“Our survey results reaffirm that increased police visibility may help deter crime and make community members feel safer,” said AMM president Kam Blight in an August 2 news release.

“Municipal officials are very frustrated with the practice of applying a catch-and-release approach to repeat offenders who are contributing to rising rates of crime in local communities,” he added. “Police officers should be out on the street and in the community, rather than behind a desk filling out repetitive paperwork or waiting to testify in a courtroom.”

Seventy-three out of AMM’s 137 member municipalities responded to the survey on policing and public safety, the results of which were released August 2.

Ninety-two per cent said they were very or somewhat concerned about the lack of police presence. Sixty-four per cent said they felt their municipalities did not have enough police officers to make residents feel safe, while 88 per cent of municipalities said “enhanced police visibility” is a priority this year.

Eighty-four per cent said property crime is very or somewhat likely to occur in their municipality.

Ninety-two per cent of respondents said they were very or somewhat concerned about illicit drug use in their communities, and 77 per cent said drug crime is very or somewhat likely to occur.

AMM asked members if they thought the province should spend cannabis tax revenue on public safety or to fight crime. Ninety-five per cent said they agreed.

Only 20 per cent of municipalities said they felt they had enough authority to enforce bylaws. Forty per cent were “neutral” and 40 per cent said they did not have enough authority.

“Moving forward, the AMM will continue to call on the provincial and federal governments to increase support for policing services in order to properly address local public safety priorities and help local governments manage increasing public safety costs,” Blight said.

AMM said it would call on the province to help municipalities with “rapidly increasing, unsustainable policing costs,” and to support police to address property crime and drug use.

It plans to ask the province to review the mandate of police boards to allow local councils more oversight for municipal police; to develop a “fair cannabis taxation revenue-sharing model;” and to work with AMM and municipalities to address by-law enforcement challenges.

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“Here’s a chance for kids to be a part of history, by coming up with a name for one of the 14 foals,” says Inspector Patrick Egan, officer in charge of the Musical Ride. “This year with adding the school class entries, it gives a great opportunity for students to work together and come up with a name. Wouldn’t it be cool if your class submitted the winning name and the foal becomes part of the world-famous Musical Ride some day? It’s possible if you send in an entry to the 2017 RCMP ‘Name the Foal’ contest.”

To qualify, entries must meet the following criteria:

• Names must begin with the letter “O”;
• An individual entry must include a child’s first name only, school, city, province or territory and email address;
• School class entries must include the teacher’s name, school, city, province or territory and email address;
• Entrants must be 14 years old or younger;
• Only one entry per child will be eligible; and
• Online entries must be received no later than April 30, 2017.

In the event of duplicate winning names, the first entry received will be accepted. Winning names will be chosen by instructors of the RCMP Musical Ride Branch. Contest winners will be announced in May, along with the foals’ names, on the RCMP website. Winners will receive a number of great RCMP prizes such as a 2017 Musical Ride pennon, a framed picture of the foal, a T-shirt and pins.

Children are encouraged to submit their entries on the Internet on the RCMP website at ‘Name the foal contest: Canada 150 Editon’.

If you prefer, send your entry by mail (including school entries), but ensure it is postmarked no later than April 26, 2017 to:

Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Musical Ride Branch
c/o RCMP Name the Foal Contest
PO Box 8900
Ottawa, Ont.
K1G 3J2

“We look forward to meeting some of the winners during this year’s cross-country tour in celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary. The tour will include visits to all 10 provinces and one territory,” says Inspector Egan. “Get your entries in and you can play a role in the Musical Ride of the future.”

The post Kids: Help name 14 RCMP foals appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“This year we have already had one death on our roads because of a collision with farm equipment,” said RCMP Insp. Ed Moreland, officer in charge of Traffic Services.

That incident involved a 63-year-old farmer who was killed in May when the tractor he was driving at Roblin was rear-ended by a car.

“Motorists and farmers both need to be aware of the safety issues involved with slow-moving vehicles. Lives depend on it.”

The Highway Traffic Act requires that all farm equipment have a slow-moving-vehicle emblem warning motorists approaching from behind, along with red reflectors on the back near left and right sides. At night, farm equipment must have headlights, red tail lamps and flashing amber warning lamps.

