Lake St. Martin Grade 9 grads told to stay in school

Five students overcome challenges, gear up for high school

Lake St. Martin Grade 9 grads Danis Pelletier, Elizabeth Ross, Bryden Sinclair, Jody Ross, and Kristen Summer throw their graduation caps at the end of their grad ceremony in Winnipeg June 18. 

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly News 

It’s unusual for a solemn tone to blanket a graduation ceremony, but for five students from Lake St. Martin First Nation this year’s convocation was like no other.

Donning red and black cap and gowns, the small group of Grade 9 graduates paraded to the front of Lake St. Martin School’s theatre in Winnipeg to receive graduation certificates and listen to the prospects of what’s to come during an hour long ceremony on June 18. 

As they sat down, Danis Pelletier, Bryden Sinclair, Kristen Summer, and Jody and Elizabeth Ross received words of encouragement and were told to keep their heads up high, because a new challenge lies ahead. 

Principal Lillian Ross and 2014 Maples Collegiate grad Emily Pruden encouraged the graduates to stay in school. 

Pruden, 19, told the grads she knows that will be a challenge since it’s one she just overcame last year.

“It will be tough, but if I can do it so can you.”

The number of dropouts from the flooded-out First Nation has soared in recent years. 

Staying in school was something soft-spoken Pruden and others begged students to do.

“I went to school in a trailer, and in the first week of school there was almost 20 (students) and in the end, only five of us had graduated that year,” Pruden said. “Why? Because most of them lost their hope along the way and they stopped coming.” 

Some 100 students from Lake St. Martin have been shuffled around Winnipeg ever since being flooded out of their Northern Interlake community in the spring of 2011. 

The students didn’t finish school that year, and few have gone on to graduate since coming to Winnipeg. 

“There’s a lot of them actually,” said Pruden. “They basically dropped out because they weren’t ready for it.”

The students have had constant interruptions to their learning and have been shuffled around various buildings in the city including the Salvation Army, and their current school in St. James, which was abruptly closed and later re-opened in 2012 due to failed safety standards. 

Valedictorian Kristen Summer said she knows going to a high school in Winnipeg will be different than the small class settings she and her peers have become accustomed to. 

“I heard school isn’t like the way it is here, but I’m willing to try to make the best of it. I know there is still a lot more to learn in life and I’m ready for whatever is thrown at my way,” Summer said. 

“When September comes I’ll walk through this new school with a smile and I’ll stand proud.”

Danis Pelletier takes a selfie before walking into Lake St. Martin School's Grade 9 grad ceremony. 

Elder Betty Traverse congratulated the five students for sticking it out this far. 

“I’m a very proud grandma,” she said. 

There are no high school grads from Lake St. Martin this year, but Ross hopes this year’s group will change that in a few years.

Just last week, the First Nation had a groundbreaking ceremony on new land the band plans to re-build its community on. 

A new high school is to be built on the land, and Ross is optimistic once students return home to their traditional lands they will stay in school. 

“I think I have a lot of hope more than worry,” Ross said. “I’m just hoping these kids keep going.”

Pruden told a reporter it was her favourite comic book character Superman that kept her going. 

“He was my icon,” she said. “He told me to keep going.”

Bryden Sinclair is the only boy to graduate from Grade 9 at Lake St. Martin School this year. 

 -- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition July 2 2015 p.18 

Paddling from the Gulf to the Arctic

Six friends embarking on nine-month expedition will canoe on Lake Winnipeg this week

EXPRESS PHOTO BY AUSTIN GRABISH

Jarrad Moore, Adam Trigg, John Keaveny, Winchell Delano, and Luke Kimmes are travelling on a once-in-lifetime 5,200-mile trek to the Arctic Ocean, and are scheduled to paddle across Lake Winnipeg this week. 

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly News

Being exposed to frigid temperatures, fierce currents, and alligators all while paddling upstream would probably be enough for anyone to pull the plug on a canoe trip. 

But for six American boys travelling to the Arctic, it’s just a part of the once-in-a lifetime journey they are embarking on.

