COVID-19 crisis
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESManitoba Economic Development and Training Minister Ralph Eichler says the province has created a one-time “transitional support fund” for higher-learning institutions.
U-turn on university cuts: The province has created a $25.6-million fund for post-secondary institutions that’s the equivalent of their ordered pandemic-related cuts and a temporary restoration of the reduction in funding announced in the 2020 budget. “This fund will support a new way forward to achieve success in a new and unknown labour market landscape,” Economic Development and Training Minister Ralph Eichler told the Free Press in a statement. Maggie Macintosh reports. READ MORE
Proceedings a first for Parliament: A special COVID-19 committee that has acted as a stand-in for the House of Commons will feature hybrid proceedings starting today, with a few dozen Members of Parliament assembled and others participating via videoconference. The NDP backed the Liberal government Tuesday in waiving regular sittings of the House for another four months. The committee will now meet four times per week instead of twice until mid-June, and a restriction that prevented MPs from asking questions on unrelated issues has been lifted. The Canadian Press reports. READ MORE
Puck plan: In his latest column, Mike McIntyre says fans shouldn’t get too excited about the planned return of NHL hockey, because it could still be derailed by the pandemic. READ MORE
Telephone town hall: The province’s chief provincial public health officer, and the health and education ministers, fielded COVID-19 questions from Manitobans during a telephone event Tuesday night. Kevin Rollason reports. READ MORE
Training with trucks: With the Blue Bombers not yet practising, two players have taken an unusual approach to keeping fit. Taylor Allen reports. READ MORE
Weather
Your forecast: Sunny with a high of 24 C, and wind at 15 km/h from the southwest increasing to 40 km/h from the west and gusting to 60 starting later this morning.
In other news
Jonathan Hayward / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILESMeng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, leaves her home to go to B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, Wednesday, January 22, 2020. The British Columbia Supreme Court is scheduled to release a key decision today in the American extradition case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Court ruling in extradition case: British Columbia’s Supreme Court is set to release a decision today in the U.S. extradition case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, which could lead to her being freed or start a new round of legal arguments. The Canadian Press reports. READ MORE
Set for space launch: SpaceX is set to become the first private company to put astronauts in orbit today, with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken planning to ride the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule to the International Space Station on a test flight. The Associated Press reports. READ MORE
New papers publishing: Two new newspapers will help fill the void left when Postmedia shuttered all but one of its rural Manitoba newspapers. An Altona newspaper — to be assembled and published by the team behind the Steinbach Carillon, a publication owned by the parent company of the Free Press — will be distributed Thursday. The Carman-Dufferin Standard, led by independent publisher Lana Meier, published its first issue earlier this month. Ben Waldman reports. READ MORE
Protest over police killing: Police in Minneapolis fired tear gas at crowds protesting the death of George Floyd Tuesday night. Four officers were fired Tuesday after Floyd, who was black, died when a white policeman pressed his knee into his neck. READ MORE
On this date
On May 27, 1971: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that the minimum wage in Manitoba would jump 15 cents to $1.65 an hour in November; pay for workers under 18 would likely be $1.40 an hour. Higher prices from Canada’s largest steel producer would mean an increase in consumer cost for items ranging from appliances to vehicles. Near Gordon. B.C., the bodies of an unidentified Manitoba couple were pulled from a car at the bottom of a 100-foot cliff. Students in Manitoba would now have a set week of days off in the spring, according to the province’s education minister; the change to the Public Schools Act had been requested by the Manitoba Teachers’ Society and by others working in education.
Today’s front page
Get the full story: Read today’s e-edition of the Winnipeg Free Press READ MORE
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