Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 28, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba MONDAY APRIL 28, 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 Fast-moving blaze forced hundreds to leave Traverse Bay on shores of Lake Winnipeg Evacuated residents return home after grass fire H UNDREDS of people evacuat- ed from a beach community on the shores of Lake Winnipeg re- turned to their homes Sunday morning, after a fast-moving grass fire forced them to flee the night before. The Rural Municipality of Alexander — located about 100 kilometres north- east of Winnipeg — issued an evacua- tion notice for homes located in Tra- verse Bay, along the southwest basin of Lake Winnipeg, after a fire started around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. “It happened very quickly,” the RM’s chief administrative officer, Gisèle Smith, said by phone Sunday. “It was too dangerous for people to remain.” Smith described how high winds fuelled the flames, causing them to torch trees and blacken about 60 hec- tares. Fire crews issued an evacuation order around 7 p.m., encompassing an area between Sunrise Road at Traverse Bay Road North, toward Lake Winni- peg; and Traverse Bay Road East at Pitt Road, toward Lake Winnipeg, she said. Between 300 and 400 people were af- fected by the order, which remained in effect until 9:35 a.m. Sunday. The Victoria Beach Fire Department was the first to respond to the blaze, with further support coming from the Powerview-Pine Falls and East Beach- es fire crews. The Manitoba Wildfire Service and RCMP also assisted. Evacuees were sent to the Grand Marais Recreation Centre, and given until 10 p.m. to retrieve pets or essen- tial items from their homes. They spent the night with friends or in area motels, she said. Fire crews remained on scene over- night and into the afternoon Sunday. They will likely continue to monitor the area for potential hot spots and flare ups in the coming days, Smith said. The municipality has declared a local state of emergency, which will remain in effect until Friday. A fire ban is also in place, Smith said. Favourable weather conditions and the unified efforts of fire crews pre- vented the blaze from spreading be- yond control. Nobody was injured and no homes were damaged, RM of Alex- ander Mayor Jack Brisco said. “Mother Nature even participated last night because that wind, it slowed down. If it whipped up, anything could have happened,” Brisco said. The mayor, who lives near the area affected by the fire, described the evacuation as “very scary.” The cause of the fire is unconfirmed, but it is believed to have been prevent- able, Brisco said. He said his community’s emergency alert system worked well and allowed officials to quickly communicate with residents. The RM of Alexander is working with the province to develop a wild- fire protection plan for the community. Brisco hopes to clear road allowances that would allow emergency crews and heavy equipment to access densely for- ested areas in the event they catch fire, he said. tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca TYLER SEARLE VICTORIA BEACH FIRE DEPARTMENT A grass fire spread rapidly in Traverse Bay on Saturday forcing residents out overnight. Cousins plead guilty in slaying of 38-year-old person A HEATED exchange of words between a 21-year-old woman and an 11-year-old boy ended in the unprovoked slaying of an innocent stranger, a court has heard. Kyle Harper, 26, and cousin Ramona Harper, 23, pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder and manslaugh- ter, respectively, in the August 2023 killing of 38-year-old Cory Roulette. According to an agreed statement of facts read out in court, Ramona Harp- er and another woman were walking past Roulette’s Furby Street apartment building at about 11 p.m. when Harper kicked over some garbage cans, attract- ing the attention of an 11-year-old boy who was visiting Roulette and standing on his second-floor balcony. The boy and Harper yelled at each other with the boy threatening to shoot Harper. Harper left, saying, “I’m going to get my brothers and shoot the place up,” Crown attorney Jennifer Comack told King’s Bench Justice Sadie Bond, read- ing from the agreed statement of facts. Harper returned to her Langside Street home a short walk away and “in- cited” Kyle Harper and another man to accompany her to the apartment build- ing and “violently confront” the occu- pant of the second-floor suite. Kyle Harper was armed with a load- ed, sawed-off rifle and the second man with a collapsible baton when the trio broke the door open to Roulette’s suite. Once inside, the second man beat Rou- lette about the body and face with the baton before Kyle Harper shot him once in the chest. Comack’s