Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press

A child from the Gaza Strip seeking medical treatment arrived Thursday in Winnipeg, supported in part by the Manitoba government, and a federal cabinet minister called on other provinces to follow suit.

The 11-year-old Palestinian boy and his mother were greeted at the airport by Premier Wab Kinew, who said the province is already planning to welcome a second child in the coming weeks.

"We have always been a people who stand up during times of conflict and famine and natural disaster to help the innocent," Kinew said.

Manitoba Education Minister Nello Altomare has died after a battle with cancer.

Altomare, who was 61, worked as a school principal before being elected in 2019 to represent Winnipeg's Transcona riding for the New Democrats in the legislature.

He was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma shortly after being elected and underwent chemotherapy.

He went on leave in October as his health worsened.

Premier Wab Kinew paid tribute to Altomare on social media, praising his work to expand school nutrition programs across the province.

The Manitoba government is buying apartment buildings and plans to start clearing encampments next month as part of its long-term strategy to reduce homelessness.

Several buildings are being bought and renovated, and the province aims to partner with municipalities and community agencies to offer support services such as addiction treatment.

The Manitoba government is buying apartment buildings as part of its plan to move people out of encampments and address homelessness.

The government says several buildings are being bought and renovated, and the province will partner with community agencies to offer support services such as addiction treatment.

The NDP government has promised to eliminate chronic homelessness — people who are unhoused for several months or more — within seven years.

The battle for the leadership of the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives is three months from being decided, and the two men vying for the role are laying out different paths to try to reignite the party voted out of office in the last election.

Manitobans will soon be paying more for basic automobile insurance.

The Public Utilities Board has ordered an overall increase of 5.7 per cent for basic rates as of April 1, although the exact increase will vary by the type of vehicle, a driver's record and other factors.

The increase follows decreases that totalled more than 15 per cent over the last five years, along with rebates at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when fewer people were commuting.

The days when a Manitoba premier could ride a bicycle to work alone and unworried about their security seem like a long time ago.

In the decade since Greg Selinger took a two-wheel commute from his home to the stately legislature in Winnipeg, security has been beefed up as concerns about threats faced by politicians grew.

Wab Kinew, elected premier in 2023, is followed by security inside the legislature and when he's out at public events and press conferences. He is driven in a large vehicle with someone always at his side.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says a rate freeze on electricity in 2025 is achievable, despite another forecasted financial loss at Crown-owned Manitoba Hydro.

Kinew's NDP government promised a one-year freeze in the last election campaign as a way to help people with the rising cost of living.

That has raised concerns with the Consumers Coalition, a group made up of three non-profits, including the Manitoba branch of the Consumers Association of Canada.

The group says a freeze now may lead to higher rate increases in future years.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew's popularity shows little sign of waning more than a year after he led the provincial New Democrats to power.

But there are some tough choices ahead as he tries to fulfil promises to improve health care, address poverty and get the government's finances in order.

Kinew has carried through on election promises to hire more health-care workers, expand school nutrition programs and temporarily suspend the provincial fuel tax for a one-year period that is to end Jan. 1. 

The Manitoba government is set to receive $337 million more in equalization payments from the federal government in the next fiscal year.

The total of more than $4.6 billion is a 7.7 per cent increase over this year's level and follows a 24 per cent jump from last year.

Equalization is a federally-funded program that gives money to poorer provinces so that they can offer similar services to richer provinces at comparable tax rates.