Connecting with birth mother should be your call

Physician watchdog under fire for ‘outrageous’ policy

The Manitoba physician watchdog’s policy of deferring its own investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct while a police probe is ongoing is “outrageous” and is further evidence an independent review is needed into the regulatory body, critics say.

Spotty service, U.S. roaming charges leave Somerset woman calling for answers

A southwestern Manitoba woman is voicing her concerns about cell service in the area after she was billed more than $100 in U.S. roaming charges despite never leaving her community.

Teresa Acheson received a notification on her phone Monday at about 7:30 a.m. saying she had entered the United States and would be charged $13 per day for unlimited calls and text messages.

The only problem is that she was not in the U.S. She was laying in bed in her home near Somerset, some 50 kilometres away from the U.S. border.

“People have said to watch if you’re driving close to the border because you’ll get dinged, but I was sitting at home,” she said Wednesday.

Report reveals crude oil shipment amounts

OTTAWA — Lord Roberts resident Bev Pike has tried for years to figure out how much oil is moving along the train tracks in her neighbourhood; it seems the number of oil tank cars has increased.

“It’s full trains that are just oil,” said Pike, who counts tank cars that bear the red 12-67 placard, which indicates crude oil. “It’s increasing dramatically; that’s what we see in this neighbourhood.”

Newly obtained data, which CN Rail fought against being publicly released, provides a rare look at just how much oil has been moving by rail in Manitoba.

CN Rail transported about 20 million barrels of crude oil from Winnipeg to northwestern Ontario over the course of 12 months five years ago, according to risk assessments the railway filed to Transport Canada.

Gas, travel limits in parts of B.C. after storm

VANCOUVER - The British Columbia government is rationing gasoline and restricting travel in southern parts of the province after an unprecedented storm severed highways and cut supply lines.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said Friday a limit of 30 litres of fuel per visit to a gas station is an important step to maintaining the supply as the province works to bring in more gas by truck and barge from Alberta, Washington state, Oregon and California.

He said the order would apply for 10 to 11 days, and he trusts that people won't be greedy and will keep critical services in mind as they focus on residents whose communities have been devastated by flooding.

The orders apply to residents of Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, southwestern parts of the province and the Sunshine Coast.

NDP accuses PCs of partisan picks for education board

A select few of the Manitoba premier’s staffers, elected officials and employees from the education department make up a board tasked with overseeing the logistics of the Pallister government’s public school system overhaul.

The official Opposition released a list of members on what the province calls its “education transformation management board” Tuesday, during a news conference held to accuse the government of politicizing education and implementing Bill 64 before it passes.

The Manitoba NDP obtained the names through a freedom of information request for the education minister’s calendar, which includes details about a recurring weekly meeting of the “TMB.”

David McLaughlin (clerk of the executive council), Jonathan Scarth (premier’s principal secretary), and Paul Beauregard (then-secretary to the Treasury Board) were among those invited to a TMB meeting Feb. 2.

WHO team in Wuhan departs quarantine for COVID origins study

WUHAN, China - A World Health Organization team emerged from quarantine in the Chinese city of Wuhan on Thursday to start field work in a fact-finding mission on the origins of the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic.

The researchers, who were required to isolate for 14 days after arriving in China, left their quarantine hotel with their luggage — including at least four yoga mats — in the midafternoon and headed to another hotel.

The mission has become politically charged, as China seeks to avoid blame for alleged missteps in its early response to the outbreak. A major question is where the Chinese side will allow the researchers to go and whom they will be able to talk to.

Yellow barriers blocked the entrance to the hotel, keeping the media at a distance. Before the researchers boarded their bus, workers wearing protective outfits and face shields could be seen loading their luggage, including two musical instruments and a dumbbell.