challenges as Sscope’s clientele swelled during the pandemic. Damage to property, trespassers, visible drug use and public urination, and increased needle litter were some of the issues the Zelnicks noticed.

“We were like prisoners in our own home,” Debbie said. “We couldn’t do anything because they took over our neighbourhood. I didn’t feel safe at all.”

“There was no consultation with any of the neighbours,” Bob said. “Right off the top they should have never had this in a residential area.

“If I can save somebody the anguish that we had to go through, by all means, I’m gonna do that.”

Resident complaints influenced the termination of the lease between Sscope and its landlord at the time, St. Mary the Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral on Burrows Avenue.

John Prystanski, lawyer for the landlord, said Sscope did not inform the church of its conversion to a temporary shelter. Though indicating a change of use was not a condition of the lease, there was a non-disturbance clause, Prystanski explained.

Another factor of the lease termination was a potential conflict with the occupancy permit, Prystanski added.

The City allows certain facilities, including retail spaces, to be converted to temporary shelters during emergencies or extreme cold weather, if they are compliant with guidelines.

A facility offering this type of service must request an occupancy permit to establish its use as emergency residential shelter through a temporary approval building permit application for an emergency residential shelter, according to a City document.

“The City of Winnipeg was concerned that Sscope did not have its occupancy permit for a homeless shelter. And given the age of the building and given that there would be — what we understood — significant and expensive renovations, both Sscope and the church decided to terminate the lease,” Prystanski said.

“The purpose of the occupancy permit is to ensure that the facility is physically safe for its occupants … It’s our understanding that Sscope never applied to the City of Winnipeg for its occupancy permit when they first moved in, (in 2011). This was unknown to the landlord at that particular time.”

Prystanski said it was the tenant’s responsibility to obtain the correct permits, but McCaughan disputed this, saying the onus was on the landlord.

“We found out actually that nobody had applied for occupancy on that building 10 or 12 years ago. So, the church who owns the building should have applied for occupancy or allowed the former executive director to apply for occupancy and nobody did,” McCaughan said.

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According to the Province of Manitoba website, Neechi Commons officially opened in March 2013. The total cost of construction for the 50,000-square-foot building was $6.8 million. The federal government provided $1.3 million, the province gave $2.3 million, and the Neechi Commons group funded the remainder. The purpose of Neechi Commons was to stimulate the local economy and provide local employment and training opportunities in the community.

Sscope is now located at the former Neechi Commons building at 865 Main St. (Sydney Hildebrandt)

Sscope is using Neechi’s existing dorms to house 30 people, who earn their keep by volunteering and/or working for the organization and maintaining regular nighttime attendance.

Though the doors close at 11 p.m. every night, McCaughan said, the building is a 24-7 safe space for residents.

Sscope negotiated a one-year lease agreement with Assiniboine Credit Union, which holds mortgage rights to the property while it is in receivership. McCaughan said Sscope would like to buy the building before the lease expires next summer.

She said the organization will launch a capital campaign and rely on its existing revenue streams to make the $3.1 million purchase but believes it’s the responsibly of the Manitoba government to provide funding for housing initiatives.

Aside from the $100,000 the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority provides Sscope for its mental health program on an annual basis, a provincial spokesperson said the government does not intend to financially support Sscope’s new housing initiative.

“Our government has never provided funding to Sscope for shelter or drop-in services for homeless Manitobans as this is outside the organization’s mandate,” the provincial spokesperson said in an email statement. “This has been communicated directly to Sscope.” 

Sscope, however, has generated help from the NDP MLA for Point Douglas, Bernadette Smith, who recently toured the facility and said she would write a letter of support to the Manitoba government on behalf of Sscope.

Smith said she received complaints from constituents when Sscope was operating a shelter on Arlington Street and believes the new location is better suited for the organization.

“During COVID we’ve seen an uprise or an increase in people being homeless due to people losing their jobs, businesses closing down, not being able to pay your rent because maybe your hours were cut … I think Sscope came about at the right time,” Smith said.

“What I liked about Sscope is that people aren’t just living there, people are working there,” she added.

