Nearly $16 million in specialized medical equipment will be purchased and installed at health-care facilities in Winnipeg, Brandon and Portage la Prairie, Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced today. “We are investing in the replacement of aging equipment to ensure reliable services, which helps reduce waits for Manitobans,” said Goertzen.  “This new equipment will ensure safe and efficient diagnostic services for patients and the health-care staff operating this equipment.” The new equipment includes: general duty x-ray equipment at the Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg and St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg; automated medication packagers at Seven Oaks General and Victoria General hospitals in Winnipeg; a digital radiography suite and a vascular angiography suite at Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg; echocardiography equipment and an ultrasound machine at Brandon Regional Health Centre; a computed tomography (CT) scanner at Portage District General Hospital; and a CT simulator and a linear accelerator at CancerCare Manitoba. The announcement comes weeks after the Manitoba government approved approximately $5.1 million to purchase a CT scanner at Health Sciences Centre, a cardiac catheterization medical system and specialized laboratory analysis equipment at St. Boniface Hospital, as well as an x-ray machine at Gimli Community Health Centre. Goertzen said the health regions will soon begin the tendering process for the purchase and installation of the equipment.

Last night a fire completely destroyed a home in Dauphin on 5th Avenue S.W.  Neighbors called 911 to report the fire.  There was no injuries reported as no one was in the home at the time of the blaze.  Firefighters battled the fire for nearly an hour.  An investigation determined the fire to be accidental, (electrical in nature) and originated in the basement of the home.

The government of Manitoba introduced proposed legislation today that would respect workers’ freedom to organize as they choose on publicly funded construction projects, Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler announced today. “From day one, our government has been clear that forced unionization is wrong for Manitobans,” said Schuler.  “This legislation ensures all qualified workers and their employers, regardless of union status, have equal access to publicly funded construction projects in the province, and that all workers and employers in this province are treated fairly.” The public sector construction projects act (tendering) would prohibit public-sector entities from using unionization status as a tendering requirement and would eliminate the practice of employees paying dues to unions they are not members of. Under the previous administration, large publicly funded construction projects such as the Bi-Pole 3 transmission line and the Red River Floodway expansion were subject to project labour agreements that required employees and contractors awarded work on a project to sign a collective agreement and hire members of specific unions.  Where exceptions to this rule were made, the agreements still required dues or fees to be paid to unions for work carried out by non-union workers. This legislation would prohibit public-sector entities from requiring any of the following when tendering for work on a construction project: the successful bidder to be, or become part of, a collective agreement; the successful bidder to employ only members of a specific union or to employ only non-unionized workers; and dues to be paid to a union for work completed by non-unionized employees on a project. Construction projects undertaken by the Manitoba government, Crown Corporations, school boards, regional health authorities and post-secondary institutions would be required to comply with this act.  The legislation would not impact projects currently under construction. The legislation was developed with input from stakeholders representing both employers and labour, the minister noted. “When we build infrastructure, our government is focused on building the best product at the best price,” Schuler added.  “How workers choose to interact with their employer should not be mandated by the provincial government.”

Brandon Police Service Media Release At approximately 11:00 p.m., Police responded to a report of an assault that just occurred outside a residence on Fotheringham Drive. An adult male victim advised that as he was taking out the garbage, he was assaulted by two male suspects for no reason. The assault consisted of the suspects repeatedly punching the victim in the head and face area causing cuts, bruises and swelling. The victim was transported to hospital for treatment. Police investigation led to a different residence on Fotheringham Drive. Two intoxicated male suspects were located in the residence and taken into Police custody.  A 19-year-old Brandon man and 18-year-old Brandon man were arrested for Assault. The 19-year-old man was also found to have outstanding Warrants for his arrest and in Breach of a Recognizance Order. He was lodged at the Correctional Center and is scheduled to appear in Court on Wednesday. The 18-year-old male suspect was released and is scheduled to appear in Court in July. When Police located the suspects, a 49-year-old female from the residence became extremely uncooperative and belligerent with officers. She was arrested for Breach of the Peace and lodged at the Correctional Center to be released on Wednesday morning.

Brandon Police Service Media Release On April 30th, Police entered into an investigation after receiving four different reports of a male acting suspiciously and approaching female children in the areas of Linden Lanes and Meadows. A Public Notification was issued and more complaints were received providing similar description and behavior of the suspect. One specific complaint of an 11-year-old female child disclosed being approached by the suspect near 25th Street and College Avenue on April 29th. The suspect asked to see the feet of the child and then reached out and touched the child in the chest area.  On May 3rd, Police were able to positively identify the suspect, a Warrant was executed at his residence however the suspect was not home, and efforts to locate him met with negative results. On Tuesday morning, Police received information that the suspect was in a restaurant on Victoria Avenue. Officers attended and arrested the 23-year-old man from Brandon on the Arrest Warrant for Sexual Assault and Sexual Interference. The male suspect was lodged at the Brandon Correctional Center and is scheduled to appear in Court on Wednesday.