Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 18, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 VOL 154 NO 83 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2024 Winnipeg Free Press, a division of FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership. Published six days a week in print and always online at 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2X 3B6, PH: 204-697-7000 CEO / MIKE POWER Editor / PAUL SAMYN Associate Editor Enterprise / SCOTT GIBBONS Associate Editor News / STACEY THIDRICKSON Associate Editor Digital News / WENDY SAWATZKY Director Photo and Multimedia / MIKE APORIUS NEWSMEDIA COUNCIL The Winnipeg Free Press is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to determine acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please send them to: editorialconcerns@freepress.mb.ca. 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INSIDE Arts and Life C1 Classifieds B5 Obituaries B5 Comics C4-5 Diversions C6-7 Horoscope C2 Jumble C6 Miss Lonelyhearts C2 Opinion A6-7 Sports D1 Television C2 Weather D6 COLUMNISTS: Niigaan Sinclair A4 Brent Bellamy A7 Deveryn Ross A7 Aaron Epp B3 READER SERVICE ● GENERAL INQUIRIES 204-697-7000 CIRCULATION INQUIRIES MISSING OR INCOMPLETE PAPER? 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 Flint said 17 people had been injured in the crash and she did not know of any passengers with critical injuries. The airport’s fire chief, Todd Aitken, later said 18 injured passengers had been sent to local hospitals. In an update about an hour after Flint’s, he said it was “really important that we do not speculate” on the cause of the crash. “What we can say is the runway was dry and there was no crosswind conditions,” he said. Aitken did not take questions from reporters, either. The figures cited by the two officials on Monday evening were both lower than the 19 people the regional para- medic service reported injured earlier in the day. A spokesperson with the Peel Regional Paramedic Services said Monday afternoon that a child with critical injuries had been taken to Toronto’s SickKids hospital and two adults, also with critical injuries, had been airlifted to other local hospitals. All injuries were non-life-threatening, said Supt. Lawrence Saindon. An audio recording from the Pearson airport tower shows Delta Air Lines flight 4819 was cleared to land shortly after 2 p.m. and the tower warned the pilots of a possible air flow “bump” in the glide path from an aircraft in front of it. There were no further conversations with the Delta flight until the tower confirmed that a plane had crashed, with air controllers quickly redirect- ing traffic to accommodate the crash scene, according to audio pulled from LiveATC.net, a website that records and archives air traffic communica- tions. Audio conversations from ground crews at the airport recorded a burst of commotion from workers at about the same time, with someone yelling at another person to “get off the phone,” while another crew member described “a huge emergency.” Several minutes later, air traffic control could be heard directing a medevac helicopter for landing, and noting there are people walking around the aircraft. “Yeah, we’ve got it,” the medevac responds. “The aircraft ... is upside down and burning.” An aviation expert said it was very rare to see a transport-class airplane end up upside down in a crash during landing. U.S. Marine Corp. veteran Colonel J. Joseph, who spent 29 years as a military aviator, said it is too early to speculate on what may have caused the crash but winds were notably strong in Toronto at that time. Joseph, an aviation consultant based in Spanish Fort, Ala., said high winds would be challenging for pilots coming into Toronto. He added that the intact fuselage and survivors from the crash mean investigators have plenty of evidence to work with. Delta Air Lines said in a social media post that affected passengers’ family members and loved ones could reach out to the airline for more infor- mation. “The hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in the post. Tracking data from FlightRadar24 shows the same aircraft flew from Cleveland to Minneapolis earlier in the day and that it was supposed to return to Minneapolis after landing in Toronto. The plane had arrived at Pearson amid blowing snow following a winter storm that hit the Toronto region over the weekend. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it was deploying a team of investigators to Pearson airport and federal Transport Minister Anita Anand said she was closely following the “serious incident.” Her U.S. counterpart, Transpor- tation Secretary Sean Duffy, said inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration were on their way to Toronto and the Canadian investiga- tors would take the lead. “I’ve been in touch with my counter- part in Canada to offer assistance and help with the investigation,” he said on social media. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a social media post that provincial officials are in contact with the airport and local authorities and will provide help as needed. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow thanked first responders in her own post and expressed her relief that all passengers and crew on board the plane had been accounted for. After the crash, flights in and out of Pearson airport were temporarily suspended. A spokesman for Montreal-Trudeau International Airport said in the after- noon that it was preparing to receive aircraft originally bound for Toronto. Eric Forest, a spokesman for airport authority, said several diverted flights were expected in Montreal following the accident. “Our teams are in action to welcome them,” Forest said in an emailed statement. In the hours following the crash at Pearson, confused passengers gath- ered at terminals amid mixed messag- ing from airport and airline staff. At one point, an overhead announce- ment told everyone to proceed to the exit and baggage claim, but some workers were telling passengers to remain at their gates. Departures and arrivals resumed as of 5 p.m., and airlines suggested passengers check the status of their flights. Porter Airlines said on social media just before 5:20 p.m. that operations were “in the process of recovering.” — The Canadian Press The Winnipeg husband and wife were rummaging through Cana- da-themed T-shirts at The Forks on Monday, something they’ve found themselves doing a little more often since U.S. President Donald Trump re-entered the White House last month. “It’s not more of animosity I feel towards the States, it’s the patriotism I feel towards Canada right now,” Murray said. “That, frankly, (is what) I believe what Trump has done, reigniting a sense of patriotism in this country that I feel was sleeping under the current. Now it’s going to be maximized.” Elaine said the political climate has encouraged people to think more about Canada and what it means to be a Canadian. “It’s not necessarily about block the States or have negative feelings that way,” she said. Murray said he’s really proud of Canada. “And I want to make sure I am supporting it the best that I can,” he said. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has gained more public confidence in his ability to deal with Trump’s tariff threats compared with federal leaders, the Probe Research poll suggests. “The survey results also show Premier Wab Kinew appears to be seizing the moment politically to some degree, as he has demonstrated what his government is doing in the face of this threat to the provincial economy,” the Probe Research docu - ment states. Six in 10 respondents were some- what or very confident in Kinew’s approach. Slightly fewer than half of re- spondents expressed confidence in federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s ability to manage the tariff threat, while the federal Liberals under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had the lowest confidence rating. Elaine Dehn said she needs to see how things play out before she makes a judgment call on how well Kinew is or isn’t doing. “This is something I don’t think he every anticipated happening, so it’s sort of uncharted territory to be navigating this,” she said. “I wouldn’t want that job.” Kinew and the other Canadian premiers were in Washington, D.C. last week as part of a diplomatic push to end Trump’s tariff threats. On Feb. 3, Trump announced he would hold off for 30 days on impos- ing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods entering the U.S. The threats, and the overwhelm- ing uncertainty surrounding them, have prompted a new wave of patri- otic “Support Canadian” movements, including a renewed embrace of Flag Day, along with Canadian con- sumers seeking out Canadian-made products over American alterna- tives. scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca The day to bring Scots and friends together also doubles as a competitive event, with Winnipeg a two-time win- ner of the title of Kilt Skate Capital of Canada in 2021 and again in 2023. The hope, Heavysege said, was for a third title in 2025. But the friendly competition between host cities takes a backseat to the deep-rooted pride of Scots in Canada. Cameron Dawson kept spirits warm on Monday with the soothing and inspiring sounds of a Scottish staple: the bagpipe. Dawson, a sergeant in the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders pipe band, is a fourth-generation piper after his great-grandfather first took up the instrument. “It’s important for me to carry on that heritage and that history,” Dawson said. “You don’t want to flatten that curve. You want to always continue and embrace your background.” The Queen’s Own Cameron High- landers are an army reserve unit headquartered in the Minto Armoury in Winnipeg. Western Canada’s oldest kilted infan- try regiment was established in 1910. The Camerons served with distinction in the First and Second World Wars, including notable battles in Somme, Passchendaele, Dieppe and Normandy. Dawson wasn’t alone on the bag- pipes. Teenager Matthew Owen-Hunt, who played at last year’s Rose Bowl parade in California, was on hand as the Pop- Up Piper, a program run through the St. Andrew’s Society that gives pipers more public performance hours. Owen-Hunt took up bagpiping in 2016, crediting his grandmother’s in- fluence for doing so, after initially not having a lot of interest in it. “It was either bagpiping or drum- ming and bagpiping seemed more interesting,” he said after getting his start with the Transcona and District Pipe Band. Owen-Hunt considers the Scottish community to be booming, with sever- al pipebands and a lot of pipers. James Munro, the treasurer and membership committee chair at St. Andrew’s Society, said they’d like to see events such as the Kilt Skate and their overall membership become stronger. “We want to increase the aware- ness of the Society,” Munro said as he warmed up from his stint skating on the pond. “We also want people to see that the Scottish culture is alive and well here in Winnipeg. … and bring our history in the province to the surface.” scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca PLANE ● FROM A1 BOYCOTT ● FROM A1 KILT ● FROM A1 PHOTOS BY JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Participants in the Great Canadian Kilt Skate pose for a group photo Monday. Dwight MacAulay was one of the partici- pants at the Assiniboine Park duck pond. JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Murray and Elaine Dehn rummage through Canada-themed T-shirts at The Forks. TERESA BARBIERI / THE CANADIAN PRESS Pearson International Airport firefighters work on a Delta Air Lines plane Monday, which was arriving in Toronto from Minneapolis when it crashed on the runway. Flights diverted to Winnipeg AT least three flights were diverted to Winnipeg’s James Armstrong Richard- son International Airport on Monday after a plane crash at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Tyler MacAfee, vice-president of external affairs with the Winnipeg Air- ports Authority, said he expected more diversions to Winnipeg after a Delta Airlines flight arriving from Minneapolis overturned on the runway in Toronto. “The message we want to get out to people is that anyone who is travelling over the next couple of days should just check in with their airlines and see if they have the latest on their flight status,” MacAfee said. MacAfee added that airport officials in Winnipeg were providing impacted airlines with whatever support they need. — Scott Billeck ;