Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Serving the Hub of the North since 1960
Volume 60 • Issue 4
Student from Thompson selected by province to serve on Youth Advisory Council for Climate BY JAMES SNELL
JAMES@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
PERIMETER FLIGHT HITS SNOWBANK IN SHAMATTAWA NEWS PAGE 2
UCN HOSTING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE IN APRIL NEWS PAGE 3
Hunter Beardy, a University of Manitoba student and York Factory First Nation member from Thompson, has been selected by the province to serve on the Youth Advisory Council for Climate. The government of Manitoba is “calling on youth of all walks of life, and from areas across the province to help inform the implementation of the Madein-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan.” The council consists of nine members who will serve a one-year term starting in December 2019. Criteria for selection were: being a Manitoba resident between 15 and 25 years of age, representing the diversity of Manitoba, being knowledgeable of issues related to the province’s Climate and Green Plan, demonstrating a proven engagement and interest in en-
vironmental issues and civil society issues, engaging in respectful, open discussion, being accepting of differing viewpoints, and not being employed by the Manitoba government. “The Youth Advisory Council will be directed by the Expert Advisory Council,” the province states on their website. “It will provide advice and recommendations to the Expert Advisory Council regarding issues and initiatives to help inform implementation of the Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green Plan, including but not limited to addressing climate change and managing plastics.” “The Youth Advisory Council will work along with the Department of Conservation and Climate, not directly with the minister, but will work with another council called the Expert Advisory Council,” Beardy told the Thompson Citizen. “They are pro-
fessionals on this issue of climate and sustainable development. With that we will be making recommendations to the expert advisory council.” Beardy became involved in climate change advocacy and sustainable development issues when attending a climate change protest in 2019. “There was a big outcome and audience,” he said. “With everything going on with the [recent] Australian bush fires and global warming itself. It does affect the north and First Nations communities with a shorter winter road season.” Beardy is also working on other environmental issues like water resources, and land erosion due to impacts of hydro development. “That interests me, and I want to be an advocate,” said Beardy. “To find better solutions to the issues that affect the north.”
Thompson Citizen photo courtesy of Hunter Beardy Hunter Beardy of Thompson was one of nine young Manitobans selected to serve on the provincial government’s Youth Advisory Council for Climate.
Former Thompson RCMP officer receives three years probation, $10,000 fine for criminal negligence causing bodily harm Conviction stemmed from November 2015 police pursuit that ended with Steven Campbell being shot to death KARATE COMPETITION RETURNS TO THOMPSON SPORTS PAGE 6
PRINCE-BERSCHEID PEEWEE HOCKEY TOURNAMENT SPORTS PAGE 7
BY IAN GRAHAM
EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
Former Thompson RCMP constable Abram Letkeman received three years probation, 240 hours of community service and a $10,000 fine at a Jan. 17 sentencing hearing in Thompson for his conviction of criminal negligence causing bodily harm. The conviction stemmed from a Nov. 21, 2015 incident when Letkeman twice hit a Jeep being driven by Steven Campbell with his police cruiser before exiting the vehicle and fatally shooting Campbell as he drove the Jeep towards him. Letkeman was found not
guilty of manslaughter and other charges related to Campbell’s shooting death after a trial in Thompson in June 2019. Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Chris Martin also prohibited Letkeman from driving for 12 months and specified that his community hours, which must be completed in the next 18 months, could not be performed at his church. Letkeman was described by friends and family in letters of support as a devoted Christian. “I am torn,” said Martin just before delivering the sentence to a standing-room-only audience
in the courtroom, many of them RCMP officers. “All of this was senseless,” Martin had said moments earlier, characterizing Letkeman as a good man at his core whose zeal in getting impaired drivers off the road “created a blind spot in his otherwise good judgment.” One of Letkeman’s brothers and one of his sisters were killed in car accidents four years apart when he was a teenager. The judge also said that Letekman’s RCMP career, which began in 2010 and ended recently when he received a medical discharge, though his conviction would
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have resulted in termination regardless, would serve mainly as a cautionary tale to other officers of what not to do and the importance of following policies and rules. “If they were followed, we wouldn’t be here,” Martin said. In his August 19 verdict, Martin said Letkeman twice intentionally hit the Jeep Campbell was driving with his police cruiser, first at the intersection of Caribou Road and Deerwood Drive and then again on a Manitoba Hydro right-ofway used as an ATV trail at the south end of Princeton Drive. That impact to the side of the Jeep resulted in
Campbell’s girlfriend Lori Flett suffering a broken pelvis and injuring her neck. She was also hit by a bullet fragment a few moments later when Letkeman, fearing that Campbell would run him over, shot the 39-yearold man at least nine times. Martin said when pronouncing his verdict that Letkeman had made a series of blunders during the pursuit of Campbell, which began because Letkeman suspected he was driving impaired, though ultimately the shooting was justified because Letkeman was legitimately in danger of being killed or seriously wounded. Continued on Page 2