The Wrap: COVID card costs, lawyer locked up, Corydon Hardware closing, and the Jets’ Perfetti

Good evening. Here’s a look at what our newsroom has been working on today:

'A fool-hearted decision'

Plastic proof-of-immunization cards distributed during the COVID-19 pandemic cost the Manitoba government about $6.2 million, according to a freedom of information request filed by the Free Press.

The cost worked out to about $1.67 per plastic card. The price tag of making a regular paper health card is less than 10 cents.

The plastic cards, and their digital counterparts, allowed recipients entry into public facilities, businesses and events during the latter half of 2021 and early 2022. They were useful for about nine months.

Maggie Macintosh sorted through the data.

Maggie Macintosh:

Cards on the table: proof-of-vax passports nearly 19 times pricier than health cards

Province opted for plastic at $1.67 apiece over paper at less than a dime; 1.25 million produced at total cost of $6.2M Read More

'Have a seat before you get yourself into more trouble'

A lawyer representing a client was briefly taken into custody last week for contempt of court, a situation legal experts call “extremely rare.”

Lawyer Troy Harwood-Jones — representing a doctor suing the Women’s Health Clinic — was cited for contempt after an argument with King’s Bench Justice Ken Champagne during cross-examination.

Reporter Dean Pritchard has details from the courts.

Dean Pritchard:

Judge, lawyer argument leads to rare contempt of court

A lawyer for a city doctor suing the Women’s Health Clinic was taken into custody last week after a heated exchange with a judge in an “extremely rare” case of contempt of court. The courtroom set-... Read More

'Always sad to see that history go'

Corydon Hardware’s owner is retiring and is planning to close the business at the end of April.

“There’s not enough profitability in it for someone to buy this from me (and) pay rent,” says owner Robert Benson, whose father and grandfather owned the business before him. “It’s not really viable.”

Recent customers might have noticed a decline in certain products, like paint. The shop’s paint mixing machine aged out; in other instances, though, the small retailer couldn’t compete with big-box peers and online sales.

Gabrielle Piché reports.

Gabrielle Piché:

No website, generations of neighbourhood service

Corydon Hardware to shutter after more than seven decades in business Read More

'Probably one of the worst feelings I’ve ever felt'

Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti is straightforward about his feelings on the first healthy scratch of his career.

“It’s something that I never want to have happen again. It was a wakeup call,” he said yesterday.

“Not that the effort wasn’t there, but I’m going to work my ass off every single day, in every single practice and every single game, to make sure that doesn’t happen again — because it didn’t feel good.

The rough patch of play is a reminder that the development path for a young player, even a top prospect, is rarely linear, writes reporter Ken Wiebe.

Ken Wiebe:

Perfetti’s reality check

Being scratched, ‘One of the worst feelings I’ve ever felt,’ says Jets forward Read More