Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 27, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba PUBLIC NOTICE PESTICIDE USE PROGRAMS FOR 2024 Public notice is hereby given of the intent to conduct the following pest control programs during 2024 on properties under the jurisdiction of the Public Works Department, Planning, Property and Development Department – Municipal Cemeteries Branch, and Winnipeg Golf Services SOA. 1. To control noxious weeds, insects and plant diseases in golf courses, lawn bowling greens, parks, cemeteries, boulevards and ornamental display gardens the following pesticides may be used: - 2,4-D Amine 600 - Acelepryn – G - Arena 50WDG - Avigon - Banner Maxx - Buctril M - Cadence WDG - Civitas - Daconil 2787 - Dipel - EcoClear - Factor 540 - Fiesta - Garlon RTU - Golden Eagle - Grazon XC - Green Earth Horticultural Oil - Green Earth Lime Sulfur - Heritage - Heritage Maxx - Insignia - Instrata - Killex - Lalcide Chondro - LI 700 Surfactant - Lontrel 360 - Milestone - Natria Disease Control Concentrate - Oracle - Par III - Premium 3-Way XP - Primo Maxx - Prophesy - Qualipro Propiconazole - Quicksilver - Renovo - Round-up Weathermax - Round-up Transorb - Round-up Transorb HC - Round-up Ultra II - Rovral Green GT - Safer’s Insecticidal Soap - Secure Fungicide - Subdue Maxx - Tordon 22K - Trillion - Velista - Zertol The projected dates of the program will be from May 1 to October 31. 2. To control Dutch elm disease within the City of Winnipeg. The fungicides to be used are: - Arbotect 20-S - Eertavas The projected dates of application will be from June 1 to September 30. All pesticides used and procedures applied will be in accordance with federally approved label recommendations and the recommendations set by Manitoba Agriculture. Submissions or objections pertaining to any of the above should be made in writing, within 15 days of this publication to: Manitoba Environment and Climate Change Environmental Approvals Branch Box 35, 14 Fultz Boulevard Winnipeg MB R3Y 0L6 Notice Issued By: Jim Berezowsky Brett Shenback Ben Fey Director of Public Works Cemeteries Administrator General Manager, Golf Services WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2024 A4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I TOP NEWS Tighten your chin straps, NDP, and start working on deficit M ANITOBA’S former Progressive Conserv- ative government may be mostly to blame for the province’s out-of-control deficit, but the NDP doesn’t seem to be doing anything to get a handle on it. The current government sounds more like it’s still in opposition as it blames the Tories for ev- erything that ails the treasury, instead of taking some responsibility itself. Finance Minister Adrien Sala released the province’s third-quarter financial report last week. It showed the deficit has soared to nearly $2 billion for the 2023-24 fiscal year, up from $1.6 billion in September and more than five times the $363-million estimate in the 2023 budget. So, what is the NDP doing about it? Apparently nothing, at least according to its third-quarter report. Nowhere in the report does it state what steps the government is taking to control spend- ing to mitigate the size of the shortfall. Instead, it blames the former government for overspending in health care — mostly through the signing of new collective agreements with front-line workers — and in other departments. The biggest driver behind the deficit is a projected Manitoba Hydro loss of $190 million in 2023-24, owing to low water levels. The Crown corporation had projected a $450-million surplus, but even without Hydro’s $640-million net income swing, the province would still be running a record deficit of nearly $1.4 billion. The NDP says a large portion of that is the result of new contracts the Tories signed during the year with health-care workers that were not properly budgeted for. However, there was a $521-million expenditure contingency built into the budget that covers a good portion of those unanticipated costs. A $293-million decline in income and corporate taxes is also being blamed for the shortfall. But that’s not because of a weaker economy. Projected economic growth (which drives income tax rev- enue) doubled to 1.4 per cent from 0.7 per cent in the budget. Either the Canada Revenue Agency’s taxation estimates are off or the province grossly miscalculated the impact of its income tax cuts. The cuts were introduced by the Tories last year but have been sanctioned by the NDP, which im- plemented a portion of them Jan.1. Either way, there was a $200-million revenue contingency built into the budget to offset some of those declining revenues. The quarterly report shows revenue and expenditure changes in