Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 24, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba A4 Winnipeg free press thursday june 24, 2004 Brandon officer wont be charged in alleged assault Man vows to press on with complaint b Randon ? police say they will not Lay criminal charges against one of their members in an alleged assault on the 18-year-old son of Brandon mayor Dave Burgess a move that has the Young Man reacting with disappointment and disbelief. But Ryan Burgess and his lawyer Are vowing to press on with the complaint they be already filed with the Law enforcement review Agency regarding the March 7 incident outside a downtown hotel. I have five witnesses saying that there was excessive Force used when i did to use any Force at All Ryan said yesterday. If it was me who was hitting someone else i feel for sure that i would have been charged with assault. With the police they seem to say they were just doing their Brandon police spokesman sgt. Rick Semler declined to comment on the Deci Sion saying police View such matters As an everyday part of doing police finished their own internal inquiry into the alleged assault in the last couple of months. The decision not to Lay charges came following an Independent review of the file by the depart ment of Justice. In the complaint letter filed with lera Ryan Burgess said he was hang ing around in the Post closing crowd outside the Canadian inn at around 2 . On March 7, after leaving the Gravity nightclub. Police were already on the scene when Burgess saw from behind a railing an altercation Between a Friend of his and an older Man. A fight broke out Between the two and Burgess said police moved in immediately to break it up. When Burgess tried see if his Friend was All right he claims a police officer shoved him. Annoyed Burgess claimed he said to the officer what the of a Are you doing though not angrily or aggressively. The officer then reached Over and grabbed Burgess by his shirt the complaint alleged. He punched me either three or four times in my face. I did not retaliate in any Way the com plaint said. His blows landed on my nose forehead and jaw. My nose began bleeding badly blooding my face and dripping on the White Hoodie that i was wearing at the several policemen immediately intervened and separated Burgess and the officer Burgess alleged with one of the officers restraining him from behind. Five witnesses to the alleged assault Are named in the complaint letter. Burgess said he was then taken to a police Cruiser and handcuffed. He recalled blood dripping from his nose onto the Hood of the police car. While being detained at Brandon police service Headquarters Burgess was told he was being charged with act ing disorderly in a licensed premise under the liquor control act. Burgess said he had been drinking that night but was not intoxicated at the time of the incident. He said he suffered from a bruised jaw and forehead As Well As a headache for several Days after the alleged incident. Richard Lonstrup Burgesss lawyer said he does to know Why the review did it arrive at a recommendation of a criminal charge. I think there was enough there to justify a criminal charge Lonstrup said. I disagree with the conclusion and we re certainly very disappointed about it. But we re still expecting that there will be account ability for the event. If it can to be through the criminal Justice system we expect it will be through Lonstrup added he would have preferred to pursue the complaint through the criminal courts rather than lera because a criminal charge demonstrates Public disapproval of someone a actions. The lera investigation was put on hold while a criminal charge against the officer was being considered. ? Brandon Sun tories continued from Page a1 Mackay said the fact nip support has jumped six percentage Points since 2000 leaves the party in Good position to hold seats like Winnipeg North and Winnipeg Centre. In those closely contested races where the nip Are involved i would give them those seats so lets give Judy was lycia leis her seat and Pat Martin his seat Mackay said. Although the tories Are ahead province wide and the nip has the momentum the liberals remain in front in the City. Liberal support in Winnipeg is at 37 per cent ? Down from 38 per cent in 2000 ? while the nip and conservatives Are tied at 29 per cent. But probes poll shows a pronounced Liberal drop in Rural areas. There the party is Down to 20 per cent compared to 25 per cent in the 2000 election. The conservatives have the support of 48 per cent of Rural Manitoban while the Blaikie said the surge in nip support Quebec while the Green party had 4ndp is up seven Points to 23 per cent. Should not Only allow the party to hold per cent the poll suggested. It found the conservatives liberals and its four seats but also make gains. 