No, these Minnesota and Iowa boys aren’t raising money for a cause or trying to break a Guinness World Record – they’re paddling just for the fun of it.

And Jarrad Moore, Adam Trigg, John Keaveny, Winchell Delano, Luke Kimmes, and Daniel Flynn weren’t showing any signs of slowing down when they arrived in their three canoes on the banks of the Red River in West St. Paul last Thursday.

The men started planning their trip sometime about a year ago and have been canoeing upstream since Jan. 2, when they started their nine-month journey in the Gulf of Mexico.

Dubbed the Rediscover North America crew, the boys, if successful, will travel 5,200 miles after paddling through 11 rivers in 10 different states and five provinces.

Moore believes he and his friends are the first to embark on such a journey.

“All the separate pieces have been linked up, but together it’s never been done as a full route,” said Moore.

None of the men have attempted a journey like this before, but all are familiar with the outdoors, which is why camping on riverbanks every night hasn’t been a problem.

But the boys were all smiles when they arrived at the Royal Manitoba Yacht Club in West St. Paul last Thursday.

While there, they were treated to hot showers, beers, and a warm meal, a sure luxury for anyone who has been eating pre-packaged meals three times a day.

Keaveny said the trip is just for the “spirit of adventure,” and Moore said it’s been nice to go on a journey just for fun with no strings attached.

“It’s been kind of cool to see the support we’ve actually gotten just doing an adventure to do an adventure,” Moore said.

He added he is relishing the opportunity to travel across Canada.

“As you start, especially in the Gulf of Mexico, you’re like ‘nah we’ll never get to it’. Canada? We’ll talk about that when we get there, that’s like four months away.

“Now that we’re here it’s pretty exciting,” Moore said.

The voyageurs are slightly past the half way point of their trip and expect to arrive at Kugluktuk Nunavut, their final destination, at the end of August or the beginning of September.

Once there, the plan is to sell their canoes and catch a flight back home to Iowa or Minnesota.

This week they will continue to paddle upstream on Lake Winnipeg.

“Right now we’re doing really well. We’re ahead of schedule, but Lake Winnipeg’s a huge variable just because of wind,” Moore said. 

The guys must travel 300 miles on the lake and plan to do it over 10 days. 

They started on Saturday, but fierce winds caused the boys to have a layover near Riverton on Sunday.  

“With the winds that could blow us off the lake. We’ve packed 21 days worth of food and we’re hoping to do it in two weeks,” Kimmes said.

Mother Nature dictates everything on these boys’ journey, and she’s thrown many hurdles at them so far including snowstorms, rain, and ice.

Keaveny noted while still in the States, the group had to walk eight miles on frozen ice, which they also fell through, before they could start paddling water again.  

“You get to open water, you paddle,” Keaveny said.

And then there’s seeing alligators and dealing with unexpected water that’s seeped through holies in their canoes, but no one was dwelling about problems like that last Thursday.

After all, these boys planned this trip a year in advance and knew it wouldn’t all be smooth sailing.

SUBMITTED

Luke Kimmes, John Keaveny, and four friends have been paddling their way upstream to Nunavut since January 2.

 -- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition May 21 2015 p.2 and the Selkirk Record print edition May 21 2015 p.6

 

Construction for rehab centre on track

Aurora Recovery Centre will replace former Misty Lake Lodge this June

RECORD PHOTO BY AUSTIN GRABISH

The Aurora Recovery Centre is a dream come true for former drug addict Ian Rabb.

By Austin Grabish, The Selkirk Record

Construction on a new $8-million rehab centre in Gimli is well underway, and clients could start pouring through the doors as early as June 1^st. 

Reporters and investors got a sneak peek of the new Aurora Recovery Centre on Monday.

Aurora is in the old Misty Lake Lodge and Conference Centre and has been completely gutted, but a ton of work needs to be finished before doors can officially be opened.

But Marni Larkin, the chief operating officer for the project, said construction is on track, and crews will be working hard over the next two months to ensure clients can start coming in June.

