WINNIPEG — Buying a bottle of booze at a Liquor Mart will soon get you no closer to paying for a vacation.

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corp. announced it is flying away from being part of the Air Miles program, after almost 30 years of helping its eligible customers rack up reward points.

“We are exploring what other loyalty programs are available and whether they would be a fit for Manitoba Liquor Marts,” an MLL spokesperson said on Wednesday.

“We’ll follow our usual procurement process if we decide to engage with a new provider. Until then, Manitobans can expect to continue receiving the superior service and experiences that Liquor Marts are known for.”

WINNIPEG — Lawyers for a man who alleged he was repeatedly sexually assaulted as a child by a now-dead Catholic priest in rural Manitoba and Winnipeg in a 2023 lawsuit recently reached a confidential settlement with the Archdiocese of St. Boniface.

Terms of the settlement, which was reached in the fall after a private judicially assisted dispute resolution in front of a Court of King’s Bench justice in September, are not included in public court records reviewed by the Free Press.

The lawsuit, which was filed in June 2023 and named the archdiocese and archbishop as defendants, was officially discontinued in November.

The plaintiff, now in his early 60s, claimed the alleged abuse began when he was eight-years-old in 1972 and lasted until 1982.

WINNIPEG — The provincial government is being urged to call an inquest into the deaths of two people who had donated plasma at for-profit collection centres in Winnipeg.

Health Canada has promised to investigate the deaths, which occurred in October and January at two Grifols Plasma Donation Centres in Winnipeg.

However, the Manitoba Health Coalition said Health Canada licenses Grifols and it has a conflict of interest.

“We want as independent and (thorough) an investigation as possible for the loved ones of these Manitobans who died, to get real answers and so that harm like this doesn’t happen in the future,” coalition executive director Noah Schulz said at a news conference Friday.

Osman Abukar Sufi scored two goals as the Crocus Plainsmen finished the Kenora Challenge Cup with a win on Saturday.

Isaac Afolayan netted the other Plainsmen goal from the penalty spot in a 3-1 victory over the Dryden Eagles in the seventh-place game.

Crocus lost 2-1 to St. Thomas Aquinas earlier in the day as Gift Kasereka scored the lone goal for the Plainsmen.

The Plainsmen dropped their opener 2-1 to Beaver Brae on Friday evening, with Justin McLachlan hitting the net.

WINNIPEG — Progressive Conservative MLA Jeff Wharton, a former cabinet minister caught up in the Sio Silica controversy, has announced he will retire rather than run in the next provincial election.

Wharton, who represents Red River North, was first elected in 2016 in what was then the constituency of Gimli, when the PCs, led by Brian Pallister, formed government.

He was re-elected in what is now called Red River North — after electoral boundary changes — in 2019 and again in 2023.

“I want to express deep gratitude to my Progressive Conservative caucus colleagues,” said Wharton, in a statement released by the party.