Massive house explosion in Manitoba leaves one dead and another critically injured 

On January 26, 1993, Calvin Hawley discovered that the curb outside his home had been wrecked by a snow removal machine.

“I came home from the hospital … and discovered a large chunk of curb under a whole whack of snow,” says Hawley, who lives on Tyrone Bay in St. Vital, Manitoba.

Hawley says he remembers the incident clearly, as it was the day his son was born.

Nearly thirty years later, Hawley says the curb situation has become comical to him. 

“It is kinda funny when you think about. It will be a grand day when they actually come out,” he told CBC.

After dozens of calls to the city later, Hawley has come close to giving up on his dreams of a new curb.

“One time they told me the system for logging complaints had changed and my previous complaints weren’t on record…It’s not even jagged cement anymore. It’s been here so long, it’s weathered to a smooth state.”

Hawley says the final straw came on July 1, 2017, as he was woken up by the sound of City of Winnipeg crews on his street.

“I was watching crews merrily drive past the front of my driveway to stop and repair other curbs on the other side of the bay that weren’t as damaged as mine or as old.”

Finally, after decades of complaints to the city, Hawley has a date for when the curb will be fixed by. June 26, 2037.

“It’s 26 years old right now, if you do the math and they don’t get around to doing it until their target date of 2037. Then this is damage that would have sat here for [44] years. How is that reasonable?” Hawley said.

A new Ipsos poll has given another indicator of what many already suspected: The prairie provinces are more eager than ever to separate from the rest of Canada.

The exclusive poll conducted for Global News found that the majority of respondents in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and in the Maritimes believe that Canada is “more divided than ever,” and according to Ipsos vice-president Kyle Braid, those numbers have reached “historic” heights, specifically in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

“This is really a story of two oil provinces that feel that they made a substantial contribution to the Canadian economy during the boom years and now feel when things are not going as well, they feel isolated, underappreciated, misunderstood by the rest of the country,” he said.

According to the study, “agreement that the country is more divided than ever is highest in … Alberta (79%) and Saskatchewan (77%). A majority of residents in the two other western provinces of Manitoba (58%) and BC (54%) also agree the country is divided, but their agreement is aligned with Ontario (56%) and Quebec (54%) and not their western neighbours. Two-thirds (66%) of Atlantic Canadians agree the country is more divided than ever.”

The poll surveyed 1,516 voting-age Canadians online between Oct. 24 and Nov. 1, 2019.

Among the other questions were “Canada is more divided than ever,” “my province would be better off if it separated from Canada,” and “I think the views of western Canadians are adequately represented in Ottawa.”

According to the poll, approximately one-third (33%) of Albertans surveyed and just over one-quarter (27%) of Saskatchewanians agree with the statement: “My province would be better off if it separated from Canada.”

That separatist ethos is up 8 points compared to last year’s numbers (from 25% to 33%,) and up 14 points from the 19 percent figure found in 2001. According to the survey, “a belief that Saskatchewan would be better off if it separated is up 9 points from just over a year ago (from 18% to 27%) and up 14 points from 2001 (was 13%).”

That separatist sentiment is rivalled only by the Quebecois, where 26 percent believe that their province would fair better by leaving Canada.

The authorities can’t be everywhere, and that’s for the best.

After all, we wouldn’t want to live in an authoritarian police state in which signs of government power were omnipresent.

So, in a democratic society, the rule of law is paramount, and the rule of law functions on the basis of the vast majority of people agreeing to follow the rules, even when someone could technically get away with lawbreaking.

It also functions on people believing that the rules will be applied when warranted. If people are allowed to brazenly steal, show total contempt for any basic decency, and then get away without punishment, that kind of attitude can spread throughout society like a sickness, signalling a deeper level of corruption and breakdown.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly the kind of breakdown that’s happening right now in Winnipeg. And it’s worse than the rampant LCBO thefts in Ontario.

Twitter and Facebook conversation among Winnipeggers is increasingly focused on the appalling sight of Manitoba Liquor Marts being beset by criminals who brazenly walk into stores, steal vast quantities of alcohol, knock alcohol onto the floors, and then scurry away, all without any punishment or action from the authorities.

In many cases, security guards simply stand there and watch, doing absolutely nothing, not even admonishing the criminals to stop. The Liquor Mart employees stand there watching as well, and the only thing they usually do is tell law-abiding Liquor Mart customers not to intervene.

And how about the police?

Well, they’re telling people not to intervene either, warning they could face “legal action.”

“Winnipeg police are addressing the issue of customers physically intervening in liquor mart thefts. As frustrating as it is, officers are warning people not to get involved. Police say you could be hurt and could be held liable criminally or civilly if someone else gets hurt.”

So this is what society has now become: Criminals break the law with impunity, while the authorities warn law-abiding people to do nothing or else risk getting in trouble.

What the hell is this?

Society is supposed to punish those who violate the laws, and reward those who follow the laws. It’s actually incredibly simple. This combo of punishments and rewards is what keeps any healthy society functioning, and when it breaks down, then society breaks down as well.

And that’s exactly what we see happening.

The system of punishments and rewards is being reversed, with the criminals being rewarded – with free alcohol and no punishments – while law-abiding citizens are punished. And law-abiding citizens are really being punished three times, first with the threats from authorities not to intervene, then with having to pay for alcohol while criminals don’t, and finally by the increased taxes that will be extracted by the government to cover the mounting costs of the Liquor Mart thefts.

All of this is outrageous, and it’s an insult to every Manitoba Liquor Marts customer who is following the law and following the rules.

There’s also something deeper going on here. It’s no coincidence that this type of weakness from the authorities is being matched with our country’s inability to stand up to China’s mistreatment of our citizens, the rise in meth and opioid related-crime and death, and the rise of gang crime. Meanwhile, the federal government wants to jail people for five years for sharing what they call “misinformation” about politicians on the internet.

Our so-called ‘leaders’ are so weak and corrupt that they only know how to be aggressive against good, law-abiding citizens. They can’t deal with criminals, aggressive strength, or brazen disregard for the law.

This will have dire consequences. The more people see that the rule of law is breaking down, and the more people see that following the rules results in punishment while breaking the rules results in reward, the worse and more chaotic things are going to get.

As Manitoba braces for a state of emergency following a disastrous snowstorm, Toronto has lent its helping hand.

According to the City of Toronto, 25 Urban Forestry staff will be sent to Manitoba on Monday to assist in cleaning up the province following severe winter weather.

According to Narcity, the city of Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba declared a state of emergency last week,

Heavy rains and the resulting outpour of snow have caused power outages throughout the province.

Toronto will help in cleaning the area up.

“We are happy to provide help to our neighbours in Winnipeg as they work to recover from these unprecedented weather events. I want to thank our Urban Forestry crews for the work they are undertaking over the next few weeks to respond to this emergency and help our fellow Canadians. This is a true example of how, during challenging times, we come together to support each other,” Mayor John Tory said in a statement.

Snowfall in October isn’t uncommon in Manitoba, however, the level of snowfall this year has been unprecedented.

Over 250,000 people have been left without power.

The Toronto team is expected to be back before the middle of November. The cost of assistance will be covered by the city of Winnipeg.