Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 8, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba VOTE ELECTRONICALLY FROM JANUARY 15, 2025 @ 9:00 AM TO JANUARY 22, 2025 @ 8 PM Visit the link or scan the QR code below on your mobile phone, computer, or smart device and follow the instructions provided. peguisfirstnation.simplyvoting.com VOTING LOCATIONS: TAKE NOTICE that this is an update to the Notice of Election posted October 22, 2024. For more information please contact: Burke Ratte, Electoral Officer Phone: 1-204-228-4786 Toll-Free: 1-877-231-7769 Email: election3854@hotmail.com 1. Bear, Dawn (On-Reserve) 2. Courchene, Holly Joanne (Off-Reserve) 3. Genaille, Crystal (On-Reserve) 4. McCorrister, Nathan (Off-Reserve) 5. Mckay, Patrick (On-Reserve) 6. Monkman, Geraldine (On-Reserve) 7. Sinclair, Gloria (On-Reserve) 8. Sutherland, Lezley-Rae (On-Reserve) All eligible Peguis First Nation voters 18 years of age or older on the day of the Trustee Election are eligible to vote. 1. In-person Voting in Peguis, Winnipeg, and Selkirk on January 22, 2025 (9 am - 8 pm) 2. Electronic Voting from January 15, 2025 (9 am) to January 22, 2025 (8 pm) THE BALLOT WILL ASK VOTERS TO SELECT FROM THE FOLLOWING CANDIDATES: JANUARY 22, 2025 9:00 am - 8:00 pm Selkirk Rec Complex 180 Easton Dr SELKIRK JANUARY 22, 2025 9:00 am - 8:00 pm Treaty One Nations 103-1075 Portage Ave WINNIPEG JANUARY 22, 2025 9:00 am - 8:00 pm Community Hall Peguis, MB PEGUIS FIRST NATION NOTICE OF TRUSTEE ELECTION In accordance with the Surrender Claim Trust Agreement, the Trustee Nominating Committee considered applications from Members and has nominated for election up to a maximum of three applicants per vacancy. On September 25, 2024, the Trustee Nominating Committee provided Council with a list of nominees. The Trustee Election includes two voting options: Surrender Claim Trust Peguis First Nation will conduct a vote by Members in a manner similar to the Indian Referendum Regulations made under the Indian Act, as required by the Trust Agreement. On January 22, 2025, Peguis First Nation members will have an opportunity to vote for Community Fund Trustees and alternate trustees for the Surrender Claim Trust. There are three vacant Community Fund Trustee positions: Two of the vacant trustee positions must be filled by individuals who ordinarily reside on- reserve. One of the vacant trustee positions may be filled by an individual who ordinarily resides either on- or off-reserve. WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ● A5 NEWS I CANADA / WORLD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2025 Ontario First Nations to negotiate child welfare reforms with Ottawa O TTAWA — First Nations in On- tario are charting their own path with the federal government to reform the child welfare system weeks after critics said the deal reached last July was too weak to accept. The news comes one day after an embattled federal government sent the Assembly of First Nations a letter marked “confidential and settlement privileged” informing that they are not permitted to renegotiate reforms on a national level, despite calls from chiefs at two assemblies for Canada to do just that. “Canada is not currently in a pos- ition to engage in any negotiations beyond those with (Chiefs of Ontario) and (Nishnawbe Aski Nation),” the let- ter from Paul Vickery, legal agent and counsel for the Department of Justice Canada wrote to the Assembly’s law- yers. Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, in a release, called that “disappointing.” “The well-being of First Nations children and families remains our top priority, and we will continue to advo- cate for fair and equitable supports to ensure our children thrive, wherever they live. The AFN executive commit- tee will continue its discussions to de- termine how best to support First Na- tions children and families, in light of this unfortunate development,” Wood- house Nepinak wrote. The initial $47.8 billion deal was struck between Canada, the Chiefs of Ontario, Nishnawbe Aski Nation and the Assembly of First Nations in July after a nearly two-decades-long legal fight over the federal government’s underfunding of on-reserve child wel- fare services. The Canadian Human Rights Tribu- nal said that was discriminatory be- cause it meant kids living on reserve were given fewer services than those living off reserve. The tribunal tasked Canada with reaching an agreement with First Nations to reform the sys- tem, and also with compensating chil- dren who were torn from their families and put in foster care. The $47.8 billion agreement was to cover 10 years of funding for First Nations to take control over their own child welfare services from the federal government, create a body to deal with complaints and set aside money for pre- vention, among others. Chiefs outside of Ontario rejected the proposal in October, voting instead to change the legal and negotiation teams on their end and calling for Canada to seek a new negotiation mandate. Those calls were repeated at a De- cember gathering where chiefs outlined exactly how they plan to negotiate with Canada, and cut out the Assembly of First Nations altogether and bring back in the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, which helped launch the initial complaint to the tribunal. Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu continuously expressed her dis- appointment about the deal being re- jected by chiefs in assembly, but would not say in December whether her gov- ernment would consider negotiating with Ontario independently, as was be- ing speculated at the time. In December, a number of leaked legal opinions on the way forward showed the Assembly of First Nations was looking into the validity of resolu- tions passed by chiefs on child welfare reforms, including one that said the deal could be moot if there’s a change in government. In one legal review from Fasken Ma- trineau DuMoulin LLP — a firm where the former national chief of the organ- ization, Perry Bellegarde, works as a special adviser — it appears as though the assembly asked for direction on now to get “rid” of two resolutions used to vote down the deal altogether. In a statement at the time, the Assem- bly of First Nations said the reviews were conducted independently and don’t reflect the views or positions of the advocacy organization. Meanwhile, First Nations in Ontario were mulling their next steps, as the vast majority of chiefs in the region voted in favour of the deal others voted down, in part because they were at the negotiation table and advocated for some aspects specific to the region, in- cluding a remoteness factor that would see rural First Nations receive more support. “We have what we believe is a propos- al that meets the needs of our region,” said Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict in an interview. “And so the federal government has agreed that’s the process they’re prepared to go through.” Benedict said he’s not responsible for what other regions decide to do, but rather for the some 130 First Nations he represents who saw the deal as a land- mark change in how child welfare ser- vices operate in the province. Even though Parliament is prorogued until March 24 and the opposition par- ties have vowed to take down the gov- ernment at the earliest opportunity, Benedict is hopeful an agreement can be finalized before an election because reforms only need cabinet approval, not a vote in the House of Commons. “We’re not asking for something over and above anything else that people have already seen,” Benedict said. “We’re asking for the elements that will work for an Ontario-specific deal to be carved out and given to Ontario. … We want to end discrimination today — our children cannot wait for another two-year process to negotiate.” In a statement Tuesday, Hajdu said the negotiations with First Nations in Ontario will improve the lives of fam- ilies. “The future of all our commun- ities depends on healthy families and children and I am optimistic that we will reach a deal where all First Na- tions have this reality,” she said. — The Canadian Press ALESSIA PASSAFIUME SPENCER COLBY / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak Walking pneumonia rates drop among children but MDs warn of flu, RSV HALIFAX — Following a sharp rise in cases of walking pneumonia among Canadian children, rates of the infection seem to be dropping — but doctors are now warning families about flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. Dr. Kirstin Weerdenburg, a pediatric emergency physician at Halifax’s IWK Health Centre, said she’s diagnosed more cases of walking pneumonia — called mycoplasma pneumoniae — in the past six months than she has in her more than 15-year career. The hospital recorded 11 cases of the infection in 2023, compared to 163 confirmed cases in the first 10 months of 2024. “But recently, in the last month or so, I’ve started to see a bit less of it and I’m starting to see a lot more of the seasonal viruses … respiratory syncytial virus and in- fluenza,” she said in a recent inter- view. Dr. Jesse Papenburg, a pediat- ric infectious disease specialist and medical microbiologist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, said he’s seeing the same thing. “As this mycoplasma, or walking pneu- monia, outbreak is starting to trail off, we’re now going to have other problems with influenza.” While many cases of flu are mild, Papenburg said, the illness presents a higher risk to young children, those over 75 and those with certain chronic medical con- ditions. The virus is responsible for the hospitalization of more than 1,000 children in Canada a year, according to data from the Public Health Agency of Canada. “It’s a major cause of hospitaliz- ation in Canada, especially among vulnerable populations,” he said in an interview, adding that it’s not too late to receive a flu vaccine. Typically, symptoms of flu in- fections begin within one to four days after exposure to the virus, with many people experiencing a sudden fever, cough or muscle aches. Other common symptoms are chills, fatigue, headache, sore throat or a runny nose. Some people, and especially children, may deal with nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Papenburg said families should also be prepared to look out for RSV, which often presents within two to eight days after exposure to the virus with some combination of symptoms like coughing, sneez- ing, wheezing, decrease in appetite and energy, fever or runny nose. In infants, the symptoms also include irritability and difficulty breath- ing. “We are in our RSV season right now in Quebec, with positivity rates over 20 per cent,” Papenburg said. Most children will have experi- enced an RSV infection by the time they turn two, and the illness is a common cause of bronchiolitis — a type of lung infection — and