Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 7, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba Maximize Your Impact with Giftabulator® Customize Your Generosity: Adjust gifts to fit your financial goals. Illustrate the Benefits: Optimize year-end tax savings. Make Smart Choices: Get helpful resources for your financial advisor. Visit wpgfdn.giftabulatornow.com or scan the QR code below to learn more. The Winnipeg Foundation shares your passsion and offers a unique tool to help you maximize your community impact. winnipeg.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/donate/ Donate BE THE ONE WHO MAKES A DIFFERENCE. BigWinnipeg.com WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2024 A4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I TOP NEWS Byelection? What byelection? W ITH less than six weeks to go before Elmwood-Transcona residents vote in a federal byelection, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chose to stay away from the riding during a two-day visit to Winni- peg that ended Tuesday. The Liberals are considered a long shot in the longtime NDP stronghold. Trudeau visited some Folklora- ma pavilions Monday and attended a Black History Manitoba breakfast Tuesday. Later Tuesday, he was at Victoria General Hospital, posing for selfies with staff at a lunch sponsored by Winnipeg South Liberal MP Terry Duguid. The PM didn’t make a speech or take questions from the media at the event but could be overheard thank- ing hospital workers for their service. And that was the purpose of the event, Duguid said — a show of ap- preciation for employees’ hard work, particularly during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. All of the hospital’s staff were wel- come, and more than 100 doctors, nurses, health-care aides and mem- bers of the facility’s administration showed up. “I would’ve done this anyway, but the prime minister is in town and I thought it would be wonderful if he could meet the amazing staff here,” said the longtime Liberal MP, who plans to run again in the next federal election on or before Oct. 20, 2025. Lunch included a burger, chips, a drink and ice cream topped off with thanks from the prime minister, said Duguid. “We all know there’s challenges in our health-care system,” he told the Free Press. “They step up every day for us.” Duguid said he expects Trudeau will return to Winnipeg ahead of the Sept. 16 Elmwood-Transcona byelec- tion to fill the seat vacated by NDP MP Daniel Blaikie, who announced earlier this year he was resigning to work as an adviser to Premier Wab Kinew. Ian MacIntyre, a retired teacher and union leader, is running for the federal Liberals. The Conservative candidate is Colin Reynolds and the NDP candidate is Leila Dance. “The prime minister usually stops in on every byelection,” Duguid said. “I’m sure he would be doing that, but not on this trip.” Veteran political observers said they weren’t surprised that the Lib- eral leader didn’t hold any events in Elmwood-Transcona. “The Liberals are kind of a non-fac- tor in that race,” said Probe Research Inc. principal Curtis Brown. “It’s an NDP- Conservative battle.” University of Manitoba political studies professor emeritus Paul Thomas said the prime minster may have been asked to steer clear of the riding, “given the anti-Trudeau senti- ments in the country.” In 2021, the Liberals received just 14 per cent of the vote in that Winni- peg riding and Trudeau’s popularity has fallen since then, Thomas said. “Maybe the prime minister’s advis- ers recommended he avoid any per- sonal connection with what could be a humiliating showing for the Liberals — even if their candidate is a credible figure,” he said. Brown, however, suggested it was odd that Trudeau didn’t make a token effort to set foot inside the riding. The prime minister made a surprise appearance at Folklorama Monday night, paying visits to the Filipino pavilion at R.B. Russell Vocational School and the Punjab pavilion at the Punjab Cultural Centre in Winni- peg North, the riding held by Liberal Kevin Lamoureux. Black History Manitoba marked Emancipation Day Tuesday with a breakfast at St. Norbert Community Centre in Winnipeg South, Duguid’s turf. “I think it’s easier to go and show up, have your picture taken with people and have a pretty positive interaction, and it shows up on social media,” Brown said. “He’s the sitting PM — that’s still a big deal for a lot of people, even if his popularity ratings are pretty low — depending on where he goes, which community he’s interacting with. “If it’s people who voted Liberal in past and still have some affection for him, he’s still going to get a good re- ception. He went to Folklorama and probably somewhere a little friend- lier. It’s not like he went knocking on doors in