The Uniter | Blog

More buildings, fewer programs: the new University of Winnipeg

Amy Groening — 2012-03-20T19:04:37+00:00

You may have noticed the flyers that went up last week around the University of Winnipeg, warning Sociology students to expect a decrease in professors and programming in the next year. You may have noticed how quickly those posters disappeared, as well.

You may also have seen the timely Winnipeg Free Press article detailing cuts to the Sociology and Modern Languages faculty (here). However, the problem goes even further than that.

According to University of Winnipeg Students’ Association President Lauren Bosc, six liberal arts departments are scheduled to lose programs and tenure-track professors. Students from the Sociology, History, Modern Languages, Criminal Justice, Classics and Psychology departments could all be affected by a decrease in faculty, Bosc says. This means the end of dozens of courses.

The most distressing aspect of all of this is how little concrete information is available on this subject.

One would hope that if this were not the case, administration would come out and say so. Instead, what we get are letters like this one, an open letter from Lloyd Axworthy addressing the ‘state of the budget’ for next year.

This letter skirts around any concrete explanation of what is going on with our arts departments, but identifies a noteable disparity between the funding the U of W receives from the provincial government compared to the University of Manitoba and Brandon University.

Axworthy’s letter reminds us that the $130 million raised this year for developing the campus is part of the capital budget. The operating budget is a separate budget. We can acquire new buildings, but it doesn’t seem we have the funding to actually run programs in them.

On May 10, 2011, the university posted this press release, which promised the hiring of 31 tenure-track faculty.

“The University’s budget also places high priority on excellence in instruction,” the press release says. It will “advance a better ratio between tenure-track faculty versus contract faculty or term appointments,” it promises.

Surely this expected “excellence in instruction” extends to the arts as well. I assume there is still value in degrees that can produce criminologists, lawyers, lobbyists, psychologists, therapists, communications specialists, editors, journalists, translators, interpreters, publishers, advertising executives, historians, sociologists, analysts, archivists, broadcasters, campaign workers, consultants, congressional aides, information specialists, intelligence agents, legal assistants and researchers, to name a few.

How then do we react to the issue of widespread, interdepartmental faculty cuts that have sprung up nearly overnight? It seems inconceivable a university could make a decision that signals the death of as much as 1/3 of our arts programming. And yet the U of W appears to be doing just that.

I’ve been reassured there is no need to panic. Of course not.

There is however a need to find out exactly how much is at stake here, and what we as students can do about it. So keep an eye out, ask questions, and be prepared to sign petitions. Even better, head down to the Senate open session this Wednesday, March 21 at 10:30 a.m. in Convocation Hall to show your support to our dwindling faculty.

Division of Power #8 Why you should vote in the UWSA election

Ethan Cabel — 2012-03-13T01:09:44+00:00

I’ve generally never supported vote mobs or vague declarations encouraging young people to vote.

This is not because I don’t value the democratic process, or because I don’t want young people to become engaged in that process, it is simply because vague declarations about the importance of voting, regardless of the candidate or political party, are almost always disingenuous.

For instance, during the 2011 federal election, several students (largely in the politics department) held a vote mob at the University of Winnipeg. As part of the awareness exercise, they scrawled a series of messages in chalk on the sidewalks around the main campus.

“Change” was the most popular platitude. The immediate question that came to my mind was how this ostensibly non-partisan campaign can claim to be supporting no party in particular when “change” naturally connotes a change of government.

Similarly, young people typically vote for progressive parties. I doubt this fact was lost on the intelligent and educated vote mob participants last year.

Essentially, an “Anything But Conservative” youth campaign was being masked as a benign non-partisan exercise. I have no problem with Get Out the Vote efforts, as long as you’re clear about your intentions.

All that being said, every University of Winnipeg student should go out and vote in the University of Winnipeg Students’ Association (UWSA) general election!

Yeah, this is a vague declaration, but it’s not without merit.

First, The Uniter doesn’t endorse any candidate, but we do report on the activities of the UWSA and we advertise the policy positions and platforms of all candidates as equally as we can. We let you, as students, make up your mind.

Secondly, the UWSA is non-partisan and all the voters are students.

You’re not voting for a party, but judging each candidate, or slate of candidates, separately. You’re also not obligated to vote for two candidates for two separate positions simply because they’re running together on a slate.

However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t ideological differences between the candidates. There are. And it would be disingenuous not to fairly point them out.

I think this election ultimately comes down, at least at the presidential level, between an incumbent who wants to stay the course in certain ways in terms of ties with the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), and with the ongoing debate about Soma Cafe, and two candidates who would like to re-evaluate relations between the UWSA and CFS and make sure the cafe modernizes and perhaps makes a profit.

It is worth noting that one of the presidential candidates, William Ring, seems to have at least the informal support of former UWSA president and Downtown BIZ rep Jason Syvixay, who advocated for Soma’s closure and didn’t have much use for the CFS.

Syvixay attempted to do away with the CFS liaison position, did not support a motion at the CFS AGM that would have made it harder to leave the organization and did not hold a Day of Action in his second term.

Lauren Bosc, the incumbent, has gone in the opposite direction by supporting Soma as a non-profit venture, voting to retain a CFS liaison position and holding a Day of Action event while also pursuing some new initiatives around accessibility, particularly for transgender students.

I’m not saying that William Ring is a carbon copy of the 2010-2011 president. That’s definitely not the case. He has advanced his own notable ideas around improving communication with student groups and individuals. However, he does seem to agree with a lot of the former president’s policy positions and so does the other presidential candidate, Rob Holt.

Take some time to read the hyperlinks above. These are not cut and dry issues and they affect your pocket books and your experience as a student on campus.

The UWSA takes in millions of dollars of your money annually and voting gives you a say in where that money goes.

Polls are open from March 12-15 in the Buhler Centre, Science Complex and the main campus and all you need is your student number to cast a ballot.

So VOTE!

Division of Power is a biweekly exploration of politics and federalism as it pertains to Winnipeg.

A Change of Location for Soma Cafe

Amy Groening — 2012-03-05T20:31:28+00:00

Last week in an interview, Dr. Lloyd Axworthy mentioned some rather surprising news: Soma Cafe is moving out of the Duckworth Centre.

According to Axworthy, the UWSA executive has negotiated with administration to have Soma take over the space that is currently occupied by Cafe Bodhi, on the first floor of Lockhart Hall.

The space where Soma now stands will become part of a proposed pharmacy and medical clinic.

Theoretically, Soma’s move to a more centralized location will help make it a profitable venture. Soma has lost approximately $200,000 since it opened in 2008.

The UWSA has been working to find a way to make the cafe a financially viable venture, doing everything from changing the menu and cafe hours to proposing the cafe close for the summer. However, Soma is still slated to lose over $38,000 this year.

Relocation to Lockhart could be the change needed to keep the cafe afloat. Replacing Cafe Bodhi with Soma makes for an even more convenient location—students on Main Campus won’t even have to leave the building (or run up/down several flights of stairs in order to use the skywalk just to grab a coffee).

It also means at least one of Soma’s competitors will be out of the running; from what I understand, Cafe Bodhi won’t be reappearing somewhere else on campus.

