July 10 2019

Page 1

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Serving the Hub of the North since 1960

Volume 59 • Issue 28

Council approves new in-car camera model for taxis BY IAN GRAHAM

EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

UCN MARKS 15TH ANNIVERSARY

NEWS PAGE 2

FIREFIGHTERS COMPETE IN CALGARY SPORTS PAGE 6

TWO SPEEDING TICKETS IN TWO DAYS NEWS PAGE 8

Taxi owners in Thompson will have to install new cameras in their vehicles at a cost of about $1,250 plus tax now that council has approved a new model of in-car camera for cabs. Council voted in favour of SD-300 cameras at their June 24 meeting. The previous model of camera used – the G6 Taxicam – has software problems which can prevent the city’s licence inspector from viewing images recorded by the cameras without physically removing the memory card. “Recently, several issues have arisen from the software,” said a May 17 memo from licence inspector Frank Sharpe to the city’s fire and public safety director Mike Bourgon. “In March, all licences expired without notification. The cameras were still recording but I was unable to view footage for approximately one week, until the licences were renewed. Approximately two weeks ago, the date and time failed on the software. Selectron Solutions [which supports the VeriEye software used in the G6 cameras] advised there was a GPS rollover which caused issues with the viewer displaying the correct date (Similar to Y2K). There is currently no fix for this issue.” SD-300 cameras have

Previous approved model experiencing software problems, says licence inspector

Thompson Citizen photo by Ian Graham Owners of taxis in Thompson will have to replace their in-car cameras with a different model at a cost of about $1,250 plus tax per vehicle. been tested for the past year in Winnipeg, which is in the process of switching taxi cameras to that model. Software support and training to use the new cameras, which come with a one-year warranty, is provided by GRS at no extra cost. Thompson taxis with G6 cameras experiencing issues will begin being switched over to SD-300 cameras immediately. “Every single taxi in the city of Thompson has a functioning camera at this time as well as GPS which a lot of people don’t realize is always running,” said city manager Anthony McInnis at the council meeting. “The issue is that our inspector has identified that the mod-

els are obsolete and it’s time that we move to a new model. The inspector has consulted with industry on this so the taxicab drivers and owners have been consulted and seem to be in favour of these upgrades.” Sharpe said at a June 13 public safety committee meeting that the new cameras have better images and 128 gigabyte memory cards that can hold up to four weeks’ worth of footage. “Right now we’re lucky to get about 10 days,” she said at that time, when Mayor Colleen Smook asked her if SD-300 cameras have the ability to record audio as well. “The cameras have the technology for audio but it

eats into the video time,” said Sharpe. In-car cameras are required under Thompson’s Taxi Cab Bylaw, which stipulates that the make and model must be approved by council. The bylaw says that licence inspectors can remove images to check for infractions of the bylaw while the RCMP remove images for investigation of crimes. In-taxi cameras became a bylaw requirement in 2006, following the killing of taxi driver Melissa Chaboyer in 2005. Chaboyer was stabbed and left dead on the ground outside her cab in the back parking lot of the City Centre Mall. Two suspects fled on foot from the scene head-

ing towards Eastwood. Her killing remains unsolved. “The safety of our taxi drivers given some of the past history that we’ve had in this community is of the most importance,” said Coun. Jeff Fountain, who chairs the public safety committee. Staff Sgt. Chris Hastie said at the June 13 public safety meeting that Thompson RCMP had received six to eight complaints about taxi drivers in the past few months, though none of these had led to any arrests or charges as of May 31. “This is not only protection for the cab industry but for the people that ride in the cabs,” said Coun. Les Ellsworth. The committee plans to change the bylaw in the future so that camera model changes can be approved by the licence inspector. “The changes of the bylaw would require three readings and the process would be over a month and our inspector as well as the committee felt that it was prudent to do this as quickly as possible to provide security to the community as well as the taxicab industry which is why this is coming to council,” said McInnis. “The plan is for the committee to continue to work on the bylaw amendment to give flexibility to administration.”

