Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 30, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B1 JOIN US FOR AN EVENING IN SUPPORT OF MANITOBANS WITH DISABILITIES SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015 CLUB REGENT EVENT CENTRE ? ...... ........ ...................... ........ ................ .. .......... ............................ Mr./ Mrs./ Ms./ Miss Phone Address City/ Town Province Postal Code Email Address PAYMENT: .. ............ .............. .... ...... ................................ ............ ................ .. MASTERCARD .. VISA CARD #: _________/_________/_________/_________ EXPIRY: ___/___ SIGNATURE: ____________________________________________________ ........ ...... .............. .................. .............. .................. .... ...... ...... .. .......... ................ .. .............. .. ...................................... .. .......... .................. ................ .. .................. .. .................... .. ................ ............ Innovation boost / B6 CITY & BUSINESS CITY EDITOR: SHANE MINKIN 204- 697- 7292 I CITY. DESK@ FREEPRESS. MB. CA I WINNIPEGFREEPRESS. COM THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2015 B 1 O NE never knows from where or from whom the next big story will arrive. Last week, in what could be a first, the Free Press received a letter to the editor purportedly penned by a cat. A cat crying out for help. But not just for himself. For his owner, too. Please read on. Hi. My name is Tusk Normand. I am a caregiving cat. My owner suffers from chronic back pain, anxiety and depression, all from an injury he received in 2001. His doctor wrote him a note to give to his landlord allowing him to get a pet for support and companionship. The building he lives in is full of senior citizens and people with disabilities. Some of them already have pets. The first cat that my owner got was a blackand- white called Sarah. She passed away after a short period, unfortunately. That same day, unable to bear being without a companion, he went and picked me up from the Winnipeg Humane Society. We have been together for quite a while now. I really enjoy the food he brings me, and he lets me have the run of the place. Life has been really good. Up until now. Now the building that he lives in wants to kick me out. Just because I'm not the blackand- white cat he originally got. My job is still the same as the other cat's job, and my owner's condition hasn't changed much whatsoever. A lot of the people here are like my owner, they need someone or something for support and comfort. When you live a life of pain and discomfort, a little comfort can go a long ways. We do not want to leave our home. So if there is anyone out there who can help in any way, please let us know. Help, as I would learn after contacting the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, was already on the way. But before I called the commission I phoned Tusk's human companion. Frank Normand is 47 and on social assistance. He had been a long- distance truck driver until a heavy piece of furniture he was hauling fell on him. Spinal surgery followed, after which Normand said his doctor recommended he find a companion. " Before I got the cat, I was emotionally lost. Distraught and everything," Normand said. Tusk provides more than companionship, though. " My pet is my family, man. There are days when I can't get out of bed. I'm laying there in pain and agony, and the only comfort I've got is my cat laying on my chest. Purring at me. That's comfort." The problem for Normand and Tusk is the landlord of the highrise where they live in St. Vital has designated the place " no pets" permitted. The landlord is Edison Properties. " I really don't comment on individual cases," said Frank Koch- Schulte, the vice- president of Edison Properties. He cited privacy concerns as the reason. Hence he didn't say, one way or the other, whether Edison will accommodate Normand and Tusk staying together. THE Royal Winnipeg Ballet says it had no knowledge of allegations of inappropriate conduct against one of its veteran instructors until police got involved. The RWB has completed an internal investigation into accusations by former students against 28- year RWB dance instructor and photographer Bruce Monk, and found its staff didn't know anything about them until after police informed the renowned ballet company of an ongoing investigation into nude photos of young dancers, said RWB executive director Jeff Herd. The Winnipeg Police Service has been investigating Monk since January, looking into accusations he photographed nude or partially nude dancers who may have been underage. The investigation is still active, police said, but no criminal charges have been laid. " We should not be investigating Bruce, specifically. We should be investigating our own environment. What we did find here is that people were not aware of this going on, and we've even looked at some people who had worked here in the past who were not aware of it, as well," Herd said. The RWB placed Monk on paid administrative leave Jan. 8, after police informed staff of the investigation and fired Monk in April after Maclean 's magazine detailed the accusations against him in a cover story that said five former ballet dancers had gone to police about photos taken in the 1980s and 1990s. In a followup, the magazine reported more former students had come forward. According to Maclean 's, Monk called the accusations " ridiculous." Herd said the RWB has heard from a couple of former students who shared second- hand information about what they had heard over the years. " We've heard from some of the students - somewhat anecdotally, not directly - when there's been an anecdote about ( the allegations); we've asked them if they don't want to tell us anything, certainly to contact the police, and we believe that has happened." Herd said he had read in media reports at least one alleged victim said the school had been informed, " but we did not find that here." The school has not made changes to its policies in the wake of the accusations, but Herd said it will continue to review its policies. " We have pretty strict policies about our relationship with our students and things like that. We believe they cover the grounds that this would encompass, but we will look and see if we have to add anything to it to be more blatant." Police gave the RWB enough information about the broad scope of the allegations, without compromising the criminal investigation, for the school to conduct the internal review, Herd said, " but the rest, I think, is between the Crown and Bruce." " We took the action we took. Bruce is no longer with us, and the information that we were given allowed us to do our internal investigation. We're satisfied that we have our checks and balances in place," he added. " I'm sure if there was anything else, the police would let us know so we could investigate it further. So I don't know that I'm expecting anything different, but of course if we ever did hear anything different, we would pursue and follow up appropriately." Child pornography wasn't defined in Canada's Criminal Code until 1993, and charges can't be laid retroactively for offences committed before then. katie. may@ freepress. mb. ca By Katie May Bruce Monk Jeff Herd No prior word of misconduct allegations: RWB Rules on ' comfort animals' THE Manitoba Human Rights Commission recently established guidelines for landlords accommodating tenants who require " comfort animals" for their well- being. This is an excerpt from those guidelines: Many people rely on animals for comfort or companionship because of things like their age or disability. These tenants, or potential tenants, may request that a landlord accommodate their need to live with their animal. A landlord is entitled to ask the tenant or potential tenant for medical or other information about the need to live with the animal, to assess whether it would be reasonable to allow the person to live with their animal. A landlord is entitled to ask if the animal is trained to behave appropriately in an apartment or similar housing environment. If the tenant can establish a need, rather than a " want" to live with their animal, he or she should be permitted to live with their animal, unless doing so would cause an unreasonable risk to the health and safety of others. It will be extremely rare that it would be reasonable to deny a person the ability to live with their comfort/ companion animal in an individual unit. A landlord can request that the tenant or potential tenant produce a medical note confirming that the person must rely on the animal for an age- or disability- related need. If the tenant or potential tenant is allowed to live with their comfort or companion animal, they should not be charged an additional fee. Pet deposits should not be applied to comfort or companion animals. Landlords should have a policy that sets out a process for accepting requests for accommodation, obtaining further information and assessing whether or not allowing the person to live with their animal would cause the landlord an undue hardship. - source: Manitoba Human Rights Commission Trying to take away special friend JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Frank Normand, a 47- year- old former long- distance trucker on disability, with his cat Tusk. Apartment seeks to bar cat that helps man cope GORDON SINCLAIR JR. Continued Please see CAT B 2 B_ 01_ Jul- 30- 15_ FP_ 01. indd B1 7/ 29/ 15 8: 25: 14 PM ;