And if Soma keeps its prices where they are, the place will be by far the cheapest option for caffeinated beverages on campus. It’s the only place you can get a cup of tea or coffee for less than $2 around here.

Of course, moving to the Lockhart space also means losing some of my own favourite Soma features. Assuming the relocation doesn’t involve any reconstruction of the space, we’ll be missing out on having an enclosed, separate area to drink coffee in peace.

The space that is currently Cafe Bodhi is limited to a few tables and chairs, and the Lockhart corner is packed with students. It’s often noisy, and the joined chair-and-table seating area gives off the distinguished vibe of a mall food court.

Will we still be able to listen to the eclectic and often bipolar music choices of the Cafe staff? Would we hear it over the din of students and staff milling through the halls anyway? Unlikely. That means no more combos of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Coldplay during your coffee break (of course, not everyone will consider this a bad thing).

All this and more will be discussed during the UWSA AGM, which is happening Wednesday, March 21st. Until then, the shape of Soma (and other things to come) remains unclear.

Can you hear me now? ...Well that’s not surprising.

Amy Groening — 2012-02-27T19:51:37+00:00

When it comes to wireless communication, it can sometimes feel as though the U of W is the Bermuda Triangle of lost signals and faulty connections.

For phone signals, this makes sense, to a certain extent. I can accept that decades before cell phones were the norm, some forward-thinking architects designed the main campus buildings to be veritable strongholds against wireless activity. That’s not surprising. Internet access is slightly more puzzling, since I have been led to believe that the building was actually been outfitted (more or less) for internet access.

Over the past few years, I have spent an awful lot of time running from floor to floor of the university trying to find a place where I can access the web for long enough to send an email, and have lost more than one cell phone conversation mid-sentence, at times to disastrous effect.

My experience is widely on the Main Campus, though my jaunts to the Richardson Building have led me to believe all the state-of-the-art technology still can’t help me get a phone signal.

While I can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to get a signal ANYWHERE on campus, I have, with much deliberation, mapped out some of the best and worst places to try:

1) The Bulman Centre: Possibilities of phone and internet access: about 28 feet below-grade

Unsurprisingly, journeying below the surface of the earth tends to disrupt your phone signals. Alright, the Bulman Centre isn’t SO bad for internet access. There has been the odd time when I’ve been able to get it on the third try or so. But good luck using your phone down there. I usually can’t even get texts.

2) Riddell Hall: Possibilities of phone and internet access: low to medium

If you’re receiving an important call of any kind, get out of the cafeteria. I’m pretty sure that place is designed to disrupt all sorts of signals and radio frequencies.

3) The Buffeteria: Possibilities of access: medium to high

For some inexplicable reason, being four floors above ground seems to make it an awful lot easier to access internet and phone signals. At times even the Buffeteria fails me, though, at which point I grit my teeth and proceed to…

4) The AnX: Possibilities of access: high

Apparently the old bus terminal was not made out of the same signal-disrupting materials the Main Campus is composed of. I haven’t tested the AnX out nearly as extensively as any other campus area (it only opened a month ago, to be fair), but it hasn’t failed me yet. Unless of course you consider having to buy a $4 coffee or a $5 beer just to gain internet access a failure.

Division of Power #7 Shopper’s expansion unfortunate but inevitable

Ethan Cabel — 2012-02-17T00:13:29+00:00

The City of Winnipeg committee meeting held today, which saw all four members effectively approve the expansion of the Osborne Street Shopper’s Drug Mart, was a historic moment for the Village. It was also an important moment for Fort Rouge councillor Jenny Gerbasi, who passionately articulated the inner turmoil she had to overcome in order to reject the appeal of Vi Ann restaurant owner Bac Bui and other concerned citizens.

Councillor Gerbasi lived up to her reputation as a public official who responds directly to her constituents, demonstrating why the residents of Fort Rouge—many of whom live in the Village—have supported her for 13 years.

It is incredibly sad to see Vi Ann restaurant and Movie Village sold off and demolished. As the events of the committee meeting began to settle in my mind, and as I made phone calls to get a response from Shopper’s Drug Mart, I realized that two businesses with literally a local face have been replaced by a company with a media relations spokesperson based in Toronto.

It is also sad to realize that the offer Shopper’s Drug Mart made to Bac Bui to relocate his restaurant to the top floor was really a meagre concession and a way for the company to save face among Osborne Village residents.

It was announced today that Bac was offered the second floor of the expanded Shopper’s, which amounts to roughly 5,000 square feet, with the incentive that he would have two years rent-free, with the full “market comparable” rent being phased-in each year for a maximum of eight years.

While, on the surface, 10 years of reduced rent seems like a significant concession, it is worth noting that Bac (a man who has operated a restaurant for over a decade) has rejected the offer outright. This is because he would have to fully pay for the building of a kitchen and to move everything from one location to another, which a Shopper’s spokesperson clarified this afternoon.

It is also worth noting that Shopper’s, based on what was presented this afternoon, did not approach him as an equal negotiating partner for the lease, but simply plunked a rudimentary and vague offer down in front of him. Why would he accept an offer outright that outlines no details about how he would financially be able to relocate?

This is excluding issues to do with the reduction of street-level diversity that have been addressed by a number of bloggers, most notably Rob Galston, Christopher Leo and Walter Krawec. I will be dealing with these issues in a news article to be published next Thursday.

However, I don’t think the committee would have been legally justified in disallowing this expansion.

Ultimately, there is a willing seller (landlord Martin Ringer) and a willing buyer (Shopper’s Drug Mart) and the proposed development has been granted an exemption on square footage requirements in the zoning bylaw because it has gone to great lengths to conform with the city’s long-term planning documents, most especially with the Osborne Village Neighbourhood Plan.

As a city planner said today, bylaws and planning documents don’t police what kinds of commercial development can go in a particular area (as long as it is zoned for commercial uses)—-it simply polices the forms of commercial development (ie, what it will look like, how it will interact with the neighbourhood).

Corporations, just as much as small businesses, have every right to operate and purchase buildings in commercially zoned neighbourhoods.

Shopper’s will be retaining just as many street-level entrances (two) that exist at the current site, while diverting truck traffic away from Roslyn Road through the relocation of its loading dock. It has also added commercial space on the second floor available for lease and will be moving the gaudy dumpsters that currently sit in the parking lot indoors.

They have also committed to building a covered pedestrian corridor, which will signal to drivers that they are entering an area meant largely for pedestrians.

The amended development, which is different in many important ways from the one tabled in front of the Board of Adjustment in December, includes a separate street-level entrance for the post office.

As Coun. Gerbasi emphasized during her speech in front of the media and citizens in the gallery, the issue of traffic around that area has consistently plagued her. This development will resolve that issue in several ways.

None of this is ideal. The reaction to many in the community, and many Winnipeggers generally, is: “this sucks.” It does.

But, with a willing buyer and a willing seller, and with significant concessions made to conform with city bylaws and planning documents, the committee couldn’t have decided any different.

Division of Power is a biweekly exploration of politics and federalism as it pertains to Winnipeg.

