Local News
Jewish Federation holds mayoralty election forum in front of packed audience at Berney Theatre, October 3rd
By BERNIE BELLAN On Monday, October 3 the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg sponsored an election forum in which six of the leading mayoralty candidates were invited to participate.
As was explained by moderator Jason Gisser, the rules were that each candidate would be invited to give an introductory statement, after which he would pose a series of eight questions to the candidates.
Each candidate would be given one and a half minutes to respond to the question. Once all the candidates had responded to the question, Jason would invite two of the six candidates to add a further 20 seconds to what they had said initially.
While the format was conducive to what turned out to be a relatively genteel event, the fact that the candidates were not allowed to enter into any sort of exchanges with each other no doubt removed any opportunity for a livelier debate. Also, five other candidates for mayor were not even invited to participate.
What follows is my impression of the evening. I want to make clear that I do not support any particular candidate and have not made up my mind how I will vote. Reports that I have read to date either tend to focus on individual candidates or, when they do report on a particular election forum, are relatively truncated. Instead, as is my usual style in reporting on a fairly lengthy event, I like to offer the reader snippets of what occurred so as to give more of a flavour of what went on – without intending it to be a comprehensive repetition of what was said.
Looming over the entire evening, it must be noted, however, given the news story that the CBC had recently broken which raised questions about Glen Murray’s behaviour while he was the executive director of the Pembina Institute, was the possibility that one or another of the candidates would want to launch into some sort of attack on Murray, who is the clear front-runner according to the most recent poll.
The fact is that the only reference to that news story came at the very end of the evening when Robert-Falcon Ouellette made an obvious allusion to the story – when he told of his experience having served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 27 years. During that time, he noted, there was a strong emphasis placed on maintaining the utmost respect for moral behaviour within the armed forces.
Ouelllette went on to say that “No matter what you do at the end of the day, you need a moral leader who will stand up for what is right in our city, that there are certain actions which are unacceptable in our city and there are times as a leader you must say the truth and speak that truth.”
“And so I speak it here today and I hope people understand what it is I’m talking about because it’s certainly unacceptable for us to be here on this stage all together.” (Interestingly, the CBC story that quoted Ouellette had the spelling of that last word as “altogether.” I would suggest that would impart quite a different meaning to what he meant.)
But, that remark came late in the evening, when the candidates were invited to give closing remarks for two minutes each, and – after moderator Jason Gisser had finished posing questions to the candidates.
Prior to that time though each of the candidates certainly came across as articulate and passionate. Perhaps the one candidate who decided to try to separate herself from the pack most distinctly was Jennie Motkaluk, who took a more strident approach when, for instance, she referred at different times to “critical race theory” and “woke” attitudes. She also brought a few smiles from the other candidates when she said she really likes “growth and money.”
The first two questions that Jason Gisser posed, however, might have seemed somewhat parochial to any non-Jews in the audience (and probably a good many Jews as well). The first had to do with anti-Semitism and what each of the candidates would do to combat it if they were mayor. Would they be willing to attend a planned mayors’ conference on combating anti-Semitism? they were asked. Not surprisingly, none of the candidates came out with a position defending antisemitism.
The second question – and one that evidently caught some of the candidates off guard, was whether they would want the city to adopt the “IHRA” definition of anti-Semitism. It was clear that not all the candidates were up to speed on what the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism is. I’m not quite sure what bringing it up had to do with a mayoralty contest in Winnipeg. It reminded me of the effort some years back – not just in Winnipeg, but throughout the world, to declare cities “nuclear free zones” – an interesting proposal, no doubt, but what relevance does it have to urban issues?
The next question though was very much one that has elicited a huge amount of discussion during this election: What would the candidates propose to do about poverty and homelessness?
Glen Murray said that he had practical experience combating homelessness – even prior to serving as mayor of this city, when he helped to foster a neighbourhood housing project in the Spence neighbourhood where, he said, 300 houses were built.
Shaun Loney demonstrated an especially keen knowledge of this file, citing his own background as what he described as a “social entrepreneur,” placing a strong emphasis on creating jobs. “I would add add 1,000 social enterprise jobs to Winnipeg,” he said.
As far as housing is concerned, Loney said he would create a “$100 million land trust.”
“It’s not a money problem,” he added; “it’s a system problem.”
Robert-Falcon Ouellette was somewhat dismissive of candidates’ promises to alleviate homelessness and poverty, asking whether “any of the politicians here are going to do anything but check off all the right boxes? Politicians are great at discussing things,” Ouellette suggested, but when it comes to actually doing things –well, that’s a different matter.
Later he added this observation: “Seventy-five percent of homeless people are aboriginal. They don’t need a home; they need a friend.”
Kevin Klein related his own experience growing up in poverty. His mother was actually killed by his abusive father when he was a kid, he told the audience and “I’ve lived under the poverty line a good part of my life,” he said.
