Comment

The strike currently taking place at the U of M is only the most recent symptom of the government’s austerity agenda and is making matters worse. If labour market tightness is the problem — as Manitoba’s new premier asserted during her leadership campaign — we should be investing more in our post-secondary institutions and doing more to support students to move through their programs and get in the job market.

At the start of the academic term, my architecture studio had undertaken the challenge of designing pavilions for the Graham Avenue Transit Mall. Starting with a thoughtful intention of repurposing and redefining the uses of abandoned machinery found at the Salvage Supermarket, our next step was to define a flexible intervention that would encourage better engagement with the public.

Heather Stefanson, the first female premier, is no stranger to provincial politics. Stefanson served in various roles in Brian Pallister’s administration, including deputy premier. On the campaign trail, Stefanson promised to lead the Progressive Conservative party (PC) in a different direction, attempting to distance herself from Pallister’s contentious political legacy, but her inaction so far has left Manitobans wondering if the party’s insider candidate was the right choice.

While I am glad to see kids roll their hockey bags into arenas, players pack tightly onto buses for road trips and parents huddle around the entrances of rinks, I’m also happy to watch from afar.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently unveiled his new cabinet that will head back to Ottawa, Ont. to work on challenges like housing, mental health, climate change, reconciliation and Canada’s pandemic recovery, to mention a few. The 38-member executive body maintained gender parity by naming women to major departments such as finance, defence and foreign affairs. But Trudeau’s selections have been met with scrutiny due to the lack of ethnic representation of racialized groups, especially women of colour.