Local News
Sean Berman working to make Winnipeg buses safer for drivers and passengers
By MYRON LOVE I have to admit that it has been years – even decades – sine I last took a bus. In my younger days, it was a different story. I would bus home from school (St. John’s) on cold winter days, go downtown frequently, or to our grocery store in St. Boniface and to the University of Manitoba.
Back in those halcyon days half a century ago, I could read in peace on the bus and nap on longer trips. At rush hour, buses from downtown were standing room only. And I don’t recall ever witnessing any violence.
But, times have changed. From what I have read in the papers, for several years now, abusive behavior and even violence on the buses happen far too often.
Sean Berman is working to change that reality. The still relatively young Winnipegger is one of two supervisors who are part of a City of Winnipeg initiative to make the buses safer for both passengers and drivers.
Early this year, the City introduced a Community Safety Team to patrol streets downtown and buses to help people experiencing homelessness, addictions, and mental health issues.
“Our team members have backgrounds in security, social work and education,” Berman reports. “We have been trained to de-escalate potentially violent situations and direct people in distress to the appropriate social service agencies.
“Especially since the Covid lockdowns, we have been seeing a lot more cases of people suffering from addictions, trauma or mental illness. Our community safety officers are getting a lot of positive feedback for our efforts. We are seeing a significant difference after just nine months.”
The son of Michael and Val Berman and grandson of the late Hy Berman has taken a non-traditional path – for a member of our Jewish community – to his present situation. The Garden City Collegiate graduate recalls that he has always enjoyed physical labour – with a particular interest in the building trades. After working for Sturgeon Tire for a couple of years post-high school, he enrolled at Red River College Institute.
“I took an apprenticeship course in masonry,” he says. “I have always liked stone building and working with stone.”
While he did enjoy being a mason, after a few years he realized that the frequent lay-offs that go with the trade were not conducive to a stable financial future.
In 2008, he got on with the City of Winnipeg. Initially, he worked in construction for the city. After a year though, he became a bus driver and, within a short time, he was promoted to a supervisor position in Winnipeg Transport.
“We had 1100—1200 bus drivers,” he reports. “Each transit supervisor oversaw approximately 200 drivers. In my role as a supervisor, I interacted with the police, the WCB (Workers Compensation Board) and MPI (Mantoba Public Insurance).
Berman started in his new role in mid-January when training began for the 21 members of the newly-established Community Safety Team. He credits Bob Christmas, Community Safety Team Lead, for developing the new program.
“Bob spent 34 years as a police officer,” Berman points out. “He has worked with a lot of troubled people and has a good sense of what is needed. He laid out a plan and the city is following his lead.”
Chrismas holds a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies (University of Manitoba, 2017), and Masters Degree in Public Administration. He is the author of numerous publications on justice related issues and wrote the textbook on police leadership across Canada and abroad.
“Our mandate,” Berman notes, is to try to defuse potential problems peacefully and direct troubled individuals to the proper resources.”
The group, he reports, starts each morning with a sharing circle and a briefing – followed by a debriefing at the end of their eight-hour shifts. The community safety officers are deployed in pairs.
One drawback to the system, he points out, is that a pair of safety officers may end up spending an entire day dealing with helping just one troubled individual.
“We can use double the number of officers,” Berman says.
Nonetheless, he is confident that the Community Safety Team is making a difference – in the views of drivers and passengers. “There have been no major issues. We have received quite a bit of positive feedback,” he reports.
He adds that this is the first such program in Canada. “We have already had inquiries from interested parties in Toronto and Calgary asking for more information about our program.”
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Local News
First year medical student Tim Rozovsky founds new association for local Jewish medical students
By MYRON LOVE In the face of a concerning surge in antisemitism over the past nearly three years, I am happy to report a good news story in that regard. Tim Rozovsky, the founder of the new Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba, reports that he and his fellow Jewish students enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine are not experiencing any significant issues involving antisemitism.
Hopefully, the matter of the notorious Med school Valedictorian who used his podium to attack Israel was a one-off.
