Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 30, 2021, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A2 VOL 150 NO 323 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2021 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 Business B4 Classifieds B8 Comics D5 Diversions D6-7 Horoscope D6 Jumble D6 Miss Lonelyhearts D6 Obituaries B7 Opinion A6-7 Sports C1 Television B2 Weather C6 COLUMNISTS: Tom Brodbeck A4 Niigaan Sinclair A4 Peter Denton A7 Martin Cash B4 Mike McIntyre C2 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. - 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.; 7 a.m. - noon Saturday; Closed Sunday TO SUBSCRIBE: 204-697-7001 Out of Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 MLAs ● FROM A1 GUILTY ● FROM A1 O TTAWA — A prominent child-wel-fare advocate wants Canadians to ask their MPs to urge Ottawa to cease its court battles around servi- ces and compensation for First Nations children after the Federal Court upheld two key rulings on Wednesday. The Canadian Human Rights Tribu- nal had earlier ruled Ottawa had “wil- fully” and “recklessly” discriminated against Indigenous children by know- ingly underfunding child and family services on reserve. In September 2019, it ordered the federal government to pay $40,000, the maximum the tribunal can award, to each First Nations child removed from their home after 2006, as well as to their parents, because of the discrimination. It was estimated that around 54,000 children and their parents could be eli- gible to receive compensation, which would likely cost the federal govern- ment more than $2 billion. The second legal battle stems from a separate ruling in 2020 that expanded the scope of Jordan’s Principle, which is a rule stating when there is jurisdic- tional disagreement over what level of government should provide a service to First Nations children, Ottawa takes on the responsibility and worries about the costs second. The tribunal ruled the principle should apply to children who are mem- bers of a First Nation even though they don’t have status under the Indian Act as well as kids whose parents are eli- gible for status when they are not. “No one can seriously doubt that First Nations people are amongst the most disadvantaged and marginalized members of Canadian society,” Federal Court Justice Paul Favel wrote in his decision released Wednesday. “The Tribunal was aware of this and reasonably attempted to remedy the dis- crimination while being attentive to the very different positions of the parties.” Favel found that the government failed to establish that either of the tri- bunal’s decisions were unreasonable. “In my view, the procedural history of this case has demonstrated that there is, and has been, good will resulting in significant movements toward remedy- ing this unprecedented discrimination. However, the good work of the parties is unfinished,” Favel wrote. “The parties must decide whether they will continue to sit beside the trail or move forward in this spirit of recon- ciliation.” Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, which is one of the parties fighting for Indigen- ous children to be compensated, said the judicial reviews Ottawa launched took direct aim at central calls to ac- tion from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada regarding child welfare and Jordan’s Principle. “This is the moment for Canadians, with the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation tomorrow and know- ing that these are some of the top calls to action, to get a hold of their elected of- ficials and say, ‘put down your sword.’” “They have been fighting this case against First Nations kids to get equit- able services and their families to get help to recover from the residential school trauma for now 14-and-a-half years… the Canadian people are now at a place where they want to see the TRC calls to action realized.” The parties have 30 days to appeal Favel’s ruling. Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller’s office has yet to respond to a request for comment from The Canadian Press. Blackstock said the work has been done to set up a system to provide payments to First Nations children and their families who are eligible to be compensated. “We’re ready, as soon as the federal government puts down its sword and stops fighting these kids,” she said. Opposition parties and Indigenous leaders have criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to fight both of these rulings, saying that’s not the appropriate course of action for a gov- ernment committed to reconciliation. “Today was an absolute victory for First Nation children. For six years Jus- tin Trudeau spent millions fighting the rights of Indigenous children and try- ing to overturn a ruling that found his government guilty of ‘wilful and reck- less’ discrimination against vulnerable Indigenous kids. The court has thrown his case out,” NDP MP Charlie Angus said in a statement Wednesday. He called for the government to im- mediately end its legal battle in the mat- ter and focus on closing funding gaps and chronic denial of services to First Nations children. “Given that tomorrow is the first ever National Day for Truth and Reconcilia- tion, it is imperative that the federal gov- ernment finally take clear steps towards truth, justice and reconciliation for all Indigenous people in Canada,” he wrote. — The Canadian Press Ottawa’s Indigenous child-welfare appeals dismissed STEPHANIE TAYLOR T HE proposal to redevelop Portage Place mall appears dead, after city councillors were told Toronto- based Starlight Investments is unable to proceed. On Wednesday, a brief memo from City of Winnipeg chief administra- tive officer Michael Jack offered an update on the $400-million project that has been in the public eye since June 2019. “On Sept. 9, The Forks learned from Starlight’s lawyers that they are unable to proceed with the transaction and would not be asking for another exten- sion. Starlight accordingly requested the return of their deposit,” it states. “The Forks awaits feedback from the Peterson Group, the holder of the land lease and owner of Portage Place mall, as to their intentions and long-term plans.” The memo does not explicitly declare the deal dead, though many stakehold- ers understood it that way. If it can be salvaged, the proposal would add two 20-storey residential towers with 550 to 600 housing units, nearly 500,000 square feet of office and retail space, a grocery store and a 10,000-sq.