Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 22, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM B RANDON — Premier Wab Kinew said two government offices scheduled to open in western Manitoba this year will help bolster the agricultural sector against the uncer- tainty of trade threats from U.S. Presi- dent Donald Trump. “While we think that this investment in supporting producers will definite- ly help us because ag is one of the key points of the relationship we have with the U.S., the reality here is this is about responding to our own needs here and strengthening our own economy here,” he said at a news conference at the Manitoba Ag Days show in Brandon. The show, which highlights expertise, technology and equipment, attracts ex- hibitors and visitors from across Can- ada and the U.S. The two Manitoba Agricultural Ser- vice Corp. centres will open in Vird- en, 75 kilometres west of Brandon, on the Trans-Canada Highway, and Shoal Lake, 110 km northwest of Brandon. Each office will have four full-time staffers who can help approximately 1,600 farmers with Agrinsurance, hail insurance, wildlife damage compensa- tion, loans and other programs. “This is reversing a trend that you saw under the previous government, with offices closing one after the other (and) services leaving small, rural com- munities,” said Kinew. “We’re investing in small town Manitoba.” In January 2021, the Tories closed 21 agricultural service centres and streamlined 17 others while adding an online chat program for farmers affect- ed by the cuts. The government was lobbied to bol- ster agricultural services. “Manitoba farmers have been clear in their desire to have access to more in-person services through MASC,” said Jill Verwey, president of the Key- stone Agricultural Producers, in a statement. A service delivery review was under- taken to determine the best locations for the offices. Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn said a gap in service was identified in western Manitoba. “Some producers and some other com- munities that were asking for an office to be opened up … (understood) these lo- cations (had) over an hour-plus (drive).” Kinew was asked at length about Manitoba’s plan to fight the 25 per cent tariffs that Trump has threatened to impose on Feb. 1. Kinew reiterated Manitoba’s plan is to support its own economy as it continues to argue tariffs would raise prices in the U.S. “If there’s a Trump tariff tax, that’s going to raise prices on consumers in the States, and I don’t think anyone wants that.” Kinew says a group of premiers will head to Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12 as part of the “Team Canada” approach to fighting the punitive measures. In terms of allies, Kinew said North and South Dakota politicians are sym- pathetic to Manitoba and have influ- ence in the Trump administration. “They share having ag as a backbone for their economies, too.” Manitoba plans to have a trade repre- sentative in Washington, established in the Canadian Embassy, in the next few months. “I think we have a great candidate that we’re pretty far along the conver- sation with,” the premier said Tuesday, adding there should also be representa- tion in the Midwest and other states that are important to Manitoba com- panies that export to the U.S. The mayor of Virden welcomed Tues- day’s news and applause rang out in the crowd of 200 attendees at the Keystone Centre as Kinew made the announce- ment about the new offices. Virden Mayor Tina Williams said farmers will no longer need to drive to Brandon for services or go online. “Not everybody has the great in- ternet connectivity to do that kind of (business) online. … There’s a lot to be said for being able to see a person face to face.” — with files from Brandon Sun fpcity@freepress.mb.ca NEWS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2025 VOL 154 NO 61 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2025 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. 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Call or email before 10 a.m. weekdays or 11 a.m. Saturday City: 204-697-7001 Outside Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 press 1 6:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.; 7 a.m. - noon Saturday; Closed Sunday TO SUBSCRIBE: 204-697-7001 Out of Winnipeg: 1-800-542-8900 The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada Evolv and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission recently reached a settlement, after the commission accused the Massachusetts company of deceptively claiming its Express scanners — used in thousands of American schools and in many sports stadiums and hospitals — would detect all weapons, and were more effective than traditional metal detectors. Evolv disputed the allegations and did not admit wrongdoing, a company state- ment said. Asagwara confirmed weapon detec- tors are coming soon to HSC, after the Manitoba Nurses Union, in a social media post, called on the government to explain when the technology will be installed. The union said it received positive feedback from nurses, following the trial at Manitoba’s largest hospital. Union president Darlene Jackson said the union received no information about when detectors would make a permanent return, after they were removed at the end of the pilot. “I am a little concerned with the lack of transparency from this govern- ment,” she