Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 7, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba FRIDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM SECTION B CONNECT WITH WINNIPEG’S NO. 1 NEWS SOURCE ▼ CITY ● BUSINESS MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS HIGH-FLYING HERO’S CAPE Nine-year-old Jack Johnson likes fishing, kite-flying, flags of any kind and the Champion cape bestowed on him at St. Vital Walmart Thursday by Andrew Ferris of the Children’s Hospital Foundation. As the 2025 Champion, Jack gets to raise awareness and research funds for the HSC Children’s Hospital, which supported his family after he was born 26 weeks premature and had five brain surgeries before age two. Showcase includes 14 works from three local artists Black History Month art exhibit featured at legislature THE Manitoba legislature is hosting a first-of-its-kind exhibition for Black History Month showcasing painted por- traits, multimedia projects and other works by local artists. Three Black Manitobans — Efe Og- boru, Laura Iboje and Andrew Idemud- ia — have lent a combined 14 canvases to the province to decorate both the front lobby and grand staircase inside 450 Broadway. Their works have been on display since Monday and will remain until Feb. 14. “I like simplicity. I don’t want (my paintings) to be too busy, too compli- cated. I try to portray the message or evoke the feelings I want to through simplicity,” Idemudia said, standing beside an oil painting depicting three West African boys playing in a river — a reference to his childhood in Nigeria. The self-taught artist’s goal for this particular piece? To make viewers re- flect on “the joys of everyday.” The Kinew government officially un- veiled the display as part of its second celebration of Black History Month on the legislature grounds. More than 100 attendees gathered in the rotunda to hear speeches — many of which emphasized the importance of “Black joy” — eat lunch and watch performances by local drummers and dancers. “Black excellence is not a plea for rec- ognition. It is a testament of the count- less doors we’ve kicked open when they were shut in our faces,” Winnipeg high school student Princess Akenzua told the crowd, which erupted in a standing ovation after her emotional address. Premier Wab Kinew also spoke at the kickoff event, along with Health Minis- ter Uzoma Asagwara and Minister of Business, Mining, Trade and Job Cre- ation Jamie Moses. Moses introduced legislation in 2022 to officially recog- nize Black peoples’ contributions to the local economic, social, political and cul- tural life every February. Asagwara invited attendees to view the local artists’ work. Idemudia, 32, described being asked to take part in the exhibition as “un- real.” “I started painting full time in 2019. I just did it sporadically before that, just for fun, so if you had told me a few years after that my art would be in a space like this, I honestly wouldn’t be- lieve it. I would have laughed, actually,” he said. Idemudia moved to Winnipeg in 2010 to study biology at the University of Manitoba. It was roughly six years ago when, in response to encouragement from a supportive friend, he picked up a paint brush and began working towards his first art exhibit. He’s been painting ever since. The Nigerian-Canada makes and sells work out of his independent studio in Winnipeg, Mudiarts. He primarily takes inspiration from loved ones, first-hand experiences and a drive to spread love and challenge racist stereotypes. Several of his pieces at the legislature aim to showcase Black women “in an elegant, majestic way,” he said. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca MAGGIE MACINTOSH MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Artist Andrew Idemudia has five paintings on display in the Manitoba Legislative building during Black History Month. This one is from his Water No Get Enemy Series, Ganvié Shallows, 2025, (Oil on canvas). Tearing down interprovincial barriers sought to blunt U.S. president’s leverage Mayor joins call to open trade as tariff spat rages W INNIPEG Mayor Scott Gilling- ham has joined a group of Can- adian mayors calling for eas- ier interprovincial trade to help fight potential tariffs south of the border and grow the local economy. At a meeting of the Big City Mayors’ Caucus in Ottawa to discuss priorities amid an upcoming federal election and the impacts of a potential Canada-U.S. trade war, Gillingham said cities and provinces must look to each other. “While the U.S. remains our largest trading partner, we must look at emer- ging markets as well, strengthening trade partnerships within Canada, throughout different provinces … that will make our economy more resilient,” Gillingham, who is vice-chair of the caucus, said Thursday. London Mayor Josh Morgan, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, Quebec City May- or Bruno Marchand and Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe agreed interprovincial trade is necessary to insulate Canada against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. The federal and provincial govern- ments need to cut red tape to allow for it, Gillingham said. Earlier this week, Minister of Trans- port and Internal Trade Anita Anand said trade barriers between Canadian provinces could be wiped away within a month if Trump makes good on his promise to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods, which was paused for 30 days earlier this week. Sutcliffe said he’s heard from Ottawa businesses that it’s easier to do business with companies in the U.S. than to sell their products in other provinces. “We need to make it easier for people to do business by removing barriers, by streamlining our processes,” he said. Kevin Selch, founder of Little Brown Jug, said interprovincial trade barriers inhibit the company’s growth; the brewer wants to expand into Ontario but restric- tions imposed by liquor boards and asso- ciated costs prevent such development. “It’s not impossible to get your beer into there, but there’s higher costs and barriers,” Selch said. “The process is so difficult and cumbersome and pot- entially costly that it’s not worthwhile.” Selch was planning to explore ex- panding his products to shelves in Min- nesota and Wisconsin, but that idea is on hold while levies on Canadian prod- ucts are still on the table. Alcohol restrictions and prov- ince-to-province trucking mandates are some of the biggest interprovincial trade barriers in the Canadian econ- omy, which Loren Remillard, president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Com- merce, chalks up to a provincial protec- tionism of sorts. Remillard said a trade dispute shouldn’t be the only thing encouraging provinces to work together. He estimated if trade barriers were eased it could add up to $2,000 per resi- dent to Canada’s Gross Domestic Prod- uct. NICOLE BUFFIE MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Kevin Selch, founder of Little Brown Jug Brewing Company and chair of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, wants to expand sales into Ontario but calls the current pro- cess cumbersome and potentially costly. ● TRADE, CONTINUED ON B2 ;