Homicide rate high in Manitoba

Manitoba led the country in homicides last year, according to a new Statistics Canada report. Of the 45 homicides that occurred in Manitoba in 2010, 22 were in Winnipeg. Saskatchewan had the second highest amount, with 34 homicides. The report said Canada’s homicides fell to its lowest rate since the 1960s, but in 2010 there were still 554. Of those, guns caused 170 homicides, a decrease from 2009, and the homicide rate was highest in the western provinces and the north. So far this year, there have been 32 homicides in Winnipeg, and two of those remain unsolved.

Hazed boy told to apologize

The boy who reported his Neepawa Natives junior hockey team’s hazing incident is facing strife with his teammates. In order to return to the team, the team told him to apologize for speaking out, the Winnipeg Free Press reported. The Manitoba Junior Hockey League fined the team $5,000 and suspended 16 players for the incident, which involved the young player having a water bottle rack tied around his scrotum, then being made to walk around the team locker room three times. Other rookie players had to strip to music. The team informed the MJHL, which issued the suspensions and fine last week after an investigation.

Manslaughter charges dropped against shop owner

Manslaughter charges against a store owner who killed a shoplifter have been dropped because of a lack of evidence, the Winnipeg Free Press reported. Police say Geraldine Beardy was hit in the upper body with a weapon after allegedly stealing a can of meat to feed her homeless friend. She died five days later. The Crown attorney said his key witness has fled the country to avoid possible criminal charges. That witness allegedly saw the altercation between store owner Kwang Soo Kim and Beardy. But without that evidence, the attorney said the Crown has no case.

Wheat Board accused of misusing farmers’ cash

Farmers claim the Canadian Wheat Board has misused their money in its fight against the federal government. The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association said it would use whatever legal means it must to stop the Wheat Board’s spending of farmers’ money on a court appeal against a proposed federal Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act. “The CWB ... (has) a duty to safeguard monies received from the sale of grain. They have no right to use farmers’ funds to advance a political agenda,” the Wheat Growers chair said in a release, published by the Winnipeg Sun.

Fundraising for bear exhibit on the way

The Richardson Foundation’s $5-million contribution to the Assiniboine Park Zoo’s Journey to Churchill exhibit will help forge a new home for six polar bears and a pod of ringed seals. The 10-acre Arctic exhibit will feature a seal exhibit and a polar bear display area with an underwater viewing area, an outdoor enclosure and a “ice den” to keep the bears cool, according to a Winnipeg Free Press report. Construction will begin this fall, but the project still requires $17 million to meet its $58-million price tag. The province has contributed $31 million, and the zoo hopes the federal government will also help. The zoo will begin a fundraising campaign next spring.

Published in Volume 66, Number 10 of The Uniter (November 2, 2011)