description of the killing elicited loud yowls of pain from mem- bers of Roulette’s family seated in the court gallery. The attackers fled and a neigh- bour called 911. Roulette was taken to Health Sciences Centre where he was pronounced dead a short time later. Kyle Harper and Ramona Harper will be sentenced at a later date follow- ing the completion of court-ordered re- ports. A third accused, 20-year-old Raoul Harper, Ramona Harper’s brother, is charged with second-degree murder and remains before the court. At the time of the killing, Kyle Harp- er was on bail for multiple firearm of- fences and was wearing an ankle mon- itor as a condition of his release. Harper’s release on bail one month before the killing was opposed by prosecutor Omar Siddiqui, who argued there were no release conditions that could satisfy the Crown’s safety con- cerns. Court heard Harper — who was in custody for possession of a loaded sawed-off shotgun — had repeatedly flouted weapon prohibition orders, vio- lated an absolute curfew and tampered with his ankle monitor. “I don’t know what he could be re- leased on at this point that would at least fill the Crown with any confi- dence,” Siddiqui said. Security video showed Harper leav- ing Roulette’s apartment building shortly after the killing “wearing a GPS ankle monitor and carrying an object that resembled a firearm,” Comack told court Friday, reading from the agreed statement of facts. Data retrieved from the ankle mon- itor placed Harper in the general vicin- ity of the killing. Ramona Harper was one of two sus- pects a tenant identified as having seen outside Roulette’s suite just prior to the killing, court heard. dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca DEAN PRITCHARD NDP candidate apologizes for social media post THE NDP candidate for Win- nipeg South Centre is apolo- gizing after his campaign reposted information online encouraging people to attend a pro-Palestinian protest out- side the campaign office of his Liberal opponent. Jorge Requena Ramos said his campaign’s social media manager reposted the infor- mation about the Saturday rally at MP Ben Carr’s office on Pembina Highway. The same post also advertised a Winnipeg South Centre can- didates forum at the Win- nipeg Community Centre scheduled just before the protest. “It was an error,” Ramos said Saturday. “I will definitely have a conversation with my team. I would not have put this out. If Ben wants an apology, I will give it to him.” Ramos said while people have a right to protest, be- cause he is a candidate run- ning for office, his team shouldn’t have reposted the invitation. “I support their right to protest outside of Ben’s of- fice,” he said. “But it was ob- viously an error on our part to share the protest call… I don’t want to encourage people to go there. “My campaign manager saw it and told (the social media manager) to put it down.” At past protests at the Lib- eral incumbent’s office, some have carried signs critical of his proposal for bubble-zone legislation to ban protests outside any “religiously asso- ciated facilities.” The MP, who was elected in a 2023 byelection following the death of his father, Jim Carr, called for the legislation following a protest outside the Asper Jewish Community Campus by a pro-Palestin- ian group earlier this month. The group was protesting an event featuring two soldiers with the Israel Defense Force who were involved in the of- fensive in Gaza following Hamas’s cross-border attack in Oct. 2023. Carr did not attend that event. He said he’s closed his cam- paign office “three Saturdays in a row now… in order to en- sure a safe environment for my staff and volunteers.” The protests have been organized by the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba. When asked if he wanted Ramos to apologize to him, Carr said “we’re all account- able for our actions. “It’s not my place to offer a view as to how they should be in this instance.” Carr said he respects the right of protesters to be in front of his office “to speak to the issues of importance to them. “I would have hoped, how- ever, that politically motiv- ated attempts to interfere with my campaign would not come from others on the ballot. I believe as electoral hopefuls, our efforts are al- ways best spent engaging in positive and respectful dia- logue with our constituents.” kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca KEVIN ROLLASON JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS A FAMILY THAT TRAINS TOGETHER... Neil and his children Gabby and William check out a train display at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club’s annual week- end open house at the Charleswood Legion Hall Sunday. Proceeds from admission donations go to support St. Amant. ;