Crowds embrace winter during Wonderful Weekend in Winnipeg Beach

Winnipeg resident Troy Smith kiteboards to some strong winds on Lake Winnipeg Sunday afternoon. 

Travis Franz fishes patiently at the Sunday ice fishing derby put on by the Winnipeg Beach Firefighters’ Association.

Winnipeg resident Silas Gershmans (left), 7, along with Stonewall resident Wyatt Mitchell (centre), 9, and Alyssa Gusta (right), 7, from Thalberg Manitoba all make their way around a frozen racetrack on Lake Winnipeg. 

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly News 

If you were looking to have some winter fun Winnipeg Beach was the place to be last weekend.

Hundreds came out to the 49^th annual Wonderful Winter Weekend to take in some of the activities that were jam-packed into the weekend’s schedule.

Curling, snowmobile races, skating, ice fishing, horse-drawn wagon rides and a chili contest were just a few of the many activities that took place on the long weekend.

Dozens of ice fishing shacks were set up on Lake Winnipeg for the annual Winnipeg Beach Firefighters’ Association Fishing Derby.

Fishers braved the cold for the competition and a total of nice fish has been caught at the derby when the Express stopped by early Sunday afternoon. 

Organizer Steve Gerbrandt said the fishing derby continues to go strong every year.

He said funds raised from the derby’s canteen will go to the breakfast program at Winnipeg Beach School, and money from derby tickets sold will go to a community group at a later time.

“If something comes up we just give,” Gerbrandt said.

Gerbrandt said Winnipeg Beach public works staff made the derby possible by prepping the ice on the lake.

He said the staff cleared space for the derby and flooded cracks on the lake to make it safe.

While fishers waited patiently in hopes of getting a catch youngsters raced sleds nearby on another part of the lake.

Kids aged four – 14 came out to race on the lake.

Dave Cole, the president of the Manitoba Mini Sled Racers’ Association said kids in the group had so much fun they’d come back next year.

“Great really really good,” Cole said when answering a reporter’s question about how the day went.

It was the group’s first time racing in Winnipeg Beach.  

Winnipeg resident Troy Smith made the trip out to the lake to kiteboard with a friend.

He said a windy Sunday made for a great day of kiteboarding.

“It’s all about getting in the right zone,” Smith said.

“Today’s beautiful not cold for us anyway lots of wind out here.”

Temperatures on Sunday hovered just under -30 C with the wind chill in Gimli according to Environment Canada.

But no one the Express talked to complained about the weather, at least on the record.

-- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition February 19, 2015 p.12

Public, animal rescuer, react to dog hoarders' reduced sentence

Tux and heels criss cross at grad fashion show

Students embrace individual choice at annual fundraiser

RECORD PHOTOS BY AUSTIN GRABISH

Grade 12 student Ali Bird wasn't comfortable wearing a dress so she wore a tux instead at the Comp's grad fashion show last Wednesday.

By Austin Grabish, The Selkirk Record 

A girl embellished in a tuxedo stands full of smiles while a sharp dressed man runs across the stage in heels.

It’s not something many would have expected to see, but the breaking of traditional gender binaries didn’t seem to be a problem for two crowds attending the Comp’s sold-out fashion show last Wednesday.

“It went really well,” said Grade 12 student Reid Senga, who had the crowd laughing when he made his trek across the stage in heels.

 But Senga’s walk was no laughing mater.

The 18-year-old decided to show his support for classmate Ali Bird who wore a tuxedo to the show.

“We tried to go out of the box a little bit and show you can be who you want to be and not have to worry about people judging you and all that,” Senga said.

Bird, 18, doesn’t agree with traditional gender roles and didn’t want to wear a dress to the show.

“As a woman I’m expected to spend so much money getting a dress and doing my hair and my makeup and that’s just not who I am, and I shouldn’t have to do that because of my gender,” said Bird.

“I just don’t believe in gender norms.”

Teacher Amanda Dion said it wasn’t a problem for Bird to be accommodated.

“We were totally supportive,” Dion said.

Some of the dances in the students’ show also challenged regular gender norms.

