CBWT - Thursday, May 23, 2024 - 12:00 a.m. (ET) - Segment #1

all nato allies. -Some people have lost everything. Rosemary:Sundays, join me for Rosemary Barton live. >> Announcer: this is cbc winnipeg news. ( ) ( ) >> Good evening, thank you for joining you tonight. >>> A speech to a graduating class of doctors at the university of manitoba has sparked debate. The valedictorian called for a ceasefire. As cbc's cameron MacLEAN reports, that led to tension between the medical school and its biggest donor. ( ) >> Reporter: this is val valedictorian gen newman from the rady school of medicine. He spent about two minutes talking about the war in gaza. >> And so I ask that you join me in calling for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in palestine. [Cheers and Applause] >> Reporter: newman criticized the canadian medical orginisations like doctors manitoba for what he called their deafening silence over calls for a ceasefire. >> I'm sure that some of you here today are worried that you might be sens sense censured for speaking out. >> Reporter: dr. Peter nickerson put out a statement the next day saying that he was disappointed in the address and calling it disrespectful. The businessman, whose $30 million donation led to his name attached to the school said that the university's response was lukewarm. In a letter ernst rady said they are hate speech and they are lies. Cbc asked for an interview with rady and he said that his letter stands on its own. Rady said when he donates to an institution he makes a point to not tell it what to do but in this case he felt the need to speak out. And he demanded that the university take down the video of newman's speech and denounce it as lies as hurtful to the jewish community. Currently the video is no longer available on the university's YouTube channel. The valedictorian declined an sprue about reaction to his speech but sent a statement and part of it says "it is incredible to me that advocating for a cessation of hostilities is seen as not only controversial but somehow hateful. Criticisms of the actions of the israeli government does not in and of itself constitute anti-semitism." we spoke to doug white, a philanthropy advisor. And he says that both the valedictorian and donor have the right to express their views much. >> Now the donor and others could be very upset, but to demand that the university take down the video -- I feel like that's -- that's not productive. >> Reporter: in a statement, rady school of medicine deemed dr. Peter nickerson acknowledged taking down the video, saying that ernst rady was not the only person who complained. The dean said that no decision has been made about how university will handle future events. Cameron MacLEAN, cbc news, winnipeg. >> Crown prosecutors have finished calling evidence in the trial of a winnipeg man who admitted to killing four indigenous women. On the last day of arguments the crown submitted letters that jeremy skibicki wrote to another inmate. Brittany greenslade was in the court. >> Reporter: while jeremy skibicki was behind bars awaiting his first murder trial he sent letters to an inmate halfway across the country. Now his words are being used as evidence in his case. Crown attorneys say that skibicki was part of a prison pen pal programme and sent roughly a dozen letters to a female inmate in nova scotia. I'm probably one of the most hated men in winnipeg, if not all of canada, he tells the woman. A winnipeg police detective sergeant flew to the maritimes to interview the woman and to seize nine letters. A few had already been destroyed, he testified wednesday in court. Skibicki tells the woman that by early 2023 that he'd already spent more than 200 days in segregation because of the high profile nature of his case. He writes about his love of animals and working out. And says that he often watches the news, always half hoping, half dreading that he'll be on tv. Skibicki has admitted to killing four women. Morgan harris and rebecca contois and a yet unidentified woman given an dig name. His legal team said that she shouldn't be held criminally responsible due to a mental disorder, that was planned a year before trial. He tells her that he loves her and trusts her and wants to marry her after his trial. But he also speaks about his temper. When I do lose my cool I have been known to terrify people, he wrote.

in other portions he goes on rants and says that I sometimes go from zero to communism in 20 seconds. In the handwritten letters he asked her to research the best federal penitentiaries for getting first-degree murder convicts downgraded to lesser security prisons and which allow inmates to get married and to have the most conjugal visits and as well as cell phones and video games. He also says that he plans to write fictional books. Prosecutors say that the content of the letters speak to his mental capacity. A psychiatric assessment of the 7-year-old was done last weekend and hasn't yet been presented in court. The trial is now on break to june 3rd when the defense will lay out its case. Brittany gleanbrittany greenslade, cbc news, winnipeg. >> Emily: there was an assault in a québec prison. Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2007 and the remains of dna of 33 women were found on pickton's pig farm in port coquitlam. And it's stirred up a flood of emotions for the victims' loved ones, including a family in manitoba. And one of the victims from sagkeeng first nation, she went missing from vancouver in 2000. Her dna was found in his farm in B.C. in 2004, but he was never charged with her death. Abraham's sister myrna said that hearing that pickton is unconscious and might die is tough to process. I met with myrna abraham last night in winnipeg. >> At first I was angry and then I was happy. I wanted to go and to celebrate and just make a lot of noise, you know? And then a few minutes go by and you're like, hey, wait a minute, we still don't have any answers because they only found her dna and they said that there wasn't enough dna for her to be considered murdered. This is when she was in high school in sagkeeng. >> Reporter: abraham test about her sister in the inquiry of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and she's been in marches and walking as far as sault ste. Marie and prince rupert in memory of sharon. Her family has dealt with grief and anger and uncertainty in the decades since she disappeared. >> You really don't get any justice. If he lives or if he dies, just doesn't feel like enough. It's just not enough because you want closure and I don't even know if he knows the names of the women or the -- apparently there are three men that are missing. >> Reporter: what kind of justice do you think that should have been done? >> There's just not enough. It doesn't matter -- it doesn't matter, like, because we are without, and without answers. >> Emily: the premier was on the defensive today about a new contract for public sector nurses. Nearly half of the nurses rejected the deal. Wab kinew says that tentative agreement provides the flexibility that many nurses crave but at the same time this contract is limiting for those working for private agencies. For more we're joined now by cbc's ian froese. Ian, the premier says that the new contract will reduce manitoba's reliance on expensive agency nurses? How will that work? >> Reporter: well, wab kinew says when the healthcare facilities don't have enough nurses they'll stop calling private agencies first. Instead, they'll call the provincial flow pool. The public sector nurses hired into this pool are willing to work at a number of facilities. Kinew says that the government will make it easier for these nurses to reach full-time hours and to get to that $12,000 bonus annually. >> Many felt, anyways, that only through this could they control their own schedule. Could that I have work/life balance. And what we're doing now within this new tentative agreement is saying that we're going to allow you control over when you work. >> Reporter: but under this contract, that flexibility won't be extended to agency nurses. They cannot work for an agency and get extra hours in a public healthcare facility in the same health region. >> We see other provinces providing substantial incentives to nurses working in the public system. This approach is a bit more of a bullying tactic, as I see it. It's less of an incentive and more of a blunt instrument.

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