Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 5, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 5, 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 City can’t afford to pay for proposed rec centre project on its own Transcona pool dream treading water A PROPOSAL to build Winnipeg’s first new indoor pool in more than 40 years has been ranked as a key recreation priority but would re- quire plenty of financial help to become a reality. The East of the Red RecPlex would feature a lap pool, leisure pool, lazy river, water slides, gymnasiums, fit- ness space, a walking/running track, café, community kitchen and gathering spaces at a site next to the Transcona Library, if approved. Outdoor play areas, an outdoor basketball half-court and a “potential” 74-space child care centre are also being considered, due to recent public feedback, a city report notes. Coun. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) said the aquatic centre is a key recrea- tion priority for the Transcona area. “In terms of indoor pools, that quad- rant certainly needs one. The (popu- lation) has really exploded in recent years” said Browaty. Ideally, the project could also create room for more swimming lessons, since many city-run classes fill up within minutes after registration starts, he noted. The project would create the first new city-owned indoor pool since the Margaret Grant and Eldon Ross pools were constructed in the early 1980s, city spokeswoman Pam McKenzie said in an email. Lora Meseman, executive director of the General Council of Winnipeg Com- munity Centres, said the pool would be a great amenity that helps seniors and others access low-impact exercise. “It will put less pressure on our health system if we (have) spaces where residents can participate and be active,” said Meseman. Transcona lacks full-size gyms, mak- ing the existing spaces difficult for sports organizations and community centres to book, she said. “Transcona definitely needs that regional recreation,” said Meseman. While community centres focus on recreation first, she’s hopeful adding daycare spots will meet a clear com- munity need. “There is a high demand for daycare spaces and many community centres get approached for that and that’s not really what the community centres are there for,” said Meseman. Browaty, who is council’s finance chairman, said the RecPlex will only be built if the provincial and federal gov- ernments help the city pay for it. JOYANNE PURSAGA ● POOL, CONTINUED ON B2 MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS BEETLES, NOT CHAINSAWS, HIBERNATE City of Winnipeg urban forestry worker Loren Gair clears tree debris from a felled Dutch elm in Assiniboine Park Tuesday. Winter is a prime time to tackle ailing trees as the elm bark beetle, which spreads the Dutch elm disease, is overwintering. Report calls for Manwin Hotel to stay empty THE city’s public service is urging the property and development committee to deny an appeal made by the Manwin Hotel’s owner to allow tenants back into the building. In early January, the committee issued a vacate order to 34 residents of the notorious Main Street hotel amid multiple outstanding permit require- ments and compliance orders. The hotel’s owner, Akim Kambam- ba, appealed the order and a hearing is scheduled before the committee on Feb. 10. The building’s issues date to 2017 when the city discovered the hotel’s 24 units had been subdivided into 34 units without proper permits, electrical work or inspections, a report says. Several of the building’s original units were split up using partition walls and new doorways were built to separ- ate the units, the report states. In 2021, the department again issued compliance orders that were supposed to be completed by April 29, 2022, but went unfulfilled. The department said in the report it has “shown extreme patience in wait- ing for the owner to bring the property into compliance.” “There has been seven-plus years where the owner will do just enough work to demonstrate some forward progress in the permitting process. Meanwhile, there remains significant deficiencies and a lack of actual prog- ress to bring the property into bylaw and code compliance,” the report says. The hotel’s owner also owes the city more than $200,000 in penalties and fines for the shoddy work. In January, Kambamba told the Free Press the vacancy order was issued due to a fire escape that was not up to code. City spokesman Kalen Qually would not comment on the issue ahead of next week’s hearing. Following a fire in a bathroom of the hotel in December, the city’s planning, property and development department ordered tenants to vacate the premises no later than Jan. 17. Kambamba couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday. The 143-year-old hotel has been the subject of violence, drug use and