Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 8, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A2 A 2 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM VOL 149 NO 330 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2020 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published seven days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204-697-7000 Publisher / BOB COX Editor / PAUL SAMYN Associate Editor Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor News / STACEY THIDRICKSON Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Director Photo and Multimedia / MIKE APORIUS NEWSMEDIA COUNCIL The Winnipeg Free Press is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an in- dependent organization established to determine acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please send them to: editorialconcerns@freepress.mb.ca. 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INSIDE Arts and Life D1 Classifieds B8 Comics D5 Diversions D6-7 Horoscope D4 Jumble D6 Miss Lonelyhearts D4 Obituaries B8 Opinion A6-7 Sports C1 Television B4 Weather B12 COLUMNISTS: Dan Lett A4 Shannon Sampert A7 READER SERVICE ● GENERAL INQUIRIES 204-697-7000 The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada CIRCULATION INQUIRIES MISSING OR INCOMPLETE PAPER? Call or email before 10 a.m. weekdays or 11 a.m. Saturday City: 204-697-7001 Outside Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 press 1 6:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. Monday-Friday.; 7 a.m. - noon Saturday; Closed Sunday TO SUBSCRIBE: 204-697-7001 Out of Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 DEBATE ● FROM A1 VIRUS ● FROM A1THRONE SPEECH ● FROM A1 “We’re doing more to manage his care than they are,” she said. “His words to me last night were, ‘Help me, I don’t want to die like the oth- ers.’ And it’s heartbreaking.” Outbreak protocols provided by public health are being strictly followed, Roberts said, and the management at Parkview Place are in daily contact with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. Resi- dents are isolated in their rooms and those who have tested positive are cohorted on two floors, Roberts said. Staff who work on affected wings are kept out of other parts of the building as much as possible, he said. He said where staff members are off sick, positions have been filled by casual staff from agencies or full-time staff are offered overtime. “It’s always challenging, but we’re managing,” he said. Communication with families is also being supported through automated calls and twice weekly emails, he noted. “We offer our condolences to the family and friends of the person who passed away with COVID-19,” he said. “The team at Parkview Place is working very hard to keep the residents and themselves safe and to prevent the spread of this very serious virus.” Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said the union has been lobbying the province and Shared Health to get more staff at the facility since mid-September. “(Nurses’) level of concern has increased and we’re in contact with those members all the time and have been lobbying with the govern- ment and Shared Health to please intervene, because the nurses are saying we need help,” Jackson said. “This is an excellent time for the province to step in and assist if at all possible.” In a statement, a provincial gov- ernment spokesperson said facili- ties are responsible for following directions from public health and implementing outbreak measures as directed. “Regular monitoring occurs, and regional staff work directly with each facility to ensure consistency in applying outbreak measures and in monitoring case and contact investigations,” the statement said. “Our medical leadership and staff, both from public health and from the regional long-term-care program, take very seriously the health and security of personal care home residents, as they do the health and security of all Winnipeg- gers and Manitobans, and if neces- sary would act to promptly address any concerns.” In a statement, a spokesperson for Health Minister Cameron Friesen, said the government takes the con- cerns seriously. danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca The provincial government plans to amend the Manitoba Assistance Act “to help instil greater self-reliance and personal growth in clients” on social assistance. When asked how the province aims to achieve that, the premier said, “The best social program is a job.” “We all know that the traditional mechanisms for delivering social assis- tance have actually fostered reliance as much as independence so we have to look at different mechanisms for offering programming that gets people to a skill development opportunity or work opportunity more readily than has been the case in the past,” Pallister said. “The best social program isn’t an intergenerational dependency on welfare program.” Plans for new legislation to prevent “illegal blockades of critical transpor- tation and protect jobs” isn’t intended to restrict the lawful right to protest, the premier said. “Our police agencies are telling us there needs to be greater clar- ity in terms of what their role was supposed to be and could be,” said Pallister. “The idea here is to make it clearer what the obligations are on law enforcement officials with respect to protecting public property, not just private property.” The government signalled it will reintroduce several bills that died on the order paper when Pallister decided last week to prorogue the house and begin a new session of the legislature. Included is one that would remove provincial restrictions on Sunday and holiday shopping and one that would reform the rate-setting process for hydro and Autopac rates at the Mani- toba Public Utilities Board. “We have legislation to strengthen the Public Utilities Board and to strengthen the transparency with which it works and to reduce the cost of the running of the PUB,” said Pal- lister. While offering no specifics, the gov- ernment promised to develop “a mod- ern child-care system and funding model that will enable and support the child-care sector to grow in line with demand from Manitoba families, provide greater equity in the type of support given to families, and offer choices and flexibility that reflect the needs and challenges today’s parents face.” NDP Leader Wab Kinew said he was struck by how few new ideas are in the throne speech, especially for dealing with pandemic-related concerns. “I was amazed at how little there actually was about COVID in this throne speech,” he said, noting it was silent about how to improve coronavi- rus screening. “(There were) no ideas, no new programs to help get a handle on that.” Kinew said the government’s plan to carry on with its plan to phase out education property taxes “doesn’t match” with Manitobans’ priorities, which include a stronger response to the pandemic. Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said he was looking for more in the throne speech to address health, education and economic issues related to the pandemic. “There needed to be a pandemic plan to help small businesses survive,” he said. “That’s not there.” larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Other initiatives ● A monument to Chief Peguis will be placed on the grounds of the Legislative Building to com- memorate the 200th anniversary of the Selkirk Treaty and the contributions of the Saulteaux chief and the allied Cree chiefs who were signatories. ● It announced plans for “an integrated seniors strategy” that empowers older adults to have greater control over their own care, including more choices for home- and community-based care and “increased access to flexible, self- directed care funding.” ● It promised legislation to “better align post- secondary institutions with labour market needs,” expand work-integrated learning opportunities for students and “improve the governance, transparency and accountability of our colleges and universities.” ● It pledged help for Manitobans with severe and prolonged disabilities through a new income- support program. It would expand supports for adults with intellectual disabilities to find jobs. ● The government will ask the premier’s economic opportunities advisory board, which includes private- and public-sector leaders, to recommend a new, independent private-sector- led economic development agency to attract investment and promote international trade for the province. JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS Premier Brian Pallister waits in the house for Lt.-Gov. Janice Filmon to read the speech from the throne Wednesday at the Manitoba legislature. There were heated exchanges at times, but overall the debate was a far more respectful affair than the opening presidential debate eight days earlier when Trump was the aggressor, butting in and almost yelling. Pence interrupted at times, too, but nothing like Trump had. The prime-time meeting in Salt Lake City elevated two candidates with presidential aspirations of their own who may be asked to step into the presidency even before the end of the next term. Health questions loom over President Donald Trump, 74, who is recovering from the coronavirus, and 77-year-old Joe Biden, who would be the oldest U.S. president ever. Republicans desperately want to cast the race as a choice between two candi- dates fighting to move the country in vastly different directions. Biden and Harris, they say, would pursue a far- left agenda bordering on socialism; the Democrats say Trump’s administra- tion will stoke racial and other divides, torpedo health care for people who aren’t wealthy and otherwise undercut national strength. But so long as the coronavirus is ravaging the White House and killing several hundred Americans each day, the election will almost certainly be a referendum on the Trump administra- tion’s inability to control the pandemic, which Republicans have sought to downplay or ignore altogether for several months. Pence’s message Wednesday night was undercut by the mere fact that the candidates and moderator were separated by plexiglass shields, seated more than 12 feet apart and facing a crowd of masked audience members who faced expulsion if they removed their face coverings. The candidates on stage revealed test results earlier in the day proving they were not infected. Before Harris said a word, she made history by becoming the first Black woman to stand on a vice-presidential debate stage. The night offered her a prime opportunity to energize would- be voters who have shown only modest excitement about Biden, a lifelong politician with a mixed record on race and criminal justice, particularly in his early years in the Senate. Harris, 55, is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. She is also a former prosecutor whose pointed questioning of Trump’s appoin- tees and court nominees helped make her a Democratic star. Pence is a 61-year-old former In- diana governor and ex-radio host, an evangelical Christian known for his folksy charm and unwavering loyalty to Trump. And while he is Trump’s big- gest public defender, the vice-president does not share the president’s brash tone or undisciplined style. The candidates also clashed on taxes — or specifically, Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns four years after repeatedly promising to do so. The New York Times reported last month that the president pays very little per- sonal income tax but owes hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. “It’d be really good to know who the president owes money to,” Harris said. “The one thing we know about Joe, he puts it all out there. He is honest, he is forthright,” she added. “Donald Trump, on the other hand, has been about covering up everything.” Pence defended Trump as a job creator who has paid more than his fair share of taxes and shifted toward Biden: “On Day 1, Joe Biden’s going to raise your taxes.” While the debate covered a range of topics, the virus was at the forefront. Trump released a video just three hours before the debate calling his diagnosis “a blessing in disguise” be- cause it shed light on an experimental antibody combination that he credited for his improved condition — though neither he nor his doctors have a way of knowing whether the drug had that effect. Pence serves as chair of the presi- dent’s coronavirus task force, which has failed to implement a comprehen- sive national strategy even as Trump himself recovers from the disease and the national death toll surges past 210,000 with no end in sight. The candidates appeared on stage exactly 12.25 feet (3.7 metres) apart and separated by plexiglass barriers. Both candidates released updated coronavirus test results ahead of the debate proving they were negative as of Tuesday. — The Associated Press MORRY GASH / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Sen. Kamala Harris debates with Vice-President Mike Pence Wednesday night. A_04_Oct-08-20_FP_01.indd A2 2020-10-07 10:47 PM ;