Two girls added a twist to one dance by pushing two of their male counterparts off the stage.

“It was just to kind of show that they don’t need a guy to show them off like they can show each other off,” Senga said.

Senga and Bird along with about 30 of their classmates danced to a mix of pop, country, and older tunes. 

“We tried to get a nice mix of music,” Senga said.

Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson was one of the hits played and Bird said it kept the crowd going.

“It was really good, they loved it,” Bird said.

Dion said it was great to see students’ hard work finally pay off.

She said students had to hone their dancing skills during nighttime practices in the weeks leading up to the show.

“Everybody put a lot of time and effort into this,” Dion said.

The fashion show was the first big fundraiser for the Comp’s grad class.

Ticket sales from the fashion show totalled somewhere over $3,500 and will pay for activities at the students’ grad in June, Dion said.

A number of clothing shops donated dresses and tuxedos to the fashion show and Dion said the show wouldn’t have been the success it was without the community.

“It’s so great to see so much support from the community coming out to see these kids,” Dion said.

Bird said the fashion show helped to get students pumped up about their graduation, which takes place on June 29.

“It made it feel so real,” Bird said. 

-- First published in the Selkirk Record print edition February 19, 2015 p.20

'Staggering’ number of physician vacancies shocks Driedger

RHA says numbers higher due to new reporting system

RECORD FILE PHOTO BY DAVE BAXTER

Progressive Conservative Health Critic Myrna Driedger said the number of doctors the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority has lost in the last 18 months is ‘staggering’. 

 

 By Austin Grabish, The Selkirk Record

A dramatic spike in the number of physician vacancies in the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority over the last 18 months left Manitoba’s health critic stuck for words in a recent interview.

New numbers from the RHA show there are 24 vacancies in the region, while 18 months ago there were just three.

Progressive Conservative Health Critic Myrna Driedger said she was shocked to hear about the spike in vacancies.

“Are you serious?” Driedger asked at the start of a phone interview.

The Record asked Driedger to comment after it discovered the new numbers, but Driedger was initially hesitant to respond saying she thought there may be have been an error.

“I’m absolutely stuck for words as to what to even say,” Driedger said.

“I’m floored.”

Driedger said she’s never heard of a health authority losing so many doctors in such a short period of time.

“To me that raises red flags and tells me that there’s something seriously wrong,” Driedger said.

“Those numbers are just absolutely staggering.”

Driedger said although the RHA is short 24 doctors on paper, it would actually take 30 physicians to fill all vacancies in the Interlake, because many doctors are only working on a part-time basis. 

Driedger accused the province of allowing the Interlake’s doctor shortage to get out of control.

She said Interlake residents have good reason to be worried about the quality of care they are receiving.

“With that kind of a shortage obviously there is going to be a profound effect on patient care,” Driedger said.

Health Minister Sharon Blady said she was disappointed to hear about the rise in vacancies over the last year-and-a-half.

“We are disappointed there has been an increase in vacancies, but are committed to continuing to work with the region to ensure Manitoba families in the Interlake have quality health care,” Blady said in a emailed statement to the Record.

“I know the region has been working very hard to recruit new doctors and we support their ongoing efforts.”

The Health Authority said its vacancy numbers are now higher due to a more robust reporting system it has enacted.

“The way in which we report vacancies now is a little different than the way we did it before,” said acting chief executive officer Ron Van Denakker in a phone interview.

“It’s just a tighter way of reporting.”

The Health Authority’s regional manager of physician services said the RHA’s old reporting system was changed because it didn’t include doctors who were working on a fee-for-service basis.

“We didn’t feel it was an accurate enough picture for our communities and the public to look only at the contract physicians,” said Lorri Beer in a phone interview.

The RHA disputes Driedger’s claim 30 doctors are needed to fill vacancies in the region.

Beer said physician vacancies fluctuate regularly, which makes number reporting a tricky task.

“It’s very difficult to really, mathematically, do a head count of the number of physicians required,” Beer said.

Michelle Gawronsky, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, said emergency medical staff are directly impacted by the doctor shortage. 

She said increased pressure is placed on paramedics when there are no doctors in emergency rooms, because they have to drive patients further.

