Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 23, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba STANDING POLICY COMMITTEE ON PROPERTY AND DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC HEARING Date: Thursday, February 6, 2025 Time: 9:30 A.M. Location: City Hall To participate in the hearing, register online at winnipeg.ca/publichearings or by phoning 204-986-4228 by 12:00 noon the business day preceding the meeting. You may also participate in the process by submitting your comments in writing. THIS HEARING CAN BE VIEWED ON LINE AT: https://winnipeg.ca/council/video.asp THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2025 A4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I TOP NEWS Hundreds pay respects at Altomare’s funeral Education minister remembered as husband, dad… and huge Jets fan T HE Winnipeg Jets customized a memor- ial jersey for Nello Altomare with a num- ber that nods to the hockey superfan’s final role as Manitoba’s 35th minister of edu- cation. Roughly 1,000 mourners who packed into Transcona Country Club for a public funeral Wednesday learned the career educator died shortly after the Jets’ 6-1 victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 14. The game marked his family’s final group viewing of their favourite team — an activity that typically involved the father of two adult children standing and yelling at the TV in their Transcona home. Altomare, who was in blood-cancer remis- sion, spent his last 4 ½ years living with com- plications from chemotherapy. He was 61. In a eulogy, Jason Drysdale described his longtime teacher friend and floor hockey teammate’s pride in declaring Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck “the best goalie in the league.” Drysdale recalled Altomare and Barb, the love of his life, attended a game at the Winni- peg Arena on one of their first dates. The couple was devastated when Manitoba lost its NHL team in 1996, one year before they got married, he said. In the same vein, the Jets’ 2011 return was met with ecstasy inside the household of hockey fans, Drysdale said as he read aloud a tribute that was co-written by himself and Barb. The eulogy was delivered about halfway through the 90-minute service inside a ban- quet hall decorated with the official flags of Canada, Italy, Treaty One Nations, Métis and Manitoba. The navy blue sweater with the No. 35 and his last name on it was also on display. So was a black-and-white portrait, floral arrangements and a star blanket that was gifted to Altomare when he fell ill. The NDP MLA for Transcona was diag- nosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma shortly after he was first elected to represent the constituency, his lifelong home, in 2019. Owing to complications from chemother- apy and a related surgery, he went on medical leave in October. Altomare told the Free Press he originally planned to rest so he could return to the Mani- toba Legislative Building before January. In- stead, his health declined rapidly. PC education critic Grant Jackson said he was touched that Altomare pulled him aside following his final day in the chamber to urge him to continue asking tough questions. “(Politicians) don’t have a lot of interactions like that,” Jackson said, adding that conversa- tion reflected Altomare’s unique collegiality and character. Rev. Jeff Cook and Rev. Rob Reed, both of whom have connections to Transcona Memor- ial United Church (where Altomare was mar- ried and remained an active volunteer) presid- ed over the celebration of life. Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine, In- digenous Futures Minister Ian Bushie and Premier Wab Kinew spoke at the event. Kinew reminisced about live-texting with Altomare as they watched Jets games. The NDP leader spoke about wanting to hang a Jets jersey in his party’s caucus room at 450 Broadway in honour of Altomare. The premier keeps a framed photo of Dan- ielle Adams, a Thompson MLA who died in a 2021 car crash, in his office. He said he was a proponent of retiring No. 35 from the Jets franchise “because there will never be another one like (Altomare).” maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca MAGGIE MACINTOSH PHOTOS BY RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS The Jets jersey honours Nello Altomare’s status as Manitoba’s 35th education minister. He was a huge fans of Winnipeg’s NHL club. LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER Altomare’s public funeral was held at the Transcona Country Club; he was popular in his community. Poilievre vows to cut federal public servant jobs OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says a government led by him would cut the number of federal public servants — but he doesn’t mind if they work from home. When asked by Radio-Canada on Tuesday whether U.S. President Donald Trump’s exec- utive order to send federal workers back to the office five days a week is a good idea, Poilievre said that what matters is whether or not public servants do the work. He said work is not getting done now within the federal government, though he fell short of going into detail about public servants’ pro- ductivity. A Parliamentary Budget Officer report that analyzed Departmental Results Reports data between 2018-19 and 2021-22 found that, on average, nearly a quarter of federal perform- ance targets were not met annually. There have been chronic delays in recent years for services such as passport and immi- gration applications. Poilievre called for public servants to be given clear assignments and be monitored to ensure they complete their tasks. He also said he would cut the federal public service, arguing that Canada has far too many bureaucrats. He said the federal Liberals drove up the deficit, in part, by hiring 110,000 public ser- vants. The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre and his team how many public servants he would drop, what type of monitoring methods he thinks should be in place and whether he would end the mandate requiring public ser- vants to work in person at least three days a week. There was no reply. The federal government website says the size of the public service grew to 367,772 in 2024 from 257,034 in 2015. Before this week, Poilievre had largely avoided the topic of remote work. When asked about the issue in May, Poilievre responded by criticizing Prime Minister Jus- tin Trudeau