Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 7, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A3 TOP NEWS CITY EDITOR: SHANE MINKIN 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A3 MONDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2020 The latest ● More than 18,000 foreigners, most of them American, have been refused entry into Canada since border restrictions were put into place because of COVID-19. The Canada Border Services Agency said those who were turned away wanted to shop, visit family or sightsee in Canada. It issued a reminder about the travel ban. Agency statistics show 18,431 people were denied entry to Canada from March 22 to Sept. 2 because their trips were “discretionary.” Of those, 16,070 were U.S citizens. The Canada-U.S. border is to remain closed to non- essential travel until at least Sept. 21. ● The Public Health Agency of Canada expects higher demand for influenza vaccines amid a pos- sible double whammy of COVID-19 and flu infec- tions. It’s recommending provinces and territories consider alternate ways to deliver immunization programs this season. Spokeswoman Maryse Dur- ette said the agency has ordered 13 million doses of the flu vaccine compared with 11.2 million last year. A study by University of British Columbia researchers published recently in the Journal of Pediatrics suggests the COVID-19 pandemic may be motivating more parents to get their children vaccinated for flu. It found that was the case for 54 per cent of parents, up 16 percentage points from last year, among 3,000 families surveyed in Canada, the United States, Japan, Israel, Spain and Switzerland. Countries including Australia in the Southern Hemisphere have experienced lower than usual flu infections this year, likely due to COVID-19 precautions, such as mask wearing, physical distancing and higher immunization rates for flu. ● COVID-19 is the latest sign that the world has “entered a pandemic era,” immunologist Anthony S. Fauci and epidemiologist David Morens, both of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the U.S., warn in a report in the scien- tific journal Cell. The physicians write that human activity appears to be a major contributing factor in the emergence of diseases. ● Coronavirus cases are rising in 22 of the 50 U.S. states, a Reuters analysis found. Three weeks ago, cases were only rising in three states — Hawaii, Illinois and South Dakota, Reuters reported. The news agency compared cases for the two-week period of Aug. 8 to 22, with the last two weeks. Most of the 22 states that have seen an increase in cases are in the Midwest and South. As a percent- age, South Dakota has had the biggest rise over the past two weeks with an increase of 126 per cent (3,700 new cases). ● Israel is set to lock down several cities after passing the milestone of 1,000 coronavirus deaths this weekend. Israel has risen to be the fifth in the world for number of cases per capita over the last two weeks, putting the country, which has less than nine million people, ahead of Brazil and the U.S. The government will vote on the reimpos- ition of lockdown measures on around 30 of the country’s worst-hit cities on Monday. This would see schools and non-essential businesses close. While Israel initially appeared to be handling the pandemic well, deaths have tripled over the summer. ● Northeastern University in Boston dismissed 11 first-year students who gathered in a hotel room, violating the school’s social distancing guidelines and said the students’ tuition — US$36,000 each — will not be refunded. It marks one of the most severe punishments college students have faced for breaking pandemic rules. University staff members found the first-year students hanging out last week in a room at the Westin Hotel in downtown Boston, which Northeastern is using as a temporary dorm for about 800 students. Officials instructed them to take a coronavirus test, then leave campus within 24 hours. The students will be allowed back on campus in the spring. CASES MANITOBA Confirmed: 1,323 Resolved: 898 Deaths: 16 Active: 409 CANADA Confirmed: 131,894 Resolved: 116,354 Deaths: 9,154 (As of 2:45 p.m. Sunday) COVID-19 AT A GLANCE O SHAWA, Ont. — Police in Oshawa, Ont., have identified four people killed in a mass shooting early Friday morning as a father and three of his children, as they continue to seek a motive behind the carnage that took place in a family home. Durham regional police say the de- ceased are 50-year-old Chris Traynor and his children, 20-year-old Bradley Traynor, 15-year-old Adelaide Traynor and 11-year-old Joseph Traynor. A 50-year-old woman who was in- jured in the shooting is also related to the family and continues to recover in hospital. Police have identified the shooter as 48-year-old Mitchell Lapa of Winnipeg, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and say he was an “uninvited person.” Police have not yet specified Lapa’s relation to his victims, and the homicide unit is still investigating the motive be- hind the shooting. “Investigators also want to speak to anyone who knew the lone attacker, Mitchell Lapa, as they seek to under- stand the motivation and reasons for this attack,” said Durham police in a statement. “If anyone has details or background information about him, they are asked to contact their local police service or one of our lead investigators.” Condolences for the Traynor family have been pouring in on social media throughout the weekend, with many de- scribing the family as generous, caring and deeply involved in the local sports community. “The Traynor family were beloved and active members of the Oshawa community,” reads a GoFundMe page set up to support the surviving mem- bers of the family, which had raised more than $85,000 by Sunday evening. “Their acts of kindness, love and gen- erosity are unmatched. The impact the family had on everyone they touched will be forever remembered.” The Durham Catholic District School Board’s director of education offered support to students and