Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 20, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba MONDAY JANUARY 20, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM SECTION B CONNECT WITH WINNIPEG’S NO. 1 NEWS SOURCE ▼ CITY ● BUSINESS Ordered to pay $10,000 in costs and complete ethics and boundaries course Paramedic suspended for relationship with patient A VETERAN paramedic, who is a former health-care union exec- utive, has been suspended for 18 months after pleading guilty to having a sexual relationship with a patient. A panel of the College of Paramedics of Manitoba advised Kirk Seniuk, a 20- year paramedic, he can’t reapply for a practice and registration certificate during his suspension and must com- plete an ethics and boundaries course as well as a paramedic refresher course. He was ordered to pay $10,000 in costs. “Paramedics are in a position of trust and are expected to maintain the high- est standards of integrity and profes- sionalism,” deputy registrar Christine Ewacha said Friday. “This is believed to be an isolated matter… the College of Paramedics of Manitoba understands that this situa- tion and process has been very difficult for all involved… we protect the public by taking all allegations seriously.” The hearing was held on Dec. 3, and the order was issued on Dec. 12. The de- cision said Seniuk has not worked as a paramedic for more than a year. Neither Seniuk nor his lawyer, Amber Harms, could be reached for comment. A joint statement of facts presented to the committee said the relationship lasted from February 2022 to March 2023, when Seniuk worked as a primary care paramedic in southern Manitoba. At the time, Seniuk was on the execu- tive council of the Manitoba Associ- ation of Health Care Professionals as its District 5/southern director. District 5 includes emergency medical services and hospitals in southern Manitoba, in- cluding Steinbach, Portage la Prairie, Gladstone and Swan Lake. “All health-care professionals are require to uphold professional stan- dards,” association president Jason Linklater said. “It is a regulatory college’s respons- ibility to investigate allegations of professional misconduct and report on findings, as it is an association’s duty to represent all its members.” The union confirmed Seniuk is no longer a member of the union. As per the committee’s decision, Seniuk “is guilty of professional mis- conduct, has displayed a lack of know- ledge or a lack of skill and/or judgment in the practice of paramedicine and is guilty of conduct unbecoming a mem- ber.” The committee said there was a “lengthy and detailed list of discrete incidences of misconduct” on Seniuk’s part. “(He) embarked on a personal re- lationship of a sexual nature with a patient with whom he had an ongoing therapeutic relationship and who, to his first-hand knowledge, was in a particu- larly vulnerable state and had a history of mental-health issues, including a his- tory of substance abuse.” The first the college knew about any type of an inappropriate relationship was in late 2022, when the patient — whose identity and community is sub- ject to a publication ban and who has since died — sent two messages to the college online complaint portal. The college tried to contact the woman and sent a letter to her on Jan. 3, 2023, to find out more about the al- legations, but she died two months later, without replying. A few months later, the college sent Seniuk a letter to tell him about the al- legations and had a college investigator interview him twice. Seniuk was given a chance to respond to the investiga- tor’s report. The committee heard the woman had a history of substance abuse and had called more than 40 times for emer- gency services between 2017 and 2023. Seven of those calls were answered by Seniuk. The woman first contacted him via Facebook in early 2022. During the next 13 months, the pair exchanged messages about twice a week and “over time, the messages be- came sexual and explicit (and) there was a mutual exchange of nude photo- graphs.” Seniuk responded as a paramedic four times after the woman first con- tacted him. Seniuk, who admitted he met with the woman four times when he was off duty, denied they’d had intercourse, but admitted “there were two instances of intimate touching and one in which a sexual fantasy of (the woman) was act- ed out.” The committee was told the incident was the first time Seniuk had faced a disciplinary matter or been the subject of a complaint. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca KEVIN ROLLASON JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS RETURNING TO OUR ROOTS Four panels of a new mural — approximately 100 feet long by nine feet high — have been installed on the St. Mary Avenue side of the RBC Con- vention Centre. Métis tattooist and mural artist Justine Proulx said each panel represents a season and is focused on Indigenous teachings. Forest debate should offer chance for enhanced public dialogue A LITTLE section of old growth forest — about the size of 30 soccer fields — nestled along the banks of a hairpin bend in the Red River has found itself at the centre of a polit- ical storm. Until recently, most people in Winni- peg had likely never heard about Lemay Forest in St. Norbert, but a standoff between residents and a developer who wants to cut down the trees has sparked debate about property rights and the role government should play in protecting our urban tree canopy. What isn’t up for debate is the significant con- tribution trees make to the collective good in a city. Even when located on private land, their so- cial and environmental impact is felt well beyond invisible property lines. On a macro scale, trees stand at the front lines of our collective battle with climate change. Even a small, 20-hectare forest such as Lemay can absorb enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to offset emissions from more than 5,000 cars every year. With