Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 26, 2021, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A1 CONNECT WITH CANADA’S HIGHEST READERSHIP RATE WEATHER: MAINLY SUNNY. HIGH 23 — LOW 7 ® SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2021 FOUNDED IN 1872 INSIDE BOOSTER SHOTS Administering extra doses to protect against COVID-19 adds revenue / A8 BACK ON FIELD U of M Bisons beat Regina Rams in return to action / B2 BIDEN CHALLENGES U.S. president could see core support slip amid delays in delivering on promises / A4 BACKUP PLAN Jets goalie Eric Comrie working hard because it’s ‘still a tryout’ / B3 Protesters call on bank to stop backing oil pipeline INSTEAD of cars, priests and congre- gants occupied a TD Bank parking lot Saturday, protesting the institution’s funding of an oil pipeline. Anglican priests Gwen McAllister and Jane Barter led a short service outside the bank’s St. Anne’s Road location. More than 30 people listened to the service, holding signs such as “You can’t drink oil! Stop Line 3.” “What I would like is for TD to be- come embarrassed enough about their participation in this awful project to choose to withdraw their funding from it,” McAllister said post-service. “(Then) other banks would see that as well.” Line 3 is a 1,765-kilometre crude oil pipeline that extends from Edmonton, Alta., to Superior, Wis., It cuts through part of southwestern Manitoba. Enbridge, a Calgary-based energy company, has been replacing and expanding the pipeline. Protesters have gathered in Minnesota, citing the climate crisis and intrusion of Indigenous lands as reasons to stop the project. “I believe there is a lot of people in the churches who care deeply about the earth, care deeply about Indig- enous issues and aren’t really sure what we can do,” McAllister said. “If we can do something, even symbolic... I think it gives people hope and cour- age.” Saturday’s event was the group’s third peaceful protest. Many religious groups have banded together over the issue: Mennonites held a protest outside TD Bank on Sherbrook Street in August, and Quakers conducted a silent service outside a bank on Co- rydon Avenue. “The recent finding of the graves of residential schools helps bring to light how important it is for the church, if we want to be on the side of life in any way, to not only be able to repent of what’s happened in the past, but (notice) what we are complicit of in the present,” McAllister said. The church needs to adjust its ac- tions to meet its goals for the future, she said. GABRIELLE PICHÉ OTTAWA — The results of the federal election have shown a deepened divide between Canadians living in urban areas who mostly chose Liberal can- didates and those living in rural areas who voted for the Conservative party, experts say. Allan Thompson, the head of Carleton University’s journalism program, said the results of Monday’s election have revealed increasing polarization between rural and urban Canadians. The division was very clear in Ontario where the Liberals picked up almost all the seats in the urban ridings and the Conservatives flipped some rural ridings and increased their lead in ridings they’d held before. “What worries me is just the polar- ization, that it seems to be more and more split, more of a division where it’s virtually automatic what the out- come is going to be,” Thompson said. “I think parties do start to make that part of their strategy. I’m con- cerned that they’re not really even making a serious effort to appeal to voters in the ridings that they have de- cided are unwinnable, and that’s just a self-fulfilling prophecy.” Before returning to his non-partisan position as a university professor, Thompson led a task force for the Liberals to propose ways to better con- nect with rural voters. He also ran as a Liberal candidate in Ontario’s rural riding of Huron-Bruce twice, losing to Conservative MP Ben Lobb by about 3,000 votes in 2015 and by about 9,000 votes in 2019. On Monday, Lobb was re-elected over the Liberal candidate by a mar- gin of more than 15,000 votes. Conservative Michelle Ferreri defeated incumbent Liberal gender equality minister Maryam Mon- sef in the largely rural riding of Peterborough-Kawartha and Conser- vatives Anna Roberts also defeated Liberal seniors minister Deb Schulte in King–Vaughan on the outskirts of Toronto. Election results show urban-rural divide MAAN ALHMIDI ● DIVIDE, CONTINUED ON A2 Two Michaels return home TWO Canadians who languished in Chinese prisons for nearly three years held emotional reunions with their loved ones on Saturday after the culmination of a geopolitical saga that saw them return safely to Canadian soil. Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor first landed in Calgary aboard a Canadian Forces plane early Satur- day morning and were personally welcomed home by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Global Affairs Minister Marc Garneau, according to a spokesperson from Trudeau’s office. After exchanging hugs with the prime minister and bidding goodbye to his fellow captor, Kovrig then boarded another plane bound for To- ronto. His wife Vina Nadjibullah and sister Ariana Botha greeted him with emotional embraces on the tarmac, prompting Kovrig to offer a brief assessment of his changed circum- stances. “It’s fantastic to be back home in Canada,” Kovrig told reporters. “I’m immensely grateful for everybody who worked so hard to bring both of us back home.” Greetings and well-wishes poured in from across the country after the return of the men who have come to be known around the world as “The Two Michaels.” “Welcome home, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor,” Trudeau tweet- ed after their arrival. “You’ve shown incredible strength, resilience, and perseverance. Know that Canadians across the country will continue to be here for you, just as they have been.” Kovrig and Spavor’s safe return to Canada marks an uplifting end to a tense international standoff sur- rounding the U.S. extradition case against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Just as Spavor and Kovrig took off for Canada late Friday, Meng was making her way back to China from Vancouver after resolving the legal saga that mired all three of them in a geopolitical melee. The case connecting their fates came to an abrupt conclusion when Meng, the chief financial officer at Huawei Technologies and the daugh- ter of the telecom’s founder, reached a deal with U.S. prosecutors over fraud and conspiracy charges related to American sanctions against Iran. ADINA BRESGE ● RETURN, CONTINUED ON A2 ● PROTESTERS, CONTINUED ON A3 Safely back in Canada after detention in China FRANK GUNN / THE CANADIAN PRESS Michael Kovrig is reunited with his wife Vina Nadjibulla at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Saturday, after being imprisoned in China for nearly three years. FRANK GUNN / THE CANADIAN PRESS Michael Kovrig (centre) with his wife Vina Nadjibulla, (left) and sister Ariana Botha in Toronto. He first landed in Calgary aboard a Canadian Forces plane early Saturday morning. Vital history Museum tells community’s stories / A6-7 A_01_Sep-26-21_FP_01.indd A1 9/25/21 11:19 PM ;