Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 18, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba A4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I LOCAL THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2025 Miln said the program will redeploy existing resources and run until the end of the year, when it will be reas- sessed. The number of police officers working on transit will fluctuate. The city’s community safety team began patrolling buses in February 2024, tasked with defusing dangerous situations, providing first aid and helping vulnerable people connect to resources. The community safety officers have the power to detain or apprehend people in cases where public or indi- vidual safety is at risk but can’t arrest individuals for criminal code offences, the city confirmed Wednesday. While that team was also added to make buses safer, police and others now believe another layer of security is needed. “We don’t have enough community safety officers to be on every bus or at every bus stop… I believe we have made progress and we’re still making progress,” said Mayor Scott Gilling- ham. While some advocates have lobbied city council to create a dedicated transit police force and others have urged political leaders to keep police off the buses, Gillingham said the new initiative is appropriate. “We’re going to do what we need to do to make the community safer… Wherever there is crime and a threat to public safety, police have the juris- diction,” he said. Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of the public works committee, said it’s unfortunate to see violence continue on buses at this rate, which the new initiative will help address. “Until root causes of these issues are dealt with, such as mental health (concerns)… There’s a lot of social un- rest in our world right now and we’re seeing it play out on our doorsteps,” said Lukes (Waverley West). The union that represents Winnipeg Transit drivers said violent incidents remain far too common, running the gamut from verbal threats to physical attacks. “It’s very frustrating. We were hope- ful that with the community safety team starting we would see a signifi- cant, if not longstanding, reduction in the amount of incidents but it certainly didn’t seem to be the deterrent we hoped it was… We have to balance the (good preventative work the safety team does) with the deterrent aspect and I think that’s what this new initia- tive is going to help accomplish,” said Chris Scott, president of the Amalgam- ated Transit Union Local 1505. The union said drivers have reported 196 security incidents on buses this year so far, including verbal threats, assaults, property damage and theft. The figure does not include incidents just outside the bus or those passen- gers report to police alone. On Wednesday afternoon, a few transit riders at a downtown bus stop largely welcomed the new safety initiative. Harman Kaur said she would feel safer on the bus if a police officer was also on board. “It’s good to have police so… people can safely move around,” said Kaur. Rena Wilde agreed, noting people witnessing a security threat on a bus can’t simply cross the street to avoid it. “(There is) too much violence in this city … We have to start stepping up to protect (people)… (This) is even more so on a bus… you can’t move, especial- ly when it’s packed,” said Wilde. Colin Bennett said a police presence could help, noting a loved one was once assaulted and pushed off a bus. “There’s definitely a need for (more security), especially later at night in the core areas,” said Bennett. However, he isn’t sure police offi- cers, or another type of security, is needed. “Maybe put the (police) cadets on the bus, just eyes and ears,” he said. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca X: @joyanne_pursaga Board member Lisa Graham said, given the ex-girlfriend had taken his truck keys at the bar before a friend of his took them back, his actions could not be truly described as impulsive. Goodman replied that he felt he was in a better position to drive than others and that he wanted to have his truck at home the next morning for a planned fishing trip. He told the board he did not think his actions would result in a fatal collision. After the crash, he said, he did not know what to do. Monkman said she accepted Good- man was likely in shock, but ques- tioned why and how he did not connect the dots that Reimer, whose vehicle was catastrophically damaged, was seriously injured. Reimer was on the way to pick up a friend when Goodman, who had consumed nine or 10 drinks at a Transcona bar, slammed his truck into her vehicle at 108 kilometres per hour after blowing through a stop sign at Kildare Avenue West and Bond Street, a 50 km/h zone. He left the scene on foot with his passengers. Goodman, whose mother picked him up after he left the scene, turned himself in after seeking medical care for minor injuries. His mother later pleaded guilty to obstructing justice. Police officers had gone to his home, but no one answered. Board officials, who noted he had done some programming in prison, questioned why he had not sought counselling or other help. Goodman said