Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 8, 2021, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B3 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2021 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM B 3NEWS I CITY Contest runs from September 7th to October 16th, 2021. Purchase a paper every day and play! Winners will be contacted by phone the Monday following the week’s end. Weeks run from Sunday to Saturday. Week 1 winners will be called on September 13th, 2021. Grand prize winner will be selected from a pool of all our weekly winners . Grand Prize winner will receive a $500 McNally Robinson gift card. Winners to pick up their gift cards from the Winnipeg Free Press on 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg Manitoba masks are required for entrance in building. Winners may request to have their prize mailed, however, The Winnipeg Free Press will not be accountable for mail that does not arrive. SCAN TO ENTER Take your phone and point the camera on the QR code. Hit the link that pops up and it will take you to our entry form. Once completed, please take your picture, upload it, and hit send. It’s that easy! Your picture MUST show proof of purchase. A closeup of your receipt next to the edition date is required. ENTER DAILY WITH EACH PURCHASE! HOW TO ENTER Win one of 5 weekly draws for a $50 McNally Robinson gift card, AND a chance to win our grand prize of a $500 McNally Robinson gift card. Cathy Kenny Jacquie Schwartz Stacey Singbeil Maria Cesario Evelyne Egan WIN your share of $2000!! in McNally Robinson gift cards Winnipeg Free Press Stay Informed!! NEWSSTAND CONTEST 6 week contest Sept. 7 – Oct. 16 WINNERS FOR SINGLE COPY CONTEST WEEK 2 A S a strike vote looms, faculty at the University of Manitoba say their employer’s low wages — in comparison to other research schools in Canada — continue to hamper recruit- ment and retention. The U of M Faculty Association an- nounced late Wednesday its members had authorized the union to conduct a strike vote later this month. The association claims negotiations are at an impasse because of interfer- ence by the provincial government; in a release, it cited U of M president Mi- chael Benarroch confirming the wage offer on the table has been mandated by the province. Sources told the Free Press the latest offer, which would account for 2021-22, includes annual percentage increases of: 0.75; 0.75; and 1.0. A union release suggested the offer closely resembles the terms set out in the Pallister government’s public-sec- tor wage-freeze legislation, which was deemed unconstitutional in 2020 — a ruling the Progressive Conservatives are in the process of appealing. “It feels like a slap in the face,” said Sachin Katyal, a cancer researcher at the U of M, who sits on the union execu- tive. “The university needs to grow a backbone and not keep on deferring to the provincial government. The provin- cial government is not the full funder, students are a funder.” Katyal noted the salary grid at the U of M is among the lowest of all U15 in- stitutions and that results in challenges with recruitment and retention, which affect the quality of education because course offerings are in flux. Faculty members are asking their employer to bridge the gap to acknow- ledge the hard work educators have done during the pandemic to boost mor- ale, he added. The floor salary for a professor at the University of Saskatchewan in 2020-21 was $135,145. At U of M, it was $105,269 last year. Sean Buchanan, an assistant profes- sor of business administration, said non-competitive wages make being on hiring committees frustrating because candidates are constantly turning down offers for better ones elsewhere. An- nual hikes of 0.75 per cent won’t fix the problem, Buchanan said. In a generic statement on the mat- ter, university communications of- ficer Sean Moore did not address an inquiry about U of M receiving a new bargaining mandate. Instead, Moore said both parties continue to meet to conclude an agreement “that supports stability in operations; an outstanding educational experience for our stu- dents; fairness to our faculty members; and sustainability for our institution.” A spokesperson for the minister of advanced education noted via email that governments of different political stripes have long set broad public-sec- tor bargaining mandates. “Mischaracterizing this traditional role, or inaccurately attributing specif- ic bargaining proposals to government, is not helpful. No one wants a strike, es- pecially as all Manitobans continue to deal with the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic,” said the spokesperson. The faculty association strike vote is scheduled for Oct. 16 to 18. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie U of M faculty to hold strike vote MAGGIE MACINTOSH LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER THE Louis Riel School Division has no plans to release a report on its police-in- schools program, which contains find- ings that prompted trustees to cancel the community policing initiative this week. Facing pressure from families with concerns about how uniformed offi- cers in schools affects marginalized students, the Winnipeg-based division hired an external researcher to con- duct an equity-based review of its school resource officer program in early 2021. University of Winnipeg instructor Fadi Ennab, an expert in anti-racism, undertook a mixed-methodology ap- proach, including a community survey, focus groups, and one-on-one inter- views with students who had experi- ence with the program. “We really did emphasize the voices of students, staff and families that iden- tify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour)... What they shared was that it wasn’t a