Though supportive of Sscope’s inherent mission to help people, North Point Douglas resident and activist Sel Burrows said inner-city neighbourhoods are already home to multiple social agencies. Inundating the inner-city with resources for vulnerable populations may do more harm than good.

This is why, he said, North Point Douglas residents called themselves “NAIMBYs” — for Not All In My Backyard — years ago.

“It’s ridiculous to have high-needs people put into inner cities where there are so many negative influences,” Burrows said, referring to the high-risk activities in the area.

Instead, he added, social agencies should spread out across Winnipeg.

“There would be fewer negative influences around.”

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About this piece: This article was originally published in the Times newspaper on Sept. 30, 2020.

Local manufacturers produce medical gowns

Winnipeg, Man. — Three Winnipeg-based apparel manufacturers have been called into action to produce personal protective equipment needed by health-care workers across Canada amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Crown Cap, Freed & Freed International, and MWG Apparel are among the 20 Canadian companies that will work with Logistik Unicorp, a Montreal-based company that recently signed an agreement with the Government of Canada to supply more than 11 million protective gowns over six months.

The three manufacturers will help produce Level 1, 2, and 3 washable and disposable medical gowns, all of which will be used within Canada, according to Logistik’s vice-president of sales.

“We said we have the expertise, we have the people, we can help. So we raised our hand,” Karine Bibeau said about Logistik’s agreement with the government.

“It’s encouraging, and we’re hoping it’ll create a new niche for the domestic and textile garment industry in Canada.”

Hartley Klapman, executive vice-president of MWG Apparel (1147 Notre Dame Ave.), shares Bibeau’s hope that this order will be a step forward for Canadian textile manufacturers.

“The reintroduction of medical gowns into the Canadian sewing industry will serve to create and preserve jobs. This particular Logistik contract is so large, not only will it preserve jobs that otherwise would not have been preserved, but it creates jobs as well by bringing that production out of Asia back into North America, back into Canada,” Klapman said.

MWG Apparel, which specializes in flame-resistant clothing, has committed to producing at least 100,000 units under the agreement, requiring many of its employees to return to work.

Fur hat manufacturer Crown Cap, located in Sargent Park at 1130 Wall St., will also be welcoming its employees back after the facility had been shut down for a number of weeks.

The company will gradually ramp up production of gowns and its usual items, said the sales manager.

“Our employees were willing and able to step up,” Cole Leinburd said.

“We welcome the ability to help in regards to this product, and we hope that overall we see kind of a shift of going back to made-in-Canada or made-in-Winnipeg, because there still are so many factories within Canada that are willing to help just like Crown Cap.”

Marissa Freed, president of Freed & Freed International (1309 Mountain Ave.), expressed some uncertainty, however, about whether this order will inspire increased domestic production in the future.

“It’s difficult because the infrastructure that exists overseas doesn’t necessarily fully exist in Canada, but I think right now (the government is) doing their best to use the resources we have available to use to the best of their abilities,” Freed said.

With more than 100 sewing machine operators in its workforce, Freed said the company will slowly welcome its employees back to its facility, keeping in mind health and safety concerns.

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About this piece: This article was originally published in the May 13 issue of The Times newspaper.

Social procurement policy a missing piece in city

Winnipeg, Man. — Arlington bridge is a century-old amenity that was initially built to connect the North End and West End of Winnipeg over the CP Rail yards.

On April 30 the City of Winnipeg posted a request for tender for a contractor to conduct a number of structural steel repairs. This latest project represents only one of the many efforts made to upgrade the overpass, which has presented several challenges, such as temporary closures, to nearby communities since it was constructed in 1912.

Arlington bridge is essential for commuters and local residents, but the history of the overpass proves it is not always reliable. This is why the City launched “A Better Bridge for Arlington” — to design a new bridge that meets the community’s needs. The project report was completed last year.

This has left some organizations and stakeholders wondering if there’s room for social procurement, a practice defined by social purchasing and community benefits agreements.

Social purchasing is the recruitment of goods and services from community social enterprises. Through community benefits agreements, the community, government, and developer determine social deliverables, such as job training and target hiring.

Benefits of social procurement can include reduced crime and stress on social services, increased employment and income, skill development, and enhanced quality of life.

