Swan River radio network back on air after firebombing, but staff live in fear

A radio and news network that broadcasts to small-town Manitoba is back on the air, days after its Swan River studio was nearly destroyed in a targeted firebombing.

Bill Gade, reeve of the RM of Swan Valley West and owner of CJ Radio, hoped to resume broadcasting on July 10 — the same day his building was torched — but was forced to wait days due to the extent of the damage, he said.

“There’s a lot of bubble gum and duct tape and stuff involved right now… but we’re just doing anything we can to stay back on the air,” said Gade.

“You go in the burned-out building right now and there are two places where there is a garbage bag laying on a rack of equipment that used to be alive, with some new stuff plopped on top. But it’s working.”

The CJ Radio network is based in Swan River and hosts broadcasts for Neepawa, Gimli, Virden and Esterhazy, Sask. Those stations returned to the air on July 13 and have since been playing pre-recorded music programs.

The fifth broadcast, which serves Swan River, began playing music again Tuesday, Gade said.

The network is not yet capable of doing live broadcasts, but he believes those will resume by July 24.

They will take place from a temporary studio, but Gade said he won’t disclose its location for safety reasons.

Video shared with the Free Press shows the moment the fire was started just after 5 a.m.

In the footage, a person dressed in black rides a BMX westbound on the 500 block of Main Street and stops in front of the radio station. The suspect pulls two items from a bag and lights them on fire before hurling them both through the front window of the building.

The suspect takes off westbound, as flames and smoke begin to billow from the studio.

Manitoba RCMP later released a photo of the suspect and issued a public plea for information.

Gade said investigators told him they are almost certain they know the identity of the person, but do not yet have the evidence required to lay charges.

“They are still out on the street right now. So, is one radio station enough, or do they wait until we get it rebuilt and do it again?” he said.

“I’ve had enough, already, of my kids asking if someone is going to come to our house and shoot them.”

“I’ve had enough, already, of my kids asking if someone is going to come to our house and shoot them.”–Bill Gade

Gade said his staff no longer drive vehicles bearing the radio station’s brand, in fear of further attacks.

He believes the fire was an act of retaliation, after the station revealed the criminal record of a 29-year-old who died in hospital after a car crash on Canada Day.

RCMP said the man was the passenger in a vehicle travelling southbound on Highway 10, when it veered over the centre line and smashed into a vehicle that was parked on the opposite shoulder.

Royal Canoe bassist Brendan Berg and his partner, Olivia Michalczuk, were inside the stationary vehicle. They, too, died in hospital.

The driver of the southbound vehicle, a 36-year-old Winnipeg man, survived. He has not been named, but police confirmed Friday he is expected to be charged with criminal offences.

RCMP did not have any updates into the arson investigation, a spokesperson said Friday.

The attack against CJ Radio is emblematic of larger social issues and criminal elements that have plagued the Swan Valley for years, Gade said.

Mounties have said there’s been an increase in methamphetamine trafficking that has led to more serious crimes. Last November, the provincial government announced funding for a new RCMP investigative unit to address the problem.

The three-person team was supposed to be operational by early this year, but Gade said the positions haven’t been filled.

“We are still waiting for the RCMP to set it up,” he said. “The last meeting with them, they said they are going to start advertising the first position (soon).”

Gang activity and drug dealing continue to plague the community, leading to increased violence and fear, he said.

“This isn’t a new thing… but they will not win,” Gade said. “I see two options: either the good people of this valley pack up and move or we have to fix this problem. If we’re not ready to leave, we better get on with fixing it.”

“Either the good people of this valley pack up and move or we have to fix this problem.”–Bill Gade

Swan River Mayor Lance Jacobson said bureaucratic red tape has delayed the process.

Jacobson said RCMP must put a corporal in place and the rest of the unit will follow.

“Boots on the ground, so to speak, special police that will head up the department for the Swan Valley,” he said.

As for the firebombing, Jacobson said he believes it was a random act of violence.

“It’s personal when something like this happens, and something we didn’t like to see in our community,” Jacobson said. “I have never heard anyone come to me and say they’re worried about their safety. It’s been pretty much onward.

“People just want to see justice. We hope we can find this person, identify this person who has done this.”

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle
Reporter

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.

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