Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 25, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B2 B 2 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMNEWS I LAW & ORDER NOTICE TO CREDITORS IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF: HARVEY BERGNER, late of the Town of Stonewall, in the Province of Manitoba, Deceased. ALL claims against the above estate, duly verified by Statutory Declaration, must be filed with the undersigned at their offices, 1700 - 360 Main Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 3Z3, on or before the 30th day following date of publication of this notice. DATED at Winnipeg, Manitoba, this 21st day of September, 2020. FILLMORE RILEY LLP Attention: Johanna C.C. Caithness Solicitors for the Estate Legals A seat on the Winnipeg Police Board that has been open for several months likely won’t be filled until November, its chairman said Thursday. Another councillor should be named to the board that month when city coun- cil traditionally holds an organizational meeting to approve the membership of multiple city committees, said Coun. Markus Chambers. The vacancy was created in July, when Coun. Vivian Santos was denied a required security clearance. Chambers (St. Norbert-Seine Riv- er) noted the board — which currently has six mem- bers — still has a quorum for meetings despite the vacancy. The police board is composed of a minimum sev- en and max- imum nine civilian mem- bers, including the chair and vice-chair. A minimum of five and maximum of seven of those members are appointed by council. The province appoints the other two. “Because the board is functioning now… we would wait until the organ- izational meeting that takes place in November to appoint that individual,” he said. Santos (Point Douglas) revealed in July that she was denied a Winnipeg Po- lice Service security clearance, which Chambers has said disqualifies her from participating as a police board member. Global News has reported the rea- son the security clearance was de- nied is linked to a former friend who was accused of trafficking cocaine. Santos has said she has since cut ties with the individual and didn’t know about any alleged illegal activity. The allegations have not been proven in court. The security check process has faced criticism from some suggesting a con- flict of interest exists in having the Winnipeg police conduct background checks for the board that oversees its operations. The city’s legal staff will review best practices for police board screening if council approves the study. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga Police board seat likely vacant until November AUTOPSY backlogs are a sad symp- tom of Manitoba’s stretched-thin sys- tem, one health-care union says. Bob Moroz, president of the Mani- toba Association of Health Care Pro- fessionals, said Thursday he wasn’t aware of delays in conducting aut- opsies in the province until families’ concerns were brought to light in the Free Press this week. However, he said, there have been “whispers for quite some time. There are backlogs across the system.” “In this case, it’s very sad, but it’s not terribly surprising,” he added. There’s been a spike in autopsies in recent months, Shared Health previ- ously confirmed to the Free Press. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there is more of a need to conduct complex death investigations, which must all be completed in Winnipeg. That’s meant delays of more than 10 days in a hand- ful of cases. Moroz said he feels for families who have had to delay funerals as they wait for autopsies to be performed, saying it’s the result of chronic understaffing across the provincial health-care sys- tem. The union doesn’t represent path- ologists in Manitoba, but counts more than a dozen autopsy technical assist- ants among its 6,600 members. “When you see a situation like this, it really, really comes to the fore,” Moroz said. “That’s when Manitobans are able to see just how thin our health- care system is.” The union has a regularly scheduled meeting with Shared Health set for today. Moroz said he plans to ask the provincial health agency for answers about the autopsy delays. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay Autopsy backlog linked to understaffing: union AS a Manitoba cabinet minister re- leased a report into sexual harassment, bullying and misconduct in the civil service, she said she didn’t know if any of the allegations involved ministers or their staff. “All of that knowledge would be re- ported through this channel, respectful workplace health and safety, so I don’t have specific numbers on the differ- ent cases,” said Cathy Cox, minister responsible for the status of women, on Thursday. For the second consecutive year, the government reported a slight increase in investigations into sexual harass- ment complaints by civil servants. There were 25 investigations in the 2019-20 fiscal