“It’s got a major affect on our EMS members,” Gawronsky said.

Van Denakker said the RHA has plans to hire doctors in communities like Ashern soon.

“We recruit everyday,” he said.

 

-- First published in the Selkirk Record print edition February 19, 2015 p.2

Mental health calls a drain on police resources: mayor

 

 RECORD PHOTO BY AUSTIN GRABISH

Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson says too many RCMP officers are being tied up in Selkirk responding to mental health calls.

By Austin Grabish, The Selkirk Record

Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson says the number of mental health related calls RCMP are responding to has become a costly expense that should be curbed.

The Association of Manitoba Municipalities says police have been tied up with mental health calls for years. 

But Mounties and the province say responding to the calls is simply part of an RCMP officer’s job.

Johannson said the issue has become pressing given the rising costs of police services.

“I really want something done,” Johannson said.

“This has been on our plate too long.”

Johannson said officers in Selkirk are constantly being taken away from their normal duties, and for several hours at a time, because they have to respond to a mental health call.

The Mental Health Act says officers are required to stay with patients until they’ve been examined by a healthcare professional or admitted to the appropriate facility.  

But Johannson said police are often stuck waiting for hours with patients until medical staff can see them.

He said taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for increased police costs due to mental health calls. He said roughly 30 per cent of the City of Selkirk’s budget goes to police costs.

“That’s a huge chunk of a budget,” Johannson said.

“If you can cut the RCMP budget by five per cent perhaps by not having to deal so much with the Mental Health Act just think what you could do with the five per cent.”

Johannson said the City has a positive relationship with the RCMP, but wants a change to happen soon so costs can be lowered.

“I’d just like to see the door open to some brainstorming to see if there’s an answer to this,” Johannson said.

“I just wish we could work together… and try to think of some way we can reduce these costs,” Johannson said.

The executive director of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities said the problem has grown in recent years and a change to the Mental Health Act is needed.

“It’s certainly a major concern for our members,” said Joe Masi in a phone interview.

“We’ve had a lot of discussions with the RCMP about this.”

And the issue isn’t just in Manitoba. Media reports found online show Mounties across the country are being tied up responding to mental health calls.

In Surrey B.C. a special program called Car 67 has been enacted to help free up police resources.

When Mounties get a call relating to emotional and mental health they can respond by sending a uniformed officer with a nurse in an unmarked car.

If the caller needs to be hospitalized a health professional can take over the duties a responding officer would normally be responsible for.

RCMP spokeswoman Tara Seel said Mounties who are responding to mental health calls are simply doing their jobs.

“We are a law enforcement agency and enforce the laws as they are written,” Seel said in an email.

Masi said the Association’s members passed a resolution at its annual meeting late last year so it could look for a solution to the problem.  

He said the Association will bring up the issue with the province at a meeting next month.

“We think there should be a better way to not use the valuable police resources,” Masi said.

Johannson thinks the province and feds should be footing the bill for the police calls.

“We have to go up the chain of command here and work with the other two levels of government,” Johannson said.

A provincial spokeswoman said not all crises require police involvement.

“However police are an important and valued partner in responding to mental health crisis when it is required,” the spokeswoman wrote in an email.

-- First published in the Selkirk Record print edition February 19, 2015 p.9

Mayor wants deserted water park demolished

RECORD PHOTO BY AUSTIN GRABISH

Skinners Wet 'n Wild Water Park in Lockport has been closed for 10 years. 

By Austin Grabish, The Selkirk Record 

What was once seven storeys of wet and wild fun could soon be dried up and be demolished.

St. Andrews Mayor George Pike said the now defunct Skinners Wet ‘n Wild Water Park in Lockport has become both an eyesore and a safety hazard.

“Structurally it’s not sound anymore,” Pike said.

The water park, which was at one point Manitoba’s second largest, closed a decade ago, and now efforts are being made by the RM of St. Andrews and the Red River Planning District to have the slides taken down for good.

“We have it on our list of things to work with the Red River Planning Board,” Pike said.

“There is issues there.”