pneu- monia, the Public Health Agency of Canada says. Papenburg lauded decisions by the Quebec and Ontario govern- ments to introduce this fall free immunization against RSV for young infants. “RSV is the leading cause of hos- pitalizations in children under one year of age, and this is the first time we have something available that can prevent severe RSV dis- ease,” he said of the vaccine, which is expected to reduce emergency department visits and hospitaliza- tions. “This is as close to a game- changer as we’ve had in pediatrics recently, at least from an infection perspective,” Papenburg said. — The Canadian Press LYNDSAY ARMSTRONG Glider pilot who died had working parachute but limited experience deploying it: report AN ALBERTA glider pilot who died after eject- ing from his plane and hitting the ground during a competition last year had a working parachute but limited experience deploying it, an investigation has found. Gliding conditions were poor on the seventh day of the 2024 Canadian National Soaring Com- petition last May about 60 kilometres south of Calgary near Black Diamond, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said in an incident report published Tuesday. Many competitors had turned back after flying for less than 20 minutes on what was supposed to be a three-part, 400-kilometre journey, the report said. After 23 minutes of flying, and reversing course himself, 65-year-old Kerry Stevenson of Calgary tried to gain altitude by turning, but his glider stalled. Flight data recovered from the glider showed Stevenson, who had 30 years of flying experience and was a flight instructor, was less than half a kilometre above ground when the glider started barrelling down at a high speed and he ejected. Investigators had previously determined his parachute didn’t open, and he died after hitting the ground. The event was cancelled after Stevenson’s death. The incident report said after the crash, Steven- son’s parachute was inspected by Canadian Armed Forces specialists, who identified two issues. The first was that the parachute and harness were 26 years old, which surpassed the manufacturer’s recommended 20-year service life. The other issue was that the last time the para- chute was professionally examined and certified was in March of 2023. The report said the para- chute should have been examined in January of 2024. Military specialists nonetheless determined the parachute was still in working condition. But the incident report said parachuting “is a complex activity that requires co-ordinated actions in extreme environments,” and Stevenson had limited experience. “The pilot had practised egress from a glider but only when the glider was stationary on the ground,” it said. “There was no record of the pilot having ever skydived.” The report said an emergency scenario like what Stevenson was facing creates a number of additional challenges for safely deploying a para- chute. “In extreme stressful scenarios, otherwise very simple tasks can become impossible to per- form,” it said. “This is especially the case during an emergency when an individual typically will be surprised and faced with time pressure and a potential or imminent threat to life.” The safety board said pilots should always be familiar with emergency measures like para- chutes, and should know how their planes perform in demanding conditions. The report said Stevenson had flown this par- ticular glider for the first time two days earlier. Jason Acker, the president of the Alberta Soar- ing Council, said in an email Tuesday that the or- ganization will be reviewing the report to see if its procedures, policy or training methods can be improved. He said the review will involve representatives from each of Alberta’s four main glider clubs, in- cluding the Cu Nim Gliding Club, which hosted the event and to which Stevenson belonged. The club did not immediately respond to a re- quest for comment. — The Canadian Press Three hurt, three missing after seaplane crash MELBOURNE, Australia — Three people were seriously injured and another three were missing after a seaplane crashed off an Australian tourist island, officials said today. Only one of the seven people aboard the Cessna 208 Caravan was rescued without injury after the crash during takeoff from Rottnest Island on Tuesday afternoon, police said. The plane owned by Swan River Seaplanes was returning to its base in Perth, the Western Aus- tralia state capital 30 kilometres east of Rottnest Island, which is also known by its Indigenous name Wadjemup. Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the avi- ation crash investigator, said specialist investiga- tors were being sent to the scene. “As reported to the ATSB, during take-off the floatplane collided with the water, before coming to rest partially submerged,” the bureau’s chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said in a statement on Wednesday. Greg Quin, a tourist who was vacationing on Rottnest, said he saw the plane crash. “We were watching the seaplane take off and just as it was beginning to get off the water, it just tipped over and it crashed,” Quin told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio in Perth. “A lot of people in the water on their boats rushed to the scene and I think got there really, really quickly,” he added. The three injured people were flown to a Perth hospital in serious but stable conditions, officials said. — The Associated Press ;