year, a nine per cent in- crease from the 22 recorded in 2018-19. Of those, 20 were substantiated, a five per cent increase from 19 a year ear- lier. Those cases resulted in disciplinary action 10 times, mediation was required twice, and the others ended with educa- tion or training. “We recognize that people are feeling more comfortable coming forward to report those incidents of sexual harass- ment,” Cox said. “It’s important that we see that those numbers, while they are just a bit high- er than last year, it’s because people are feeling they can come forward in a very safe environment to make those allega- tions. The report says the province re- ceived 417 allegations that included harassment, bullying, sexual harass- ment or other forms of misconduct. Of those, 288 were substantiated. On bully- ing, there were 73 allegations, down from 116 in 2018-19. The provincial government is in the midst of updating its respectful work- place policy, which includes feedback from employees. Cox said government employees will have to take respectful workplace training annually, rather than just once. The province updated its approach to sexual harassment in government workplaces in 2018, including releas- ing yearly statistics and requiring re- spectful workplace training for cabinet and political staff, after several women came forward with allegations of sex- ual misconduct against former NDP cabinet minister Stan Struthers. The women alleged their complaints about Struthers, who left politics in 2016, were never addressed. Also in 2018, backbencher Cliff Gray- don was kicked out of the Progressive Conservative caucus over allegations he asked two female staff to sit on his lap, and suggested another lick food off his face. Another woman alleged Gray- don groped her at a party function. Last year, a Tory member of the legislature was given sensitivity train- ing after he was found to have violated the respectful workplace policy on five occasions, including one in which he phoned his assistant while he was in the bathtub and another during which he showed her a picture of naked women. Rick Wowchuck was allowed to re- main in the Tory caucus and was re- elected in his Swan River constituency in the 2019 provincial election. malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: malakabas_ Province releases bullying, harassment statistics A JURY has found Kane Moar guilty in the 2018 stabbing death of an inner-city group home manager. Jurors deliberated less than six hours on Thursday before convicting Moar of second-degree murder. Ricardo Hibi, 34, was stabbed to death Dec. 17, 2018, after answering the door to his McGee Street group home. “We’ve got some kind of closure with the verdict, but it’s not going to bring him back,” said Candace Woloshyn, Hibi’s fiancée and mother of their young son. “There’s still all that pain and emo- tion because I don’t have Ric here.” The mandatory minimum sentence for second-degree murder is life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 10 years. Moar will be sentenced at a later date. Security video at the group home, played for jurors at trial, captured Hibi slumping to the floor 12 seconds after answering the door. Jurors were also shown clips from more than a dozen security cameras prosecutors allege show Moar’s movements in the area in the minutes leading up to and immedi- ately following the killing. In a video police statement played for jurors, Moar’s sister, Trinity Moar, told investigators Moar showed up at the door of her home the afternoon of the killing, with blood on his hands and a knife in his pocket. He told her he had “done something f---ing crazy” and “messed up” her boyfriend’s “Asian uncle,” Trinity Moar said. Court heard Trinity Moar’s then-boy- friend, also a witness at the trial, lived at Hibi’s group home and had a history of violence. Moar wasn’t taken into custody until Jan. 6, 2019, when police cadets ar- rested him under the Intoxicated Per- sons Detention Act. When Moar’s iden- tity was confirmed, police seized his clothing, including a black, North Face brand winter jacket. Jurors heard Hibi’s DNA was later connected to the jacket and a blood smear found on the front door of Trin- ity Moar’s home. Moar’s lawyers argued the DNA sam- ples were contaminated and cast suspi- cion on Trinity Moar’s then-boyfriend, who they alleged she was trying to pro- tect in her statement to police. On Thursday, Queen’s Bench Justice Vic Toews gave the green-light to start deliberations, despite dismissing one juror amid concerns he was exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms Wednesday. During the trial, jurors did not hear Moar had been released from Stony Mountain Institution just two months before Hibi’s death — and just two months after Moar was involved in the killing of another inmate. Moar was granted statutory release after serving two-thirds of his sentence for assaulting a man with a