Pike said the RM and Planning District recently found the owner of the property, where the slides are on.

He said the site has changed hands several times in the last few years.

“We had trouble up till about two months ago finding the actual owner,” Pike said.

He said the new legal owner of the slides is somewhere in B.C. and attempts are being made to contact him or her.

“We’re searching everything that we can at this point,” Pike said.

“So we are looking at it and we’re trying to get a hold of the owner to see what he is or (isn’t) going to do and then once we get a hold of him and confirm that we will take action one way or another,” Pike said.

The mayor said he wants to have the waterslides removed as soon as possible.

He said the RM of St. Andrews is prepared to step in and take action if the owner doesn’t remove the slides in a timely fashion.

“We can serve papers for them and then we can have it removed ourselves,” Pike said. 

“We want to get it cleared up one way or another.”

Pike said the RM has been trying to get the slides removed for some time. 

“It has been a file for a while,” Pike said.

In 2013 the Winnipeg Free Press reported the slides were slated to be taken down by that year’s end, but that never happened.

At the time then St. Andrews Mayor Don Forfar cautioned time was running out.

The Skinners Wet ‘n Wild Water Park closed down in 2005.

The Record asked the Red River Planning District for comment but didn’t receive comment by press deadline. 

-- First published in the Selkirk Record print edition February 11, 2015 p.9

Parents distruaght over child care closure

By Austin Grabish, The Selkirk Record

 

Parents are rallying to save a before and after-school program in Clandeboye after the YMCA announced it was pulling the plug on the program last month.

The child-care centre at the William S. Patterson School will shut its doors for good on June 26 this year, and the closure has left at least one parent scrambling looking for child care options.

“Next year I’m not sure what I’m going to do. If this program wasn’t here then I don’t know that we would have stayed in the area,” said Clandeboye resident Sasha Carter, who has a seven-year-old boy, who’s been in the before and after-school program for three years.

As many as 15 families are rallying together to save the daycare, but the YMCA said it will close indefinitely.

Caryn LaFleche, general manager of youth and childcare for the YMCA, said the Clandeboye program isn’t financially viable anymore.

She said although parents pay a fee to send their kids to the program there are only five children currently enrolled, and two of those kids are only in the daycare on a part-time basis.

“And next year is not looking much better than that,” said LaFleche.

But parents who spoke to the Record say enrollment numbers would increase if the program would allow kindergarten students to enroll.

Youngsters were allowed in the program the past few years, but YMCA rules changed that last year.

LaFleche said the school simply doesn’t fit the provincial criteria required to house kindergarten students.

The before and after-school program is currently not licensed and LaFleche said if students were to be admitted to the program the daycare would then have to be licensed with the province.

“Kindergarten children are considered preschool children so to have preschool children in a program you have to have physical space that actually has specific equipment and unfortunately that’s not available in the school,” LaFleche said.

But William S. Patterson is a K – six elementary school and parents say kindergarten students should be able to attend.

“There is no other licensed daycare or childcare options for us in Clandeboye,” said Meeka Kiersgaard.

Kiersgaard’s daughter is in kindergarten and wasn’t able to enroll in the program this year, but Kiersgaard would like to have her daughter in it next year.

She said the program’s closure will leave parents like herself in limbo.

“It might mean parents moving to the city or more drastic measures just because we don’t have a before and after-school program,” Kiersgaard said.

Kiersgaard and Eric Benson are calling on the province to step in and do something.

Benson said the province has repeatedly promised to work with parents like himself to make child care options available, yet the Clandeboye daycare will close.

“It’s time that Mr. Bjornson put his money where his mouth is and support this,” said Benson.

A provincial spokesman said the province is aware of the closure and will work with parents to find a solution.

“We will continue to help them explore options. If the parent group wants to pursue establishing a licensed child care facility, that is something Family Services staff can assist them with,” said the spokesman in an email.

And that’s exactly what the Interlake Co-op Nursery School may do. The group is considering taking over the program, said Cheryl Longley, the director of the school.

But for now the parents say they will continue to rally.

“As more people become aware our group is sort of growing because we’re concerned about setting the precedent of letting the program leave,” Kiersgaard said. 

