Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 14, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba 5by Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba Sunday, September 8 at Assiniboine Park 10 am - 4 pm Presented by: Plan your day: goodbear.ca/TeddyBearsPicnic SERVING MANITOBA SINCE 1872. FOREVER WITH YOUR SUPPORT. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2024 WEATHER THUNDERSTORM. HIGH 28 — LOW 19 BUSINESS PRESERVATION HALL CLOSES / B5 Tired of waiting, man fills ‘dangerous’ pothole himself FED up with a pothole marking the street in front of his home, a St. Nor- bert man took it upon himself to fix the problem — filling the hazard with concrete after years of City of Winni- peg delays. “We were just at the point where it was dangerous and I decided I’m not letting this one go,” Vic Hiebert said, pointing to the cracked pavement on Julien Place. “This is disgraceful already.” Hiebert, who first reported the pothole to the city in 2022, said it had grown deep enough to expose the steel rebar beneath before he filled it him- self last summer with three 20-pound bags of concrete. In June, he dumped another bag in. The Winnipegger said he under- stands there are higher-priority repairs needed throughout the city, but questioned why it would take years to address the issue. “We are not asking for a complete street renewal, just some well-needed asphalt repair to fill holes that collect water after every rainfall, thus caus- ing more damage,” Hiebert said. The city said it received seven reports about the damaged street since 2020, including five in 2022. According to city records, crews visited the site “more than once since summer 2022 to repair hazardous pot- holes,” spokesperson Julie Dooley said. Hiebert said that although inspec- tors have assessed the pothole at least twice, they have never moved forward with repairs. Efforts to officially fix the damage began Tuesday morning — one day after the Free Press reached out to the city with questions about the issue, he said. Within a few hours, city crews successfully patched the pothole and others in the south Winnipeg cul-de- sac with layers of black asphalt. Dooley noted the city did not receive any complaints about road conditions on Julien Place in 2024, and previous records show no mention of exposed rebar. “I really want to stress that we can’t repair potholes if we don’t know they exist … We inspect areas of concern when we are made aware of them and conduct repairs as required.” The city discourages residents from undertaking repairs themselves, the spokesperson said, adding the Free Press request brought the location to the attention of city inspectors who or- dered the work be completed quickly. TYLER SEARLE ● POTHOLE, CONTINUED ON A2 Six-year wait for knee replacements too much Wait times force patient to flee province NICOLE BUFFIE AFTER waiting six years for a double knee replacement, a Manitoba woman has decided to move away from the province and seek care elsewhere for her excruciating pain. A for sale sign has gone up outside Dan and Roseanne Milburn’s home in Elie, with the couple set to try their luck in Alberta. “This shouldn’t be my life in my 50s and my 60s, I’m living like a 90-year- old,” Milburn said Tuesday afternoon. The 60-year-old was forced to retire in 2021 and relies on walkers, canes and crutches to move around. She can no longer drive, and stress and constant pain have caused permanent hair loss. The couple has no home or doctor lined up in Alberta, but say they have no other choice — the pain the mother of three constantly experiences has taken a toll on her mental health and she has considered suicide. “I grew up here, all my family’s here. My parents need my help, but my wife needs to live,” Dan Milburn said. The couple have been told anecdot- ally wait times in Alberta don’t exceed two years. For them, the risk is worth it. “I go from my bed to my chair, back to my bed,” Roseanne Milburn said, getting emotional. “I don’t know what else to do, we’ve done everything we can.” In January, Milburn told the Free Press her family doctor made multiple surgery referrals for her, including one to the Boundary Trails Hospital in the Winkler-Morden area last year in hopes of getting her on a wait list. Civic service diversity lacking: report T HE percentage of women work- ing for the City of Winnipeg dipped again for the fifth con- secutive year in 2023, and the munici- pal government continued to fall short on most of its other diversity targets. According to a city report on the latest employee survey data, while women account for 47.77 per cent of the local labour force, they made up just 26.37 per cent of the roughly 10,600-employee civic workforce last year. And that represents a slight, but steady, decrease from 26.91 per cent in 2022, 28.23 per cent in 2021, 29.35 per cent in 2020 and 30 per cent in 2019. “The pandemic had a lasting impact, had a hard impact on women and that hasn’t recovered to the extent that working women need,” said Diane Burelle, the city’s equity, diversity and inclusion co-ordinator. “During the pandemic many daycar- es closed (and) there’s not been that resurgence of that support,” she said. The gaps in support for mothers during the public health crisis, com- bined with the reality that women have, for decades, remained under-rep- resented in jobs traditionally held by men, have contributed to the current problem, Burelle said. Efforts to retain women hit hardest since pandemic JOYANNE PURSAGA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TURNING THE TABLES With the Russia-Ukraine war nearly halfway through its third year, Ukraine claims it has invaded and occupies about 1,000 square kilometres of Russian soil near Kursk. Residents of several villages have been evacuated to a tent city in Kursk to escape the fighting. See story on Page A3. ● KNEE, CONTINUED ON A2 ● DIVERSITY, CONTINUED ON A2 ;