The U of W Complaints Desk

Amy Groening — 2012-02-14T05:05:55+00:00

“Why is the U of W pouring money into x when they don’t even have money to fix y?”

I’ve heard numerous variations on this question.

Why is the university expanding left and right but can’t seem to outfit Uplink with computers that actually work a majority of the time?

Why are they spending money constructing a sculpture of a glorified cube on Ellice Avenue when it’s still rare to find a bathroom that isn’t missing at least one crucial bathroom item (whether it be soap dispensers that work, toilets that flush, or stalls that lock)?

How come they have the cash to construct a Green Corridor but we still don’t have reliable wireless or printers?

If we’ve got all these new buildings why do I still end up in classrooms without enough desks for the students in it, and why is it my turn to sit in the broken chair again? Why is there always at least one broken chair in every class? Why? Why?

It doesn’t take a genius to notice that the distribution of wealth on campus is a little bit uneven. There are many reasons for this, including but not limited to the fact that projects like building expansion and creation of green spaces are often subsidized by private benefactors who would rather be known as the people who helped the U of W build a park than the people who helped the U of W fix a printer.

However, another question we must ask ourselves is this: if we’re so frustrated by it, why do most of us only complain to each other?

There are over 9,000 students on campus, and I’d hazard a guess that the majority of us have identified areas of the university that could use a little bit more attention. I’d also hazard a guess that the majority of those students probably haven’t voiced their concerns to anyone who has the power to do anything about it.

From what I’ve seen in the past three years at the U of W, most of us students will expound on these issues to each other and then wait silently for the university to notice the injustice of it all and fix it (or not…those jerks…).

If, instead of complaining to each other about it, each one of us took our concerns to members of administration, I wonder what would happen? Hey it’s worth a try. Even if it doesn’t result in the change we want to see, the least we can do is make sure the people in charge are as annoyed by the situation as we are.

Which leads me to my last question: Why doesn’t the U of W have a complaints desk?

Division of Power #6 UWSA needs to think practically and locally

Ethan Cabel — 2012-02-08T20:50:22+00:00

The University of Winnipeg Students’ Association, and in particular community liaison Zach Fleisher, should be commended for a recent partnership between Couns. Harvey Smith and Ross Eadie, as well as the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, to oppose the impending 20 cent transit fare hike in a practical and realistic way at the council level.

The partnership involves a public relations campaign meant to prompt protestors and concerned citizens to attend a public works committee meeting en masse on February 28. The meeting will see councillor Smith (if his health improves) table a motion to revoke the transit fare increase, arguing that the hike is blatantly rash and unjust.

Of course, Couns. Eadie and Smith are right on both counts. The transit fare hike, which was proposed and passed within a few hours after St. Norbert councillor Justin Swandel had an unfortunate (and rare) epiphany, will force riders to pay for the second phase of a bus rapid transit line that should have been paid for with government grants.

However, the mayor decided that the grant money had to be diverted to road and bridge infrastructure; particularly in areas with little or no transit activity. He also claimed that Winnipeg should transition to light rail transit, with federal money that didn’t exist.

This startlingly incoherent story goes on and on in perpetuity.

However, outside of the importance of the issue, what I like most about the UWSA’s initiative is the positive example it sets in terms of re-evaluating the organization’s role on campus and in the community.

By partnering with politicians and community organizations, the UWSA was able to demonstrate not only that it disagrees with a decision that will adversely affect students but that it is willing and able to do something about it. This is in stark contrast with the organization’s approach to Garbonzos Pizza Pub and Starbucks in the newly opened AnX and, most especially, with the Day of Action held on February 1.

Firstly, the University of Winnipeg has maintained a bottled water ban, kick-started by a UWSA campaign, since 2008. Starbucks now sells bottled water. Additionally, the UWSA has run Soma Cafe on campus for several years and naturally views Starbucks as a competitor.

While I have heard UWSA executives and others involved in the organization privately curse the presence of Starbucks (and, to a lesser extent, Garbonzo’s); they have done nothing about it on a practical level.

Why not accept Starbucks as a valued service for students as well as a Soma competitor but also publicly insist that it live up to the standards and values of the University of Winnipeg?

Secondly, the Day of Action is simply bad policy communicated badly. While I admire getting the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives on board, I can’t for the life of me understand why the UWSA would support across-the-board tuition reductions that will benefit all students (including very rich students) equally; rather than attempting to improve access for low-income students, which could potentially be done with the support of provincial NDP MLAs.

While I think the UWSA does some great work (the Day Care, Info Booth and Food Bank being the most potent examples), they need to get more involved at the community level; find initiatives that benefit people (and students) locally and partner with people who have the policy-making authority to get things done.

Division of Power is a biweekly exploration of politics and federalism as it pertains to Winnipeg.

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to… Avenue Q?

Kaeleigh Ayre — 2012-02-05T21:40:29+00:00

I grew up with Sesame Street, Big Bird and Cookie Monster were my homeboys. My entire room (and most of my wardrobe, toy collection, etc) was plastered with paraphernalia until the age of 6 or so.

Flash forward 20+ years, and I am a Muppet-addicted adult. Opening my gifts on my birthday just a few weeks ago a huge smile cracked my face when I pulled out a stuffed Big Bird and Cookie Monster, replacing those I’ve lost in the years since my childhood, and one of my most awesome Christmas presents was the Muppet version of Yahtzee (Kermit’s head is the shaker cup).

Naturally, when I pulled the Avenue Q handbill out from my Spring Awakening program late last November, I knew I HAD to go, no ifs, ands or buts.

Avenue Q opened off Broadway in 2003. Written by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, Avenue Q tells the tale of 20-somethings post arts degree, trying to find their “purpose” in life. What separates Q from most conventional musicals is the use of puppets, manipulated in plain sight, alongside human actors. The show riffs off the well-known format used by Sesame Street and other children’s shows, and requires more suspension of disbelief from the audience.

I was fortunate enough to weasel my way into a single ticket for the Saturday evening show of the sold out run after it looked like I was out of luck (and I panicked. Hook-ups rock). There was no way I was missing it.

Seating was rush. When I arrived at the Gas Station at 7:40 (doors opened at 7:30) the line snaked around the lobby, out the door, and around the courtyard in front of Subway. Energies were high, it seemed like this would be a great audience.

And it was. The audience was super receptive, laughing their heads off, and even aww-ing at the more melodramatic parts. The show was rude, crude, and hilarious, and everything I had hoped for. I was not disappointed.

The show was presented by District Theatre Collective. The cast, largely comprised of UW graduates, was committed to their roles, human or plush. Astrix in the program denote “useless bachelors degrees in arts”, and nearly every cast and crew member had one, but they are clearly not failing post diploma. The show is directed by UW Theatre Honours grad Connie Manfredi, who also played (human) Gary Coleman, supervisor of the block, and always good for a laugh.