KAP president Dan Mazier said he thinks farmers are more aware than ever of the need to be visible on roadways and farm equipment more than ever before is equipped with safety reflectors and lights.

“Farmers are pretty diligent about this,” he said. “They do understand they have a responsibility to be well marked.”

It’s when motorists fail to observe the slower-moving equipment ahead, ignoring the bright-orange triangle with a red border that signals a slow-moving vehicle, that they put both themselves and the farm equipment operator in serious danger. Then they cannot stop in time to avoid a collision. Cars travelling 90 km/h can cover a distance the length of a football field in five seconds, point out RCMP.

Left-turn collisions happen when the motor vehicle operator thinks the farm equipment operator is pulling over to allow them to pass but instead is actually making a wide left turn. Motorists need to realize farm equipment drivers often must veer right before making a wide left-hand turn due to the size of the machinery, warn RCMP.

For safety’s sake, motor vehicle operators should be aware that farm machinery does not always use an obvious intersection, and may be entering a main roadway from a field or a farm lane.

RCMP also warn that farmers working long hours or late into the night should not take equipment on the roadway if they’re tired or the equipment is not equipped with flashing and driving lights.

Canada-wide road accidents account for 13 per cent of all farm-related deaths while roadways rank as the third most common site where farmers are killed, according to statistics on ag-related fatalities in the Canadian Agricultural Injury Report.

“The key to road safety is good judgment,” said Glen Blahey, health and safety specialist with CASA whose head offices are in Winnipeg.

“By simply slowing down, paying attention and by being respectful, both farm equipment operators and motorists can share the road safely.”

The post Watch for slow-moving farm equipment: RCMP appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Acting on a Crime Stoppers tip, RCMP recovered the 2009 Case IH Steiger 485 last week underneath an enormous pile of manure on a farm property southwest of Fisher Branch.

Armed with a search warrant, RCMP investigators hired an excavator to dig out the tractor, which had been reported stolen under the cover of night in 2010 from a business in the RM of Rosser.

RCMP Sgt. Lin Karpish couldn’t say how long the tractor had been buried in the 12- to 15-foot-deep manure pack, or what condition it might be in, other than the obvious fact that it probably doesn’t smell very sweet anymore.

“I’m sure nobody is going to be riding that tractor any time soon,” said Karpish. “I’m not sure what the insurance company will do with it. Can you clean these things?”

She added that it is still unclear whether the thieves had “been spooked” after the crime and decided to bury the tractor “to make it disappear” permanently, or had simply hoped to keep the machine out of sight until the heat died down.

One thing’s certain, that in her 28 years in policing, this case is a “first,” and that there have been more than a few chuckles around the division.

“I mean it’s not like you can hide a Case tractor in your back pocket or in the shed,” said Karpish. “It was quite the job to get it out.”

A 24-year-old man of the RM of Fisher has been arrested and released on promise to appear in Peguis Provincial Court in July on theft charges.

A 22-year-old female also of the RM of Fisher was also arrested and charged for possession of stolen property. The investigation continues.

The post Stolen tractor found at bottom of manure pile appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Volunteer fire departments have been busy dousing grassfires that have raced out of control, claiming one life and several properties.

Despite the weekend rains, all rural residents, including farmers, are being urged to avoid lighting fires. Some municipalities have even imposed bans.

“Pay attention to your local fire bans, respect the law and stop burning,” Manitoba’s Fire Commissioner David Schafer said in an interview at press time Monday. Where fires are allowed, Schafer is urging caution. Burn later in the day when winds are reduced, build a firebreak and have water on hand and a plan to bring a fire under control if necessary, he said.

The same dry, warm, windy weather that’s allowed farmers to start seeding early is behind the rash of grass fires around southern Manitoba.

Many of the fires that got out of control were set by property owners cleaning up dead grass or crop debris, a couple spread from burning garbage barrels, while some were believed to have started from discarded cigarettes.

Arson is suspected in an April 16 ditch fire along Highway 23 in the RM of Roland, a Carman RCMP official said. A witness reported a male lighting the fire and fleeing the scene eastbound in a dark, two-door vehicle. The RCMP and fire department arrived and the fire was put out. The RCMP is still investigating.

