Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 14, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba winnipegfreepress.com/ photostore Bring the great outdoors, indoors Choose from 150 years of Free Press archived photos. M A K E S A N I D E A L G I F T SERVING MANITOBA SINCE 1872. FOREVER WITH YOUR SUPPORT. TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2025 WEATHER SUNNY. HIGH -20 — LOW -21 SPORTS JETS TOP CANADIAN TEAM IN NHL / D1 LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER Panellists named for teacher disciplinary matters MAGGIE MACINTOSH A POLICE officer, a First Nations lawyer and a community-health program manager are among a dozen people who’ve been chosen to serve as panellists in disciplinary cases involv- ing teachers under a new Manitoba Education Department professional registry and complaint process. Bobbi Taillefer, the province’s first independent education commissioner, has the discretion to dismiss or inves- tigate reports made regarding alle- gations of improper teacher conduct. Calling a disciplinary panel is one of the options available to her. The new system, which is intended to increase transparency to the dis- ciplinary process, launched just over a week ago online (edu.gov.mb.ca/ k12/commissioner). Members of the public and employers are able to flag incidents to the commissioner’s office via separate forms available on the web page. There is also a self-report- ing option for certified teachers and clinicians. Taillefer told the Free Press her expectation is that all submissions will be accompanied with a name and contact information, although she will not immediately dismiss anonymous tips. “This is a high-stakes process … these are people’s names, careers, and so it has to be a process in which everybody — the complainant, the respondent, the employer, even (the Manitoba Teachers’ Society) — all feel that everybody is getting fair treat- ment,” said Taillefer, a francophone teacher from Winnipeg who has spent the last 25 years in union support and management roles. There were no official complaints received during the first week, she said, noting that an employer did, however, report a situation that was already known to the education de- partment. “We are ready, so if anything comes forward we have people in place and in fact the nominees just came through for (disciplinary hearing) panels,” she said, adding each of the 12 volunteers who were selected hold “impressive” resumés. A panel must include at least three members, one of whom must be a cer- tified teacher, one person nominated by the school boards association and at least one public representative, per provincial legislation. Disciplinary proceedings, which previously took place in private under the purview of MTS, which represents nearly 17,000 public-school teachers in the province, are expected to happen online and be made available to the public. Panellists will be called to volun- teer as the need arises on a rotating basis and with consideration of their availability. Must keep all options open in Trump tariff fight, Ontario counterpart says Alberta premier against blocking energy exports E DMONTON — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, fresh off a week- end visit with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, cautioned Ottawa against blocking energy exports to the U.S. in response to Trump’s tariff threat on Monday — but Ontario Pre- mier Doug Ford said he wants to keep the option open. “Oil and gas is owned by the provinc- es, principally Alberta, and we won’t stand for that,” Smith told reporters in a virtual news conference. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Monday he wants to see Canada block exports to the United States of critical minerals like aluminum, lithium and potash in response to the tariff threat. “So if (Trump) wants to pick a fight with Canada, we have to make sure it’s clear that it’s going to hurt Americans as well,” Singh told a news conference in Ottawa. Ford said that while an embargo on energy and critical mineral exports to the U.S. is the last thing he wants to see, Canada shouldn’t rule out any means to inflict economic pain on the U.S. if the tariff dispute escalates. Canada’s critical minerals exports to the United States were valued at nearly $30 billion in 2023. That’s nearly 60 per cent of the value of all Canadian critical mineral exports. “I want to ship them more critical minerals. I want to ship them more energy,” Ford said. “But make no mis- take about it. If they’re coming full-tilt at us, I won’t hesitate to pull out every single tool we have until they can feel the pain. But that’s the last thing I want to do.” Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly hasn’t ruled out an energy embar- go in response to Trump’s promise to impose punishing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian products. Smith said the federal government shouldn’t be making “empty threats,” and it’s not Joly’s call to make. She said cutting off pipeline supplies through Michigan would choke key supplies to Ontario and Quebec as well. If Ottawa moves to cut off energy exports, Smith said, “they will have a national unity crisis on their hands at the same time as having a crisis with our U.S. trade partners.” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe also pushed back on the idea of re- stricting Canadian energy and agricul- tural exports to the United States. “That would be the most divisive conversation and most divisive situ- ation that we would find ourselves in Canada,” Moe told CBC’s Power and Politics. LISA JOHNSON, JACK FARRELL AND DAVID BAXTER DONOVAN Sired thought he was protecting a valuable informant when he told him to steer clear of the RCMP’s highway stings as part of a cross-country drug and cigarette trafficking investigation. The former investigator with Manitoba Finance’s special inves- tigations unit will pay the price for that decision, pleading guilty Monday to breach of trust for tipping off an informant during a massive RCMP investigation to crack down on illegal tobacco and narcotics between May 2022 and January 2023. The probe, dubbed Project Dawg- pound, sought to monitor the activities of Hue Ha, the leader of a network that transported large amounts of drugs and tobacco in and out of Man- itoba. Sired, 51, admitted to giving infor- mation to Wayne Lavallee that would help Ha’s network stay out of the RCMP’s reach. “Mr. Sired was likely in a misguid- ed effort to protect his informant,” defence lawyer Evan Roitenberg told Court of King’s Bench Justice Brian Bowman at the sentencing hearing. “Once you have somebody who pro- vides you with reliable information, you want to hold on to that person.” Court heard RCMP tapped Ha’s phone as part of the investigation and heard a “tax guy” was giving the suspects information about projects and investigations, as well as where RCMP’s traffic division was setting up traps to stop vehicles. “Through those interceptions, it was revealed Lavallee, and in turn, Ha and others, were receiving confidential, operational information,” Crown attor- ney Erin Magas told court. On Nov. 28, 2022, Lavallee was driving back to Manitoba from Ontar- io with 71 cases of unmarked ciga- rettes when Sired directed him not to re-enter the province. Court heard an RCMP investigator contacted Sired about a tip he received regarding a man named “Wayne” who was driving back to Manitoba with a trailer full of illegal tobacco. Sired flagged the tip to Lavallee and told the officer they might be looking for someone named “Wayne Chief.” “Mr. Sired likely gave him misinfor- mation in an attempt to protect that informant, an attempt to ensure that he can continue to use that informant. That is a direct violation,” Magas said. Lavallee, along with Ha and 19 others, were arrested in March 2023 as part of Project Dawgpound, which resulted in the seizure of millions of dollars in drugs, firearms, vehicles and illegal cigarettes. NICOLE BUFFIE CAROLYN KASTER / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ASSISTANCE AMID WILDFIRE TRAGEDY Items of clothing are laid out at an aid centre Monday for people affected by devastating wildfires at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. / A5 Official gets house arrest for tipping off informant Government employee warned man hauling illegal cigarettes to watch out for RCMP ● TARIFF, CONTINUED ON A2 ● ARREST, CONTINUED ON A3 ● PANELLISTS, CONTINUED ON A2 ;