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CJOB sports guy Cameron Poitras living the dream

CJOB’s newly married couple:
producer Skye Kneller
& announcer Cameron Poitras

By MYRON LOVE Ten years ago or so, Cameron Poitras was at loose ends. He had just dropped out of university and, as with many young people entering their 20s, wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

 

“I had heard some radio ads for the Academy of Broadcasting” (which used to be located in the vicinity of Polo Park), he recalls. “I had always been an avid radio listener. I thought a radio career might be something I would enjoy.”
So he enrolled in the program in 2010 – and has never looked back.

Poitras’ road to CJOB however was somewhat long and winding. His practicum and first on-air posting was at CKDM in Dauphin, where he read the news and covered local sports news. After just seven months in Dauphin, he headed west to Alberta to a community called Drayton Valley and a station which goes by the name of “Big West Country”.
“There were three of us on staff,” he recounts. “I had my own show and did the play by play for the local hockey team.”
After nine months in Drayton, it was on to Merritt, B.C. (one of the communities which have recently suffered catastrophic flooding).
“It was in Merritt where I really learned the radio business,” he says. “I was putting in 75-80 hours a week. I learned how to dig up stories and also how to recognize when people are trying to scam you. The work was demanding but I loved it.”

The next rung on the ladder to success came from radio station CHQR in Calgary – CJOB’s sister station. “I had been in Merritt for just over a year when CHQR called and offered me a position as evening news anchor,” he recalls. “That was my big break.”
Four years ago, he decided to move back to Winnipeg. “I was feeling homesick,” he explains.
After leaving Calgary, he notes, he took some time off to spend a month travelling around Europe. “I thought that I would come back home, work for a while and resume travelling,” he says.
But that was not to be.
Shortly after being hired to produce and read the evening news at CJOB, he met Skye Kneller. “Skye had also just started at CJOB as a producer,” he recounts. “And she was a graduate of Herzing Academy which had absorbed the Academy of Broadcasting. We had had some of the same teachers.
“We hit it off right away.”

Cameron and Skye married last summer, about a year after he completed his conversion to Judaism. The couple both are on the board of the Chevra Mishnayes Synagogue, to which the Kneller Family has strong and deeply-rooted ties. (Skye’s father, Marshall, served as president of the congregation for many years before his untimely passing early last year.)
Meanwhile, back at CJOB, among Poitras’ responsibilities have been producing content at the station for Geoff Currier and Hal Anderson, news broadcasts and Bomber games. Last year, the station also acquired the rights to Jets broadcasts.
(Skye, he notes, is the producer for Richard Cloutier’s Afternoon program as well as the Jets and Bombers games.

“The station decided to launch a daily, one hour Jets report at noon,” says Poitras – and the diehard sports fan was delighted to be tapped to host the show, also to read the sports news at 25 past the hour.
Poitras channels the late, great sportscaster Howard Cosell (who famously always promised to “tell it like it is”) in promising to provide honest reporting and in-depth analysis. The emphasis, though, he adds, is to provide entertainment and have some fun. I want to make this the kind of show that I would want to listen to.”

He further reports that sports radio veteran Jim Toth has recently been added to the broadcast. With his 25 years in the business, Jim has been a great addition to the broadcast,” Poitras comments. “He makes our show so much better. We have formed a good partnership. It feels right.”
Poitras speaks of the importance of listener involvement with the program. “Almost everybody has a smart phone which makes it easy to interact with us on air and be heard,” he observes. “I believe that radio will always have a place but we have to continually adapt to the times.”
And Cameron Poitras is exactly where he wants to be – as an integral part of one of our city’s dominant radio stations and in the thick of the sports world.
He and Skye would still like to travel – including visiting Israel some time – but for the young couple, for the immediate future, their career focus is paramount.