several government departments, including in Families, Agriculture and Advanced Education and Training. Some are up, some are down. These are normal fluctuations that occur every year in government. It’s up to the government of the day to manage them. Budgets are merely projections, they’re not written in stone. The assumptions and circum- stances related to estimated revenues and expen- ditures always change. Economic growth is usual- ly higher or lower than projected and costs arise that were not budgeted for (such as a worse spring flood than expected). In some cases, spending is lower than anticipated for any number of reasons. It’s up to government, through treasury board, to manage those changes throughout the year. Adjustments are always made to spending plans — it’s an ongoing responsibility. The factors that go into them are fluid. Naturally, there are some decisions made by the previous Tory government that cannot be altered. However, it’s now up to the NDP to manage the province’s finances and to mitigate the impact on the deficit. So far, that doesn’t seem to be happening. There doesn’t appear to be any plan to control spending. Manitoba has a $23-billion budget. There are always opportunities to review discretionary spending and to delay or cancel certain expen- ditures outside of core spending on front-line services. It’s hard work, but that’s what treasury board, made up of government MLAs, is supposed to do; it’s their job to manage those changes and to protect the interests of taxpayers. Right now, it seems no one is protecting the interests of taxpayers, at least not for the 2023-24 fiscal year. The NDP seems content to not only write off the year and blame the former govern- ment for all of it, it’s piling up spending of its own. That is causing severe harm to the province’s bottom line. The province’s projected summary net debt has increased to $33.5 billion from an es- timated $31.1 billion in the 2023 budget. That has driven up the government’s net debt to GDP (debt measured as a percentage of the economy) to 37.5 per cent from 34.6 per cent in the budget. That’s not cause for alarm, but it’s a significant jump in one year. It will attract the attention of credit-rat- ing agencies if it continues in that direction. The NDP is the government now. It should start acting like it. tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca TOM BRODBECK OPINION HSC upgrade allows adults to stay in province for tests New monitoring unit boon for patients with complex epilepsy F OR the first time in five years, patients who have complex epilepsy don’t have to leave Manitoba when they need medical monitor- ing. A new, four-bed adult epilepsy monitoring unit has been opened at Health Sciences Centre to re- place the two-bed unit that closed in 2019. The unit opened its doors in January and is expected to become fully operational over the next few months for patients who need specialized testing and require monitoring in case of seizures while they switch medications or while medical staff determine why medications aren’t working and whether the patient is a candidate for brain sur- gery. Since 2019, about 50 patients have been sent out of Manitoba because they need urgent monitoring or surgery to treat epilepsy. Another 200 patients are on a wait list for this care, which was previ- ously not available in Manitoba because of staff shortages and obsolete equipment. “We never should have been in a position in Manitoba where residents of this province with epilepsy did not have access to this care in their own province and since 2019 under the previous government, that’s what’s been happening,” said provincial Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara. The province is spending $2.3 million in capital funding and $2.5 million in annual operating costs on the new monitoring unit. A separate recovery unit for neurosurgery patients has also been es- tablished using $500,000 in donations to the HSC Foundation. That unit opened in December. The minister made the announcement on the HSC campus Tuesday, which was Purple Day for inter- national epilepsy awareness. Adults with epilepsy who need surgery will still have to go out of province. The monitoring and surgical step-down recovery units are steps toward offering those surgeries for adults at HSC, said Dr. Manon Pelletier, the hospital’s chief med- ical officer. The monitoring unit is equipped with “lead- ing-edge equipment” and additional staff — in- cluding nurses and electroencephalographic (EEG) technologists — and is expected to benefit about 7,000 of the 23,000 Manitobans with epi- lepsy. She said the complement of epilepsy special- ists and surgeons at HSC is “in good shape.” One surgeon is