Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 15, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba Thanks to your generosity - and amid ongoing national decline in charitable giving - Manitoba remains Canada’s most generous province. Congratulations! MANITOBA IS CANADA'S MOST GENEROUS PROVINCE! Scan for local stories of generosity! wpgfdn.org H U M A N E S O C I E T Y Donate at: winnipeghumanesociety.ca We care for more than 10,000 animals every year in the shelter and community. Big or small, your donation makes a paws-itive impact on them all. A4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM MAN FATALLY SHOT BY RCMP IN DOMINION CITY A MAN has died after he was shot by an RCMP officer outside a home in Dominion City on Tuesday morning. Morris RCMP were sent to the home “for a wellness call” at about 8:31 a.m. While waiting for backup, the first officer there was confronted by a man who exited a garage on the property with a metal object in his hand and advanced towards the officer, RCMP said in a news release. “Despite repeated commands to stop and drop the weapon, the male continued towards the officer, who then discharged his firearm,” the release said. The officer gave the man CPR until emer- gency crews arrived. The 33-year-old man was then transported to hospital in critical condition by the STARS medical helicopter, where he later died from his injuries. The officer was not hurt. The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba asked witnesses or anyone with in- formation or video that might help the police watchdog to call 1-844-667-6060. GIRL, 12, KILLED IN SNOWMOBILE CRASH A girl is dead after a snowmobile collision Friday night. Gods Lake Narrows RCMP were contacted about the incident near the community at about 8 p.m. Police said a 12-year-old girl was thrown from a toboggan she was on with two other kids, also 12 years old, that was being pulled by a snowmobile. A 12-year-old boy was driving the snowmobile, with a 14-year-old passenger on it. RCMP believe the toboggan hit a tree stump on a riding path, causing the crash. The girl who was thrown suffered life-threatening injuries. The driver went to the local nursing station for help, and a medical van was sent to pick up the victim to take her to the station, where she died. None of the children were wearing helmets, RCMP said in a news release Tuesday. The investigation is ongoing. ARREST MADE IN PEDESTRIAN DEATH A driver has been arrested after an 87-year- old man was hit at a marked pedestrian crossing and later died. The collision happened at the intersection of McPhillips Street and Leila Avenue at about 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 23. Emergency services were already on scene when a pickup truck traveling east on Leila Avenue hit a pedestrian who was crossing McPhillips. The pedestrian was taken to hospital in unstable condition, where he later died from his injuries. The driver, a 44-year-old man, remained on scene and spoke with police. He was arrested Sunday and faces a charge of driving careless- ly causing death. He was released on a notice to appear in court. FORMER Tory MLA and cabinet min- ister Janice Morley-Lecomte will be facing off against the country’s sports minister in the upcoming federal elec- tion. Morley-Lecomte, who was mental health and community wellness minis- ter for nine months in former premier Heather Stefanson’s government be- fore losing her Seine River seat in the last election, has been chosen to run for the Conservative party in the Winnipeg South riding. The riding has been held by Liberal MP Terry Duguid, who was recently appointed sports minister, as well as the minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada since 2015. “(She) was part of the Conservative government which was shown the door in late 2023, just a little more than a year ago,” Duguid said Tuesday. “I think Manitobans recall very vividly that the Conservatives brought major cuts to our health-care system that is still recovering from the devas- tation that they brought. “They closed the Victoria Hospital emergency ward, right in the heart of Winnipeg South.” No one from the Conservative Party of Canada or the Winnipeg South Con- servative Association could be reached for comment. Winnipeg South is one of seven of Manitoba’s 14 ridings in which at least two of the three major parties have nominated candidates for election, which must be held on or before Oct. 20. Both Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh have vowed to vote down the minority Liberal government at the first opportunity, which will be in late March when Parliament reopens. A Manitoba political scientist said the three major parties still have many rid- ings to fill with candidates for an elec- tion that could be just weeks away. “Is it an intentional tactic to keep them under the radar to avoid scru- tiny?” Kelly Saunders, an associate political science professor at Brandon University, asked Tuesday. “Is it to prevent the media from pro- filing them and look at their past social media posts or statements they have made in the past? Or is it they are a little disorganized and not putting out effective notices? “It’s not like we didn’t know an elec- tion was coming in 2025.” The Liberal party in Manitoba, which many pundits say will be in a tough slog to see their candidates elected or re-elected in the four Winnipeg ridings they currently hold, appear to have the most candidates officially nominated at six, all in Winnipeg ridings. Along with Duguid, they include MPs Kevin Lamoureaux (Winnipeg North) and Ben Carr (Winnipeg South Centre), as well as candidates Ian Mac- Intyre (Elmwood-Transcona), Rahul Walia (Winnipeg Centre) and former MP Doug Eyolfson (Winnipeg West). No candidate has been chosen in Saint Boniface-Saint Vital, where Liberal MP and cabinet minister Dan Vandal announced last year he was not going to be running again. Looking at local party riding web- sites, the Conservatives have three candidates nominated — Morley-Le- comte, Ted Falk (Provencher) and Roy- den Brousseau (Winnipeg South Cen- tre). The NDP have just one candidate nominated, Ellen Clark in Kildonan-St. Paul, which Tory MP Raquel Dancho currently