Winnipeg Free Press

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SCU.MB.CA/GICS 14-MONTH | 28-MONTH | 54-MONTH Limited-time GIC specials J ESSIAH Young was a cheerful tod- dler who liked to hug. “She was just a really happy baby,” said Roberta Goosehead as she fought back tears while she described her late niece. “She longed for those long hugs and she was really lovable.” The girl, who would have turned three in April, was taken to the nursing station on Bloodvein First Nation on the evening of Jan. 24, suffering from serious injuries. She later died, RCMP said Thursday. The incident launched a police investigation that culminated in a charge of second-degree murder being laid against Burma Skye, 56, the girl’s grandmother, on Wednesday. Jessiah was the daughter of Gooseh- ead’s brother, who asked Goosehead to become Jessiah’s primary caregiver some time after her birth, she said. Goosehead — who had two of her own children in Bloodvein — cared for Jessiah until October when she began having challenges finding babysitters to accommodate her work schedule. She decided it would be best to place Jessiah in the care of Skye, who she said was the girl’s maternal grand- mother. It was the last time Goosehead saw the child, she said. SERVING MANITOBA SINCE 1872. FOREVER WITH YOUR SUPPORT. FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2025 WEATHER PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH -17 — LOW -19 SPORTS JETS BEAT BRUINS FOR 5TH STRAIGHT WIN / D1 Trump mulls adding oil to list of Canadian goods hit with tariff WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said he would decide Thursday night whether to include oil in his tariff plan as he confirmed his intention to impose devastating duties on Canadian imports as of Saturday. “Because they send us oil, we’ll see,” Trump told reporters while signing executive actions in the Oval Office Thursday afternoon. “It depends on what the price is. If the oil is properly priced, if they treat us properly — which they don’t.” Trump initially claimed his 25 per cent tariff threat was in response to what he called the failure by Canada and Mexico to curb the illegal flow of people and drugs across the border. His complaints have since expanded far beyond border security. On Thurs- day, Trump repeated his objections to trade deficits with both countries. The president said the tariffs “may or may not rise with time.” Canadian officials are still hop- ing a final diplomatic push aimed at lawmakers in Washington, D.C., and Trump’s team can sway the president. Finance Minister Dominic LeB- lanc sent a video describing Canada’s border security efforts to Howard Lut- nick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary — part of Canada’s pitch to avoid the devastating duties. LeBlanc’s office confirmed the three-minute video was texted to Lutnick Wednesday evening after the billionaire financier’s Senate confir- mation hearing. KELLY GERALDINE MALONE ’We’re just trying to get through and make sure there’s justice for the little one’: RCMP Grandmother charged in death of toddler TYLER SEARLE AND ERIK PINDERA CHRIS KITCHING A SOARING number of calls and Win- nipeg’s toxic drug crisis are putting a “tremendous” strain on firefighters and paramedics, who are forced to con- front violence and suffer psychological injuries as a result, union leaders told the Free Press Thursday. A new Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service report said opioid-related calls jumped by 1,372 per cent from 2016 to 2023. “The unpredictable nature of these calls, these types of incidents, takes a psychological toll on our members,” United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg presi- dent Nick Kasper said. Ryan Woiden, president of Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union Local 911, which represents city paramedics, said violence against staff increases when drug-related calls go up. That translates to an increase in staff going on leave, which leads to more overtime for employees handling calls, he said. “We end up burning out and we end up asking the remaining staff to try to shoulder the remaining calls,” Woiden said. In 2023, the WFPS reported 10,133 cases where a chief complaint involv- ing alcohol, cocaine, crystal meth, marijuana or opioids was documented. Of those, opioids were cited in 3,400 cases and crystal meth in 1,580. By comparison, 8,178 cases were doc- umented in 2022 (1,870 involving opi- oids and 1,598 involving crystal meth), and 6,747 in 2016 (231 were opioid-relat- ed and 436 involved crystal meth). The most recent data for 2024 was up to August (6,502 cases overall, with 2,131 related to opioids and 1,056 to crystal meth). The true number of calls is likely higher because the chief complaint tra- ditionally reflects a patient’s descrip- tion of events. “It is not uncommon during points of time during the day where we’ll have anywhere between four and seven calls, or units dedicated to going out and caring for patients in the communi- ty that are suffering from overdose or some other effects from either alcohol or illicit drugs,” WFPS Chief Christian Schmidt told reporters. The impacts on staff are “quite sig- nificant,” including situations where a patient’s behaviour is erratic, aggres- sive or dangerous, Schmidt said. For the first time, there were months in 2023 where the WFPS responded to more opioid-related calls than those related to alcohol, Schmidt wrote in a report to city council’s community services committee. CAROLYN KASTER / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. AIR DISASTER RECOVERY EFFORTS Recovery efforts continue around the wreckage site in the Potomac River Thursday from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va. A mid-air collision between a U.S. army helicopter and a jetliner killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft Wednesday / A4, D1 ● OPIOIDS, CONTINUED ON A3 ● TODDLER, CONTINUED ON A2 ● TRUMP, CONTINUED ON A2 ROBERTA GOOSEHEAD PHOTO Jessiah Young, 2, died last week. Unions call for reinforcements Skyrocketing opioid calls take toll on first responders ;