News briefs for September 10, 2020

After four Oshawa residents were shot to death at the hands of a Winnipeg gunman last week, the victims’ family has issued their first public statement to thank first responders and request privacy. 

The family issued the statement through the Durham Region Police Service Thursday, six days after members of the Traynor family were shot inside their home. The shooter, Mitchell Lapa, drove from Winnipeg and opened fire on his sister’s family before turning the gun on himself. 

His sister Loretta Traynor is recovering from her injuries. The statement is attributed to her and her son who wasn’t home at the time of the shooting. Her husband Chris and their three other children were killed. 

A crowd-funding campaign for the family had raised more than $157,000 as of Thursday evening.

"We are also very grateful to all those who have contributed to the Go Fund Me campaign. The family will put together a committee to advise on the disbursement of the funds to support and appropriately memorialize the entire family," the statement said. 

Rainbow Stage has been fined for a workplace accident in 2017 that resulted in an amputation.

The worker was building a prop desk with a table saw that had no guard. The wood began to bind and the worker’s hand came into contact with the blade.

"The worker hit the stop button on the table saw, but the worker’s hand came into contact with the blade as it was coming to a stop. As a result, the worker sustained an amputation and other significant injuries to the hand," according to provincial workplace safety and health officials.

On July 22 of this year, Rainbow Stage pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the table saw had safeguards that would prevent a worker from coming into contact with moving parts.

The not-for-profit theatre company, which has seven full-time employees, was fined $11,000. Rainbow Stage will also have to pay $3,450 in court costs and $1,250 to Workplace, Safety and Health to be used for public education on workplace safety and health practices.

Human remains that were found near Little Grand Rapids earlier this summer have been identified. 

Lorne Delmar McKay, 27, has been identified and confirmed dead based on the remains and his medical and dental records, RCMP stated in a news release Thursday. His cause of death has yet to be determined. 

The remains were found June 30, and police subsequently released a composite sketch asking for the public’s help in identifying the person. McKay’s extended family said it looked like him and they reported him missing Aug. 4, according to the police news release.

Little Grand Rapids RCMP and the medical examiner’s office are still investigating.

imageTagFull

The Manitoba government has extended the provincewide state of emergency for COVID-19 for 30 days.

"A state of emergency allows the government to take quick action to support Manitobans when they need it most," the province said in a release on Thursday.

The state of emergency was declared on March 20 to enable the provincial government to respond to the emergence of COVID-19 cases. It has been extended for a 30-day period six times. 

The declaration is made according to the Emergency Measures Act, which spells out measures the government can take, including restrictions and lockdowns.

The Winnipeg High School Football League has announced it is postponing the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The league now plans to collaborate with Football Manitoba, the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association and participating school divisions with the goal of staging a season in the spring of 2021.

Thirteen new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Manitoba. Public health officials said they originally had 15 new cases, but two were removed because one was from out of province and the other turned out to be a duplication. 

Nine of the new cases are Winnipeg, and two earch are in Interlake-Eastern, Prairie Mountain and Southern health regions.

Officials advised that wearing a non-medical mask is now mandatory for children aged nine and older attending child-care facilities, including home-based child care, as of Sept. 8.  Child-care providers are also required to wear masks.  

They reported two potential public exposures to COVID-19: 

• Sept. 1 to 3 at Lilac Resort near Ste. Anne; Sept. 5,
• Air Canada flight AC 295 departing from Winnipeg to Vancouver (rows 19 to 25)

On Wednesday, 1,173 lab tests were completed. The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 1.2 per cent.

Winnipeg Goldeyes’ first baseman Kyle Martin has been voted to the American Association Postseason All-Star Team.

Martin is hitting .296 with 14 home runs and 48 RBI, while starting all of the Goldeyes’ 59 games this season. The Greenville, South Carolina native is also second among qualifying first baseman with a .992 fielding percentage.

The Postseason All-Star Team was voted on by field managers, executives, and media members associated with all 12 American Association clubs. Additional season awards will be announced in the coming days.

Manitoba senator Murray Sinclair will receive the Adrienne Clarkson Prize for Global Citizenship at a virtual ceremony held Sept. 23. 

The award is given out annually by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship to a leader whose life work has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to the ideals of belonging and inclusion, according to a release. Previous recipients include the Aga Khan, Ai Weiwei, General Romeo Dallaire and Margaret Atwood.

Sinclair served as a judge in Manitoba and was chief commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He was appointed to the Senate in 2016.

“Murray Sinclair’s life and work are an outstanding example of what it means to be a human being and to contribute to the place in which you live,” former Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson said in a release.

"In a sense, the word citizenship doesn’t even begin to encompass what his life stands for. He has marked and changed our society and as we all know, he continues to do so. He has helped us to understand, to learn and to hope.”

The Manitoba Ombudsman has launched an investigation into a privacy breach affecting 9,000 children who are clients of DisABILITY Services. 

The provincial families department sent an email containing children’s personal health information, including name, birthday, disability and psychological assessments, to 100 unintended recipients connected to service agencies and community advocates. 

