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Winnipeg Free Press
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
What's up: Red River Ex, Wild & Wonderful Words, Ukrainian festival, VVonder, Grad Walk 2025
NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS files Of course you want to go faster. The Red River Ex opens Friday and runs for 10 days.. NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS files Of course you want to go faster. The Red River Ex opens Friday and runs for 10 days.. Tickets $10-18; ride-all-day wristbands $60 at Hold on to your hats, it's that time of year again! The annual June fair is back with carnival rides and games galore, as well as a plethora of food trucks slinging all manner of fairground faves. Fill your tum with Philly cheese steaks, ice-cream tacos, fried pop tarts, Flamin' Hot Cheeto pickle pizzas, caramel apple nachos, barbecued meats, pickle fries and grape jelly-glazed crispy chicken served in a waffle cone. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. Friday with activities taking place at Kiddie-Land, Kids' Stage and the free Family Fun Zone. If you're there for the music, the first band on the Central Park Stage, Motley Crue tribute act Looks That Kill, start at 5:30 p.m. while Red Barn Stage's music starts 15 minutes later as You and What Army play a 45-minute set. A full day of begins on Saturday when gates open at noon. Head straight for the rides, but remember to snag a spot before the Caribbean Day parade starts at 3 p.m. near Central Park Stage. And mark your calendars if you're looking for savings — there is free gate admission for one hour only from noon to 1 p.m on Sunday. Festivities continue throughout the week with different themes running each day until the fair wraps up on June 22. Check for more information and updates. — AV Kitching Local authors will convene at Sookram's Brewing Co. (479-B Warsaw Ave.) on Wednesday as part of the fourth Wild & Wonderful Words reading event. Mike Deal / Free Press files Have a drink and listen to Ariel Gordon read Wednesday at Sookram's. Mike Deal / Free Press files Have a drink and listen to Ariel Gordon read Wednesday at Sookram's. Hosted again by creator and local author Sheldon Birnie (Where the Pavement Turns to Sand), the event will feature a pair of established writers and a couple of up-and-coming authors. In the former category is Winnipeg's Ariel Gordon — author of essay collections Fungal and Treed as well as volumes of poetry (Stowaways, Siteseeing) — and Mitchell Toews, author of the short-story collection Pinching Zwieback. The pair will be joined by writer/musician Antonio Marrazas Luna and Zoë Mills. After Wednesday's event, the series takes the summer off before returning in the fall. The event is free and all ages; in addition to serving up all kinds of beer, Sookram's also offers non-alcoholic options. — Ben Sigurdson Eva Wasney / Winnipeg Free Press files Pick up some perogies at the Ukrainian Village Festival this weekend. Eva Wasney / Winnipeg Free Press files Pick up some perogies at the Ukrainian Village Festival this weekend. Budmo! Winnipeg's inaugural Ukrainian Village Festival is bringing the spirit of Ukraine to The Forks this weekend with three days of community, connection and culture. Enjoy family-friendly activities, live music, dance performances and interactive workshops at CN Field. And definitely go hungry: baba-approved homemade borscht, perogies, deruny (potato pancakes) and cabbage rolls will be on offer, as well as a variety of traditional Ukrainian drinks such as medovukha, a honey-based alcoholic beverage, uzvar, a non-alcoholic compote-style winter punch, and kvas, a sweet-sour ale. — Jen Zoratti Supplied VVonder releases its new album Friday at Blue Note Park. Supplied VVonder releases its new album Friday at Blue Note Park. Give VVonder three minutes of listening time, and the Winnipeg quartet is bound to fill it with perfectly crafted catchiness. Led by the acrobatic vocals of Micah Braun, with groove-ready harmonies by Steve Martens, Joey Penner and Nate Sheridan, VVonder — prefixed by two Vs but pronounced with a single W — has spent the last three years finishing its followup to 2022's Now and Again, a squeaky clean jangle-pop time capsule about the messiness of living. Free Press reviewer John Kendle called the band's sound a perfect distillation of upbeat indie rock and melodic psychedelia, name-dropping both the Beatles and ELO. Those comparisons aren't overblown, but VVonder has still flown under the national radar. Could that change with Stumble On, a sophomore record whose name gives a directive for unexpected discovery? Based on the strength of lead tracks Don't Turn Around, Dr. Says, Shanana, My Choice and Invisible Man, it's safe to assume VVonder has added a dozen timeless tunes to its catalogue, and one can hope a much-deserved breakthrough is around the corner. See what all the fuss is about Friday at the Blue Note, where VVonder will be supported by openers Juvel and the Full Benefits. — Ben Waldman What started as a pandemic work-around has become a North End tradition. Students, family, friends and civic-minded Winnipeggers are invited to get together today for the North End Grad Walk, a neighbourhood celebration of local high school grads. Kicking off at St. John's High School and wrapping up at R.B. Russell, where a community barbecue and party await, walkers will stop along the way at the Bell Tower and Children of the Earth. 'One year the mayor, Scott Gillingham, came out and served hot dogs to the students and community,' writes organizer Michael Champagne on his blog. 'But most important of all the guests, were the smiling parents, the neighbours and, of course, the graduates themselves.' The loud, proud celebration includes an award portion, with $500 memorial bursaries going to two students, one from R.B. Russell and one from St. John's. — Conrad Sweatman
Winnipeg Free Press
02-05-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba regulator proposes fast-track for U.S. physicians
Facing the second-largest doctor shortage in Canada, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba has launched a review to make it easier for American-certified physicians to become licensed in Manitoba. 'We understand the pressures in Manitoba to get more physicians into practice. So we are constantly looking for ways that we can cut down on red tape or facilitate safe changes to a process that might have worked historically, but doesn't meet our modern demand,' said Dr. Ainslie Mihalchuk, registrar for the Manitoba physician watchdog. The proposed changes would allow physicians from the U.S. to apply for Manitoba licences if they have completed an accredited residency program and hold certification from the American Board of Medical Specialists and have an independent or full licence to practice with a U.S. state medical board. NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS FILES Dr. Ainslie Mihalchuk said the restrictions are costly, time-consuming and a disincentive to doctors applying to practise in Manitoba. NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS FILES Dr. Ainslie Mihalchuk said the restrictions are costly, time-consuming and a disincentive to doctors applying to practise in Manitoba. If all goes to plan, internationally trained doctors could be working in Manitoba by June. Similar policies are in place in several other Canadian provinces, including British Columbia, which changed regulations in February. Mihalchuk and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba looked east and west of Manitoba and, to remain competitive in the market, began the process to loosen regulations. 'If Manitoba is an outlier, that's not good for us,' Mihalchuk said. Current regulations dictate that individuals must first apply for provisional registration, which places limitations on their ability to practise medicine (such as requiring supervisors, assessments, and practice location restrictions). Mihalchuk said the restrictions are costly, time-consuming and a disincentive to doctors applying to practise in Manitoba. 'We went to them and said we think that this is a safe thing to do (and) it would make us attractive to physicians from the States that we know are interested in potentially practising in Manitoba,' Mihalchuk said. The regulator said it is generally accepted among Canadian medical boards that American physicians are as competent and safe as their Canadian counterparts. Doctors Manitoba applauds the proposed changes. After launching recruitment efforts late last year, the doctor advocacy organization said there was interest from physicians south of the border but Manitoba's restrictive licensing requirements for internationally trained doctors was a barrier. 'We want to make sure that every physician practising in Manitoba is practising of the highest standard,' said Doctors Manitoba CEO Theresa Oswald. 'But there are ways to do this that have proven to be more accessible and more rapid than has been the case in Manitoba.' Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. In December, the group took the unusual step of launching its own campaign to target health-care providers in North Dakota, Florida and other states where providers could find their practice in jeopardy under U.S. President Donald Trump's policies targeting the health-care system. Since taking office, Trump has signed off on ending federal support for gender-affirming care, exiting the World Health Organization and no longer recognizing transgender and non-binary identities. 'We know here in Manitoba that that (doctor-patient) sanctity is respected and that evidence and science have to be at the forefront,' Oswald said. Oswald estimates between 40 and 50 doctors have expressed interest in coming to Manitoba, which the organization has referred to the province's recruitment and retention office. Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said Thursday the province is actively engaged with about a dozen foreign doctors to receive their Manitoba certification. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES The province has hired more than 1,600 net-new health-care workers since April 2024, including 600 nurses, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES The province has hired more than 1,600 net-new health-care workers since April 2024, including 600 nurses, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said. Asagwara accused the previous Progressive Conservative government of not taking the necessary steps to improve patient care or use a patient-centred approach. 'Our government is laser-focused on making health care better for Manitobans, and that means making sure that we have the health-care professionals and experts in our province to provide that care,' the minister said. In March, Shared Health launched a similar recruitment campaign south of the border in an effort to bring American nurses to Manitoba. The initiative was to offer asylum to working nurses worried about their ability to care for patients, while addressing the province's nurse shortage. At the time, Asagwara said the recruitment and retention office had worked to make transferring U.S. nursing licences to Manitoba easier. The province has hired more than 1,600 net-new health-care workers since April 2024, including 600 nurses, Asagwara said. Provincial figures on nurses hired through the recruitment campaign were not made available before press time. The NDP campaigned on a promise to hire 400 new doctors within five years prior to winning the 2023 election. No update was provided Thursday on the status of that objective. Nicole BuffieMultimedia producer Nicole Buffie is a multimedia producer who reports for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College's Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom in 2023. Read more about Nicole. Every piece of reporting Nicole produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. 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