Apparently WK is now managed by OU... Yet it retains its previous Heksher symbol (WK)...
http://www.cjnews.com/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15733&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=86Winnipeg WK hechsher put under OU auspices
By RHONDA SPIVAK, Prairies Correspondent
Thursday, 20 November 2008WINNIPEG — The Vaad Ha’ir of Winnipeg has transferred the operation of its kashrut supervisory agency to the New York-based Orthodox Union, which administers the widely respected OU hechsher.
Rick Stokoloff, general manager of the new Western Kosher hechsher. [Rhonda Spivak photo]
The OU, through its agent Rabbi Dovid Jenkins, who is based in New Jersey, will oversee a new Western Kosher (WK) hechsher and bring more than 120 current WK licensees into conformity with what the Vaad describes as the North America-wide standard of kashrut.
The OU supervises more than 6,000 plants in 77 countries, and its well-known hechsher can be found on more than 400,000 products.
For many decades, the Winnipeg Vaad Ha’ir oversaw the old Winnipeg Kosher certification – which was also known by the WK acronym – but it was not approved by the OU, and some people felt it didn’t meet accepted North American standards. As a result, many Orthodox Jews in Winnipeg and outside the city didn’t recognize the old WK hechsher.
More recently, in consultation with local rabbis, a concerted effort has been made to bring the more than 120 WKlicensees into line with the standards of other major hechshers. Vaad officials say this has been accomplished with the transfer of kashrut supervision to the OU.
Vaad Ha’ir president Don Aronovitch said the Vaad is “delighted” with its new “partnership arrangement with the OU and Rabbi Jenkins,” which he said is a result of “many months of careful deliberations and consultations with those committed to preserving kashrut” in Winnipeg.