Kreviazuk, Maida to receive humanitarian award during Junos

Firefighter admits to conditional sentence breach

A Winnipeg firefighter previously jailed for criminally harassing two different women has been released from custody after admitting to breaching a conditional sentence order.

Christopher Goethals, 59, was arrested July 21 after an alert from his ankle monitor six days earlier showed he had driven within 400 metres of the workplace of a former girlfriend he had been ordered to have no contact with.

Goethals pleaded guilty Wednesday to not being in possession of a copy of his conditional sentence order, a requirement of his sentence.

Crown attorney Amanda Heslop withdrew a breach charge related to Goethals’ electronic monitoring conditions and stayed a third charge of disobeying a court order.

Health Canada suspends plasma collection at Grifols Taylor Avenue clinic

Health Canada has suspended all plasma collection at Grifols’ Taylor Avenue facility while the private company continues to face scrutiny after two people died following donations at its Winnipeg clinics.

The suspension began Wednesday, although Grifols paused plasma collection in Canada on Aug. 14, two days after the federal department gave the Taylor Avenue site a non-compliant rating.

“Health Canada issued the suspension because Grifols had not effectively implemented some corrective and preventive actions and, overall, it failed to demonstrate that the Taylor Avenue site has implemented an effective quality management system,” the department said in a statement.

The penalty was first proposed Aug. 13. The site’s operating licence was partially suspended, Grifols said in a statement.

Kreviazuk, Maida to receive humanitarian award during Junos

One of Winnipeg’s brightest exports will be honoured with the 2014 Allan Waters Humanitarian Award right here at home at the Juno Awards next March.

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced this morning that Winnipeg-born singer/songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk, along with her husband Raine Maida, are this year’s recipients of the prestigious award, which recognizes Canadian artists who have made a positive difference through exemplary humanitarian work. The award will be presented to the couple at the Juno Gala Dinner and Award on March 29.

While Kreviazuk and Maida are among Canada’s most critically and commercially successful artists — Kreviazuk is a two-time Juno winner and Maida is a four-time Juno winner (and 25-time nominee) as frontman for Our Lady Peace — they are also well-respected for their tireless humanitarian work, particularly their work with War Child Canada, of which Kreviazuk is an honorary founder. The couple has visited Iraq, Ethiopia and the Congo on behalf of several causes, including women's rights, war refugees and child education.

“Chantal and Raine are more than deserving recipients for this year’s award,” said Melanie Barry, president and CEO of CARAS/The Juno Awards & MusiCounts, in a release. “Their passion and dedication to countless charities and organizations over the course of their careers is truly remarkable.”

Gillingham promises to make north Main revitalization a second-term priority

Scott Gillingham says he will work to “reset and renew” north Main Street, if he wins a second term as mayor.

The incumbent candidate promised Tuesday to devise a long-term plan to rejuvenate that section of the thoroughfare, noting it has recently suffered from decay.

“It has a rich history, a deep and proud history. But the last couple of years, to say it’s been underperforming would be an understatement…. So many stretches of Main Street here, I see derelict buildings, boarded-up businesses, piles of rubble after fires that sit waiting to be cleaned up,” Gillingham said.

“We can disrupt what is going on and turn the tide on north Main Street.”

Even dozen running for mayor as nomination deadline passes

It’s official — a dozen people are running to become Winnipeg’s next mayor.

The deadline to both register to run as a candidate in October’s municipal election and file nomination papers was 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The final list of mayoral candidates includes: incumbent Scott Gillingham, Kevin Klein, Brad Gross, Mazher Alam, Mike Vogiatzakis, Christopher Clacio, Umar Hayat, Don Woodstock, Joshua Pagdato, Johnny Calderon, Noah Redden, and Tracey Drexler.

A total of 17 had registered to run but several either withdrew or did not meet the requirements to continue. Those included: Zachary Uminski, Ed Ackerman, Gagandeep Bawa, Abdel-Kareem Chehadi and Joaquin Sandul.

Mark Carney’s campaign for middle powers

“You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose,” said former New York Governor Mario Cuomo 40 years ago. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney is now in the poetic phase of his campaign to create an alliance — maybe just a loose alliance — of middle powers who can resist the brutal strength of the great powers.