represents. Saunders said the parties should al- ready have chosen their slates of can- didates. “They owe it to the voters,” she said. “I would have hoped the parties would be much more organized and much more public and transparent.” But Duguid, who is also co-chair of the Liberal national campaign, and who was nominated in his own riding two years ago, said it is not unusual for par- ties to nominate candidates in the run- up to an election. “We will have some more names for you in a few weeks,” he said, noting Saint Boniface-Saint Vital should be next to announce a candidate. “Because we’ve had a minority government, the timing of an election was very uncer- tain … I think all parties are picking up the pace. “When the threat of an election is in the air, then all parties pick up the pace.” kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca NEWS I LOCAL WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2025 Province oddly silent on disturbingly low COVID vax rates C OVID-19 vaccination rates in Manitoba continue to fall, even though more than 1,000 people in- fected with the virus were hospitalized this season and nearly 200 died. Whatever the reason — COVID fatigue, a belief that getting the shot is no longer needed, people think they’re too busy — fewer Manitobans are getting vaccinated against the virus compared to last year and the year before. It’s leading to severe illness, contributing to hospital overcrowding and it’s costing lives. So why isn’t the province doing more to promote the benefits of getting vaxxed against COVID-19, as well as the flu, given the obvious benefits? That’s something government needs to answer. According to the latest provincial respiratory virus surveillance report, only 15.5 per cent of Manitobans have received the COVID-19 shot this season. As expected, take-up is highest among the elderly. Just over 48 per cent of Manitobans aged 65 and older got the COVID-19 vaccine this season, as of Jan. 4. The numbers drop considerably for those aged 50-64 at 18.6 per cent. Only 6.8 per cent of Manitobans aged 18-49 got the shot. For school-aged chil- dren — five to 17 years old — it’s even worse: 4.9 per cent. The province officially kicked off its flu and COVID-19 vaccination program in October with an “every vaccine counts” advertising campaign. It appeared public health officials were poised to mount an aggressive public-awareness campaign. But then it faded. “While health-care workers take care of our most vulnerable and our sickest Manitobans, it is our job, each and every one of us, to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to protect ourselves, our loved ones and communities from illness this season,” Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said at an October news conference. That means getting vaccinated, washing your hands frequently and staying home when sick, the minister said. Strong words. But that messaging was not sustained. Nearly three months later, the vac- cination numbers have been disap- pointing. At 15.5 per cent overall for COVID-19, it’s slightly below take-up for this time last year, 19.1 per cent. It was 20.4 per cent during the entire 2023-2024 respiratory-illness season, which was down from 25 per cent in 2022-2023. The numbers are slightly better for flu shots, at 22.2 per cent overall, but still disappointingly low (although similar to past years). Among those aged 65 and over, 57.2 per cent got the shot this season. Meanwhile, hundreds of people with COVID-19 have been admitted to hospital this season. Between Aug. 23 and Jan. 4 (the current respiratory-ill- ness season, as defined by the prov- ince), there have been 1,012 hospital admissions associated with COVID-19. That’s four times the number associat- ed with the flu, 251. There have also been 10 times more COVID-19 deaths this season (198) compared with the flu (19). What’s disappointing is that the province isn’t doing more to promote vaccines for both, even though they are proven to be effective at prevent- ing serious illness and death. There is some advertising on bill- boards and elsewhere urging people to get the shots, but it’s a pretty weak campaign. There should be far more, including updated numbers on hospi- talizations, deaths and the percentage of those patients who were vaccinated. Chief provincial public health offi- cer Dr. Brent Roussin said in October when the province launched this season’s advertising campaign that none of the patients admitted to the intensive care unit for influenza-relat- ed illness last year were vaccinated. He called that a “missed opportunity to protect Manitobans.” That is powerful, evidence-based information that should be shared more widely and more frequently with Manitobans, not only for the flu but also for COVID-19. People need to know that the vac- cines help prevent serious illness, death and reduce hospitalizations (which would also alleviate hospital congestion and bring down emergency room wait times). That evidence-based messaging is especially important, given the rise of anti-science propaganda that contin- ues to circulate in society. Considering how fast and easy it is to get both shots, not rolling out a more aggressive advertising and public-awareness campaign is also a “missed opportunity to protect Mani- tobans.” It takes 15-20 minutes to get both shots. They’re free and they’re widely available at clinics, doctors’ offices and pharmacies. The benefits are so significant for such little effort. Getting both shots is not just about protecting yourself. It’s about helping reduce the spread of the virus to pro- tect others, including the elderly and people in high-risk groups. No one is under the illusion that uptake for COVID-19 shots will return to pandemic levels (where some 80 per cent of people got the shots). But 15.5 per cent is a dismal record. Surely we can do better. tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca TOM BRODBECK OPINION MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Janice Morley-Lecomte has been chosen to run for the Conservative party in the Winnipeg South riding in the upcoming federal election. KEVIN ROLLASON Federal Tories pick Morley-Lecomte to challenge Duguid in Winnipeg South IN BRIEF ;