Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press

The Manitoba government is still planning to make the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation an official statutory holiday but says it's too late for the change to take effect this year.

"It would be very disrespectful of everybody to introduce something at this point," Labour Minister Reg Helwer said Wednesday.

A judge has handed fines to five Manitobans who repeatedly violated COVID-19 pandemic public health orders over a period of months — even after they were given tickets for each offence.

It was the second courtroom loss in a year for people trying to overturn restrictions the Manitoba government imposed.

"A message must be sent that public health orders … are meant to be respected," provincial court Judge Victoria Cornick said during her sentencing Thursday.

A Manitoba politician who resigned from cabinet over controversial remarks by former premier Brian Pallister says she is planning to retire.

Eileen Clarke, 68, said Sunday she will serve out her term but will not seek re-election when the next vote — currently scheduled for Oct. 3 of next year — is held.

"It's a very full life. I find most weeks, I work seven days a week, and there comes a time when one has to think about the future," Clarke said.

"I just feel that I have to look at life from a different side other than full-scale work."

Manitoba became the first province Wednesday to sign on to a new federal funding plan for crisis hotlines that help victims of gender-based violence.

The province will receive up to $1 million over four years so that crisis centres can do things such as hire more staff and train more volunteers.

"We know that crisis hotlines are a lifeline for women fleeing domestic violence," Marci Ien, the federal minister for women and gender equality and youth, said.

"Timely connection to support and services can, and often is, the difference between life and death."

An Indigenous leader in Manitoba was removed from his job Friday after being accused of sexual harassment.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs voted to drop Arlen Dumas as grand chief during a closed-door meeting in Winnipeg. Dumas had already been suspended without pay after a staff member lodged a misconduct complaint against him in May.

"There are policies that need to be put in place and women that need to be protected," acting grand chief Cornell McLean said following the non-confidence vote among chiefs, which passed by a 30-13 margin.

The Manitoba government said Thursday it will not appeal a court ruling that found the province was wrong to claw back hundreds of millions of dollars in federal benefit payments to kids in child welfare.

The government also appeared open to calls for it to return the money, which Indigenous leaders have said totalled more than $300 million.

"That is certainly on the table for discussion," Families Minister Rochelle Squires said.

"We certainly respect the ruling and we also respect and acknowledge that amends need to be made."

The federal and Manitoba governments announced a combined $147 million Wednesday to support a rail line through northern Manitoba with a history of service disruptions and delays.

The money comes on top of $157 million pledged by Ottawa since 2018 to change the ownership of the Hudson Bay Railway and the Port of Churchill, and to make repairs and upgrades.

"It's a sign that it's a very ambitious project, it's difficult terrain, and progress has been made," Dan Vandal, federal minister of northern affairs, said of the ongoing funding.

Tucked away in a sparsely populated stretch of prairie along the world's longest undefended border, the International Peace Garden has, for 90 years, quietly celebrated the friendship between Canada and the United States.

The openness between the two countries is clear here.

A small creek marks the border, and people walk freely over it and back again as they stroll among gardens, ponds and monuments. It's quiet enough to hear the gentle buzzing of bees among the flowers, some of which are laid out in the form of the Maple Leaf or the Stars and Stripes.

Manitoba could have a new statutory holiday to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by September, Premier Heather Stefanson says.

"Certainly, I would like to move on it and I just want to make sure we go through a respectful consultation process," Stefanson said in an interview this week.

"I don't want to see it as (just) a holiday. This is about a remembrance of truth and reconciliation."

A statue of Queen Victoria that was toppled and beheaded by protesters last year outside the Manitoba legislature is beyond repair and will not be restored.

"It's gone through a lengthy assessment process and is not repairable," Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said in an interview.

Trying to replicate it is also out of the question, Goertzen said, because it would cost at least $500,000.

"I know it will be disappointing to many people — it won't be recast — but that's the decision."