Liberal MLA acclaimed as federal Liberal candidate in Churchill-Keewatinook Aski riding Manitoba Liberal MLA Judy Klassen was acclaimed as the candidate for the federal Liberals in the Northern Manitoba riding of Churchill-Keewatinook Aski July 4. The nomination took place in Klassen’s home community of St. Theresa Point, a fly-in First Nation in the Island Lake region of Manitoba’s northeast. “I am honoured and humbled by your support and will give my service to improving the lives of people in the north,” said Klassen in a press release. “The North is my home, these are my people and I will dedicate my public service to delivering results in improving the lives of Northern Manitobans.” Klassen was elected as Keewatinook MLA in 2016, defeating former NDP MLA Eric Robinson as one of three successful Liberal candidates in the election that brought Premier Brian Pallister’s Progressive Conservative government into power, breaking a 17year hold on government by the provincial NDP. She announced in April that she would be seeking the federal nomination, though it

had been rumoured that she would since early March. Klassen will be up against NDP candidate Niki Ashton, who has represented Churchill and then Churchill-Keewatinook Aski since 2008, though her margin of victory shrank considerably in the last election from the previous one. Ashton beat Liberal candidate Rebecca Chartrand, who doesn’t live in Northern Manitoba, by fewer than 1,000 votes in the 2015 federal election, while she beat Conservative candidate Wally Daudrich from Churchill by 5,000 votes in the 2011 election. The Churchill-Keewatinook Aski riding is 75 per cent Indigenous and many of its First Nations are accessible only by air or by winter roads. The median income of $16,606 is the lowest in Canada, and the median age of 26.3 is second lowest. It has a child poverty rate of 64.2 per cent, the worst of any of Canada’s 338 federal ridings. “The people of the North are at a critical time of much-needed investments,” said Klassen’s press release announcing that she had captured the nomination. “We

have already seen the damage of Conservative austerity in the North by Brian Pallister, further austerity under [leader] Andrew Scheer and the federal Conservatives would be devastating for Northern Manitoba. Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberal party are the only choice to deliver the much-needed investment the North needs.” Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Arlen Dumas said Klassen has provided strong leadership and representation for First Nations people and communities in the provincial legislature and congratulated her on being nominated as the federal Liberal candidate in Churchill-Keewatinook Aski. “Judy has been a formidable First Nations voice in the Manitoba legislature and in the province of Manitoba,” said Dumas. “She has brought the issues of northern First Nations to the forefront and continues to keep the current government accountable. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs has been proud to work with Judy on a number of issues and looks forward to collaborating more in the future.

We congratulate Ms. Klassen on her accomplishments and we wish her well in the upcoming federal election.” Klassen’s decision to jump into federal politics will put the Manitoba Liberal Party at risk of losing official party status, which it just regained last summer for the first time since 1995 when party leader Dougald Lamont won a byelection in Winnipeg’s St. Boniface riding to give the party four seats. River Heights MLA Jon Gerrard and Burrows MLA Cindy Lamoureux are the Manitoba Liberals’ other MLAs. Official party status gives parties access to funding, research staff and a guaranteed presence during Question Period and on committees. Lamont told the Canadian Press in March that he knew about Klassen’s possible departure but expected that he would have his party’s full complement of MLAs at election time, because he believed the Progressive Conservative government would call it in the spring. PC leader Brian Pallister announced in June that Manitoba’s next prov-

Thompson Citizen file photo Judy Klassen, a Liberal representative for the Keewatinook riding in the provincial legislature since 2016, has been nominated as the federal Liberal candidate for the Churchill-Keewatinook Aski riding for the upcoming federal election in October. incial election would be held Sept. 10, more than a year ahead of the fixed election date of Oct. 6 202 and about a month before the federal election campaign.


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