The set was a run down version of the street we all know, and the friends we meet on Avenue Q are all friendly for the most part, if not without their idiosyncrasies. My favourite characters were Trekkie Monster, an adult take on Cookie Monster (let’s just say he sounds the same, but his obsession is more adult themed than baked goods), played by Colin Peterson, who also played one half of my other favourite characters, the Bad Idea Bears. These adorable but nasty bears negatively influence the other characters like two devils on their shoulders, and even initiate an evening of puppet debauchery (the show carries a parental advisory, warning against full puppet nudity. It also carries a disclaimer that it is not related to or approved by the Jim Henson Company or Sesame Workshop).

The few flaws in the show were technical, with a couple bouts of very loud feedback. Paige Pooley, playing Kate Monster, an ambitious kindergarten assistant searching for a date, experienced some microphone difficulties as it cut in and out throughout the second act, but all was forgiven by the audience, with the two hour running time seeming like it zoomed by.

The show fits in nicely with other puppet based shows such as Crank Yankers, Puppets Who Kill and, my personal favourite, MTV2’s Wonder Showzen, which all came out around the early to mid 2000s (maybe there was some strong puppet nostalgia going around?). If you are fortunate enough to hold or find tickets to tonight’s closing show, I definitely recommend it. Rumour has it MTC may have picked up the rights and will be resurrecting it on a grander scale in their next season, and I say you would be foolish in missing it the second time around.

With Advice Like This, Who Needs Advisors?

Amy Groening — 2012-01-30T16:56:29+00:00

When I am gathered with my other U of W colleagues and the conversation begins to lag, we often fall back on the old fail-safe competition of Who’s Received the Worst Advice from a U of W Academic Advisor?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there have been times when Academic Advisors have given out absolutely excellent advice and have helped lead many a young mind down appropriate degree paths.

At times, however, our advisors give out suggestions that are either so mind-blowingly obvious or bewilderingly awful that I can’t resist from sharing a few examples here.

Item of Advice #1: If you can read the Course Requirements Sheet, you probably don’t need us

When I first decided to register for an Honours degree, I looked up all the information I could find online. I found a copy of the registration form, which I read thoroughly. I found an online list of requirements, which I also read thoroughly. Then I went to an academic advisor for more information, because I had been told to do so.

When I told my advisor that I wanted more information on the Honours Degree program, she pulled out a piece of paper which turned out to be a hardcopy of the online Degree Requirements I had read myself several times over, and read them to me. Then she admitted that was all the information she had for me. Thanks for the advice!

Item of Advice #2: Leave your Partner, quit your job, drop that pesky BSc and take a degree in Rhetoric!

When my friend Adrian was in his second year at the U of W, he went to an academic advisor. He had good marks in Biology and in English and wanted to see if he could get a degree where he could study both of these subjects.

The advisor suggested he take a degree in Rhetoric. Adrian didn’t see much of a connection between Biology and English and a degree that was neither.

Then the advisor suggested he quit his job and break off the healthy, long-term relationship he had been in for several years, so he could concentrate on his studies.

Luckily, Adrian realized the advice he was being given was utterly absurd. He continued to work at least 15 hours a week, married his girlfriend, and still has a GPA of 4.18.

Of course, this is anecdotal evidence. It is possible that another student has gone to an advisor with a question about BScs and has not come out under the impression that his future wife is in competition with the Rhetoric degree he doesn’t want to have.

However, these and other bizarre tales from the Academic Advising office has made me realize that sometimes the best advice one can hope to get is to not take our academic advisors too seriously.

Division of Power #5 Winnipeg needs political parties

Ethan Cabel — 2012-01-25T23:57:54+00:00

On Monday, January 23, I appeared yet again on CKUW’s monthly civic affairs panel with local blogger and urban affairs researcher Robert Galston and Dennis Lewycky from the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg.

Although we discussed various issues, the most contentious debate was over the possibility of municipal democratic reform in Winnipeg.

A committee of council recently approved a proposal to change the City of Winnipeg Charter allowing the city to unilaterally add one additional council seat (as it stands, the legislation only allows council to add wards in pairs). This sparked a discussion among urban nerds over the necessity of an extra ward and whether more representation, as opposed to more effective representation, is the answer.

Colin Fast of Metro Winnipeg wrote an excellent column arguing that Winnipeg needs to first look at ways to make councillors more responsive to their constituents—facilitating more effective representation—before adding a new council seat to make up for population growth in South Winnipeg.

I disagree with some of Fast’s conclusions regarding social media and technology in large part because some of the most effective and responsive councillors, like Daniel McIntyre councillor Harvey Smith, are pretty well technologically inept. However, as Rob Galston pointed out during Monday’s panel, Smith returns phone calls promptly and fights for his constituents voraciously, despite his eccentricities.

Similarly, Old Kildonan councillor Devi Sharma (although rather quiet on the council floor) has made a point of not abusing her expense account privileges and has used the majority of her ward allowance to establish a constituency office—-something none of her colleagues, even Smith, have bothered to do.

All of this is well and good. It signifies that, like Fast points out, there are some councillors who genuinely care while others genuinely do not. And it is necessary that Winnipeggers actively elect councillors who respond to the queries of their constituents while turfing those who can’t be bothered to do so.

But the larger issue at play when it comes to civic democracy is summarized best by experts like Nick Ternette and U of W professor Christopher Leo: Winnipeg has cabinet style government without the accountability of political parties.

While one could talk at length about the influence that provincial parties have on city council right now, the fact remains that there are no formal political parties represented in any real way at City Hall.

The provincial NDP gives confusing and bungled endorsements to some councillors (most notably to Jenny Gerbasi and Ross Eadie in 2010) and there is no question that the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives share resources and have covertly or not-so-covertly supported candidates like Gord Steeves, Ian Rabb and mayor Sam Katz himself.

But this is all done in a rough-shod and ultimately unaccountable way. The fact remains that the mayor, regardless of his endorsements or lack thereof, is elected by a popular vote and subsequently appoints members of an executive policy committee to suit his own political purposes; most often to maximize favourable votes on council as a whole.

The recent appointment of Transcona councillor Russ Wyatt, who has been a vocal critic of the mayor in the past, is a perfect example of this. EPC has seven members (including the mayor), and thus holds the power of seven votes on a council of 16. As a result, EPC only needs two more votes to pass its budgets or other policies every year.

Wyatt filled the vacancy left by PC-affiliated former councillor Gord Steeves because the mayor knew he could rely on Elmwood councillor Thomas Steen and council speaker Grant Nordman to vote with EPC on any given council vote.

Wyatt, without an EPC appointment, would have been a wild card.

Did the voters of Transcona vote for a member of the “Katz Party” or an independent maverick when they re-elected Wyatt in 2010? I’m inclined to say the latter.

If we had real political parties on city council, the mayor would run as the leader of a party and would appoint EPC members from that party—-voters would know what the party as a whole stood for and what changes they would make together for the benefit of the city.

Obviously, this would require several structural changes, but I think there is a growing discussion about its necessity. We need to have that discussion.

Division of Power is a biweekly exploration of politics and federalism as it pertains to Winnipeg.

Inconspicuous Fitness

Aaron Snider — 2012-01-23T19:48:42+00:00

Here at the University of Winnipeg, we are blessed with beautiful athletic and fitness facilities. Or so I’ve been told. I’ve never set foot in the Duckworth gym for a few simple reasons:

1. Windows. As anyone who’s ever been in the UW library knows, you can see everyone on the treadmills or in the weight room. Little creepy, no?

