CBC Interview Recording

If you click on THIS LINK, it will take you to an audio vault that is hosting the CBC Interview with me about my meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. You can download it or simply press play and listen. Thanks for listening! Floyd Wiebe

Floyd Wiebe & Karen Wiebe meet Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper today

I am so impressed that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has asked Karen and I to meet with him once again to talk to us about drugs and children and what we can do to prevent them from drugs. Educators, Police, a father, a mother, and others all participated in a round table discussion. The Prime Minister really wanted our thoughts and made copious notes throughout. We viewed the governments new television advertisements that are directed to parents to talk to their kids about drugs, and we welcome them!

Check out the pics I took!

Shelly Glover, the Conservative candidate in St. Boniface, has this on her webpage.

Floyd Wiebe & Karen Wiebe meet Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper again!

This weekend, Floyd Wiebe & Karen Wiebe were called by a representative of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to ask us to participate in a round-table meeting with parents regarding youth and drugs in Winnipeg. We last met with the Prime Minister on October 5th, 2007 when he announced "The National Anti-Drug Strategy".

We are once again honoured to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and we can only hope that we can make a difference.

From the Free Press:
Harper to join city parents for talk on youth and drugs
Updated: August 5 at 12:50 PM CDT

PRIME Minister Stephen Harper will participate in a round-table meeting with parents regarding youth and drugs in Winnipeg on Wednesday. Harper will be joined by Vic Toews, president of the treasury board, in the Common Room at the Winakwa Community Club at 9:30 a.m.

Shocked - Murderer back in Winnipeg...

Last night, I almost had my third heart attack. The person that was the mastermind (CLICK ME) behind TJ Wiebe's murder is back in Winnipeg! I was shopping at Home Depot in St. Vital, and was pushing my cart of 2 X 4's merrily down the aisle. I see his mother first, and then right beside her was the murderer. I had no idea what to do, in fact it was the first time in my life that I actually felt that I would faint. My stomach turned, I almost threw up. I questioned myself, what do I do, how do I react, should I allow him to see me, should I leave my cart and leave the store, etc etc etc.

I peered around the corner several times, trying to assess what I should do, and suddenly they disappeared in an instant. I am pretty sure they saw me as, well, I am hard to miss. I paid for my wood, and sat in my truck, waiting for them to leave. WHY did I do that? I have no idea. I had no idea what I would do if I saw them leave. I called my kids and Karen, and my daughter came flying down to support me in my what to do mode. We left without seeing them. I guess the sight of me scared them out of the store, although I am only guessing.

I had heard that he left for the United States immediately after he was acquitted from his 1st Degree Murder and Conspiracy to Commit Murder. He was acquitted, because Justice Joan McKelvey tossed out all the co-conspirator's video-taped confessions of their own involvement and his involvement, and as a result, she stated, ...Although I conclude that "murderer" was involved in the planning and the murder of TJ Wiebe, I cannot convict him as there is no evidence left to support it... DUH! Interestingly enough these very tapes were enough to convict three others of murder or conspiracy or both, yet in her eyes they were not enough to convince her that the ONLY person that knew TJ, was in fact guilty. Three other judges refused to allow the murderer out on bail because of the mountain of evidence, and that he was a danger to society. But the trial judge, released him. At least he spent 32 months in the Youth Centre.

I was talking to a friend (who's son was also murdered) about this and she said something very interesting to me, something that I had never really thought of. She said that with most homicides, once the trial is done, there is no more reporting on the murder. Especially if the murderer is acquitted. With the TJ's Gift Gala and The TJs Gift Foundation, with all the radio ads, the newspaper ads, newspaper articles, the website, this murderer is constantly reminded what he did and what he got away with. That being said, if he is a sociopath, which I believe he is, it would have no impact whatsoever.

Anyway, I hope I don't have a repeat of this...

Floyd is speaking at a school today.

Once again, I am speaking at a school over the lunch period to a group of kids at a school in the Louis Riel School Divison. Andrew Wade from Resource Assistance for Youth - R.a.Y. has been having a Teens and the Drug Trade Workshop with many students in Winnipeg schools, and he has invited me to be an additional part to this workshop. It is tough to go into detail about what happened to TJ, but this kids need to understand that although Andrew may be teaching them through this incredible workshop, the TJ Wiebe story certainly adds a dimension of realty to it.