“In the case of the Arlington Street bridge, that neighbourhood or that region is one of the poorest in Canada, and to be able to create employment opportunities for the people that live in that neighbourhood through the construction of that bridge is immensely powerful,” Art Ladd, executive director of BUILD, said.

BUILD is a North End social enterprise that provides job and training opportunities in renovation and maintenance, to individuals who face employment barriers.

“These sorts of things do happen, not as much as they could. But they’re happening all over North America quite regularly,” Ladd said.

Though social procurement exists in Winnipeg, it happens on a small scale. For example, in January the City launched a pilot project with Mother Earth Recycling — an Indigenous social enterprise in the North End — to recycle mattresses and box springs brought to the Brady 4R Winnipeg Depot.

Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface), who chairs the standing policy committee on infrastructure renewal and public works, said Arlington bridge might be too large and expensive a project to include social procurement.

“My first thought is, in terms of social procurement, is this the type of project that would lend itself well to that sort of initiative,” Allard said.

Although he expressed interest in the concept of social procurement, Allard emphasized his concern for the cost of replacing Arlington bridge, which measures beyond $300 million.

But Michael Barkman, the Manitoba public policy co-ordinator for the Canadian Community Economic Development Network, said ambitious projects can be shared between a social enterprise and developer.

“We’ve seen social enterprises work really well with larger companies to take on just five or 10 per cent of a contract,” Barkman said.

He pointed to the city of Toronto to show how this is possible. In 2012, a group of stakeholders mobilized to advocate for social procurement to be part of the construction of the $5 billion Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit line.

Crosslinx Transit Solutions, which was awarded the contract, committed to having “historically disadvantaged residents” perform 10 per cent of all trade and craft working hours for the project. The company also hired more than 50 newcomers for professional, administrative, and technical jobs.

In 2016, the City of Toronto adopted the Social Procurement Program which “equalizes access to the City’s procurement processes for diverse suppliers, including social purpose enterprises, who experience inequitable barriers to accessing City competitive procurement processes.”

Coun. Markus Chambers (St. Norbert – Seine River), who has been exploring ways social procurement could be implemented in City projects, said there needs to be more policy created to support the practice in Winnipeg.

“Certainly the community benefits aspect of it is a lens that we should be using in a lot of these projects, and perhaps that’s one of the things that as a council from a policy perspective we need to start using,” Chambers said.

“Coming up with a formula that satisfies both private industry, unions, as well as the social purpose entity, again, that’s the piece that’s missing.”

Organizations such as the North End Community Renewal Corporation would be willing to lend a hand in this endeavour, executive director Dawn Sands said.

“We do have an opportunity to follow the lead of some of the other cities here in Canada and in the States that actually have formalized social procurement in their procurement policies. So that’s something we’d be very interested in working with the City to accomplish,” Sands said.

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About this piece: This article was originally published in the June 20 issue of The Times newspaper.

Group releases alternative budget: CCPA Manitoba launches first APB in over a decade

Winnipeg, Man. — For the first time in 14 years the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Manitoba office released an alternative provincial budget (APB).

But the centre’s early March launch for the Change Starts Here: Manitoba Alternative Provincial Budget 2020 Report may have been swept under the rug as the COVID-19 pandemic tightened its grip on Winnipeg.

Although the CCPA didn’t plan to publish the report during a global health crisis, the significance of the ideas presented in the document is emphasized by gaps that have become evident during the pandemic, according to the authors.

“The challenges presented by COVID-19 — the need for a quality health system, a strong social safety net and protection for vulnerable and working people — shows that the ideas presented in the APB matter more than ever,” Molly McCracken, director of CCPA Manitoba, wrote in a letter.

The report explores 20 areas of society and government — from childcare to food security, and housing to justice — the CCPA believes can be improved, and provides recommendations for how to achieve these outcomes.

“We just think that very often the budgets that are prepared by governments … do not necessarily reflect the needs of the people on the ground,” said Lynne Fernandez, the Errol Black chair in labour issues at CCPA Manitoba.

The centre hadn’t released an alternative provincial budget since 2006 but felt that 2020 was the year to make a comeback.

“We were concerned with the decisions being made by the current government, and we saw Manitoba becoming a more difficult place to live in,” Fernandez said.

