Food, family, and community

Karen Tusa’s latest project has a distinctly made-in-Manitoba flavour.

The Windsor Park resident is the producer of The Diabetic Kitchen, a six-episode lifestyle and cooking TV series, which premiered on Bell Fibe TV1 on Jan. 29.

The series, which was filmed last summer, was directed by George Orallo and hosted by Kevin Beaulieu. Lisa Shostal and Keri-Lynn Turney wrote and researched the series.

The Diabetic Kitchen is intended to inspire and empower people living with diabetes — as well as others interested in healthier, balanced meals — by featuring practical recipes without sacrificing flavour. The series also features appearances by registered dietitian Bailey Lakusta, who explains how meals can be balanced to support blood sugar management and overall health.

LRSD superintendent to retire

When the bell rings at the end of the 2025-26 school year in June, it will mark the end of an area for a leading figure in the city’s education system.

Christian Michalik, Louis Riel School Division superintendent and CEO, is set to officially retire in August, after 37 years working in public education.

“What I’m feeling now … is how grateful I am,” Michalik, 62, said. “My journey has really been about learning from others — from the very start, as a teacher, and later on as a school principal, and then working in the board office. It’s been about listening and learning from others.”

Michalik said he has learned that important decisions are ultimately shaped by students.

Small pins, big impact

From her home studio in Winnipeg, Métis artist and small business owner Christine Brouzes, creator of Tiny Clay Pins, is showing how something small can carry a powerful message.

Each of her handcrafted polymer clay pins is designed to spark conversation, encourage awareness, and invite people to engage with issues that matter.

“I’m a tiny Indigenous business making tiny clay pins that carry big, important meanings,” Brouzes said. Her collection includes Canadian maple leaf pins, pink shirts to raise awareness of bullying, Pride flags in support of LGBTQS+ communities, red dress pins, mental health symbols, and many other meaningful images. Orange shirt pins — complete with a glow-in-the-dark halo — are just one part of her body of work.

Brouzes originally created custom beaded medallions, but the pandemic slowed interest in larger art pieces. Everything changed after the discovery of unmarked graves at former residential schools.

March is nutrition month

Dietitians of Canada celebrates Nutrition Month in March every year, and this year it has decided to continue with the success of last year’s theme – Nourish to flourish.

There are many healthy resources to check out. In Manitoba, Dial a Dietitian is an option for reputable nutrition guidance, and the Dietitians of Canada and Health Canada websites provide nutritional education resources.

Nutritional guidelines have changed over the years. When I was studying, we used to promote diabetic exchanges of foods for people with diabetes – now we use carbohydrate counting and glycemic index principles. We used to recommend that people with diverticulosis shouldn’t eat food with small seeds, such as tomatoes but that recommendation has long since been dropped.

More recent changes are those to the recommendations for kidney failure patients. Most renal patients were given strict guidelines on how many specific fruits and vegetables and dairy products they could have in a day. New research has revealed that these guidelines could be changed.

A special Red River cart

At the St. Vital Museum, we treasure all of our galleries and artifacts. For good reason, as we have so much variety and so many unique displays. We have a 1939 firetruck that runs, an actual jail cell, an amazing music gallery featuring gold and platinum records donated by Jim Kale of the Guess Who, displays honouring sports legends such as Jennifer Jones, Jonathan Toews and Dancing Gabe – I could go on and on.

On Valentine’s Day, we unveiled another cherished treasure, our newly restored Red River cart which is a replica of the original carts built in the 1800s.

Approximately 100 people attended the ribbon-cutting/unveiling, including our MP, Ginette Lavack; five MLAs including Jamie Moses, Renee Cable, Robert Loiselle, Tylor Blashko, and Billie Cross; two city councillors, Markus Chambers and Brian Mayes; and four Louis Riel School Division trustees, Irene Nordheim, Ian Walker, Peter Bjornson, and Chris Sigurdson. We were grateful to have all of them attend in support of our event at the museum – and what a positive event it was.