As for politicians not ever doing anything but discuss things, Klein said that he personally brought forward a motion at City Hall to create “Homes for Heroes” – a project that saw a small number of homes allocated to war veterans in Winnipeg.
Scott Gillingham said that he was proud to have been involved in the effort to create a certain amount of “modular housing” for people living below the poverty line. He also said that City Council is implementing a “poverty reduction plan” that he was involved in crafting.
As for Jenny Motkaluk – she said that “the solution for poverty is a really nice job.”
“I want to bring 16,000 high paying jobs” to Winnipeg, she added.
As for homelessness, Motkaluk said “there are 780 derelict houses in this city. I want to auction them off.”
Shaun Loney added that “we need to realize that governments and not-for-profits need to work together.”
Jason Gisser asked each of the candidates to describe their “bold vision” for the future.
Jenny Motkaluk said that “the single biggest impediment to growth and investment in this city is our political leaders.”
Glen Murray said “We need to spend money on things that will make this city more beautiful.” He noted that when he was mayor three of the projects that were built during his time in office included: Waterfront Drive, the Esplanade Riel, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. (He observed as well that the CMHR was a great example of all three levels of government working together.)
In contrast, he noted that the single largest project undertaken by the city since his time in office was “$200 million spent of refurbishing the Post Office.”
Shaun Loney pointed to the deterioration of Winnipeg’s “green canopy”, saying that there are 30 different organizations devoted to protecting and expanding the number of trees in the city. He said he would like to consolidate all those efforts and work hard to protect our imperiled urban canopy.
Robert-Falcon Ouellette proposed the creation of an “urban national park” within Winnipeg to add green space to the city.
Kevin Klein said that his bold vision is to make Winnipeg “safe”, noting that “We can’t attract more people here if they don’t feel safe. People won’t ride the bus if they don’t feel safe.”
The next question was about infrastructure.
Jenny Motkaluk said “We’re going to end the corruption” associated with infrastructure projects.
Glen Murray said “We need more value planning to determine whether a project will return in value what it cost to build.” He cited Waterfront Drive as a project that has paid back many times over what it cost the city to create the infrastructure for that development.
Kevin Klein did comment later though that residents of Waterfront Drive are now having to deal with a huge upsurge in break-ins.
Shaun Loney said that rather than think about expanding infrastructure we ought “to focus on the infrastructure we’ve already built.”
Robert-Falcon Ouellette cited the example of Quebec City and its transit system as something Winnipeg could emulate, saying that in that city “People really enjoy taking the bus.”
In response to that suggestion, Kevin Klein said that currently “Seven thousand people a day in Winnipeg don’t even pay for the bus.”
Scott Gillingham proposed extending the Peguis Trail and widening Kenaston Boulevard.
Jason Gisser asked about public safety and what each of the candidates would do to make Winnipeg safer.
Scott Gillingham said that as mayor he would sit on the police board. He also said that he would split up police calls so that police don’t respond to every call for service, with other personnel used in situations that would be better served by another type of emergency responder.
Shaun Loney called for a return to community based policing – with “more cops walking the beat,” adding that “people are going to continue to commit crimes unless they get the intervention they need.” He also observed that we need to “address homelessness” before we can make inroads in enhancing public safety.
After the final question was answered the candidates were allowed one final opportunity to sum up their platforms. As noted, it was then that Robert-Falcon Ouellette was the only candidate even to obliquely refer to the controversy that had recently surfaced about Glen Murray.
And, while five of the six candidates hung around afterwards to schmooze with audience members, Glen Murray took off immediately after the forum was over. I offer that not as an editorial comment – merely an observation.
Local News
New Israeli restaurant opens in River Heights
By BERNIE BELLAN (July 6, 2025) It’s been a long time since our community has been able to welcome the opening of a restaurant that specializes in Israeli food.
That void is now going to be filled with the opening of The Green Falafel, at 1833 Grant (corner of Centennial – next to the Subway).
The restaurant is the fulfillment of a dream long held by the husband and wife team of Ariel and Eden Maudi, who have been living in Winnipeg the past 11 years.
Ariel, who was born in Israel and grew up in Beer Sheva, says that he worked in telecommunications in Ramat Gan for several years. He adds though that he had always dreamed of owning his own falafel stand in Israel, but life was difficult there and he decided to come to Canada as a tourist to see whether there were any opportunities here for him, Eden and their two young children.
Eden, who was born in Russia and moved to Israel with her family in 1996, stayed behind with the two kids, who were both pre-schoolers, while Ariel tested the waters in Canada first.
Ariel says he came to Canada as a tourist in 2013. His first stop was in Toronto, where he acquired his 1st class driver’s license. At the end of 2013 he moved to Winnipeg where he began working as a truck driver. Soon he found himself employed as a successful sales person at Vickar Nissan where, he says, he once achieved the status as the top car sales person in Canada. After working at Vickar Nissan for a number of years, Ariel began working as an installer for Bell MTS.