when he’s out of prison he plans to seek counselling and attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. He said he did not like how other prisoners approach the meetings behind bars. Goodman told the board he does not think he has a big drinking problem, but did say he has no desire to ever drink again. He also told the board he plans to work and go to school to get his weld- ing ticket upon release. Goodman said he does not ask for sympathy or forgiveness, telling the board he has deep regret. Goodman’s mother spoke in support of his appli- cation. Reimer’s family, including parents Karen and Doug Reimer, have said they believe his sentence was too short to mete out justice for her death. Reimer’s mother spoke in person at the hearing to oppose Goodman’s day parole application. Karen Reimer’s voice was, at first, strained by emotion as she began to read from a letter. She wore a purple T-shirt, its back emblazoned with the phrase “Justice for Jordyn.” “Grief does not lessen with time,” she said. “Grief permeates every part of your being.” She said granting Goodman any form of parole would not constitute justice, or denounce his conduct or deter him and others from committing similar offences. “How is this helping the public keep faith in the justice system?” she asked the parole board. Karen Reimer argued Goodman has not participated in significant reha- bilitative programming in prison and said she worried he would drive while impaired again if let out. “There is no guarantee that Good- man, if given partial freedom, will not make the same series of choices again,” she told the board. “And the risk, the outcome, if he does, will be no less catastrophic, for another mother, another family, anoth- er innocent life.” A total of 17 people opposed to Goodman’s application put forward statements to the board. erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca The number of international medical graduates in Manitoba is increasing. From May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025, they made up 35 per cent of all phy- sicians in Manitoba, up two per cent from the previous fiscal year, accord- ing the college’s annual report, set to be released Thursday. Nearly half of all physicians prac- tising in the province during the last fiscal year received their credentials in Manitoba. Resources for newcomers with medi- cal credentials and experience include Manitoba Start — a non-profit employ- ment agency funded by the provincial and federal governments — and the province’s Health Care Retention and Recruitment Office. Those resources offer a variety of supports, but financial considerations are among the obstacles faced by inter- national medical graduates hoping to practise in Manitoba and elsewhere in Canada, said Jeremy de Jong, director of registration with the college, the province’s licensing body. “It adds up to an enormous amount of money… it’s a huge barrier,” he said. Many are recruited by agencies, clinics and regional health authorities — typically with a return-of-service agreement that helps cover expenses. The college’s international medical graduate working group sent out a survey months in the making Wednes- day to working physicians in Manitoba about their experience integrating into the medical system. “We’re putting an enormous amount of time and effort into that, not only at the college, but at other organizations,” de Jong said. A Doctors Manitoba spokesperson said if the province wants to reduce the size of its physicians shortage, the second-worst in Canada, it will have to “streamline that process for well-quali- fied international doctors to help speed up the process and reduce the cost.” “There is still plenty of opportunity for Manitoba to support internationally trained physicians with the costs to transfer their medical credentials, in a way that helps improve recruitment and retention to address our physician shortage,” the spokesperson said in an email. In the meantime, Elgadi and his fam- ily have found support in Manitoba. Friend Irene Howard was moved by their story and launched a GoFundMe with her daughter’s help after getting to know them, particularly Elgadi’s wife, Viktoriia Zamorska. The fundraiser has a goal of $5,000, and has raised $2,250 as of Wednesday afternoon. “I think if there’s an opportunity to help anybody, my faith plays a big part of that, but I’ve always felt… that it takes so little to show feeling for other people,” Howard said. malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca TRANSIT ● FROM A1 PAROLE ● FROM A1 DOCTOR ● FROM A1 RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES Karen and Doug Reimer, parents of Jordyn. ‘Grief does not lessen with time,’ Karen says. ‘Grief permeates every part of your being.’ GOFUNDME Jordyn Reimer was on the way to pick up a friend when her vehicle was hit by a truck that had blown through a stop sign. PHOTOS BY RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Clockwise from left: Transit riders Harman Kaur, Rena Wilde and Colin Bennett welcome the new safety initiative. ‘It’s good to have police so... people can safely move around,’ Kaur says. Agent 66 pushed to meet with supplier, court hears T HE death of a B.C. drug deal- er set a police informant and investigators on a winding course that would lead them to identifying Hells Angel Damion Ryan as an alleged key leader in a massive international drug traf- ficking network, a court heard Wednesday. Prosecutors laid out the journey in a series of police wiretap record- ings made between August and September of 2021. Ryan is on trial accused of con- spiring to sell cocaine, meth and fentanyl and possessing the pro- ceeds of crime for the benefit or under the direction of the Wolf Pack Alliance, an organized-crime group comprised of various high- level Canadian gangsters and drug traffickers. Ryan was one of 22 people ar- rested in early 2022 following a years-long RCMP investigation dubbed Project Divergent that netted the largest drug seizure in Manitoba at the time: 110 kilo- grams of cocaine, more than 40 kilograms of methamphetamine, three kilograms of fentanyl, 500 grams of MDMA, as well as 19 guns and more than $445,000 in cash. The Crown’s star witness against Ryan is a longtime drug dealer now in witness protection after he agreed to infiltrate the trafficking network in return for a payday of up to $900,000, plus expenses. The man’s name is protected by a publication ban. He is identified in court documents as Agent 66. Court has heard Agent 66 con- tacted Project Divergent co-ac- cused Andre Steele, whom he had previously met in jail, in November 2020 to discuss the purchase of 30 ounces of methamphetamine and pressed Steele to connect him to his supplier. After some initial resistance, the man alleged to be Steele agreed to connect the informant with his supplier — a man further up the criminal chain, but not Ryan — in exchange for $10,000. The agent met the man outside a Vancouver restaurant on Dec. 16, 2020, where the agent brokered a deal to purchase three kilograms of methamphetamine. The agent testified Wednesday he was looking at Facebook months later, on Aug. 19, 2021, when he learned that the drug dealer died and immediately contacted Steele, at the time in custody on charges unrelated to Project Divergent. “Not only do I lose a (supplier), I lose a f—-ing friend,” a distraught sounding Steele is heard saying on the call. Agent 66 told Steele he planned to travel to Vancouver for the man’s funeral “to pay his respects” and offered to pick up an encrypted cellphone for Steele from his friend “Dime,” a man alleged to be Ryan. “If you see him at the funeral, you aren’t going to miss him, he’s six-f—-ing-three, 200-300 pounds,” Steele said. “I don’t want you to communicate (with him) for the purpose of get- ting something,” Steele warned the agent, stressing it was Steele’s job to insulate Dime from detection by police. Over the course of more calls, the agent and Steele made arrange- ments for the agent to meet with a new B.C. supplier and purchase seven kilograms of methampheta- mine. The agent pressed Steele to ar- range an introduction with Dime. “You can’t force this thing, it just has to come natural,” Steele said. The agent told court he travelled to Vancouver with an undercover police officer, and “were working to meet somebody” when they learn- ed Ryan wasn’t going to be present and pulled out of the meeting. The agent later called Steele, claiming he had aborted the drug deal after being falsely accused of owing the drug network money. “I almost got killed over some- one’s debt — that’s not cool,” the agent said. Steele told the agent he was “mak- ing a mountain out of a molehill.” “C’mon, grab your nuts, no one is trying to rob you,” Steele said. “That’s not how we do business.” In an Aug. 27 text message, Steele told the agent if he wanted another introduction to a supplier it was go- ing to cost him $5,000. More calls and messages fol- lowed, with arrangements made for the agent to meet another supplier in Burnaby, B.C. The agent repeated his plea to meet Dime. “I need to meet with Dime for his blessing, so I don’t f—-ing get taxed (for drug dealing in another gang’s territory),” the agent said in a Sept. 8 call. “Let nature take its course,” Steele said. “I am the insulation between him and getting in trouble. Until my buddy steps in and re- quests (to meet), don’t ask… it could cost you.” The agent and a police officer posing as another drug dealer met with the new supplier at a Burnaby food court Sept. 21, with the agent making a deal to buy 10 kilograms of methamphetamine for $80,000. The deal came with one condi- tion. “I just want a message from Big Buddy saying we are good to go, that he is vouching for you and we are solid,” the agent told the sup- plier and a confederate in a secret- ly recorded conversation played for court. The agent told court he received an encrypted message on his phone later that day from a “Mr. Wolf” vouching for the supplier and say- ing his drug order was “ready and good to go.” The agent met with the suppli- er the next day, provided him a $25,000 down payment for the drugs and thanked him for the mes- sage from Mr. Wolf. “That’s Damion, right?” the agent asked the supplier. “Yeah, that’s Damion, yeah,” the man replied. dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca DEAN PRITCHARD ;