The Wrap: Transcona house explosion investigated, convicted doctor faces sentencing and province’s pipeline oversight examined

Winnipeg police say the occupants of a Transcona bungalow that exploded Wednesday were found safe sometime after the blast destroyed their house and significantly damaged nearby homes and garages.

Though the father and daughter were not home at the time of the blast, they have been interviewed by police in the major crimes unit’s investigation of the incident, which also involves the bomb unit, forensic officers and the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

Dr. Arcel Bissonnette was convicted last year of sexually assaulting five female patients during medical examinations between 2001 and 2017. He pleaded guilty in February to sexually assaulting two more patients in 2005 and 2011.

On Thursday prosecutors urged King’s Bench Justice Sadie Bond to sentence Bissonnette to 18 years in prison.

Reporter Dean Pritchard has the latest update from court.

Some 6.5 million litres of oil, saltwater and other petroleum products have spilled from Manitoba pipelines since 2008 — but none of the incidents have garnered provincial penalties or fines.

Instead, the bulk of pipeline monitoring and oversight is left to the industry, including the responsibility for reporting, cleaning and rehabilitating spill sites.

Manitoba Environment and Climate Change Minister Tracy Schmidt called the previous Conservative government’s cuts to the department and inspection capabilities a “decimation” that led to “gaps” in oversight.

Writer Julia-Simone Rutgers examines pipeline oversight in the province.