positive lived ex- perience — and so, we couldn’t ignore those voices,” said superintendent Christian Michalik, who recommended trustees discontinue the program at a meeting Tuesday evening. During a phone call Thursday, Mi- chalik said the board is not disclosing the report due to “confidentiality rea- sons” — a decision he indicated was made based on legal counsel advice. Since 2002, the Winnipeg Police Ser- vice has been partnering with divisions to supply schools with uniformed offi- cers whose duties include giving pres- entations on everything from bullying to drugs, to participating in threat as- sessments. This time last year, 19 such officers worked in six divisions. There was one in LRSD, who has worked across its schools — of which there are currently 40 — since 2016. Winnipeg School Division cut fund- ing for its nine officers this year, citing budget restraints. On Tuesday, LRSD trustees followed suit, with a unani- mous vote to redirect program monies to equity initiatives. For months, Irene Bindi, a parent and vocal member of Police Free Schools Winnipeg, has been inquiring about the LRSD report. “(LRSD leaders) pride themselves in transparency and being of a progres- sive nature, but even in terms of email responses, in terms of having an open- question period, there has been a real closure around this particular subject,” said Bindi, who was appointed to the division’s school resource officer man- agement committee during the 2020-21 school year. She said the review’s release is “extremely important” because it is invaluable research for other divisions assessing their police programs. “They owe it to the Black, Indigen- ous, racialized and marginalized stu- dents and parents who participated in it, to release it,” Bindi added. “Their onus is to protect kids, not to protect the police.” Meantime, LRSD has announced plans to launch a diversity, equity, in- clusion and anti-racism initiative. According to the division, the new in- itiative will address ongoing inequities and systemic racism via: the creation of an anti-racism policy and action plan; ongoing curricula review protocols; professional development; an employ- ment equity policy; and an annual ac- countability reporting process, among other items. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie Louis Riel division keeps police-in-schools report under wraps MAGGIE MACINTOSH MANITOBANS with kidney stones, prostate issues and some types of bladder cancer will get faster treatment at Health Sciences Centre thanks to a $1-million donation from the Dufresne family. The owners of the Dufresne furniture and appli- ance retail chain made the donation to the Health Sciences Centre Foundation to help in the creation of a world-class urologic centre at Manitoba’s largest hospital. “We sell furniture, but we’re involved in peo- ple’s lives and families all the time and health is at the top of the list,” Mark Dufresne, CEO of the Dufresne Group, said Thursday. “By looking after these people, it will also free up the operating rooms so the overall efficiency of the ORs will be much better... we have heard the vision of the (foundation) and we have bought into that vision.” HSC Foundation president and CEO Jonathon Lyon said the Manitoba Urologic Centre, which is expected to be open by fall 2023 in the former Women’s Hospital on Notre Dame Avenue, will shorten waits and improve care for about 10,000 patients each year. “We’re grateful for (the Dufresne family’s) tre- mendous generosity and that they have chosen to support the Manitoba Urologic Centre in this ex- ceptional way,” said Lyon. Prostate surgery, kidney-stone removal and treating some forms of bladder cancer are among the services that will be done at the facility. Wait times for some of those procedures, which were about six months before the pandemic, have now increased to about a year. The centre is expected to significantly reduce wait times. In a statement, HSC urologist Dr. Jeff Saran- chuk said “under current conditions, patients have to wait far too long for the care they need” and they often suffer in pain. Sometimes, patients have to use a catheter the entire time they are waiting for a procedure. The longer they have to use it, the higher the risk to their kidneys. “The new centre will help us reduce wait times from up to one year to weeks, which will improve patients’ recoveries and reduce the risk of com- plications. Additionally, thanks to donors like the Dufresne family, we will be able to acquire the latest equipment to perform minimally invasive procedures. “We are very grateful that this project is mov- ing forward.” Dufresne said his family is also pleased that when urologic procedures are performed in the new facility, HSC’s operating rooms will be freed up for patients with other urgent surgical needs. He said he’s hopeful others will follow his fam- ily’s philanthropic example. “There’s no doubt from our perspective we would be thrilled if that is the outcome,” he said. “This will benefit all Manitobans. We are so grateful we can do this.” kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca Dufresne family donates $1M for new urology facility at HSC KEVIN ROLLASON LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER JOE BRYKSA/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The U of M Faculty Association claims negotiations with the province are at an impasse. DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The Louis Riel School Division has an- nounced plans to launch a diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism initiative. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The Manitoba Urologic Centre is expected to be open at Health Sciences Centre by fall 2023. B_03_Oct-08-21_FP_01.indd B3 2021-10-07 10:30 PM ;