“There are a number of people who are desperately waiting to benefit from the facility,” Larkin said.

A number of addicts who need help have already reached out to Aurora, and the building could be full at opening time, Larkin said.

The new Centre will house a medical detox clinic, and will serve as many as 68 clients on any given day.

Alcoholics, drug addicts, and gamblers will all walk through the doors at Aurora.

Canadians will be given preference, but clients will also come from the United States.

Clients will live at the Centre for varied amounts of time, but will be in programming put on by Aurora for up to two years.

“There’s no really such thing as a 28-day program anymore,” said Ian Rabb, the founder and co-owner of Aurora.

Rabb said research shows when addicts have a connection with someone for two years their chances of staying clean and sober are stronger.

The Recovery Centre is a dream come true for Rabb, who is a former drug addict.

“I’m really excited,” Rabb said.

Rabb lost everything after becoming addicted to meth and other drugs in the ‘90s.

He turned his life around and has been clean for nearly 14 years, but knows the cost of an addiction.  

Financially, he lost of hundreds of thousands of dollars due to his drug use.

Personally, he lost friends, and his career as an optometrist.

“It ended up being costly,” Rabb said.

Also costly will be the price of a stay at Aurora, which is a for-profit venture.

Addicts will have to pay a whopping $900 for every day they stay at the centre.

Plans for a scholarship fund are in the works, and a dedicated complimentary spot for local residents will also be in place, but awards will ultimately depend on donations, Larkin said.

All patients who come to the Centre will have to go through a mandatory detox clinic, and before being allowed into a room they will be required to complete a urine test to prove they are clean.

“A lot of people come and lie about what they took,” Larkin said.

Strict rules will be in place at Aurora, and men and women won’t be allowed to fraternize. 

 “We’re very serious about that,” Larkin said.

Once inside the Centre, addicts will have no access to the outside world.

Security will search everyone who comes in the facility, and cell phones and other personal belongings will be confiscated at check-in.

Clients will be allowed to leave the property once they are well, and if a patient wants to withdrawal from the program completely they can, Larkin said.

She noted it usually takes two or three tries at rehab before an addict becomes completely clean.

 -- First published in the Selkirk Record print edition April 9 2015 p.18

From the streets of Chicago to Gimli

Former drug addict reflects on journey of recovery

EXPRESS PHOTO BY AUSTIN GRABISH

Ian Rabb, 50, is a former drug addict who turned his life around. He is planning on opening the Aurora Recovery Centre this June in Gimli. 

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly News

Ian Rabb didn’t expect to make it past his 40^th birthday.

It was the ’90s and Rabb was a 23-year-old meth addict living on the streets of Chicago. 

He had a regular itch for booze, coke, meth, and ecstasy, and even though Rabb saw life through the haze of addiction, he knew his life was spiraling out of control.

But an American DEA agent somehow managed to pull Rabb away from it all, and to this day Rabb credits her with saving his life.

The agent had arrested the former Winnipegger a handful of times before, but couldn’t fathom why the certified optometrist was on the streets.

“Like you don’t belong in this world. What’s up with you?” Rabb recalls the agent saying.

Rabb wasn’t supposed to be an addict. He came from a ‘good’ home and had a top-notch university education.

“I was not a kid that was throwing chairs at the teacher. I was not a kid that was getting drunk or high everyday. I was going to school and I was going to succeed,” Rabb said.

And succeed he did.

After completing an undergraduate degree from the University of Waterloo, Rabb went on to study at the Illinois College of Optometry.

And it was there the trouble began.

“In Chicago I just started crossing the line,” Rabb said.

At first it was just a weekend thing.

For Rabb, a hit here and there seemed harmless.

“It was a lot of fun in the beginning,” Rabb said.

But Rabb’s addiction to meth grew stronger.

“I ended up crossing some really ugly lines,” he said.

“And then it just started getting worse and worse and worse.

“I actually remember thinking ‘well I’m just going to party hard until I’m 40 and then die’. That was my goal.”

Rabb spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on meth and other narcotics, and was arrested numerous times.

