News briefs for February 16, 2021

A 30-year-old Edmonton man has been arrested after a doctor’s prescription was allegedly forged to get codeine.

Portage la Prairie RCMP said on Tuesday a pharmacist in the city called police last Friday saying they had double checked with a doctor for a prescription for liquid cough medicine with codeine dropped off and found it had been faked.

While officers were talking to the pharmacist, they were told a suspect was trying to fill the same prescription at another pharmacy in the city.

Officers received a description of the SUV the suspect was driving and pulled it over on the Trans-Canada Highway. Two medication bottles filled in Winnipeg were found in the vehicle.

Badal Kaahin Kaafi, of Edmonton, has been charged with possession of an opioid for the purpose of trafficking and possession of a forged document.

Kaafi is expected to appear in court on Tuesday in Portage la Prairie.

City council will soon vote on a new chief financial officer.

A recruitment committee is recommending that Catherine Kloepfer be appointed as the City of Winnipeg’s next CFO, pending council approval.

Kloepfer has served as CFO for the Winnipeg Airports Authority, and has more than 30 years of experience in financial management, according to a Tuesday press release.

Mike Ruta, the city’s current interim chief administrative officer, plans to retire once a separate search to find the city’s next CAO wraps up, instead of returning to his previous role as chief financial officer.

The executive policy committee is set to vote on the new CFO recommendation on Wednesday, while a final council vote is scheduled for Feb. 25.

One person was found dead after an explosion at an encampment on Higgins Avenue Tuesday morning. 

Aerosols that ignited are believed to be the cause of the explosion at the temporary shelter, according to the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service. Burned remains of the shelter were visible in a fenced-off lot near 66 Higgins Ave. as police and firefighters were on scene into early Tuesday afternoon. 

Crews were called to the scene at 11 a.m. and found the person dead after they extinguished the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation and no other injuries were reported. No other details were released.

Winnipeg council’s property and development committee recently ordered the public service to report on options to prevent new street-level lots from being set up after commercial and industrial buildings get torn down.

Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface), who raised the motion, said parking lots are too prevalent and aren’t the best use of space, since they prevent density and impede climate change goals by encouraging single-passenger vehicle use.

The report, which is expected back in about four months, will also explore how other cities prevent building demolitions from leading to the addition of new surface lots.

Provincial health officials announced 167 new cases of COVID-19 and 4 more deaths in Manitoba Tuesday.

There are 1,625 active cases in Manitoba, with 230 people in hospital, 26 of them in intensive care.
The five-day test positivity rate is 5.9 in Manitoba, and 4.5 in Winnipeg.

The new deaths include:
• a man in his 60s from the Winnipeg health region
• a man in his 70 from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the outbreak at St. Boniface Hospital unit B5
• a man in his 90s from the Winnipeg health region
• a woman in her 90s from the Winnipeg health region.

Of the new cases announced Tuesday, 51 are in the Winnipeg health region, 8 in Southern Health; 13 in Interlake–Eastern; 2 in Prairie Mountain; and 92 in Northern Health.

A man and woman were arrested after about $15,000 worth of fentanyl was thrown out a cab window on Sunday.

Winnipeg police said on Tuesday officers began following a cab after spotting a pair in the vehicle leaving the hotel where a search warrant had just been executed.

While following the cab, a male suspect threw stuff out of the window before fleeing on foot when the vehicle stopped.

The suspect was arrested trying to hide under a truck while a woman, who had 1.5 grams of methamphetamine, was arrested in the cab.

Police said 75 grams of fentanyl worth about $15,000 was one of the items tossed from the cab, as well as eight grams of methamphetamine worth $800. A sawed-off .22 caliber rifle, 15 rounds of ammunition, and a drug scale were found in the cab.

Adam Channing Douglas Carr, 33, has been charged with several offences including possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking and careless soltorafe of a firearm. He was detained in custody.

A 23-year-old woman is facing similar charges. She was released on an appearance notice.

Manitoba has once again expanded its eligibility criteria for COVID-19 vaccination as more doses are set to arrive in the province in the coming weeks. 

According to the province, the following people are now eligible to book an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine: 

● People who work in COVID-19 alternative isolation accommodations, with no age restrictions;

● People who work in facilities providing services insured by Manitoba Health and Seniors Care, including:

● primary care clinics (family physicians and/or nurse practitioners, for example, born on or before Dec. 31, 1960);
● diagnostic laboratories (born on or before Dec. 31, 1960);
● outpatient laboratories (born on or before Dec 31, 1960);
● outpatient surgical units (born on or before Dec. 31, 1960); and
● specialty physician clinics, such as cardiology, gynecology and psychiatry (born on or before Dec. 31, 1960).

A full list of eligible individuals is available on the province’s website. 

To date, a total of 69,600 doses of vaccine have been delivered to Manitoba. The province expects 15,210 doses of Pfizer vaccine to arrive this week and 17,550 doses of Pfizer and 6,100 doses of Moderna to arrive next week. 

The family of a Headingley Correctional Institution inmate who died is calling for an independent investigation into his death.

William Walter Ahmo, 45, died on Feb. 14, seven days after being rushed to hospital with what RCMP said at the time were life-threatening injuries following an incident with corrections officers.

A statement released from Ahmo’s family on Tuesday said they want an independent body to investigate his death and not the RCMP, Winnipeg police or Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba.

The family is also calling for an inquest to be called by the chief medical examiner, but that is already mandatory when an inmate dies in custody.

The federal government is putting up $4 million to build an arts centre one the site of the former Public Safety Building.

Winnipeg South MP Terry Duguid announced the funding Tuesday for the Market Lands project, which will house the Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art Gallery and other art groups.

“What is now just an empty space in the middle of the historic Exchange District will soon become a beacon for Winnipeg’s artists and creators,” Duguid said at a virtual press conference.

The building, at William Avenue and King Street, will be attached to a planned housing development involving 102 mixed-income units. Planners hope to start construction for both projects by spring 2022.

After a stop-work order was announced in September, Manitoba Hydro International’s 125 employees found out today that the subsidiary will be shut down and integrated into Manitoba Hydro and all permanent employees will be offered work at the parent company.

Intellectual property sales and marketing will continue as part of the parent company but the subsidiary’s international consulting business will be wound down. All existing contracts will be honoured until they expire. 

As well, the stop-work order remains in place for the Manitoba Hydro Telecom unit until a provincial request for proposal process, seeking third-party management, has been completed.

Manitoba Hydro CEO Jay Grewal said there’s still a lot of work still to do as part of the reorganization, "including ensuring that all MHI employees are treated fairly throughout the transition."