said. Jackson said members are con- cerned about violence and visitors taking weapons into hospitals. “People are bringing weapons in all the time,” she said. While she did not know the specific circumstances, Jackson said staff reported someone recently took a gun into the ER at Children’s Hospital, which is part of the sprawling HSC campus. The Shared Health spokesperson said a concealed weapon was found when a person, who was acting suspiciously in the children’s ER, was searched last fall. A security guard in HSC’s adult ER was stabbed by a patient in February 2024. Jackson questioned whether AI de- tectors will be used in other hospitals. She cited a Christmas Eve incident at Thompson’s hospital, where RCMP said a man pointed a rifle at staff and fired a hole in a chapel window. The government has not yet said if AI detectors will be used in other facilities. Jason Linklater, president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, echoed the call for enhanced weapon detection. “MAHCP wants to see evi- dence-based technology implemented throughout Manitoba health-care facilities, coupled with increased numbers of qualified security person- nel able to detect and address security concerns,” he said. Progressive Conservative health critic Kathleen Cook, who spoke to the Free Press before Asagwara confirmed the launch is a few weeks away, called on the government to bring back the scanners. Conor Healy, director of government research with IPVM, a U.S.-based security and surveillance research group, said hospitals or other potential clients should try to verify manufac- turers’ claims, given the allegations against Evolv and research suggesting the technology is not as efficient as claimed. “Metal detectors are the surer bet if your goal is ‘we need to keep 100 per cent of weapons out of our building,’” he said. Healy encouraged potential users to be transparent and explain to the pub- lic why AI detectors are being installed and at what cost, and that they are not perfect. Jackson said other measures im- plemented at HSC in recent months, including security upgrades in a staff parkade and the introduction of institu- tional safety officers, are working well. Officers were introduced at HSC last year after the nurses union filed a grievance against Shared Health on behalf of members who were con- cerned about their safety, following violence and theft at or near the cam- pus. Institutional safety officers began patrolling Brandon’s hospital earlier this month. chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca “I will highlight (there has been) no police chief since Labour Day in a public safety crisis, and no mo- mentum on the (chief administrative officer) of the City of Winnipeg since Mike Jack’s departure. That is concerning, especially when I have colleagues that I’m very close to outside of executive policy committee that are saying much the same things that I am today.” The Winnipeg Police Service has not replaced Danny Smyth since his retirement in September. Deputy chief Art Stannard has been acting chief. Former CAO Michael Jack was hired as a deputy minister in the Manitoba government in mid-Novem- ber after leaving the city five months earlier. Sherwood Armbruster has been serving as the city’s interim CAO since then. Rollins said she is not considering a run in this year’s federal election. The remaining members of EPC are Janice Lukes (Waverley West), Evan Duncan (Charleswood—Tuxedo—West- wood), Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) and Vivian Santos (Point Douglas). Lukes said Rollins was “great to work with” but noted the committee is a tough one to sit on. “It’s a very intense job, and maybe she doesn’t agree with some of the things that are going on,” she said. Duncan echoed Lukes’s sentiment, suggesting Rollins “potentially had her differences” with the province and city’s strategy. Browaty thanked Rollins for her time on the committee but declined to speculate about why she left. Santos declined to comment. In July, Gillingham shook up EPC by replacing Mayes, an 11-year mem- ber, with Santos. Rollins said it was “difficult” for the committee to lose Mayes, along with John Orlikow (River Heights—Fort Garry) in 2023, and said it wasn’t up to her to say who should take her seat. She said she would focus on im- proving dialogue between municipal bodies and transparency in council procedure for the time being. “Whether it’s folks being turned away from (the executive policy committee), like my colleague Coun. Mayes, or it’s me withdrawing my la- bour, I think it’s important to regroup and figure out where we’re at. That’ll be a conversation between me and my colleagues on council here.” malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca ROLLINS ● FROM A1 WEAPONS ● FROM A1 MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara confirmed weapon detectors are coming soon to HSC. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES The sprawling Health Sciences Centre will have three weapons detectors, in the children’s and adult ERs and at the crisis centre. TIM SMITH / BRANDON SUN Premier Wab Kinew and Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon. Ag offices to bolster sector amid tariff threat MALAK ABAS / FREE PRESS Coun. Sherri Rollins responds to reporters’ questions about her resignation from the execu- tive policy committee, the mayor’s inner circle, at city hall on Tuesday. ;