Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press

Manitobans may see some tax relief, financial help with inflation and money for addiction treatment before the provincial election slated for Oct. 3. 

What they are unlikely to see is any more movement by the province in its dispute with the federal government over carbon pricing.

Premier Heather Stefanson discussed her plans in a wide-ranging interview Wednesday and said she is confident of her party's chances for re-election despite consistently low polling numbers.

Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson is planning a cabinet shuffle after several of her Progressive Conservative caucus members recently announced they will not run again in the election slated for Oct. 3.

Stefanson did not give a precise date while fielding questions from reporters Monday, but said it is time for a refresh "in the next little while."

"We will be making some changes there," Stefanson said in her first media availability since the holidays.

Myrna Driedger, the speaker of the Manitoba legislature and one of the chamber's longest-serving members, announced Wednesday she will not seek another term in the election scheduled for Oct. 3.

Driedger is the eighth Progressive Conservative to announce plans to leave politics in recent months as the Tories continue to lag behind the Opposition New Democrats in opinion polls.

"I am genuinely thankful for my journey in public life and look forward to what the next chapter will bring," Driedger said in a statement on her website.

Manitoba's Opposition NDP leader says he would not reduce funding for police if his party wins the upcoming provincial election.

Wab Kinew is rejecting accusations from the governing Progressive Conservatives that he is soft on crime and in favour of defunding police. 

Premier Heather Stefanson made the accusation in a recent state of the province speech to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, while promoting her party as being tough on crime.

The Manitoba Labour Board has dismissed several complaints in recent months from workers who wanted their unions to fight COVID-19 requirements.

The details differ slightly in each of the complaints considered since December of last year from, among others, a nurse, a lab technologist, a plumber and an instructor. 

But the rulings have a common finding — that unions had acted reasonably after considering legal advice and the interests of all their members.

The Manitoba government is forecasting a smaller deficit, hinting at more tax cuts, and eyeing new financial aid to help people deal with the rising cost of living.

A fiscal update from the Progressive Conservative government Tuesday forecasts a deficit of $193 million for the fiscal year that ends in March. That's down from the $548 million predicted in last spring's budget and the $202 million forecast in the last fiscal update in September.

The Manitoba government is forecast to see its equalization payments from the federal government jump by $577 million in the fiscal year that will start in April, new federal figures say.

The total of $3.5 billion represents a 19 per cent increase from the current year and is roughly double the amount Manitoba received when the Progressive Conservatives took office in 2016.

Politicians of all stripes joined hundreds of mourners who gathered on Saturday to pay tribute to Jim Carr, the Liberal member of Parliament who died five days earlier at the age of 71 following a battle with cancer.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was among the cross-section of dignitaries at the memorial service, which also included former NDP and Progressive Conservative premiers of Manitoba, MPs from the government and opposition side of the House of Commons and prominent Indigenous leaders.

Lawyers for seven Manitoba churches made another attempt Tuesday to have some of the province's former COVID-19 restrictions declared invalid.

The churches say public health orders in 2020 and 2021 that temporarily closed in-person religious services, then permitted them with caps on attendance, violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

A Court of Queen’s Bench justice previously rejected that argument, saying the restrictions were both necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and allowable under Section 1 of the Charter.

Manitoba's governing Progressive Conservatives won a byelection in the Kirkfield Park constituency in Winnipeg Tuesday night, narrowly hanging on to a seat they had previously won handily.

The race went down to the wire. Tory candidate Kevin Klein won by a 160-vote margin over Logan Oxenham of the Opposition New Democrats. Manitoba Liberal Rhonda Nichol placed a strong third.

This is the last byelection before the provincial vote slated for next October, and comes at a time when the Tories are trailing the NDP in opinion polls.