Walmart Canada to Stop Accepting Visas in Manitoba
Walmart Canada says it will start informing its Manitoba customers today that all 16 stores in the province will not accept Visa as of October 24.
The move comes as the retail giant and the credit card company remain locked in a battle over merchant fees.
Walmart pledged in June that it would stop accepting Visa at its more than 400 Canadian stores, saying it pays more than $100-million in fees annually for customers using credit cards.
But the retailer took only a small step toward fulfilling that June pledge when it dropped the credit card from its three locations in Thunder Bay, Ontario, on July 18.
Visa, the country's largest credit card firm, shot back by encouraging Walmart customers to use their cards at the more than 5,200 stores in Thunder Bay that accept Visa.''
Visa said it had offered Walmart one of the lowest rates for any merchant in the country but the retailer wanted more.
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Police Chase Suspect Vehicle Through Streets of Brandon
Three people have been arrested after a police pursuit leading from Saskatchewan to Manitoba.
Yesterday afternoon, RCMP in White Butte, Saskatchewan, contacted officers in Brandon asking for assistance in tracking down a break-and-enter suspect.
Brandon police eventually tracked down the suspect at a shopping centre parking lot, but the suspect fled in a truck that rammed a police cruiser during the pursuit.
Police then set up a spike belt to slow down the vehicle and made the arrests during a high risk take-down.
A release from Brandon police says the occupants refused to exit the vehicle and officers had to break a window to get them out. A 26-year-old man, a 35-year-old woman and a 15-year-old male youth are in custody with charges to follow, according to yesterday's report.
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Manitoba Hydro Power Interruption Scheduled for Tomorrow in Foxwarren
Hydro power is going out in Foxwarren tomorrow morning.
Manitoba Hydro says it will interrupt electrical service to customers in the Foxwarren area starting at 9:30am on Friday.
About 260 customers will be affected and the outage should last about two hours.
The outage is necessary to allow Hydro to perform critical maintenance at its Foxwarren substation.
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Defence Minister Seeks Indigenous Leaders' Input on Defence Policy
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has met with about a dozen indigenous leaders in Winnipeg as part of the federal government's defence policy review.
Sajjan says getting indigenous perspectives is important as the government looks at changes to the role of the military in a changing world.
He is seeking input on programs such as the Canadian Rangers -- a largely indigenous group of army reserves that helps patrol the north.
Sajjan says he'll consider a request from the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples to give First Nations the power to directly call in the military when their treaty, environmental and other rights are threatened.