hatchet, de- spite the fact Parole Board of Canada officials had been provided notice he was facing imminent arrest in the beat- ing death of 25-year-old Adam Monias. Moar and two other inmates pleaded guilty to assault in the August 2018 at- tack, and were sentenced in December 2019 to 18 months custody. The three co-accused were originally charged with second-degree murder, but in a plea bargain agreed to admit to the lesser offence. Court heard identifi- cation would have been an issue had the case gone to trial. dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca Guilty verdict in murder of group home manager DEAN PRITCHARD Jury reduced to 11 after COVID symptom concern; deliberates less than six hours Ricardo Hibi (left) was stabbed to death Dec. 17, 2018. A jury found Kane Moar (right) guilty. JOYANNE PURSAGA MALAK ABAS KATIE MAY THE Winnipeg Police Board is be- ing lobbied for several law enforce- ment changes, including a call to cut the Winnipeg Police Service’s budget by 10 per cent next year. The Police Accountability Coali- tion, a group of more than 90 local community-based organizations, argues those funds should instead be directed to supports for mental health issues, addictions, and other community needs. The group is also calling for all WPS interactions to be recorded on body cameras, and for an end to “carding, street checks, racial pro- filing, and the use of facial recogni- tion technology.” Coalition member Louise Simban- dumwe told the board Thursday she came to Canada as a refugee and in- itially trusted the local police force before her experiences changed that perception. “Over the years, I’m really sad to say that my trust in the police service has been undermined and eroded,” she said. Coalition member Dorota Blum- czynska told the board she works with two young Black men at the Immigrant and Refugee Commun- ity Organization of Manitoba, who reported being repeatedly and arbi- trarily stopped by police when leav- ing their jobs. Blumczynska said the young men work late helping youth connect with homework programs, community centre offerings and sports practices. “(They) came forward to talk about their direct, lived experi- ence of being arbitrarily stopped, of being carded, of being accused of being in a vehicle they couldn’t possibly have the means of owning, of being questioned why they were in the communities that they were driving in at the hour that they were driving at,” she said. Blumczynska said the young men took part in a meeting with the WPS about the matter a year ago, but were told Winnipeg police officers don’t engage in such practices. “We took the risk of leaning in and sharing these tremendous points of pain, and what we had the courage to say was left at the door when the service left our building,” she said. WPS Chief Danny Smyth said he doesn’t support arbitrary stops and expects officers to treat all com- munity members fairly. He said ten- sions remain high for police officers, amid calls to abolish the service, with individuals recently following and videotaping officers on the job. “At times, it’s a grind for our members and they’re doing their best… but they’re faced with a lot of stresses,” he said. The police chief said he does not believe such surveillance of officers is linked to local Black Lives Matter protests, which were held to oppose police brutality and systemic racism. Smyth said he welcomes the chance for further discussions with the coalition. He said he’s not sure how to address other groups who’ve declined to speak with police about their complaints. “There is a big difference be- tween working as a partner in the community, and then doing every- thing you can to eliminate an insti- tution,” said Smyth. The police chief said he doesn’t oppose police body cameras but isn’t convinced the technology would of- fer a “panacea” for all policing com- plaints. “I’m just not sure that the $8-mil- lion to $10-million investment will give us the benefit that we need,” said Smyth. Coun. Markus Chambers (St. Nor- bert-Seine River), the Winnipeg Po- lice Board’s chairman, said the dis- cussion on reducing the WPS budget is taking place just as rising crime rates and the meth crisis increase the demands on police. Chambers said those budget pres- sures make it difficult to determine how police funding could be cut. He said he does see a need to explore how city council and other levels of government can better fund non- profit community support groups. “We have to look at aligning the services and the resources we have to better meet the needs of the com- munity,” he said. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga JOYANNE PURSAGA Coalition calls to redirect piece of police budget MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chief Danny Smyth says he welcomes further discussions with the Police Accountability Coalition. Coun. Vivian Santos B_02_Sep-25-20_FP_01.indd B2 2020-09-24 10:57 PM ;