Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 9, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba B2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I LOCAL T HE National Hockey League announced Friday that Rick Bow- ness is one of the three finalists for the Jack Adams Award, which goes to the coach of the year. It’s the first time Bowness has been up for the award and a fitting honour for the Winnipeg Jets bench boss, who announced his retirement three days later, after 2,726 NHL games as a head coach and assistant for eight franchises over 38 seasons and five decades. I don’t have to wait for the NHL awards on June 27 to know who wins, though. It’s been well documented what “Bones” did since being hired by the Winnipeg Jets two seasons ago and how he changed the culture of the team. Bowness intervened in what had been described as a toxic locker room. He rebuilt the team’s identi- ty and fostered an atmosphere of accountability and interdependence. He empowered a team that finished fourth overall and had the best defen- sive stats in the league. I could go on, but I’d rather let my sports colleagues do that. When I recall the 2023-24 season, though, I won’t remember any of that. I’ll remember this. As in the past six seasons, True North Sports and Entertainment held its annual WASAC Winnipeg Jets game in February honouring First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities. Partnering with the Winnipeg Aborig- inal Sport Achievement Centre, the evening puts the spotlight on Indige- nous cultures, leaders and contribu- tions. This year my father Murray and daughter Sarah were recognized at centre ice in the ceremonial puck drop alongside other accomplished In- digenous athletes, elders and leaders. Dad is, of course, Manitoba’s first Indigenous judge, the former head of the Truth and Reconciliation Com- mission and a former Canadian sen- ator. Sarah is an activist, a musician and an emerging public speaker and leader in her own right. It was a beautiful moment for my family, highlighted by the standing ovation the sold-out crowd gave to my father when he walked onto the ice. Dad is getting older and it’s increas- ingly difficult for him to appear pub- licly. He has spent a lifetime loving his home and witnessing it love him back was, in a word, emotional. This story, though, begins when he and my daughter came off the ice. At Canada Life Centre, people who make their way to centre ice have to walk through the home team’s bench gate via a small, cramped hallway under the stands. There’s not a lot of room and se- curity keeps people moving through the area quickly. According to league rules, no one else is really allowed to get near the ice. Even Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, who was there to offer greetings, wasn’t permitted to get close. When Dad and Sarah finished the ceremony and made their way back through the gate at the Jets bench, they were quickly whisked away down the hallway to the spot where I was waiting for them. According to NHL rules, a small amount of time is allotted after the ceremony — about 90 seconds — for TV commercials before the game begins. So, as the three of us were being rushed away, I saw a man in a suit walking quickly down the hallway. “Sir, have you got a moment?” It was Rick Bowness, offering his hand. My father turned and, seeing who it was, held out his hand. “Sir, I want to tell you how much you mean to me and to all of us,” Bow- ness told him. “What you have done for this community and this country is incredible. I thank you.” The two men then stood together and talked. The crowd above us start- ed to cheer so I couldn’t hear what was being said. I remember, though, how they both laughed at something and Bowness put his other hand on my father’s shoulder. They had never met before, but the warm exchange suggested they were old friends. I admit to feeling a bit star-struck. I remember when Bowness became the coach of the original edition of the Jets in 1988, when I was a hock- ey-playing 12-year-old. Someone called out from down the hallway. “Coach, we started!” Bowness apologized, said hello to me and my daughter, and rushed back down the hallway to take his spot behind the bench. The NHL season was frustrating for various reasons. I particularly hated how the league took a big step backwards with Indigenous communi- ties — banning the presence of Indig- enous-artist created jerseys, helmets and logos in pre-game ceremonies while continuing to allow divisive, racist and stereotypical images throughout games. It’s almost as if the NHL forgot whose lands their teams play on and the relationships every single franchise, arena and fan shares with the first peoples of this place and so, what happens to First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples happens to all. I know one coach, though, who didn’t forget. He made it a part of his job. Miigwech, Bones. Even if it was just for a little while, you gave us all a lot. You’re my coach of the year. niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2024 