Starting in April, Manitoba will be the first Canadian province to collect race-based data from patients at hospitals, a government press release said today. Hospitals in Manitoba will collect and analyze racial, ethnic and Indigenous identity data that are essential for the measurement of health disparities that result from systemic racism, bias and discrimination, the release said.

The initiative is being led by Dr. Marcia Anderson, executive director, Indigenous academic affairs at Ongomiizwin, the Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba.

Patients will be asked to voluntarily declare their identity and to choose from a list of Indigenous identities such as First Nations Status, Inuit or Métis, or other identities such as Black, Filipino, Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern or white.

The information will be collected as a routine part of patient registration at hospitals, including emergency departments across Manitoba.

A hazardous material spill at an industrial building on Scurfield Boulevard sent two people to the hospital Wednesday morning.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to reports of the spill around 10:46 a.m. Members of a specially trained HazMat unit used specialized equipment to protect themselves, enter the building and ensure it was safe, WFPS said in a release.

Both people injured during the spill were assessed by paramedics and transported to the hospital in stable condition.

Workplace Health and Safety is investigating the incident.

A 12-year-old girl who was missing from Little Saskatchewan First Nation has been found and is safe, RCMP said Wednesday.

RCMP said last week that Zoe Shorting had last been seen leaving her home on the night of Jan. 23 and that she might be in Winnipeg.

A man is in custody after a person was stabbed, a home was set on fire, and an armed stand-off with police ended with an arrest in Peguis First Nation.

A 53-year-old man in Peguis First Nation was sent to hospital with serious injuries after he was stabbed Sunday night. Fisher Branch RCMP believe the 46-year-old suspect was known to the victim.

The next day, RCMP found the suspect in a home on Peguis First Nation at around 4 p.m. He was armed and barricaded himself inside the home. Not long after, officers noticed the home was on fire and crews were called.

Officers then noticed the man lying on the ground just outside of the resident and he was arrested without incident. He was hospitalized but released shortly after.

The man has been charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, arson, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and theft of a motor vehicle. He remains in custody.

Flair Airlines announced new and more frequent routes through Winnipeg Wednesday.

Beginning in June, the low-cost airliner will fly from Winnipeg to Victoria, Kelowna and London, Ont.

Flair is also adding six weekly flights to Toronto, five weekly flights to Calgary and four weekly flights to Vancouver.

Fares to Kelowna and Victoria will start at $49. Tickets to London, Ont. will begin at $69.