Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 26, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba KILDONAN PARK GOLF COURSE R E D R I V E R C H I E F P E G U I S T R A I L M A I N S T P E R I M E T E R H W Y R I D G E C R E S T A V E S C O T I A S T H E N D E R S O N H W Y KILDONAN PARK River Ridge I 204.202.1793 WORRY FREE LIVING! Get Ready For on the Historic Red River Age-In-Place Living 50 Ridgecrest Avenue, Winnipeg, MB • Weekly Dance Parties • Transportation for Scheduled Outings and Medical Appointments • 24/7 Care & Support All the Independence with a little Extra Care & Support At Your Service: • Weekly Light Housekeeping • Staff 24/7 • Pet Friendly • Wellness Checks • Home-Cooked meals in our Full Service Dining Room • Month to Month Leases Gracious Retirement Living Assisted Living Join Our Waitlist Today! Call Lori at PROUDLY CANADIAN www.allseniorscare.com Where Caring is Our Number One Concern™ Scan the code for highlights from our 13 th Annual Seniors Games! FRIDAY, JULY 26, 2024WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ● A5 NEWS I TOP NEWS Poilievre’s tough-on-crime stance a bid for easy votes T HE good news is Manitoba’s crime severity index was largely unchanged in 2023. It even dipped a little, from 146.67 to 145.54, as per Statistics Canada data released Thursday. The bad news is the province’s violent-crime severity index continued to inch up and is, by far, the highest it’s been in decades. The crime severity index measures all Crimi- nal Code offences and assigns greater weight to more serious crimes. Although the numbers sta- bilized last year, they’re still the highest they’ve been in Manitoba since the early 2000s. The violent-crime severity index is more specific: it measures all violent crimes and also gives greater weight to more serious offences, such as homicide and aggravated sexual assault. Manitoba’s numbers grew slightly to 215.51 last year from 211.85 in 2022. Those are the worst numbers since at least 2003. The latest data probably doesn’t come as a great surprise to most Manitobans, many of whom read or hear regularly about the scourge of violent offences — such as murder, stabbings and robberies — in a province that has, histor- ically, had among the worst crime rates in the country. That didn’t change last year. Manitoba’s score on both indexes was far higher than the national average (80.45 and 99.45, respectively). Still, the statistics confirm what many people already know, that crime is a serious problem in this province and it has worsened over the past two decades. There are no quick-fix solutions to it, as much as politicians such as federal Conservative Lead- er Pierre Poilievre would have the public believe. He continues to falsely claim that bail laws and harm-reduction policies — including safer drug supplies — are driving up crime rates. There is no evidence to support those argu- ments. And shutting down supervised consump- tion sites, which Poilievre has pledged to do in some areas if he becomes prime minister, would not reduce crime. What it would do is increase overdose deaths. No one can prove with evidence why crime rates go up or down. Crime fell in the years lead- ing up to 2015 and started to rise again the fol- lowing year. No one really knows why. There are plenty of theories, but none that can be proven. There is general agreement, though, among criminologists and many policy-makers that factors such as poverty, addictions, mental health and homelessness contribute to higher rates of crime. Those are the key areas politicians should focus on when trying to figure out what is driv- ing criminal behaviour and what can be done to alleviate it. But even that takes time. Efforts today to tackle those issues wouldn’t likely bear fruit for years. And proving with evi- dence that they reduced crime somewhere down the road is virtually impossible. But policy- makers and the non-profit sector have to try. Even if reducing poverty and making improve- ments in areas such as addictions and mental health don’t reduce crime, they are always worthwhile endeavours on humanitarian grounds. What won’t work for governments is trying to reduce crime by jailing more people. Poilievre and politicians like him continue to falsely claim that all governments and the courts have to do is put more people behind bars for longer periods of time and all will be well. It’s never worked in the past and there’s no reason to believe it would work in the future. Higher incarceration rates have not reduced crime. It’s important that our justice system holds serious offenders accountable for their crimes. Sentencing must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence and sentencing principles — such as denunciation — must be followed in order to maintain public confidence in the justice system. Chronic offenders who show no willingness to change their lives will, and should, remain be- hind bars for most of their lives, including those with a dangerous-offender designation. But that doesn’t mean jurisdictions such as Manitoba can prosecute their way out of high crime rates. Policy-makers have to tackle the problem from a multitude of angles. A