Thanks, Bones; you made great night for my family even better NIIGAAN SINCLAIR OPINION MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Rick Bowness is one of three finalists for the NHL’s coach-of-the-year award. PATRICK DOYLE / THE CANADIAN PRESS COMMUNITY SERVICE HONOURED Pat Lazo (left) and Steve Wilson, founders of the Graffiti Art Programming (GAP) Inc., are presented with the Meritorious Service Medal by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Wednesday. With a focus on urban art forms, the non-profit organization started in Point Douglas provides gallery space for exhibits from established and emerging artists, free educational arts programs and prac- tical skills training for youth. Over the last two decades, the initiative has spread to other inner-city neighbourhoods, where art is used to spur self-confidence, community development and social change. In a 2021 sworn affidavit, provincial property forfeiture officials alleged Guiboche had been selling drugs in Point Douglas for 25 years and is known for selling pink-coloured crack cocaine — a branding for her illicit product. Guiboche and Rouse were one-time partners in a now-defunct home renova- tion business, S and M Reno and Rays, after meeting in 2005, before a falling out in 2010. The two reconnected in 2020, when Rouse began using cocaine again. An agreed statement of facts provid- ed to court said Rouse was co-owner of five of the properties, three of which were rented out to members of the drug ring and used to stash cocaine. Rouse stashed drugs at her own Tal- bot Avenue home in return for cash and drugs. She also helped Guiboche with her taxes and laundered drug proceeds under the guise of rental income. Evidence gathered in the police in- vestigation included more than 60,000 wiretap recordings, on a number of which Guiboche and Rouse could be heard discussing laundering drug pro- ceeds at casinos, day-to-day operations in the drug ring and how to avoid detec- tion from the Canada Revenue Agency. Federal Crown prosecutor Kate Hen- ley previously said some of the wire- taps suggest Rouse was making efforts to “disentangle” herself from the drug enterprise, including trying to remove herself from title of the drug houses. In a pre-sentence report, Rouse said she was “intimidated” by Guiboche, which Henley said was in line with evi- dence suggesting Guiboche had threat- ened or ordered violence against those in the organization who crossed her. Guiboche has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic in co- caine and is awaiting sentencing. The Crown has argued she should spend 10 years in prison. erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg police seized property, cash, jewelry, cocaine and crack cocaine among other items during the arrest of 26 people in 2021 after the investigation dubbed Project Matriarch. ROLE ● FROM B1 ASSINIBOINE AVENUE SECTION TO CLOSE TO VEHICLES A section of Assiniboine Avenue will be closed to vehicle traffic in a pilot project that aims to improve safety. From summer 2024 to spring 2025, cars and trucks will no longer be able to travel down eastbound Assiniboine Avenue between Fort and Main streets, which will prevent vehicles from making right turns from Assiniboine onto Main. Vehicles will instead be diverted, requiring them to turn left onto Fort Street instead. Left turns from northbound Main Street onto Assiniboine will be permitted during a fully protected signal phase (while all other vehicles and pedestrians are directed to stop) and prohibited during afternoon rush hour (from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday.) The changes follow a traffic study that found allowing vehicles to turn right from Assiniboine onto Main poses a danger to both pedestrians and cyclists, while the current “permissive” left turn (that allows drivers to turn during gaps in opposing traffic) from northbound Main onto Assiniboine creates a “significant risk” for both drivers and pedestrians. DRUGS, BATON SEIZED AFTER CHASE: POLICE POLICE seized nearly $50,000 worth of meth- amphetamine and fentanyl after tracking a stolen vehicle. Winnipeg police said officers initially tried to stop a vehicle at the Disraeli Freeway and Logan Avenue when they spotted someone who is not the registered owner driving the vehicle at about 11:50 p.m. Tuesday. The vehicle sped off, with police following and the police helicopter tracking it from the air, until it stopped on the 300 block of Ottawa Avenue. The driver fled with a backpack and was arrested after a foot chase. Police searched the backpack and vehicle and found $24,600 worth of metham- phetamine, $23,500 worth of fentanyl and 2.5 grams of crack cocaine, as well as a spring-loaded collapsible baton and $2,600 in cash. A 48-year-old Winnipeg man has been detained in custody. — staff IN BRIEF MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS A cyclist crosses Main Street at Assiniboine Avenue. In a pilot project, cars and trucks will no longer be able to travel eastbound on Assiniboine Avenue between Fort and Main. ;