Medical school at U of M under review
Citing the existence of unresolved and unspecified serious weaknesses, an external review will be conducted of five of the University of Manitoba’s medical residency programs by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada throughout the remaining months of 2010, reported the Winnipeg Free Press.
In addition to the College’s decision to remove their accreditation of the U of M’s general pathology residency unit altogether in 2008, prompting the program’s closure last June, pediatrics, adult hematology, obstetrics and gynecology, anatomic pathology and gynecological oncology are five programs out of the university’s total of 43 that were granted “provisional accreditation” status two years ago. These programs will now be subject to a second review under increased scrutiny.
It was in the latest cycle of reviews that the college graded the six programs below national standards and where they issued their original intent to withdraw their accreditation from general pathology.
Despite this apparent lack of confidence on behalf of the college, medical officials from the U of M maintain that the identified serious weaknesses are not endemic to the rest of the institution and that students in the programs under fire should not fear an unsatisfactory education.
Historical warehouse district at risk
Winnipeg’s famed Warehouse District may be in danger of extinction, according to the Heritage Canada Foundation (HCF).
The Warehouse District is reputed by the HCF “as arguably the finest, most intact and extensive turn-of-the-century downtown area in all of Canada,” but thanks to some loose regulations, a number of properties previously regarded as heritage landmarks have been undesignated and subsequently demolished to make way for new projects, reported the CBC.
Although the old Warehouse District also encompasses the 20-block Exchange District, itself a national historical site, the HCF is particularly concerned with the remaining warehouse section lying directly to the north.
Despite a handful of replenishing initiatives and the occasional triumph of public outcry over further demolition plans, the diminishing state of Winnipeg’s Warehouse District is still rapid enough to slot it among the HCF’s Top Ten Endangered Places in Canada list.
Province selling grow-op home
Pursuant to the national Criminal Property Forfeiture Act, the Manitoban government is selling a former grow-op property located in Winnipeg’s Royalwood neighbourhood for much less than market value.
After Winnipeg Police initially raided the house two years ago, seizing 850 marijuana plants in the process, the property was turned over to the province under the newly implemented Forfeiture Act.
Once estimated to be worth nearly $420,000, the substantial mould damage sustained through the course of its time as an illegal grow-op has caused the province to list the property for the relatively paltry sum of $349,900.
The government says the profits from the sale will be directed towards a fund to help victims of crime and law enforcement programs.
