August 7 2019

Page 1

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Serving the Hub of the North since 1960

Volume 59 • Issue 32

RCMP divers complete searching Nelson River near where damaged rowboat was found

MISSING 18-YEAR-OLD LAST SEEN JULY 18 NEWS PAGE 2

UCN & CEDF GET FEDERAL FUNDING NEWS PAGE 3

Manitoba RCMP sent divers to search a section of the Nelson River Aug. 3 after a rowboat was found about 13 kilometres from the burned Toyota RAV4 driven by B.C. homicide suspects Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky that was found July 22. The RCMP said Aug. 5 that the divers completed their work Aug. 4 and would not be conducting any additional dives. A police roadblock was also put in place Aug. 5 in the Sundance area for ongoing search efforts. The Globe & Mail reported that the boat was green, aluminum and flat-bottomed and that a red-and-white water container was found near it. An RCMP inspector said it had been through the rapids and was significantly damaged. It was found near the lower Limestone rapids, an area that had last been searched by air

RCMP A damaged rowboat found on the Nelson River Aug. 3 near Gillam, where B.C. homicide suspects Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky ditched a Toyota Rav4 July 22, prompted RCMP to send divers north to conduct an underwater search Aug. 4. three our four days before. RCMP were trying to determine if the boat belonged to anyone in the area. Even though the search for McLeod, 19, and Schmegelsky, 18, in Northern Manitoba

is scaling down, police will not end their manhunt until there is a resolution, Manitoba RCMP Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy said July 31. RCMP began searching the area of Gillam and Fox Lake

Cree Nation after the Rav4 was found abandoned and burned near the communities July 22. They established two confirmed sightings in the area before that time, but have not been able to confirm any sightings since, despite a daylong intensive search in York Landing July 28-29 after a Winnipeg Bear Clan Patrol member said he saw two people matching the suspects’ descriptions at the community’s dump. McLeod and Schmegelsky are wanted in connection with the killings of Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese, found dead on the Alaska Highway in B.C. July 15, and have been charged with second-degree murder in the death Leonard Dyck of Vancouver, whose body was found south of Dease Lake, B.C. July 19. Dyck’s body was discovered about two kilometres from a burnt-out truck that McLeod and Schmegelsky had been

driving when they left Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, ostensibly on the way to Alberta to look for work. CBC and other media reported that the pair had been briefly questioned by Tataskweyak Cree Nation band constables after not stopping at a drug and alcohol checkstop at the entrance to the dry First Nation July 22, the day before they were identified as suspects in the three homicides. The Toyota was found later that evening. Manitoba RCMP said July 25 that they believed McLeod and Schmegelsky were still in the Gillam area, based the confirmed sightings and the fact that no vehicles in the area had been reported stolen. Anyone who spots McLeod and Schmegelsky should call Gillam RCMP at 204-6522200, Thompson RCMP at 204-677-6911 or 911 or their local police in other areas.

Two 14-year-old girls stabbed by youths July 25 BY IAN GRAHAM

EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

Two teenagers have been arrested and warrants have been issued for two more after two 14-year-old girls were stabbed near Giant Tiger in the early morning hours of July 25.

Manitoba RCMP media relations officer Sgt. Paul Manaigre said the incident occurred around 3:35 a.m. in the parking lot of Giant Tiger on Thompson Drive. “The victims advised they were hanging out in the Giant Tiger parking lot when a

group of youths came out of the bush and ran after them and began to assault them,” he said. “They attempted to steal items in their possession and when they fought back, they were assaulted and later realized they had been stabbed. They ran away

from the scene where another youth who had seen them injured called 911.” RCMP officers took the girls to the hospital for immediate treatment. One 17-year-old female was arrested and remanded into custody on charges of ag-

gravated assault and assault with a weapon as a result of the stabbing. A 14-year-old male was arrested and released on a promise to appear in court. Two other accused have been identified but not yet located and there are warrants out for their arrest.

Syphilis numbers still climbing in Northern Manitoba BY IAN GRAHAM

EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

JUNIOR B NCN FLAMES REIGNITED SPORTS PAGE 5

LIFE AFTER LIFEGUARDING NEWS PAGE 5

A rise in the number of syphilis cases in Northern Manitoba that began about four years ago has not yet levelled off, says Manitoba’s acting provincial public health officer Dr. Michael Isaac. In 2019 so far, the province’s north has seen 100 confirmed cases of the blood-borne disease, putting the region on pace to top last year’s 176 cases, though Isaac says both those numbers could change as a result of ongoing investigations. In 2017, there were 109 cases, 99 in 2016 and 56 in 2015, a sharp increase from only 10 confirmed cases in 2014. “The trend is pretty clear that we’re still on the rise,” Isaac said. “Syphilis rates continue to climb in the region.” Syphilis can be transmitted sexually as well as through the sharing of needles for intravenous drug use. Symptoms can include sores on the gen-

itals or on a person’s mouth or anus but they are typically painless and people may not notice them. “Some people will not know if they have symptoms,” Isaac said. These sores can also make it easier to transmit or contract other sexually transmitted infections like HIV, gonorrhea, and hepatitis B and C. “It can act as an open doorway for the HIV virus,” Isaac says, noting that hepatitis C cases are up around the province, though there has not been an increase in HIV numbers in Northern Manitoba as of yet. Hepatitis is most commonly spread through the sharing of IV drug injection equipment. Though syphilis is easily cured with a dose of long-acting penicillin, it can have serious health impacts. “Untreated syphilis can spread through the body and, if it is left untreated, a certain proportion of people will get complications even years

down the road,” Isaac says. “It can be pretty severe if it’s left untreated. We’re lucky with syphilis that we haven’t seen [antibiotic] resistance.” Part of the reason more cases are being confirmed in recent years – including four confirmed cases and one suspected case of congenital syphilis passed on to newborns by their mothers in Manitoba from 2015 through 2018 – is because the Northern Regional Health Authority is doing more testing and has implemented additional testing for pregnant women – two tests during pregnancy instead of the standard single test and a third test just after giving birth. “We’re definitely doing more testing for syphilis than we have in the past,” Isaac says. Syphilis tests are widely available in the north, with some public health nurses having been trained to take samples. In Thompson, it is

available at the clinic in the plaza, the teen clinic and also through public health nursing staff. “We need to know that someone has it,” in order to be able to treat it and limit the disease’s spread, Isaac says. “If you don’t know you have [sexually transmitted infections] we can’t get to the point of treating them so it’s important to get tested.” The NRHA is also supporting harm reduction efforts like clean needle distribution through the Safer Choices Northern Network in the Thompson area and the Play It Safer network in The Pas and Flin Flon, since increased IV use of crystal methamphetamine and sharing needles is contributing to syphilis’s spread. “Across the province we’re seeing an increase in crystal methamphetamine use,” said Isaac, including in northern communities. New needles are also

available through Thompson public health and people who are using IV drugs should not share injection equipment and get tested for syphilis, HIV, hepatitis and other bloodborne infections every three months. Frequent testing is also recommended for sex workers and those who have sex with multiple partners, who can reduce their risk of getting syphilis by practising safe sex. “Using condoms is a way to reduce the risk of acquiring syphilis,” said Isaac. The province is also looking at different ways of testing rather than the current method of drawing blood and taking a urine sample. Dried blood spot testing, in which a person dabs a sample of their blood onto a card and sends it in to get tested is one alternative method that may become more common in the future. “It’s not currently widely available in Canada,” Isaac says.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.