In this week’s headlines, there are 4 missing persons alerts, 3 product recalls, 2 Senators respond to Senator Beyak’s comments on residential schools, and 1 NBA team hangs out with a Northern Manitoba community team.

Missing Persons Alert

Bianca BeauregardBianca Beauregard

RCMP are asking for the public’s help locating a Steinbach teenager who was last seen in Winnipeg almost two weeks ago. Bianca Beauregard, 17, was last seen on March 20.

Police said they are concerned for her well-being. Beauregard is five feet four inches tall and weighs 123 pounds. She has shoulder-length brown and red hair. Beauregard was last seen wearing a black leather jacket, blue jeans and black UGG boots.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Steinbach RCMP at 204-326-4452 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Alexis ShuttleworthAlexis Shuttleworth

Manitoba RCMP are asking the public to help them find Alexis Shuttleworth, a 17-year-old girl from Ebb and Flow First Nation who is believed to be in Winnipeg.

Shuttleworth was last seen March 14 at the First Nation, located about 185 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. RCMP say she was reported missing a week later, on March 21.

In a news release Wednesday, police say they believe she could be in Winnipeg. Shuttleworth is five feet four inches tall and weighs 125 pounds. She has long brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call the Ste. Rose du Lac RCMP detachment at 204-447-3082 or Manitoba Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

Jeffery Benjamin Menard Jeffery Benjamin Menard
Dauphin RCMP are looking for missing 40-year-old man who they believe might be in Winnipeg. Jeffery Benjamin Menard was last seen Wednesday night around 11:30 p.m. in Dauphin, Man.

Authorities are concerned for his wellbeing. He is six-feet tall and weighs 190 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes. Police say he is driving a 2008 Nissan Maxima with Manitoba licence plate “HOTMAIL.”

Anyone with information can contact Dauphin RCMP at 204-622-5020 or call Manitoba Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, submit a secure tip online or text “TIPMAN” plus your message to CRIMES (274637).

 

Christine Woodchristine wood
The parents of a missing Manitoba woman renewed a plea for help Friday — which happens to be their daughter’s 22nd birthday. Sunday will mark six months since Christine Wood went missing. “We’re waiting for her every day and every second for her to call us,” said Melinda Wood, Christine’s mother.

“I wish I could hug her, tell her ‘happy birthday,’ I love her,” Melinda said on the phone from Oxford House.

The Wood family has searched tirelessly for their daughter who vanished on Aug. 19 in Winnipeg. But so far, their search hasn’t been successful. The Wood family told CBC their daughter came with them from Oxford House to Winnipeg to help a family member attend a medical appointment.

When Melinda and Christine’s father George returned home to their hotel room, Christine was gone. “I think of her all the time, wondering where she is, if she’s OK,” Melinda said.

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection also put out another call for help finding Wood on social media Friday. “My heart breaks for them,” said Michelle Ham, who works in the centre’s child safety division which is behind the website missingkids.ca, where Wood is featured. Ham said staff at the centre continue their efforts to find Wood — something she hopes gives some reassurance to Wood’s parents, who are now back in their home community of Oxford House.

“The search continues even when they’re at home,” Ham said. Ham said the centre has ads with a picture of Wood’s face on billboards across Canada. “Nothing’s going to slow down,” she added. Melinda said her family plans to return to Winnipeg when the weather warms up to continue their search for Christine. She begged anyone who may have seen her daughter to call police. “We want to know if she’s OK.”

Poverty & Community Outreach

Disability & Accessibility

  • Disability, teen angst take centre stage in Royal MTC play ‘Kill Me Now‘: CBC,Winnipeg Free Press
  • Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s Kill Me Now a messy, heartbreaking and funny look at disability: CBC

Refugees & Race

  • Emerson reeve says military at border would be overkill: CBC
  • Changes to provincial nominee program draw protest at Manitoba legislature: CBC
  • Pallister eyes scaling back refugee support as tiff with Ottawa festers: CBC
  • ‘Dramatic’ cut to refugee funding: Winnipeg Free Press
  • Asylum seekers an opportunity for Manitoba: Winnipeg Free Press
  • Tories talk tough on refugees: Winnipeg Free Press
  • PM Justin Trudeau answers questions regarding asylum seekers: Winnipeg Free Press

Environment

  • Hog industry likes changes to manure rules that critics say smell bad: CBC
  • Province amending big pile of manure regulations: Winnipeg Free Press
  • ‘Water, water everywhere’: Neighbours call on city to fix culvert overflow in St. Boniface: CBC
  • Red River Floodway and Portage Diversion activated, cutting flood risk in Winnipeg: CBC, Winnipeg Free Press
  • St. Boniface residents say metal shredder is polluting air, harming health: CBC
  • Animal cruelty laws rarely result in jail time: lawyer: CBC
  • Manitoba will join with Nunavut to monitor essential caribou herd: CBC
  • City ‘very well prepared’ to handle flood risks: Winnipeg Free Press
  • National organization slams Manitoba environment survey: Winnipeg Free Press

Indigenous

  • ‘The ultimate goal is to reduce the number of children in care‘: Indigenous Affairs minister: Winnipeg Free Press, CBC
  • Welfare agency misused money for indigenous kids’ care, audit revealed: Winnipeg Free Press
  • ‘I was completely scared’: First Nation elder’s van falls through ice on Shoal Lake: CBC
  • Winnipeg artist sews TRC’s calls to action into Canadian flags: CBC
  • Shooting hoops with the Raptors: Northern Manitoba community team in T.O. for tourney: CBC
  • Manitoba families meet with missing, murdered Indigenous women inquiry staff: CBC
  • Lynn Beyak tells residential school survivors she wants audit of all First Nations spending: CBC
  • Sagkeeng’s missing and murdered Indigenous women honoured with ceremony: CBC
  • Indigenous students claim sexual abuse at Catholic day school in Manitoba: CBC
  • Ottawa gives Manitoba chiefs money to study reforming child welfare system: APTN News
  • AFN holding outreach sessions for families of MMIWG in Manitoba: APTN News
  • Interview with St. Anne’s Indian Residential School Claimant K-10106: Betrayal, again: APTN News
  • A Roof Overhead: Teenagers struggle through school, growing up, boredom and no place to sleep in Garden Hill: APTN News
  • First Nation sues Ottawa, province over outstanding land claim: APTN News, Winnipeg Free Press
  • Crisis team to the rescue: Winnipeg Free Press
Senator Beyak’s Comments Continue to Cause Controversy
  • Conservative senators come to Lynn Beyak’s defence while others say ‘shame’: CBC
  • Indigenous leaders call for Senator Lynn Beyak’s resignation: CBC
  • Senator Murray Sinclair responds to Lynn Beyak’s defence of residential schools: CBC
  • Senator McPhedran responds to Senator Beyak’s comments: CBC
  • Senator Lynn Beyak says she has ‘suffered’ with residential school survivors: CBC