Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 10, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba It’s cold outside Come on in for a tour and feel the warmth. See what sets Brightwater apart. With 24-hour nurses on-site and personalized care services, you can truly age-in-place. Call today! Book NOW and enter to win a Visa Gift Card 204.560.3850204.229.1236 SERVING MANITOBA SINCE 1872. FOREVER WITH YOUR SUPPORT. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2025 WEATHER PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH -19 — LOW -29 CURLING CARRUTHERS DEFENDS PROVINCIAL CROWN / C1 Trump says he’s serious about wanting 51st state U.S. steel, aluminum tariffs to include Canada DAVID BAXTER OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump said he will formally announce 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and alu- minum imports on Monday, including for Canada and Mexico. Trump made the comments at a news conference aboard Air Force 1 as he travelled to New Orleans to watch the Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. Trump imposed steel and aluminum tariffs at 25 and 10 per cent respective- ly during his first term in March 2018 using national security as justification. Canada was initially given an exemp- tion to those duties, but was ultimately hit by the tariffs on May 31, 2018. Canada responded with a series of counter-tariffs on American products like Florida orange juice. Nearly a year later, on May 17, 2019, the White House announced a deal had been reached to prevent “surges” in steel and aluminum supplies from Canada and Mexico, ending the trade dispute. In reaction to Trump’s announce- ment Sunday, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne posted on social media platform X, saying Canadian steel and aluminum support critical industries in the U.S. including defence, shipbuilding and auto manu- facturing. He said the existing trade relation- ship between Canada and the U.S. makes North America “more compet- itive and secure,” and that the gov- ernment will continue to stand up for Canada, its workers and its industries. Fox News aired a partial interview with Trump ahead of Sunday’s football game, where he said he wants to see Canada become a state due to the unsubstantiated claim that the U.S. is “paying $200 billion a year” to its northern neighbour. Province asking feds for more civil forfeiture powers to fight money laundering MANITOBA’S justice minister is asking the federal finance and public safety ministers to better combat mon- ey laundering by beefing up the civil forfeiture powers of the provinces and allowing for better co-operation across jurisdictions. Provincial Justice Minister Matt Wiebe requested “further action at the federal level to help crack down on money laundering” in a letter to Public Safety Minister David McGuinty and Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc. Wiebe asserted federal action would give provincial agencies “important new tools to cut off the money supply to organized crime and help us get tox- ic drugs like fentanyl off our streets,” in a letter sent Friday afternoon and provided to the Free Press. Civil forfeiture is a process in which governments can ask civil courts to al- low them to retain property and other assets, such as cash, that are believed to be linked to crime. Wiebe’s letter argued the federal government could take “immediate steps” to beef up civil forfeiture. Among his requests are for the federal government to implement amendments to the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act, passed last year, which the minister said will enable information sharing between the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, which oversees the federal anti-money laundering regime and civil forfeiture authorities across Canada. Wiebe also requested the federal government amend the Income Tax Act to allow for tax records to be dis- closed to provincial civil forfeiture au- thorities and to amend the Bank Act to “ensure there are no gaps in forfeiture of bank accounts… in jurisdictions without civil forfeiture programs.” The minister also requested the Canadian government work to ensure federal law enforcement agencies “rec- ognize civil forfeiture as an important and preferable option” to establish a consistent and integrated approach to combating money laundering across Canada. Wiebe ended the letter by saying the Manitoba government wants to work closely with its federal counterpart to “implement meaningful reforms” on the money laundering file and request- ing a meeting with McGuinty and LeBlanc to discuss it. Manitoba brought in civil forfei- ture legislation in 2004 and the New Democratic government passed the Unexplained Wealth Act last year, which gives forfeiture investigators the power to force numbered corpora- tions to disclose information about a property owner, business partners and corporate directors, Wiebe said in the letter. Last week, the province directed Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries to disclose all suspicious transactions directly to local law enforcement, on top of reporting to federal anti-mon- ey laundering agency, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, Wiebe noted in the letter. ERIK PINDERA Hydro polling on electricity rate changes W HILE the Manitoba govern- ment has promised to keep electricity rates low, the province’s energy Crown corporation is asking people for their thoughts on a rate hike for electricity and changes that could see different rates applied at different times of the day. Manitoba Hydro has commissioned an opinion poll saying it’s faced with aging infrastructure and a growing demand for energy. The poll covers a variety of topics and floats some options. One question asks people how they would feel about paying an extra $9 a month, as an average residential customer, to maintain reliability, citing the need to spend money on infrastruc- ture. “Without investments to maintain or replace aging infrastructure, Mani- toba’s electricity system is expected to decrease in reliability,” the survey reads. “This would lead to more or longer power outages in coming years.” Another question asks whether people might switch their use of large appliances to evenings or weekends, if it means saving money on monthly electrical bills. Some other provinces already have such a system, often called time-of-use rates, where charges are higher during the day and lower at night. The aim is to reduce spikes in demand at peak times. The lower spikes can in turn delay the need to build more generat- ing capacity. The idea has been floated before and the NDP, while in Opposition in 2023, denounced it, saying it could lead to “surge pricing” with much higher rates at peak times. Manitoba Hydro said the poll is sim- ply taking the pulse of the public and does not outline any firm plans. “We want to make sure we under- stand what’s important to our cus- tomers, because that’s an input into our long-term planning process,” said spokesperson Scott Powell. “We always want to be open and see if people are amenable to … using (time-of-use rates) as a potential solu- tion to help reduce electricity demand peaks,” Powell said. As for a $9-per-month rate hike men- tioned in the poll, Powell said it’s not currently on the table. STEVE LAMBERT Survey offers possible options for infrastructure, energy demand challenges ● FORFEITURE, CONTINUED ON A2 ● TARIFFS, CONTINUED ON A3 ● HYDRO, CONTINUED ON A2 MATT SLOCUM / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SUPER EAGLES DOMINATE Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni (right) lifts the Vince Lombardi NFL championship trophy next to quarterback Jalen Hurts after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in the Super Bowl Sunday in New Orleans / C1 ;