climate change increasing the frequen- cy of high-intensity storm water events, urban trees are becoming vital in managing runoff and relieving pressure on municipal infrastructure. By absorbing storm water and increasing soil absorption capacity, Winnipeg’s trees prevent enough water from entering the city’s sewer sys- tem each year to fill more than 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Winnipeg’s average temperature is projected to increase by almost seven degrees over the next 50 years and the normal number of summer days that reach a temperature of 30 C will grow from 14 to 52. Trees will necessarily play a central role in making Winnipeg and all cities livable in the face of these changing conditions. An analysis of satellite data from 293 cities in Europe found that on hot summer days, tree cover can reduce the local surface temperature of a city by up to 12 degrees. An urban tree canopy that moderates extreme temperatures can make cities more comfortable and it can also save lives. A 2016 study in Toronto found that in extreme heat, an increase of two to three degrees can translate to an increase of four to seven per cent in the mortality rate. Urban trees and forests further affect health conditions by improving air quality through the direct absorption of pollutants. A 2017 study for Environment Canada reviewed data across 86 Canadian cities and found the reduction of air pollution from urban trees saves the health-care system hundreds of millions of dollars per year and is responsible for the avoidance of 30 deaths and 22,000 incidences of acute respiratory symp- toms annually. Important connections have been found be- tween trees and mental health in urban areas. When residents are exposed to well-treed neigh- bourhoods and forest settings, they typically produce lower measures of stress, anxiety, de- pression, anger and fatigue as well as increased measures of happiness and relaxation. These powerful social and environmental impacts that trees have in Canadian cities are the reason St. Norbert residents are so upset about the potential loss of Lemay Forest. It’s also the reason cities across Canada are implementing bylaws to protect trees, even when they are on privately owned property. In 2004, Toronto became the first major city in the country to develop a comprehensive set of rules to guide the management of privately owned trees and forests. The city has set an aggressive goal of doubling its tree canopy over 40 years and with 60 per cent of its trees located on private property, its private tree bylaw is an important tool to achieve this. The bylaw requires a permit to injure or remove any tree on private property with a trunk diame- ter of at least 30 centimetres. To apply for a permit, an arborist’s report must identify the tree’s condition and reason for removal. Healthy tree removal is allowed to facilitate development, but the applicant must demonstrate it cannot be avoided and is required to pay $370 for every tree removed and plant three new ones in its place. This fee drops to $125 and one replacement tree if demolition isn’t construction-related. Several other Canadian cities, including Ottawa and Vancouver, have followed Toronto’s lead by implementing similar policies. These bylaws are in place to manage and balance tree protection with the need to allow new development construc- tion. Adding a cost for demolition and replace- ment results in developers being more diligent in saving mature trees as they design and lay out their projects. The permit process also helps protect trees from being needlessly lost if a proposed devel- opment dies or changes before it reaches the construction phase. In the case of Lemay, such a bylaw would prohibit the demolition of the forest until a building permit for a new project is secured, which could be years away. There is a common sentiment that private property owners should be able to do whatever they want with their land, but the reality is that in cities, all properties are subject to many layers of zoning and bylaws that restrict what can be done on them in the interest of the collective public good. In Toronto and other cities, trees are part of this consideration. Hopefully, a resolution is found for Lemay For- est, but the debate should be seen as an opportu- nity for greater public dialogue about the social and environmental importance of urban trees and the effect they have on our health and quality of life. This incident can be the catalyst to a broader discussion about Winnipeg’s urban tree canopy and the role privately owned trees will play in its future. Brent Bellamy is creative director at Number Ten Architectural Group. BRENT BELLAMY BRIEFS WOMAN STABBED IN WESTWOOD HOME An 18-year-old woman has been charged with stabbing another young woman in a Westwood home Saturday night. The 18-year-old victim suffered serious upper-body injuries in the incident on 100 block of Davis Crescent. She was taken to hospital in unstable condition and later upgraded to stable, the Winnipeg Police Service said Sunday. Police determined the women were in an argument that developed into an assault at about 11:30 p.m. The woman arrested is facing a charge of assault causing bodily harm. She was released on an undertaking. BUS PASSENGER HAD HATCHET: POLICE A 36-year-old man was arrested Friday after allegedly taking a hatchet onto a city bus. Police said a fellow passenger saw a man with the hatchet and contacted authorities. The man was arrested when he got off the bus at Pioneer Avenue and Main Street at about 12:15 p.m. The bus driver had confiscated the hatchet and gave it to police. The man didn’t threaten anyone on the bus but threatened to kill police officers while in custody, the Winnipeg Police Service said. He is facing charges of possession of a weapon, uttering threats, failing to comply with a probation order and failing to comply with conditions of release order. He was detained in custody. ;