Local Briefs

Apple store opens in Polo Park

The first Apple store in Manitoba opened up in Polo Park this Saturday, causing massive lines throughout the mall.

According to Access Winnipeg, the news broke when an opening appeared for the Apple store in Winnipeg on the Apple website.

“We are very excited that they have joined our mall,” Polo Park general manager Deborah Green told the Winnipeg Free Press “Apple is a very astute retailer and are very particular about where they locate.”

The Free Press also said that a number of other Apple stores are in the works to open cross the country.

Health Canada apologizes for body bags

Health Canada has recently apologized for sending body bags to First Nations communities in Manitoba in preparation for the swine flu outbreak.

According to CBC Manitoba, Canada Health explained, “We regret the alarm that this incident has caused. [ . . . ] It is important to remember that our nurses are focused entirely on providing primary health-care services under often-trying circumstances.”

Jim Wolfe, director of First Nations and Inuit Health for Manitoba, told the CBC he “regrets the alarm the shipment has caused in those communities, which were hard hit by the H1N1 flu virus in the spring.”

The CBC also reported that Wolfe apologized to all First Nations communities across the country, not just the communities who received the controversial body bags.

Manitoba chiefs reject Health Canada apology

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs has so far rejected Health Canada’s apology for the body bags that were distributed to Manitoban First Nations communities.

According to the Globe and Mail, “Despite a rare Health Canada apology, First Nations leaders demanded the resignation of a high-ranking ministry official yesterday after a bungle in which hundreds of body bags were shipped to northern Manitoba communities as flu-fighting supplies.”

The Globe reported, More than 200 bags were sent to communities in northern Manitoba. One community in particular Wasagamack First Nation, is roughly 600 Km north from Winnipeg and received 30 body bags.

“It was insulting,” David Harper, Grand Chief of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, that represents 30 northern aboriginal communities, told the Globe.

“Body bags may be part of flu preparations, but so is medication. Why do we get body bags before we get medication?”