Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 25, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba PROMOTING INDIGENOUS BUSINESS, COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT May 15&16, 2024 RBC CONVENTION CENTRE WINNIPEG REGISTER BEFORE APRIL 12 AND SAVE! REGISTER ONLINE AT VQCONFERENCE.COM KEYNOTE Tatanka Means AWARD WINNING ACTOR/COMEDIAN KEYNOTE Lisa Meeches MENTOR, ENTREPRENEUR, PRODUCER SERVING MANITOBA SINCE 1872. FOREVER WITH YOUR SUPPORT. MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2024 TODAY’S WEATHER PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH -4 — LOW -11 CITY GROUP MAILS POSTCARDS TO LEGISLATURE / B1 Support for federal Conservatives in city remains at 2021 election level despite party strengthening in parts of province Winnipeg cool to Poilievre’s Tories P IERRE Poilievre’s Conservatives are going gangbusters in parts of Manitoba, but it seems the party’s “axe the tax” appeal against the Lib- erals’ carbon pricing hasn’t resonated with Winnipeg voters. If a federal election were held today, a new poll suggests it would be status quo for the federal Tories in Manito- ba’s capital, even as it leads in polls across the country almost two years before an election. The Free Press-Probe Research poll pegs support for the Poilievre team at 38 per cent in Winnipeg — the same result the party tallied during the last election in 2021, under the leadership of Erin O’Toole. The NDP garnered 31 per cent, up four points from 2021. Liberal support dropped by only one percentage point to 28 per cent. “It’s not quite the blowout for the Tories, especially in Winnipeg, that maybe some of the national polls would assume,” said Mary Agnes Welch, a principal at Probe, on Friday. “It’s not a perfectly open path to vic- tory even in the suburban ridings.” As Canadians cope with rising pric- es, the Tories have amped up attacks on the Liberal government for its carbon pricing scheme, especially as it’s set to increase April 1. The price on carbon has increased annually since being imposed in 2019, when it was $20 per tonne. It will rise to $80 per tonne next month. It’s been paying off for Poilievre: a recent Leger poll put his party’s support at 41 per cent, while the Grits were at 25 per cent and the NDP trailed at 18 per cent. Welch said there will be white-knuckle races in key city rid- ings: Elmwood-Transcona, where NDP MP Daniel Blaikie recently announced he is stepping down to work for Pre- mier Wab Kinew; Winnipeg South, where Liberal MP Terry Duguid will have to engage in hand-to-hand combat to retain the swing riding; and Saint Boniface-Saint Vital, where Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal can’t depend on dialing it in. Report warns of spread of conspiracy theories OTTAWA — Threats against poli- ticians have become “increasingly normalized” due to extremist narra- tives prompted by personal grievanc- es and fuelled by misinformation or deliberate lies, warns a newly released intelligence report. The report, prepared by a federal task force that aims to safeguard elections, says the Canadian violent extremist landscape has seen the proliferation of conspiracy theories, a growing lack of trust in the integrity of the state and more political polar- ization. Baseless theories, disinformation and misinformation have spread to larger audiences, exposing online users to a vast network of narratives that undermine science, systems of government and traditional figures of authority, the report says. “Violent rhetoric routinely fixates on elected officials — with particular hostility towards high-profile women.” The Canadian Press used the Ac- cess to Information Act to obtain the June 2023 report by the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force. Some passages in the “Secret / Canadian Eyes Only” assessment were considered too sensitive to release. The federal body, established in 2019 to protect the electoral process from foreign interference, includes repre- sentatives of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the RCMP, Global Affairs Canada and the Communica- tions Security Establishment, Canada’s cyberspy agency. The report notes that while domestic terrorism threats are not strictly part of the task force’s focus on foreign meddling, “we recognize the need to provide assessments on this issue.” The task force weighed the possible threat from violent extremism driven by politics, religion and ideology. It concluded that of the three, a Canadian federal election would “most likely be impacted” by ideologically motivated violent extremism. There is no “one-size-fits-all” worl- dview for ideological extremism, the report says. Rather, “threat actors” are driven by a range of grievances, ideas and highly personalized narratives from across the traditional left-to- right-wing spectrum, often deeply influenced by conspiracy theories. JIM BRONSKILL KEVIN ROLLASON Moscow terror attack deaths rise to 137 RUSSIA held a national day of mourn- ing on Sunday after the terrorist attack that killed at least 137 people in Moscow, as officials continue to sug- gest a Ukrainian role in the massacre claimed by Islamic State. The investigation of the crime scene continues, the state investigation committee said on Telegram. So far 62 bodies have been identified. Russians lined up to donate blood, and many added flowers and candles to a makeshift shrine outside the Cro- cus City Hall on the edge of Moscow. President Vladimir Putin lit a candle for the victims in a church at his state residence west of the capital, accord- ing to the Kremlin. Amid heightened security at major airports and railway stations, people gathered in memory of the victims across the country. TV channels can- celled entertainment programming in a mark of respect. Putin said in a televised address on Saturday that security services had captured four suspects who he said were trying to flee to Ukraine. While he didn’t directly accuse Ukrainian au- thorities of involvement in the attack, Putin said a “window” had been pre- pared for the men to cross the border, without offering evidence. Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a Saturday video address and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, have denied any role and called the attack a false- flag operation by the Kremlin. “Their only goal is to motivate more Russians to die in their senseless and criminal war against Ukraine,” Kuleba said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Islamic State claimed responsibility in a Telegram message and later post- ed a photograph of four men it said had carried out the assault. Overnight it published a video of the four assailants shooting at people in the concert hall and one of them killing a person with a knife. Friday’s attack was the biggest single loss of life from terrorism in Moscow since Chechen separatists took hostages in 2002 at the Nord-Ost theatre. At least 170 people including dozens of attackers died during a botched rescue mission. Friday’s as- sault took place less than a week after Putin cemented his grip on Russia by claiming a fifth term with 87 per cent of the vote in the presidential election. The U.S. said Islamic State was solely responsible for Friday’s attack, dismissing suggestions of Ukrainian involvement. “ISIS is a common terrorist enemy that must be defeated everywhere,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. National Security Council spokes- woman Adrienne Watson reiterated on Saturday that the U.S. shared informa- tion with Russia in early March about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow. She pointed again to an unusual public warning posted by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow on March 7 that cited “reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow,” including concerts. Putin dismissed those warnings when he met on Tuesday with senior Federal Security Service officers. “All this resembles outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society,” the president said. ● POILIEVRE, CONTINUED ON A2 ● THREATS, CONTINUED ON A2 ● MOSCOW, CONTINUED ON A2 FRANK GUNN / THE CANADIAN PRESS WORLD CHAMPIONS Canada’s Emma Miskew, skip Rachel Homan, Tracy Fleury and Sarah Wilkes celebrate after defeating Silvana Tirinzoni’s Swiss foursome at the World Women’s Curling Championship gold medal game in Sydney, N.S., on Sunday / C1 POLL PROBE RESEARCH ;