Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 8, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba Space provided through a partnership between industry and Manitoba communities to support waste diversion programs. Giveaway Weekend winnipeg.ca/giveawayweekend May 10 and 11, 2025 Cruise the curbs or give reusable, unwanted items a new home! Place items marked “free” at the curb. Remove leftover items by dusk on Sunday. THURSDAY MAY 8, 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 Police called after dead cat found in area linked to cruelty case WINNIPEG police have been contacted by the humane society after a dead cat was found in an area linked to an ani- mal cruelty case earlier this year. The Winnipeg Humane Society con- firmed it was notified about the ani- mal in the Summit Road area Tuesday afternoon, near the bridge where six dead cats were found in December 2024. They contacted the Winnipeg Police Service major crimes unit and were asked to pick up the cat so police could investigate, said Andrew Clarke, the society’s director of investigations and emergency response. He described the animal as being found “in a condition of distress.” “We’ve maintained possession of the animal to assist Winnipeg Police Ser- vice in furthering any investigation that they want to undertake with re- spect to the incidents that they were investigating at the beginning of this year,” he said Wednesday. A police spokesperson confirmed it had received a report of “suspicious circumstances involving a deceased feline” in the area but said it was too early to connect it to the previous in- vestigation. Randy Jensen, 24, was arrested in January and charged with three counts of killing or injuring an animal in re- lation to the cats that were dumped under the bridge. The accused, who had no criminal record, was released on an undertaking. Clarke couldn’t say if the cat had been linked to an owner. He’s led the so- ciety’s investigations section for more than two years. In that time, he said the number of cases in which “egregious” violence is committed against domestic animals has risen. MALAK ABAS ● DEAD CAT, CONTINUED ON B2 Nurses ‘won’t take it anymore’ H UNDREDS of pink-clad nurses jammed the steps of the Mani- toba legislature Wednesday, carrying signs reading “Wake Up!” and “Same Shift, Different Day” — the ‘f’ in “shift” cheekily crossed out. Their unified presence sent a clear warning to the provincial govern- ment. “We won’t take it anymore!” they chanted, drawing attention to lengthy wait times, rising violence and over- crowding in emergency rooms. “Same shift, different day! Nurses can’t live this way!” Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, said the mes- sage couldn’t be clearer. “We elected an NDP government 18 months ago with many, many promises to fix health care, fix cul- ture… and we hear from our nurses on a daily basis that we are not see- ing any appreciable change to health care,” Jackson said. “We’re not seeing improvement, and nurses are frus- trated. It’s time for action.” Nurses from across the province ar- rived by the busload to show solidarity. Among them was Shelly Nichols, an emergency nurse at Dauphin Regional Health Centre, who said her depart- ment is overwhelmed and dangerous. “There are hundreds of incidents every year that are scary,” she said. “People are getting spat at, sworn at and things thrown at them. It’s vio- lence. And we’re done with it.” Kimberly Ross, who works at Sel- kirk Mental Health Centre, said basic respect needs to be shown. “I also think that when they do pro- vide funding for something, you can’t just cut something else,” she said. “But that always seems to be the solu- tion… it’s basically a vicious cycle. We’re not getting ahead.” Support came from across the labour movement. Representatives from the Manitoba Teachers’ Soci- ety, Amalgamated Transit Union, Canadian Labour Congress and other unions stood with the nurses. Pres- idents of nursing unions from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Ontario were also on hand. “With a Progressive Conserva- tive government in our province, we were able to negotiate nurse-to-pa- tient ratios,” said Nova Scotia Nurs- es’ Union president Janet Hazelton. “Surely an NDP government — a government of the people — should be able to do the same thing.” Ross, who works in a psychiatric ward, said staffing levels are danger- ously low. “That’s an unacceptable number,” she said of the two nurses overseeing 27 patients in her unit. As for what a safe ratio looks like? “That’s