The Social Page

Winnipeg police officers seized a sawed-off rifle and arrested a 13-year-old boy after spotting people wearing ski masks inside a taxi Monday afternoon.

North district community support officers were on patrol at about 3:45 p.m. when they noticed the taxi’s masked occupants, who weren’t wearing seatbelts, near McPhillips Street and Pritchard Avenue, police said.

While speaking to one of the passengers, the officers noticed what appeared to be the outline of a gun inside a satchel.

After arresting the passengers, police seized a sawed-off .22-calibre rifle and ammunition, a shotgun shell and about half a gram of methamphetamine, which has a street value of about $30, a news release said.

Foster system must be better

Re: Paralyzed foster girl has system under a microscope (Aug. 18)

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine’s assertion that “you can’t train people not to be violent” should concern everyone who cares about the safety of children in Manitoba’s child welfare system.

Of course, no training program can guarantee that an individual will never harm a child. But framing these tragedies as the actions of a few “abominable” people risks absolving the system of its responsibility to prevent harm.