Love letter makes it clear marriage is sunk

Grassroots organization teaches families how to navigate the child-welfare system

Jacqueline Rieu wants her son back. He’s eight years old, is on the autism spectrum and has been living in foster care since being apprehended by Manitoba Child and Family Services five years ago.

Winnipeg School Division to review all its schools named after people

Manitoba’s largest school board is reviewing all of its K-12 building titles to determine whether the namesakes and their respective legacies are in line with modern-day morals.

Last week, Jamie Dumont, vice-chairwoman of the board of trustees in the Winnipeg School Division, introduced a motion to undertake an evaluation of all schools named after people and research each historical figure’s resumé.

“We operate, as a school division, under a number of values and, in many cases, we are very much a leader in diversity, equity, inclusion and Indigenous education — so I think it’s important that, as a board, we ensure that our schools and our buildings don’t contradict these values,” Dumont said during a virtual board meeting Sept. 13.

The review will identify whether any buildings are named after individuals with a history of actions that are discriminatory or not in accordance with WSD values, namely: inclusiveness, diversity, reconciliation, and respect for the rights and human dignity of others, or both.

Pair of banks abandoning Brandon’s downtown

BRANDON — Two of Canada’s major banks are set to relocate from their longstanding downtown Brandon locations in October.

BMO will close its branch on Rosser Avenue and move to a new location on Park Avenue while Royal Bank of Canada’s Rosser branch will be consolidated with the existing RBC branch on 18th Street.

Neither bank owns its downtown property or could say what will happen to the buildings after they vacate.

BMO spokesperson Jeff Roman described the bank’s move to Park Avenue as an investment in the Brandon community.

Manitoba data not yet adequate to release virus projections, Roussin says

Even as Manitoba's coronavirus infection rate continues to improve, the province is steadfast in refusing to release its long-term projections of the pandemic's impact.

It's a decision reiterated at Tuesday's health briefing that's in stark contrast to Ontario, which shared its latest projections Monday — a move of transparency it said was necessary for the public to fully understand the challenges facing the government.

“Providing this information is key to ensuring continued transparency with the public about the challenges that Ontario faces in dealing with COVID-19 and where there has been progress in flattening the curve,” the COVID-19: Modelling and Potential Scenarios report released Monday said. The 18-page report showed Ontarians that public-health interventions resulted in the virus peaking now rather than in May, and included such information as the total number of cases for the span of the outbreak is now likely to be less than 20,000, compared to the 80,000 projected earlier.

In Manitoba, that kind of modelling with potential scenarios has not been made public. For the last two weeks, government officials and chief provincial health officer Dr. Brent Roussin have indicated such projections would be made public in the coming days. Modelling and potential scenarios have been presented to the province but more data is needed before projections will be released to the public, said Roussin.

Change is keyword in move to define infill boundaries

After 40 years of sprawl, Winnipeg is trying to grow up — but first, it will have to update its rules on infill development in mature neighbourhoods.

Winnipeg’s footprint grew three times faster than its population from 1971 to 2011, city documents show. For the last five years, 15 per cent of growth has been infill development in older neighbourhoods — a whiplash change that’s sparked concerns about different rules for different neighbourhoods and too much change, too fast.

While many infill developments are approved by city hall despite community opposition, Charleswood residents were able to block a 100-foot lot from being split early this summer.

“The lack of consistency and the imprecise guidelines is the most important thing,” River Heights resident Ann Hodges said. “There are criteria that are meant to be used.