The authors designed the 143-page budget following community consultations, under the guidance of five principles: equitable distribution of wealth, labour rights, reconciliation and economic equality between groups, protection of social services and programs, and climate change.

The APB is structured similarly to Manitoba’s 2020-21 budget, which was unveiled mid-March.

“We tried to reflect the same categories that the government uses so that it could be compared to the government document,” Fernandez said.

When asked about the alternative budget’s key points, she noted the Green New Deal and the Liveable Basic Needs Benefit.

The former aims to integrate job creation and economic growth with environmental action.

“They’re not mutually exclusive. We should be thinking about the jobs that people can do that actually make the planet a better place to live and keeps people employed, and that’s sort of the notion behind a Green New Deal,” Fernandez said.

Currently, the province is using its Climate and Green Plan to guide its environmental action efforts. The plan allocates $45 million for climate resiliency projects, and the Green Levy carbon tax of $25 per tonne level.

The APB replaces the Green Levy with a tax of $30 per tonne — equal to the federal carbon tax which is set to rise to $50 per tonne by 2022 — yielding approximately $300 million in revenue.

As well, the alternative budget recommends more than $500 million over five years to incentivize energy retrofits of houses and public buildings. Manitoba’s Climate and Green Plan assigns $25 million for a similar program.

When it comes to social welfare, the alternative budget outlines the “inadequacies” of Employment and Income Assistance. The budget presents the Liveable Basic Needs Benefit which, in addition to Rent Assist and federal financial benefits such as the Canada Child Benefit, “would raise incomes of all households in Manitoba to at least Canada’s official poverty line.”

The benefit would also help individuals transition into employment and avoid punitive clawbacks.

“Obviously this costs a lot of money, and we fundamentally believe that higher income people and corporations need to pay more tax to help pay for these things,” Fernandez said.

“Taxes have been reduced dramatically in Manitoba and Canada over the last 30 years to the point that we don’t have enough funds to pay for the programs that we need. So we think that it’s time to start reversing that.”

Recommendations made in the alternative budget could help with rebuilding the province after the COVID-19 pandemic, Fernandez said.

“We want the document to be used to get people to think about how things can be done different … to be used as a tool. And we want it to educate the public, we want it to inspire activists to go out and advocate for change, and we want it to challenge the status quo. We want to challenge politicians and policymakers to think differently.”

The first APB was released in 1991 by Winnipeg-based group Cho!ces. After they disbanded in 2002, CCPA, which had already been working with Cho!ces on the project, continued the task.

For more information about CCPA Manitoba’s alternative provincial budget, visit policyalternatives.ca/mbapb2020

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About this piece: This article was originally published in the April 22 issue of the Times newspaper.

Explore Winnipeg’s murals from home

Winnipeg, Man. — Winnipeg is home to more than 600 outdoor murals, which is an intimidating number for art-admirers who aspire to see them all.

With social distancing and isolation becoming the new norm during the COVID-19 pandemic, embarking on a mural tour may be one of the best ways to learn more about Winnipeg’s art scene, in a safe and active way.

While institutions like the Winnipeg Art Gallery have closed indefinitely to help prevent the spread of the virus, The Murals of Winnipeg website — launched by Bob Buchanan, his wife Louise, and his friend Bob Bruce, in 2003 — allows Winnipeggers to engage the city’s murals, both online and offline.

“I’m one of these people that believes that you can enhance the quality of life through art,” Buchanan, a 67-year-old Glenwood resident, said.

“It doesn’t cost you anything to go to this gallery.”

The website’s map and photo gallery provide details for all murals such as location, artist, year of creation, as well as the story behind the mural for roughly half of the 600 pieces. There is also a ‘Rest in Peace’ section for murals that no longer exist.

Users can enjoy a virtual mural tour from the comfort of their home using the website’s resources, or they can utilize the information to plan their own offline excursion.

According to health officials, going outside during the pandemic is still safe as long as people maintain a distance of six feet from each other and exercise caution.

Buchanan encourages Winnipeggers to take this opportunity to learn more about the city’s murals. With hundreds of pieces to see, it may be hard to establish a starting point. So, he has five recommendations to kick off the tour.

