Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 2, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba winnipeg.ca/recycling Space provided through a partnership between industry and Manitoba communities to support waste diversion programs. Is your propane tank cooked? Don’t put it in your recycling or garbage. Take it to a 4R Winnipeg Depot for safe disposal. • 1825 Brady Road, south of the Perimeter Highway • 1120 Pacific Avenue • 429 Panet Road FRIDAY AUGUST 2, 2024 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM SECTION B CONNECT WITH WINNIPEG’S NO. 1 NEWS SOURCE ▼ CITY ● BUSINESS Don’t send downtown gains down the drain I T’S always a burning question when it comes to downtown development in Winnipeg: is the glass half full or half empty? For the second straight quarter this year, there was a modest gain in new businesses opening up downtown. Six new businesses opened between April and June this year, according to the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ. It’s a modest gain. Five businesses also closed during that period, so the net gain was only one. Still, it comes after more businesses opened than closed in the first quarter of 2024. That’s in stark contrast to recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when there was a net loss of businesses downtown — or stagnation — for consecutive quarters. The Downtown BIZ also announced this week in its second quarter report that there was a 23.5 per cent increase in downtown visitors compared with the same time frame in 2023. That’s encouraging. It’s certainly a glass half full. But much of that has to do with spe- cial events, not day-to-day traffic from people frequenting bars, restaurants, retail and other downtown business- es. Some 10,000 people walked in the Pride parade in June and sporting events, such as Winnipeg Goldeyes and Winnipeg Jets games, continue to attract people downtown. The common complaint about those events is most people flee to the sub- urbs after games or major events are over, instead of frequenting nearby bars and restaurants. The downtown empties pretty quick- ly after a Jets game or a major concert at Canada Life Centre, even during favourable weather. Part of the reason is public surveys continue to show many people don’t feel safe in the core area. To address that, the province has funded more downtown safety patrols. It helps, but it has only put a dent in the problem. The perception that downtown is not safe is backed up by statistics. Accord- ing to the Winnipeg Police Service’s 2023 annual report, weapons crimes — including the use of firearms, knives and bear spray — were far higher in the downtown compared with any other part of the city. The vacancy rate downtown is also high at 18.6 per cent. There appears to be more empty street-level properties along Portage Avenue between Kenne- dy and Main streets than ever before. It’s not a good look. Still, there has been a noticeable col- lective effort to develop the downtown over the past two years. More housing is going up, which is a key part of developing any downtown. And several groups and organizations are choosing to invest in the area. The Manitoba Métis Federation’s purchase of the old Bank of Montreal building at Portage and Main and the acquisition by the Southern Chiefs’ Organization of the former Hudson’s Bay building at Por- tage Avenue and Memorial Boulevard are notable examples. TOM BRODBECK OPINION ● BRODBECK, CONTINUED ON B2 MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS IN THE SPOTLIGHT (From left) Sophia Liang, Zoey Jian and Ivy He, all nine years old, dance at the Folklorama kickoff at the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural and Community Centre on Thursday. The annual celebration of Winnipeg’s cultural diversity starts Sunday and runs till Aug. 17. Judge advocates aid for families T HE judge who presided over a long-delayed joint inquest into the deaths of two men shot in separ- ate incidents by Winnipeg police has suggested families receive funding for lawyers to represent them at the diffi- cult hearings. Evan Caron, 33, and Adrian Lac- quette, 23, were shot and killed by Win- nipeg Police Service officers as they wielded weapons in unconnected cir- cumstances a week and a half apart in September 2017. Provincial court Judge Robert Hein- richs presided over the January in- quest, legislatively required after fatal incidents involving police. His report was released to the public Thursday. Heinrichs made no formal recom- mendations for policy or legislative changes meant to prevent similar deaths from occurring in the future — one of the main aims of inquests — as both shootings were deemed justified in the circumstances. He did, however, recommend that families of the deceased have the cost of legal representation during inquiries covered. “Two Indigenous males were killed by WPS officers. These are not the only times this has happened and in many of those deaths, like these two, family members have not been able to obtain legal representation for the inquest,” he wrote in the report dated July 26. The families had sought legal coun- sel but were unable to secure funding, Heinrichs noted. Many families, he wrote, can’t afford to pay for lawyers and provincial judges have no authority to order any agency to cover the cost. The province’s chief medical exam- iner called the inquest in April 2018. Joint inquests can be held when the facts or circumstances are “sufficient- ly similar,” Heinrichs noted, recom- mending future joint inquests take place only if the deaths occurred in the same incident. The personal lives and circum- stances of the deaths were not identical and should be given their own due, in part to ensure the dignity of families, he said, quoting Caron’s mother. The inquest was delayed multiple times due, in part, to COVID-19 pan- demic related backlogs, which frustrat- ed Caron’s already-struggling mother, who felt the courts did not communi- cate with her about the matter, she told the Free Press previously. Vivian Caron had standing in the inquest and asked questions of those testifying. Says relatives should never be without legal counsel at fatal incident inquests ERIK PINDERA ● INQUEST, CONTINUED ON B2 ‘Little boost’ helping fund homeownership dreams AS a teenager, Joshua Boucher couldn’t have imagined owning a home in his 20s. Surrounded by family and friends in his Transcona front yard Thursday, the now 24-year-old City of Winnipeg em- ployee expressed gratitude for a pro- gram helping young Métis adults buy their first houses. “It just really shows you what a com- munity can do for people. It’s very hon- ouring to be here,” Boucher said. Boucher and Meghan Young, his part- ner, a master’s student at the University of Winnipeg, applied to the Manitoba Métis Federation’s First Time Home Purchase Program. It provides money for down payments and legal fees, along with credit and banking supports when applying for a mortgage. After searching for a few months, the couple bought their home in June. It was the 1,000th home purchased through the program. Young said it’s special to have her home in Transcona because of the strong Métis community living in the area, adding that it would’ve been im- possible for them to buy without the MMF’s help. “It’s a really tough market right now,” she said, crediting the MMF for helping to “get our beautiful home.” The program was established in 2019 with the federation’s $13-million invest- ment. As of Thursday, more than 2,100 people are living in 1,069 homes pur- chased with the MMF’s assistance. More than 200 applications are cur- rently under consideration. The genesis of the program was to do something to provide financial security for the next generations of Métis, MMF president David Chartrand said. MATTHEW FRANK MATTHEW FRANK / FREE PRESS New homeowners Meghan Young and Joshua Boucher are the 1,000th family to purchase a home through the Manitoba Métis Federation’s First Time Home Purchase Program. ● HOME, CONTINUED ON B2 ;