Meanwhile, Eden began working at a Walmart, later at the Costco on Regent.
But, when the opportunity to move into a space that had been previously occupied by another restaurant, but which had closed, became available, Ariel and Eden decided to open their own Israeli restaurant in an area that hadn’t seen Israeli food served since the controversial closure of Bermax Café in 2019.
The Maudis say that they will be serving a variety of Israeli dishes – all vegetarian, and that they will be fully kosher.
The “green” in Green Falafel, by the way, Ariel Maudi explains, comes from the cilantro and parsley that are added to the chickpeas. In addition, their pitas will be coming from Israel and will be baked fresh daily.
The Green Falafel will be open from 10-8 daily. Delivery will be available through Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Call 204-557-7837 for information.
Local News
Previews of shows with Jewish performers at this year’s Fringe Festival July 16-27
For show dates and venues go to winnipegfringe.com
By BERNIE BELLAN As has been our custom for many years now we try to find shows that have either Jewish performers or themes that would have particular appeal for Jewish audiences. Many of the Jewish performers at this year’s festival have been here before, but several are new. In no particular order here are blurbs about the shows we’ve found that fit the criteria I’ve just described. (By they way, if we’ve omitted a show that should be included in our list there’s plenty of time to get added to this post. Just drop me a line at jewishp@mymts.net.)
You’ve Been Served: A One-Woman Show About Divorce, Cults, and Coming of Age at Midlife
Noemi Zeigler
You are hereby summoned… to laugh, cry, and maybe belt out a Streisand number in solidarity. You’ve Been Served is a raw and riotous solo comedy by writer-performer Noemi Zeigler. It all begins when Noemi is served divorce papers on top of a garbage bin lid while taking out the trash—an undignified start to a full-blown midlife unraveling.
At 50, still clinging to her dream of becoming a singer, she falls under the spell of a music producer slash self-help guru, joins a spiritual cult, and, instead of landing a record deal, she lands in jail. Behind bars, with help from her long-buried inner child, she begins to reclaim her voice and her power. Turns out, dreams really do come true—just not the way she expected.
The show features vividly drawn characters—including a manipulative cult leader, a toxic ex-husband, and a jail guard named Roach who shares Noemi’s obsession with the fashion of Charlie’s Angels (the ‘70s TV version, of course.)
With salsa dancing, twerking, and a belting rendition of Don’t Rain on My Parade, Zeigler dives into abandonment, reinvention, and self-rescue. As she confronts perimenopause, she discovers it’s not the end—it’s the new puberty. The show touches on grief, sexuality, and spiritual confusion, but Noemi’s childlike optimism asks: What if your breakdown is actually your breakthrough?
You’re good for nothing… I’ll milk the cow myself
Written & Performed by Natacha Ruck
France, 1981: The first socialist president is about to be elected and young Natacha is ready to implement her own political platform. But first, she has to take down the schoolyard bully,emasculate the rules of French grammar and make off with grandmother’s chocolate.
If you think you know the limits of Jewish mothers, evil grandmothers and transcontinental lovers, meet Natacha Ruck’s family. This true tale of three generations of women, facing three world wars, is equal parts hilarious, shocking and zany.
A One Human Being, Potentially Comedic Performance of Beauty and the Beast NEW WORK!
Written & Performed by Alli Perlov
Be our guest! Local high school drama teacher Alli Perlov is back for a tale as old as time. Can she sing? Not really. Can she act? That’s debatable. Will you laugh? Oh… probably.
Perlov plays dozens of characters, some human, some animal, and many objects, in a comedic exploration of Beauty and the Beast.
In an homage to this brilliant musical adventure, through witty commentary and unstoppable energy, Perlov aims to entertain an audience that isn’t forced to be there like her students.
Hockey Sticks and Beaver Pie
Written & Performed by Melanie Gall
Take a trip around Manitoba. From the 30,000 ft. St. Adolphe snow maze to the Narcisse snake dens! After all, where else holds both the title of Slurpee Capital of the World and the Guinness Record for the most people simultaneously howling like wolves?
Deanna Durbin, Terry Jacks and Burton Cummings are among the many homegrown stars, and Hockey Sticks features their music along with original songs and the stories that make this province unique.
Starring Melanie Gall from past shows Piaf & Brel, Ingenue and Toast to Prohibition
Nerohilarity Exposed
Produced by Adam Schwartz
We all sometimes feel exposed, whether that’s as a fraud or a pretender.