A Charlie Johnston fan, Buchanan highlighted four pieces by the Winnipeg mural artist: FitzGerald Field Notes (677 Portage Ave.), PhotoFinish (831 Portage Ave.), which was created with Tom Andrich; Johnston’s rendering of Canada Auto (1688 St. Matthews Ave.); and Welcome to Downtown (678 Main St.), a collaborative effort by Johnston, Mandy van Leeuwen, and Jennifer Johnson. Buchanan also suggested Jill Sellers’ mural at 714 St. Mary’s Rd.

Not only does The Murals of Winnipeg shed light on the city’s talented artists, Buchanan said, but it acts as an historical archive for artwork that has changed or disappeared from Winnipeg’s walls over time.

“It’s the only remaining record of them,” he said.

Winnipeg’s oldest known mural, for instance — the Long Tramp, by original artist Leslie Charles Smith, painted on the side of a former drug store located at 2579 Portage Ave. — dates back to the 1930s, and has been refurbished multiple times since.

Through in-depth research and several interviews, Buchanan began to discover quirks about the mural.

“When I scanned (the photo) and blew it up I noticed details that no one could recall,” he said. “The front-forward foot… the sock is sticking out of the hole in the shoe. Between the tramp and the window, you’ll see a black strip; if you blow it up, it’s an ad for Ex-Lax,” Buchanan laughed.

Annually, The Murals of Winnipeg group holds a Mural of the Year competition to crown the city’s top painting. Only murals painted that year qualify. Buchanan expects to have judging underway in May to decide 2019’s winner.

To learn more about Winnipeg’s murals, visit the website at themuralsofwinnipeg.com

“Regardless of how much you know or you don’t know,” Buchanan said, “we can all have our own appreciation and response which are relevant and valid for you. I love that about art.”

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About this piece: This article was originally published in the April 1 issue of the Times newspaper.

Ukrainian culture carried by voices for 50 years

Winnipeg, Man. — For 50 years, the sound of voices from the Hoosli Ukrainian Male Chorus have reverberated throughout Winnipeg.

The choir, named after a rare, archaic instrument, will celebrate its semicentennial with a gala concert on Fri., Dec. 6 at the Centennial Concert Hall (555 Main St.).

With 32 members, ranging between 20 and 70 years old, filling the four-part chorus, the group is the strongest it has ever been, according to Christopher Sklepowich, board chair and second tenor.

Although membership has fluctuated over the last five decades, the choir has managed to make leaps and bounds since its inauguration in 1969. The chorus was first comprised of roughly 15 singers, all alumni of St. Vladimir’s College in Roblin, Man. Back then, the chorus was named after the Ukrainian Catholic minor seminary. Not long after its inception did the choir change its name to Hoosli, a recommendation made by Paul Macenko, the choir director at the college at that time.

Throughout the 1970s the choir’s repertoire was primarily liturgical, maintaining its Ukrainian Catholic roots.

However, as membership began to falter and the 1980s were on the horizon, the chorus’ members — all of which were alumni of St. Vladimir’s — decided to make a call to the greater Winnipeg area. Bass singer Tom Dudych embarked on a recruitment drive in 1982, shortly before William Solomon adopted the role as choral director in 1985.

“That’s really when the group definitely started to take off and started to develop the sound that people know today as Hoosli,” Sklepowich said.

The choir transitioned from being onstage with dancers and a band, to strictly choral performances. Over the years, Hoosli has preserved its identity with a Ukrainian collection of songs, but has dabbled in German, Latin, and English works. The choir hasn’t veered far from its origins but continues to keep things interesting with various arrangements.

“When you arrange (songs) for a male choir, specifically a Ukrainian male choir, it just has a very different power, a very different majesty to it, so that’s what we try to bring forward,” Sklepowich said.

The 1990s saw an influx of members from both St. Vladimir’s and across the city, and a number of anniversaries. As the last decade of the 20th century passed by, so did the direction of Solomon. Between 2002 and 2005, Michael Ryczak took hold of Hoosli, but it wasn’t long before Solomon returned for another 11 years.