2. Culture shock. I’ve received a gym pass card for the last two years, but every time I approach the gym entrance I can feel the sweaty people beyond the little gate looking at me, and I can hear their thoughts: “He doesn’t belong here! He doesn’t know the first thing about triceps or planks or what qualify as running shoes! Look at his sneakers!” Then I pretend I was just walking past on my way to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

3. Pride. I generally prefer people to think that I put much less effort into any given aspect of my life than I actually do. This makes anything I achieve slightly more impressive, or at least that’s the logic I use. To the extent that anyone cares whatsoever about anything that I do, I can’t have them under the impression that I take time out of my day to put effort into my pursuits.

For these reasons I’ve developed a brand new, easy-to-follow system to stay in shape through the winter months. It’s called Inconspicuous Fitness, and consists primarily of walking around a large indoor space in such a manner and in such attire as to rouse no suspicion of effort. Please bear with me.

The first and most important thing to consider is your route. If you’re on the UW campus a fair amount, this should be fairly easy, but it’s also possible in your workplace, if you have access to a large enough range. You’re going to be following a set route that is long enough that the people you encounter on each circuit will be different, or so that the people that see you multiple times will have forgotten about you in-between encounters. About 7-10 minutes should for one time around your selected path should be enough.

At this point, a warning: do not attempt to improvise a route. You will inevitably end up like some confused Pacman™ running into dead ends all over the place. This is a surefire way to show everyone that you are trying to exercise secretly. Embarrassment ensues.

Your route can be modified for length, number of stairs and proximity to refreshment centres (aka water fountains). You can adjust your speed as well, but only if you also adjust your facial expression accordingly. For example, speed-walking is possible, but only if you display a late-for-an-important-class kind of terror to cover your true motives.

Take a backpack filled with heavy books if you want to achieve that extra burn. Dress lightly and wear the most comfortable shoes you own that are not actually meant for exercising.

The Inconspicuous Fitness regime is largely focused on cardio, but there are some special tricks for those adventurous souls who want to mix in some upper body strength-building as well. First, wait till you are in a mostly vacant hallway and pretend to trip, falling as gently as possible to the floor. Before getting up right away, sneak in a few pushups or roll onto your back and pretend to try to stand while actually performing 3-4 sit-ups to work on those oh-so-sneaky abs.

The most important factor with these techniques is that no one should be looking at you directly. The good thing is that even if someone catches a glimpse of you, they’ll only think, “that poor person is trying to make it look like they fell on purpose to do some pushups, but really they’re clumsy – that’s pathetic.” The joke’s on them.

Will we sip from the cup again?

Trevor Graumann — 2011-11-24T19:04:02+00:00

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are playing in the Grey Cup this Sunday in Vancouver, taking on those pesky BC Lions. This is one more feather in the cap of Winnipeg sports fans, who have had much to smile about lately.

And boy is it time. Winnipeg football fans have been in the desert for a while, and it’s no secret that last year we held court in the league basement, with a dismal 4-14 record. A mere year ago we never could have guessed that our city would have a Grey Cup bound team.

But is the team ready for greatness?

The Blue Bombers have won 10 Grey Cups, the third most in the league, despite being the team with the most Grey Cup appearances, at 23 (this year will make it 24). When was the last Grey Cup we won, you ask? Of course you ask, because many of you young students weren’t even born yet. It was 1990.

BC fans don’t have to remember so far back. The last time they won the Grey Cup was 2006. I was at that game, actually, because it was right here in our fair city.

That being said, BC is much less experienced in the Grey Cup game than our beloved Blue Bombers. Even with this year’s appearance, the BC Lions have only been in the Grey Cup game 10 times, the least of any team in the CFL. Consequently, they’ve won the second fewest Grey Cups, with five. The only team with fewer Grey Cup wins is poor Saskatchewan.

This is bound to be a great game. Both teams have healthy quarterbacks, and for the most part any serious injuries took place long ago. This is a match-up that has been brewing for a while, a classic CFL final where two of the league’s best teams have made it. BC started off the season dismally, and then pulled out a triumphant finish; Winnipeg started the season triumphantly (remember Swaggerville?), and then finished up dismally.

Their paths have been different, but here they are. For the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, nothing less than a Grey Cup is good enough; the BC Lions have already won one in this lifetime.

Division of Power #4 Response to criticism

Ethan Cabel — 2011-11-22T20:46:33+00:00

The Bill C-10 protest at Andrew Swan’s constituency office that I wrote a blog post about last week was a strange agglomeration of dedicated Occupiers and disgruntled NDP members.

My criticism of that protest late last week sparked some equally critical responses from readers. So here is my response:

I’m certainly aware that many NDP members have worked to convince their party to oppose Bill C-10. I also understand that those NDP members who did “occupy” Swan’s office did so out of perceived desperation.

I would add, however, that NDP members who oppose C-10 have clearly failed to convince both party executives, but also other NDP members and NDP voters, that the current party position on the federal crime package is irresponsible.

Does that mean they should shut up and accept failure? No. Does it mean that they don’t have a right to protest? Absolutely not. But it also doesn’t mean that the entire party apparatus doesn’t work.

By allying with Occupy Winnipeg to annex the office, disgruntled NDP members are essentially claiming that, simply because the party did not adopt a position that some of its members support, that the entire system has failed.

Again, this was clear with calls to abolish the police and prison system outright.

As such, when I offered alternatives to the annexing of Swan’s office, I was directing that critique largely at those who believe that traditional avenues for political change, as opposed to direct action/protest/civil disobedience, are pointless.

I offered those alternatives to point out that there are ways to get involved and make change within a party and that the notion of party members being completely powerless to change or influence party policy (or public policy, if elected) is ridiculous. The critique was aimed largely at the Occupiers who, from what I can tell, ultimately believe that elites control the entire political/economic system.

As for those who were chastising me about discussing the Downtown BIZ forum after talking informally with those who had attended about the level of vitriol and black and white logic, here’s a quote from one of the BIZ protesters:

“The BIZ and the police are not worthy of civil discourse. They are violent racist gangs who roam our streets and abuse the most marginalized and vulnerable among us. I’m proud to say that I was among those who shouted down the WPS and the BIZ when they were spouting their lies and obfuscations. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

Again, there are many things that I am concerned about when it comes to the BIZ and the above quote comes from someone who alerted me to some of those concerns last summer. That doesn’t mean that there is no room for civility unless, of course, you really do believe that the police and BIZ patrols are irrevocably corrupt and racist thugs.

Also, I’ve been working for The Uniter long enough to know when I should do interviews and when it is unnecessary.

Normally, I write news and I delight in interviewing people from all sides of the political spectrum and being as fair as possible in my reporting. Right now, this is my opinion and that opinion is subject to change. I hope you will take it with a grain of salt.

Division of Power is a biweekly exploration of politics and federalism as it pertains to Winnipeg.