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Winnipegger David Ganetsky becoming go-to guy for mould and asbestos removal throughout Western Canada

By MYRON LOVE David Ganetsky’s Enviro Doctors is fast becoming the preeminent specialist throughout Western and Northern Canada when it comes to mould and asbestos removal.  In the past year alone, Ganetsky points out, his employee numbers have grown from 10 to 35.
“Over the past couple of years, our business has been growing exponentially,” he reports.  “We currently have seven crews (each consisting of four members) operating in places such as Thompson, Brandon and The Pas.   We have one crew that specializes in mould removal.
“We have contracts for projects – beyond Manitoba – in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Northwestern Ontario, Nunavut and Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories.  None of our competitors match our geographical reach.”
Ganetsky and Enviro Doctors have come a long way in just nine years but, for the long time resident of Garden City, his latest reincarnation is built on his many years of experience as an entrepreneur.  The son of Walter and Penny Ganetsky notes that he was inspired to pursue a career largely in business by his work with his zaida, the late Bernard Mondell, who was in the wholesale business.
Following high school graduation (from Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate), he began looking for business opportunities.  “My first business venture was in communication,” he recalls.  “I founded Delta Communications, one of the original cell phone providers in Winnipeg.”   
He learned the art of business largely by hands-on experience but, he points out, he also took a number of business courses over several years.”
Ganetsky’s work history also includes working in sales in the golf business and serving for two years as executive director of the Portsmouth Retirement Residence. His entry into mould and asbestos removal came about through his work as a business consultant.
“I was hired by a company involved in mould remediation and removal to help grow their sales,” he recounts.  “After helping them to achieve their goal, I could see that there was a void in the marketplace.  There was no company specializing specifically in mould removal.  I did some research into the industry, took a few courses and proceeded to open The Mould Doctors.”
That was in 2014.
As business grew, Ganetsky notes, he began to get a growing number of calls asking about asbestos removal as well. As a result, in 2016, he changed the company name to Enviro Doctors to better encapsulate the services Ganetsky offers.
(He later added a demolition service.)
The mould and asbestos removal maven points out that there are very stringent guidelines to be followed in his line of work, in particular when  it comes to asbestos removal.   “We are required to do a yearly audit,” he says.  “We have one fulltime staff member dedicated to ongoing training.”
Ganetsky observes that there is a clear relationship between mould build-up and health issues.  It has only been in recent years that doctors have become aware of the link between mould build-up and ongoing flu-like symptoms and respiratory ailments such as asthma, he reports
He adds though that not everyone is affected negatively by mould build-up. He explains that mould build-up is created by a combination of high humidity or moisture, resulting from a spill or a leak, and a “food source,” such as drywall or furniture.
“Much of the time, mould is invisible,” he notes.  “We at EnviroDoctors can do an air quality test which will confirm the presence of build-up.”
Homeowners can remove small amounts of mould, he suggests, by spraying the affected area with a 50/50 mixture of  vinegar and water, then wiping way the black film.
He points out that mould is a particular problem in Aboriginal communities.  “We have sent our teams into numerous First Nations bands throughout Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northwestern Ontario and the North.  There was one such community, for example, where about one-third of the houses had mould problems.  
“Most of these communities suffer from overcrowding, neglect and lack of knowledge how to prevent mould build-up,” he points out.  “As part of our service,  we try to teach the community members how to prevent the development of mould.”
Ganetsly  notes that he is proud of the fact that the environmentally-friendly formula Enviro Doctors uses for mould removal was developed in a Canadian laboratory. 
He further touts Enviro Doctors’ “fresh air guarantee,” which includes free air quality testing and a follow-up test 90 days after completion of the work.
Enviro Doctors’ potentially most high-profile project to date may be the upcoming excavation of Winnipeg’s  Prairie Green Landfill in hopes of finding the remains of two or three female Indigenous murder victims.  While the original estimate for the project was around $180 million, a new report released in late January by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and ISN Maskwa (an Indigenous-owned company that provides emergency response training and services) suggest that the work can be carried out for about $90 million.
“We have been approached to participate in the project,” Ganetsky reports.  “That landfill is one that accepts asbestos.”
Ganetsky states that he believes that excavation is doable, providing  fundinf can be found.  “Wab (Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew) is on board,” Ganetsky notes.   “Maybe we find something. Maybe we find nothing.  But at least it may give the families of the murder victims some closure.”

