Ready, meme, fire

A police officer shot and injured an 18-year-old woman early Monday morning while investigating a College Avenue shooting.

A north district unit officer was in the area of Aikins Street and College Avenue at 2:27 a.m. Aug. 3 when he heard multiple gunshots nearby, the Winnipeg Police Service stated in a news release Monday.

The officer went to investigate and "was confronted by a woman and a 16-year-old youth." The officer discharged his gun and the young woman was injured, the police service stated. The woman was taken to hospital in unstable condition and was later upgraded to stable.

Police recovered a gun from the suspects and investigators later linked the 18-year-old woman and 16-year-old male to a shooting that occurred outside of a home in the 300 block of College Avenue. The 16-year-old was arrested.

Winnipeg Sea Bears' guard Teddy Allen is in hospital after being assaulted in downtown Winnipeg Sunday night.

The club issued a news release Monday stating head coach and general manager Mike Raimbault and chairman David Asper visited Allen at the hospital but didn't release more information about what happened.

"Our focus is on Teddy's health and supporting him and his family," the Sea Bears' news release stated, directing all questions to the Winnipeg Police Service.

Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Const. Pat Saydak confirmed the police service is investigating but said no further information was available Monday afternoon.

Navigating Manitoba’s disability services is difficult under the best circumstances. For Indigenous families, access is further constrained by geography, poverty, jurisdictional confusion, and culturally-inappropriate systems that do not reflect Indigenous approaches to raising and supporting children. Culturally-insensitive intakes, assessments, and treatments in Manitoba also contribute to misunderstanding, misdiagnosis, and inappropriate service responses across the province.

The consequences for Indigenous children with disabilities and their families are profound — they are forced into a system that does not recognize who they are, how they are understood in their communities or what they need to thrive.

Many First Nations families, particularly in remote and northern communities, are faced with the choice of living in their home community with limited or no resources for their child with a disability or relocating to an urban centre to access necessary supports. This further disconnects families from family and community support, connectedness to shared values and teachings and a child’s right to a sense of belonging.

Additionally, First Nations families living with a disabled child experience significant over-involvement with the child welfare system compared to non-Indigenous Manitobans. This is due to a couple of key factors, namely the differing perspectives regarding disabilities between the Western clinical and many First Nations world views and the prevailing systemic default that families be pressured to surrender their disabled child to child and family services care in order to access resources that are otherwise unavailable.

Charge highlights need for action

The recent reporting regarding a Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service employee accused of violating a protection order, following previous convictions related to criminal harassment and breaches of court orders against former partners, raises concerns that extend beyond a single individual.

I believe this case highlights important questions about how public institutions assess and respond to risks associated with intimate partner violence, stalking, coercive control and repeated violations of court-imposed conditions.

Gender-based violence is a public safety issue. Survivors are encouraged to seek protection orders and to call emergency services for safety and support. When those orders are breached, organizations have a responsibility to carefully consider workplace safety, public safety and survivor safety in their decision-making. Manitobans deserve confidence that public institutions have clear, consistent processes to assess risk and respond appropriately.