Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 9, 2022, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A1 Buy online or at the gate! OPEN DAILY 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.SCHOOL IS OUT. THE ZOO IS IN! ONE DAY ONLY! Receive 25% off children’s admission for the Friday, March 18 Inservice. Plan your visit today. INSIDE GIFT OF THE JAB Assiniboine Park Zoo to vaccinate animals against COVID-19 with donated doses / B2 STAYIN’ ALIVE Jets crush defending Stanley Cup champs with seven-goal effort / D1 HIGHWAY HAVOC About 80 vehicles involved in highway crashes due to treacherous conditions / B1 WEATHER MAINLY SUNNY. HIGH -16 — LOW -22 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2022 FOR MANITOBA. FOR 150 YEARS. FOREVER WITH YOUR SUPPORT. SERVING WINNIPEG AND THE WEST SINCE 1872 The ® THE Progressive Conservative gov- ernment has proposed legislation to cap provincial borrowing and place a debt ceiling on Manitoba Hydro. On Tuesday, Finance Minister Cameron Friesen introduced Bill 16, the Financial Administration Amend- ment Act, in a bid to increase financial accountability and reporting. The legislation would set borrowing limits for the provincial government at $44.4 billion and cap the debt Manitoba Hydro can take on at $29.3 billion. Currently, government and de- partmental borrowing is authorized annually, and incrementally, through the Loan Act and entails a complicated reconciliation process if authorized amounts go unspent, Friesen said. Under proposed amendments, law- makers would set a comprehensive borrowing limit for the province and Manitoba Hydro, taking into con- sideration current debt, anticipated operational and capital expenses over two fiscal years, plus a contingency buffer. Hydro, a Crown corporation, would be considered separate from the gov- ernment to differentiate taxpayer-sup- ported debt from ratepayer-supported debt, Friesen said. “That number will be something that Manitobans can see,” Friesen said Tuesday. “They can look to and it can provide guidance to governments as we work towards things like balancing our books and returning our books to stability after challenges that we faced during COVID-19.” Friesen said the proposed borrowing limit was set approximately 20 per cent higher than the current debt load on the recommendation of the finance de- partment. It provides enough room so emergency debates, or other requests for borrowing, would not be necessary. Borrowing limits for the province and Manitoba Hydro would also be adjusted annually through budget im- plementation legislation and included in budget material. “The idea of setting a limit, we be- lieve, is important,” Friesen said. The province must borrow to operate and it will take at least eight years to reach a balanced budget, he said. “It acts as a form of accountability to government. It also provides better transparency for legislators.” He noted authorized borrowing amounts set aside as contingency would be held centrally and dispersed as needed. “The current conditions, inflation, geopolitical risk, other factors, those are all things that governments must plan for but sometimes planning is not enough and you need to have that coverage,” Friesen said. “If something came up that was unexpected, you would still have that ability to go back and say ‘We believe more is needed,’ but it creates an open process by which the legislature would then become responsible to hear that argument for more, considerate it, de- bate it, and make a decision,” he said. PCs to limit borrowing, put cap on Hydro debt DANIELLE DA SILVA L ONDON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy evoked wartime British leader Winston Churchill on Tuesday as he told the U.K. Parliament that Ukrainians would fight Russian invaders to the end in the country’s forests, fields and streets. Zelenskyy told British lawmakers “we will not give up and we will not lose,” in a speech that evoked the stirring “never surrender” speech delivered by Churchill in 1940 during the darkest days of the Second World War. “We will fight till the end at sea, in the air. We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost,” he said. “We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets” and even on the banks of rivers. Churchill’s speech vowed to fight Nazi troops “on the beaches... on the landing grounds... in the fields and in the streets.” Speaking by video from Ukraine and wearing army green, Zelenskyy thanked Britain for its support, which includes humanitarian aid and defensive weapons. He urged the U.K. to increase sanctions on Russia, to recognize Russia as “a terrorist coun- try” and to keep Ukraine’s skies safe. Zelenskyy has pleaded with NATO leaders to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, but they have resisted, say- ing that could lead to a direct military confrontation with Russia. Describing the destruction of schools and hospitals and the deaths of civilians under Russian bombardment during the two-week conflict, Zelen- skyy said Ukraine “didn’t start and didn’t want” the war. “However we have to conduct this war, we do not want to lose what we have, what is ours, our country Ukraine,” he said. Zelenskyy evoked another British hero, William Shakespeare, quoting Hamlet when he said: “the question for us now is ‘to be or not to be.’” “I can give you a definitive answer. It’s definitely yes — to be,” he said. Zelenskyy’s powerful video messag- es, both to the Ukrainian people and to the world, have played a major role in rallying support for Ukraine’s defence against invasion. His speech to the British politicians follows an address last week to hundreds of U.S. Congress members, in which he urged the Unit- ed States to help get more warplanes to his military and cut off Russian oil imports. U.S. President Joe Biden announced the latter move Tuesday. Tuesday’s address was the first time a foreign leader was allowed to address Britain’s House of Commons. Screens and simultaneous interpreta- tion headsets were set up in the cham- ber so lawmakers could hear him. Applause is usually barred in the Commons, but lawmakers rose to give Zelenskyy standing ovations both before and after his speech. — The Associated Press ‘We will not give up and we will not lose’ JILL LAWLESS Defiant Ukrainian president echoes Churchill; urges no-fly zone, further sanctions against Russia in U.K. speech RECORD-setting prices at the fuel pump are likely behind an unusual, in- convenient and potentially catastroph- ic crime at a Windsor Park daycare on the weekend. One or more thieves drilled into the gas tanks of three vans at Little People’s Place on Cottonwood Road, made off with the liquid gold and left 85 tots without their usual rides to and from the facility for an indeterminate period of time. “It’s not been a good week,” said exasperated executive director Carol Jones, adding staff made the discov- ery first thing Monday. The vans can’t be driven until the tanks are repaired or replaced be- cause of safety concerns. “I understand the cost of gas has sent people into a frenzy, but this is extremely frustrating for me as a director of a large daycare centre — this is interrupting people’s lives, and the bottom line is it was a dangerous thing to do,” Jones said. “Driving children around in a van that has gas leaking — I don’t even want to think about what that could have done.” Gas prices have spiked around the globe over the past two weeks, which analysts have tied to sanctions against Russia over its ongoing inva- sion of Ukraine, as well as inflation and world economies ramping up as they begin to emerge from the pandemic. Winnipeg gas stations posted prices as high as $1.89.9 per litre Monday. Gas theft leaves daycare’s vans in park, children without ride ERIK PINDERA JESSICA TAYLOR / UK PARLIAMENT Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is given a standing ovation as he speaks to the House of Commons in London by video link Tuesday. WAR IN UKRAINE Recognize Russia as ‘terrorist country’: Zelenskyy urges British lawmakers. ● MORE COVERAGE ON A3 ● THEFT, CONTINUED ON A2 ● DEBT, CONTINUED ON A2 A_01_Mar-09-22_FP_01.indd 1 2022-03-08 10:30 PM ;