Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 1, 2021, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A11 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2021 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A 11NEWS I CANADA MY BEST FRIEND MAY BE BANNED – WILL YOURS? Winnipeg Animal Services is considering instituting the most restrictive pet owning legislation the city has ever seen. This would make Winnipeg the least pet friendly community in the country. 1. Go to page 13: www.winnipeg.ca/RPObylaw to see if your pet will be banned 2. Tell your councillor how you feel about the ban of your pet www.winnipeg.ca/council 3. Share your thoughts on protecting the rights of responsible specialty pet owners in Winnipeg https://winnipegspecialtypets.ca/ Winnipeg Families Unite – Protect All Pets ©Petland Canada Inc. 2021 EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says help is on the way from the Canadian Armed Forces and else- where to battle a COVID-19 wave that continues to overwhelm hospitals. Kenney said the province is finaliz- ing a deal to provide eight to 10 inten- sive care ward specialists, likely to be based in Edmonton. Up to 20 trained Red Cross medical workers, some with intensive care ex- perience, are to be deployed in central Alberta. And Newfoundland and Labrador is set to send a medical team, including five or six intensive care staff, to work in the northern oil hub city of Fort Mc- Murray. “I know that Alberta health-care workers will be grateful for the helping hand and that all Albertans are thank- ful for any assistance at this challen- ging time,” Kenney said Thursday in Calgary. Kenney also announced that 25,000 public sector workers will soon be re- quired to show proof of COVID-19 vac- cination. The employees must be fully vaccin- ated by Nov. 30 and, if not vaccinated after that date, will have to show nega- tive tests paid for at their own expense. Tim Grant, the head of the public ser- vice, estimated that 15 to 20 per cent of public service workers are not fully vaccinated. He said those who don’t comply will be placed on unpaid leave. “We’re not going to fire anyone,” said Grant. “Our aim is to encourage and educate all the members of the public service to get vaccinated.” Alberta is dealing with a COVID-19 crisis that has seen well over 1,000 new cases a day for weeks while filling in- tensive care wards to almost twice nor- mal capacity. There are more than 20,000 active cases and more than 1,000 people in hospital with the virus. On Thursday, there were 307 people in intensive care — 263 with COVID-19. Alberta Health Services has had to scramble and reassign staff to handle the surge of intensive care patients far above the normal capacity of 173 beds. The result has been mass cancella- tion of non-urgent surgeries and doc- tors being briefed on criteria to use if they must make instant decisions on who gets life-saving care and who doesn’t. In recent days, doctors have called for a swift lockdown or a “firebreak” to immediately reverse the tide of COVID-19 patients. That would mean a mass shutdown of schools, non-essential businesses and mass gatherings. Intensive care physicians, emergency ward doctors, the executive of the Al- berta Medical Association and the Can- adian Medical Association have issued such pleas in recent days. Kenney, however, reiterated he wants to see if recent new health measures — such as a provincewide mask mandate, gathering restrictions and a form of a vaccine passport — boost vaccination rates. Kenney said case rates seem to be reaching a plateau but acknowledged there is a fine line to walk with inten- sive care wards, even with the extra beds, at 83 per cent capacity. “A cold snap that forces everybody indoors, upcoming Thanksgiving holi- days and family gatherings — a lot of different things could suddenly in- crease transmission,” said Kenney. “So, we’re watching all of the trends very carefully.” Dr. Verna Yiu, the head of Alberta Health Services, also reported the death of an intensive care nurse, noting that all staff are under severe stress. Emergency room physician Dr. Joe Vipond, an outspoken opponent of the United Conservative government’s ap- proach to the crisis, said Kenney failed again by putting too much emphasis on vaccines rather than immediate action. “We really need to have schools closed for a short-term period … and we need to really shut down large swaths of soci- ety while we can reset our health-care system,” said Vipond. “I’m not sure how many more deaths it’s going to take before Premier Ken- ney decides that he can do the right thing, but it looks like there’s more deaths, more long-COVID and more ill- ness in the future.” Opposition NDP health critic David Shepherd said it’s time for Kenney to pass rules to ensure that all legislature members and political staffers are fully vaccinated. The NDP said all its mem- bers and staff have complied. “It’s time for leadership,” said Shep- herd. “We need to lead by example.” — The Canadian Press Canadian military being deployed to assist COVID-hit Alberta Red Cross, Newfoundland also providing help DEAN BENNETT RCMP say they are negotiating with demonstrators who have taken control of a Coastal GasLink construction site in northern B.C. as tensions surround- ing the natural gas project rise again. Protests last year against the pipeline on Wet’suwet’en First Nation territory set off rail blockades across the coun- try and protesters in the latest dispute issued a news release accusing police of using excessive force during arrests. Dawn Roberts, an RCMP spokes- woman, says two people have been ar- rested in the past week at the site near Houston, B.C., and Coastal GasLink staff have been unable to work there since Sept. 20. An open letter from more than two dozen archeologists to the B.C. Archeol- ogy Branch criticized the Coastal Gas- Link work, saying the company and the B.C. government failed to properly con- sult the Wet’suwet’en and could lead to the destruction of Indigenous artifacts. TC Energy, which owns the project, disputed the accusations in a statement, saying it had engaged with the Office of the Wet’suwet’en and had unearthed and saved