Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 28, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba 204-697-7001 or 1-800-542-8900 Email: fpcirc@freepress.mb.ca THERE WILL BE NO PUBLICATION OF THE NEWSPAPER OR E-EDITION ON GOOD FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2024 & EASTER MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2024 For breaking news, visit our website at winnipegfreepress.com THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2024 B2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM PARK RESERVATIONS OPEN APRIL 8 PEOPLE can begin booking cabins, yurts and group-use areas in provincial parks as of April 8. Camping reservations will be staggered over five days to accommodate demand. Online and call-centre services will open at 7 a.m. on opening day. Walk-in reservations and in-person payment arrange- ments can also be made at 1181 Portage Ave., from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, starting April 8. No campsites are available until April 9, when booking opens for such sites at the Birds Hill, Winnipeg Beach and Grand Beach campgrounds. More information is available at http://wfp.to/yPB. COMMUNITY CLUB, DAYCARE BACK IN BUSINESS IT’S back to the daycare for children left without a place to go for two weeks thanks to a broken sewer pipe In an email to the South Winnipeg Community Club, where the Waverley Heights Child Care Centre is housed, a spokesperson said the repair “has been successfully completed.” The underground sewer pipe broke on March 13, forcing the daycare to close and for all events in the community centre to be cancelled. HUMANE SOCIETY LAUNCHES TRAP TRADE-IN CAMPAIGN THE Winnipeg Humane Society is asking people to turn in lethal animal traps in exchange for a chance to win a $200 gift card to its pet shop. The society said pets are getting injured in traps target- ing wildlife, adding it knows of two cases where cats were injured in traps in the past several months. Winslow, a two-year-old cat, was taken to the shelter’s clinic with severe injuries after he was caught in an illegal body-hold trap. The cat was found in Charleswood last month. Such traps are used for animals such as raccoons, beavers and coyotes. Another cat, Enzo, lost her leg after being tangled in a snare. Both animals are recovering well. Traps accepted as part of the campaign include body grip/Conibear traps, both of which are illegal to use in Winnipeg, as well as leg-hold traps, snares and other makeshift lethal traps. Traps can be dropped off at 45 Hurst Way until April 10. FIRE HITS ST. MARY’S ROAD COMMERCIAL BUILDING CREWS extinguished a fire in a commercial building on St. Mary’s Road Wednesday. Firefighters were sent to the single-storey building on the 700 block of St. Mary’s at 1:58 a.m. and saw heavy smoke and flames coming from the building. Crews fought the fire from outside before conditions improved enough for firefighters to enter the building. The fire was declared under control at 2:48 a.m. No one was inside the building. SEX OFFENDER A HIGH RISK TO REOFFEND: POLICE POLICE are notifying the public about a sex offender who is expected to live in Winnipeg after being released from Headingley jail Wednesday. Cecil Junior Houle, a.k.a. Chubby or Junior, was serving time for four counts of failing to comply with conditions of a probation order. Police said all people, particularly females, are at risk of sexual violence. Houle, 47, is subject to a lifetime weapons prohibition order and two probation orders that expire this year. He was convicted of manslaughter in the killing of his common-law wife and sexual assault causing bodily harm in connection with an 18-year-old woman in 2006. “This information is provided to enable members of the public to take suitable measures to protect themselves,” the Manitoba integrated high-risk sex offender unit — a joint unit of the Winnipeg Police Service and the RCMP — said Wednesday. “Any form of vigilante activity or other unreasonable conduct directed at Mr. Houle will not be tolerated.” NEWS I CITY Accused killer, still at large, wanted at time of city slaying A MAN wanted in connection with the fatal assault of a 24-year-old in a Main Street apartment last week was on police radar at the time for breaching bail conditions. Dyson Irvin Sumner, 28, was identi- fied publicly by police Tuesday and is wanted on a warrant for second-degree murder. He is considered dangerous and could be armed. On March 19, officers found Murdo Baker in a suite at the public housing complex at 817 Main St. Baker, who was from South Indian Lake, was pro- nounced dead in hospital. His homicide is the 10th in Winnipeg this year. Police spokesman Const. Jason Mi- chalyshen said Wednesday he couldn’t elaborate about the circumstances of the slaying while Sumner remains at large. Michalyshen said he was unsure of whether the men knew each other, or whether either lived in the suite where Baker was found. Sumner is also wanted on a war- rant issued in February for allegedly breaching a January release order, the Free Press has learned. He remains before the court for a slew of alleged offences, including carrying a concealed weapon, possess- ing a weapon dangerous to the public peace and four counts of possessing ammunition while prohibited, court re- cords show. Sumner was released by the provin- cial court on Oct. 25, a week after he was picked up for allegedly possessing ammunition. On Nov. 18, he was accused of failing to comply with the order, which