Winnipeg, Manitoba

Designated by Mclean's Magazine as the most racist city in Canada.

Winnipeg-wide boil water advisory in place

The city of Winnipeg's nearly 700,000 residents are under a boil water advisory Tuesday night after tests confirmed the presence of E. coli in the city's water supply.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) originally said in a press release the advisory was for an area east of the Red River.


The release said the advisory was being issued "as a precautionary measure as a result of two clusters of positive results involving the presence of E. coli, received earlier today."


"There has been no source of contamination identified to date; however, public health is proceeding according to provincial and national guidelines. These guidelines specify to issue the advisory as a precautionary measure, while investigating the possible causes."


The city will be holding another press conference at 7 30 a.m. Wednesday morning to provide an update on the boil water advisory.


The WRHA said there haven't been any suspicious cases of illness to date related to the city's water.
"E coli is an  'indicator' of water contamination that we measure, and there are many other types of bacteria in water that could cause illness. However, a high amount of chlorine has been found in the same water samples measured yesterday, which is reassuring because this would suggest that any bacteria or viruses present in the water would likely be killed," according to a release from the WRHA.
At a news conference around 6 p.m. CT, the city revised those concerns and has now extended the advisory across the city.


"In an abundance of caution, the City of Winnipeg has decided to proactively issue a precautionary boil water advisory for the entire City of Winnipeg," read a statement from the city.


Engineers with the city said results for six suspect water samples arrived Tuesday from tests run on Monday. Five of the samples came from areas east of the Red River, while another came from southwest Winnipeg.


Winnipeg residents have been advised to boil all water for at least one minute before doing any of the following:


- Drinking and ice making
- Beverage preparation, such as infant formula
- Preparing food
- Brushing teeth


The St. Boniface General Hospital switched to bottled water for patients around 6:30 p.m.
As for schools, several were using social media Tuesday night to let parents and students know drinking fountains would be turned off. Parents were advised to pack either boiled or bottled water for their kids Wednesday, as all schools in Winnipeg will be open.

And in stores around Winnipeg, bottled water sales skyrocketed into the evening to the point where many store shelves were empty by 9 p.m.

Shoppers like Krista Surowich were grabbing water supplies before they were gone at the Main Street Co-op.


"Some were $7.49 a pack. I just grabbed whatever I could. I just left a couple. There's not very many on the shelves any more," said Surowich.


Surowich said she drinks five litres of water a day and it's better to be safe than sorry.


The advisory will be in place until Wednesday afternoon, when the city expects more test results to arrive.

Not one more dime for the union-busting, billionaire outfit True North

Communist Party of Canada - Manitoba387 Selkirk Ave. Winnipeg MB R2W 2M3
(204) 586-7824 - cpc-mb@changetheworldmb.ca

For immediate release
January 28, 2015
Not one more dime for the union-busting, billionaire outfit True North
Public letter to Winnipeg City Council
January 28, 2015

Dear members of City Council,

The media will probably insulate the public from my comments, but I want to say this about True North's plan to build a hotel and, likely, retail space to link with the Convention Centre. More gambling machines could line the new hallways with funds going to True North.

I don't want to see another dime of City money go to a union-busting, billionaire-backed outfit like True North. This is an outfit that receives at least $12.5 million in public money every year, and fails to say even a small thank-you on its website.

We are talking about a quarter-billion dollars in public money over twenty-five years being sucked up by True North with no accountability, calculated before we landed the Jets franchise. How fair is that to other downtown hotels?

I'm not counting the recently-installed gambling machines whose revenue goes to True North and subsidies to support the Jets franchise. How many more machines will True North want in the new development?

It is a private corporation that does not have to report its profits, unlike how the government forces First Nations (who are owed resources and funds) and trade unions (who are democratic, unlike corporations) to disclose all their spending.

This privileged outfit busted the union that worked at the publicly-owned Arena.

To me, you are allowing CentreVenture to get away lightly for signing a deal with True North.  You have the power to make True North give the stagehands their jobs back, show some gratitude, and disclose its finances.

If True North fails to do that right away, then it's time for you to reverse the privatization of the Arena.

I am unable to make these comments in person to you today, but I hope the discussion at council shows you will put people before billionaires.

I'd put $12.5 million a year towards building houses and child care centres, not supporting an outfit like True North.

Darrell Rankin
Leader, Communist Party of Canada - Manitoba

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