Manitoba Families reported the privacy breach to the ombudsman and under the Personal Health Information Act, the ombudsman may investigate and make recommendations to monitor and ensure compliance with the act.

The review will include ensuring the department takes all reasonable steps to respond to the breach and implement necessary safeguards to protect the privacy of children and their families.

Any person affected by the breach can make a complaint to the ombudsman. More information is available at www.ombudsman.mb.ca/info/making-a-complaint-1.html or by calling 1-800-665-0531.

Oxford House RCMP say it seized more than $14,000 in cash and 60 grams of cocaine during a raid at a home in the community. 

On Sept. 4, Mounties with a warrant searched the residence as part of a drug trafficking investigation and found the contraband drugs and paraphernalia. 

A 24-year-old woman was arrested on scene and since released from custody.

She will face charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime and is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 24.

Two suspects from The Pas have been charged with manufacturing firearms. 

Mounties say Canada Border Services Agency reached out to police in The Pas in August after intercepting a silencer that was being “smuggled” into the country. 

On Sept. 1 and 2, RCMP executed two search warrants at a home on Reader Street in The Pas.

Police say evidence seized indicated the manufacturing of firearms and silencers was being conducted in the house. Police also seized two handguns, two long guns, eight silencers, two 3D printers, ammunition and firearm parts. 

Police arrested Patsy Shawaga, 49, and laid charges of firearms manufacturing, unauthorized importation of a firearm silencer, possession of a loaded restricted or prohibited firearm and possession of an unauthorized firearm.

Trent Swanson, 49, is charged with two counts of firearms manufacturing, manufacturing a silencer, and a raft of other charges.

Another six events for 2020-21 have been shelved owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, Curling Canada announced Thursday.

The list of cancelled events inclues: Continental Cup, inaugural U15 Rockfest, Canadian U18 and U21 championships, Canadian wheelchair championships and U SPORTS/Canadian Colleges championships.

There was no news on the Brier in Kelowna, B.C., or Scotties in Thunder Bay, Ont., nor was there a status update on the world men’s championship slated for Ottawa in April, Canada Cup or the Canadian mixed doubles championship.

The Manitoba government is partnering with a community foundation to support the Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre.

Premier Brian Pallister announced a contribution of $6 million for the fund, which is expected to generate about $270,000 annually. This represents a 20 per cent increase over the previous provincial operating grant.

The new endowment funding model will provide permanent, stable funding to support the interpretive centre, the government said. Earlier this year the province committed $1.5 million for facility upgrades.

Located east of Stonewall, Oak Hammock Marsh is a 36-square-kilometre marsh featuring a restored prairie marsh, aspen-oak bluff, artesian springs and some of Manitoba’s last remaining patches of tall-grass prairie.

Clad in cloth masks, anxious teenagers showed up to Churchill High School Thursday morning — hours after news broke a peer who visited the building earlier this week had tested positive for COVID-19.

Public health alerted the public late Wednesday that a Grade 7 student in Room 20 attended school while asymptomatic on Sept. 8. The risk of community transmission is deemed low, given the building’s mask and physical distancing policies. 

“I expected it was going to happen at some point, just not that early,” said Jakeb Taylor, a Grade 8 student at Churchill, before the bell rang Thursday. 

Taylor said he felt uneasy returning to school because Grade 7 and 8 students share a hallway. He added he plans to be extra careful at school now and keep his distance from students outside of his close friend bubble. 

Chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin and Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen will hold a COVID-19 media update today.

At the 1 p.m. press conference, Roussin is expected to address the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in a Manitoba public school since classes resumed Tuesday.

Late Wednesday afternoon, public health officials announced a Grade 7 student who attended Churchill High School on Tuesday had been diagnosed with COVID-19. 

The student was not showing symptoms and was wearing a mask while at the Fort Rouge high school, according to public health.

An employee at a Red River Co-op gas station in Stonewall has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. 

The staff member last worked Sept. 3 at the location at 491 4th Street E. The positive test result was reported Sept. 9. 

Employees who had close contact with the individual have been told to seek advice from Health Links, the co-op said, and the gas station was temporarily closed for deep cleaning.

A little more than a third of Manitoba voters would be comfortable heading out to vote should a federal election be triggered, a poll by the Angus Reid Institute suggests. 

The poll asked voters how comfortable they’d feel going to a polling place given the COVID-19 pandemic. In Manitoba, 39 per cent said they would be completely comfortable and 33 per cent said more comfortable than uncomfortable. 

Canada wide, 43 per cent of respondents said they’re completely comfortable heading out to vote, and broken down by political leaning, Tory supporters were the most comfortable leaving their homes to mark a ballot.

The poll was conducted Aug. 26 to 30 among a representative randomized sample of 5,005 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum.

Firefighters put out a blaze at a vacant three-storey duplex on Disraeli Street Wednesday evening.

Crews were called to the 0-100 block of Disraeli Street at 9:33 p.m. and found a heavy smoke coming from the house. By 9:57 p.m. the fire was brought under control.

Crews searched the building and did not find anyone inside. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.