20 per cent of voters were undecided. Nip All said probes findings Mirror i think Judy and Pat will be Fine the poll conducted by their internal tracking shows. And what is More interesting is Kildo and released yesterday surveyed it confirms what we Are expert Nan St. Paul or Selkirk Interlake 1,500 adults including 1,444 eligible fencing at the Doorstep said Conser where you have either three Way voters from june 17 to june 22. It Isva Tive spokesman Michael Richards. Races or two Way races with the nip considered accurate to within 2.5 per Richards said the conservatives will in there said Blaikie Elmwood cent age Points 19 times out of 20. Use a Winnipeg rally tomorrow Star Transcona. In the key heartland of Ontario Thering Harper to try to make gains in the latest National opinion poll Sug liberals led the other parties with 40target seats held by the liberals such gets that the liberals and conserva per cent support compared to 35 Peras Charleswood St. James Assiniboia. Tives Are in a dead heat each with 33 cent for the conservatives and 19 per Treasury Board president Reg per cent of the decided voters less than cent for the new democrats. Alcock took Comfort in the fact his lib a week before the june 28 election. Reals have Only dropped a Point with. the nip had the support of 18 per in Winnipeg since the 2000 Campaign. Cent and the bloc quebecois had 11 nip parliamentary Leader Bill ? with files from Canadian press per cent nationally and 50 per cent in population continued from Page a1 Between january and March this year Manitoba gained a net total of 172 people who moved Here from other provinces. The net inter provincial migration lev Els Over the last two years have been the Best in 18 years. The increased number of people Mak ing Manitoba Home in the first Quarter of 2004 also includes 1,542 immigrants ? nearly half of whom came in under the provinces popular provincial nominee program which matches newcomers to particular skills or jobs. The numbers reinforce a trend that has seen the province Register Popula Tion increases Over the last few years. According to statistics Canada 4,761 More people came to Manitoba than left in the last 12 months. This is a nearly 72 per cent improvement Over the Previ Ous 12-month period when a net 2,777 people moved to the province. The last 12-month period represents the Best net inflow since 1983, when it was 5,807. Industry economic development and mines minister Scott Smith called the numbers he attributed the net increase to the provincial nominee program and Mani Tobas Strong Economy. We have Low unemployment and a lot of opportunities he said. Manitoba is affordable and there Are More full time jobs Avail Able than Smith said much of the growth in Immi Gration has been Industry driven. He said manufacturers in the Winkler Morden and Steinbach areas have used the Nom Inee program to staff their plants. Charles Loewen of Loewen windows in Steinbach said his company has hired 200 employees this year Many of them immigrants. When his company initially considered using the provincial nominee program to increase its workforce Loewen figured it would add a couple dozen employees. We be hired Well Over 100 in the last three years he said. Its been very helpful to us. We can still use earlier this month a Calgary based think tank praised Manitoba for devel Oping a sound approach to attracting employable immigrants and suggested it be copied by other provinces. Vien Huynh a policy analyst with the Canada West foundation said the doer government has developed partnerships with Community and ethnic groups that make attraction settlement and retention of immigrants easier. More than 8,000 provincial nominees have arrived in Manitoba since the pro Grams inception five years ago and the goal is to bring it up to 10,000 a year by 2006. In the last 12 months Manitoba welcomed 6,985 International immigrants representing a 50.7 per cent increase Over the 4,635 immigrants who moved to Manitoba in the previous 12 months. The last time Manitoba enjoyed such a Large volume of immigrants was 23 years ago when 7,269 people came to the province from other countries. Graham Starmer of the Manitoba chamber of Commerce said the net increase in migration is a Good thing for Manitoba. But he said he a like to see the numbers Analysed to determine who is coming Here and Why so the province can More specifically target programs to fur ther increase the population and attract those whose particular skills Are in demand. On april 1, 2004, Manitoba a Popula Tion was estimated at 1,168,349, an increase of 8,432 from a year before. In the last 12 months Manitoba had the fourth highest population growth rate among the provinces. ;