He became involved with organized crime and the sex trade.

He hit rock bottom when he wound up homeless living on the streets of Chicago with his dog.

But it wasn’t until he moved in with his sister in Denver, Co., that he realized he had a problem.

“Not being able to change I realized that I was doomed.”

Refusing to stay clean Rabb quickly found himself living on the streets again.

He spent a total of 2 1/2 years homeless before making a decision to change his life.

It was a phone call to the DEA agent that changed everything.

“The day that I wanted out I woke up that morning and she’s the first person I called,” Rabb said.

The agent had given Rabb her personal cell number in case he ever wanted to get out.

Turns out he did.

Rabb returned home to Winnipeg shortly after the call, and has been clean since July 7, 2001.

The date’s one Rabb, now 50, remembers well.

Staying clean was an uphill battle. “The first couple years were really difficult,” Rabb said.

Many of the peers Rabb went to rehab with relapsed.

He credits his soberness to advice he received from an 82-year-old mentor, who told him it wasn’t drugs and alcohol that were the problem.

The mentor told him he was using the drugs to cope with feelings that Rabb says he knew were there, but couldn’t quite grasp.

“He just intrinsically knew, because he felt all the same feelings.”

Rabb said he always felt consciously separated from his friends and family, and after talking with his mentor and getting clean, his life began to change.

“All those feelings that had crippled me since kindergarten went away.”

Rabb has a message to addicts who are struggling.

“There is hope,” he said.

“There’s a chance for everybody to get out of the misery.”

Rabb is hoping addicts can escape the misery at the new Aurora Recovery Centre, which he founded.

The private centre, which Rabb is an investor in, is slated to open in Gimli in June.

“I’ve been given the gift to help people transform their lives,” Rabb said.

But Rabb knows what the realities are.

“I have been to so many funerals.”

When his February interview with the Express finished he was off to another one.

That addict had shot himself because he couldn’t take it anymore, Rabb said. 

Ian Rabb at the construction site of the Aurora Recovery Centre in Gimli.

 -- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition April 9 2015 p.2

First female chief makes history in Peguis

 

PHOTO COURTESY PEGUIS FIRST NATION

Pictured left to right Mary Tyler Bear, Darlene Bird, Chief Cindy Spence, Wade Sutherland, and Glennis Sutherland were all elected to Peguis band council last Wednesday.

 

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly News       

There’s a new chief in town on the Peguis First Nation, and the new boss is a woman.

In a historic nail-biting win Peguis resident Cindy Spence out-seated Glenn Hudson as chief of the First Nation.

Spence is believed to be the first woman to ever hold the chief’s seat.

Unofficial election numbers circulating online say Spence defeated Hudson by just 62 votes.

Three other women were also elected, leaving just one man on the Interlake band’s council.

Mary Tyler Bear, Darlene Bird, Glennis Sutherland, and Wade Sutherland are the new councillors.

A whopping total of 31 people were running for councillor.

Spence has yet to comment on her historic win, but she thanked band members in a video posted on Facebook.

“We’re all in this together and it’s up to us to make our future a better future,” Spence said moments after being named chief.

In an interview with the Express a week prior to voting day she said she had a lengthy list of issues she would tackle if named chief.

She pledged to address the First Nation’s dire housing situation and improve communication in the community.

Business deals the First Nation have done regarding a development at Assiniboia Downs and the ongoing battle over the Kapyong Barracks in Winnipeg were both hot election issues this year. 

She told the Express she would bring all of the business deals Peguis has partaken in back to community members for evaluation.

Peguis has multimillion-dollar trust funds from settlement agreements, and she said, “It’s time for the Peguis people to have a voice in how and where our money is invested.”

News of Spence and the four councillors’ win was made official last Wednesday night, a day after band members went to the polls.

The news appeared to be welcomed by folks online.

“Congratulations to the voters that made change happen! I’m hopeful for what may lay ahead,” wrote Angela Morriseau in a Facebook post.