performing pediatric epilepsy surger- ies and another is being actively recruited with a specific candidate in mind. The new units “will allow us to provide a level of care to epilepsy and neurosurgery patients that is orders in magnitude greater than what we have ever been able to provide before,” Pelletier said. Equipment failures and a lack of staff forced the closure of the two-bed monitoring unit in 2019. Travelling out of province was not ideal for pa- tients with urgent epilepsy cases, Pelletier said. “Certainly, it’s not ideal, and we’re really, really happy and excited that these patients don’t need to travel for this care anymore.” A new, expanded provincial epilepsy program was announced by the previous Progressive Con- servative government but didn’t materialize until nearly two years later. The Tories made funding announcements for a monitoring unit and compre- hensive epilepsy program in 2021 and 2022. Following Tuesday’s announcement the PC cau- cus issued a statement saying the new unit was made possible by previous Tory investments. The new monitoring unit was initially slated to be complete in summer 2023. The union representing EEG technologists who run the tests required for epilepsy monitoring said they are still “desperately” in demand in Manitoba, not just at HSC but also at St. Boniface Hospital and in Brandon. In a statement, Manitoba Association of Health Professionals president Jason Linklater said he will work with Shared Health to make sure the additional operating funding goes toward ad- equate staffing. “Electroencephalographic technologists who run these complex tests are still desperately short-staffed and in need of more help to keep up with the increased demand this reopened and ex- panded unit is already creating,” Linklater said. “More must be done to retain and recruit these highly specialized professionals.” Pat Trottier’s 49-year-old son Tom has epilepsy and an intellectual disability caused by a genetic condition. He spent time in the old monitoring unit and will be admitted to the new one in the coming weeks. During Tuesday’s announcement, Trottier thanked donors and she said she’s grate- ful to medical professionals for their compassion- ate, expert care. “As his parents, my husband and I want nothing more than for Tom to live his best and healthiest life. Thanks to HSC and Dr. Marcus Ng in particu- lar, that’s what Tom is doing.” katie.may@freepress.mb.ca KATIE MAY MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Health minister Uzoma Asagwara (centre) chats with Health Sciences Centre Foundation president and CEO Jonathon Lyon (left) and board chair Tina Jones after announcing the addition of an adult epilepsy monitoring unit. Man forced woman into escort work: police A CALGARY man arrested in Winnipeg is ac- cused of holding a Quebec woman against her will and making her work as an escort as they trav- elled west. The Winnipeg Police Service found a 24-year- old man and an 18-year-old woman in a short-term vacation rental suite on the 300 block of Hargrave Street at about 5:40 p.m. Thursday. Quebec provincial police had told Winnipeg po- lice she might be a victim of human trafficking. The WPS said its counter-exploitation unit began investigating and learned the suspect had met the victim in a bar in Montreal in early Janu- ary and manipulated her into believing they were involved in a romantic relationship. He allegedly began advertising her sexual ser- vices on social media, arranged meets between clients and the woman and collected money. Police learned the suspect took the victim to four cities in Ontario this month, before heading west. “The victim could not leave hotel rooms or va- cation rentals in each location as the suspect held her personal identification and cellular phone,” the WPS said in a news release Tuesday. “On sev- eral occasions, the suspect physically assaulted the victim to prevent her from leaving.” On Thursday, the woman contacted a friend in Quebec, who contacted police there before the WPS became involved. Malik Regele Marc, 24, is charged with traf- ficking in persons, material benefit from sexual services, procuring a person to provide sexual services, advertising sexual services, forcible confinement and assault. He was detained in cus- tody. “The victim was provided short-term support while in the company of investigators, and with assistance from the (Quebec provincial police) and community partners in Winnipeg, she was conveyed back to her home province to the care of family members,” Winnipeg police said. fpcity@freepress.mb.ca MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Pat Trottier, whose son has epilepsy, says she is grateful for the compassionate, expert care he’s received. ;