July 2024
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Manitoba
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204-947-1807 Manitoba's first potash mine
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The history of folk music in Winnipeg
WSO shares music with kids in the community
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Canada’s housing crisis: Look up… the unaffordable dream Way UP! fueled by immigration What’s going on over Steinbach? and policy failures Steinbach
Romel Dhalla
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anada, long known for its vast landscapes and welcoming nature, faces a growing crisis that threatens the stability and affordability of housing across the nation. As the country continues to embrace high levels of immigration, the demand for housing has surged, exacerbating an already strained market. This increased demand, coupled with policy missteps and insufficient supply, has created a perfect storm that prevents home prices from stabilizing, let alone decreasing. Immigration has been a cornerstone of Canada’s growth and diversity. The federal government’s com-
mitment to welcoming hundreds of thousands of new immigrants each year is driven by the need to bolster the workforce and sustain economic growth. According to Statistics
Canada, the country admitted over 493,000 new permanent residents in 2022 alone, a record high, with 2023 not far behind at 468,000. u 2 ‘Housing crisis’
Creepy crawlies Check your dog for ticks
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very day, dozens of animals cross the doorstep of a general practice clinic. The reasons vary from wellness to gastro-intestinal concerns, to itch. However, regardless of the original concern, this year has brought such a large influx of ticks found incidentally during physical exams that they seem to have become a daily topic of conversation. These vile arachnids (they are considered arachnids due to their eight legs and lack of antennas) are becoming more and more common in the province. Unfortu-
Watch out for the creepy crawlies. nately, when it comes to ticks and tick-borne diseases, data collected every year repeatably delivers bad news. Not only has climate change
allowed the geographic distribution of the different tick species to increase dramatically, but the percentage of ticks carrying disease also continues to increase. When asked to name a tickborne disease, most people can think of Lyme disease. However, the little creatures can transmit many more diseases, including many bacterial, parasitic and even viral pathogens. In addition, they can transmit more than one type in a single blood meal. As humans, we can usually find and remove the u 2 ‘Creepy crawlies’
Kelvin Goertzen
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ften when people think of the City of Steinbach they think of vehicles. Steinbach has been very purposely associated with vehicles and no small amount of time and money has been spent in branding it the Automobile City. Many years ago, local auto dealers put aside their individual competitiveness and came together on a marketing campaign to encourage people, primarily from Winnipeg, that Steinbach was “Worth the Trip” to purchase a vehicle. And if you didn’t know it already, to remind you, when you drive into the community from Winnipeg on Highway #12 there is a giant replica of a 1931 Rolls Royce Roadster with the “Automobile City” slogan underneath. So, why is it that a community so connected to cars seems to have almost as much traffic in the sky? Without fanfare, Steinbach has become something of a flying hub in Manitoba. Much of this history goes back more than 50 years through Harv’s Air Service in Steinbach. Harv’s Air operates a private airport in the community (the other is a municipal airport) and has been training pilots for decades. With two runways and a strong fleet of aircraft, the airport is u 6 ‘Look Up’
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