Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 31, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2025 A2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS CANADA POST SALES AGREEMENT NO. 0563595 Recycled newsprint is used in the production of the newspaper. PLEASE RECYCLE. The Free Press receives support from the Local Journalism Initiative funded by the Government of Canada CZAR ● FROM A1 VOL 154 NO 294 Winnipeg Free Press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 2025 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 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. If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the website at www.mediacouncil. ca and fill out the form or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information. 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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 CORRECTION A news brief that appeared in Thursday’s paper contained incorrect information. The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 did not state a bus driver had been stabbed; the union said the driver had sustained a puncture wound to his hand. READER SERVICE ● GENERAL INQUIRIES 204-697-7000 Blaikie Whitecloud said that what she learned from Smith she’ll apply in her new role “building and revitalizing housing across the continuum to en- sure deeply affordable units, with the right supports in place, are available for those in need.” Blaikie Whitecloud had worked in the non-profit sector serving homeless people since 2013 as the executive director of 1JustCity and, before taking on her current role, as the chief executive officer of Siloam Mission. Your Way Home is focused on creating a new stream in the Manitoba Housing system that dedicates 20 per cent, or 2,500 residential units, to the estimated 700 people who were living in about 100 encampments two months ago. Blaikie Whitecloud delivered the keynote address at an event last Saturday hosted by the Jubilee Fund, a charitable ethical investment group. She told attendees that 89 people have been successfully housed through the strategy and there are plans to move 70 more into housing in the com- ing weeks. Smith said Thursday that thanks to Blaikie Whitecloud’s efforts, 100 peo- ple who were living in encampments now have homes. “Tessa’s leadership is instrumental in bringing partners together and setting our strategy on the right path. We are in a strong position to keep building on that progress,” Smith said. At the plan’s January announcement, Kinew said the province would work with the City of Winnipeg to move homeless people into housing one encampment at a time within a 30-day window. He added that 300 new social housing units had been purchased and would be supported by non-profit organizations. Kinew said the province would be the sole lead and co-ordinator of the strategy, streamlining the efforts of non-profit organizations, Indigenous nations and municipalities. In the months since, the plan has been criticized for not moving quickly enough. A Probe Research poll conducted in September for the Free Press revealed that a growing number of Winnipeg- gers are losing faith in the province, the city and front-line organizations to deal with the homelessness problem. On Wednesday, the city announced its policy and protocol for removing encampments from a number of public spaces, such as playgrounds and schools. Council voted in September to pro- hibit encampments from transit shel- ters, playgrounds, pools, spray pads, recreation facilities, schools, daycares, adult care facilities, medians, traffic islands, bridges, docks, piers, rail lines and rail crossings, as well as wherever the camps obstruct traffic or pose a “life safety issue.” Progressive Conservative housing, addictions and homelessness critic Jeff Bereza said he was “very surprised” that Blaikie Whitecloud — who was touted as the province’s “homelessness czar” — is leaving the position after just 10 months. “The premier and Minister Smith, in their announcements, touted her as somebody that was very well known and that could handle this,” he said Thursday. “We’ve seen the numbers — that they’re not dropping very quickly. I walk or go across the Osborne Street Bridge every day and by the Granite Curling Club — the amount of encamp- ments, it just continues to grow at a rapid pace.” Marion Willis, the founder and executive director of St. Boniface Street Links, an agency that works to find housing for people in encamp- ments, said Blaikie Whitecloud’s job with the province would be “incredi- bly difficult” for someone who ran a street-serving organization and was “very connected to the population that’s served by that organization” to switch to a political or bureaucratic role. “You’re looking through an entire- ly different lens and it’s more of a bureaucratic lens,” said Willis, who described Blaikie Whitecloud as “very bright, very good at her job at Siloam Mission and very engaged as a leader in the sector.” carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud is set to leave her position as the premier’s Senior Advisor on Ending Chronic Homelessness at the end of November. On the negative side of the register, Doctors Manitoba called attention to troubling results from a survey it conducted of its members. In total, 1,318 fully licensed physi- cians responded to the survey, repre- senting 38 per cent of members. Of those, 21 per cent — or 710 physicians — said they are considering retiring or leaving the province in the next three years. When the option of reducing hours was added to the equation, the figure rose to 43 per cent of doctors. Over the past five years, the province has lost an average of 155 physicians annually due to departures or retirement, Doctors Manitoba said. Fifty-five per cent of the physicians intending to leave have their sights set on B.C., while 38 per cent are eyeing Alberta. Another 35 per cent are considering heading to Ontario, 23 per cent are looking south of the border and the rest are exploring elsewhere in Canada or abroad, the survey found. Manitoba saw a net loss of 8.3 physicians per 1,000 people to other provinces last year, ranking it second worst among the provinces, according to Canadian Institute for Health Infor- mation data. “I would say to those doctors, ‘We’re listening, we hear you loud and clear,’” Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said. “We’re doing the work to make health care in Manitoba a much more attractive place for physicians to work and again, we’re seeing improvements in these numbers, but we know we need to do more.” The minister said work is ongoing to reduce