RCMP are investigating the suspicious death of a 17-year-old boy in Pelican Narrows.
At about 6:30 am last Saturday, May 2, police were dispatched to a disturbance at a residence in the community. They discovered the boy in need of medical assistance.
RCMP transported the boy to the Angelique Canada Health Centre in Pelican Narrows, where he was declared deceased. His name was not released.
Police consider the death suspicious. Pelican Narrows RCMP continue to investigate with assistance from the RCMP Major Crime Unit out of Saskatoon and the Tisdale RCMP Forensic Identification Section.
RCMP said details are limited at this time and will be released as they become available.
Bravery honour
A northern Manitoba man has received one of Canada’s highest honours for bravery.
Churchill resident Bill Ayotte was in Ottawa last week to receive the Star of Courage from Gov. Gen. David Johnston.
On November 1, 2013, Ayotte came to the rescue of Erin Greene when she was attacked by a polar bear in Churchill.
Ayotte, 69 at the time, grabbed a shovel and began hitting the bear when it attacked Greene, distracting it long enough for her to escape.
The bear then mauled him. Neighbours shot at the bear to chase it away.
“In you, I see proof of humanity and decency and courage in the world,” said Johnston in his speech to Ayotte and other award recipients. “It doesn’t fade, doesn’t tarnish. It remains as pristine today as it did during the first bravery award presentation more than 40 years ago. That is why I still get goose bumps each time I present these awards, every time I hear stories of bravery.”
Last October Ayotte received the Order of the Buffalo Hunt, one of Manitoba’s highest honours.
Neighbourly summit
More than 100 representatives of Manitoba and Nunavut communities and governments were in Winnipeg recently for the three-day Hudson Bay Neighbours Regional Roundtable summit.
The summit was co-chaired by Manitoba deputy premier and Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister Eric Robinson and Nunavut deputy premier Monica Ell.
“This meeting follows up on key issues raised over the past two years,” said Robinson in a news release. “Delegates were updated on progress made on the working groups studying energy options for the Kivalliq region [of Nunavut], winter roads and health.”
Manitoba participants at the summit included the mayors of Gillam and Churchill, the chiefs of Sayisi Dene and Fox Lake First Nations, Premier Greg Selinger, Health Minister Sharon Blady and Food and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn.
Speakers included Jeff McEachern of OmiTrax, which owns the Hudson Bay Railway and the Port of Churchill, and Adam Fiser of the Conference Board of Canada Centre for the North.
An agreement was reached to hold a follow-up meeting in Nunavut in September. Topics will include recycling and waste management.