over the size of the public service and said “everyone should be working five days a week.” His spokesperson later clarified that his comment was not about being in of- fices and that the Conservatives want the pub- lic service working five days a week “as they already are.” The federal government’s latest remote work mandate, which took effect in early Sep- tember, requires all staff employed by the Treasury Board to work on site a minimum of three days a week. For executives, the expect- ation is that they work in the office four days a week. Many federal employees and unions have re- sponded by holding rallies, filing complaints and submitting grievances. The Public Ser- vice Alliance of Canada, the largest federal public sector union, has filed a challenge of the new rules in Federal Court. PSAC national president Sharon DeSousa said in a media statement that “remote work is the future of Canada’s public service,” adding that it reduces traffic and pollution and could save the government money by allowing it to sell buildings. DeSousa said that if Poilievre is looking to cut costs, he should reduce government out- sourcing. “Reckless public service cuts will always cost more in the long run, and it’s the people who depend on these vital public services who ultimately pay the price,” she said. “We have one of the best public services in the world, and it’s common sense that fewer people help- ing a growing population isn’t going to solve the problems families are facing today.” Canadian Association of Professional Em- ployees president Nathan Prier said the union is “disappointed” with Poilievre’s comments. “It is shocking to see how little he knows about the federal public sector and how little he thinks of federal employees despite a dec- ades-long career in federal politics,” Prier said. “It is also irresponsible to be talking about arbitrary downsizing when we need to ready ourselves to stand up to the U.S. giant next door. A strong federal workforce is our best defence against (President Donald) Trump.” To reduce costs and boost productivity Poilievre should prioritize repealing the re- turn-to-office mandate and focus on modern- izing government infrastructure, said Prier. “If he believes things aren’t getting done, the root of the problem lies in outdated manage- ment approaches, bloated senior management ranks, and a record-shattering overreliance on costly and nepotistic private contractors,” he said. “What the federal workforce truly needs is a leader who invests in recruiting and retaining top talent for the work that needs to be done, not someone who is mostly indistin- guishable from Elon Musk in his plans for the public sector.” At a news conference on Wednesday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Poilievre’s com- ments about the public service offer proof that he’s “not a friend of working people.” He said cuts to the public service would hurt workers, their families and regions across the country. — The Canadian Press CATHERINE MORRISON ETHAN CAIRNS / THE CANADIAN PRESS Pierre Poilievre says federal public servants need to be monitored because work isn’t getting done. 12-year sentence for fatal stabbing at beer vendor A MAN who admitted to stabbing another man to death dur- ing a dispute outside a strip club beer vendor will go to prison for more than a decade. Cecil Vance Roulette, 39, stood trial last fall for second-de- gree murder in the September 2022 death of Enrique George Courchene. A jury found him guilty of manslaughter instead. Court of King’s Bench Justice Gerald Chartier sentenced him to 12 years in prison Wednesday, saying significant pun- ishment is warranted. “When knives are carried by someone in this city and are taken out for an aggressive purpose and a stabbing resulting in a death ensues, the sentence should reflect society’s abhor- rence for that type of violence,” Chartier said. The Crown had sought a 13-year sentence. Roulette was captured on video killing Courchene outside the Lipstixx strip club beer vendor on Arlington Street at Lo- gan Avenue. The Crown said he was stabbed after coming to the aid of his brother, who was involved in an unprovoked dispute with Roulette and others. Two co-accused — Jade Allen Dumas and Calvin Harvey Maytwayashing — were acquitted of second-degree murder. Security footage showed Courchene arrived at the vendor with his brother around 1:10 a.m., which was the same time as the three accused. A melee between the groups broke out when Dumas punched Courchene’s brother and knocked him to the ground. Roulette produced a knife and tried to cut a chain from the fallen man’s neck, court heard. That’s when Courchene ran to his brother’s aid and wrestled Roulette to the ground. Roulette turned his knife on Courch- ene and stabbed him nine times — including eight wounds to his torso, in about 22 seconds, Chartier said. Earlier this month, defence lawyer Pam Smith urged Charti- er to consider a sentence of no more than five years, arguing Courchene and his brother had been “posturing” about their membership in the Manitoba Warriors and Roulette was afraid they were armed with a gun. Chartier accepted a threat may have been made, but said “Mr. Roulette did not show any signs of intimidation” and in- stead escalated the confrontation that otherwise might have come to an end. “In any case, it does not justify the actions taken,” Chartier said. “I find a high degree of moral culpability.” Chartier considered Roulette’s use of a weapon, the fact he was the only person who was armed and the numerous life-threatening stab wounds as aggravating factors. He acknowledged Roulette expressed remorse for the kill- ing. Before delivering the verdict, the judge reviewed 22 vic- tim impact statements submitted by Courchene’s friends and family. “Any time there is a killing, there is a void that’s left that can never be completely healed,” Chartier said. A pre-sentencing report noted Roulette was raised in Win- nipeg, but is a member of Long Plain First Nation. He has no work history, a Grade 7 education and five children. He was convicted of aggravated assault in 2005, for which he received a 36-month sentence. Chartier gave Roulette enhanced credit for time he has served in custody, which amounts to roughly three-and-a-half years. He said Roulette’s prospects for rehabilitation are high. tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca TYLER SEARLE ;