mul- tiple homicides over the years, and agencies and advocates have called for its closure. It was shut down by the province in February 2021 due to the building hav- ing no heat or water. Kambamba blames nearby Main Street Project’s homeless shelter for the state of the building. In a letter attached to the appeal re- port, the hotel owner said those who are turned away from the shelter come to the Manwin to sleep or stay warm and often do damage to suites and bath- rooms. Kambamba pointed to a freedom of information request that showed Win- nipeg Police Service dispatches to 637 Main St. (Main Street Project shelter) went to 1,583 in 2023 from 35 in 2020. The property was vacant for the ma- jority of 2020 until Main Street Project opened the doors to its 120-bed shelter on Dec. 18. The same data show police dispatch- es to the Manwin at 655 Main St. stayed consistent throughout the years — 469 in 2023 and 401 in 2020. Kambamba wrote he doesn’t bring in enough money to make the constant re- pairs to the building. “Many of these people are homeless looking for shelter after being turned away from the Main Street Project and other shelters when these facilities are full to capacity, especially in the winter. They are outside always causing dam- age to our property and the other build- ings usually by breaking our windows and doors. We are constantly fixing all the damages,” Kambamba wrote. The owner requested the vacate or- der be lifted to generate revenue that could be put back in the hotel in order to complete the outstanding orders. The latest inspection report says areas of concern include overall life, safety and livability conditions, mech- anical (heating/cooling/plumbing), electrical, structural, fire separation requirements and egress paths. In his letter, Kambamba claims all needed repairs are being actively addressed and will be completed on schedule for inspection. nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca Owner appeals city’s vacate order, says repairs underway NICOLE BUFFIE MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS The Manwin Hotel has failed numerous health and safety inspections over the years. Patient violence has hospital staff on edge A NURSE who works in the Health Sci- ences Centre adult emergency room has likened it to a “danger zone” where they’ve lost count of assaults or threats — sometimes involving weapons — against staff. The nurse, who was granted anonym- ity by the Free Press, said violence and volatile patients contribute to high lev- els of burnout and stress for ER staff who already had high workloads. “It’s too frequent to tell you how often (violence) happens. Substance-induced psychosis has rapidly increased. It’s out of control,” the employee said. The nurse, who described working conditions in Manitoba’s busiest ER as “chaos,” pleaded for change from Shared Health, which runs HSC, and the provincial government. “It’s emotionally draining,” the nurse said. “I feel like a robot. I don’t feel like I’m giving the care to patients that they deserve, solely because I’m so exhaust- ed myself.” Shared Health said a preliminary review found 15 violent events were re- ported by ER nursing and support staff in 2024, down from 27 reports in 2023, said the spokesperson, who attributed the decrease to new security measures. The NDP vowed to begin “fixing” health care in Manitoba when elected in October 2023, saying it will take time to do so. “I feel like they made a lot of prom- ises and they haven’t really made a dif- ference. Not for us. It’s gotten worse, not better,” the nurse said. HSC’s adult ER is often short-staffed, with up to six patients to every nurse at busier times, the employee said. Dr. Shawn Young, chief operating officer of HSC, recently said the ER’s baseline is 24 to 25 nurses per shift, but staffing levels are frequently around 21 to 22 nurses. The nurse said a daily total of 150 to 200 patients is typical. Shared Health’s annual report said the adult ER record- ed nearly 57,824 visits in the 2023-24 fiscal year, the highest total since 2019- 20. Of those, 20 per cent were admitted and 28 per cent left without being seen. The nurse said some admitted pa- tients are forced to wait long periods in ER treatment spaces because a bed is not available on a unit. “When we have severe ‘access block,’ the people in the waiting room are out there for 12, 18, 24 hours,” the nurse said. “Hallway medicine was abolished, and some days we don’t have a choice. We have to put patients in our hallway. It’s not great for patient care.” The NDP has promised to train and hire hundreds of additional nurses, im- prove efforts to retain staff, reduce ER waits and change the culture in health care after seven years of Tory govern- ance. CHRIS KITCHING Aggression, addictions take toll on people’s care: nurse ● ER, CONTINUED ON B2 ;