The 2010s have been defined by Hoosli’s collaboration with other artists and expanding its audience, in part due to Tadeusz Biernacki, who became Hoosli’s conductor in 2018.

“Our current conductor brings with him a very different pedigree than we’ve ever had before. He actually has won a Juno award for his work in the past, and to have somebody like him with our group just expands the possibilities of what we can do,” Sklepowich said.

The choir had the chance to perform national anthems at two Winnipeg Jets games earlier this year. This brought a new level of exposure and international fame, earning the chorus responses from TSN personalities, professional hockey players, and even a Finnish consulate.

“It’s been an opportunity for us to find a niche where we can show a much broader audience what the sound of a Ukrainian male choir is like,” Sklepowich said.

The goal has been translating this newly founded attention to the choir’s traditional performances and concerts. The modernization of music, by way of digital streaming, has allowed Hoosli to further develop its audience, while still preserving its original Ukrainian listeners.

“We’re apparently quite big in Brazil, of all places,” Sklepowich said. “(But) our Ukrainian fanbase is as strong now as it ever has been.”

Hoosli’s decade of collaboration will be reflected in its upcoming gala concert. The choir will be joined by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, renowned opera singer Andriana Chuchman, accordionist Myron Kurjewicz, and Ukrainian dance group Rusalka.

The brotherhood and a rite of passage

Hoosli can be defined by the sense of brotherhood — both literal and metaphorical — it cultivates. Many of the past and current members are connected by blood, including a father and son duo, and the three Burdeniuk brothers.

“(The choir) has moulded us and kept us joined. As far as my time with the choir, it’s been very enjoyable and continues to be,” said Gary Lukie, who has been with the choir for 49 years.
Lukie, a St. Vladimir’s College alumnus who sings second tenor, had the opportunity to perform alongside three of his brothers in the 1970s.

The Burdeniuk brothers — Myles, Julian, and Myron — now share the same experience Lukie and his brothers once did.

“Mom is very happy,” joked Julian, who has been in the choir for 18 years. “There’s four Burdeniuk brothers and at one time there was all four of us in the choir. I don’t know of a lot of families that have four brothers that are as close as, I think, the four of us are and singing at the same time.”

The Burdeniuks grew up hearing Hoosli albums at church, holiday dinners, and even in bed as they fell asleep, which is why it only made sense for them to one day join the choir.

“I’m the youngest of four brothers, so this was like a rite of passage for me …. It’s a point of pride for sure,” said Myron, who’s been a member for 16 years.

Although performing alongside each other has been a highlight over the years, promoting Ukrainian culture, which was the main reason the chorus formed in the first place, has been significant for many of the members.

“Sharing culture is really important, so when we can get out there and not only do what we do — Ukrainian stuff — but even singing at Jets games and stuff like that; sharing with others and then maybe exposing them to a little bit of what we do culturally is very cool,” said Myles, a St. Vladimir’s College alumnus who has been with the choir for 21 years.

The Burdeniuk brothers will get the chance to showcase their Ukrainian culture the night before the 50th anniversary concert, when they take part in a head shave. Each of the brothers have been growing out their hair for more than a year, and will have it cut in the traditional Ukrainian scalp lock hairstyle to raise money for CancerCare Manitoba.

“We’ve had other (choir members) do this in the past too, so it’s kind of like honouring that tradition,” Myles said.

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About this piece: This article was originally published in the Nov. 27 issue of the Times newspaper.

Gallery’s featured artist explores colonial consequences in exhibition

Altona, Man. — The country of Paraguay has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, primarily due to the expansion of cattle farms. This is the main point of inspiration for Miriam Rudolph, this season’s feature artist at the Gallery in the Park in Altona, which held its spring opening Thursday evening.

Rudolph was born and raised in a Mennonite community in Paraguay, but moved to Winnipeg in 2003 to study Fine Arts at the University of Manitoba. She has been a practising artist for the past 10 years. Her primary mediums are printmaking and copper etchings.

Her exhibition, titled disPOSSESSION, focuses on controversial issues taking place in her home country. There are two large installation pieces; one comprised of 145 paper tiles pasted against the wall called The Soy Field, and the other hangs from the ceiling and is called Seeds of Hope. There are also various small prints dispersed throughout the main floor of the gallery’s interior.