The Red River cart is an all-wood vehicle and is a powerful symbol of Métis nationhood, entrepreneurship, and independence. Drawn by horses or oxen, these durable carts were also very versatile. They could be converted into rafts and also served as mobile, defensive shelters. Made typically from oak, birch, or pine, they used no metal nails, screws, or bolts, making them reparable on the trail. They were used throughout the 19th century and were essential to the fur trade, buffalo hunts, and transporting goods such as pemmican throughout the Red River Colony and northern plains.

A rare Arctic visitor

Melanie Glenwright and her 17-year-old son were relaxing on Boxing Day afternoon two months ago, crafting in their Royalwood kitchen, when an unexpected visitor arrived on silent wings. Through the big windows facing their backyard, they saw a large, white bird with small, ear-like feathered tufts perched on their shed.

“Right away we Googled,” Glenwright said. “We could see lots of brown bars, so we weren’t sure. Our search told us the markings meant (it was) a young female snowy owl.”

Dr. James Duncan, a retired biologist based in Balmoral, Man., who continues to study owls with his wife and fellow biologist Patricia Duncan, confirmed Glenwright’s findings.

“The owl certainly looks like a juvenile female hatched in 2025, hundreds of kilometres from Winnipeg, in the Arctic tundra,” Duncan said. “Based on the photographs and video footage provided, she appears to be healthy and was likely hunting small mammals or birds.”

A sport for everyone

Table tennis is hot right now.

So hot that Marty Supreme, a recent movie about a table tennis player from New York’s Lower East Side, played by Timothée Chalamet, has earned itself nine Academy Award nominations — including best picture, best actor (Chalamet) and a best director nod for Josh Safdie.

So it’s no wonder that the Manitoba Table Tennis Association is putting in the work to make table tennis as accessible as possible to those looking to pick up a paddle and join in on the fun.

While Marty Supreme features its share of healthy movie magic, presenting the sport at its global peak in the 1950s and lacing the match scenes with energetic cuts and cinematography for maximum effect, its depiction of competitive play wasn’t that far off the mark.

‘It’s loud and it’s dangerous’

In the light of a setting sun, the intersection connecting Ness Avenue and Ferry Road is almost void of pedestrian traffic, safe for Tyler Crichton — head of St. James Community Coffee, the Sturgeon Creek Association, and, most recently, the Less on Ness neighbourhood group.

Crichton is mid-commute and keeping his “head on a swivel” as he surveys oncoming traffic and discarded car debris left after one of three recent car accidents at the same set of traffic lights.

The first occurred on Dec. 23, 2025, which originally garnered attention after it was caught by the security camera at St. James Burger and Chips Co. It was soon followed by two separate incidents in early January. As someone who was raised in St. James and passes through the area on his way to and from his place of work, Crichton has strong feelings about the intersection, and others like it in the city. In early February, the Charleswood resident organized the first of several planned community forums regarding Ness Avenue and some changes that could be made to increase pedestrian safety.

“You’re seeing a pattern in a lot of intersections designed in the same way,” he said. “Everyone I’ve talked to so far, in that community meeting (has brought up) speed. How fast the cars are going. How the road is designed allows people to feel like they can go faster than they should be able to.”

Beauty from turmoil

She’s baaack.

An art exhibit called Soulful Seasons: Transitions of Change, slated to run from March 6 to April 4 at 210 Gallery will transform the wall space with a series of colourful, abstract landscapes depicting a broad range of different emotions.

The multi-media, semi-abstract art — layered with different inks and paints — will seem familiar to many in the local art community. And it should be, as this will be the first show by artist and curator Jordan Miller since she closed Cre8ery Gallery almost a year ago.

The inspiration behind Soulful Seasons is closely entangled with the personal gravity of that change. Miller had run the space for 23 years, so its end was a significant milestone.

A hého lot of fun!

Festival du Voyageur’s Parc du Voyageur was a popular destination on Louis Riel Day (Feb. 16), as visitors enjoyed the seasonably mild temperatures and sunshine. The 57th edition of Western Canada’s oldest French-language winter festival ran from Feb. 13 to 22.

East edition news in brief – week of Feb. 25, 2026

Spring sports registration open

Winnipeg

Registration for youth soccer, baseball, and softball is now open across Winnipeg.