Each municipality decides whether or not to ban fires. Where bans are not in place the public is asked to be careful, said RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Line Karpish.

“We’ve seen a rash of grass fires and unfortunately one is believed to have contributed to a death,” she said.

Seventy-eight-year-old John Froese was found dead April 26 in a shed on his farm south of Portage la Prairie after firefighters extinguished a grass fire on his property.

A water bomber was called to help douse a blaze at Mandak Metal Processors’ salvage yard near Selkirk April 28. According to the Winnipeg Free Press a grass fire is the suspected cause.

Firefighters from Clandeboye, St. Andrews, East Selkirk, Lockport and West St. Paul were called in to help.

Volunteer rural firefighters across southern Manitoba have been battling grass fires all April. In the RM of Dufferin for example early in the month the local fire department received nine calls and eight were for grass fires, Reeve Shawn McCutcheon said in an interview April 30. The department was called out three times in one day. It’s physically taxing on the firefighters and disruptive at their workplaces, he said.

“These are volunteers and they have to work the next day after attending to a fire,” he said.

The RM of Dufferin hasn’t banned fires in part because enforcing the bylaw would be difficult, he said.

“It would be a lot easier for the province to do because it can utilize the RCMP to enforce it,” McCutcheon said.

The province already enforces regulations concerning stubble burning, he added.

As a farmer himself, McCutcheon said he understands the need for farmers to sometimes burn field debris.

“If you really have to burn be very careful,” he said. “And if you really don’t have to burn don’t.”

Many parts of Manitoba were wetter than normal in March and April, but it wasn’t enough to offset a dry, warm winter, said Dale Marciski, an outreach officer with Environment Canada in Winnipeg. Winnipeg and Brandon received 21 mm of precipitation between December 2011 and February 2012 — half the average.

April has also been windier than normal. Winnipeg in April, on average, has two days when winds reach 52 km an hour or more, this year there were eight, Marciski said. Brandon normally gets one but this April recorded nine.

Wind sucks moisture out of the soil and plants, said David Phillips, a senior climatologist Environment Canada based in Toronto. What southern Manitoba needs is some good rains “and not gully washers,” he said.

As things green up, the fire risk should decline, he said, but Environment Canada is forecasting May and June to be warmer and drier than normal.

This year’s dry conditions are sharp contrast to a year ago when Manitoba experienced extremely wet conditions in many parts of the province, Phillips said.

The post Dry, windy weather fans grass fires appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

An out-of-control grass fire claimed the life of a 78-year-old Portage la Prairie-area man April 26. RCMP say the victim was attempting to control a grass fire that had spread to a shed on his property. Firefighters brought in to contain the blaze located the deceased inside the shed.

RCMP say there has been an unusual number of grass fires in the province this spring due to the dry conditions.

New cell contract rules

staff / Cellphone users may take less of a hit when cancelling a contract with their service provider with the proclamation of the Consumer Protection Amendment Act (Cellphone Contracts) April 23. The provincial legislation comes into effect Sept. 15 and requires greater transparency in cellphone contracts and promotes fairer practices.

Cellphone companies will have to do a better job explaining contract terms and costs and consumers will be able to cancel contracts at any time by paying a “reasonable” fee based on a pro-rated value of the equipment provided as part of the contract.

The post Briefs May 3, 2012 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Fox, 32, retired last month as a director of MBP, having served since 2009 as the organization’s president and previously as a vice-president.

Fox and his wife Angela are well known in Manitoba’s agriculture community, having been named as the province’s Outstanding Young Farmers in 2008. Fox moved to the province from Lloydminster, Alta. in 1999.

A Ste. Rose du Lac RCMP report says Fox was helping to remove a front-end loader assembly from a tractor when the accident occurred.

The loader arms were raised but not blocked when the hydraulics were released and the bucket dropped, pinning Fox beneath, RCMP said.

RCMP Cpl. James Munro said Fox was later transported to Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre, where he died the following day.

Fox is survived by his wife Angela and children Devon, Charlee, Porter and Major.

The post Farm accident claims farm leader appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Thirty-one people were arrested and another three are being sought in connection with drug trafficking – all with addresses in smaller towns and rural municipalities of eastern Manitoba, RCMP announced earlier this month.

