Good morning!
Your forecast: Sometimes, being this far north on the continent has its upside. While states such as Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota and Minnesota could get hammed by snow today, we’ll stay sunny and precipitation-free. It’s a chilly morning, with the thermometer reading -10 C at 6 a.m., but we should hit a high of 1 C under a mainly sunny sky. The overnight low is -7 C. On Thursday, expect a mix of sun and cloud, a strong breeze at 30 km/h gusting to 50 km/h and a high of 6 C, although we could see some rain showers or flurries overnight and into Friday morning. Environment Canada says we’re in for a sunny weekend, with highs above 0 C.
In case you missed it
Justin Tang/ The Canadian PressPrime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, poses with Minister of Finance Bill Morneau as he arrives to table the budget on Parliament Hill, Tuesday, March 22, 2016 in Ottawa.
Federal budget big spender: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first federal budget involves big, new spending for indigenous peoples on reserves, infrastructure programs and a whopping deficit nearly three times the size promised during the election. The feds plan to spend $20 billion more on programs and run a $29.4 billion deficit investing in things like clean drinking water for First Nations communities, public transit, student grants and families with kids. READ MORE
City budgets approved: Winnipeg’s city council approved its operating and capital budgets for 2016, with a 2.33 per cent property tax increase and a capital budget totalling $1.178 billion. Six councillors slammed the budgets, voting against them, which was OK with finance chair, Coun. Marty Morantz. “I said last year, a sign of a good budget is no one is particularly happy about it, and I’ll stick with that.” READ MORE
Jets blank Canucks: The Winnipeg Jets prevailed in the battle of a couple of the Western Conference’s weaklings. Winnipeg centres Adam Lowry and Mark Scheifele scored in a 2-0 NHL triumph over Vancouver at the MTS Centre. Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom did everything he could to try and steal a win for the visitors, stopping 48 shots. But the Canucks haven’t scored a goal in more than three complete hockey games and are on a five-game losing skid. READ MORE
Up next
Bruce Bumstead / Brandon Sun FilesManitoba Minister of Health Sharon Blady
Debate on poverty: Candidates in the upcoming provincial election will discuss and debate their poverty reduction plans tonight at Gordon Bell High School. The debate, organized by Make Poverty History Manitoba, is scheduled for 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Participants include Sharon Blady (NDP), Noel Bernier (Liberals), Ian Wishart (PCs) and James Beddome (Greens). The event includes questions on poverty-related topics such as education, income and community participation. There will also be opportunities for questions from the audience.
Chiefs react to budget: MKO Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson joins other chiefs from northern Manitoba at a press conference in Ottawa today to react to the federal budget, which was released on Tuesday. One item to be discussed will be a call for faster land claim action in Manitoba. The media conference is slated for 11 a.m. CDT.
Today on the campaign trail: So far, there’s a couple of provincial election campaign events planned in Winnipeg, but expect that to change as the day goes on. Tory leader Brian Pallister outlines the Progressive Conservatives’ commitment to flood protection at a press conference at 10:30 a.m. in the community of St. Laurent. Rana Bokhari, Manitoba’s Liberal leader, is set to make an education announcement this morning at École Laura Secord School, 960 Wolseley Ave., at 11:30 a.m.
Around the water cooler
SUBMITTED PHOTOThe team of taekwondo competitors from Winnipeg were approaching the airport in Brussels shortly before the attack.
Winnipeg team dodges terrorists: Members of a Winnipeg martial arts academy competing in Belgium and running late for their departure back to Canada on Tuesday morning arrived at the Brussels airport just as the terror attacks occurred inside. The high-performance team from TRP Academy is returning to the city with medals and memories of a traumatic time in a terror-stricken country. READ MORE
Sanctuary for building materials?: The company at the heart of an RCMP fraud and forgery investigation into the construction of the new $214-million police headquarters asked for permission to store materials at the site of a south Winnipeg church it was also constructing, a police inquiry has learned. The church’s lawyer says her client is unaware whether any materials bound for the construction of the Winnipeg police headquarters were installed at the church instead. READ MORE
Trending now
#RIPPhife: Fans mourn rapper Phife Dawg, member of musical pioneers A Tribe Called Quest, who died at the age of 45.
#WeAreHereForYouJustin: Fans show support for Justin Bieber, who has cancelled future fan meet-and-greets backstage (cost: $925 each), saying they make him feel “drained and unhappy.”
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