Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 4, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba WINNIPEG’S LARGEST CASH & CARRY DEALER! LOWEST PRICE IN TOWN! 702 Broadway and Sherbrook (204) 783-5742 NO ORDERING REQUIRED! ATTENTION CONTRACTORS & HOME BUILDERS S P E C I A L P A L L E T P R I C I N G ! TIDAL CLICK 12 MIL LVP WITH PAD Featuring Canadian Products Beaulieu Canada Mon, Tues & Fri 8 – 5 Wed & Thurs 8 – 6 Saturday 10 – 2 AERIAL LVP FLOORING 12 MIL GLUEDOWN WATERPROOF $ 1 49 sq.ft. CORETEC PRO PLUS CORK LVP 20 MIL CLICK WEAR LAYER $ 3 49 sq.ft. $ 1 99 sq.ft. SHAW ANVIL PLUS 20 MIL CLICK W/PAD WATERPROOF LVP $ 2 99 sq.ft. SERVING MANITOBA SINCE 1872 PROUDLY CANADIAN TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2025 WEATHER MAINLY CLOUDY. HIGH 7 — LOW -1 SPORTS LOWRY SET TO RETURN / D1 JACQUES BOISSINOT / THE CANADIAN PRESS SHOE BUSINESS Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne sews the tip of a shoe at the Boulet boot factory in St-Tite, Que., on Monday in preparation for delivering the budget speech today in Ottawa. New shoes on budget day is a tradition for federal finance ministers / A3 ‘They should bury you under the prison’ P REMIER Wab Kinew condemned a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that rejected mandatory min- imum sentences for possessing child pornography, saying not only should pedophiles serve jail time, “they should bury you under the prison.” The high court ruled Friday that one-year mandatory minimum jail sentences for accessing or possessing child pornography are unconstitution- al. “This is, like, one of the worst things that anyone can do,” Kinew said, referring to child pornography at an unrelated event Monday. The court said that although jail sen- tences contribute to the objectives of denunciation and deterrence, they also remove judges’ discretion to impose alternatives to imprisonment when appropriate. Kinew said convicted offenders who access child sexual abuse images and video should face even harsher pun- ishments than mandatory minimum sentences. “You shouldn’t get protective custo- dy. They should put you into general population, if you know what I mean. Skinners — this is the worst,” he said, using a prison term for pedophiles and sex offenders. Kinew said he sides with conserva- tives — Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre — in denouncing the top court’s ruling. “I think I’m on the same page as they are. I think the average person out there hears an announcement like this and just kind of shakes their head,” he said. Later, during question period at the legislature, Kinew said if it were up to him, he’d “invoke the code on the streets and release pedophiles into prisons’ general population and see what happens.” In a 5-4 decision on Friday, the Supreme Court found the mandatory one-year sentence for possession or accessing child sexual abuse materi- als violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because of certain hypothet- ical scenarios where such a sentence would be disproportionate. CAROL SANDERS Customers shocked by water, sewer bills face ‘unacceptable’ call wait times WHEN her water and sewer bill suddenly tripled, Faye Tardiff says she was quick to report the apparent error. She then submitted two actual read- ings to Winnipeg water and waste and emailed the service multiple times. About a month later, with no clear answers, she waited hours on the phone to ensure the charges would be reassessed, Tardiff said. “I have the luxury of being able to sit on hold on speakerphone for two hours and keep working. For some- body who perhaps works construc- tion, retail or teaching, where you can’t sit on the phone for two hours, how do (they) get this addressed? And how many people is the city overbill- ing like this? This is terrible,” she said. The ordeal began when the city sent an estimated $1,066 water and sewer bill that notes she did not submit her actual meter reading on time. The amount is significantly higher than her typical quarterly bills, which have been in the $300 range. “It was definitely unaffordable for me and I have a good-paying job. How do I pay a bill like that and then still be able to continue to pay hydro and heat and (buy) groceries?” she said. Tardiff says she began calling water and waste’s billing centre last week, waiting 90 minutes on hold Wednesday before the system hung up, then waiting two hours and 15 minutes before finally reaching an operator the following day. While she stressed the person who answered her call was very polite and helpful and noted an adjusted bill would be on the way, she is concerned about the city’s level of customer service. Coun. Sherri Rollins said she’s received similar complaints over the past few months. “It’s really unacceptable,” said Roll- ins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry). She said complaints often deal with estimated billing and this year’s substantial hikes to both water-sewer rates and garbage fees, which are collected on the same bill. On April 1, the typical home’s sewer rate rose $18.67 per month, or $168.03 for the rest of 2025. On the same day, the annual per-home garbage fee soared to $254 (prorated to $190.50) from $93. Coun. Ross Eadie, chairman of the water and waste committee, said the current wait times are “untenable,” noting some residents have no option but to call about concerns. “In some of my neighbourhoods, the poverty (rate is such) that people don’t have the internet,” said Eadie (Mynarski). The average wait time to reach the utility billing centre was 58 minutes in October, up from just under 43 minutes in September. JOYANNE PURSAGA Doctor assaulted at HSC on first weekend with 24-hour police presence NICOLE BUFFIE A doctor at Winnipeg’s Health Scienc- es Centre was assaulted on the first weekend of its 24-7 police patrol of the campus. Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Claude Chancy confirmed an on-duty physician was assaulted by a patient just before 11 a.m. Sunday morning. A North District general patrol unit was at the hospital for an unrelated matter and assisted HSC security staff dealing with a patient who had assault- ed the doctor, Chancy said in an email. The unit requested assistance from officers assigned to the recently an- nounced 24-7 hospital detail. Chancy said the doctor was assaulted with several items, including a Kleen- ex box and what was described as a heavy box. Details about the extent of the injuries was not made available. A woman in her 30s was taken into custody and faces a charge of assault with a weapon. She was detained in custody. Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara briefly spoke with the doctor Monday morning and expected to follow up with them later in the day. “Health-care workers should be safe to (do) their jobs. They should know they’re going to go to work and be safe with their employment and go home to their families at the end of the day. Any incident of violence is unaccept- able,” Asagwara said at an unrelated news conference Monday morning. Police began a permanent patrol Sat- urday after a spike in violent incidents and safety concerns at the downtown hospital. Two Winnipeg police officers will be on each shift to have a visible presence in the adult emergency department and conduct patrols elsewhere at the province’s largest hospital. The officers will be working on voluntary overtime. Shared Health informed physician advocacy group Doctors Manitoba about the incident “within hours,” an emailed statement from spokesperson Keir Johnson said. Doctors Manitoba has reached out to the victim to offer support and to hear more about what happened to identify more opportunities to improve safety at the hospital. “While we’ve seen significant steps to improve safety at HSC in recent months, this terrible assault is an un- necessary reminder that more actions are needed,” Keir said. A Doctors Manitoba survey from August showed physicians who work at HSC are subjected to nearly half of all the assaults perpetrated against doctors in the province. At the time, more than four in 10 of all physical safety incidents reported to Doctors Manitoba over the previous 12 months occurred at or near HSC, the survey said. Around the same time as the survey, the Manitoba Nurses Union voted to “grey list” the hospital, a declaration that the workplace is unsafe and nurs- es should consider turning down shifts as a result. ● KINEW, CONTINUED ON A2 ● ASSAULT, CONTINUED ON A2 ● BILLS, CONTINUED ON A2 Kinew blasts Supreme Court rejection of mandatory minimum sentence for possession of child pornography ;