artifacts under the super- vision of a trained archeologist. RCMP negotiating with pipeline demonstrators TODD KOROL / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced that 25,000 public sector workers will soon be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. REGINA — Saskatchewan recorded its highest daily case count of COVID-19 and its highest number of people need- ing intensive care, as a member of the government caucus resigned for ‘‘mis- representing her vaccination status.” Premier Scott Moe said he accepted Thursday the resignation of Nadine Wilson, who has represented the con- stituency of Saskatchewan Rivers since 2007. She will remain as an MLA but will be considered an Independent in the legislature. Moe said the remaining 47 members of the Saskatchewan Party caucus are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. At a news conference in Saskatoon, Moe said information about Wilson came to light as the province moved to- ward its proof-of-vaccination policy for government staff, which starts Friday. Caucus chair David Buckingham said that in the spring, he was given verbal confirmation that all caucus members were vaccinated. “The process was for me to find out — before the Oct. 1 deadline for vac- cinations — that I would find out that all of our members are in compliance. So, I asked to actually see it — a paper version of their vaccination status,” he said at the news conference with Moe. “And that’s when we found out that one of our members was not indeed vaccinated, and so that had to be dealt with.” Wilson said in an email Thursday that she can “no longer support the dir- ection of the Saskatchewan Party gov- ernment or follow the government with true conviction regarding the current health situation.” “I believe in the fundamental values of freedom of personal choice, volun- tary informed consent, without the ele- ment of duress or coercion,” she said. The province reported 601 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and there were 72 people in intensive care — both figures are the highest since the pan- demic began last year. There were 4,669 active cases and 307 people in hospital with the virus. Ten more people died of COVID-19, bringing the provincial total to 695. Of all the provinces, Saskatchewan has the highest case rate in the last sev- en days and the highest death rate. Data compiled by Health Canada also shows Saskatchewan residents are four times more likely to die from COVID-19 than people in any other province except Al- berta. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to provide any supports ne- cessary to help Saskatchewan with its growing COVID-19 crisis. In a conversation Wednesday with Moe, the Prime Minister’s Office said the two leaders spoke about Saskatch- ewan’s COVID-19 cases, increasing vaccination efforts and what the prov- ince needs to overcome the fourth wave of the pandemic. A statement from Ottawa said Tru- deau reiterated that the federal govern- ment “remains ready to respond to any requests” from Saskatchewan for aid. —The Canadian Press MLA resigns as Saskatchewan reaches COVID-19 records SASKATOON — The Métis National Council has elected its first new leader in nearly two decades. “Today we begin a new era — one of accountability, transparency and gov- erning on behalf of the entire Métis Nation,” Cassidy Caron said Thursday after she became the first woman to take the role. Caron, who previously served as youth minister with the Métis Nation of British Columbia, was elected at a special sitting of the council’s general assembly in Saskatoon. She has roots in the historic Saskatchewan Métis com- munities of Batoche and St. Louis and is working on a master’s degree in com- munity development at the University of Victoria. Former president Clément Chartier had held the position since 2003, but in recent years there was internal turmoil with regional leaders who called for his resignation. Chartier thanked support- ers in a final address on Wednesday. “I believe in my heart in the long run the integrity of the Métis Nation will re- main intact,” Chartier said before leav- ing the assembly. “Without turmoil usually success doesn’t come.” The national council had not held a general assembly or meeting of the board of governors since 2018. Much of the internal conflict is root- ed in allegations that the Métis Nation of Ontario was accepting non-Métis cit- izens on its registry. The organization has pushed back on those claims. An Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruling earlier this year ordered this week’s special assembly to elect a new president and resolve the disputes with the Ontario organization. During the two-day meeting the council passed a resolution to create an expert panel to review the Métis Nation of Ontario’s registry process and study the history of seven communities. However, on the eve of the meeting, the Manitoba Metis Federation an- nounced it was withdrawing from the council. David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba federation, said the deci- sion came over concerns about the Mé- tis Nation of Ontario. The Métis National Council also in- cludes provincial Métis organizations from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Brit- ish Columbia. It was formed in 1983 to support the recognition and promotion of Métis people as a distinct cultural group with their own governments and needs. Caron ran against Gerald Morin, a former president of the national council and Métis Nation-Saskatchewan, and Dean Gladue, a former Mountie who has also worked with the Métis Nation British Columbia. All candidates spoke about the nation- al council being on the cusp of change and in need of unity. They agreed that a strong council is important to success- fully negotiate with Ottawa, especially following the Liberal government’s commitment to renewing relationships on a nation-to-nation basis. Caron committed to financial trans- parency, timely communication, and accountability to the national assembly and board of governors. — The Canadian Press Métis National Council elects new president — The Canadian Press A_11_Oct-01-21_FP_01.indd A11 9/30/21 10:11 PM ;