Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 7, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba Read the Winter 2024 issue at winnipegfreepress.com/fp-features Available at Manitoba Liquor Marts - while supplies last! P I C K U P Y O U R C O P Y T O D A Y ! MANITOBA W I N T E R 20 2 4 TOP MANITOBA SKI SPOTS MANITOBA’S PREMIER FOOD, DRINK AND LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE INSIDE SAVOUR HOLIDAY 2024 ISSUE DON'T MISS THE A8 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM T HE president of the Manitoba Nurses Union is “thrilled” that more than a dozen institutional safety officers are on the job now at Brandon Regional Health Centre. But Darlene Jackson said health-care workers in other rural and northern lo- cations are at risk and need the same security upgrades at their places of em- ployment. “I’m thrilled they are now in Bran- don,” Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, said Monday. “But they also need them in Thomp- son. They need them in Swan River. They need them where they have much higher violence rates.” Jackson noted Thompson Gener- al Hospital had a violent incident on Christmas Eve where a firearm was discharged in the facility’s chapel. No one was injured in the incident and a 33-year-old Thompson man was quickly arrested by RCMP and charged with the offence. Following a graduation ceremony Fri- day, 16 safety officers and a supervisor began working at Brandon’s hospital Sunday. Jackson said she has heard nothing but praise for the safety officers since the program launched at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre last spring. “The staff there are very happy with their performance,” she said. “They are doing what they are meant to be doing.” A spokesperson for Shared Health, which operates HSC, said the 42 of- ficers already in place at Manitoba’s largest hospital complex help “enhance safety and security.” The authority is in the process of hiring an additional 21 of- ficers for the inner-city facility. “We’ve seen a significant drop in re- ported safety events through the addi- tion of expanded foot patrols and place- ment of security at key access points, including in the emergency depart- ment,” the spokesperson said. “The enhanced training of ISOs has been valuable when dealing with ser- ious incidents that require de-escala- tion.” The officers have also enabled Shared Health to expand “safe escort program- ming,” in which staff members can re- quest personnel to accompany them to their parked vehicles on the inner-city campus, where there have been violent incidents and some workers have re- ported feeling unsafe. In a statement, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said “everyone de- serves to feel safe when they are ac- cessing health care and when they are providing it.” Health officials heard directly from front-line staff at BRHC about safety and security concerns they have for themselves, co-workers and patients, Asagwara said. “After many years of inaction by the previous government, we’re taking real steps to address these concerns.” A provincial ministry spokesperson said currently there are a total of 90 institutional safety officers in place at HSC, BRHC, St. Boniface Hospital, Vic- toria Hospital and the Selkirk Mental Health Centre. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca NEWS I CITY / PROVINCE TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2025 City considers deadline extension for vacant fire fee program CITY council will consider ex- tending the deadline for an opt-in program that would charge va- cant building owners the cost of fighting fires on their property. Amendments to the vacant building bylaw in October cre- ated a fixed-fee structure that charged homeowners $10,000 for the first fire and increasing af- ter subsequent fires, rather than charging based on the amount of time fire-fighting apparatus was on the scene. It also allowed owners who were charged under the old structure to opt in to the new one, with the deadline to join Dec. 31. The public service is recom- mending the deadline be ex- tended to April 30, citing delays caused by the recent Canada Post strike and the “extensive work required to assess and issue in- voices and the desire to ensure impacted property owners have the ability to connect with the de- partment” on the program. “It is important to ensure all property owners have the oppor- tunity to fully understand the changes and have any questions answered,” the report, which will be discussed by the stand- ing policy committee on Friday, reads. The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service handed out 43 invoices between March 2023 and Decem- ber 2023, before the program was paused to review and update it. Around 75 invoices will be eli- gible for the new opt-in policy. There were 182 vacant struc- ture fires from January to Octo- ber 2024, the most recent num- bers provided from the WFPS. There were 156 vacant fires in 2023 and 97 in 2022. — staff SUBMITTED The graduating class of Prairie Mountain Health’s new institutional safety officers who have been trained to patrol Brandon Regional Health Centre. Newly graduated safety officers begin work at Brandon Regional Health Centre KEVIN ROLLASON WOMAN ARRESTED IN DECEMBER HOMICIDE A WOMAN has been charged with second-de- gree murder in a fatal assault late last month. Anissa Christy Pompana, 33, was arrested on the 900 block of Arlington Street on Thursday, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Monday. Byron Frederick Moose, 50, a member of O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation, was found injured on the 900 block of Dugas Street early on Dec. 27. He died in hospital. Investigators determined the two, who did not previously know each other, met at a mutually known location. They left that place together and were on Dugas Street when the assault happened, the WPS said. YOUNG BOY BEATEN UNCONSCIOUS, MOM ARRESTED: RCMP A LAKE Manitoba First Nation mother was arrested after her young son was found unconscious. Emergency crews at a home on the First Nation asked RCMP to go there shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday. The 16-month-old boy was found suffering from “severe injuries consistent with being assaulted,” police said in a news release Monday. He was transported to a Winnipeg hospital, where he was later upgraded to stable condition. The 19-year-old woman remained in police custody Monday afternoon, RCMP said. TWO INJURED IN UNRELATED STABBINGS TWO people were taken to hospital after unrelated stabbings involving relatives in Winnipeg homes this weekend. The first incident happened on the 700 block of McPhillips Street on Saturday. Police were sent to a home there at about 2:45 p.m. and found a woman in her 40s who had suffered significant injuries. Officers gave the woman emergency med- ical care and arrested a 29-year-old woman. The victim was transported to hospital in unstable condition and later upgraded to stable. The Winnipeg Police Service’s major crimes unit determined the two women, who are related, had an argument before the stabbing. The younger woman is charged with aggravated assault and failing to comply with conditions of an undertaking. She was detained in custody. On Sunday, police were sent to a home in the Westdale area at about 6 p.m. and found an injured man in his 20s. He was transported to hospital in unstable condition and later upgraded to stable condition. Officers arrested a teenage male at the scene. Police determined the two males, who are related, were fighting when the older one was stabbed. Another person at the home called police. The 17-year-old youth is facing charges of assault causing bodily harm and assault. He was released from custody. IN BRIEF ;