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.

WINNIPEG — Seven Manitobans have been killed in as many days in crashes on highways or streets, prompting grief in communities and concern from road-safety advocates.

Arborg residents were mourning two people who died in a collision near the Interlake town May 29.

“This is going to be carried by the families and friends for the rest of their lives,” Mayor Peter Dueck said. “It was a tremendous loss, an unimaginable loss for the entire community.”

The seven deaths occurred in six collisions, mainly on highways in rural areas or at controlled intersections, between May 27 and Tuesday. Three crashes happened in municipalities policed by Manitoba RCMP, which did not reveal potential factors amid ongoing investigations.

VIRDEN

Virden’s former Baptist church building has sat empty for over two years and is looking for a new tenant.

It was in October of 2023 when the Baptist Church community in the Virden area decided they were too few to continue and their building at 403 Nelson St. S.E. was closed.

Christine Reid, Vice President of Operations for CBWC said in a recent interview the plan for the building is to become a multi-use hub that would be available to the community.

Fatal collision

A 42-year-old Roblin man died after a semi-truck hit the van he was driving on Monday afternoon.

Roblin RCMP responded to a report of a two-vehicle collision about six kilometres northwest of Roblin at around 1:45 p.m.

Mounties believe the semi-truck was travelling west on Road 153 North and hit a van travelling north on Provincial Road 484, RCMP said in a news release.

Arson charge

Brandon police arrested a man on Sunday for allegedly lighting several fires in a bush near the Assiniboine River.

The Brandon Police Service received a report that a man was lighting fires in a bush near the entrance to Dyke Road, which is an unpaved road that runs parallel to the river.

Bylaw and BPS officers went to the area and found a man who matched the caller’s description of the suspect, BPS said in a news release.

WINNIPEG — The Manitoba Health Coalition is calling out the NDP government for expanding for-profit lab services after it criticized privatization while in opposition.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara announced last week the opening of a new Dynacare lab in Selkirk, saying it will help connect more patients and families in the Interlake-Eastern region to important diagnostic services in a convenient, community setting.

“I’m disappointed that the province is still working with (Dynacare) after being critical of their for-profit model while in opposition,” said Noah Shulz of the coalition, which represents labour groups and proponents of public health care.

Before coming to power, the NDP pushed the former Progressive Conservative government to invest in the public health system, stating in a 2022 news release that “profit has no place in our hospitals and health-care centres.”