was then revoked in early January, after he was picked up on a second charge of possessing a weapon dangerous to the public peace and multiple release order breaches. Sumner was again granted bail on Jan. 31, before the warrant for the latest court order breach was issued. “This is an individual we are very familiar with... certainly very familiar with as of late,” said Michalyshen. The issue of an accused being out on bail and committing more crimes has become a political flashpoint across the country. The Manitoba government an- nounced last month it had brought in a policy to advise Crown attorneys to con- sider the potential harm of releasing an offender when bail is being sought, out of concern for community safety. How- ever, lawyers pointed out that issue al- ready must be considered by courts, as set out in the Criminal Code. The NDP plan includes $3 million for Winnipeg police to hire 12 new officers to track down people who violate bail conditions. Sumner was most recently convicted of theft and breaching a probation or- der in 2021. The theft charge had been pleaded down from a robbery. At the sentencing hearing, his law- yer told court Sumner had struggled with addictions since the age of 16, be- ginning with alcohol and more recent- ly, methamphetamine. He was born in Jackhead First Nation, north of Winni- peg, and was taken by a child welfare agency at about age four. He has a Grade 8 education and has worked as a labourer for roofing, stuc- co and moving companies, his lawyer said. Sumner has also been convicted of carrying a concealed weapon, assault with a weapon, and a possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, court records show. He’s currently subject to two court orders prohibiting him from possessing weapons. erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca ERIK PINDERA SUPPLIED Dyson Irvin Sumner Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) stressed he’ll keep an open mind on the project itself but noted he’s also troubled by the delay to develop the area. “We built that dog-leg (bus rapid transit route)… (and) the point was to get development near there. It’s over a decade since we had that vote and we’re still at this point so I would like to get this resolved one way or another,” said Mayes. The application proposes the trans- formation of 47 acres of south Winnipeg land bordered by the CN Railway Riv- ers line and southwest rapid transitway to create a transit-oriented develop- ment, along with parks and recreation space. A high-density multi-family residen- tial area would include 1,575 dwelling units in 23 “apartment-style” buildings, ranging from six to 22 storeys tall, along with a 1.86-acre neighbourhood park. Six of the buildings would have ground-floor commercial units. Another area would offer 158 dwell- ing units within 10 three-storey town- homes, while a lower density housing area would include 185 units within a mix of townhomes, triplexes/fourplex- es, duplexes, and single-family homes, along with a 0.8-acre park. The development also proposes a geothermal energy system to heat and cool buildings in the high-density and townhome areas, while limiting green- house-gas emissions. A pedestrian and cycling network would include sidewalks on both sides of all streets and recreation paths. Marquess said he does not believe the proposal varies much from what he’s submitted to the city since 2018. He noted council approved a plan in 2020 but said that didn’t move forward, blaming administrative changes after the vote. If council approves the latest sub- division and rezoning applications, a development agreement would still be required after that point, said Mar- quess. A request to speak with a city planner was not granted Wednesday. A spokes- man said the city is supportive of the application. “The (suggested) changes are minor in nature and more related to clarifica- tion of details and future development application processing,” wrote Kalen Qually. The City Centre community commit- tee will cast the first vote on the pro- posal next Thursday. The applications require full city council approval. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca X: @joyanne_pursaga PARKER ● FROM B1 SUPPLIED The Fulton Grove development has been planned for more than a decade, stalled by the City of Winnipeg planning department. SUPPLIED A judge excoriated city officials for the delay, ordering the city to pay developer Andrew Marquess $5 million. A spokeswoman for Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure said public concerns in Febru- ary led to a road safety audit of the construction area. It prompted additional signage, lighting, re- flectors, barrier cleaning and snow removal. “Additionally, the department installed virtu- al speed indicators, to display vehicle speed to drivers, and signs indicating that speed fines are doubled in the construction zone,” the spokes- woman wrote in an email. The Manitoba government has faced calls to re- view decades-old photo radar legislation, The WPS has said legislation limits the pro- gram to 2002 technology and prohibits expansion. “The province is engaged in positive, collabora- tive dialogue with the Winnipeg Police Service about its ongoing challenges with photo enforce- ment and the desire to continue working to im- prove photo enforcement as a balanced tool to im- prove road safety,” the government spokeswoman wrote. chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca RADAR ● FROM B1 IN BRIEF Cecil Junior Houle ;