Glenn Hudson had served as chief of Peguis for nearly eight years. His high salary had come under fire in recent years though he defended it in an interview with the Express in the days leading up the election.

 -- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition April 2, 2015 p.1

Communication and housing top priorities for chief hopeful

 

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Cindy Spence is running for chief of Peguis First Nation.

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly News

Cindy Spence has a lengthy list of issues she says she would tackle if elected chief of Peguis, but first and foremost she is pledging to address the Interlake First Nation’s dire housing situation.  

“My biggest priority would be to review the housing circumstance on reserve,” said Spence in a phone interview Monday.

Hundreds of homes on the Peguis First Nation are awaiting repair or replacement, and Spence said they should be a top priority for council. 

“Our people really have been suffering,” Spence said.

But housing is just the first of many problems on the reserve she is promising to address if elected chief.

The next item on her list is communication.

She said there is a paucity of communication between council and its band members.

“I really believe that it’s time for Peguis people to take an active role in community consultations,” Spence said.

“People have to be informed of revenues, they have to be informed of what type of investments are required of Peguis band members on an ongoing long-term basis.”

Spence, who has run for chief of Peguis before, thinks poverty in the community could be eradicated if funds from large settlements the band has received were used strategically. 

“We are the beneficiaries of these trusts, and it’s time for the Peguis people to have a voice in how and where our money is invested,” Spence said.

She said many band members have questions about business dealings made by the First Nation. 

“The people of Peguis are very interested in taking a look at some of the deals that have been negotiated on our behalf.”

She said she supports businesses and if elected chief she would bring all of the recent business deals that have been made by the band to the people of Peguis.

“And pretty much review through public consultation process, and allow for people to have a proper informed decision in regards to moving any business ventures forward,” Spence said.

The long-time resident of Peguis feels there is an unfair divide in the pay employees receive on reserve.

“I think that the whole wage system needs to be reviewed in Peguis. It’s not only for chief and council, but for people who are underpaid in many cases,” Spence said.

“We are one of the wealthier bands in Manitoba however our people are some of the poorest and that’s for both on and off reserve members.”

She also questions honorariums that are given to council members when they travel and do work for off-reserve boards.

Monies paid to members of council from the boards aren’t reported like salaries and expenses, she said.

“When we look at those salaries we are only seeing one small piece of what a person is actually bringing in.”

“So I really think the whole thing needs to be looked at.”

She said if elected chief any honorariums she received for off-reserve board work would be given back to the community. 

Spence said she wants to shape the future of Peguis together with band members.

“I think that my voice represents the voice of the people, and that if I’m elected it will be the people that will be my number one priority.”

Voting takes place March 24.

**An earlier version of this story identified Spence as Smith. The Express apologizes for the error.

-- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition March 19, 2015 p.13

Peguis candidate running for chief pitches co-operative model

Says business dealings have hurt impoverished community 

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly News

Dawn Thomas has a vision for Peguis and it’s one that doesn’t include capital development.

Thomas is running to be the next chief of Peguis and is campaigning on a model that’s entirely different than one put forward by incumbent chief Glenn Hudson.

It’s Thomas’s second run at politics – she ran to be chief two years ago, but lost to Hudson who has been the leader of the First Nation for the last eight years.

“We need to shift our focus from the for-profit model that we’re following to the co-operative model for our business model that we’re doing,” said Thomas in a phone interview last week.

Thomas feels there is a divide on the Interlake First Nation that is directly related to the business dealings Peguis First Nation has gotten involved with in recent years.

“It is causing a lot of grief and division in the community,” Thomas said.

“A lot of people are feeling left out.”

If elected chief she is pledging to move the band’s focus to a co-operative model, which would align better with traditional aboriginal culture, she said.

She thinks if Peguis switched its financial model to a co-operative fighting on the reserve over money would stop, because everyone would have something coming to them at the end of the year.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Dawn Thomas is running for chief of Peguis First Nation.

Thomas, a resident of Peguis for the last eight years, said her community is riddled in pain and grief that has come from poverty, the biggest problem on the reserve, she said.

