B.C.’s Playland pushes back opening to May 25 over COVID travel restrictions

Police HQ report ‘outrageous’: Kinew

Premier Wab Kinew says public inquiry findings that taxpayers were overcharged more than $40 million for the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters project and two city leaders broke the public trust are “outrageous.”

Inquiry commissioner Garth Smorang’s report, which was released Monday, concluded former mayor Sam Katz “violated the public trust” and council code of conduct, while the city’s former chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl suffered from a “complete lack of a moral compass.”

Smorang also found the city was overcharged $43.3 million for the project, with $42 million of that going to key contractor Caspian Projects.

“It’s outrageous that people who were elected betrayed the public here in the city. It’s outrageous that there were people in business who ripped you off, ripped me off — I was paying property taxes in Winnipeg at the time — and ripped all of us off to the tune of $43.3 million. That’s crazy,” said Kinew.

B.C.'s Playland delays opening amid travel worries

VANCOUVER - A Vancouver amusement park has delayed its opening until after the May long weekend amid concerns it will attract COVID-19 rule breakers.

Playland says in a statement that it was set to open at the Pacific National Exhibition May 1 after developing a safety plan supported by Vancouver Coastal Health.

However, it says concerns were raised that the opening could draw travel from outside the regional health authority during a discussion with the Provincial Health Office.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Monday that officials were working with Playland to consider the risks and benefits of opening the amusement park.

Manitoba First Nation taking federal government, department to court over damage to sturgeon population

A remote Manitoba First Nation is taking the federal government to court over claims a Manitoba Hydro project is hurting the sturgeon population in the lower Churchill River.

In an Oct. 15 statement of claim filed in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench, Tataskweyak Cree Nation said the Churchill River diversion operated by Manitoba Hydro has had widespread ecological effects and damaged sturgeon populations in the area.

The lawsuit alleges Ottawa has breached its treaty obligations to protect the community’s right to harvest the fish.

The lawsuit names both His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, the minister of fisheries and Oceans Canada as defendants.

MPI gambles with low rate request

It sounds a bit like a gamble from a player in an industry that is almost pathologically averse to gambling.

Play asks the cutting questions

An IKEA nursery awaiting its tenant is the first stage into which visitors are allowed entry in playwright Jordi Mand’s The Cut.

We see an antique rocker and unmarked boxes strewn about, with a table lamp — an unofficial Ner tamid, eternal candle — sitting on the unblemished carpet in the centre of the room. Sarah (Hallie Seline) and Andrew (Wade Bogert O’Brien) have a lot to unpack as they settle into their own home: two shelves of biography waiting for a third.

The box of books from Sarah’s parents is opened early.

“Something From Nothing? Goodnight Bubbala?” Andrew laughs, turning the volumes cover-out on the wall of his future son’s room. “What are they building? A Jewish bookshelf?”

Three vying to unseat Allard in St. Boniface

Four councillor candidates are running to represent the St. Boniface ward in Winnipeg's municipal election.