Police laid over 100 charges after seizing a quantity of illicit drugs, including cocaine, marijuana, and hallucinogens, worth an estimated street value of about $18,000.

The crackdown, which also netted 39 guns, is the largest-ever bust of street-level traffickers in rural Manitoba, said police who described those arrested as “big drug dealers in training.”

Most are in their 20s and come from Selkirk, Beausejour, Garson, Stonewall, Steinbach, Scanterbury and Winnipeg, as well as the rural municipalities of Rockwood, Lac du Bonnet, La Broquerie, Alexander, Springfield, and Brokenhead.

It’s yet another indication of how drug trafficking has spread well beyond the larger urban centres to all parts of Manitoba, police said.

“I don’t believe there’s an area of the province that has not been touched by it in some way,” said Corporal Derek Inglis, supervisor and investigator with the RCMP’s Winnipeg Drug Section. “It’s an unfortunate fact of life now. It’s pervasive. It’s everywhere.”

Nor is it only attracting the young.

On May 6, Swan River RCMP executed a CDSA (Controlled Drugs and Substances Act) search warrant at a residence in Birch River where they seized more than 100 marijuana plants in various stages of growth, as well as growing equipment and two firearms.

A 73-year-old man was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking, in addition to other Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act charges.

A second-generation police officer, Inglis said drugs are much more available in rural areas than in the 1970s when his father was battling crime.

DEPOPULATION

Police say several factors are at play. As smaller regional centres have disappeared, people now travel more frequently between small towns and big cities, and that helps to boost flow of drugs to rural areas. A shortage of jobs in rural areas also makes people more vulnerable, both expanding the number of people willing to turn to drugs and the number willing to earn cash by distributing them. And depopulation plays a role, too. Old farmhouses, sheds and Quonsets located on little-used roads are rarely patrolled, and those roads are lures to those involved in illegal activities, police say.

The latter is one of the reasons for why so many marijuana grow-ops are located in the country. RCMP officials say they take out “a good number” of these every year, finding them located both indoors and out. In 2005, police destroyed over 20,000 marijuana plants worth a street value of $20 million from outdoor grow-ops. All were found in rural areas.

TIPS AID ENFORCEMENT

Yet, even as rural populations decline, and fewer eyes are around to see what’s going on, police say they could do much more if more rural residents reported suspicious behaviour. When rural residents take note of “something out of the ordinary” and tip off police, it can be a huge help, said Inglis.

“I do understand the trepidation of people phoning in when it’s probably nothing,” he said. “But probably nothing could be something.”

Often a call from an observant area resident is enough to tip the balance as police try to assemble enough information to apply for a search warrant. It’s choosing to look the other way that hinders or stalls investigations, said Inglis.

Frustrated police still talk of a grow-op that was busted several years ago. After the raid, a farm neighbour living next door told a reporter he’d been suspicious all along. He dropped by to say hello to the new neighbours and was told they planned to raise cattle. When he asked what kind, he was told “the brown ones.”

That should have immediately raised suspicion, said Inglis.

He said police will ensure confidentiality if people are afraid of being identified after reporting suspicious activity, he said.

“The best way for a citizen to be confident is for them to be very clear when speaking with an investigator that they wish their information to be used, but for their identity to remain confidential,” he said.

Last week’s arrests of street-level traffickers in eastern Mani toba took out what Superintendent Scott Kolody, RCMP East District Officer, described as “foot soldiers of organized crime.”

“They are the suppliers of drugs in rural communities,” he said in an RMCP news release.

The investigation, dubbed Project Develop, began in November.

lorraine@fbcpublishing.com

———

“Idon’tbelieve there’sanareaof theprovincethathas notbeentouchedby itinsomeway.”

– CORPORAL DEREK INGLIS, SUPERVISOR AND INVESTIGATOR WI TH THE RCMP’S Winnipeg DRUG SECTION

The post RCMP Bust Rural Drug-Trafficking Network appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Last year, big sections of

Saskatchewan’s highway network were flooded, including a stretch of Canada’s main national highway near Alberta. Parched:The U.S. Plains wheat belt is continuing warm and dry, adding more stress to a crop that is struggling from a lack of moisture, a forecaster said April 6.