“My goal in forming the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba,” says the first year medical student, “was to create a safe, supportive environment for my fellow Jewish medical students.”
He reports that the current first year class at the school has eight Jewish students – an increase over more recent years – with maybe a dozen more in the other years.
For a new medical student, Rozovsky already has an impressive resume. He was born in Russia and grew up in Israel. After the completion of his army service in 2018, the then-22-year-old rejoined his parents, Dr. Katya and Alexander, who had moved to Winnipeg a few years before.
Prior to coming to Winnipeg, Rozovsky had completed a personal trainer program out of The Academic College at Wingate in Jerusalem. Some readers may know the young man from his work as a Master Personal Trainer at the Rady JCC.
Shortly after arriving here, he enrolled in a kinesiology program at the University of Winnipeg. He graduated with a BKin Honours in 2023 and did post graduate work at the University of Manitoba. Last fall, he received his MSc in Physiology and Pathophysiology – earning two gold medals, along with 32 awards and scholarships in the process.
Rozovsky says that it was his mother who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Dr. Katya Rozovsky is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and an attending radiologist, specializing in pediatric diagnostic imaging.
(Tim also adds that his wife, Irina Gelzin, whom he married about a year ago, is training to be a nurse.)
Insofar as the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba is concerned, Rozovky reports that the group gets together multiple times a year. One of its programs was a joint Chanukah celebration with the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba.
There was also a joint program with the Christian Medical and Dental Students’ Association of Manitoba.
“More recently, we have been helping prospective Jewish medical students with their applications,” he says. “Hopefully we will be able to get together over the summer with the incoming Jewish students.”
As to his own future plans, Rozovsky notes that it is too early for him to be deciding on a specialty. “My goal,” he says, “is to work hard and get good grades and become the best doctor that I can be.”
Local News
Gray Academy to Represent Manitoba at National Reach for the Top Competition
By NOAH STRAUSS Posted June 6) Gray Academy’s Reach for the Top team is headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, to represent Manitoba at the National Reach for the Top tournament.
Reach for the Top is a Canadian school league that quizzes teenagers on a variety of different topics, from science and history to pop culture. Reach started out in 1961 in Vancouver, where a local CBC station broadcasted the new show; it eventually became a national broadcast starting in 1966. Alex Trebek, who famously hosted Jeopardy!, started out by hosting Reach for the Top.
Gray Academy’s very own team, made up of Grade 7 and 8 students, will travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, to compete as Team Manitoba. By winning the provincial Reach tournament, they secured their spot in the national competition.
Faculty members at Gray Academy are very supportive of the program. The Jewish Post spoke with three different staff members at the school. Coach and high school teacher Danielle Miller says she is excited for the trip; although she will not be accompanying the team herself, shehas coached them all year.
“This year we had over 20 students come to the club to join us, they practice twice a cycle at lunch,” Miller said. Due to the large turnout this year, two teams had to be formed. At lunch practices, students split into two teams of four where each player has a buzzer. The two teams compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly.
One of the two teams did exceptionally well at various tournaments throughout the year and will be traveling to nationals as the sole team representing Manitoba.
Co-coach Micah Doerksen described Reach as a great academic competition where young minds are tested on various topics through quick,fast-paced questions.
High school guidance counselor Lindsey Leipsic said, “We have athletes, non-athletes, we have students who are really involved and students who are not as involved at school, and we have quiet leaders, and we’ve seen friendships be built in Reach.” Some of her favorite memories of Reach involve seeing students from across Winnipeg come to Gray Academy and bond with one another. Lev Chisick, who is competing at nationals, agreed, saying, “Moncton is going to strengthen our school spirit and make us a better team.”
As the junior team makes their way to Moncton, the senior team will head to provincials. Later this week, students from the senior team will travel to Virden, Manitoba, to compete at the provincial level. The team qualified after placing high enough at their most recent tournament, which took place at St. Paul’s.
Confidence is high as the school heads into these final tournaments. When Nath Goldenberg, who is also competing at nationals, was asked what he is most looking forward to, his answer was short and sweet:“Winning.”