delegation from Manitoba travelled to Houston this week to continue the province’s examination of the Texas city’s highly successful program to reduce homelessness, called “housing first.” That is the kind of nose-to-the-grindstone work that has to be done to address issues such as poverty and homelessness, which will hopeful- ly have an impact on crime down the road. Snake-oil platitudes peddled by Poilievre and others might help get them elected. But it will do nothing to reduce crime. tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca TOM BRODBECK OPINION Carberry farmer sharing last year’s potato bounty This spud’s for you L AST year’s harvest produced more potatoes than Carberry-area farmer Don Dickson knew what do with. After fulfilling orders for thousands of pounds of taters for his clients, he’s giving the rest away. Between 30 to 40 vehicles have come through daily since Dickson began his Russet Burbank potato giveaway on Monday. “I’ve had people from all over … all over the province,” he said, adding he never anticipated the big response. “People are making use of them.” There’s still a massive pile left from the 2023 harvest at Dickson Farm Ventures, located less than five kilom- eters south of Carberry, on Highway 5, across from McCain Foods. Anyone wanting to get in on the free potatoes has until Sunday. “If they want to come for a truckload … come for a truckload,” Dickson said. Some of the those stopping by the farm have transported potatoes to Brandon’s food bank, run by Samaritan House Ministries, executive director Barbara McNish said. Word about the giveaway quickly reached her earlier this week. “We are also sending our clients, let- ting them know,” McNish said. The food bank is busy handing out hampers every day, according to Mc- Nish, and potatoes are a key staple among the 10 to 12 items received by those in need. “You can make so many things with potatoes and it’s filling,” she said, add- ing, “it’s just a very versatile vegetable that goes a long way.” The food bank regularly receives do- nations of a variety of foods, including produce and potatoes, from area farm- ers and Hutterite colonies. On Tuesday, a delivery of 500 kilo- grams of potatoes arrived. “We would go through that in a week or so … because people are hungry,” McNish said. “We’re very grateful to anyone who donates to us, we don’t do this alone; it’s because we have many people who want to support those less fortunate.” Dickson has farmed the 835 acres of land he owns with his wife, Pat Dick- son, since 1996. A harvest like last year’s comes along every decade or so, he said. “Last fall was an unbelievable yield. The weather was right, everything just clicked.” Though the potatoes have aged a bit, he said they’ll last between three to five weeks before sprouting, if stored in a cool, dry basement. Plus, when it comes to making pero- gies or potato salad, “there’s nothing better than an old potato,” Dickson said. jordan.snobelen@freepress.mb.ca JORDAN SNOBELEN SUPPLIED Carberry-area farmer Don Dickson shows off thousands of pounds of potatoes from last year’s harvest he’s now sharing. Thousands of health workers advised to reject proposed contract THOUSANDS of support workers em- ployed by Prairie Mountain Health and the Interlake-Eastern health authority are being urged to reject a contract of- fer and vote for a strike mandate. Kyle Ross, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, said the bargaining committee has recommended its 6,600 members turn down the offer. The union has demanded better wages and the phasing out of pri- vate-agency employees used to address the chronic staff shortage. “The bargaining committee feels we need to tell the employer that commun- ity and facility support workers should get the same respect and consideration that has been shown to other health- care professionals,” Ross said. “Throughout bargaining, we have been committed to achieving the best deal possible — one that ensures fair- ness for community and facility sup- port workers and that provides a real fix to the health-care staffing crisis. Unfortunately, what is being offered does not go nearly far enough to solve the recruitment and retention issues.” He said the contract offer would do nothing to alleviate the staff shortage and dependency on private staff. As of Thursday, there were more than 700 vacant aide and home-care positions open in the two health author- ities. Spending on private agency staff- ing has soared to $30 million in the past year from $8.3 million in 2021. Interlake-Eastern has said it has several initiatives to retain and re- cruit staff, including an uncertified health-care aide training program that graduated 50 people last year. Prairie Mountain has said it also has programs, including practicums in facilities and it has hired internationally trained nurs- es. The support workers include aides, dietary staff, laundry, housekeeping, maintenance and other positions. The union didn’t say when the vote would take place, but said it would hold online information sessions with mem- bers over the next few weeks. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca KEVIN ROLLASON ;