Thomas said there is a serious lack of housing and community services in Peguis.

“We’re like pretty much every other First Nation in Canada,” Thomas said.

“The community and nation itself really needs support.”

She said rather than focusing on citizens, the current council has been prioritizing business dealings off-reserve in Winnipeg.

Thomas thinks there is a lack of communication between Peguis council and its band members.

She said she’s seen it first-hand during meetings she’s attended on the reserve over the last eight years.

“What needs to change is (the) lack of communication,” Thomas said.

“We’re starting to see a great divide happening.”

Thomas believes Hudson has too high of a salary and is promising to let the community set her salary if elected chief.

“I do have a problem with the high amount of salary. It isn’t necessary, I don’t think,” Thomas said.

Band members go to the polls on March 24. 

-- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition March 19, 2015 p.14

Peguis chief wants another two years

Hudson pledges to build homes, expand business

EXPRESS PHOTO BY AUSTIN GRABISH

Peguis Chief Glenn Hudson is seeking re-election. Band members go to the polls on March 24.

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly News

The chief of Manitoba’s largest First Nation says he is proud of progress that’s been made by his band over the last two years, but Glenn Hudson isn’t ready to step down as leader of Peguis just yet.

He is seeking re-election and will have to win votes from band members who will choose between him and two other candidates at the polls later this month.

But if you visited Hudson’s Winnipeg office you’d hardly know he’s just weeks away from the end of an election. There are no visible campaign signs posted and Hudson’s talk is all business.

“Certainly my work, I think, speaks for itself,” said Hudson.

“We’ve been moving forward certainly.”

Hudson is finishing his fourth two-year term as chief of Peguis, but said he wants to stay on for at least one more term, because the band is still in the early stages of many projects.

“The work that we’ve started is not completed,” Hudson said.

Part of the uncompleted work includes what Hudson calls a ‘comprehensive community plan,’ which he says will build the Peguis economy and create jobs.

“There’s a lot of growth that’s happening in our community,” Hudson said.

Hudson wants his band to further expand outside of Peguis onto traditional Treaty No. 1 lands in Winnipeg.

Plans to build a hotel and conference centre at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg are already in the works.

“The future’s very bright,” Hudson said.

Hudson said his biggest accomplishment as chief was the leading role he played in the historic St. Peters land claim settlement, which saw Peguis get a $126.1 million payout from the federal government in 2009.

He also said he’s brought 150 jobs to the community by creating the Chief Peguis Construction company.

“That has helped address our poverty issues and social issues within the community.”

Hudson said he’s been able to reduce debt on the First Nation while also having new projects take flight.

He used the Peguis Multiplex Centre, which opened late last year as an example.

“It acts as a gathering point for us when we do have gatherings in the community,” Hudson said.

He also said the band’s acquisition of the former motor vehicle branch on Portage Avenue in Winnipeg is something he is proud of.

The building is currently being remodeled and already has some band offices in it.

But Hudson’s tenure as chief hasn’t been without controversy.

In 2012 red flags were raised after an independent audit found issues with the way $10.5 million in flood money was handled.

Aboriginal Affairs expressed concern that not all of the federal flood compensation funding was used for its intended purposes.

Hudson dismissed the report at the time and defended his administration.

Hudson’s high salary has also come under fire.

He is one of the highest paid chiefs in Manitoba and took home a base salary of $113,646 last year in addition to the $88,794 in cash he received for expenses.

“I’m the third or fourth highest paid in the province, but yet I’m the largest First Nation,” Hudson said.

“So if you want to compare in terms of population wise I ain’t the highest paid, but certainly we have the largest First Nation.”

Hudson said he would not raise his salary if he were re-elected.

He is also pledging to build at least 50 homes per year in Peguis.

Hundreds of homes on the Interlake reserve are in dire need of repair or replacement.

Hudson also said he would work towards expanding the multiplex in Peguis.

Band members go to the polls on March 24.

-- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition March 19, 2015 p.14

Crowds embrace winter during Wonderful Weekend in Winnipeg Beach

Winnipeg resident Troy Smith kiteboards to some strong winds on Lake Winnipeg Sunday afternoon. 

Travis Franz fishes patiently at the Sunday ice fishing derby put on by the Winnipeg Beach Firefighters’ Association.

Winnipeg resident Silas Gershmans (left), 7, along with Stonewall resident Wyatt Mitchell (centre), 9, and Alyssa Gusta (right), 7, from Thalberg Manitoba all make their way around a frozen racetrack on Lake Winnipeg. 

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly News 

If you were looking to have some winter fun Winnipeg Beach was the place to be last weekend.

Hundreds came out to the 49^th annual Wonderful Winter Weekend to take in some of the activities that were jam-packed into the weekend’s schedule.

Curling, snowmobile races, skating, ice fishing, horse-drawn wagon rides and a chili contest were just a few of the many activities that took place on the long weekend.

Dozens of ice fishing shacks were set up on Lake Winnipeg for the annual Winnipeg Beach Firefighters’ Association Fishing Derby.

Fishers braved the cold for the competition and a total of nice fish has been caught at the derby when the Express stopped by early Sunday afternoon. 

Organizer Steve Gerbrandt said the fishing derby continues to go strong every year.

He said funds raised from the derby’s canteen will go to the breakfast program at Winnipeg Beach School, and money from derby tickets sold will go to a community group at a later time.

“If something comes up we just give,” Gerbrandt said.

Gerbrandt said Winnipeg Beach public works staff made the derby possible by prepping the ice on the lake.

He said the staff cleared space for the derby and flooded cracks on the lake to make it safe.

While fishers waited patiently in hopes of getting a catch youngsters raced sleds nearby on another part of the lake.

Kids aged four – 14 came out to race on the lake.

Dave Cole, the president of the Manitoba Mini Sled Racers’ Association said kids in the group had so much fun they’d come back next year.

“Great really really good,” Cole said when answering a reporter’s question about how the day went.

It was the group’s first time racing in Winnipeg Beach.  

Winnipeg resident Troy Smith made the trip out to the lake to kiteboard with a friend.

He said a windy Sunday made for a great day of kiteboarding.

“It’s all about getting in the right zone,” Smith said.

“Today’s beautiful not cold for us anyway lots of wind out here.”

Temperatures on Sunday hovered just under -30 C with the wind chill in Gimli according to Environment Canada.

But no one the Express talked to complained about the weather, at least on the record.

-- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition February 19, 2015 p.12

Lake healer named sustainability champion

SCREENSHOT: YOUTUBE

Katherine Morrisseau-Sinclair has received the province’s Champion for Sustainability award for her efforts in healing Lake Winnipeg. She led a 28-day traditional water walk last summer.

 

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly

She set out on an ambitious 28-day journey last summer to heal Lake Winnipeg and led over 100 women, including many grandmothers, on a 1,032 kilometre trek, and now Katherine Morrisseau-Sinclair has been awarded for her efforts in saving the threatened lake.

Morrisseau-Sinclair received the province’s Champion for Sustainability award last Wednesday.

“I felt really humbled to have the water walk acknowledged in that way,” said Morrisseau-Sinclair, when reached by phone Sunday.

“It was a nice surprise.”

Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh congratulated Morrisseau-Sinclair on winning the award.

"I'd like to congratulate these award winners for the commitment they've shown to the challenge we have issued to all Manitobans. We all need to do our part and every little bit adds up to making a big difference,” said Mackintosh in a news release.

Sinclair led a traditional Anishinaabe water walk from Norway House to Manigotagan and made stops in several Interlake communities last summer as part of an effort to raise awareness about the state of Lake Winnipeg.

She was inspired by a 2013 news story, which said Lake Winnipeg was the world’s most threatened lake of the year.

Morrisseau-Sinclair said she believes the water walk will have a lasting impact on Lake Winnipeg.

She said she was touched by many of the communities she walked through last summer.

“I was inspired and motivated everyday by people and their reaction to it,” Morrisseau-Sinclair said.

