Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 15, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba e A10 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2014 WINNIPEG WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2014 A11 Festival du Voyageur kicked off Friday night. From left: Nancy Gouliquer, Tim Gouliquer, Toussaint Arcel and Jeremy Kingsbury share stories of past Festivals around the fire; Andy pours hot maple syrup on fresh snow for Festivalgoers; Isaac Girardin breathes fire; the sculptures all lit up. What's open and closed on Louis Riel Day WHICH civic services are operating or closed on Louis Riel Day, Feb. 17: All civic offices are closed on Feb. 17. Winnipeg Transit w ill be operating on a Sunday schedule. To get route and schedule info rm a tion , you can go to w w w . w in nip eg tran sit. com or call 311 or email 311@ winnipeg. ca Garbage and recycling w ill be picked up on Monday. The Brady Road landfill w ill be open on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a. m. to 5 p. m., and Monday from 5: 30 a. m. to 6 p. m. All Leisure Centres w ill be closed on Monday. The Pan Am Pool and the Cindy Klassen Recreation Complex are the only civic swimm ing pools in the c ity that w ill be open on Monday, with the Pan Am open from 10 a. m. to 2 p. m., and the Cindy Klassen open from 2 p. m. to 6 p. m. All libraries w ill be closed on Monday. The animal services agency w ill be open regular hours on Friday to Sunday, but closed on Monday. The Brookside, St. Vital and Transcona cemeteries w ill be open to v is ito rs from dawn until dusk on Monday, but cemetery offices w ill be closed on Monday. The Winnipeg Parking A u th o rity w ill be closed on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. 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For new customers, discount applies to any 2 smartphones when a ctivating a primary line on a Share Everything plan and adding a secondary line ( both on 2- yr. term). � 2014 Rogers Communications. � Festival time an opportunity to reflect on our heritage A ( semi- serious) Franco- Manitoban primer I BARTLEY KIVES F it's mid- February, it's time for Festival du Voyageur, a prime opportunity for Winnipeggers to wander aimlessly about Whittier Park, stare in awe at snow sculptures and make halfhearted attempts at acknowledging the city's history. As every schoolkid knows, the voyageurs helped open up Western Canada by collecting beaver skins and shipping them over to Europe, where upscale women wandered around wearing rodents on their heads for a few centuries. But this city was not just built in the service of questionable fashion. To help understand Festival du Voyageur, here's a primer on great moments in Franco- Manitoban history: 1 7 3 8 Quebec explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de La Verendrye, paddles up the Red River to what's now Winnipeg. Somewhere on the south side of the Assiniboine River, his men establish Fort Rouge. About nine months later, the first Metis show up at The Forks. There really wasn't much else to do that winter. 1 8 0 9 The French- Canadian and Metis voyageurs of the Montreal- based North West Company establish Fort Gibraltar near what's now The Forks National Historic Site. This drives the Hudson's Bay Company crazy, as the francophones dress way better. This sets a precedent that persists all the way to a time when the Bay would own Zellers, purveyors of some of the least fashionable clothes ever sold in Winnipeg. 1 812- 21 The Hudson's Bay Company builds Fort Douglas within stumbling distance of Fort Gibraltar, giving the HBC men and voyageurs an opportunity to really get to know and hate each other. This situation is complicated by the arrival of Red River colonists from Scotland. A series of conflicts between the French and English escalates until 1816, when the voyageurs burn down Fort Douglas and the colonists burn down Fort Gibraltar. Eventually, the HBC and North West Company are forced to merge, ending a proud Red River Colony tradition of setting your enemy's house on fire and watching the smouldering remains crumble to the ground. 1 8 6 9 - 7 0 After increasing numbers of Englishspeaking Protestants pour into the Red River Valley from Ontario, the Metis decide they've had enough. Under the leadership of Louis Riel, the Metis seize control of Upper Fort Garry, establish a provisional government and convince Ottawa Manitoba belongs in Canada. Riel then flees an approaching army, hides out in the U. S., gets elected to Parliament and leads another rebellion in Saskatchewan, not necessarily in that order. He then gets hanged in Regina because he refuses to plead insanity. Every September, we commemorate the killing of our provincial founder by our evil neighbours in Saskatchewan by defeating the Roughriders at the Banjo Bowl, no matter how terrible the Blue Bombers happen to be that season. 1 8 9 0 - 9 4 As more and more Anglos arrive in Manitoba, the provincial government decides it's time to stop simply annoying their own Metis and also drive francophones in Quebec into a frenzy. The province passes new legislation that removes funding for Protestant and Catholic schools, which goes against the spirit of equal rights for French and English in Manitoba. This move unwittingly sends the entire country into a political tizzy that eventually topples the Conservative government and plants the seeds of modern Quebec nationalism. Today, these events are known as the Manitoba Schools Question, at least to the handful of Manitobans who paid attention in school when this question received 10 minutes of attention. 19 7 0 With Manitoba poised to turn 100, the province creates Festival du Voyageur to celebrate Winnipeg's history as the centre of the fur trade, francophone culture and violent recriminations between people who speak different languages. No violence actually takes place at the festival, although beard- growing is permitted. Today, we commemorate these events by thinking violent thoughts about heavily bearded hipsters. 2 0 1 4 Now 44, Festival du Voyageur is middleaged but enjoying a rather hedonistic midlife crisis. There are many tents at Festival where patrons can purchase alcohol. 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