Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 14, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba A RURAL paramedic staffing short- age has left some communities in western Manitoba with more va- cancies than staff. “We have front-line workers today saying that this is a crisis happening right now,” Progressive Conservative health critic Kathleen Cook said Mon- day. The workers flagged concerns about dire staffing shortages in key emergency medical services stations, Cook said. Shoal Lake’s station has one para- medic for 13 intended positions, Virden has nine of 17 positions filled, Russell has five of 13 and Erickson has two of four filled, the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals confirmed. Cook said massive geographic areas of the province have been left without sufficient services. “It’s a serious problem but not a new problem,” said Rural Municipality of Yellowhead Mayor Merv Starzyk. “It’s been going on for years,” said Starzyk of the area that includes Shoal Lake. “It’s just not being taken serious- ly enough.” Manitoba’s health minister said it was “pretty rich” for the PCs to com- plain about a paramedic shortage. “The shortages we’re facing today are a direct result of PC cuts and neg- ligence,” Health Minister Uzoma Asag- wara said in an email Monday. The Tor- ies closed 23 rural emergency medical stations, cut millions from rural health authorities’ budgets, denied rural Manitobans access to advanced care paramedics and pushed 90 rural para- medics out the door, Asagwara said. “We’ve spent the last year turning the ship around,” the health minister said, pointing to the creation of a recruit- ment and retention office to bring more health-care workers to Manitoba. An update on the number of paramedics hired was not provided. The province contributed $16 million to staff a third ambulance stationed in Brandon and funded 16 addition- al training seats at Red River College Polytech for advanced care paramedics to work in rural and northern Mani- toba, Asagwara said. It’s also setting up community paramedicine units across the province. Starzyk said he recently met with the one local paramedic at the station that’s supposed to have a staff of 13. “He was concerned he was going to get burned out,” Starzyk said. The paramedic is a “local chap, who likes his job and wants to see things work.” The worker was also worried about staffing shortages at rural hospi- tals, he said. When emergency departments have to close as a result, paramedics may have far to go to see a patient in a life- or-death situation. In Prairie Mountain Health, seven of 30 emergency rooms were operating at full capacity and open 24-7 in Decem- ber. Hospitals across the region were closed 89 days that month, with some emergency departments closed for more than half the month. On Jan. 1, four of 15 ambulances were in service for western Manitoba below Riding Mountain National Park be- cause of staffing shortages, the presi- dent of the association representing rural paramedics said Monday. “Those day-to-day impacts are awful,” said Jason Linklater, who noted the shortage is provincewide. “Many rural communities are wait- ing an hour or more for an ambulance,” he said. “In a medical emergency, I have heard some families are not calling 911. They just get them to the nearest emergency room themselves if they’re able to.” A spokesman for Shared Health said anyone experiencing a medical emer- gency in the province should never hesitate to call 911 or their local emer- gency phone number. “EMS services throughout rural and northern Manitoba deploy resources based on the probability of call activ- ity and adjust resources to ensure re- sponses are as timely as they can be.” Linklater said Shared Health needs a greater “sense of urgency” in its hiring. “They have been driving appli- cants away by trying to force them into specific positions or areas, when they are needed everywhere,” he said. “They should post positions, hire con- tinuously, and don’t make applicants wait for quarterly hiring intakes, which is the process that’s in place now.” The province should resume rotating rural paramedic training programs discontinued under the previous gov- ernment, Linklater said. “Once people have to leave the com- munity for training and they’re gone for a while, it’s really hard to get them back,” said Cook. Providing housing to paramedics has also been suggested, said Starzyk, who will meet with Shared Health next month to discuss the situation. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca A Portage la Prairie mother who found the bodies of her son and his girlfriend was relieved Monday after RCMP announced second-degree murder charges against a suspect. Mary Bone said she is waiting to learn more about what happened, and why, to her son James Borden, 42, and Emily Smoke, 37, when they were killed Dec. 1. “They didn’t have to do that. Justice will be served for what happened,” said Bone, who dis- covered the couple when she returned home from bingo. “Now that (a suspect has been) arrested, I can breathe a little easier.” Discovering the bodies of her son and his girl- friend has taken its toll on Bone. “I have my moments,” she said, her voice wav- ering with emotion. Police previously said they believe the killings were targeted, and the male victim was involved in the drug trade. “The killings were not random, and as of right now, RCMP is not able to make the connection (to the drug trade),” spokeswoman Michelle Lissel wrote in an email Monday. A suspect was arrested during a brief pursuit after being located by the Manitoba First Nations Police Service in Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation on Jan. 9, police said. Preston Whitford, 30, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder. He was held in custody. RCMP hope to bring charges against a second suspect, Lissel said. “Manitoba RCMP major crime services, along with Portage la Prairie RCMP, have worked con- tinuously over the last few weeks to identify and locate the outstanding suspect(s),” a