Looking Back — April 6, 2023

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/04/2023 (1269 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIXTY YEARS AGO

New Democratic Party Leader Tommy Douglas said in Winnipeg that a redistribution of purchasing power is needed to spark the economy and proposed higher old age pensions, guaranteed prices for primary producers and other social and welfare measures.

The Soviet Union announced today it is ready to accept a direct tele-communications link between Washington and the Kremlin to prevent an accidental outbreak of world war.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

The Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium, for months on the brink of financial breakdown, has been given another temporary reprieve by its bank to continue operation.

During the past three years, two Limousin bulls from the Brandon Research Station have been part of the federal Department of Agriculture’s experiments with exotic cattle. Today during the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, they were sold to a Texas buyer for $66,000.

FORTY YEARS AGO

Employment and Immigration Minister Lloyd Axworthy met with a group of western Manitoba manufacturers in Brandon to discuss how they could tap the federal economic and industrial development fund allocated to Western Canada.

U.S. Interior secretary James Watt has struck a sour note with some White House aides by banning rock groups such as The Beach Boys from the capital’s annual United States Independence Day celebrations.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Manitoba has been hit with the worst flu outbreak in recent history. Dr. Peter Sarsfield, directory of Manitoba Health’s health and wellness branch, said it’s the worst outbreak he has seen here. It has been dubbed “the 100 Day Flu.”

Highlights of the Manitoba budget: sales tax to apply to a broader range of items, including school supplies, all restaurant meals and children’s clothing items more than $100; gasoline tax increasing one cent a litre; tax credits for pensioners, homeowners, renters and those on welfare compensation being cut by more than $53 million.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

Seven months after local businesses and restaurants were told to butt out, Brandon’s smoking bylaw is — with a few exceptions — being obeyed, says the city’s head of bylaw enforcement. Since Sept. 1, police have issued just 20 tickets for smoking bylaw infractions.

Heritage Minister Sheila Copps is planning to join the family of Israel Asper in Winnipeg on April 17 to announce that the city will be the home of a major human rights museum with an initial price tag of $150 million.

TEN YEARS AGO

Manitoba’s flood forecasting team was too inexperienced and lacked the necessary resources to deal with the deluge it faced in southern Manitoba in 2011. That’s one of the conclusions of a 156-page task force report examining the province’s response to the flood, released Friday.

A small group of fans lined up at the Keystone Centre box office to get a chance to catch some of Gene Simmons’ sweat as tickets for the July 17 KISS concert went on sale yesterday.