International grads in Manitoba get reprieve; work permits extended

About 67,000 international graduates who are working in Manitoba — and feared they’d be uprooted and forced to leave this year — got a special reprieve Tuesday from Canada’s immigration minister.

Marc Miller announced a plan to give open work permits to eligible temporary workers who have expressions of interest in the provincial nominee program.

“Within two years, we expect eligible candidates to receive an official nomination from Manitoba and become permanent residents,” Miller said in a social media post that included a letter he had sent to Malaya Marcelino, Manitoba’s immigration minister.

In February, Marcelino asked the federal immigration department to extend the work status of 6,700 temporary residents employed in Manitoba whose permits are set to expire this year. The extension was to give Manitoba time to work through a backlog of provincial nominee program applications.

First Nation chief stunned after two young girls charged in woman’s slaying

The leader of a central Manitoba First Nation is at a loss to explain, let alone address, a shocking crime problem in his community that has two girls, 13 and 14, charged with second-degree murder in the death of a 32-year-old woman.

The victim’s cousin — a 35-year-old woman — was also seriously injured in the violence early Saturday and is recovering in a Winnipeg hospital.

Chemawawin Cree Nation Chief Clarence Easter — who knows both women and the accused girls, said the bloodshed has rocked his community, located about 460 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

“They’re getting younger and younger, they’re smoking… they’re getting into alcohol and everything. It’s very concerning, as a chief, and I don’t know how to deal with it right now,” he told the Free Press Tuesday.

Pro-Palestinian protest at U of M starts on peaceful note

Protesters promised a peaceful demonstration as Winnipeg police kept an eye on an encampment set up at the University of Manitoba campus Tuesday to “highlight the Palestinian struggle.”

The student protest — which organizers have said will be at least three days long and could be extended — joins a wave of similar demonstrations on Canadian and American campuses in solidarity with Palestinian people during the Hamas war with Israel in Gaza.

Throughout the morning, a handful of security officers stood watch as a few dozen protesters wearing keffiyehs (checkered scarves that symbolize solidarity with Palestinians) drove tent poles into the ground and unloaded supplies.

By early evening, nearly 100 people had gathered in the quad at the Fort Garry campus, which had been cordoned off by a large circle of metal fencing. Ten tents had been set up.

Those seeking to redeem gift cards from shuttered companies often face ‘unfair’ result: experts

When a business shutters, customers may be left scrambling for gift card repayment — something that may not come, experts say.

“If the company goes under, you probably won’t be able to get your money back practically,” said Dan Wootton, a partner with Grant Thornton LLP’s restructuring team. “We tell our people: ‘Hey, if you have gift cards, go use them.’”

The advice comes amid a rise in bankruptcies and insolvencies across the province. The federal government counted 3,681 Manitoba insolvencies under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act for the year ending Jan. 31.

The number is a 26 per cent jump from the previous year.

MTYP’s $9M covers second stage, new shows, upgrades

Flanked by Winnie the Pooh, rocking horses and alphabet blocks, Manitoba Theatre for Young People’s brass launched a $9-million capital campaign Tuesday.

The largest campaign in the company’s history will funnel $6.5 million — about 72 per cent of funds raised — toward improvements to the 25-year-old facility at The Forks, with the remainder divided between debt-elimination projects and an endowment fund earmarked for new productions.

Chaired by Matt and Jane Johnston, the campaign has already garnered $7.5 million in support from a mix of private, corporate and government donors.

In February, MTYP was granted $1.3 million in federal funding toward green and sustainable building initiatives. The provincial government, represented Tuesday by Culture Minister Glen Simard, is now kicking in $1.275 million from its arts, culture and sport community fund.

Premier delivers ‘message of gratitude’ to nurses in wake of tentative contract

The premier had a private chat with nurses attending their union’s annual general meeting Tuesday, a week after they avoided labour strife by signing a tentative contract.

The Manitoba Nurses Union announced last week on social media that they’d negotiated a tentative deal “in record time.”

While Premier Wab Kinew’s appearance at the annual general meeting was closed to the media, he later told reporters: “I’m very happy that we have a tentative agreement with the nurses.”

“I had a message of gratitude and thanks for the nurses who’ve been stepping up so many times and who’ve gone above and beyond,” Kinew said.

Manitoba Opposition Tories say lengthy omnibus bill means less public scrutiny

WINNIPEG – Manitobans may not be able to have public input on a host of proposed legislative changes, including a ban on replacement workers during labour disputes and a tightening of environmental rules. That’s because the NDP government has included those measures and others, originally planned as separate pieces of legislation, in an 89-page omnibus budget bill introduced this week. The Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act — known by its acronym, BITSA — is put before the legislature every year to enact measures contained in the spring budget. Manitoba's Opposition Progressive Conservatives are accusing the NDP government of […]

Experienced Legionaires eye MJBL repeat

When the St. Boniface Legionaires won the Manitoba Junior Baseball League championship, the sweetest part was knowing they’d get the chance to do it again with the same group. The Legionnaires will defend their league crown with a roster that is almost fully intact from the one that snapped the club’s 13-year drought last summer. The team could see upwards of 15 of the 20 players from a season ago dress again this season. “That brings us a lot of hope and a lot of excitement, especially with the young talent we have coming up from the 18U program in […]

Manitoba byelection could be close race in normally strong Tory constituency

WINNIPEG - The Manitoba legislature seat occupied by former premier Heather Stefanson has only been vacant for a few days, but interest is already growing among potential replacements.

Stefanson resigned from the Tuxedo seat in West Winnipeg on Monday, putting an end to a 23-year political career that included just over two years as Progressive Conservative party leader.

Four people have already expressed an interest in running to be the Tory candidate in a byelection that, under provincial law, must be held within six months, the party's president said.

"And we are looking at a date for a nomination ... and obviously that date could be expedited should the government and the premier decide to call a byelection earlier than later," Brent Pooles said.

U of M awarded $57M for research

The University of Manitoba has received the largest federal cheque in its history to research vaccines and biomanufacturing as well as build two facilities.

The federal government will give $57 million to the U of M, in partnership with the universities of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Calgary.

“This groundbreaking investment will strengthen our ability to provide solutions to society’s most pressing challenges through research and get ahead of future pandemic threats,” said Annemieke Farenhorst, associate vice-president of research at the U of M, in a news release.

“It will empower our research community to develop next-generation vaccines and enhance biomanufacturing solutions — from fundamental research to preclinical testing — to accelerate innovation that will benefit Manitobans and Canadians.”