Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 28, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba SE T T E R S T CARON AVE L O N S D A L E D R H A L L O N Q U I S T D R B O O T H D R S T U R G E O N R O A D S T U R G E O N R O A D GRACE HOSPITAL SC II P O R T A G E A V E N U E SC I Sturgeon Creek I Sturgeon Creek II Leave the Moving to Us! Call Santana at 204.202.1870 WORRY FREE MOVE! Ask About Our Gracious Retirement Living Assisted Living A Place to Call Home At Your Service: • Transportation for Scheduled Outings and Medical Appointments • 24 Hour Nursing Care • Weekly Light Housekeeping • Staff 24/7 • Pet Friendly • Enriched Activities • Full Service Dining • Delicious, Home-Cooked Meals • Month to Month Leases 707 Setter Street, Winnipeg, MB Where Caring is Our Number One Concern™ PROUDLY CANADIAN www.allseniorscare.com Under the authority of The City of Winnipeg Charter, the Community Committee listed below will conduct PUBLIC HEARINGS for the purpose of allowing interested persons to make submissions, ask questions or register objections in respect of the application(s) listed below. Information or documents concerning the applications and a description of the procedure to be followed at the public hearings are available for inspection by calling 204-986-2636 to make an appointment at Unit 15-30 Fort Street, or by visiting the City Clerk’s Department, Susan A. Thompson Building, 510 Main Street between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, excluding holidays; or on-line at http://www.winnipeg.ca EAST KILDONAN- TRANSCONA COMMUNITY COMMITTEE PUBLIC HEARING Date: Monday, April 8, 2024 Time: 10:30 A.M. Location: City Hall To participate in the hearing, register online at winnipeg.ca/publichearings or by phoning 204-986-7108 by 12:00 noon the business day preceding the meeting. You may also participate in the process by submitting your comments in writing. THIS HEARING CAN BE VIEWED ON LINE AT: https://winnipeg.ca/council/video.asp Allow youth to continue celebrating diversity and promote cultural understanding while preserving intangible heritage for generations to come. Folklorama.ca Be part of Folklorama's Future! Donate Today! A4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I TOP NEWS THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2024 When the Progressive Conservatives took office in 2016, they promised to add 1,200 new long-term care beds — a promise the party renewed in the lead- up to last fall’s provincial election. Last summer, the Tories announced plans to build six new personal-care homes: four in the Interlake-Eastern health region and two in Winnipeg. One of those projects, a 95-bed facil- ity for Lac du Bonnet, has been con- firmed by the NDP government with construction set to begin this year. Premier Wab Kinew hasn’t set a target for new personal-care home beds in Manitoba; he’s said more details about the government’s long-term care spending are coming in next week’s provincial budget release. The number of people waiting “not only represents a significant bottle- neck in our health-care delivery but also has a profound impact on the qual- ity of life for those waiting and their families,” said Gladys Hrabi, CEO of the Manitoba Association for Residen- tial and Community Care Homes for Everyone. “It speaks to a broader issue of accessibility and the necessity for systemic changes to meet the growing demands of our aging population,” within the health-care system, Hrabi stated in an email, adding MARCHE is advocating for alternative care models and ways to expand the capacity of existing long-term care homes. The shortage of long-term care spots and staff is a national problem, as thou- sands of Canadians wait for residential placements, said Jodi Hall, CEO of the Canadian Association for Long Term Care, adding it should be addressed alongside Canada’s housing crisis and considered not only as health care but as housing for an aging population. “We absolutely are housing and we’re in a crisis when you look at the wait lists across the country,” Hall said. The national organization has been lobbying federally for a return to fund- ing agreements with the Canada Mort- gage and Housing Corp. that allowed new long-term care residences to be built decades ago. They also support a national health human resources strategy that would look at long-term care projections. “All of this as a matter is urgent,” Hall said. “Even though we have 13 different long-term care systems and health-care systems across the coun- try, it’s important that we do think big picture and that we work