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New Federation program connects Winnipeggers with Israeli teens trying to improve their English

Israel Connect volunteers Tannis Mindell (left) and Rietta Floom

By MYRON LOVE Last fall, the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg signed onto Israel Connect, an online initiative that brings together community volunteers with Israeli teens seeking to improve their English.
According to the Israel Connect website, the outreach program was founded in 2013 by Sarah Gordon, a former teacher at the Torah Day School in Ottawa, with the goal of creating a grassroots network of Canadian volunteers who answered the call of Israeli educators to provide their students with English language tutoring.
The website points out that “mastering English is crucial for success in Israel. Universities and high-paying jobs require a high level of English language proficiency. However, the current educational landscape presents a significant challenge. Immersive language experiences, proven to be the most effective way to learn, are impractical in overcrowded classrooms. It is virtually impossible for 30-40 students to engage in effective English conversations and interactions, and experiences outside the classroom are prohibitively expensive.”
Israel Connect’s results were dramatic, the website reports.  English proficiency among that first group of students quickly improved, and the demand for native English tutors became clear. Within two short years, the informal network grew into a global non-profit organization that has more than 1,000 volunteer mentors strong.    
Today, Israel Connect partners with the Israeli Ministry of Education to support hundreds of students in dozens of schools across the country. In just over 10 years, the organization has become the world’s largest external provider of services to Israel’s Department of Education – helping hundreds of 14- and 15-year-olds to perfect their English simply by chatting once a week with a mentor via Zoom.
Winnipegger Rietta Floom says that she learned about Israel Connect from relatives in Edmonton.   “I was looking for volunteer opportunities,” notes the retired  investigator, mediator and hearing officer with the province, who does some casual work as an education assistant.  She filled out an application in September 2022, and, shortly after, she was assigned her first student, a girl in  grade 12, living outside of Tel Aviv.  Her second student, this year, lives in northern Israel and goes to school in Tiberias.
Tannis Mindell, a former chairperson of Liquor and Lotteries Corporation, was also looking for a volunteer opportunity. “I learned about Israel Connect from my sister-in-law in Ottawa,” she says.
Mindell signed on last fall. She notes it was she who suggested that the Federation might want to support this initiative. 
“I connected with  Mariana Sussi – who is a member of the Federation Board (as chair of the Israel and Overseas committee) – and Abby Flackman (the Federation’s Youth and Overseas Engagement co-ordinator),” she says.  “Both Abby and Mariana are also enthusiastic about Israel Connect.”
Both Mindell and Floom point out that you don’t have to have been an educator to participate as an Israel Connect mentor, and there is little preparation required.  All that is necessary is to commit to a weekly 45-minute Zoom session with the student that is convenient for both parties. 
Each Thursday, the Israel Connect organizers send out a weekly lesson plan. At the appointed time, the student reads aloud the assigned paragraph and goes over with the mentor proper pronunciation and the meaning of new words.  After that, mentor and student chat about any number of subjects
The goal of the program, according to the Israel Connect website, is that by the end of the school year, students have the skills and confidence they need to succeed in the national university entrance exams. 
Not surprisingly, the events of October 7 and resultant ongoing conflict have introduced a new psychological element into the tutoring.  Students share in the national trauma and most have family members engaged in the fighting.  The Winnipeg mentors have had a session with Mariana Sussi – who is also a psychotherapist – and who provided them with some strategies in offering some help to their Israeli students with their trauma.
“My work with my student through Israel Connect has been one of the most gratifying experiences I have ever had,” Mindell says.
Both she and Floom would like to encourage others in our community to consider donating a little bit of their time to Israel Connect.
Interested individuals can contact Abby Flackman at 204 477-7424 or send an email to AFlackman@jewishwinnipeg.org.
“I would love to help anyone who is interested in volunteering to get started,” Flackman says.