The Latest British Invasion

Amy Groening — 2011-11-21T22:19:37+00:00

Got a complaint about tuition fees? At least you’re not in the UK.

A phenomenon referred to as the “tuition regime” has arisen as the British government announced it is cutting school funding and raising the university tuition fees cap to £9,000 (that’s around $14,500 CAD), according to The Guardian.

Although many universities have announced tuition fee increases of between £7,500 and £9,000, the Daily Mail reports most university programs should only be costing students around £6,000. Students are digging in their heels; according to the same Daily Mail article, the National Union of Students in Scotland has no intention of accepting tuition hikes.

In addition to this, the Independent reports that universities will be cutting as many as 5,000 courses, as a result of the rising costs of education.

The tensions and bitterness surrounding UK university fees could result in an influx of British students deflecting to Canada; tuition increases on their home turf make the U of W’s international student fees downright affordable in comparison, and the U of W is doing its best to make sure prospective students know this.

In an interview on international student issues, Jason Brennan, Director of Recruitment at the U of W, mentioned that the university is advertising its comparable tuition fees to our British comrades.

Numbers are not confirmed, but Brennan says many UK families he spoke to are seriously considering the idea of shipping their students south. Be prepared for every possible Britain-related pun to hit headlines next year; The British are coming.

Division of Power #3 Occupy Winnipeg and the poisoning of civil discourse

Ethan Cabel — 2011-11-19T00:19:41+00:00

Division of Power is a biweekly exploration of politics and federalism as it pertains to Winnipeg.

Today, a small group of Occupiers decided to take their Memorial Park encampment to the next level by annexing Andrew Swan’s constituency office; an elected Member of the Legislative Assembly and a sitting cabinet minister who has publicly supported the Harper Conservatives’ omnibus crime package (Bill C-10).

The group’s opposition is duly noted (I agree with most of it) and they have been quite vocal, particularly through a rally on November 8 at the Manitoba legislature.

However, it is difficult to understand what they hope to accomplish by unlawfully “occupying” Minister Swan’s constituency office.

If these protests are about opposing Bill C-10, in particular, then there were several different and far more constructive ways to go about that opposition—-including, but certainly not limited to, volunteering/donating/voting for either the Liberal Party of Canada or the New Democratic Party in the Spring federal election.

Or by volunteering/donating/voting for the Manitoba Liberal Party, who have been largely critical of C-10, in the provincial election.

Or by organizing their apparently vast collective efforts to create their own provincial or federal party.

Or simply by vocally speaking out against the Conservative Party of Canada when they were seeking an elected mandate from the people of Canada; a mandate that included these crime measures; most of which had been tabled, at some point or another, in the House of Commons during their last five years of minority rule.

Or, if there are structural concerns, getting involved and forcing a political party to take seriously the notion of electoral or democratic reform.

But these protests are not about Bill C-10 or the Conservative Party or Andrew Swan and the NDP.

Most, if not the majority, of these protestors (or “Occupiers”) argue primarily for the overthrow of our current capitalist, democratic political system through severe acts of civil disobedience. This was clear today with calls to abolish the police and prison system outright.

Due to this single-mindedness, the tone of civil discourse in the city of Winnipeg and at the University of Winnipeg has been significantly poisoned over the past two months.

Take, for example, the “occupation” of a recent open forum on safety organized by the Downtown Business Improvement Zone (BIZ).

Due to the intrusion of several protestors, one of whom mockingly brought a lasso in a parody of the BIZ branding its series of three forums the “Downtown Round-Up,” the debate had to be virtually shut down.

Not only were these people vilifying the Downtown BIZ, but they were vilifying Jack Jonasson of the Lo Pub for hosting a forum featuring politically Conservative panelists.

What they failed to remember is that I, in conjunction with CKUW, moderated an event at the Anarchist collective Mondragon featuring a largely Conservative panel last winter.

What the Occupiers also fail to recognize is that, when I or anybody else question their methods or the content of their ideas, we are not blindly defending capitalism or the Downtown BIZ.

I can speak favorably about the A-zone Co-op and their bid to purchase an Albert Street building without being an anarchist just as I can respectfully attend a forum on safety without supporting everything, or anything, that the Downtown BIZ does.

Life, politics and public policy, more often than not, are only accurately portrayed with shades of grey.

Hold your tongue

Trevor Graumann — 2011-11-11T21:18:49+00:00

The Canadian Judicial Council has decided to go easy on Justice Robert Dewar, who turned some heads when he called Kenneth Rhodes, a rapist he himself convicted, a “clumsy Don Juan”.

For those of us already soured on the idea of Canadian justice, this news comes as no surprise. After all, this is a country whose courts only recently found that women can’t consent to sex if unconscious, and the ruling in that case came as the result of a 6-3 vote in the Supreme Court. Repeat: there were three people who didn’t agree with the decision. The mind boggles: what could their reasoning have possibly been?

With the sprit of the Slutwalk still in the air, it seems crazy that the Council would stand behind yet another comment from a judge ostensibly endorsing rape. In fact, Justice Dewar’s comment shows sympathy for the rapist, painting him as an inept romancer rather than a sexual aggressor. Despite Justice Dewar’s subsequent apology, damage has been done here. If an esteemed member of our own justice system doesn’t respect the plight of those subjected to sexual assault, what hope is there for justice to be done? In that respect, it’s probably worth noting that though Rhodes was found guilty of sexual assault, his sentence was relegated to a two year conditional affair.

It’s time for us to expect more from those who administer justice in this country. There have been too many instances of irresponsible comments from judges lately. Justice Dewar should’ve been punished in some way for his disrespectful remark, and the fact that he wasn’t shows that justice in this country is still largely a man’s game.

Stomping Grounds 3: Pop Soda’s - The New Kid In Town.

Kent Davies — 2011-11-09T19:20:11+00:00

Part café, part library, part art gallery, part venue – Pop Soda’s Coffeehouse and Gallery has got everything for everybody. It’s literally an artistic fun house where you can easily waste a day.

Owned by former Tomato-pie Chef Pelligrino Santorelli, his artist wife Christine Boss and business partner/master carpenter Céyril Chapot, the venue has already stirred quite the hype-storm among the art-punks, hippies and hipsters that inhabit the west-end area.

The décor is what you want it to be. That means they’re open to any artist who wants to add to it. Do you want to put the crappy collage you made from comic books while listening to Nine Inch Nails in the 8th grade beside works from Diana Thorneycroft and Michael Boss? Well, they’ll let ya.

Or would you rather chill out on the many antique sofas and chairs while laughing yourself silly at the ridiculously out-of-this-world, new age, self-help, books from their library.

You can play rare board games from a bygone era, take a nap in a hammock, check your email on Wi-Fi, and their food is ridiculously good too.

Then there are the gigs. With 7,000-square-feet to play around in, the shows have been nothing but solid. On Halloween weekend, one-man band Mark Sultan rocked the socks off the many dancing zombies, goblins and asshole jocks (not a costume). There are a lot more great shows to come including acclaimed roots-act One Hundred Dollars playing at Pops November 15.

