Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 12, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba TH E O N L Y T O U R O F I T S K I N D R O U N D T R I P F R O M W I N N I P E G T O E N J O Y B O T H T H E C A N A D I A N R O C K Y A N D C O A S T A L M O U N T A I N S O F N O R T H E N B C A N D S H O R E S O F T H E P A C I F I C O C E A N . ALL ABOARD TO ENJOY Spring in the Canadian Mountains THIS JUNE CONTACT TO RESERVE AT 204-897-9551 (in Winnipeg) OR TOLL FREE 1-866-704-3528 RAIL TRAVEL TOURS SPECIAL READER OFFER F. Lesiuk T o u r o f t h e C o l u m b i a I c e fi e l d s R eserve your space now, as space is limited, for this comprehensive rail tour roundtrip from Winnipeg to Prince Rupert, BC that features more mountain views from a train you ever thought possible. This tour will allow you to experience the heritage, size and scenery of Western Canada including the Prairies, Foothills, Rocky and Coastal Mountains and Pacific Coast enjoying meals on all the trains, all hotel stays, and daylight travelling past BOTH the Rocky and Coastal Mountains, heritage attractions and more. Roundtrip from Winnipeg by train with the first 2 days and nights and last day and night travelling on VIA Rail’s Canadian (enjoying the train’s sleeping car accommodations, domed observation cars, lounge areas and meals in the dining car) to Jasper National Park. Enjoying a total of 3 nights hotel stay in the Town of Jasper (1 westbound and 2 nights eastbound) to enjoy the Columbia Icefields Parkway & Athabasca Glacier Tour, Maligne Lake Boat Cruise and time to just shop and explore this scenic park town in the heart of the Canadian Rockies. West of Jasper, travel roundtrip on possibly the most scenic rail journey in Canada VIA Rail’s all daylight Jasper –Prince Rupert Train through Northern BC. This spectacular rail journey takes 2 days each way and overnight (1 night each way) at the mid-way point of Prince George, BC. This stunning rail journey, known as one of the best kept secrets of rail journeys in North America for the variety of scenery, is planned to be experienced from the VIA Rail train that also serves remote and isolated communities (where you might meet onboard some of the locals that rely on this train) along its route in BC with meals provided for our guests from local providers to be enjoyed while viewing the variety of scenic vistas right from your seat on train so you don’t miss a moment of the scenery. The train also features a Park Domed Observation car with a wraparound tail end scenic viewing lounge and from either of these observation cars past groups have experienced numerous wildlife sightings along this route. Also from this train guests will enjoy unsurpassed views of the Rocky Mountains, Northern BC Ranch Country, Bulkley Canyon, Coastal Mountains and the Skeena River where it flows into the Pacific before arriving in Prince Rupert. Passing highlights such as the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies Mount Robson your meals will be brought right to your seat on this train so you won’t miss a thing! Those taking part in the tour will enjoy Prince Rupert for a total of 2 nights at our hotel that overlooks the city and a full day here to visit the North Pacific Cannery Historic Site, Cow’s Bay shopping village, Museum of Northern BC and more before enjoying a special group dinner in prince Rupert at a location with a stunning view of the Pacific. Then return to the rails for more great views and watching for wildlife while returning to Winnipeg by train. Just sit back and let the train do all the mountain climbing on this comprehensive package that includes hotel stays, rail travel, transfers and additional heritage and exclusive experiences for those that join us. THURSDAY JUNE 6 to SUNDAY JUNE 16, 2024 (11 DAYS AND 10 NIGHTS) LIMITED SPACE STRESS FREE RESERVATIONS We are NOW PROCESSING $250 per person deposits right over the phone to confirm your places on this unique package connecting downtown Winnipeg to some amazing mountain views and more. TRAIN BERTH(S) $ 5,295 TRAIN ROOM(S) $ 6,795 The above are Per Person rates based on Double Occupancy CONTACT US FOR SINGLE RATES Full Balance Deadline Approx 40 Days prior to departure Just sit back and let the train do all the mountain climbing on this comprehensive package that includes hotel stays, rail travel, transfers and additional heritage and exclusive experiences for those that join us. LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE ON THIS UNIQUE TOUR TRAVELLING ON 2 SEPERATE TRAINS, ALL HOTELS AND SOME GREAT ATTRACTIONS. WE SUGGEST CALLING TODAY IF YOU WANT TO JOIN US FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2024 A8 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I CANADA / WORLD Homeless Indigenous women in North don’t feel well-protected by RCMP: report O TTAWA — Homeless Indigenous women in the North do not feel well-protected by the RCMP and instead face violence and discrimin- ation by police, a new report from the Yellowknife Women’s Society has found. The organization held two sessions with women last October and every single participant said she either ex- perienced abuse by an RCMP officer or knew an Indigenous person who had. “More than once, women in our cir- cles shared stories of being roughed up by the police and being explicitly told some version of, ‘I can do what I want to you — no one will believe you,’” the report says. “Women also told us about calling for help and having the RCMP focus on ‘the wrong thing’ — asking women aggressive questions, spending time on administrative checkboxes despite urgency, or even arresting women who had sought their assistance.” In general, women who participated in the research said they felt their concerns weren’t taken as seriously or credibly as those of non-Indigenous people. “You know, they’re there when you don’t need them. And when you need