MPSG Contest to Award $50,000 Total
Manitoba Pulse and Soybeans Growers is offering a big cash reward to schools and non-profits in the province for deserving ideas that increase awareness or consumption of pulses.
Ernie Sirski, a Dauphin farmer and MPSG member who is presenting at schools as part of Ag in the Classroom this week, says there are three prizes of $10,000 being awarded to schools.
"It's a pretty wide open contest, and we're not going to encourage people to do one thing over another, however the projects themselves... have to be approved (by MPSG)."
Sirski presented at Roblin Elementary School yesterday and will be at Barker school in Dauphin later this week.
The MPSG contest will also award four $5,000 prizes to Manitoba non-profit organizations.
Details can be found at http://www.manitobapulse.ca/why-pulses-challenge/.
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Indigenous Leader Says Issues Over Sacred Pouch at Winnipeg Airport
The chief of the Mathias Colomb band says he is filing a complaint after being accused by a security guard at the Winnipeg airport of carrying marijuana in a sacred medicine pouch.
Chief Arlen Dumas says the confrontation caught him by surprise, as he flies a lot, doesn't usually have problems and understands the jobs of security screeners are difficult.
But Dumas says the screener was aggressive and insulting, insisting the tobacco carried inside the pouch looked and smelled like marijuana.
The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority is already investigating a similar complaint involving another Manitoba indigenous leader.
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Canadian Donations for Syrian Relief Efforts
As the Liberal government heralds the arrival of the last of the 25,000 Syrian refugees it pledged to resettle by the end of February, attention is now turning to money raised for Syrian relief efforts overseas.
And it appears the amount donated by Canadians for overseas relief efforts will likely fall well short of the maximum $100-million the previous Conservative government had promised to match.
Yesterday marked the final day for Canadians to give money that would be matched by Ottawa.
Upwards of $16-million in donations had been received by UNICEF, World Vision and the Red Cross, but several other groups taking part have not released their figures.
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Skinny Cable Options Arrive
Canadian TV viewers now have a choice between beefy or slimmed-down cable or satellite services.
As of today, cable and satellite TV companies must offer their customers a "skinny basic'' service package for $25 or less as part of new regulations adopted last year by the CRTC.
Channel lineups must include at least 10 local or regional stations, educational programming and legislative channels.
While providers don't have to include US networks, some are.
Consumers will also be able to add individual channels or bundles to the basic services.