“I know that our efforts have brought healing to the lake because of our beliefs,” she said when explaining how aboriginal women heal water.

“Everybody has a role in life and for us, as women, one of our responsibilities is to take care of the waters, and that is a very direct connection to the fact that we bring forth life and water is life. Water sustains life,” Morrisseau-Sinclair said.

Morrisseau-Sinclair doesn’t think the general public treats water with caution. She said fears that arose out of last week’s boil water advisory in the City of Winnipeg proves that point.

“It was amazing to watch people and their reaction to that,” Morrisseau-Sinclair said.

“Two days of boil water advisory is nothing compared to what could happen.”

Morrisseau-Sinclair said it’s not just Lake Winnipeg that’s in trouble.

“This is just the beginning, there’s a lot of work that we have to do not only for Lake Winnipeg but all the lakes.

“I mean Lake Manitoba is in the same state now and people have to start paying attention and they have to realize they must do something in order to support and maintain life through those lakes, otherwise they’re going to be in serious trouble,” Morrisseau-Sinclair said.

“Without water we’re not going to have life.”

Several other environmental stewards received other awards from the province.

-- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition February 5, 2015 p.4

Changes to child-welfare system still years away

FILE PHOTO

Phoenix Sinclair was only five years old when her mother, Samantha Kematch, and stepfather, Karl McKay, murdered her on the Fisher River First Nation.

 

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly

The province is pledging to better its child-welfare system while supporting families who are at risk of losing their kids, but will take several years to implement key recommendations from the multimillion-dollar Phoenix Sinclair inquiry.

Family Services Minister Keri Irvin-Ross said it may take the province as many as seven years to implement the 62 recommendations made by the $14-million inquiry into the death of the five-year-old girl, who’s murder went undetected for months by child-welfare officials.

And the province won’t commit to acting on all of the recommendations from the inquiry.

Extending care to all kids in the child-welfare system until the age of 25 is one of the recommendations the province may not follow through with, Irvin-Ross said at a press conference last Tuesday.

“What I’m saying is that we’re going to review that recommendation and we’re going to come up with a plan that’s balanced and supports the youth…,” Irvin-Ross said.

“I have had ongoing conversations with Commissioner (Ted) Hughes. He knows that some recommendations may not be implemented as he has recorded them, but he accepts that and knows that we’re working towards improving a better system.” 

“It has to be a balanced approach,” she said.

Irvin-Ross said the province plans on moving forward with a more holistic approach for its child-welfare system.

"We're shifting our emphasis from protection to prevention. Prevention is the best protection.”

She said the province will boost in-home funding supports for families by 60 per cent, noting poverty is an underlining problem for kids in the child-welfare system.

“We have to address the root causes,” Irvin-Ross said.

“Our priority is to keep children at home safely.”

Progressive Conservative Family Services critic Ian Wishart said the province should be moving forward quicker with many of the recommendations.

“We feel that that’s an unacceptably long-time for children to continue to be at risk,” Wishart said in a telephone interview.

“We know that everyday children are at risk and the system is failing them and you need to make the improvements in the system not just talk about them forever.”

He said the murder of a 21-month-old toddler on the Peguis First Nation last summer is an example of why changes to the system are needed.

The young girl was in the child-welfare system at some point in her life, and her parents and step-sister have been charged in connection with her death.

He said the Peguis toddler’s death was “eerily similar” to Sinclair’s.

Sinclair’s mother and stepfather beat her to death in 2005.

“I think that really drives it home,” he said.

Wishart said there are nearly 11,000 kids in the province’s child-welfare system, and

87 per cent of those kids are aboriginal.

Irvin-Ross said the province will establish an independent indigenous children’s advocate, but questions about the proposed advocate’s ability to criticize the government have already been reported.   

Grand Chief Derek Nepinak said the province didn’t properly consult the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs before announcing its plans last Tuesday.

“AMC was intentionally left out and there was marginal engagement of AMC member First Nations,” Nepinak said in a press release.

-- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition February 5, 2015 p.3