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The Middle East and the Erosion of our Public Discourse

By BEN CARR Like so many Canadians, it pains me day after day to watch the ongoing crisis unfold in the Middle East. From the horrific torture Israeli hostages and their families are still enduring, as well as the grief and uncertainty that remains across the country after Hamas’ terrorist attack, to the innocent children in Gaza who have been killed or are starving as a consequence of this horrible conflict, its sum has equaled nothing short of total human catastrophe.

I have been critical of Prime Minister Netanyahu before, and I will be again. There are three core areas that I feel strongly point to the ways in which he is proving to be an obstacle to peace. First, he does not accept a two-state solution as a viable path to peace (even without Hamas at the table). Second, he refuses to condemn and take action towards growing settler extremism on the far-right. Third, and most important at this stage, he is not allowing the aid so desperately needed in Gaza to flow as it should.

For its part, Hamas must release all hostages, stop using civilians as human shields, and cease its constant attacks against Israel. A criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu does not in any way provide a get out of jail free card for Hamas. The terms of a ceasefire cannot be one-sided.

It is critically important we remember that governments come and go. Our relationships with states are deeper than that we may have with the leadership of the day. Israel is still a key ally in the region, and plays a vital role in protecting our interests against hostile actors, such as Iran and Russia. 

We can expect that a more moderate Israeli government will emerge from the ruins of this chapter. It will be in Canada’s interest to have open lines of communication with them when the time comes.

Some have questioned my criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu, contemplating whether or not it is appropriate for a Member of Parliament in Canada to comment on the affairs of another nation. When the domestic affairs of another country spill over into the domestic affairs of ours, and impact those that I represent to the extent that this conflict has, I feel it is reasonable and responsible for me to lend my voice to the conversation.  

It is possible to remain outraged by the loss of life on Oct 7th and supportive of Hamas’ dismantling while at the same time feeling as though the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached such levels that it is incumbent upon the Netanyahu Government to address the issue immediately. That sentiment reflects how I, and many others in our community, are feeling right now.

Yes, Hamas provoked this war. Yes, Hamas has to be eradicated. Yes, Israel has a right to defend itself. No, innocent kids should not be on the verge of starvation as a consequence of actions completely out of their control. 

It is shocking that Israel’s most important ally, the United States, is set to create a makeshift port of entry off the coast in order to get aid into Gaza. This is a direct result of Netanyahu’s arrogant dismissal of the world’s concerns regarding the conditions facing innocent people.

There is nothing black and white about this conflict. Any attempts to overlook the nuance and historical complexity of these issues simply feeds into the hostility and aggression that is plaguing our public discourse on the matter, and by extension, negatively impacting the way we treat each other. 

People are constantly looking to put others into one category or another. Are you “pro-Palestine” or you are “pro-Israel?” Do you “support Hamas” or do you “support genocide?” 

The truth is, it’s simply not that simple.

These tribalistic narratives are no doubt to some extent the result of intergenerational trauma experienced by members of both communities involved, and it is understandable how and why this conflict has evoked the range of emotions that it has. 

However, the response is also reflective of a rapid decline in the quality of our public dialogue, borne from social media echo chambers and an underlying anger in certain segments of society that has stripped us of the ability to allow for compassionate argument to be accompanied by reasonable thought.

Because I have expressed support for Israel after the most devastating attack on Jews since the Holocaust, I have been called a “baby killer”, “genocide enthusiast”, and told that I have “blood on my hands.” I have been confronted by mobs of angry people screaming at me outside of events, and had threatening expletives hurled my way. 

Because I have been critical of Netanyahu and showed compassion for the circumstances facing innocent people in Gaza, I have been called a “disgraceful Jew”, “Hamas sympathizer”, and a “political opportunist.”

These people are not interested in solutions. They hear only what they want to hear, and disregard the rest. None of that offers a pathway to peace, here at home, or anywhere else in the world. 

We must, in the same breath, express care for the lives of innocent Israelis and innocent Palestinians. In doing so, we contribute a small part here at home to the pursuit of a lasting peace for a conflict that has taken the lives of too many, for too long.

Ben Carr is the Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South Centre

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