Winnipeg Free Press

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HIGH 4 — LOW -8 COMMUNITY REVIEW OPTIMISTS’ XMAS TREE LOT NO MORE Man charged in arson attacks A 35-YEAR-OLD Winnipeg man has been charged in a five-month arson spree involving the constituency offices of two NDP government cabinet ministers, downtown restaurants and bars and other locations. Jesse Robert Shawn Wheatland is accused of 22 arson, break-in and dam- age-related offences at 11 locations since June 11, including fires at the offices of Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine and Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith. “We believe Wheatland was acting alone when he attended these locations, causing damage by breaking windows, lighting fires and, in some cases, both,” Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Jennifer McKinnon said at a news conference. “We can support it through evidence that we’ve collected. He’s also been interviewed by investigators at length. He’s been co-operating with our investi- gators.” She would not comment on motive, but confirmed the case is not linked to pre- viously reported and ongoing extortion investigations that involved fires. CHRIS KITCHING AND SCOTT BILLECK Ukrainian sacrifices career to be reunited with family in Winnipeg From the judge’s chambers to the beer vendor VIKTOR Bratasyuk was walking the halls of the U.S. Supreme Court as part of an international judicial fel- lowship last fall. Today, the longtime Ukrainian judge is working part time at a beer vendor in St. Vital. While that may be viewed as a dramatic setback, the 47-year-old father of two — who became a judge in 2009 after working as a lawyer, lecturer and deputy dean of the faculty of law at Ternopil National Economics University — sees it differently. “I’ve been reunited with my fam- ily,” he told the Free Press. “I could be considered a traitor, but there is peace here. I am happy. I left to be with my family. I like to be here. I like to be with my family. It really hurts me what’s going on in my coun- try.” Bratasyuk’s wife and two sons, now 20 and 18, arrived in Winnipeg in 2023. He stayed behind, partly because Ukrainian rules barred him from leaving except on business, and partly because he had been assigned to help defend the northern border of Ternopil Oblast in western Ukraine, where his family is from. “It was very difficult to not even have the possibility to hug your kids, hug your wife for years,” he said. He told about drones striking near his home and showed pictures of his office, which had its windows blown out by a drone strike in July. Eventually, he reached a breaking point. While on a business trip to Poland in March 2024, he took the opportu- nity to travel to Canada to visit his family. When he was selected for the judicial fellowship program in Wash- ington, D.C., he stayed in Winnipeg another week before returning to Ukraine. In August, he was reunited with his family. Retiring from his judge- ship gave him legal freedom to leave Ukraine. SCOTT BILLECK Dire need for supervised consumption site: Kinew CAROL SANDERS PREMIER Wab Kinew defended his government’s plan to open a super- vised consumption site in downtown Winnipeg, saying a public health emer- gency demands it and doing nothing is not an option. “The alternative to a supervised consumption site is an unsupervised consumption site on Main Street — in the bus shelter, in the bathroom at Tim Hortons,” Kinew said Wednesday, a day after his government’s throne speech announced the facility would open in January. “I think we all agree we’ve got to do better than what we’re seeing right now,” said Kinew, who wouldn’t iden- tify the site’s exact location, but noted it is west of Main Street and not near any schools. In the coming weeks, that will be spelled out along with plans for community consultations that are required as part of the federal applica- tion process, the premier said. The province had proposed a super- vised consumption site at 200 Disraeli Fwy. It cancelled that plan after some residents opposed the location, arguing it was too close to schools and child- care facilities. “We’ve been flexible, we’ve been listening,” Kinew said. “We’ve changed the location based on community feedback. I think that’s an act of good faith.” Mayor Scott Gillingham said it was important to hear from community members. “There’s a process the province has to follow. I think public consultation has been shown (to be) very important in the last attempt that they made. Public consultation would be very, very important here… to hear from residents and business owners as to their thoughts related to the po- tential impact on the area around (the site),” Gillingham said. Longtime Point Douglas resident Katherine Bitney fought against the last proposed site, arguing it was too close to a school. She is happy to hear the new space will be farther away, but said she was not part of any consulta- tions. After the recent news that the pre- viously proposed building on Disraeli will be used as a 72-hour detention facility for people experiencing drug psychosis, she wonders why so many spaces for people struggling with addiction are being “plunked in Point Douglas.” “We’re beginning to feel like a drug rehab dumping ground around here,” she said. Amy Robinson of the Point Douglas Residents Committee said the group was not consulted about the new location. She said the committee has requested information from the fed- eral government on its “urgent public health need” exemption but has not received a response. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Viktor Bratasyuk and his family have settled into life in Winnipeg after receiving support from local churches. The retired judge says he is not pursuing a legal career in Manitoba. ● SITE, CONTINUED ON A2 ● CHARGED, CONTINUED ON A2 ● VENDOR, CONTINUED ON A2 Accused of five-month spree against cabinet ministers, restaurants, bars FACEBOOK Jesse Robert Shawn Wheatland ;