What you need to know

Gerald Butts, senior political adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, leaves the Prime Minister’s office on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa on Monday, Oct. 1, 2018. Liberals are hoping they’ll get some ammunition today to fight back against accusations of political interference in the justice system when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s former principal secretary tells his side of the SNC-Lavalin saga. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Ex-Trudeau adviser testifies: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s former principal secretary Gerald Butts will testify this morning before at the House of Commons justice committee about the SNC-Lavalin affair. READ MORE
Spring sitting: The fourth session of the 41st Manitoba legislature begins today, one day before the Tory government delivers its budget. Meanwhile, Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen says school divisions that don’t abide by the province’s cap on property tax increases will be subject to additional cutbacks. Jessica Botelho-Urbanski reports. READ MORE
Weather
Your forecast: Today will be mainly cloudy with a 30 per cent chance of flurries this morning, a high of -13 C, and windchill as low as -27 this morning and -21 in the afternoon.
What’s happening today

The Waverley underpass project cost has dropped another $23.4 million because of competitive construction bids and a design change. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Public works meeting: The city’s public works committee will hear details on the low-income bus pass initiative, the southwest rapid transit corridor and the Waverley Street underpass project.
Retaliation hits Richardson: Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Huawei Technologies, is set to return to court in British Columbia. Bill Redekop reports on how the diplomatic dispute over her arrest has hit canola exporter Richardson International. READ MORE
Cohen on Capitol Hill: Michael Cohen, U.S. President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, will give a fourth day of testimony on Capitol Hill. He’s scheduled for another private, daylong meeting with the House of Representatives’ intelligence panel. READ MORE
In case you missed it

Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILESWinnipeg MP MaryAnn Mihychuk: “It’s just not logical.”
MP fights move: Winnipeg MP MaryAnn Mihychuk says she believes she has convinced civil servants not to move artifacts from Winnipeg to a warehouse in Gatineau, Que., but Parks Canada says the plan will proceed. Dylan Robertson reports. READ MORE
Brier in Brandon: Team Manitoba is in trouble at the Brier and might have to win all their remaining matches to qualify for the weekend playoff round, starting this afternoon with their final round-robin game against Prince Edward Island. Jason Bell reports. READ MORE
Loss to Lightning: The Jets lost for the third time in their past five games against the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning in Florida last night. Mike McIntyre reports. READ MORE
On this date

On March 6, 1934: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that in Chicago, a massive police effort to catch the elusive Indiana desperado John Dillinger had failed, as Dillinger evaded capture and apparently succeeded in entering the city. In Manitoba, the chief critic of the opposition Conservative party criticized premier Bracken’s new budget, saying it conveyed false impressions, declaring the reduction in estimates of public debt was not $1,000,000 as Bracken claimed, but only $273,000.
Today’s front page

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