Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 29, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba It’s cold outside Come on in for a tour and feel the warmth. See what sets Brightwater apart. With 24-hour nurses on-site and personalized care services, you can truly age-in-place. Call today! Book NOW and enter to win a Visa Gift Card 204.560.3850204.229.1236 SERVING MANITOBA SINCE 1872. FOREVER WITH YOUR SUPPORT. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2025 WEATHER PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH -4 — LOW -4 LIFE COOL DINING OPTIONS ABOUND / C1 Commissioner urges more work to protect Canadian democracy No ‘traitors’ in Parliament: foreign interference probe O TTAWA — A federal inquiry has found no evidence of “traitors” in Parliament conspiring with foreign states, dispelling suggestions to the contrary that alarmed the public. In her final report released Tuesday, inquiry commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue concludes that while the threat of foreign interference is real, Cana- da’s democratic institutions have held up well against the dangers. Hogue said she saw no indication the overall results of recent federal elections were altered by a foreign actor and she identified only a small number of ridings where interference may have had some effect. She praised the dedication and competence of many public servants, but also pointed to shortcomings in government efforts to fend off foreign meddling. Hogue found the government some- times reacted too slowly and that infor- mation did not always flow properly to policy-makers. The report makes more than four dozen recommendations to improve federal preparedness, foster trans- parency, shore up electoral integrity and counter threats against diaspora communities. Hogue called on the Canadian Se- curity Intelligence Service to clearly flag reports it views as particularly relevant for senior decision-makers. She also urged Ottawa to develop a whole-of-government foreign inter- ference strategy, encourage political party leaders to obtain top secret-lev- el security clearances and consider creating a new agency to monitor online spaces for misinformation and disinformation. “In my view it is no exaggeration to say that at this juncture, information manipulation (whether foreign or not) poses the single biggest risk to our democracy,” the report says. “It is an existential threat.” Hogue’s findings and advice come in the middle of a campaign for the fed- eral Liberal leadership — and possibly just months before Canadians head to the polls in a national election. The inquiry’s most recent pub- lic hearings looked at the ability of government agencies, officials and political parties to identify and counter foreign meddling. The commission also held a series of policy roundtables to help develop recommendations. Hogue also drew on the work of other bodies, including two spy watch- dogs. In a late May report, the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency said CSIS and Public Safety Canada lacked a system for tracking who received and read specific intelli- gence on foreign interference, creating “unacceptable gaps in accountability.” The following month, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians raised eyebrows with a public version of a classified report that said some parliamentarians were “semi-witting or witting” partici- pants in the efforts of foreign states to meddle in Canadian politics. JIM BRONSKILL ● PROBE, CONTINUED ON A2 JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Leehee Hasid, manager of Scooter City on Main Street, says the business has added security measures, including a panic button, to deal with escalating crime. Crime and premium punishment PLAGUED by break-ins, vandalism and theft, some North End businesses no longer bother filing insurance claims — concerned they will lose coverage entirely if they don’t eat the upfront costs. The situation has become so dire in Winnipeg’s inner city, it has sparked an exodus of businesses over the last decade. Those who remain say they live in fear that fire will reduce their property to rubble, or crime will deal a crippling financial blow. “It’s unrelenting, it’s incredibly ex- pensive and it is emotionally taxing,” Astrid Lichti, owner of Cosmopolitan Florists, said. The family-run flower shop at 994 Main St. has been in business for 59 years. Lichti, who was raised there, said she was exhausted by the “per- sonal onslaught” that has become her reality since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In five years, the florist has incurred $70,000 in damages from a rash of break-ins, shattered windows and graffiti. She once experienced four break- ins in three days; an eight-foot chain- link fence surrounding the rear of her property has been breached eight times; and two months ago, somebody torched an outbuilding on the property with an “incendiary device,” she said. “The flames were 15 feet high,” Lichti said, letting loose a belt of humourless laughter. “If you think that I’m laughing, it’s because it’s the corollary of trying not to cry … I’ve developed thick skin, broad shoulders and a sarcastic attitude, otherwise I bawl my eyes out.” Lichti reports each shattered win- dow and stolen good to the police, but has never filed an insurance claim. “If you have more than one claim in a year, they can either deny you your insurance, or your rates go so high it’s unaffordable,” Lichti said. “It has cost me, and cost me, and cost me and cost me.” Further north, at 1156 Main St., Leehee Hasid had a similar story. The general manager of Scoot- er City said the business suffered $70,000 in damages last year. In August, somebody tried to smash through the storefront with an axe in broad daylight. A month earlier, thieves broke through an exterior wall in the rear of the building and stole six motor- ized scooters, she said. “It sounds like something out of a movie… Even when I am here during the day, I have people come through the door and they will grab whatever they can get their hands on. It has gotten so bad,” Hasid said. Scooter City has resorted to lock- ing its doors during the daytime as part of enhanced security measures that include a new 24-7 surveillance system and an in-store panic button. All those costs come out of pocket for the family business, which has operated for 32 years. Like the nearby flower shop, Scoot- er City does not file insurance claims in fear of losing coverage. Many North End businesses have stopped filing insurance claims after break-ins TYLER SEARLE Ten ODs linked to same toxic drug TEN people overdosed within minutes of each other Sunday as toxic drugs tore through the inner city, pushing harm-reduction and emergency work- ers to the brink. The Mobile Overdose Prevention Site, run by Sunshine House, and mem- bers of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to the overdoses in- side a two-hour window in the area of Main Street and Logan Avenue Sunday afternoon. Sunshine House executive director Levi Foy said Tuesday the incidents pushed staff and the mobile unit to its limits. “We got lucky,” Foy said, noting some staff came in on their days off to assist. “Sunday was an anomaly, and we’d never be able to do that again in the way that we did it.” “Brown down” was thought to be the culprit in some of the poisonings. The drug, which gets its name from its brown sugar-like appearance, is a con- coction of various substances, usually leftover benzodiazepines, often mixed with fillers, including opioids. A drug alert issued Sunday by Safer Sites, which advocates for supervised consumption sites — its second in less than a week — said tests confirmed “brown down,” contained diphenox- ylate HCL, an opioid used in treating diarrhea. The city didn’t say how many emer- gency personnel attended Tuesday, but its open data source that compiles substance use-related calls showed four separate incidents involving 10 males ranging in age from 20 to 44 in Point Douglas between 2:42 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. A spokesperson for the city said it averages about 27 calls per day relat- ing to substance use. Foy said two or three emergency vehicles were sent to the area. “Many things aligned Sunday that made it a little more manageable than it was,” Foy said. One of those factors was proximity. SCOTT BILLECK ● OVERDOSES, CONTINUED ON A2 ● CRIME, CONTINUED ON A2 ;