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Bisons look to bounce back against Dinos at Murray Field

Nathan Udoh has been around long enough to know how quickly things can change in the Canada West conference.

The fifth-year Manitoba Bisons receiver is one of the oldest players in a youthful locker room that is experiencing the ebbs and flows of a U Sports season for the first time, and to say his experience if being leaned on would be an understatement.

“I try to lean on that and help guys who haven’t been in these situations just to keep their heads and how hard you have to play,” Udoh said Wednesday. “I think that’s the biggest thing that there is no snap that you take off, and playing with that intensity is really where it starts.”

The Bisons have already endured a roller-coaster two games into the season. After shocking the country by steamrolling the reigning conference champion Saskatchewan Huskies 40-22 in their season-opener, the Bisons fell back to earth in a 22-8 road loss to the Regina Rams last weekend.

Who will win? Most voters haven’t decided yet

Just over a month before Winnipeg voters choose their next mayor, the most striking number in the latest polling isn’t Scott Gillingham’s lead.

It’s the 51 per cent of voters who still haven’t decided who they’re going to vote for.

That is an enormous chunk of the electorate to have sitting on the sidelines this late in a municipal campaign. And while it may make the current standings look more uncertain than they otherwise would, it shouldn’t come as a complete surprise.

Winnipeg municipal elections have not been models of voter engagement in recent years. Turnout has been falling — from 50 per cent in 2014 to 42 per cent in 2018 and just 37.5 per cent in 2022.

DeKalb victory adds Team Ackland to list of province’s top curling teams

MORRIS, Man., — Don’t forget about Abby Ackland.

Finding new markets — across an ocean

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s barnstorming trade mission to the European Union has created a ton of discussion and debate about cultivating new trade opportunities for Canadian exporters. What is hasn’t created, however, is very much certainty.

At first blush, opening up new trade relationships with the EU seems like a no-brainer as Canada is confronted with an increasing number of tariffs and restrictions from an increasingly unhinged Trump White House. And the possibilities are tantalizing; the EU and United Kingdom represent a market of more than 519 million people, which is larger than North America.

Canada is one of few nations to push back against Trump’s irrational trade demands. The result is an almost daily escalation of punitive measures and threatening rhetoric. Our trade relationship with the U.S. has been deeply wounded; in short order, it may become fatally so.

However, it is our courage in the face of American trade threats that has made us a coveted trading partner for many European nations. So much so that the EU created an entirely new category of “associate member” to give Canada an incentive to strengthen trading relationships.

Assiniboine Park has long provided visitors the chance to commune with nature

Here’s what I observed on a perfect spring day in Assiniboine Park last week: I saw people biking, jogging and walking their dogs (so many good dogs).

I saw the Assiniboine River at low ebb and perennial plantings in the English Garden pushing up toward the April sun.

I saw birdwatchers with binoculars, a group of 20-somethings playing cards, a man tossing bread to some chipper little ground squirrels, and a guy on a tricked-out three-wheeled cycle with a speaker blasting Don’t Stop Believing. This being Winnipeg, I also ran into my husband’s aunt’s best friend.

During the last year of COVID-19, as so many indoor places where Winnipeggers would normally gather were shut down, outdoor public spaces became crucial for mental and physical health. When time seems to have stopped, it helps to see the natural world continue its cycles. When life feels isolated, it’s reassuring to realize you’re still part of a larger community.