Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 19, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B4 B 4 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2014 MANITOBA winnipegfreepress. com SIX- TIME Olympic speedskating medallist Cindy Klassen flies to the Holy Land today to help launch the largest indoor sports facility in the West Bank territory. Winnipeg- raised Klassen, 34, will speak at a symposium called Empowering Women Through Sports on March 1 at the Dar Al Kalima University College in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, where she will present a personal testimony on sports as a tool of empowerment. The symposium is part of the official opening of Dar Al Kalima Sports Hall, which includes the Diyar Women's Sports Centre, a dedicated space for girls and women to play sports, attend fitness classes and other physical and mental- health activities. " I am just so honoured. It's an incredible privilege to be able to go there and to be able to speak into these women's lives," Klassen said in a telephone interview from Toronto, where she will leave today with members of Canadian Lutheran World Relief ( CLWR), which provided financial support for the facility's construction. The Diyar Consortium, a local Lutheran- based organization, will administer the facility for women. " I can't begin to understand what their lives are like, but I just hope that somehow, through my story and what I've gone through, that there is little bits that I hope can inspire them," Klassen said. " I know this gym that is being built for them is going to be such a platform for them to be able to participate in sports and grow in confidence and other opportunities. I'm still blown away to be able to go there and be a part of this." Klassen will be part of the CLWR's Global Encounter to the Holy Land, a 13- day tour that will include visits to other projects associated with CLWR in the region, the old city of Jerusalem and participate in a religious pilgrimage to other parts of the West Bank. " It's always been a dream of mine to go to the Holy Land. I'm so grateful to God for this opportunity and to be able to walk where Jesus walked is going to be really special," Klassen said. She recently came on board with CLWR through her Winnipeg roots. The CLWR program director is Elaine Peters whose husband, Don Peters, was one of Klassen's former high school teachers and principal at Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute. Klassen is contemplating her competitive future and has put her speedskating career on hold. She was unable to participate in the qualification process for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi due to effects from a concussion she suffered last summer while in- line skating. Concussion symptoms kept her from training in the months leading up to qualification. - with files from Gary Lawless ashley. prest@ freepress. mb. ca Klassen to help launch sports facility in West Bank By Ashley Prest T HE risk of severe spring flooding in southern Manitoba is low, but there's a big condition attached - winter is far from over. The preliminary flood outlook provided by the province Tuesday is in keeping with what officials in North Dakota and Saskatchewan have already said in the past few weeks on the potential for spring flooding. With February more than half over, Manitoba's flood forecast centre has said based on what it knows now, the flood potential appears to be significantly below that of 2011 and 2013. The province's first official flood outlook will be near the end of the month. " It's still very early," Premier Greg Selinger said. " What happens in March and April has a significant impact on what kind of flooding we get, how quick the melt is, how much additional precipitation we get." Selinger said working in the province's favour is soil conditions were dry going into winter, which increases the likelihood of more runoff from melting snow being absorbed. Soil moisture conditions in the Red River Valley were below normal in Manitoba and normal in most parts of the U. S. The same conditions are seen to the west along the Qu'Appelle River, which is mostly below normal. The Saskatchewan River is below normal to normal and the Assiniboine River shows near- normal to above- normal conditions. The Souris River, which empties into the Assiniboine, is near normal to above normal. " There wasn't the kind of saturation that we saw in 2011," Selinger said, referring to a year of record flooding along the Assiniboine River. Saskatchewan's Water Security Agency said last week most of that province will see nearnormal runoff this spring. Fall precipitation in the 30 days before freeze- up was generally below normal in most of Saskatchewan and winter precipitation was below average in the southeast. In North Dakota, the National Weather Service has said while the snowpack is near longterm normals, ranging from 20 centimetres in the far south to more than half a metre in the far north and northeast, snow moisture is somewhat less than long- term normals mostly due to the cold, dry winter air masses experienced this winter. Colder air has fluffier snow, but less moisture. Selinger said the province has hired a new chief flood forecaster to replace Phillip Mutulu, who left last August after six years with the province to work for Stantec Consulting in Calgary. Selinger made his comments as three of the province's four ice- breaking machines and ice cutters started on their second week of work on the Red River north of Selkirk. The goal is to smash ice for about 25 kilometres to the mouth of Lake Winnipeg so it breaks up quickly in the spring thaw and reduces the chances of huge ice jams to the south that cause sudden, overland flooding. This is the eighth spring the Amphibex ice breakers have been deployed. bruce. owen@ freepress. mb. ca T HE Selinger government has set aside $ 100 million as a down payment to rebuild homes and infrastructure in four Interlake First Nations ravaged by flooding in 2011. The announcement Tuesday came on the heels of a similar commitment by the federal government this past Friday. Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister Eric Robinson said the money will help address past and future claims with respect to flood damages caused by the operation of the Fairford River Water Control Structure. The four First Nations - Lake St. Martin, Little Saskatchewan, Dauphin River and Pinaymootang - are all downstream of the control structure, which was built in 1961 to regulate Lake Manitoba water levels. The federal government says 1,888 First Nations residents are still displaced by the 2011 flood. More than 1,600 of them are from the four First Nations. Lake St. Martin and Little Saskatchewan residents need new homes on new land, while the other two communities require a combination of new homes and better flood protection on their existing reserves. Robinson said the two senior levels of government have made progress in negotiating a permanent solution with each of the First Nations. Ottawa will pay 60 per cent of the costs, he said, while the province will pick up the other 40 per cent. " I think this will be welcome news that we are making progress," he said of the financial commitment. " It's been way too long that the people have been away from their communities. And, obviously, they want some feeling of being settled again, and we're working towards that." However, the announcement caught leaders of at least two of the First Nations by surprise on Tuesday. " I wonder why we weren't invited ( to the announcement). Usually, we're invited for something like that," said John Sanderson, a band councillor with Pinaymootang First Nation. " I didn't know anything about it," said Chief Adrian Sinclair of Lake St. Martin First Nation. Sinclair said he was told by a federal official a month ago a funding announcement was in the works but he wasn't told the amount. He was reading the provincial government's press release when a reporter called him for comment. " I don't really want to make any statement right now," Sinclair said. He said he wished to meet with his council and seek legal advice before commenting. In April 2012, a handful of residents from all four First Nations filed a $ 950- million classaction lawsuit against the province, alleging the government deliberately flooded their communities. Their statement of claim said the province " knowingly and recklessly" caused the disaster in their communities by diverting too much water into Lake Manitoba in the spring of 2011. It also alleges the province failed to provide them with sufficient warning. larry. kusch@ freepress. mb. ca Hope floats for a better year Money to help rebuild First Nations By Larry Kusch By Bruce Owen Flood risk in Manitoba low, for now SCAN PAGE TO SEE AMPHIBEX IN ACTION WATERFIGHT V ID E O A T - 4 0 The whole story... AND MORE Use Blippar. There's more to the story above embedded in this page. WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS One of three Amphibex ice- breaking machines heads out on the Red River north of Selkirk Tuesday morning in an effort to reduce the threat of ice jams later. 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