I remember last year when I spoke, the kids were riveted to their seats, and in fact I keep in touch with some of them to this day.

Floyd Wiebe

A successful evening...

Well, Tuesday night was a fabulous success. We raised $50,000 and counting... for all the schools in Winnipeg to continue peer education programs in drug awareness. 474 people got together and really enjoyed the incredible meal that Canad Inns Polo Park served us. People have commented that the meal alone was worth the $85.00 ticket price.

1. The "TJ's Gift" Baseball Hat auction brought in a profit of $1,600 and we still have 45 hats to sell.
2. The Live Auction brought in over $8,000
3. The Card Auction brought in about $1,600
4. The Silent Auction brought in over $3,000
5. The WestJet Raffle brought in over $4,000
6. Donations from people that could not attend was over $4,000

All of this was simple amazing.

Rob Willman's speech brought the entire crowd to a standing ovation. You can hear his speech on the Media Pages on the website under the CBC link with Margeaux Watt. Rob was a complete stranger to us until what happened to him brought us together. Many people, especially MLA's approached him afterwards to ask him to speak to schools in their areas. WOW.

Simply an amazing evening...

The Premier's Dinner

Last night we attended The Premier's Dinner. It was an amazing evening and our Premier Gary Does told me that once again, he would support our gala!

Karen & Floyd Wiebe meet with Stephen Harper...

(This picture was taken with my cell phone, in the round table and Karen's arm is at the left. She was directly across Mr. Harper, and I took a back seat behind my "First Lady!")



We were very honoured to be invited by the Prime Minister to join in a round table discussion about drugs in Canada. Federal Ministers Vic Toews, Tony Clement, Stockwell Day and Stephen Fletcher attended as well. There were RCMP, Winnipeg's Chief of Police, Police Associations, addiction agenices etc that were also involved. Carole Johnson, mother of a daughter that was killed a couple of years ago, a Winnipeg Police officer's teenaged daughter (her father was shot by a man on Jubilee during a drug raid), and Karen and I were the only "victims" in the room, and I must say the majority of the conversation was from this group.

The round table was held an hour before the media announcement.


Floyd Wiebe - TJ's Gift Foundation - www.tjsgift.com

Floyd Wiebe's comment on Drug Strategy is captured in the Free Press...

By Joe Paraskevas

Tory drug plan earns applause, little criticism
Focus on both prevention and enforcement welcomed

The father of a young man murdered in a drug-related crime, who has set up a foundation that supports youth drug awareness and education, also applauded the government's emphasis on both prevention of drug use and law enforcement.

"What makes us excited about today is that two-thirds of this funding is based on exactly what we stand for and one-third is based on putting (people) away very strongly for bringing the drugs into the public," said Floyd Wiebe, director of the Winnipeg-based T.J.'s Gift Foundation, named for his son.

"I've never heard of anything this vast or this comprehensive," added Wiebe, who was among a group that met with Harper before his announcement. "I love the two-step approach, two step meaning education and enforcement. ...You can come down with all kinds of laws to put drug dealers away, that's not going to solve your issue."

Following is the entire article...

Fri Oct 5 2007

By Joe Paraskevas



EXPERTS hailed the federal government's anti-drug strategy Thursday, saying it's a balance between tough law enforcement and compassion for young drug users.
Some, however, gave the strategy little chance of succeeding, saying the strategy's attempts to change social attitudes towards drugs were misguided.

And amid the reaction to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's announcement, there was also disbelief that this was the same politician who had built a reputation on viewing illegal drug use largely as a criminal issue.

"The first thing that struck me was I was surprised at how much was earmarked for what they call prevention and treatment," said University of Manitoba criminologist Frank Cormier.

According to Harper, $63.8 million will be divided between preventing illegal drug use, treating drug dependencies and fighting drug production and trafficking.

"Given... the approach to crime and justice from this government, I expected, just based on past behaviour, more of an enforcement approach than a treatment approach," Cormier added.
Still, he gave the strategy a thumbs up.

