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Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
New ‘Buffalo Woman' identified
A woman who was found dead last summer has been identified, two days after police and Indigenous organizations asked for the public's help in determining who she was. The woman was identified as Melanie McKay on Saturday after someone sent her family a social-media post with an updated sketch of the woman, the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre said in a news release Tuesday. The then-unidentified woman was given the Indigenous name Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, on Thursday. That is the same name given to Ashlee Shingoose before she was identified as one of the four victims of serial killer Jeremy Skibicki. SUPPLIED A news conference in which the new sketch was displayed was held in downtown Winnipeg on Thursday. 'We are deeply grateful to everyone in the community who shared the information, looked at the poster, gave thoughtful suggestions and took the time to care about Melanie,' the release stated. 'You were the heart of this effort in bringing her home and giving this family answers. In just 48 hours, the information reached her family, all because of you.' McKay's parents travelled to Winnipeg to claim her remains Monday, Ma Mawi said. 'While there are many reasons people may become estranged from their loved ones, we ask the community to treat the family with kindness as they grieve,' the release said. Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. McKay was found in a stairwell inside the Manwin Hotel on Aug. 10, 2024. Her death is not believed to be suspicious. fpcity@
CBC
10-07-2025
- Health
- CBC
Westman region needs more resources to help tackle trafficking, sexual exploitation: advocate
As more professionals in Brandon learn how to identify signs of sexual exploitation and trafficking, advocates say rural Manitoba residents looking to escape exploitation still lack the support they need. Lisa Noctor is an outreach co-ordinator with the Gakina Abinoojiiyag Program, or GAP — an outreach and homelessness prevention program for vulnerable youth operated by the Brandon Friendship Centre. She says while education is a critical step forward, southwestern Manitoba lacks the kind of important followup resources available in Winnipeg. "We don't even have the types of learning opportunities that we need here in the Westman area, never mind the types of programs and supports that are required," Noctor said. "It's incredibly shameful that throughout our entire province, the only places that … youth are able to access services are all in Winnipeg." The absence in Brandon of a program like the Manitoba government's StreetReach — which operates in Winnipeg and northern Manitoba, and aims to prevent sexual exploitation of children and youth — is "a massive oversight at the provincial level," Noctor says. On Wednesday, GAP Youth Outreach held sexual exploitation and trafficking training that was facilitated by Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre's EmpowerMen program, which works with men and boys to prevent sexual exploitation and trafficking. The training was designed to improve identification, prevention, intervention and response around sexual exploitation and trafficking in Westman, by helping front-line workers better identify risk factors and perpetrator behaviour, and learn what leads people into trafficking and exploitation, Noctor said. But education without infrastructure can only go so far, especially if youth trying to escape exploitation can only find support in Winnipeg, she said. "It's a really disheartening situation to be in, when a youth expresses that they are ready for support … and they have to go to Winnipeg,'" Noctor said. "They have to go to a place that is bigger, scarier and more dangerous." It's especially troubling for youth coming from rural or reserve communities who are already overwhelmed by life in Brandon, a city of roughly 54,000, she said. While many good-hearted people are working hard in the community to ensure that people who are ready to exit can do so, they need more support, said Noctor. "We can't do it alone," she said. The Brandon Police Service has one counter-exploitation position attached to its organized crime section, a spokesperson said in an email. Right now the position is vacant, but detectives are filling the role. Identifying trafficking, exploitation Geraldine Gruszczyk with the EmpowerMen Project at Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, a Winnipeg-based community service provider, says the program's goal is prevention, by teaching communities to recognize red flags and act when they believe exploitation is happening. "If you see something, do something," she said. "Share with your circle… That might be someone that is suffering this, or knows somebody that is suffering or being exploited." Women, Indigenous people, and people living in poverty or with addictions are among the most vulnerable when it comes to exploitation, Gruszczyk said. So are people aging out of care, she said. "Once they turned 18, they are on their own. They don't have skills, they don't have education… What would you do?" Gruszczyk said. Noctor says cities like Brandon also host large events, and big crowds can increase the chances of exploitation. "Any time we have a whole bunch of people coming in from out of town, there's a lot of risk.… The instances of sex purchasing increase," she said. She also said grooming tactics often mask exploitation as a relationship. Some youth are unaware they've been groomed — or that they're being used to groom others. "Over the five years that I've been working in this program, a large number of the youth are actively being exploited or have historically been exploited," said Noctor. 'Step up and say something' Gruszczyk says wildfire evacuees recently displaced from northern Manitoba are also at high risk, especially as some face discrimination when arriving in new communities. "This population is a target," she said. They have been targeted by drug dealers, and sexual exploitation is also happening, Gruszczyk said. That means communities need to be alert and work together to keep everyone safe. Noctor agrees, saying traffickers and sex buyers may see evacuees as "fresh, new meat." Valerie Sandy, a Brandon community member, attended Wednesday's training because she wants the tools to make a difference in the city. "Living downtown, unfortunately, we do see the exploitation happening … women getting into vehicles," said Sandy. "We know what that is." But after the training, "I feel like there's something I can do now," she said. Reporting concerns and offering compassion are key, said Sandy.