news release said. Police asked anyone with information about the slayings to call the RCMP tip line at 431-489-8106 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS). Borden and Smoke were found dead in a house on Oak Bay in a northeast Portage neighbourhood at about 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 1. They had been in a relationship for about a year, Borden’s mother said. Both had four children from previous relation- ships. Bone said she last saw Borden and Smoke when she brought home a take-out order from a restau- rant. She asked the couple to put her food in the refrigerator and then left for bingo. Bone said she has “suspicions” about how her son and Smoke were killed, but she doesn’t want to say. She doesn’t know the suspect who is facing charges, and was not aware of the suspected mo- tive. “I asked, but (police) say they’re still investigat- ing,” Bone said. RCMP previously said two people got out of a maroon SUV and entered the home shortly before 7:15 p.m. on Dec. 1. The pair allegedly left a short time later and drove off at a high rate of speed. Police released two images of the vehicle hoping people would recognize it. Bone said her son’s friends wanted to hold a vigil outside the house in the days after the killings, but she asked them to wait because she didn’t think it was safe at that time. She said the house was broken into after the double homicide. Borden had a long list of convictions for crimes including assaults, uttering threats, drug posses- sion and residential break-ins, records showed. He was facing two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, following a drug bust in September. RCMP allege Borden was carrying about 172 grams of suspected crystal methamphetamine and about 15 grams of fentanyl, plus cash, an ear- lier news release said. In January 2024, the RCMP released Borden’s photo as part of its “wanted Wednesday” series on social media. Police said Borden was wanted at that time for failing to comply with a probation order. Bone said her son doted on his youngest child, a boy whom he’d take to the park or out for a meal. “He was a really good father,” she said. Bone said Smoke was kind, and helped her do things around the house that she was unable to due to health conditions. “She was a really good friend. I really miss her a lot,” Bone said. Smoke loved her children with “all her heart,” and enjoyed going on outings with them, an obitu- ary said. “Those who knew Emily knew she had com- passion for people and saw the good in everyone she met,” the obituary said. “She was funny and bubbly and liked to laugh. Emily was a big Winni- peg Jets fan and looked forward to watching the games with her dad.” Whitford is also charged with four offences re- lated to his Jan. 9 arrest, including unauthorized possession of a firearm and breaching an order not to possess weapons, court records showed. He was twice handed a 10-year weapons ban — first in April 2018 after pleading guilty to stealing a gun during a break-in, and again in June 2023 after a guilty plea to drug possession for the pur- pose of trafficking. Portage la Prairie is about 70 kilometres west of Winnipeg. — with files from Tyler Searle chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca TOP NEWS A3 TUESDAY JANUARY 14, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM FACEBOOK Emily Smoke SUPPLIED James Borden RCMP search for second suspect in Portage la Prairie double homicide Mom who found bodies can ‘breathe a little easier’ after arrest CHRIS KITCHING MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES RCMP outside an Oak Bay residence in Portage la Prairie in December. A man was arrested Thursday for a double homicide that happened at the home. Rural paramedic shortage called ‘a crisis’ CAROL SANDERS Certain areas of province left with few emergency options The contraband cigarettes would have yielded Manitoba $1.47 million in tax revenue. Ha pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to traffic drugs and weapons trafficking. He was sentenced to 11 years behind bars in December 2023. Lavallee became an informant for the provincial department in March 2021 after being caught with illegal tobacco. Roitenberg said over the course of nearly two years, Lavallee had provided information that resulted in the seizure of millions of dollars worth of illegal products. Lavallee died of a heart attack on Aug. 4, 2024. Crown and defence lawyers agreed on a sentence of two years house arrest for Sired. Roitenberg argued there should have been more oversight in his client’s dealings with Lavallee. “Confidential informants are a dangerous aspect of policing. It requires some measure of skill and tact and training and experience,” Roitenberg said. “When somebody is new to the task, it … requires some form of super- vision.” Sired was also originally charged with bribery of officers and conspiracy to evade payment, but the Crown stayed those charges owing to a lack of evidence. Magas said while there was no direct evidence Lavallee or his net- work paid the provincial employee for the information, text exchanges and phone recordings suggested Sired was receiving cash for his intel. Sired listened intently from the gallery during the hearing, occasion- ally nodding to the lawyers’ submis- sions and Bowman’s comments. He did not submit any comments during his sentencing. Bowman acknowledged the loss of employment with the province and tarred reputation was a punishment in itself, and advised Sired use his time under house arrest to reflect. “I hope you’re able to look back at this and not only, of course, adhere strictly to the conditional sentence order, but also look for ways in which you can positively contribute to the community going forward,” he told Sired. Court heard Manitoba Finance was forced to abandon charges and investigations into more than 10 op- erations due to Sired’s involvement in the investigations. nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca ARREST ● FROM A1 FACEBOOK Donovan Sired pleaded guilty to breach of trust. ;