Restaurant company MTY Food Group raising quarterly dividend by 18 per cent

Dynacare strike set to begin before hearing into essential services agreement

Hundreds of Dynacare lab employees are expected to hit the picket line Tuesday, hours before a labour board hearing to determine whether they are essential workers.

Frequency of private plasma donations called into question

Two weeks after the death of a second plasma donor in Winnipeg at a privately run collection site, provincial and territorial health officials compiled a list of urgent questions for Health Canada.

A health department official in Nova Scotia, which leads the Provincial Territorial Blood Liaison Committee, wrote in mid-February to the federal regulator that their members had expressed “a great deal of curiosity tempered with concern” and forwarded two dozen questions, according to documents obtained by the Free Press.

Under a section titled “MANITOBA ESTABLISHMENT INCIDENTS,” the provinces wanted to know: “What requirements are in place to ensure Grifols is ensuring collections frequency (does) not exceed the limit under the Health Canada licence?” and “Is Health Canada able to identify whether Grifols Canada has a donor system across establishments? (e.g., can identify when a donor last donated and where, similar to their operations in the United States).”

“Does the situation of two high-severity incidents in one Province or at establishments run by a relatively new entity to Canada, within a short period of time, initiate any additional protocols?”

Westwood standoff ends with two arrested

An hours-long standoff in Westwood came to an end Thursday with Winnipeg police arresting two men and seizing a gun.

Winnipeg Police Service officers were called to Byrd Avenue shortly before 9:30 a.m. after a man was seen walking with what appeared to be a firearm, said police spokesman Const. Claude Chancy.

Officers identified a home connected to the investigation, he said.

Two men were arrested but Chancy could not yet say what they will be charged with. It’s not clear whether either of the men arrested was the male spotted with a gun.

Restaurant company MTY Food Group raising quarterly dividend by 18 per cent

MONTREAL - MTY Food Group Inc. is raising its quarterly dividend by 18 per cent.

The franchisor and operator of restaurants says it will now pay a quarterly dividend of 33 cents per share up from 28 cents.

Shares in the company behind many mall food court favourites will have an annual yield of about 2.7 per cent based on their closing price of $48.91 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

MTY chief executive Eric Lefebvre says the increase reflects the company's continued confidence in its financial strength and strategic growth initiatives.

Goldeyes back in playoffs and attendance on the rise

Tip your cap to the Winnipeg Goldeyes — they’re having a fantastic season, both on and off the field.

From a pure baseball perspective, the Fish are flying high. Wednesday’s 6-2 victory in Fargo was the latest in a second-half surge that has helped punch their ticket to the American Association playoffs.

Winnipeg has officially locked up a post-season spot, meaning it will play for keeps for the 22nd time in 32 seasons.

The final five games of the regular season — including Thursday’s finale against the RedHawks in North Dakota, followed by four dates in Kansas City from Friday through Monday — will determine the final seeding and the Goldeyes’ first-round opponent.

Twenty-six people detained at detox centre since March

The new facility designed to detain people in a drug psychosis for up to 72 hours “is doing what it’s meant to do” — even though just 26 people were held for that purpose since it opened.

“The PCC (protective care centre) is doing what it’s meant to do — support people, meet them where they’re at, provide a caring environment,” Housing Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith told reporters Friday after updated data were posted online.

The vast majority of those detained at the 20-room facility at 190 Disraeli Fwy. were recovering from alcohol intoxication, the update shows.

There were 4,425 detained from the time the site opened Dec. 2 until June 30, for an average of less than five hours.