suburban Transcona. He probably wouldn’t have have had such a warm reception where there aren’t a lot of Liberals.” Trudeau — much like his Conserv- ative counterpart Pierre Poilievre — often avoids questions from news reporters while on the campaign trail that may cast a negative light on his leadership, said Brown. “There’s not a lot to gain for Justin Trudeau answering questions — it’s going to be a lot of questions like, ‘When are you going to resign?’” Brown said. “It’s a sign of the times and shows where we’re at in terms of how people communicate — and where he’s at in terms of popularity.” There have been “murmurings” of discontent with Trudeau’s leadership in the Liberal caucus, and he may have wanted to focus on shoring up support among his elected MPs in Winnipeg, Thomas said. “He may have also wanted to be been seen interacting with ‘regular folks’ in a less-partisan setting, which brought him into contact with newer Canadians and generated some photo opportunities” he said. Duguid, the Liberals’ national cam- paign co-chair, said he is “100 per cent certain” Trudeau is staying on as leader. “We have to work hard to earn the confidence of Canadians again,” he said. “I have every confidence that we will be able to do that.” Recent polls, however, indicate the Conservatives are way out in front. “In the last three elections, the Lib- eral party has been behind, often by a significant amount,” Duguid said. “When Canadians have to make that choice on what kind of country they want to live in, I believe they will make the right choice and go with our team again.” carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Trudeau in city, but steers clear of campaign in Elmwood-Transcona CAROL SANDERS JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with healthcare workers and others Tuesday during a lunch at Victoria General Hospital sponsored by Winnipeg South Liberal MP Terry Duguid. DAVID LIPNOWSKI / THE CANADIAN PRESS Trudeau greets members of the audience at the Folklorama Filipino Pavilion in Winnipeg, Monday, at R.B. Russell Vocational School. Norway House’s new health centre open THE largest health centre under First Nations’ control in Manitoba has offi- cially opened. Norway House Cree Nation cele- brated the grand opening of the Kin- osew Sipi Nanatawiwekamik Health Centre of Excellence Tuesday. The $157.9-million facility will provide a full range of health services close to home. “It’s a big relief,” Norway House Chief Larson Anderson told the Free Press as he noted the health centre has been years in the making. “It’s given us a lot of pride (and) it’s given us a lot of hope.” Norway House, which is 450 kilo- metres north of Winnipeg, has an on-re- serve population of 6,730 and a total population of 9,095. The 9,470-square-metre centre will provide emergency, in-patient and pal- liative care, dialysis, rehabilitation therapy, as well as diagnostic programs and services. Federal Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, who was in Norway House in September 2018 when the feder- al government announced an initial $100-million investment in the project, called Tuesday’s grand opening a spe- cial occasion. “Improving health services in In- digenous communities is something we all need to keep working on. We need to do better,” Vandal said during the event, part of which was livestreamed on YouTube. “This centre will benefit generations for years and years to come,” he said. The facility supports a holistic mod- el of care by blending western and In- digenous health practices. “It’s a generational and transforma- tive accomplishment,” Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said. “This is something that is going to signal to not only the rest of Manitoba, but cer- tainly across the country, what can be achieved when we work together.” The centre replaces the Norway House Indian Hospital, which Ander- son noted had a problematic history — including an incident in 1975 in which four babies were switched at birth. He knows first-hand the difference a local health centre can make. His first three daughters were born in Winnipeg, experiences he described as “very cold and not very First Na- tion-like.” His fourth daughter was born in Nor- way House, where numerous family members could share in the joy. The health centre has given com- munity members a sense that they are strong, capable and able to do what everyone else can do, Anderson said. “I’m a very strong believer in my people and my nation,” he said. “We’re a growing nation and we want to be just like everybody else in small town Can- ada.” aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca AARON EPP SUPPLIED The Norway House Cree Nation Kinosew Sipi Nanatawiwekamik Health Centre of Excellence officially opened Tuesday. ;