Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 16, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba Ask About Our Blossom Living Support Program for Residents with Mild Cognitive Decline O n e B e d r o o m S u i t e s S t a r t i n g F r o m $ 2 , 9 9 5 ! Call 204.202.1871 R A R E O P P O R T U N I T Y LIMITED AVAILABILITY – BOOK YOUR TOUR TODAY! Where Caring is Our Number One Concern™ www.allseniorscare.com 10 Victoria Ave. E, Brandon, MB Age-In-Place Living All The Independence With A Little Extra Support WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ● A11 TORONTO — The Pan American Health Organ- ization says Canada has the highest number of measles cases on the continent and more action is needed to address low vaccination rates. The regional agency within the World Health Organization, which covers North and South America, says there has been an exponential rise in measles this year. As of Aug. 8, it recorded 10,139 confirmed measles cases across 10 countries, representing a 33-fold increase compared to the same period in 2024, when there were 311 cases. Canada leads the pack with 4,548 measles cases, particularly in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario. PAHO says low vaccination rates are primarily to blame, with the U.S. and Mexico also seeing large outbreaks over the past year. Vaccine coverage rates in the region are 79 per cent for the two doses needed, which is below the 95 per cent recommended to prevent outbreaks. The group’s data shows 18 people have died as a result of the outbreak: 14 in Mexico, three in the United States and a newborn in Canada. PAHO says outbreaks have particularly been identified in Mennonite communities, but adds recent data suggests an increasing number of cases outside of these groups. In Mexico, PAHO says a mass vaccination cam- paign is underway in Chihuahua, where most of its 3,911 infections have occurred. “Indigenous communities have been hardest hit, with a case-fatality rate 20 times higher than in the general population,” its report says. The U.S. has reported outbreaks in 41 jurisdic- tions, with a total of 1,356 cases. “It’s important to note that these numbers are dynamic and may change as countries continue to update their case counts,” said spokesperson Sebastian Oliel in an email. — The Canadian Press VICTORIA — A British Columbia legislator said he went from “disappointed” to “enraged” after receiving a pitch from a Republican state senator for Canada’s four western provinces to join the United States. Brennan Day, with the Opposition B.C. Con- servative Party, said his office had to first con- firm the authenticity of the “nonsense” letter from Maine Sen. Joseph Martin after receiving it last week. Martin’s three-page pitch said if B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba were to seek admis- sion to the United States after referendum votes, it would have to be as full American states. “This would not be annexation. It would be adoption — welcoming home kindred spirits, who were born under a different flag but who desire to live under our Constitution and accept our responsibilities, customs, and traditions,” he wrote in the letter shared by Day. Martin said in the letter that his appeal is not a “fantasy of empire” but a “vision deeply rooted in American tradition” that would give the four provinces a chance to “leave behind failing ideol- ogies.” “For too long, Canadian citizens have been subjected to an illusion of freedom administered through bureaucratic means,” he wrote, adding that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Free- doms, “while lofty in rhetoric, provides no abso- lute protection.” He said this was in contrast to the U.S. Bill of Rights. Martin said “millions of people currently frus- trated by central authority, moral decay, and bureaucratic suffocation” would be rewarded with “liberty” if the four provinces were to join the United States. “The welcome mat is out,” he concluded. Day said the most shocking part of the letter was its attack on Canadian institutions, like the Charter of Rights, parliamentary government, monarchism, bilingualism, multiculturalism and the dismissal of those cornerstones as “political baggage.” Day said in an interview that Martin needed to look at “how heavy his luggage” is. He said Mar- tin’s party was “hauling around wheeled trunks” of baggage in the United States where the Consti- tution was “being torn up by Republicans.” Day said it was not clear why Martin wrote to him, but suspected it might be due to “rhetoric” coming out of Alberta that led Martin to believe British Columbians would be interested. Martin did not immediately respond to a re- quest for comment left by voice mail and text. Day said he had written a response to Martin, in which he acknowledged that Canada has problems. “But we don’t fix them by surrendering our iden- tity, as you suggest,” Day said in his response. “We fix them by doing what Canadians have always done — rolling up our sleeves, listening to each other, and finding common ground.” Day said in his interview that the “overwhelm- ing majority of Canadians” like themselves just as they are. “We have got a lot of work to do in improving our services, and making sure that we are spending our money wisely, and getting good value for it,” Day said. “But I don’t think anybody here looks south and goes, ‘we want more of that.’” — The Canadian Press O TTAWA — Relatives of war veterans gathered at the Na- tional War Memorial in Ot- tawa on Friday to mark the 80th an- niversary of Japan’s surrender and the official end of the Second World War. Sweat poured down the faces of those assembled in the August mid- day heat as the Canadian Armed Forces bugler performed the Last Post. Michael Babin, president of the Hong Kong Veterans Commemora- tive Association, said there are no living veterans remaining out of the nearly 2,000 Canadians who took part in the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941. He said the last known veteran from that fight died a little more than a year and a half ago, at the age of 106. Babin is one of many with direct ties to the war who expressed the concern on Friday that the history of that battle — and the stories of the many Canadians who fought and died there — are not being passed on to younger generations. “There are no veterans left any- more to tell their stories, so it’s up to us — the children and the grand- children — to tell their stories and to remember them,” he said. “Most Canadians don’t (know about this battle) because most of the action took place in Europe and that’s what Canadians heard about and that’s what’s taught in the schools. But to send 2,000 men and two nursing sisters to Hong Kong was significant, and all of them were volunteers.” Babin said that of the 1,975 Can- adian volunteers who went to Hong Kong, only 1,418 returned — 290 were killed in the battle and others later died as prisoners. His own father, Alfred Babin, was released from nearly four years of captivity as a prisoner of war on Aug. 15, 1941. Mitzi Ross said her father, Lance Ross, was hit in the neck by shrap- nel but survived the battle. He was captured and sent to Japan to work in a mine as a prisoner of war. “All of the men that were in these camps had to work in mines or shipyards, things like that. It was really a horrible, horrible experi- ence. When they came back they all had PTSD but nobody knew what it was at the time,” she said. “They all had hard lives after their return (to Canada).” Francois Vigneault, a retired captain who served 36 years with the Royal Canadian Air Force, said his father’s cousin, Laureat Vig- neault, was killed in the Battle of Hong Kong. He said his body was never re- covered and, thanks to a bureau- cratic error, it took his family years to learn that he had been killed in action. “For me, it’s a very important battle (but) it’s very unknown for Canadians,” he said. Anne Okaley said her father be- came a PoW after the Hong Kong conflict; she’s still researching what his exact role was in the bat- tle. Okaley said she worries about people forgetting these stories as time passes — and the risk of grim history repeating itself. “I just hope the memory carries on,” she said. “We’re not going to be here forever to carry it on, so I’m really grateful for my nephew who is going to carry the torch for- ward.” — The Canadian Press NEWS I CANADA / WORLD SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2025 Left, Mike Babin comes forward to place a wreath for Families of Hong Kong Veterans during Friday’s ceremony. Canadians mark 80 years since Japan surrender, end of Second World War KYLE DUGGAN PHOTOS BY SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS A ceremony marks the 80th anniversary of victory in the Pacific and the end of the Second World War at the National War Memorial in Ottawa Friday. Veteran Justin Woodcock of Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Man., smudges wreaths prior to the ceremony. B.C. legislator enraged by American state senator’s ‘nonsense’ pitch to join U.S. WOLFGANG DEPNER Canada has most measles cases in region ;