Part of Rudolph’s exhibition is 145 paper tiles pasted against the wall called The Soy Field. (Sydney Hildebrandt)

“My work is always really personal and closely linked to either my own personal life or something I’m really interested in. I grew up in a socially and economically complex situation in Paraguay where fairly wealthy land owners, or European/Canadian/Mennonite settlers, are fairly well off, and we live side by side with rather poor indigenous communities and landless Latino peasants, and also large estate owners from the large Paraguayan Latino elite. You see a lot of poverty next to quite wealthy people, and I kind of wanted to know more about the whole situation and come to terms with it,” Rudolph said.

Topics explored in the artist’s work include displacement, land grabbing, the expansion of soy and beef production, indigenous land rights, peasant food sovereignty, deforestation, and the tradition of saving seeds.

“I do ask a lot of questions with my work. I make a few statements,” she said. “Even though my work pertains to a very specific region in South America, I think a lot of the content relates to what is going on in Canada, more specifically here in Manitoba, also with agricultural practices and colonial history. So I think there are connection points and conversation points that I hope to make that way too.”

Last year Rudolph had the opportunity to showcase her work to communities in Paraguay.

“It was largely very well received. There were some people obviously that found it quite controversial, but that’s part of it too; I want to make people think, I want to start dialogues, I want to start conversations. So I was really happy with the reception of my work out there,” she said.

Her exhibition will be on display until August 1.

“I’m really excited to be able to show my work here,” she said. “I’m curious to see what kind of conversations my work will generate in a more rural setting, where there’s also a lot of farming around … I don’t intend to be disrespectful in any way towards farmers, but I do think there’s conversations that are important to have.”

Other seasonal artists at the gallery include Terry Hildebrand, Kae Sasaki, and Barb Stafford McCluskey.

In addition to the welcoming of these artists, two sculptures were unveiled at Thursday’s gala. One is a horse called Flowers by Joe Fafard, and the other, called Children by James Muir, is a young girl holding a doll.

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About this piece: This was originally written for and published on PembinaValleyOnline.com on May 31, 2019.

St. Jean statue exposes ‘courage and tenacity’ of town settlers

St. Jean, Man. — At the corner of the Roman Catholic parish in St. Jean sits an older gentleman reading a book to a young boy. Although they are made of bronze, Mona Lavallee can see the emotion and history embodied in the two figures.

The statue was inspired by a photo from 1928 which shows Antoine Vandal, a Métis man who was one of the first people to settle the small French community, next to Raymond Rajotte, a young French-Canadian boy whose family moved from Quebec to reside in St. Jean.

“We formed a committee, and we kind of came up with this vision of wanting to recognize the culture and heritage of the community; to honour our ancestors who came here 150 years ago, and all the courage and tenacity that they needed to settle in this land,” said Lavallee, the main project coordinator.

Mona Lavallee was the main project coordinator. (Sydney Hildebrandt)

“It started with the Métis, and years later it was the French-Canadians who came to settle here. And the two cultures worked together to build a community.”

The sculpture, which was created by Woodmore artist Débora Cardaci, was officially unveiled Friday afternoon. Around 300 people, including dignitaries and students, were in attendance at the ceremony held at Centennial Hall.

In the crowd was Dan Vandal, the great-grandson of St. Jean’s first settler.

Vandal, who no longer lives in the community, said the statue brings back memories of his family.

“It’s very emotional for me and I’m very proud of our connection here in St. Jean,” he said.

Dan Vandal lives in St. Boniface. His great-grandfather, Antoine, was one of the first settlers of St. Jean. The photo behind him was the inspiration for the statue. (Sydney Hildebrandt)

It took three years for the project to come to life. Collecting the funds was the biggest challenge, according to Lavallee. The committee, backed by Club des Pionniers, sourced government grants and donations from community organizations, businesses and individuals.

“For some of the ancestors it means a lot, because their heritage is being exposed in a bronze sculpture,” Lavallee said. “I think it’s something that we can be proud of for the future, and it’ll be there for a very long time.”

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About this piece: This article was originally published on PembinaValleyOnline.com on Sept. 14, 2019.