Caregivers should register their children through their local community centres for the appropriate age and level of play available within their catchment areas. Cost and commitments range depending on age and level of play.

Sopilka Dance gala hailed a success

Sopilka Ukrainian Dance School (4-651 Stafford St.) recently celebrated 55 years in operation with a gala event on Feb. 7 at Canad Inns Polo Park.

“The event was a smashing success. with over 520 people in attendance including VIP guests and alumni from past years,” said Venessa Schreyer, president of the south Winnipeg-based school’s board of directors, who lives in River Park South.

“We heard many comments about how amazing the night was and offered an opportunity for our community to come together and celebrate our Ukrainian culture through music and dance.”

Pictured: Sopilka Ukrainian Dance School members during a live gala performance on Feb. 7, and some of the members of the school with Mayor Scott Gillingham.

Future looks bright at Sturgeon Heights

As we start the second half of the school year, I find myself reflecting on a wonderful afternoon spent with an incredible group of Grade 12 students at Collège Sturgeon Heights Collegiate earlier this month.

These students spent the past several months immersed in a unique student leadership course that spanned September to January. The course was taught by Eric Vincent – a long time teacher and one of the school’s football coaches – and is designed to help students develop both individual and group management skills through a wide range of real life experiences.

I was deeply moved by the thoughtfulness of their questions. The students wanted to understand leadership beyond titles, asking what motivated me to run, what it means to be a woman in this role, how I’ve handled moments of doubt or failure, and which people inspired me most in life. What struck me more than the questions themselves was the sincerity behind them. They weren’t looking for polished answers; they wanted to understand how real people navigate real challenges. Looking at them, I saw a group of young people who weren’t just preparing for leadership but practising it now through curiosity and an eagerness to learn.

For months, these students poured their energy into the life of their school by volunteering outside the classroom to set up events, organize tournaments, support fundraisers, and co-ordinate guest speakers to come to their classes. They took ownership of problem solving and have shown a level of responsibility and teamwork that would impress any adult committee.

Seed Project 2026 grows in the heart of Burrows

When I first imagined what would become Seed Project 2026, I was thinking about the simple joy that comes from working with the land. Back in 2022, I began asking myself how we could help more people in Burrows reconnect with nature, grow healthy food at home, and feel grounded in their community. That reflection led to an idea that has now taken root across our constituency.

It all started with community gardens. I wanted people to have a place where they could touch the soil and watch something grow. Those first gardens drew people together. I saw families digging side by side, seniors sharing advice, and newcomers planting vegetables they grew back home. The response showed me how much our community valued a deeper connection with the land.

As more residents expressed interest, I knew we could do more. That is when we began distributing free seeds to households and organizations throughout Burrows. We made it simple – email us your name, give us a call, tell us what you want to grow, and we deliver the seeds right to your door. No barriers. No complicated requirements. Just an open invitation to start gardening. Every year, people reach out quickly, and the excitement builds from the moment the first seed packets go out.

This project has taught me a great deal about our community. People want to grow their own food. They want to understand where it comes from. Many were curious about gardening but didn’t know how to begin. With a small gesture – just a packet of seeds – we helped them take that first step. Now I hear from families who grow tomatoes on their balconies, seniors who tend herbs by their windows, and children who run outside every morning to check on their sunflowers.

A win for the Seine

When city hall reshuffled funding for more than 60 community groups this February, there were bound to be winners and losers.

I opposed handing full control of these grant decisions to administration, but council’s majority chose that route. As expected, several organizations saw their funding reduced or eliminated. That’s why I was especially pleased to see one group with deep roots in St. Vital come out stronger – Save Our Seine will now receive $35,000 annually, up from $27,000.

That may sound straightforward, but this grant has a long and sometimes rocky history.

I first pushed to establish city funding for Save Our Seine to fulfill an election pledge I made in 2011. In 2013, I directed money from my ward office budget to support the organization. The following year, with the support of Dan Vandal, I secured $30,000 in the 2014 city budget to create a stable, annual grant.