together.” katie.may@freepress.mb.ca CARE HOME ● FROM A1 Numbers by region ● Winnipeg Regional Health Authority: As of the week of March 13-19, 210 people were evaluated and awaiting placement. ● Prairie Mountain Health: In the health region that includes Brandon, 248 people are waiting for a bed and an addi- tional 97 people currently have a temporary care-home bed but are waiting for one in their first-choice facility, for a total of 345 people on wait lists as of March 22. ● Southern Health-Sante Sud: A total of 317 people have been evaluated and are waiting for placement as of March 13. Of that number, 279 are waiting for a bed in their home health region and 38 are waiting for a bed outside of Southern Health-Sante Sud. ● Northern Health Authority: A total of 38 people were waiting for a per- sonal-care home placement as of March 22. Of that number, 25 want a bed within the region and 13 are waiting for beds in other regions. ● Interlake-Eastern Health Authority: As of March 19, there were 135 people waiting for a bed of their choosing, as well as 17 people from outside the region who were waiting for a bed in Interlake-Eastern. Source: Data provided by each regional health authority Patel’s name didn’t emerge until he was arrested in Chicago last month on a previ- ously sealed warrant issued last September. Defence attorney Thomas Leinenweber did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Unsealed court papers connect Patel with a human trafficking group based in the northwest Indian state of Gujarat. The group allegedly would get Indian nationals into Canada on student visas, then move them on to the Chicago area. The migrants would work for substandard wages at Indian restaurants while they paid off debt to the smugglers, court documents say. Prosecutors allege Shand was driving a rented 15-passenger van when it was stopped by the U.S. Border Patrol in Minnesota just south of the border with Manitoba on Jan. 19, 2022. Inside the van were two Indians from Gu- jarat who had entered the U.S. illegally, while five others were spotted walking nearby. Ac- cording to court documents, they told officers they’d been walking for more than 11 hours in temperatures well below -34 C. One person was hospitalized with severe cold-related injuries. A man with the group told authorities he paid the equivalent of about US$87,000 to get smuggled into the U.S. He also had a back- pack that contained children’s clothes and a diaper, but there were no children in the group. The man told authorities he was carrying the items for a family of four with a small child, all of whom had become separated from his group during the night. Later that day, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found the four dead, just 10 metres from the border near Emerson. As per to a series of messages sent via WhatsApp, Shand told Patel, “Make sure ev- eryone is dressed for the blizzard conditions please.” Patel replied, “Done.” Then Shand remarked, “We not losing any money.” The victims were identified as Jagdish Patel, 39; his wife, Vaishaliben, 34; their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi; and three- year-old son Dharmik, all from the village of Dingucha in Gujarat state. It’s not clear if they were related to the defendant because Patel is a common name in India. Jagdish Patel and his wife were educated and had worked as teachers, but sought a better life in the U.S, relatives have said. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said their deaths were “mind blowing.” The victims faced not only extreme cold, but also flat, open fields; large snowdrifts and complete darkness, RCMP have said. They were wearing winter clothing, but it wasn’t enough to save them. A court filing unsealed last month said Shand told investigators he first met Harsh- kumar Patel, whom he also knew by the nick- name “Dirty Harry,” at a gaming establish- ment Patel managed in Orange City, Fla. Shand said Patel originally tried to recruit him to pick up Indian nationals who were illegally crossing the U.S.-Canada border in New York State. Shand said he declined, but agreed to pick up others in Minnesota. Shand said Patel paid him about US$25,000 altogether for five trips to the border in December 2021 and January 2022. He said he dropped off his passengers at an Indian supermarket in Chicago, a residence in a wealthy part of the Chicago area and at a suburban Chicago motel. — The Canadian Press SMUGGLING ● FROM A1 RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES Retired nurse Joyce Kristjansson is concerned about the state of long-term care facilities. ;