-- First published in the Selkirk Record print edition February 5, 2015 p.10

Unusual flu season winds down in the Interlake

DANIEL PAQUET / FLICKR

Health officials say although this year’s flu shot did little to protect people from the flu it could still protect individuals from other strains of the influenza virus.  

By Austin Grabish, The Selkirk Record

Unusually high numbers of patients with the flu kept health care workers in the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority on their feet this flu season, but recent health indicators say this year’s flu season may finally be trickling down.

Hospitals across the country saw a spike in the number of patients with

H3N2, this flu season’s most common type of influenza.

The virus hit nursing homes in the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority especially hard. A whopping total of 10 H3N2 outbreaks took place at long-term care facilities throughout the region.

“That would certainly be the most that have occurred in the 10 plus years that I’ve been involved in outbreak control in the region,” said Dr. Tim Hilderman, medical officer of health for the IERHA.

Hilderman said in a typical year the Health Authority would see maybe four or five influenza outbreaks in personal care homes.

Three residents living in Interlake nursing homes died from the virus, but health officials thought there would have been more deaths from the illness.

“That would be slightly lower than what we would expect,” Hilderman said.

Hilderman said all ten of the outbreaks in the personal care homes have finished, and he said the flu season is looking like it’s on a downward trend.

“The influenza A wave that we’re seeing across Manitoba is really starting to decrease,” Hilderman said.

And latest flu reports posted online by the Public Health Agency of Canada indicate the peak of the influenza season may have passed.

“It’s all settled back down to baseline now,” Hilderman said.

Hilderman said health officials don’t quite know just how the H3N2 virus compares to other strands of influenza just yet, but said one thing remains certain: this year’s flu vaccine wasn’t a match for the H3N2 virus.

“We didn’t see a good vaccine effectiveness,” Hilderman said.

A Canadian study found this year’s flu vaccine offered little to no protection against the H3N2 virus, said the Public Health Agency of Canada, in its latest weekly Flu Watch report. 

Vaccines don’t always match flu strands perfectly, Hilderman said.

“It happens and it happens because the influenza virus is really crafty and it drifts on us and it mutates and it changes,” Hilderman said.

He noted it takes six months to produce a vaccine so scientists go with their best bet when making the flu shot.

“You have to kind of make a decision about what strains are going to be included and then you hope that those are the strains that continue to be the dominant strains,” Hilderman said.

He said although the flu shot wasn’t effective against H3N2 it may still work against other strains of influenza.

He said it’s available for anyone who wants it.

“It’s not too late to do that,” he said.

-- First published in the Selkirk Record print edition February 5, 2015 p.3

Lake healer named sustainability champion

SCREENSHOT: YOUTUBE

Katherine Morrisseau-Sinclair has received the province’s Champion for Sustainability award for her efforts in healing Lake Winnipeg. She led a 28-day traditional water walk last summer.

 

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly

She set out on an ambitious 28-day journey last summer to heal Lake Winnipeg and led over 100 women, including many grandmothers, on a 1,032 kilometre trek, and now Katherine Morrisseau-Sinclair has been awarded for her efforts in saving the threatened lake.

Morrisseau-Sinclair received the province’s Champion for Sustainability award last Wednesday.

“I felt really humbled to have the water walk acknowledged in that way,” said Morrisseau-Sinclair, when reached by phone Sunday.

“It was a nice surprise.”

Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh congratulated Morrisseau-Sinclair on winning the award.

"I'd like to congratulate these award winners for the commitment they've shown to the challenge we have issued to all Manitobans. We all need to do our part and every little bit adds up to making a big difference,” said Mackintosh in a news release.

Sinclair led a traditional Anishinaabe water walk from Norway House to Manigotagan and made stops in several Interlake communities last summer as part of an effort to raise awareness about the state of Lake Winnipeg.

She was inspired by a 2013 news story, which said Lake Winnipeg was the world’s most threatened lake of the year.

Morrisseau-Sinclair said she believes the water walk will have a lasting impact on Lake Winnipeg.

She said she was touched by many of the communities she walked through last summer.