I’ll admit the best thing about Pop Soda’s is it’s location at 625 Portage Ave at Furby. There are some great places to hang out in the west end area: The Standard, Cousins, Bella Vista (all of which I hope to feature) but it’s nice when something this big – this awesome opens up on the street you live on.

The UWSA Special General Meeting: Highlights

Amy Groening — 2011-11-04T13:39:02+00:00

First of all, a quick introduction: Hello, I am The Uniter’s new Campus Beat Reporter. I will be focusing on campus news on the blog as well.

For my campus news blog debut, I have compiled some of the highlights of the UWSA Special General Meeting, which took place Wednesday, November 2nd, at 12:00pm. The SGM did meet quorum, and members were able to discuss the 12 motions carried over from March 10th’s Annual General Meeting, as well as 9 new motions submitted for the November 2nd SGM.

-Members of the UWSA Executive will no longer be obligated to sit on the Board of Regents.

-The move to increase Executive Director annual salaries from $24,0497 to $27,000 was approved.

-An attempt to abolish the position of Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) Liaison Director was overturned after an impassioned speech in its defense.

-Members voted in favour of abolishing the CFS Local Committee

-In a bid to update appropriate terminology the term “transgendered”, which is no longer used by the Trans community, was replaced with the more appropriate term “transgender” in the UWSA Bylaws.

-In an attempt to become more environmentally sustainable, the By-Laws and Policy Committee will be storing copies of minutes electronically from now on.

Executives also gave a brief overview of the Bi-Annual Executive Report, outlining the extensive list of organized events (eg: O-Week, UWFA/UWSA Solidarity Barbecue), services (Bike Lab, Parking Registry), and support of causes (Gay-Straight Alliance Conference, Occupy Winnipeg) the UWSA has had a hand in.

Bibliofiles #2: The greenhorn movement in print - a generational sea change?

Britt Embry — 2011-11-04T03:04:35+00:00

Bibliofiles is a biweekly exploration of all things literary.

The interest and intrigue surrounding country life has never disappeared, but it seems lately a niche market for farming memoirs has emerged.

The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food and Love (2010), Trauma Farm (2009), The Wisdom of the Radish (2011) and Growing a Farmer (2011) are just a few titles from the last two years.

These books in particular share a common narrative: city-dweller with no farm experience starts a farm. The term “greenhorn” has been recently reappropriated to describe a young, inexperienced farmer (due mostly in part to the film, The Greenhorns), and many young farmers are using the term to describe the movement.

Of course, like most successful memoirs, the books mentioned above are heartbreaking, frustrating, humorous and, most importantly, well received.

But, it’s an interesting trend for an interesting time. Their audience is clearly fuelled by the slow food/local food movement and the resurgence of good ol’ fashioned living (quick on-topic tangent: I’m currently reading The Lost Art of Real Cooking and on the topic of taking care of your cast iron skillet, they recommend you ask a bear slayer for some leftover fat - I wouldn’t even know where to start looking for my local bear slayer).

But, I have to wonder: how much of this is about trying to recreate the idea of the idealized farm (the one that children’s books constantly depict) and how much of it represents an actual sea change in our generation’s idea of living?

This literary trend seems to reflect our generation’s disconnect between our food, our land and ourselves, but it’s also possible that people just love wacky animal stories.

Perhaps this is something I’ll have to bring up with my bear slayer, when I find him/her.

Next up: the lost art of copyediting and online newspapers’ recent move to reader-edited content.

A Conversation with Firearms Expert/Film Director Dave Brown

Nicholas Friesen — 2011-11-02T17:52:37+00:00

Dave Brown has been the only name in firearms safety on Manitoba film sets for about twenty years, but last year he switched gears to direct his first short film, the twelve minute romantic comedy Chump Change. The film screens Sunday, November 6 at 7pm. Tickets are only $10 and are available at the door.

Two other short films will screen, the hilarious Cougars of Winnipeg from Alf Kollinger and Adriana O’Neil, plus the MANITOBA PREMIERE of the amazing film Pick from Calgary filmmaker Benjamin Ross Hayden.

Uniter: I’ve known you for a long time now, but I don’t know if I’ve ever heard the story of how you got into the business.

Dave Brown: I’ve been a professional firearms trainer for many years. I do a lot of work with commercial clients, government agencies, police and military. At one point in time when the film industry was quite young in Winnipeg and one of the actors (in the film For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down, Callum Keith Rennie) had a scene where he was firing a sawed off shotgun. So they found out I was working at a shooting range and they asked if they could send down an actor to do a little bit of coaching with blanks, and what I didn’t tell them was that I had very little experience so I went out to the range that day and fired a couple of blanks. Then the same prop master came up to me about a year later and said ‘we’re shooting this big movie about FBI agents and there’s guns every day and we’d like to have you work on set for the whole movie.’ I thought, ‘that kinda sounds like fun, I don’t know much about movie making.’

So I showed up the first morning and wondered how I was going to tell where they were making this movie, but I turned the corner and there were thirty semi-trailers and two hundred people running around like crazy and lights. Right away they just dropped me right into it. So I’m ready to do some safety briefings and I’m looking at them and I said ‘okay, what am I supposed to do?’ and they look at me and say ‘you’re supposed to tell us, you’re the gun expert.’ So I literally wrote the book on firearms safety in Manitoba as I went along. Never worked with anyone else in film, didn’t know how they operated. In films we do things that we’d never do with a real firearm, we point guns at people all the time. We make sure that they’re empty of course. You work with directors, learn what directors want. If you’re very experienced you’ll learn never to say no to a director, directors don’t like that. If I’m experienced enough, I can find a way to do it. If I don’t have the experience, I’ll say it’s dangerous. I know exactly what’s dangerous, this is my career. I test guns all the time and I know exactly the line and the limits. I never tell the director the actual limits, I always triple them. When the director says ‘this is what I’d like to see’ I say ‘yes we can do that, but let’s try it this way’ and it works out fine and no one’s hurt and I’m happy and the director’s happy.

U: So you are ready to screen your debut short film, Chump Change. Are you satisfied with how it turned out?

DB: We still compromised and make mistakes. I’ve been in the film business twenty years but I’m still a rookie as far as this is concerned. You make rookie mistakes.

We wanted to accomplish certain things. We wanted to challenge the audience and tell a story quickly. Because of the background of Amy acting and working on small film projects and me working on everything from small to big projects, we always like to tell new young filmmakers what to do or what not to do, we wanted to prove it to them. Especially young filmmakers today that worry so much about the camera and they research the heck out of it. It’s not the camera dude, it’s the STORY. You could tell a good story on a two thousand dollar pro-sumer camera, which is what we did.

