Your forecast
An Orange Warning – Cold is in effect for Manitoba. Mainly sunny. Wind from the northwest at 20 km/h becoming light this morning. High -25 C, wind chill -47 this morning and -35 this afternoon. Frostbite in minutes.
Bone-chilling cold warnings are sweeping the country this morning, with some regions expected to reach lows of -50 with the wind chill. The Canadian Press has more here.
Schools in some divisions are closed today or are cancelling school bus service because of cold weather. See this map of school divisions in Manitoba and click on the division to see any announcements or warnings.
A vehicle sits up on the curb near the slippery intersection of Portage Avenue and Arlington Street on Thursday morning. (Mike Deal / Free Press)
Winnipeg drivers are struggling to get a grip on icy, slick roads, despite a city assurance that crews are continually putting down sand.
While Manitoba Public Insurance counted 1,983 collisions in Winnipeg between Jan. 10 and Tuesday, there’s been no break in efforts to improve traction, according to city council’s public works chairwoman.
“When it’s really cold, it’s just much (more slippery).… We have sanders out but it’s really slick and people really have to drive to the conditions,” said Coun. Janice Lukes. Joyanne Pursaga has the story.
What’s happening today
🎲 Learn a new game, play an old favourite or simply share your love of a game with new people as a volunteer game master at Game-itoba, Winnipeg’s annual tabletop game convention. Bronx Park Community Centre, 720 Henderson Hwy.; tonight 6 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.; Sunday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Weekend passes $40 available online; daily admission $20-$35.
Today’s must-read
Amid his usual slate of year-end sit-downs and lookahead interviews in late December, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew delivered a surprise announcement: the political ethics scandal involving Sio Silica’s controversial sand mine isn’t over yet.
Starting as early as this year, he said, the province would hold a public inquiry into the previous Conservative government’s attempt to license the mine, which would use a previously untested airlift method to extract silica sand from a southeastern Manitoba aquifer, days after losing the 2023 election. Part of the inquiry’s work, he added, would be to examine whether Manitoba’s lobbying rules are “strong enough … to make sure that you, the average person, know what’s going on with your government officials.”
(Jarrett Sitter / The Narwhal)
As for the laws as they stand now, he told CBC, “I think we can do better.”
Kinew is one of few politicians in the last decade to publicly critique the province’s lobbying legislation. The Lobbyists Registration Act came into force in 2012 and outside a handful of tweaks — most notably a ban on gifts to politicians — has remained virtually unchanged. Julia-Simone Rutgers has the story.
On the bright side
The Great Canadian jersey has a little bit of everything.
The jersey, which brings together hockey uniforms from every province and territory in Canada, was unveiled Friday. It’s the latest instalment of Rogers’ This Is Our Game campaign.
Donated jerseys from Canadians — including hockey superstars Connor McDavid and Marie-Philip Poulin — were used to create patchwork designs. The jersey was designed by Cameron Lizotte, a former OHL player who’s now a fashion designer. The Canadian Press has more here.
Connor McDavid wears the Great Canadian jersey, which brings together hockey uniforms from every province and territory in Canada. (Aaron Cobb photo)
On this date
On Jan. 23, 1976: The Winnipeg Free Press reported the civic executive policy committee decided not to budge from its final wages and benefits offer to the city’s transit employees. Mayor Stephen Juba said he would call an emergency city council meeting to consider the issue in the face of an impending bus-drivers’ strike. In Montreal, the federal justice department ruled that Dr. Henry Morgentaler would get a new trial on the charge of performing an illegal abortion. Search our archives for more here.
Today’s front page
Get the full story: Read today’s e-edition of the Free Press.
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