them, they’re nowhere around,” one participant said. Renee Sanderson, the executive dir- ector of the Yellowknife Women’s Soci- ety, said these experiences along with a broad distrust of the RCMP have re- al-world consequences. “So many unhoused Indigenous women don’t ask for help from police, because they fear getting ignored or roughed up or worse,” she said. “Who can they call on, if they feel unsafe with the people meant to protect them?” The report makes 24 recommenda- tions to improve those relationships and the safety of those the national force is mandated to protect. Sanderson, who previously worked for the RCMP, said in the report that the things she saw and interactions she bore witness to while employed with the force were “heart-wrenching.” “I soon realized that you have two choices: you either become a part of this tight-knit group and look the other way when injustices happen or speak out about it and be ostracized,” she wrote. The report describes the RCMP as a force that is “left to police itself” due to current practices and a lack of resour- ces for the Civilian Review and Com- plaints Commission. “Nearly all individual cases of officer misconduct are referred back to the RCMP to investigate in-house.” Between 2018 and 2023, there were 63 allegations of inappropriate use of force by the division that operates in Yellowknife, the report says. All of them were found to be unsub- stantiated. “The Indigenous women in our shar- ing circles were clear: despite the hun- dreds if not thousands of recommen- dations from all orders of government across the country, the relationship between unhoused Indigenous women in Yellowknife and the RCMP is not working.” The force’s predecessor, the North West Mounted Police, became one of the earliest non-Indigenous arrivals in the region in 1873, mandated to impose “law and order” and assert Canadian sovereignty. It was amalgamated into the broader RCMP in 1920. Many still see police as executors of colonialism, the women’s society found. The finding echoes the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which noted that for many Indigenous chil- dren, their first encounter with the justice system came when an RCMP officer took them to residential school. Research participants said many RCMP officers in their communities demonstrate a lack of understanding of Indigenous Peoples, their cultures or their history with the force. Indigenous Peoples account for around 90 per cent of the homeless population in the city, despite repre- senting about a quarter of Yellowknife’s population. Of that group, more than 60 per cent had at least one parent attend a resi- dential school and more than one-third reported living in foster care or group homes during their youth. Better social services would go a long way, the report says. The society recommends increas- ing the number of shelter spaces and the capacity of mobile crisis response teams to help limit the interactions be- tween police and homeless Indigenous women. “Despite having one of the highest rates of substance use and addictions in Canada, there are no residential men- tal wellness and addictions treatment facilities in the Northwest Territories,” the report notes, recommending that one be established. The report also calls for the RCMP to undertake better training, more ambi- tions community integration and a com- prehensive review of policing in the ter- ritory in order to identify local policing needs and address the under-protection and over-policing of Indigenous women and other vulnerable groups. “This is not the first report calling for the RCMP to change,” the report notes. “The failure of the government of Canada and the national RCMP leader- ship to enact these recommendations are a driver of the broken relationship between the RCMP and unhoused In- digenous women.” — The Canadian Press ALESSIA PASSAFIUME ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES The Yellowknife Women’s Society called for better training for RCMP officers and more ambitious community integration. Man guilty in fatal stabbing HUDSON, Wis. — A 54-year-old Minnesota man was convicted Thursday in the slaying of a high school student and stabbing of four other people who were tubing on a western Wisconsin river. A Wisconsin circuit court jury found Nicolae Miu guilty of first-degree reckless homicide, four counts of first-degree reck- lessly endangering safety and one count of battery, Minnesota Pub- lic Radio reported. No sentencing date has been set. Isaac Schuman, 17, of Stillwater, Minn., was stabbed to death in late July 2022 while he and the other victims were tubing along the Apple River in St. Croix Coun- ty, which sits along Wisconsin’s state line with Minnesota. Two men from Luck, Wisconsin, a woman from Burnsville, Minn., and a man from Elk River, Minn., were wounded. Miu, of Prior Lake, Minn., at- tacked the group after people accused him of approaching chil- dren in the water, investigators said in court documents. Miu told investigators that he acted in self-defence. Miu was tubing down the river with his wife and several other people, according to a copy of a criminal complaint obtained by Minnesota Public Radio. Miu told investigators that he was using a snorkel and goggles to look for a lost cellphone. Video and witness accounts indicate bystanders accused him of ap- proaching children in the water. Witnesses said Miu was bothering a group of juveniles and others told him to leave, the complaint stated. Instead of leaving, Miu punched a woman and a fight ensued, ac- cording to the complaint. Video shows him falling into the river, emerging with a knife and then stabbing a person. Miu told investigators that he was provoked, according to the complaint. “They attacked me,” he said. “I was in self-defence mode.” Prosecutors had argued that Miu had opportunities to diffuse the situation or walk away. — The Associated Press ;