MPI order to issue rebate

Manitoba’s Public Utilities Board (PUB) has ordered Manitoba Public Insurance to issue a 45 per cent rebate cheque to customers as of May 31, according to the Winnipeg Free Press.

An external review of MPI found that one fund had $250 million more than it needed. An order for the $320 million refund was issued later by the PUB.
This will be the sixth rebate since 2000, and it is estimated that customers will receive on average an unprecedented $450 each.

According to the Winnipeg Free Press, MPI accumulated the $250 million as part of a Personal Injury Protection Plan. The excess funds were accrued in caution of payouts for future claimants.

“It’s a business,” MPI spokesman Dan Guimond, vice-president of strategy and innovation and chief information officer, said. “You have to be really, really careful. It’s much easier to take a hit for returning money than guessing wrong.”

Delta Marsh Field station evacuated

The Delta Marsh field station, located on the south shore of Lake Manitoba, has been evacuated due to flooding concerns.

The Manitoba government speculated that road access to the station would be out as early as April 4.

The field station, which is operated by the University of Manitoba’s faculty of science, is expected to remain closed until conditions are deemed safe enough to re-open.

Staff at the facility prepared for the flood by sandbagging at-risk buildings and raising low-lying storage and workshop areas.

The field station is expected to be the only part of the university affected by the flood. Brian Rivers, director at the Physical Plant, said that campus is protected by the floodway and was not affected during the 1997 flood. However, as a precaution the university has installed permanent pumping systems.

Second rally against Dewar

A second rally was held in opposition of Justice Robert Dewar on Friday, April 1, according to CBC news.

The rally, which drew less than 20 people, was held as a call for action demanding that the judge resigns in light of his comments made about a sexual assault case. The rally also emphasized women’s rights within the federal election.

The protests were in response comments made in February by Dewar during the sentencing hearing of Kenneth Rhodes of Thompson, Man.

According to the sentencing report, the judge gave Rhodes a conditional sentence as opposed to jail time because of the circumstances surrounding the case, such as the amount of time it took to come to trial, the manner in which the victim carried herself and how she dressed.