workloads and administrative burdens. Opposition Leader Obby Khan said the addition of new physicians in recent years has done little to improve wait times in emergency rooms. “Another song and dance announce- ment and report saying, ‘We’ve hired X amount of doctors, X amount of doc- tors,’ but where are they?” Khan said. He suggested lowering taxes for high-income earners, describing proposed tax hikes in the latest NDP budget as “a doctors’ tax.” Desilets noted there is a national shortage of doctors. “Our problem is a problem that is shared everywhere. That means other provinces are potentially recruiting Manitoba physicians,” Desilets said. “Even for those who are happy here and who have had a really fulfilling career here, there are still lots of challenges.” Frustration over administrative bur- den, siloed electronic record systems and a lack of access to equipment and facilities are key drivers of physician burnout and distress, Desilets said. Provincial initiatives to address those concerns, such as an ongoing overhaul of the medical record system, have helped, but more is needed, she said. Reducing surgical wait times and in- creasing access to diagnostic imaging and medical transportation are critical components — as is ensuring physi- cians are involved in high-level policy decisions. “Physicians who are on the front lines… feel that they are constantly be- ing asked to do more with less and that can lead to a sense of moral injury,” she said. The report found that 56 per cent of doctors are experiencing distress and 48 per cent reported high burnout. Doctors Manitoba said it has spear- headed initiatives to provide early career support, mentorship, leadership training and enhance peer and physi- cian mental health support. Another worrisome factor highlight- ed by the report relates to current students and residents in the province: only 60 per cent of them plan to stay in Manitoba. Some in this group are considering relocating for personal or family rea- sons, but others cited frustration with system issues, administrative burdens, better recruitment incentives and a sense of not being valued in Manitoba, the report found. Desilets said the province must prioritize proactively reaching out to new grads and make it easy for them to find their preferred jobs. Dr. Peter Nickerson, dean of the Max Rady College of Medicine and Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, said up to 75 per cent of graduating medical students complete their residencies in Manitoba. “UM works collaboratively with our partners and government to provide our graduates an opportunity to contin- ue their medical training here,” he said in an email statement. The number of Manitoba graduates starting practice in the province last year totalled 70, declining from a record high of 87 in 2021. The Manitoba Medical Student Asso- ciation did not respond to a request for comment sent Thursday morning. — with files from Carol Sanders tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca DOCTORS ● FROM A1 TIM SMITH / THE BRANDON SUN FILES Dr. Nichelle Desilets, president of Doctors Manitoba, says the retention of physicians is just as important as recruitment. Innocent imposter: paper quotes ex-NYC ‘mayor’ NEW YORK — For more than a decade, a Long Island wine importer named Bill DeBlasio has been receiv- ing emails meant for another man with a near-identical name: former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Last week, he decided to respond — inadvertently setting off an interna- tional news cycle based on misinfor- mation in the final days of New York City’s mayoral election. After receiving an email from a reporter with the Times of London asking for his — well, de Blasio’s — thoughts on Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, DeBlasio replied with a four paragraph critique of the candidate’s agenda, which the real ex-mayor has enthusiastically endorsed. “I did some research on the propos- als, and I wrote down my thoughts and used ChatGPT to do a little fine-tun- ing,” DeBlasio, 59, told The Associated Press. “Then I forgot about it and went on vacation. I never thought it would make it into the news.” But it did. In an exclusive story published online Tuesday night, the Times of London reported the former New York City mayor had now concluded that Mamdani’s ambitious agenda “doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.” De Blasio, the politician, quickly disavowed the piece on social media. Within hours, it was deleted. The Times of London has since apologized, saying in a statement that its reporter had been “misled by an individual claiming to be the former New York mayor.” DeBlasio, the wine importer — whose identity was first reported Thursday by Semafor — disputes the newspaper’s retelling. “In no way shape or form did I call myself the mayor,” he said. “The reporter addressed me as Mr. DeBlasio and I answered him as Mr. DeBlasio. They accepted my quote without any vetting — now they’re blaming me?” “I’ve been Bill DeBlasio for 59 years,” he continued. “My father has been Bill DeBlasio for 85 years. My son has been Bill DeBlasio for 30 years. It’s our name, you know?” (De Blasio, the mayor, is 64, but has had his name for less time: He was born Warren Wilhelm Jr. and later adopted his mother’s maiden name, de Blasio.) He provided screenshots of the emails confirming the reporter had not specifically addressed his questions to the former mayor. Still, DeBlasio acknowledged that he hadn’t gone out of his way to correct the misunderstanding: “I said if you have any further questions, speak with my advisers and I put my friends’ names in there.” “We all thought it was absolutely hilarious,” he added. The ex-mayor does not share this view. In an op-ed published in The Nation on Thursday, he blamed the episode on a “hyperpartisan” journal - ism landscape where “standards of objectivity and decency are decaying week by week.” A spokesperson for the Times of London said the outlet would not be commenting further on the mix-up. DeBlasio, of Long Island, meanwhile, said the prank felt like fair payback for years of harassment he has endured as a result of his link to the ex-mayor. “I’ve had thousands of interactions with people, angry, mean, nasty people just saying the most horrible, horrif- ic things,” he said. “It got to a point where I was getting messages every day telling me how horrible of a human being I am.” At a New York Mets game years ago, DeBlasio briefly met de Blasio, who offered him an apology for the hate mail, he said. “The real Bill DeBlasio endorses Cuomo,” he said. “You can print that.” — The Associated Press JAKE OFFENHARTZ ;