“It’s a terrible situation and it continues to worsen. We are looking at another surge in hot weather by the end of the week,” said Mike Palmerino of Telvent DTN weather service. The biggest U.S. wheat crop, hard red winter, has been suffering from drought since autumn. USDA this week rated 32 per cent of the winter wheat crop poor to very poor, a lot worse than six per cent a year ago.

Going to 10 digits:The next

time you program a Manitoba number into your cellphone or any automated dialling device, add the 204 area code. And you might as well start adding it to your existing contacts as well. Because starting July 29, 2012, all calling in Manitoba will move to 10 digits, the Telecommunications Alliance, which represents companies offering telecommunications services in Manitoba says in a release. The switch comes in advance of launching 431, the province’s second area code in November 2012, for all new services. – Staff

Leask bids adieu:After almost

28 years at the helm of the Canadian Seed Trade Association, William (Bill) Leask will retire as its executive vice-president May 31. “His contribution, based on his tremendous knowledge of plant breeding, seed technology and trade and of the seed industry itself, has led to the development of policies, structures and strategies that have benefited all stakeholders in the seed sector, in Canada and abroad,” said CSTA president Wayne Unger in a letter to members.

– Staff New Hall of Famers:Two

Manitobans will be inducted into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame later this year. The late Vernon W. McIntyre, a pedigreed seed grower from Elphinstone who was active in industry and community organizations and Robert Keith Smith, the retired principal of the Agricultural Extension Centre in Brandon who was also active in industry organizations and overseas development projects will be honoured at induction ceremonies in July. – Staff

No “fowl” play:A vacant

chicken barn five miles east of Morris was razed by an explosion April 8. RCMP and emergency crews found the unused building completely destroyed upon their arrival on the scene. The building was reported to be propane heated, and had electrical service. The building’s value was rated at less than $20,000. Investigators say there is no evidence that the cause of the explosion was suspicious. – Staff Opposed:The Western Canadian Wheat Growers says it is opposed to a proposal to give farmers the option of marketing canola through the Canadian Wheat Board. “The threat of trade action is simply too great,” said president Kevin Bender in a release. “Placing canola under the CWB, even on a voluntary basis, would jeopardize the phenomenal growth and success we’ve seen in the canola industry.” The Manitoba Canola Growers Association is currently surveying farmers to determine their level of interest in the scheme. – Staff Ozone depletion

unprecedented:Record loss of the ozone, the protective atmosphere layer that shields life from the sun’s harmful rays, has recently been observed over the Arctic in recent months, the World Meteorological Organization reported.

“Depletion of the ozone… has reached an unprecedented level over the Arctic this spring because of the continuing presence of ozone-depleting substances in the atmosphere and a very cold winter in the stratosphere,” the United Nations agency said in a statement. Flood death:A 61-year-old man from the Niverville area drowned April 8 after he attempted to drive across a flooded section of the road in the RM of De Salaberry in eastern Manitoba. RCMP say his car left the roadway and became submerged. The RCMP underwater recovery team found his body the following day after he was reported missing.

– Staff

The post In Brief… – for Apr. 14, 2011 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Powerview RCMP say on April 9 they were called to the scene of an accident around 7:30 in the evening where a man had suffered fatal injuries in a rollover collision while operating a 1986 Honda three wheel near Hwy. 11. There were no other persons or vehicles involved.

Meanwhile, on April 4 Stonewall RCMP were dispatched to a scene in front of Warren Collegiate where a 15-year-old girl was found lying in the roadway after being thrown from an ATV driven by a 15-year-old boy.

RCMP say the girl was one of three passengers riding on the machine when the driver drove out of the schoolgrounds, lurched forward and ejected the victim onto the roadway. The girl was taken to hospital in Winnipeg with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver was charged and fined under the Off-Road Vehicles Act and the quad seized under the Highway Traffic Act.

Such incidents involving off-road vehicles take their toll every year.

In 2010 RCMP statistics show one person was killed in an incident involving an all-terrain vehicle/dirt bike and there were 125 reported injuries. In 2009 there were five fatal collisions involving the machines and 141 reported injuries. The previous year there were seven fatalities and 137 injuries.

A spokesperson for Manitoba Safety Services say many ATV incidents involve young people and that the problem is lack of education around safe handling and the laws governing the use of ATVS. lorraine@fbcpublishing.com

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