the thing,” said Nichols. “It’s different for every unit. Where I work (in emergency), it can be one-to-one if that person is in very critical condi- tion.” Premier Wab Kinew did not attend the rally, but he couldn’t sidestep a cheeky jab. “There’s a hole in our Kinew and we’re all getting wet!” one person shouted. Jackson said increasingly bold pro- test messaging is a deliberate strategy to break through what she describes as government inaction. “What we’re finding is the only way we get the government’s attention is by either shaming them or coming out and being edgy and being very point- ed,” she said. “If that’s what we need to do to get action… then so be it.” Jackson said since the election, nurses have been “frozen out” of dis- cussions with the province. “Trying to get the attention of gov- ernment is almost impossible,” she said. But Health Minister Uzoma Asag- wara, who attended Wednesday’s rally and spoke with some nurses after the event, pushed back on that character- ization. “I just met with MNU last Friday,” Asagwara said, noting nurse-to-pa- tient ratios were part of a productive discussion. “We have regular com- munication with nurses. I talk to nurs- es, quite frankly, every single day. My door is wide open to talk to nurses and hear their concerns, ideas and hopes for health care.” Recommendations from MNU are expected within the next year, Asag- wara said. “We’re going to work very quickly to make sure we’re taking real action in moving the nurse-to-patient ratio in the right direction,” the health minis- ter said. scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca Demand NDP government follow through on promises to fix ailing health system SCOTT BILLECK RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Nurses from across the province arrived by the busload to show solidarity at a rally held by the Manitoba Nurses Union at the legislative grounds on Wednesday. ‘People are getting spat at, sworn at and things thrown at them. It’s violence. And we’re done with it’ — Dauphin nurse Shelly Nichols Warehouse owners suing neighbour, city Emergency demolition prompts lawsuits ERIK PINDERA THE owners of a McDermot Avenue warehouse that was torn down last year under an emergency order from the city allege the building only began to crumble after a shoddy demolition job of an adjacent structure. Lawyers for Clearwater Investments Inc. and 10004277 Manitoba Ltd. filed two lawsuits in the Court of King’s Bench last week over the emergency demolition of 579 McDermot Ave. The building’s owners allege the five-storey warehouse — which they were converting into a 50-unit apart- ment before it began to crumble — needed to be torn down after the May 2023 demolition of 577 McDermot Ave. destabilized 579 McDermot Ave. in the ensuing months. Bricks had fallen from the structure and cracks in the exterior walls had formed and worsened prior to the emer- gency demolition of the former Stobart Warehouse, built in 1910, last sum- mer. Some residents of a neighbouring multi-unit home were forced to leave while the building appeared at risk of collapse in July. In the first suit, the owners name ERI Homes Inc., which owned the adjacent 577 McDermot Ave., Bulldog Demoli- tion and Excavation Inc., and the City of Winnipeg as defendants. The owners allege 577 McDermot’s owner and the demolition company failed to backfill a large excavation hole after the demolition, causing sig- nificant damage to their building. In a second court filing, the owners name the same defendants in the first suit, as well as Charleson Engineering Ltd., Eng-Tech Consulting Limited, De- brock Concrete Masonry and Ltd. and S & J Construction Ltd. The additional defendants were sub- contractors hired by the plaintiff to in- vestigate and address structural issues with 579 McDermot before it had to be torn down. The building’s owners seek $15 mil- lion in each suit, plus costs and inter- est. It was not immediately clear if the plaintiffs’ lawyers expect to consoli- date the two lawsuits. None of the defendants have re- sponded to the lawsuits in statements of defence and the allegations have yet to be heard in court. The court filings say 579 McDermot’s owners observed that the foundation of the building was failing and brickwork on the east side started showing signs of damage in June 2023, which they re- ported to the city. “Due to a lack of soil stabilizing the foundation of the 579 building, the wall on the east side of the building con- tinued to move,” the court filings claim. ● DEMOLITION, CONTINUED ON B2 ;