CBC
21-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Indigenous community hub, featuring free grocery store, to be created in central Winnipeg
A warehouse in central Winnipeg is under renovation to become home to an Indigenous community hub that will include drop-in space, supports and services, food programs and a free grocery store. "Food insecurity has long been a challenge for families here in Winnipeg and in particular the Indigenous community," Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata executive director Tammy Christensen said at a news conference on Friday. "We're super excited about this opportunity for this beautiful building to really become a strong hub for community members and really help people where they're at, and help move them forward." The 30,000-square-foot site on Notre Dame Avenue, between Kate and Lydia streets, has been given the name Asihcikan — a Cree–Ojibwe word that means "to put out an offering." The development of the building is a collaboration between the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre and Harvest Manitoba. It will also feature training and education programs, community kitchens for cooking classes and laundry facilities. "But the centrepiece of this project is really going to be a grocery-style food bank led and operated by the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre and supported by Harvest," said Vince Barletta, CEO of Harvest Manitoba. The store will provide "dignified access to food" for people facing struggles in life, he said. It will allow people to select the items they need for themselves or their families, instead of being provided with a pre-packaged food hamper. It's been an aim of Harvest Manitoba to have more of its food-security work be Indigenous led "and to us, there was no better partner," Barletta said. The Asihcikan site is actually two linked buildings, formerly home to Kelsey Sportswear Ltd., at 563-567 Notre Dame. Much of it is undergoing a $14-million renovation, with plans for Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre to move in sometime in early 2026. Harvest Manitoba has already moved into part of the main floor of 567 Notre Dame, where they are operating the Meals2Go program that provides meal kits to 5,000 students every week during the school year. The partnership was seeded during the COVID-19 pandemic, when demand surged for the services the agencies provide, Barletta said. Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata was running a home nutrition and learning pilot program, which provided families with fresh fruit, vegetables, milk and more on a weekly basis. As many as 300 hampers were being delivered every day, but government funding dried up in 2022. "We knew that was going to leave thousands of families, vulnerable families, without access to reliable food, and we knew that was going to put some new burdens on Harvest and new burden on [Ma Mawi]," Barletta said. "We got to talking," Christensen said. "And that's what led to the concept of this community hub." It will also be a much-needed social hub, she said. "A lot of families, since the pandemic, have experienced a lot of disconnect, a lot of isolation. This is really about creating spaces where families can come and connect with one another, connect to other resources and really start building that path out of poverty," Christensen said. "The idea is that they'll come in, they'll connect with our intake workers, and we'll learn a lot about who they are, what their families needs are, and we'll have a whole range of programming and resources." About $9 million of the funding for the project has come from several sources, such as the federal and Manitoba governments, the Winnipeg Foundation, United Way and Cargill, Christensen said. The site's transformation "will create a new community-of-caring centre right here in the centre of Winnipeg," said Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, the Liberal MP for St. Boniface-St. Vital.
