News briefs for Monday, May 29, 2023

Mount Carmel Clinic to administer safety program

10:49 AM

Manitoba Justice announced $200,000 in funding for Mount Carmel Clinic to administer the Thunderwing Project and an additional $100,000 to enhance the project to support women who are in contact with the criminal justice system.

Thunderwing is a community mobilization project that co-ordinates and mobilizes resources across sectors and aims to improve community safety and family well-being, a government press release said. It has operated since 2013, after starting as a pilot in Winnipeg’s William Whyte and Dufferin neighbourhoods owing to high rates of violent crime.

The Department of Justice, which until now has administered Thunderwing, decided to reallocate $200,000 to a grant for a community-based organization to provide and expand the project, consistent with how community mobilization is funded throughout the rest of Manitoba. In November 2022, Mount Carmel Clinic was selected through an expression of interest process as the successful community-based organization to administer the project.

The province is providing Thunderwing with an additional $100,000 in funding for an additional position to focus on supporting women who are in contact with the criminal justice system.

City projects $27-million deficit

11:41 AM

The City of Winnipeg expects to finish this year with a $27-million deficit, millions more than its rainy-day fund can cover.

The financial stabilization reserve can only cover up to $19.5 million of the losses, if the city can’t eliminate the deficit by the end of the year, according to a new finance report on financial data up to March 31.

An action plan to find savings that offset the rest of the shortfall is expected to be released on June 30.

Most of the losses are linked to emergency services.

The Winnipeg Police Service expects to finish the year with a $12.8-million deficit, which the report blames on an inability to find millions of dollars of savings during the year, as council directed in its budget, and declining traffic enforcement revenue.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service expects to fall $7.4 million short, mostly due to firefighter overtime and workers’ compensation costs.

RCMP investigate suspected slaying in Swan River

4:10 PM

Swan River RCMP are investigating the death of a woman in a home in the town as a homicide.

Mounties were called about a dead woman in the residence at about 3 a.m. Monday morning.

When they arrived, they found the deceased woman, 29, and no one else inside, RCMP said.

Major crimes officers are leading the investigation, which is considered a homicide. The town is about 500 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, near the border with Saskatchewan.