-ft. community space with public washrooms. The Forks North Portage Partnership owns the land at the site. Clare MacKay, a vice-president of The Forks, deemed the news a disappointment but indicated it’s pos- sible negotiations could resume. “This is definitely something that is disappointing for our downtown and that potential investment that could have happened. Right now, there is nothing on the table from Starlight to us. That doesn’t mean it may not come back,” MacKay said Wednesday. Starlight officials declined comment. Mayor Brian Bowman stopped short of officially giving up on the deal, which he said has great potential to help revitalize Winnipeg’s downtown. “I’m not sure if the parties will be continuing any negotiations or not, but we’ll wait to hear in due course. We’d like to, obviously, see that investment realized,” said Bowman. “There has been a need for many decades for this particular property to do more for our community than it has been doing. I think there’s better uses of the space that we can have, given its... prime real estate.” In July 2019, Starlight made a $69.9-million bid for Portage Place mall; it unveiled a $400-million redevel- opment plan that December. The developer originally asked for $20 million each from the city, province and federal government. In March, Ottawa said Starlight asked it to instead pay $50 million in cash and provide a $243-million Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. loan. In a June 30 letter, Starlight stated it was seeking a loan of about $250 million from CMHC, which reflects an afford- able housing component of the project. The federal government did not an- nounce a specific financial commit- ment but had repeatedly said it was in discussions with the company. The city offered a $20-million incentive package and the province promised $28.7 mil- lion in education tax rebates. Coun. Cindy Gilroy, property and development committee chairwoman, said she believes Wednesday’s news marks the end of the proposal. “I think it looks like they’re pulling out of the deal,” she said. Gilroy said she’s concerned the lack of a development at the site will leave Portage Place at risk of closure, add- ing another massive empty building near the already vacant former Hud- son’s Bay building. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga Developer backs out of Portage Place deal JOYANNE PURSAGA Restarting negotiations still a possibility: officials Outside court, several members of Hunter Smith-Straight’s family cried and embraced as they absorbed the verdict. A family rep- resentative declined to comment, saying she was too over- whelmed to speak. Jensen will be formally sentenced Friday, to give Hunter’s family time to prepare victim impact statements. Hunter was stabbed six times in the head and neck in the early hours of Oct. 29, 2019, as he slept in his second-storey Pritchard Avenue suite. The child was taken to hospital suffering massive blood loss and irreversible brain damage. He was removed from life support three days later and died. No one saw Jensen kill Hunter, but the evidence against him was “over- whelming,” Crown attorney Jennifer Mann argued in a closing address to jurors Tuesday. Prosecutors argued Jensen, 34, was enraged after his girlfriend Clarice Smith told him she and Hunter were moving to her mother’s home without him, and he plotted to hurt her “in the most cruel and permanent way.” Security video was played for jurors showing Jensen assaulting Smith at the Northern Hotel before leaving and making his way to Pritchard Avenue. Two of Hunter’s older cousins testified Jensen was let into the house to “check on” Hunter and left minutes later, a short time before family members discovered the fatally wounded child. Jensen was arrested later that day af- ter leaving a Leila Avenue liquor store. Blood found on a hoodie Jensen left behind at a Boston Pizza restaurant, as well as his T-shirt and sweatpants, was later matched to Hunter’s DNA. Defence lawyers argued Hunter had already been stabbed when Jensen ar- rived at the house and he got blood on his clothing after shaking and trying to revive the boy. They argued police ignored another plausible suspect in the killing, an older cousin of Hunter’s who when questioned after the killing had bloody injuries to his hands and blood on his clothing. That man — who jurors heard had prior convictions for violence, includ- ing one for stabbing a family member — testified he injured himself after he became angry and broke dishware and punched a door. Defence lawyer Bruce Bonney argued the man was angry because he, along with everyone else in the house, had to move out the next day due to a violation of the lease. “Before and after Hunter’s death, he was subject to violent outbursts,” Bonney said. “It was in his nature.” dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca Hunter Smith-Straight ARK / PETROF Starlight Investments’ proposal for Portage Place includes two 20-storey residential towers, nearly 500,000 square feet of office and retail space, a grocery store and 10,000-sq.-ft. community space. “They’re trying to dodge the issue and distract attention away from the fact that we have two sitting MLAs from the governing party that appear to be unvaccinated,” said Brandon University political science Prof. Kelly Saunders. “That’s not what parties are supposed to do. They’re supposed to show leadership in a time of crisis and make sure that the rules are consistent and that they equally apply to every- body. They’re asking civil servants to step up and get vaccinated, or show proof of testing.” Civil servants on the front lines don’t have the option of working remotely, she said. House leaders determine safety protocols for the assembly, Driedger said in an email. She said they agreed to have 38 of 57 members seated in the chamber (24 PC government members, 12 opposition NDP members and two Liberals) with the rest participating virtually for the abbreviated ses- sion that will rise after six days and is not due to return until Nov. 16. Having a government MLA and cabi- net minister absent from the chamber and sitting remotely “is not the same thing as participating in person,” Saunders said. “So much of what goes on in the legislative building happens not only directly in the house — it’s the comments that are raised and ques- tions that are being asked of members — particularly in the governing party,” she said. “I think that everybody suf- fers as a result and it’s not an optimal form of engaging in democracy.” NDP house leader Nahanni Fontaine said the opposition has pushed for all MLAs to be vaccinated. The party is- sued a news release calling for the new PC party leader to demand that all elected members be vaccinated. With the fourth wave of COVID-19 now in Manitoba and the unvaccinated more at risk than ever for serious outcomes, all elected officials need to show lead- ership, Fontaine said. “Those case numbers are going up and up and we need to be setting that example,” Fontaine said Wednesday. “We need to be modelling that behav- iour on what’s in the best interest of the public.” carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca ‘Those case numbers are going up and up and we need to be setting that example’ — NDP house leader Nahanni Fontaine A_02_Sep-30-21_FP_01.indd A2 2021-09-29 11:12 PM ;