The Black Rod

The City of Winnipeg's top civil servants have defiantly closed ranks around Fire Chief Reid Douglas whose handling of a $15 million project to build four new fire stations is at the heart of a scandal that's shaking public trust in city government like never before. Douglas submitted a report last week to a city committee seeking another $2.3 million from the 2013 budget to cover cost overruns on the new firehalls.  He's already spent the $15.3 million allocated for the project but only three fire stations have been built and the last, in St. James, only just started.  Douglas twice increased the size of the fourth firehall without telling city councillors why, then tried to hide the increased cost  from them, even as late as last month (September). He wrote in his report supporting the extra funding that : "The Fire Chief had the authority to change the scope of the project in order to accommodate these operational needs and efficiencies as they were antic...

Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz is playing a dangerous game by intervening personally in the Fire Hall Scandal that's swirling around his friend and business partner Sandy Shindleman. You would expect a politician to put as much distance as possible between himself and a career-ending financial controversy. Instead, Katz has jumped into the fire with both feet by ordering a blatantly biased, deliberately narrow, suicidal "investigation" of allegations of impropriety in the awarding of building contracts to his friend. The "investigation", to be conducted by another of Katz's close friends, won't convince anyone. But it will raise questions about whether the mayor had any involvement in the conspiracy and cover-up that's at the heart of the scandal. The Fire Hall Scandal can be divided into two parts: * the secret land swap with Shindico Realty, and * the secret awarding of a $15 million contract to Shindico to build four new fire...

How did a good-news story about the timely and well-executed replacement of four outdated fire stations degenerate into a sleazy tale of conspiracy and coverup involving politicians and public servants? How did the fire department, the goodest of the good guys, get entangled in a plot to deceive Winnipeg's elected city council over who was being paid millions of dollars to build the new firehalls? http://blackrod.blogspot.ca/2012/09/unwrapping-three-year-conspiracy-and.html Look at the big picture, and the story doesn't look so sinister. Look closer, and here's what you see... It starts in 2009 with the fire department, now carrying the clunky name of the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service, convincing city officials that it was long past time to bring the city's firefighting infrastructure into the 21st century. Scattered fire stations were too old, too small and too poorly positioned to answer calls quick enough in the sprawling city...

The inquest report into the 2006 death of Blue Bombers fan Andrew Szabo was released on Tuesday -- but news reports only hint at the actual horror story behind the tragedy. Szabo slowly bled to death in Grace Hospital after falling off a landing onto the concrete below and suffering a broken pelvis that went undiagnosed. Inquest Judge Mary Kate Harvie tries to make ER doctor Terrance Bergmann the scapegoat but news reports failed to point out that she cited Winnipeg paramedics as sharing the blame. Here's the full story... Imagine this scenario: a man trips and free-falls, say, 15 feet before crashing into the cement. He' s unconscious and bleeding from the back of his head. What do you think happens next? Most people would say somebody calls 911, an ambulance shows up, and the unfortunate man is taken to a hospital as quickly as possible for x-rays to his skull. You dreamer. Here's how it worked in real life in Winnipeg. * Szabo stumbled on the st...