Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 19, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2024 VOL 153 NO 109 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2024 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published six days a week in print and always online at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204-697-7000 Interim CEO / DARREN MURPHY 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 independent 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. If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the website at www.mediacouncil.ca and fill out the form or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information. ADVERTISING Classified (Mon-Fri): 204-697-7100 wfpclass@freepress.mb.ca Obituaries (Mon-Fri): 204-697-7384 Display Advertising : 204-697-7122 FP.Advertising@freepress.mb.ca EDITORIAL Newsroom/tips: 204-697-7292 Fax: 204-697-7412 Photo desk: 204-697-7304 Sports desk: 204-697-7285 Business news: 204-697-7292 Photo REPRINTS: libraryservices@winnipegfreepress.com City desk / City.desk@freepress.mb.ca CANADA POST SALES AGREEMENT NO. 0563595 Recycled newsprint is used in the production of the newspaper. PLEASE RECYCLE. INSIDE Arts and Life C1 Business B5 Classifieds D7 Comics C5 Diversions C6,7 Horoscope C4 Miss Lonelyhearts C4 Obituaries D6 Opinion A6,7 Sports D1 Television C4 Weather B8 COLUMNISTS: Dan Lett B1 Rochelle Squires A7 Deveryn Ross A7 READER SERVICE ● GENERAL INQUIRIES 204-697-7000 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 The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada Free Press nominated for four national awards T HE Free Press has been nom- inated for four National News- paper Awards. The nominees were announced Monday morning. The Free Press and the Brandon Sun, which are both owned by FP Can- adian Newspapers Ltd., are jointly nominated for their combined cover- age of the Trans-Canada Highway crash near Carberry last June that led to the deaths of 17 seniors. Melissa Martin is nominated in the explanatory category for an explora- tion of crime reduction and the justice system. Niigaan Sinclair is nominated in the column category for pieces focused on Manitoba politics, including an introduction to Premier Wab Kinew with an eye to Indigenous cultures and traditions. John Woods is nominated in the sports photo category for a picture of the winner of the Manitoba Marathon women’s division shortly after she crossed the finish line. “These awards speak to the remark- able strength of our newsroom, which has the ability to respond in real time to a breaking news event at a deadly intersection that would make head- lines around the world and also deliv- er thoughtful columns, moving sports images and insights about the crimin- al justice system,” Free Press editor Paul Samyn said. Matt Goerzen of the Sun is nominat- ed in the editorial category for pieces on Brandon’s growth on LGBTTQ+ rights, the changes required after the Carberry collision, and why deficit numbers can’t always be trusted. Tim Smith of the Sun is nominated in the feature photo category for a pic- ture of women washing windows at a Hutterite colony. fpcity@freepress.mb.ca JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES John Woods is nominated in the sports photo category for a picture of the winner, Dawn Neal, of the 2023 Manitoba Marathon women’s division . TIM SMITH / BRANDON SUN FILES The Brandon Sun’s Tim Smith was nominated for this photo of young women in colourful dresses reflected in the glass of CanAmerican Corrugating Co. while washing the windows of the manufacturing business on the CanAm Hutterite Colony east of Minto in August. Malaya Marcelino, the province’s labour and immigration minister, said Manitoba has benefited from Ukraini- ans coming to the province. “While the circumstances Ukrai- nians have come to Manitoba for are not ideal, those who have settled here have brought tremendous value to our communities and province.” Marcelino said the government is working to put something in place for Ukrainians who come to Manitoba after April 1. She said Ukrainians will still be able to access general settlement services available to all newcomers. The province is looking at adding more. “Our government is working with the Ukrainian Canadian Con- gress-Manitoba Provincial Council to offer transitional supports to Ukraini- ans arrived after April 1,” Marcelino said. “These will include welcome and orientation services, housing supports and English-language supports.” Joanne Lewandoski, UCC Manitoba president, said the wave of immi- grants in the last two years has helped Manitoba’s economy. “These people have come with strong work ethics,” she said. “The UCC probably matched 400 people with jobs. We paid for 800 to 900 people to get food-handling certif- icates. There were 75 to 80 who came with teaching credentials. Six hundred to 700 people are able to learn English. That is all helping the economy.” Meanwhile, Lewandoski said she believes there hasn’t been targeted violence against Ukrainians who have come to Manitoba. “I think the violence, unfortunately, is they are in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said. “It’s just unfor- tunate. They don’t have a sign saying ‘I’m Ukrainian.’” There have been three high-profile incidents of violence in the past two years against Ukrainians in Winnipeg. Two men, who had just arrived from Ukraine, were attacked at The Forks during Canada Day in 2022, with one being stabbed and the other being pepper-sprayed. Two men have since pleaded guilty in the attack. A man and his wife were walking home with groceries in January, when two youth armed with a handgun-style air gun demanded their groceries. The man was left with a potentially life-changing injury when he was shot in the eye. In December 2023, Ivan Rubanik, 46, died after being stabbed by a stranger in a random attack while walking to work. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca DEADLINE ● FROM A1 UPS, which is held financially liable for items that go missing during ship- ping, launched a probe in December to determine why a “significant number” of Apple electronic items were disap- pearing from the Winnipeg warehouse. The company’s Manitoba head of se- curity installed surveillance cameras inside common areas to try to catch the thief, the court documents say, and later called in Winnipeg police. Between Jan. 11 and 18, UPS cameras captured Beltrano removing Apple products and other electronics from pallets in the warehouse and taking them to his office elsewhere in the facility before taking them to his vehicle on three occasions, the court papers say. In one incident, he’s accused of tak- ing 120 iPhones during a single shift. No other employees were found to be taking items, the court documents say. The UPS investigator said Beltrano was in charge of outgoing international shipments and wasn’t involved in do- mestic shipments, which are handled in a different part of the warehouse. All of the thefts were from pallets meant to be shipped to Thunder Bay, Ont., the documents say. The video surveillance tape shows Beltrano texting before and after he rummaged through the pallets. A Win- nipeg Police Service property crime detective said in an investigation report she suspected the video showed Beltrano communicating with a buyer by text about what he was able to steal, or looking to fill a specific illicit order. Property crimes investigators reviewed Beltrano’s schedule in prior months and discovered all of the thefts occurred on days he was working. The court documents allege Beltrano used his vehicle to deliver the stolen products to the buyer from Kijiji, then deposited the cash in his bank accounts. He’s accused of using the illicitly obtained cash to purchase his house in the South Pointe neighbour- hood — the sale of which was approved only a few days before his arrest. Beltrano, the court papers allege, deposited a total of $232,650 in cash in bank accounts between September 2023 and mid-January. After he was arrested, Beltrano admitted to stealing some of the prod- ucts and said he sold the electronics to the person he met on Kijiji, the court papers say. He told police during a videotaped interview he gave laptops to family as gifts, on top of the sale of the products, which he said he did to help his parents put a down payment on a house and to help his sisters with money, the court papers say. Beltrano said he initially wanted to sell the phones to strangers online, then a person responded on Kijiji asking if he had more to sell, the court papers say. He began regularly selling the stolen products to that individual, according to the court documents. Police searched Beltrano’s house and his vehicle Jan. 23. Beltrano, who has no past convic- tions in Manitoba, is due in court for an administrative appearance Tuesday on the criminal charges. Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said he would not comment, as the investigation is not yet complete. UPS did not return a request for comment Monday. erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca THEFTS ● FROM A1 RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS UPS warehouse at King Edward Street and Dublin Avenue, where Orville Beltrano (inset) is accused of stealing Apple products. ;