Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 21, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba B2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A FTER Vaibhav Varma lost his 16-year-old brother, Yash, to sui- cide in March 2023, he wanted to make sure others had access to mental- health resources his brother didn’t. This month, Varma started the Men’s Wellness Circle UM, a student-led club at the University of Manitoba, to hon- our his brother and help struggling men. “It’s to start conversations that I fear won’t be started,” Varma said Monday. The club, which tries to be a safe community where men can be vul- nerable, connects them with mental- health resources and is dedicated to tackling the stigma related to men’s mental health. Despite their growing up in a family where mental health was openly talked about, his brother’s death triggered a journey of grief and therapy for the 22-year-old U of M student. “Grief and its various stages don’t happen as cleanly as people like to say,” he said. After his brother’s death, others started shar- ing their men- tal health struggles with him. People began messa- ging Varma on social media and he would talk with stu- dents around campus. Varma’s plan was to finish his undergraduate degree in pol- itical science and then become a law- yer, but after understanding the need for more mental health professionals, he decided to study psychology and now hopes to become a clinical psych- ologist after graduate school. “It’s my way to give back to soci- ety and contribute. It’s what I want to leave behind,” Varma said. As he was listening to students, Var- ma found many men didn’t know who to talk to about mental health issues. “There’s a fear of being perceived as weak or lacking masculinity,” he said. Males are nearly three times more likely to die by suicide than females, as per Statistics Canada data from 2022. Megh Modha, 18, heard about the club through social media and instant- ly knew he wanted to join. “It creates a safe space that is really needed for men to be open and not only open up, but come together and chal- lenge the stigma behind why we think talking about mental health is a sign of weakness,” said Modha, a first-year U of M student. Both of Modha’s parents are from India, and he said his culture made it difficult to be honest about mental health issues. Modha saw family mem- bers struggle with depression and ex- perience schizophrenia without seek- ing help. When his parents divorced, Modha sought supports, such as therapy, to learn how to work through his trauma. He hopes sharing and listening to other men’s struggles will help people work through their internal issues re- lating to mental health. “I don’t feel that anyone should be alone,” said Modha. The club was long overdue, said Prabhnoor Singh, vice-president of ex- ternal affairs for the U of M students union. “There has definitely been a rise in acknowledging that everyone does have, to some extent, mental health issues,” Singh said. The 20-year-old politics student said many male international students struggle with their mental health as they adapt to a new culture and try to make friends. Singh hopes the club will help bridge the gap between students and the uni- versity’s mental-health resources. fpcity@freepress.mb.ca Government documents that detail initial findings from a review of teach- er-certification requirements show par- ticipants had conflicting preferences. In response, the education department was eyeing middle-of-the-road amendments on June 12. The Manitoba School Boards Asso- ciation, Manitoba Teachers’ Society, Manitoba Association of School Super- intendents, Manitoba Federation of In- dependent Schools and Council of Deans of Education of Manitoba were involved in consultations. A potential model shared with those groups refined eligible majors in the high school stream (it recognized Eng- lish as a second language and inclusive education as new speciality areas) and reduced related credit hours to 24 from 30. It sought to scrap all teachables in K-8 levels and end minor ones in early years, middle years and senior years. The proposal would have maintained the minimum elementary language course requirements and halved those in math, science and social sciences to three credit hours from six. “Some (stakeholders) were in favour of increasing breadth requirements or maintaining the status quo. Others recommended eliminating teachables/ breadth entirely and instead accepting any undergraduate degree,” states a slide deck that summarizes early feed- back. The spring document bothers Anna Stokke — one of the most outspoken crit- ics of the recent math-related changes, some of which she lobbied for in 2011 — but the U of W professor told the Free Press she could have stomached the ori- ginal proposal. “But what they ended up with? We can’t live with that. It’s not acceptable,” Stokke said, adding she wants to know why the department appears to have “taken a wrecking ball to it.” A spokesperson for Manitoba Educa- tion said several options were presented for discussion during consultations. “The slide in question was presented as a potential approach, but upon fur- ther discussion it was determined not to be the preferred approach of the sec- tor,” the spokesperson wrote in an email Monday, in which they indicated 21 indi- viduals took part in the extensive review. Education deans from both U of W and the University of Manitoba corroborated those claims, as well as the president of the group that represents the province’s 38 elected school boards. As far as Stokke is concerned, given these amendments will all but certainly affect enrolment in university depart- ments outside education, professors of all kinds should have been consulted. Matt Dyce, U of W’s geography de- partment chair, echoed his colleagues’ sentiments. “You can apply geography to anything because it is a way of knowing the world and that’s part of being a Manitoban, part of being a Canadian,” Dyce said, adding that he was disappointed the province has chosen not to mandate specific geog- raphy instruction for future elementary teachers. “(The Canadian identity) has always been about being geographical — be- cause of the vastness of the land, be- cause of the settler-Indigenous encoun- ter that is at the core of the country, and its meaning and its constitution and laws.” maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca NEWS I LOCAL TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2025 CERTIFICATION ● FROM B1 SNOWMOBILE ● FROM B1 Basic insurance for a snow- mobile is different than insur- ance for other vehicles such as a car, truck or motorcycle. “With basic, you don’t have any coverage for injury or for theft or damage. You can get ex- tra coverage if you want to,” she said. In the wake of the traged- ies, Seel said MPI and Snoman would team up today to promote snowmobile safety, which would feature safety demonstrations, including riding on a shared roadway and displaying equip- ment needed by snowmobilers and riders. “We urge anyone getting on a vehicle to get the training and have all the safety gear,” she said. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca RM of Portage reps opened valve, flooded honey farm: suit A RURAL Municipality of Portage la Prairie farmer is suing the local gov- ernment, claiming its representatives mistakenly turned on a water valve while trespassing in a building under construction on her property, flooding and destroying it. Lawyer Jeffrey King filed the lawsuit in the Court of King’s Bench on behalf of Arlene Harris last week. The lawsuit is seeking damages to be determined at trial, with no dollar figure cited in the court filings, as well as costs and inter- est. The RM has not yet responded to the lawsuit in court. Deputy Reeve Garth Asham said in an email that officials will “reserve comment on this until all facts are known.” Harris and her family extract and sell honey on the farm, court filings say. The court papers say the RM in- stalled a main water line in 2011 to service Harris’s property and for the future construction of a farm building. The line was not connected to any other lines or a meter and its valve was left off. The valve was meant to be turned on to provide water once the building was completed and ready for service, the fil- ings say. Construction on the farm building, which was intended to be used to ex- tract and store honey for sale, as well as beehives and equipment, began in the summer of 2018. Construction con- tinued each year through 2022, pausing over the winters. The main water line remained dis- connected throughout construction, the filings say. The court filings allege the RM’s dir- ector of public works and utilities went to Harris’s residential property and ad- vised her of flooding inside the building on Jan. 20, 2023. The court papers claim Harris dis- covered an employee or employees, or representatives, of the RM went to the property without her knowledge and turned the water valve on despite the main line not being connected to any other infrastructure, causing water to flood the building for “four days straight.” The flooding was discovered when the RM noticed “unusually high water usage” from the line and went to the property to turn the valve off, the law- suit claims. The suit claims Harris learned “some- one unknown” had requested the RM to check the valve and ensure it was off on Jan. 17, 2023 without her knowledge, but instead turned it on, causing four days of flooding in the middle of winter. The property had a locked gate on its drive, the papers say. Harris’s husband, Lloyd Harris, went to the property Jan. 20 and confirmed the building had been flooded to a depth between four inches and a foot. The building’s foundation heaved and its contents “ruined,” the lawsuit says. Pipes were also damaged and the suit claims water remains trapped inside the foundation and subsurface. “The farm building is unusable as designed and for its intended purpose after the flooding,” reads the lawsuit. “Currently, the farm building is ineli- gible for inspection, approval and li- censing for food processing.” The court papers say the building likely can’t be repaired and will prob- ably need to be demolished. The RM used pumps, vacuumed water out of drains, poured in anti-freeze and used a heater to run a fan and dehumidi- fier for about three days after the flood, say the court papers. The suit says no one has provided an explanation of why someone from the RM attended the property and turned the valve on in the first place and the RM has refused to disclose any infor- mation as requested by the couple. “Arlene has requested that the RM compensate her for the full loss, harm and damage she has suffered as a result of the flooding, however the RM has refused and continues to refuse to com- pensate her,” the lawsuit claims. The lawsuit says the RM was negli- gent, misrepresented itself, committed nuisance, trespass and misfeasance in public office and interfered with the farm’s operations, causing economic damage to Harris. erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca ERIK PINDERA Now-defunct teachables Art Anthropology* Business Education Classics* Computer Science Dance* Developmental Studies* Earth Science* Economics* English literature Environmental Studies* French General Science, Biology or Chemistry Geography History Human Ecology Indigenous Language International (Heritage) Language Industrial Arts Law* Mathematics Music Native Studies Philosophy* Psychology* Physical Education (Health) Physics Religious studies* Sociology* Theatre Vocational Industrial * Previously only eligible as a minor teachable MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Vaibhav Varma is founder and president of Men’s Wellness Circle UM, a new student club at the University of Manitoba that supports young men and their mental health. SUPPLIED Yash Varma died by suicide in March 2023. Wellness club tackles men’s mental health at U of M MATTHEW FRANK Planetary parade to grace the night sky KEVIN ROLLASON MANITOBANS are in for a planetary treat for the next few weeks — and a very rare one next month. Danielle Pahud, director of the Uni- versity of Manitoba Lockhart Planet- arium, and an instructor in the phys- ics and astronomy department, said that for the next month, shortly after sunset each day, six planets — Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — will be simultaneously vis- ible in the night sky. On the night of Feb. 28, sky-watch- ers will be in seventh heaven when Mercury joins them — something that only happens once every 175 years. “Hopefully, we can wait for a little warmer weather and clear skies,” said Pahud on Monday, noting it is also best to find a flat area with no trees or buildings. She cautioned that the planets will not be visible in a single line. On Tuesday, after the sun sets, Venus and Saturn will be low in the southwest sky. “Venus will be low, but it is the brightest in the sky,” she said. To see Jupiter, our solar system’s largest planet, sky-gazers will have to look straight up while Mars, the red planet, can be seen to the east. Uranus is straight-up due south while Neptune is near Venus and Sat- urn. “They are not visible without bin- oculars. They will probably look the same as a star, but planets don’t twin- kle,” said Pahud. She said many people call the event a planetary alignment, but she prefers planetary parade because they aren’t in a straight line. “When most people hear alignment they imagine all of the planets in a row, kind of a tight row, and that’s not the case,” said Pahud. “The planets all orbit the sun in the same direction. The planets that are closer in, like Mercury, (their) orbits vary. They go all the way around the sun every few months, and the planets further out like Jupiter are much slow- er. Jupiter specifically orbits the sun once every 12 years. “They all orbit in the same plane, called the ecliptic, roughly on a flat surface. So when we look out at the night sky, this flat surface looks like an arc and it’s the same arc that the sun travels over a day.” kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca ;