News briefs for Monday, July 24, 2023

Man arrested after machete, pellet gun threats

9:24 AM

A Sioux Valley Dakota Nation man has been charged after he allegedly threatened two others with a machete and a pellet gun.

Virden RCMP were called to the reported threats at a home in the First Nation at about 2:30 p.m. last Thursday.

Mounties say two men had gone to the home to speak to one of the people who lived there, but a suspect came outside wielding a machete and threatened the men, who went back to their vehicle. A short time later, Mounties say, the man returned with a firearm and pointed it at the pair.

RCMP went to the home and contained the area with the First Nation’s safety officers, police dogs and the Mountie emergency response team. Several adults and kids left the home safely, before officers found a suspect and arrested him, seizing a pellet gun.

A 41-year-old man has been charged with two counts each of pointing a firearm and uttering threats and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and unauthorized possession of a firearm. He remains in custody.

Manitoba pork processing site to undergo multi-million dollar expansion

11:58 AM

WINKLER — A Winkler-based pork production facility is joining forces with an international industry titan on a $52.8-million expansion.

Winkler Meats and Johnsonville Holdings, the group behind United States-based Johnsonville sausages, are doubling Winkler Meats’ space and say they’ll create more than 100 new jobs in Manitoba.

Winkler Meats expects the expansion to increase its production sevenfold.

The provincial and federal governments are contributing nearly $2.4 million to the project.

Liquor workers to strike Wednesday, Thursday

12:04 PM

Liquor Mart staff will be walking out again on Wednesday and Thursday, after the union representing them says Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries refused to budge at the bargaining table Friday.

More than 1,400 liquor workers and Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union members first walked off the job last Wednesday. They have been working under an expired contract since March 2022 and negotiations are currently underway.

MLL has offered affected workers wage increases of two per cent per year over four years, along with wage bumps for those at the end of the pay scale to ensure they are in line with provincial minimum-wage increases. MGEU is asking for raises in line with Manitoba MLAs and Premier Heather Stefanson, starting at 3.3 per cent.

Union workers at the MLL distribution site will also walk out Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and all MGEU staff are refusing overtime until further notice.

Regulatory changes announced to streamline process for doctors to work in Manitoba

12:54 PM

A regulatory change coming into effect Sept. 1 is expected to make it easier for certain internationally educated doctors to work in Manitoba.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon and the Manitoba College of Physicians and surgeons announced the change this afternoon.

It means internationally educated physicians who meet all other registration requirements will no longer be required to hold a licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada in order to practice in Manitoba. As well, some applicants will be eligible for a new fast-tracked registration process.

The changes come after consultations from the College, as part of the government’s goal to recruit an additional 150 physicians to work in Manitoba.

RCMP to conduct 2021 homicide probe in Nisichawayasihk this week

12:56 PM

RCMP major crimes investigators will be in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation this week to conduct a further probe on the still unsolved slaying of a man who disappeared nearly two years ago.

Rico Cody Linklater, 22, was last seen in Nelson House, which is part of the First Nation that’s about 75 kilometres northwest of Thompson, on Oct. 21, 2021. In the time since, Mounties have declared his disappearance to be a homicide.

RCMP say investigators have conducted more than 175 interviews, canvassed the First Nation and searched for Linklater’s remains.

Mounties want anybody who might have information on Linklater’s disappearance to call the Nelson House detachment at 204-484-2837 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

Balmoral Street blaze doused

2:21 PM

Winnipeg firefighters doused heavy flames that broke out in a Balmoral Street house Monday morning.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said crews were called to the two-storey house on the 500 block of Balmoral Street at 10:17 a.m., where they found heavy smoke and flames jutting from the home.

Firefighters got inside and got the blaze under control by 10:48 a.m., WFPS said.

Crews searched the house and found no one inside.

Transportation Safety Board notified after St. Clements plane crash

2:38 PM

The federal Transportation Safety Board has been notified after a single-engine airplane crashed in the Rural Municipality of St. Clements last Friday.

Selkirk RCMP officers were called to the crash in a field just east of Highway 59, near the intersection of provincial roads 435 and 31 East, at about 2:15 p.m., where they found the plane flipped-over.

The pilot, who was the only person in the plane, got out on his own. Emergency medical responders checked the 32-year-old from Winnipeg and cleared him at the scene.

RCMP say the pilot had landed the airplane and was trying to take off again, when it went into the ditch and rolled.