families who knew the Traynors. “Words cannot adequately express our profound shock and deep sorrow over this terrible event,” Tracy Barill said in a statement. “As a Catholic community rooted in faith, we continue to pray for the family members and those affected most dir- ectly by this heartbreaking news.” Ken Babcock, president of Base- ball Oshawa, said Chris Traynor had coached with the program for many years, while Joseph Traynor was a member of the Legionaires rep team. “Words cannot describe the shocking and senseless tragedy that has struck our wonderful community in Oshawa and impacted our collective baseball family,” Babcock said in a statement. Neighbours had described the Traynor family as caring deeply for each other, and said they were often seen spending time playing games and doing chores together in the yard. The City of Oshawa announced that flags would be lowered to half-mast at city hall and other facilities. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends during this dif- ficult time,” Mayor Dan Carter said in a statement, while thanking police and first responders. — The Canadian Press Police ID victims of Oshawa shooting Four family members slain include father and three children; motive of Winnipegger still a mystery FRANK GUNN / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Police remove a truck with Manitoba licence plates from the front of a home on Parklane Avenue in Oshawa, Ont., on Friday. MOMENTUM is building to properly name a prominent landmark on a moun- tain in the Alberta Rockies because its commonly used nickname is racist and misogynistic. The feature, which has been known since the 1920s as Squaw’s Tit, is locat- ed near the summit on Mount Charles Stewart and can be seen from the mountain town of Canmore. Canmore lawyer Jude Daniels has been working since 2014 to find a for- mal name for the landmark. Natasha Egan, also a lawyer, joined her this spring. “(We) are just disgusted by the name,” Egan said in an interview from Calgary. “Colloquially, people call it The Tit. “So the racism was dropped, but the misogyny remains.” The word “squaw” came from the Algonquin language and once simply meant woman, but the word has become a term to disparage Indigenous women. Egan said she and Daniels, who is Métis and works with Aboriginal com- munities, have been speaking to the province and the Stoney Nakoda Nation to come up with a traditional Indigen- ous name. They would like to propose a name that honours missing and murdered In- digenous women, she said. There have been two recent attempts to officially name the landmark, but the Alberta Historical Resources Founda- tion board rejected both. Ron Kelland, a historical places re- search officer and geographical pro- gram co-ordinator with Alberta Cul- ture, said the first suggestion used the second half of the current name. “For obvious reasons, the board did not find that acceptable,” he said. Another proposal suggested the spot be called Mother’s Mountain, but Kel- land said that was also rejected because the board wanted to pursue a tradition- al or Indigenous name. “We have been engaging with the In- digenous communities of Treaty 7,” he said. “Some of the communities were actively engaged and talking to their elders and then the whole COVID thing happened.” No one from Stoney Nakoda could be reached for comment. The derogatory nickname is used in several hiking and climbing guides, on Google maps and on many trail web- sites — although Egan said it’s been changed on some. She and Daniels have been waiting for a new name before ad- dressing the issue with Google. In an email, Google said any local au- thority can request a name change or removal. The two women have recently re- ceived support from the Town of Can- more. “The name which is commonly used ... has certainly been the name that people have used since I moved to Canmore in the mid-70s,” Mayor John Borrowman said at a recent council meeting. “It’s clear and evident that the name is both racist and misogynistic.” Several other council members spoke in favour of giving the landmark an of- ficial name. “I have two daughters and it has come to their attention as children what the name of that little nub is on that little mountain,” said Coun. Joanna McCal- lum. “It was a sad, disgusting and hor- rific day when I had to explain to them what it is known as and that there is no other name for it.” Borrowman added he finds it surpris- ing the name has never been addressed. “If the Stoneys have no traditional name or no historical connection to that peak, it still needs to have a new name brought to it,” he said. Egan hopes to get similar endorse- ment from the Municipal District of Bighorn, where the mountain is located. Reeve Dene Cooper said he recently met with Daniels and expects to have a discussion with the district’s council in coming weeks. “It needs a formal name selected on the basis that all other names are se- lected,” Cooper said in an interview. “We value our relationship with our First Nation neighbours and we believe respect is an action word.” Egan said the push for an official name has taken on an even stronger meaning with ongoing protests over Black and Indigenous rights across the United States and Canada. “There’s been an awakening in our country and south of us,” she said. “We have a real opportunity. “It may be symbolic ... but it’s import- ant. Words hurt. Words matter.” Kelland said there’s a coulee in the south that was renamed Women’s Coulee a few years ago. There’s also a mountain in Banff National Park named Stoney Squaw Mountain, which is being considered for a name change. In the United States, California’s popular Squaw Valley Ski Resort an- nounced last month that it will change its name because the word is deroga- tory. The site was the location of the 1960 Winter Olympics. — with files from The Associated Press — The Canadian Press Lawyers hope to erase racist nickname of mountain landmark COLETTE DERWORIZ A_03_Sep-07-20_FP_01.indd A3 2020-09-06 10:07 PM ;