Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 16, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A4 NEWS A4 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2014 Man lured pre- teen WINNIPEG police are searching for a man who tried to lure a 12- year- old girl into his vehicle Friday. The man trailed the girl in a dark- coloured vehicle in the area of Portage Avenue and Berry Street at about 8: 15 a. m., police say. He reportedly pulled up behind her and called out, offering her a ride. Police said no physical contact was made, but the girl was frightened and fled into a nearby business for help. She described the man as white, in his 30s, wearing oval glasses. He wore a dark green hoodie underneath a dark jacket. He was driving a dark green sport utility vehicle, possibly an older model Chevrolet Blazer. Anyone with information is asked to call District 2 detectives at 204- 986- 2877. St. James store robbed TWO men showed no love for the law on Valentine's Day when they robbed a St. James convenience store. Police say two male suspects knocked over a store in the 2300 block of Ness Avenue just before 5 a. m. Friday, pushing their way around the counter and taking numerous items. One of the suspects was described as armed. He confronted the male clerk on duty but there were no injuries. Both suspects were described as small and slight, about 5- 5. They fled with an undisclosed amount of merchandise. The Winnipeg police major crimes unit is investigating the case. Anyone with information is asked to call 204- 986- 6219 or Crime Stoppers at 204- 786- TIPS ( 8477). Stove to blame for blaze A small stove is thought to be the cause of a fire that destroyed a semi- trailer loaded with groceries and bound for Calgary, Stonewall RCMP say. The truck was parked overnight on Inkster Boulevard on the outskirts of Winnipeg in the R. M. of Rosser. When police and emergency personnel arrived on the scene, at about 4 a. m. Friday, it was too late for the trailer, which was fully engulfed. The 42- year- old driver was taken to hospital with non- life threatening injuries. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, however, it is believed to have been caused by a small stove being operated inside the truck's cab. LOCAL In Brief L AS VEGAS, Nev. - Oscar- nominated Canadian actress Ellen Page has come out as gay, declaring hiding her sexuality has caused her years of suffering. Page went public Friday night in Las Vegas during an emotional speech to the Time to Thrive conference - an LGBT ( lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual) youth event sponsored by the gay advocacy group Human Rights Campaign. The 26- year- old Halifax native said she was " tired of lying by omission," and her fear of coming out had caused her spirit, mental health and relationships to suffer. The audience stood and applauded when she told the conference " I'm here today because I'm gay, and maybe I can make a difference to help others have an easier and more hopeful time." Page said she felt she'd been put in a difficult position by a film industry that places " crushing standards" on actors. " Standards of beauty, of a good life, of success. Standards that I hate to admit, affected me," she said. The star of such hit movies as Juno , Inception and X- Men said all people, regardless of their sexuality, " Deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame and without compromise." Page won the hearts of moviegoers, and also an Oscar nomination, playing a pregnant teenager in Juno . Jennie King, director of sales and marketing for Neptune Theatre in Page's hometown, said the local film and theatre community was celebrating the actress on Saturday. " It's really inspiring to know that the community is standing behind her," said King. " She's sort of set herself free to go and liberate herself and take on wonderful new projects and be a spokesperson... for our city and for other young people that are experiencing the same kind of challenges." Twitter users responded to Page's coming out speech with tweets describing it as " inspiring," " beautiful," " moving," and " awesome." House of Cards star Kate Mara tweeted " Hey ( at) EllenPage... Be my Valentine?" Page's speech was linked through her Facebook page and had received more than 28,500 likes, and nearly 3,000 comments and shares by mid- morning on Saturday. Many commenters praised Page for coming out, with one suggesting Page's speech should be " played at every high school in North America." - The Canadian Press TORONTO - The head of an agency tracking pig health says a deadly virus that has hit swine farms in at least two provinces would be spreading more swiftly throughout the country if it weren't for stricter measures taken after a U. S. outbreak. Canadian Swine Health Board executive director Robert Harding said the emergence of porcine epidemic diarrhea in the United States last May gave the pig industry and governments here a " heads up" that, along with more vigilant farm practices in recent years, has helped minimize its impact thus far. " If we didn't have the detailed focus on biosecurity in Canada, within the Canadian industry, I think it's pretty evident that this disease would already have spread right across the country," he said Saturday. The highly contagious virus has killed millions of piglets in the United States but poses no risk to human health or safety. It first emerged in Canada less than a month ago at a southwestern Ontario pig farm. A pair of new cases confirmed Friday have raised Ontario's total to 16 affected farms, while this week has also seen a suspected case on Prince Edward Island and one confirmed instance of the virus in Manitoba. Harding said while it wasn't a given PED would reach Canadian barns, the extent of its spread here so far has been less than many had expected. " The question is... how did Canada keep it out for so long? Because there's a lot of integrated parts of our industries back- and- forth