“I was inspired and motivated everyday by people and their reaction to it,” Morrisseau-Sinclair said.

“I know that our efforts have brought healing to the lake because of our beliefs,” she said when explaining how aboriginal women heal water.

“Everybody has a role in life and for us, as women, one of our responsibilities is to take care of the waters, and that is a very direct connection to the fact that we bring forth life and water is life. Water sustains life,” Morrisseau-Sinclair said.

Morrisseau-Sinclair doesn’t think the general public treats water with caution. She said fears that arose out of last week’s boil water advisory in the City of Winnipeg proves that point.

“It was amazing to watch people and their reaction to that,” Morrisseau-Sinclair said.

“Two days of boil water advisory is nothing compared to what could happen.”

Morrisseau-Sinclair said it’s not just Lake Winnipeg that’s in trouble.

“This is just the beginning, there’s a lot of work that we have to do not only for Lake Winnipeg but all the lakes.

“I mean Lake Manitoba is in the same state now and people have to start paying attention and they have to realize they must do something in order to support and maintain life through those lakes, otherwise they’re going to be in serious trouble,” Morrisseau-Sinclair said.

“Without water we’re not going to have life.”

Several other environmental stewards received other awards from the province.

-- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition February 5, 2015 p.4

Changes to child-welfare system still years away

FILE PHOTO

Phoenix Sinclair was only five years old when her mother, Samantha Kematch, and stepfather, Karl McKay, murdered her on the Fisher River First Nation.

 

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly

The province is pledging to better its child-welfare system while supporting families who are at risk of losing their kids, but will take several years to implement key recommendations from the multimillion-dollar Phoenix Sinclair inquiry.

Family Services Minister Keri Irvin-Ross said it may take the province as many as seven years to implement the 62 recommendations made by the $14-million inquiry into the death of the five-year-old girl, who’s murder went undetected for months by child-welfare officials.

And the province won’t commit to acting on all of the recommendations from the inquiry.

Extending care to all kids in the child-welfare system until the age of 25 is one of the recommendations the province may not follow through with, Irvin-Ross said at a press conference last Tuesday.

“What I’m saying is that we’re going to review that recommendation and we’re going to come up with a plan that’s balanced and supports the youth…,” Irvin-Ross said.

“I have had ongoing conversations with Commissioner (Ted) Hughes. He knows that some recommendations may not be implemented as he has recorded them, but he accepts that and knows that we’re working towards improving a better system.” 

“It has to be a balanced approach,” she said.

Irvin-Ross said the province plans on moving forward with a more holistic approach for its child-welfare system.

"We're shifting our emphasis from protection to prevention. Prevention is the best protection.”

She said the province will boost in-home funding supports for families by 60 per cent, noting poverty is an underlining problem for kids in the child-welfare system.

“We have to address the root causes,” Irvin-Ross said.

“Our priority is to keep children at home safely.”

Progressive Conservative Family Services critic Ian Wishart said the province should be moving forward quicker with many of the recommendations.

“We feel that that’s an unacceptably long-time for children to continue to be at risk,” Wishart said in a telephone interview.

“We know that everyday children are at risk and the system is failing them and you need to make the improvements in the system not just talk about them forever.”

He said the murder of a 21-month-old toddler on the Peguis First Nation last summer is an example of why changes to the system are needed.

The young girl was in the child-welfare system at some point in her life, and her parents and step-sister have been charged in connection with her death.

He said the Peguis toddler’s death was “eerily similar” to Sinclair’s.

Sinclair’s mother and stepfather beat her to death in 2005.

“I think that really drives it home,” he said.

Wishart said there are nearly 11,000 kids in the province’s child-welfare system, and

87 per cent of those kids are aboriginal.

Irvin-Ross said the province will establish an independent indigenous children’s advocate, but questions about the proposed advocate’s ability to criticize the government have already been reported.   

Grand Chief Derek Nepinak said the province didn’t properly consult the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs before announcing its plans last Tuesday.

“AMC was intentionally left out and there was marginal engagement of AMC member First Nations,” Nepinak said in a press release.

-- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition February 5, 2015 p.3