Because you literally spend virtually twenty years standing behind the camera watching directors and actors work, you get a view of what to do and sometimes what not to do, although I’ll never tell those stories, I had a pretty good idea going in on if I was going to be a director this is how I’m going to direct. I didn’t really go in with the idea that I’d like to be a good director or it was going to be a career or anything else. I just wanted to do it just to do it, period. So I brought in Alf Kollinger, and I’ve shot his movies as a cinematographer so he shot mine as a cinematographer and it’s always fun we always work very well together. One of the things I told Alf at the very beginning was ‘I’m going to want to be behind the camera, but don’t let me behind the camera’, like just kick me out of there. We’re going to set up a monitor and all it’s going to be for is to check framing. Once I’ve seen the framing and it looks cool, kick me out. I have to trust my camera operator to give me the shot that I want, because I’m there for the actors. To me a director is the traditional definition of a director, they’re there to direct the actors. I needed to be on set with the actors. I wasn’t going to be buried in video village - there was no video village - it was me on set with the actors, literally a foot away from the camera, on set the whole time. I thought first of all that the actors would be a little bit bothered by that because a lot of them are used to literally the director being fifty feet away. Number one, they had no problem with it and number two, they really appreciated it. When you’re working with really good and professional actors, if they have a concern or something, they know enough not to say it out loud or yell or stomp their feet or go off to the trailer, they know to talk to the director and get the problem solved right away. When I’m two feet away it’s easy to do.

The funny part is that at the end of the day I turned out to be not so bad a director. According to the actors they really liked it.

U: What role did Amy Simoes take on this film?

DB: (Amy) was co-writer and co-executive producer. We financed the film totally on our credit cards. Didn’t have anyone else paying for it. That was probably the hardest job was hers, because a day or two before we shot she had to drop the executive producer role and put on the acting role, which is a hard thing to do because there’s still lots of work to be done and things to be paid for and arrangements to be made. She had to let all of that go and concentrate on her acting. She’s really good at it. As far as I’m concerned it paid off.

Darryl Dorge is our second lead. We brought in some really good actors and to me, again, being the sort of traditional director, your movie is made in the casting room. The vast majority of the movie is done right there. I tell everybody that it’s nothing. Anyone could direct. I walked in, I just said to them, ‘do what it is you actors do and tell me when you’re done’. I called ‘action’ and ‘cut’ every now and then just to remind people who the director was, but I didn’t really do anything. I had a really good crew that I could trust, my lighting person was Rob Rowan who is obviously one of the most experienced lighting technicians in town. I gave him all of these lights that we borrowed and rented or bought and said ‘this is your kit, you gotta work with it’. He’s used to working out of the back of two semi-trailers.

That’s how we treated everybody. You’re professionals, you know what you’re doing, you know what we want, you know the direction we’re taking the story. Just do what it is you do and tell me when you’re done.

As you know, every actor is a little different. Some of them you do literally have to hold their hand and give them a couple of things. I’d never be the type of director that said ‘be happy, be sad’. I want to tell a story, I want to talk about the characters. In my movie, it’s only twelve and a half minutes, there’s quite a character arc. I want them to take me through that character arc the way I envisioned it, but if the actor gives me something even better, that’s exactly what I’m trying to do.

I had a really strong cast. I didn’t have any actors that I would’ve had problems with because I’m not experienced enough a director to know how to solve individual problems on a set.

U: Some people might think that making a twelve minute film won’t allow you to tell a whole story, but I’ve seen three minute films that do it. With twelve, you can even work in the three act structure.

DB: To me, twelve minutes is the perfect length. You can do the three act structure. You eliminate stuff that is fun but it’s fluff. Why would you have an establishing shot? Why do you need to see the outside of a warm, little, piano jazz bar, which is where this is placed. As soon as the guy walks in the door, you can see right away this is a piano bar. It’s obvious what it is. Any scene that doesn’t move the story forward, it’s gone. As a director that’s helping out with the editing, a lot of editors see each scene as their baby and they don’t want to get rid of it and they spent three hours on this. I’m not like that. If we spent three hours on this scene and it didn’t work, it’s gone. Amy and I edited it together. She’s got a really good idea of what makes a movie good. Didn’t mean we didn’t argue about things. I remember the discussion was going on about the music - music is a big part of our film. We fight back and forth a little bit but at the end of the day we always got a better product because of it. We really respected each other’s eye and view.

We did traditional type of Hollywood stuff. Just before the credits roll we have a crane shot as the character is walking into the street light.

U: You shot this film about a year ago. Why did it take so long to get the film finished?

DB: Right after we did our film, before we even did the final scene, Amy went off to Australia for six months to join the circus. We couldn’t touch the footage for six months. I was thinking of a few ideas but I needed her to be sitting there throwing ideas back and forth. So it sat in the can for six months.

U: You mention that you shot the film on an everyday camera. Why was that important to you?

DB: We’re filming on mini DV tape. We were not going to use a DSLR because it’s trendy and everyone knows about shallow depth of field. Shallow depth of field is only one element of controlling the viewers attention. There’s the acting, characters, story. I want to film on a $2,000 pro-sumer camera in HD and prove to people that you don’t need a DSLR to tell a good story. We used the lighting to control the exposure instead of the other way around.

We made some mistakes. We made some decisions that when we started editing I said ‘I don’t know if we shoulda done that.’ We had priorities when we shot which were the character and the acting. We’re not worried quite so much about crossing the line (of action). If anyone in the audience says ‘they’ve crossed the line on that shot,’ then we’ve lost them.

U: One thing I like about the filmmaking scene in Winnipeg is that it truly is a scene. I’ve been on set with you and you’ve been on my sets, and people really help each other out here. Instead of moving away and hurting the scene, it’s nice that some people stay and help out other filmmakers.

DB: It’s very unlike Vancouver or Toronto. Developing and maintaining those relationships is so important. People that are newcomers, this person always works with that person. You know what? They got along well together and they can produce and they trust each other and to me that’s the biggest part of it, for an inexperienced director like me, it’s trust.

U: Being a first time director, but also being a guy who has been on set a lot, do you have any words of wisdom for the kids and kiddos out there?

DB: Start off small with a three minute or six minute film. Don’t make a feature. Part of that is protecting your relationships, so if you burn everybody you know on a feature, you’ll probably never make a film in this town again. Start off small and in ten years from now you’re going to look back on your first film and it’s going to be a piece of crap. Do you want a six minute film that’s a piece of crap or an hour and a half film that’s a piece of crap? A year out of your life or a week out of your life? Your first one is not going to be that good.

I’ve been helping so many people out over the years and I’d say ‘oh, if you’ve got the budget I’d like to get this much’ and pay for my time. People appreciate that you put a lot of time into your career, for me it’s a livelihood. A lot of actors it’s part time. If people don’t have the budget, I’d rather be here then not be here and make sure my friends are safe. I don’t do that too much anymore these days. I can’t afford to give anything away for free anymore.

After a while you get frustrated with especially inexperienced people who just say ‘you’ll get a copy of the film and a credit and we’ll feed you’. You look at ‘em and you go ‘you don’t know who I am, right?’ (laughs). I once worked on this horror picture up in Selkirk called The Plague and Bill Butler shot it who shot Jaws. One day on set it was his 80th birthday and this movie was his 80th credit on IMDB. I remember thinking, wouldn’t it be cool to have the same number of credits as your age in years. Wonder if I would ever reach that milestone in my career. Well, I reached that years ago (laughs). I’m getting up to 80 credits or so on IMDB. ‘I’ll give you a copy of the DVD and a credit’ and I say ‘tell you what, keep the DVD and the credit, I don’t need it’ (laughs).