The performers of the award-winning Neurohilarity show, Danielle Kayahara (Laugh Out Loud CBC), Carole Cunningham (Yuk Yuks, The Debaters), Adam Schwartz (Winnipeg Fringe) and Rollin Penner (Yuk Yuks, CBC, Rumors, Winnipeg Comedy Festival), apply a comedic spin to the experiences that make us feel insecure, stripping away the emotional weight with nittygritty jokes and stories that will have you laughing uproariously.
Brilliantly awkward.
A Lesbian in the Kitchen
Willow Rosenberg
Professional lesbian Willow Rosenberg takes you on a journey through the centuries, superstitions and tablespoons of her lifelong passion for baking in this spiritual successor to 2024’s Jenny Award-nominated A Lesbian in a Bear Store.
Whether you have a favourite spatula, bake once or twice a year, or live in constant fear of being told to “just fold it in”, this one-woman show about family, joy, tradition (but make it gay),
Judaism, comfort, home (but make it gayer*), love, chemistry and magic is for you!
*Who’re we kidding, it’s all gay!
Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany
Written & Performed by Ingrid Garner
(Ed. note: Although Ingrid Garner isn’t Jewish, we thought the theme of this show might have a special appeal for Jewish readers.)
Based on Eleanor Ramrath Garner’s best-selling memoir, this 16x internationally award-winning adaptation – performed by her granddaughter, Ingrid Garner – details Eleanor’s youth as an American caught in Second World War Berlin.
Punctuated with humour and accompanied by cinematic sound and video, Garner embodies her ancestors in this coming-of-age odyssey, delivering an account of war that is more relevant than ever.
Reviewing The Free Press 2
Benji Rothman
The Winnipeg Free Press has run amok, reviewing each and every Fringe show over the past two decades without consequence or recourse. Now, it’s their turn… again.
In this refurbished work that debuted at last year’s Winnipeg Fringe, Benji Rothman once again takes the Winnipeg Free Press to task. In this (mostly) new, (hopefully) hilarious 45-minute show, Rothman dives deep into their past and exposes their faulty journalism, imbalanced reporting and, of course, embarrassing typos.
Local News
Jewish performers at this year’s Winnipeg Folk Festival July 10-13
The Black Sea Station
Long ago, there were the klezmorim, itinerant musicians who roamed the back streets of Eastern Europe, playing at parties for meals and a few coins. The sound they honed then was a visceral exploration of life’s joy, and its loss; they could whip audiences into a frenzy of dancing, or bring them to tears with the mournful wail of a clarinet. Today, Winnipeg’s own The Black Sea Station is carrying on this tradition. Featuring Daniel Koulack (bass), Victor Schultz (violin) and Myron Schultz (clarinet) — cofounders of seminal local klezmer act Finjan — along with Moldovan accordion wizard Nikolai Prisacar and multi-instrumentalist Ben Mink, the quintet transports listeners to a time and place long past. Through a mix of original songs rooted in history, and traditional tunes spun up with modern zest, they whirl through the exuberant klezmer sounds of their Eastern European heritage, tending the old ways with deep love and respect.
The Black Sea Station will be performing Sunday, July 13, at 1:00 pm in Snowberry Field.
Romi Mayes
Romi Mayes has taken some hard knocks in her life, but she’s never faded away. For more than 25 years, Manitoba’s first lady of blues-rock has been a lynchpin of the Canadian roots scene. She earned that position the old-fashioned way, through her gritty, passionately emotive music. With her sizzling guitars and full-throated rasp, the Juno-nominated performer howls and purrs through razor-edged lyrics, rocking out wherever she can find a stage. She’s long been one of the hardest-working musicians on the circuit, keeping a busy slate of gigs and mentoring up-and-coming artists to get a foothold on the trails she blazed. Now, after a nine-year hiatus from the studio, Mayes has put her scintillating sound back on record with her long-awaited seventh album, Small Victories — a return that leaves no doubt, no matter the ups and downs, Mayes is here to stay.
Romi will be performing Friday, July 11, at 1:00 pm in Burr Oak.
Leonard Podolak (with Matt Gordon)
Ireland’s Matt Gordon is a fiddler and singer, whose fleet-footed clogging and thigh-slapping hambone has taken stages by storm since the 1980s. Leonard Podolak is a virtuosic master of the clawhammer banjo, who for decades has whipped up some of Manitoba’s wildest roots parties with his band, The Duhks. Put those talents together, and they can promise you this much: we’re all gonna have a real good time. Longtime friends and musical collaborators, Gordon and Podolak deliver an exhilarating trip through old-time Appalachian music. Their performances seamlessly blend intricate instrumental lines with heartfelt singing and dazzling dance. They’ve teamed up on a few records over the years, including 2020’s bigband extravaganza Power Wagon: Live At Shanley’s. But the best way to experience this duo’s toe-tapping, hand-clapping chemistry is to see it live.
Podolak and Gordon will be performing A concert with a side of clogging Sunday, July 13, at 3:00 pm in Folk School.