"I agree with the approach, that is, putting more emphasis on treatment and tackling the problem itself rather than reacting to it and locking people up," Cormier said.

But he questioned the strategy's aim of changing social attitudes towards illegal drugs.

"If you approached the vast majority of young people in the country and said, 'What do you think about using crystal meth or smoking crack cocaine?' I think they'd say that's a bad thing to do," Cormier said. "So, I'm not sure there's a whole lot of ground to be gained there."

An addiction specialist also saw potential for concern among advocates of so-called harm-reduction programs, such as Vancouver's safe-injection facility, that create safe conditions for drug users. The government appeared to favour "just-say-no" programs that were aimed at stopping youth or addicts from using drugs, said John Borody, chief executive of the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, a provincial agency that treats about 10,000 people each year for drug, alcohol and gambling addictions.

Law enforcement officials welcomed the Tory plan.

"For the last, I would say, eight years, 10 years, we've had mixed messages here, with the report on the legalization of marijuana, with the bill on decriminalization of marijuana," said Tony Cannavino, president of the Canadian Police Association, an advocacy organization that represents about 55,000 police personnel across Canada. "Well, what happened? It (normalized) the use of marijuana. A lot of people in Canada think that it's legal to smoke marijuana and (think) it's not worse than tobacco. Well, tobacco is very harmful for your health. Imagine marijuana.

"We're getting on a track where we're going to be targeting drug dealers but we're going to help people struggling with a drug addiction," Cannavino said. "Police officers are happy to see that there's prevention, there's treatment and there's also education for kids." The father of a young man murdered in a drug-related crime, who has set up a foundation that supports youth drug awareness and education, also applauded the government's emphasis on both prevention of drug use and law enforcement.

"What makes us excited about today is that two-thirds of this funding is based on exactly what we stand for and one-third is based on putting (people) away very strongly for bringing the drugs into the public," said Floyd Wiebe, director of the Winnipeg-based T.J.'s Gift Foundation, named for his son.

"I've never heard of anything this vast or this comprehensive," added Wiebe, who was among a group that met with Harper before his announcement. "I love the two-step approach, two step meaning education and enforcement. ...You can come down with all kinds of laws to put drug dealers away, that's not going to solve your issue."


joe.paraskevas@freepress.mb.ca

Floyd Wiebe - TJ's Gift Foundation - www.tjsgift.com

Prime Minister pledges crackdown on drug criminals, compassion for their victims

From the Prime Minister's Office website:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, joined by Minister of Health, Tony Clement and Minister of Public Safety, Stockwell Day, today unveiled Canada’s new National Anti-Drug Strategy. The National Anti-Drug Strategy will provide $63.8 million over two years to prevent illegal drug use in young people, treat people who have drug addictions and fight illegal drug crime.

“Our two-track approach will be tough on drug crime and compassionate for victims,” said the Prime Minister. “We’re simply not going to throw in the towel when the health and safety of our communities is at risk.”

The new strategy, which builds on and refocuses current programs, includes a focused public awareness campaign aimed at educating youth on the negative effects of illicit drug use. Studies have shown that a growing number of Canadian youth are becoming involved with drugs at younger and younger ages. Combating their exposure to highly addictive drugs is increasingly a challenge for many communities.

“Tackling the problem of drug use is going to take all of us,” said the Prime Minister. “Breaking Canada’s drug habit will require a huge effort. But as of today our country is on the road to recovery.”

The National Anti-Drug Strategy is a collaborative effort involving the Department of Justice, Public Safety Canada and Health Canada and includes three action plans: preventing illicit drug use; treating those with illicit drug dependencies; and combating the production and distribution of illicit drugs.

Floyd Wiebe - TJ's Gift Foundation - www.tjsgift.com

Meeting with Stephen Harper

Karen and I have been invited to attend a round table discussion on Thursday, Oct. 4th in Winnipeg. I am very honoured to be asked to participate in this event. There is supposed to be a major anti drug announcement made, and I will discuss the details as they become public.

The Winnipeg Free Press

Floyd Wiebe - TJ's Gift Foundation - www.tjsgift.com