across the border with Canada and the U. S." He said while it's not clear just how the virus got into Canada, one way the disease can spread is through the vehicles carrying swine to and from farms - a vector that has been a focus in the battle against PED. Pig- hauling trucks are being thoroughly washed before rolling onto farms, while even boots and clothing worn outside are being swapped for farm- only pairs, as PED can be carried in manure. Such precautions are impeding the virus, and with relatively few cases " we still have an opportunity to win this battle," said Harding, whose watchdog group is composed of pork industry and veterinarian associations. The provinces and Ottawa are working together to tighten biosecurity efforts and share information, while the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is letting veterinarians import a special emergency vaccine. " The game plan now moving forward is every province is stronger in their resolve to do what we have to do to make sure this doesn't spread any further," Harding said. " Each of these individual cases is being looked at with the goal of being able to contain and then eliminate the disease." - The Canadian Press U. S. outbreak of pig virus gave Canada heads up By Will Campbell Actress Page ' tired of lying' Announces she's gay in emotional speech at youth conference ' I'm here today because I'm gay, and maybe I can make a difference to help others' VANSCOY, Sask. - Dozens of workers at a potash mine in Saskatchewan are safe after a fire broke out a kilometre underground and forced them to spend the night in emergency shelters. More than 50 people were forced to seek refuge in shelters at the Agrium facility near Vanscoy after the fire started during a shift Friday night. The site's general manager, Mike Dirham, said the fire started on a scoop tram, which is a type of underground loader. Dirham said the tram has a fire suppression system but it couldn't extinguish the flames. At that point, Dirham said the miners headed for the shelters to escape the smoke. " There is food and water and telephones in there where we can communicate with the people in each shelter. They vary in size from a capacity of holding 10 people to a capacity of 60 people," Dirham said, noting miners don't need to wear masks while they're inside. " They're a self- contained shelter. They just need to go in and close the doors and wait for emergency response personnel." Dirham said an emergency response team headed into the mine and put the fire out. The mine was then ventilated to clear the smoke, but it was still several more hours before the air was considered safe enough for emergency crews to escort everyone to the surface. All of the workers were out by Saturday afternoon, and there were no injuries. Dirham said the cause of the fire is under investigation and underground operations will remain suspended until it is deemed safe to resume. About 650 people work at the mine, which is approximately 30 kilometres southwest of Saskatoon. - The Canadian Press Sask. miners rush to shelters after fire breaks out ABUJA, Nigeria - A mob armed with wooden clubs and iron bars, screaming they were going to " cleanse" their neighbourhood of gay people, dragged 14 young men from their beds and assaulted them, human rights activists said Saturday. Four of the victims were marched to a police station, where they allegedly were kicked and punched by police officers who yelled pejoratives at them, said Ifeanyi Orazulike of the International Center on Advocacy for the Right to Health. Police threatened the men would be incarcerated for 14 years, he said, the maximum prison sentence under Nigeria's new Same Sex Marriage ( Prohibition) Act, dubbed the " Jail the Gays" law. Activists have warned the law could trigger attacks such as the one perpetrated in the early hours of Thursday morning in Abuja, the capital of Africa's most populous nation. Mob justice is common in Nigeria, and civil rights organizations have been warning for years of an increase in community violence and the government's failure to curb acts in which people have been beaten to death for perceived crimes such as theft. " Since the Same Sex Marriage ( Prohibition) Act was signed, we have expressed concern as a friend of Nigeria that it might be used by some to justify violence against Nigerians based on their sexual orientation," the U. S. Embassy said in a statement Friday. " Recent attacks in Abuja deepen our concern on this front." The police spokeswoman for the Federal Capital Territory, Deputy Superintendent Altine Daniel, said she was unaware of the attack. Orazulike said he got a panicked email from a colleague who said he was hiding from a mob of 40 people who struck around 1 a. m. Thursday, going from house to house saying their mission was " to cleanse" the area of gays. He said they used pieces of wood and iron to beat up 14 young men. Orazulike said he drove from his home at 4 a. m. Thursday to save the man in Gishiri, a shantytown with mud roads near central Abuja. Those attacked are in hiding and too scared to speak to reporters, he said, recounting their story. " They were told ' If you come back, we will kill you.' " The walls of houses where the men lived have been painted with graffiti declaring " Homosexuals, pack and leave," he said. The New York- based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission condemned the attack and warned, " It is important that people understand that this kind of violence can happen to anyone and that the government seems to have abdicated its responsibility to protect people from violence and impunity." - The Associated Press JEFF BOTTARI / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Ellen Page said during her speech at the Human Rights Campaign's Time to Thrive Conference her fear of coming out had caused her grief over the years. Nigerian mob drags gays from homes By Michelle Faul A_ 04_ Feb- 16- 14_ FP_ 01. indd A4 2/ 15/ 14 8: 53: 49 PM ;