The Wrap: More medical snooping, Skibicki trial continues, government transparency, Cole Perfetti and a new face at RMTC

Winnipeggers are calling for more transparency and accountability in the health-care system after their personal medical privacy was breached late last year.

Records provided by individuals from Winnipeg Regional Health Authority officials and shared with the Free Press informed them an employee working in the health region had allegedly snooped through their medical records dozens of times over the course of months.

One person involved said the incident has shaken his faith in health-care oversight, leaving him wondering how seriously such privacy breaches are tracked, investigated and punished.

At Jeremy Skibicki’s trial, the court heard today from a U.S.-based psychologist to speak about the possible effects of pre-trial publicity on juror biases.

The defence brought in the expert as part of their argument that the accused serial killer’s case should be heard by a judge alone and not by a jury.

Crown prosecutors pushed back on the motion.

Six months after being sworn into office, the NDP is already showing signs that it’s not eager to share information with the public about how it spends tax dollars, writes columnist Tom Brodbeck.

The former Tory government was regularly criticized for its secretive ways. The NDP, then in opposition, was among the critics. Now that it’s in government, it’s starting to show the same behaviour.

Case in point: the Free Press has been trying to obtain information about a COVID-19 pandemic premium that’s still being paid to some front-line nurses, even though the pandemic has been over for some time.

The Winnipeg Jets are in do-or-die territory in tonight’s playoff Game 5. The game gets underway at the Canada Life Centre at around 8:50 p.m. CT. (Check our website later tonight for the details.)

Centre Cole Perfetti is excited to get his first taste of the “Whiteout” crowd at tonight’s game. “Now I’m getting the chance to do that in a huge game,” he said after this morning’s skate.

His focus? Helping Winnipeg extend the best-of-seven Central Division series that Colorado leads 3-1 off three consecutive victories.

Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre announced today that Evan Klassen will be its next executive director, bringing a Winnipeg-born and raised theatre pro back to his Prairie roots.

Klassen will return to Manitoba in August, taking the reins from outgoing executive director Camilla Holland, who is leaving the RMTC this summer after 13 seasons at the helm.

The news of Klassen’s hiring comes with the RMTC season in the midst of its run of local playwrights Trish Cooper and Sam Vint’s The Comeback, the final production of the 2023-24 season.