Good morning!
‘Nothing’s off the table. One of the questions I have to ask myself: ‘Is Manitoba ready for a First Nations leader?’ ’— Judy Klassen
She knows the north: Judy Klassen, the Liberal MLA whose riding includes 14 Manitoba First Nations, once said she and other people in the north carry box cutters so they can cut down people attempting suicide. In an interview with Nick Martin, she elaborates on the dire conditions facing many First Nations, and she answers questions about whether she will run for the leadership of the Manitoba Liberals. READ MORE
Your forecast: Winnipeg streets are finally cleared, thanks to the around-the-clock work of city crews. Just in time for another dump of snow. It will snow lightly today, about two centimetres, but five to 10 cm is expected overnight. Today’s high is -11 C, with wind from the northeast at 30 km/h, gusting to 50.
In case you missed it
SUPPLIEDIn the fall, Community Connections organized a field trip for newcomer students at Wellington School to visit Winnipeg Harvest and learn about volunteering in their community.
Refuge for refugees: Twenty schools throughout Winnipeg are offering a new program that is a refuge for refugees, such as more than 1,000 Syrian refugees who arrived in Manitoba last year. As well as helping students, the program connects with newly-arrived families. Carol Sanders reports. READ MORE
Ivy Peaches?: Winnipeg’s first baby of 2017 doesn’t yet have a name, but her older sister has an interesting idea. “Ivy Peaches,” suggested Keziah Wakeman, 4, as a possible name for her new sibling, born at 12:57 a.m. on New Year’s Day. Ben Waldman reports. READ MORE
Up next
TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
Sesquicentennial: Noting that 2017 is Canada’s 150th anniversary, today’s Free Press editorial looks ahead. “Let’s use this anniversary to question some of our own myth-making, to look at our past honestly — both the good and the bad — and make a resolution that our future will be better, for everyone and not just a privileged few.” READ MORE
Rock ‘n roll royalty: Opening Tuesday at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, the drama Million Dollar Quartet chronicles the night of Dec. 4, 1956, when there was an impromptu jam session by four music legends — Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Thumbs up to anyone who attends the show wearing blue suede shoes.
Around the water cooler
KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILESDon Leitch, president and CEO of the Business Council of Manitoba.
Economic future of Manitoba: Probe Research asked 209 Manitoba business leaders whether they were optimistic or pessimistic about the economic future of Manitoba. Sixty-nine per cent of them were optimistic or very optimistic, and, not surprisingly, they overwhelmingly preferred Brian Pallister’s Progressive Conservatives to the previous NDP government. Martin Cash reports. READ MORE
Get tough with Trump: In today’s Think Tank, Steve Warden says the media has been too easy on Donald Trump: “Politeness is all well and good for tea at grandma’s house, but covering politics and craven bullies who are stealing the country from underneath its citizens’ feet, and endangering the world while they’re at it, calls for a stiffer spine and sharper words.” READ MORE
Trending now
#canada150: This year marks Canada’s 150th anniversary, and the conversation about what that means for the country is trending on Twitter.
On this date
On Jan. 2, 2000: The Winnipeg Free Press reported that the release of Winnipegger Shirley Macklin on Jan. 1 from an Indian Airlines plane hijacked on Dec. 24 was part of a diplomatic effort that Canada’s high commissioner in New Delhi called one of the most complicated he had ever been involved in. Computers around the world did not fall prey to the feared Y2K bug. Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau was hospitalized with pneumonia. READ MORE
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