Good morning!
Winnipeg’s aircraft prize: The Free Press has learned Winnipeg’s aerospace industry will get a big boost today when it’s announced Airbus wins a $3-billion contract for search-and-rescue planes. That contract gives Winnipeg a 20-year program for supporting and maintaining aircraft. Mia Rabson and Martin Cash report. READ MORE
Your frigid forecast: First came the snow and wind. Now, the temperature plunges. The mercury will fall to -12 this afternoon, and -23 overnight. It will feel even colder with wind from the north at 30 km/h. The high Friday will be -17, and Saturday will be -18.
In case you missed it
WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESThe provision for closed-door council meetings is included in an administrative report.
Mayor’s about-face: Wednesday morning, Mayor Brian Bowman promoted a wide-open plan to allow city council meetings behind closed doors. Journalists then reminded him he often proclaims openness and transparency. Wednesday afternoon, the mayor amended his position to restrict closed-door sessions only to performance reviews of the city auditor. Aldo Santin reports. READ MORE
Watch where you park tonight: A residential parking ban begins Friday at 7 a.m. so the city’s fleet of about 200 plows, trucks and graders can clean streets after the first snowstorm of the season dumped about 30 centimeters. To learn when streets in your area could be ploughed, check http://www.knowyourzone.winnipeg.ca READ MORE
Up next
JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILESManitoba Premier Brian Pallister
State of province: Premier Brian Pallister is scheduled to give his first state-of-the-province speech to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce today at 11 a.m. at the RBC Convention Centre. Our prediction: within the first two minutes of his speech, he will blame the NDP for all Manitoba’s ills, perhaps including this week’s snowfall.
Jets punch above weight: Nattering naysayers of negativity will say the Winnipeg Jets are unlikely to beat the red-hot New York Rangers (17-9-1) at the MTS Centre tonight. But such stinking thinking ignores the reality that the Jets last week beat St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, both powerful teams. The puck drops at 7 p.m. READ MORE
Around the water cooler
SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN RPESS FILESChicago Blackhawks’ Jonathan Toews donated $1 million to the Dakota Community Centre.
Toews gives back: Thumbs up to Jonathan Toews, the Chicago Blackhawks star who cut a cheque for $1 million on Wednesday for a fundraising campaign to help the Dakota Community Centre. It’s the facility where he played and honed some of his remarkable skills while growing up in Winnipeg. READ MORE
Civil rights of toilet privacy?: To learn whether a Winnipeg Remand Centre prisoner had drugs stashed in his rectum, officials placed him in a so-called dry cell, which includes a special toilet inmates can’t flush. Then they waited. Sure enough, the prisoner eventually expelled the evidence, but the prisoner’s lawyer claimed it was unlawful search and seizure. Mike McIntyre reports. READ MORE
Trending now
#YouTubeRewind: The video-sharing site looks back at its top memes of 2016. READ MORE
On this date
On Dec. 8, 1932: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that John A. Machray of the Machray-Sharpe investment firm had withdrawn more than $300,000 from clients’ trust funds for his personal use over 25 years, a chartered accountant told a royal commission into university shortages. The United States and Great Britain corresponded over war debts, but the substance of the communication was not made public; the U.S. was replying to Britain’s request for a moratorium on the debts. In an atmosphere hostile to Japan, Soviet Russia and the U.S. were invited to take part in a League of Nations attempt to solve the Manchurian dispute. READ MORE
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