Morning News- May 19

Manitoba Sale Tax

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister says he is committed to cutting the provincial sales tax, despite the province's growing deficit.

The new Tory government says the deficit last year under the former N-D-P government was higher than expected at one billion dollars.

Pallister says that won't stop him from fulfilling a campaign promise to cut one point off the sales tax before the next election.

Some other promises, however, may be affected.

Pallister says details will be spelled out in the provincial budget set for May 31st.

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Pride Queen

Lieutenant Governor Janice Filmon will become the first representative of the Queen in Manitoba to address the Winnipeg Pride parade.

Filmon's office confirmed yesterday that she will speak to the parade and rally from the steps of the Manitoba legislature on June 5th.

The event celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture and pride.

Pride president Jonathan Niemczak says it's a big deal for the L-G-B-T community, adding it's a show of support for a community that has been marginalized and victimized by the state.

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Alberta Fire App

The Alberta government has announced a new, interactive online map application that provides detailed new images of fire-damaged areas in Fort McMurray.

It includes high-resolution images from multiple angles to give residents a clearer idea of which homes have been lost and damaged.

However, Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larviee warns evacuees to approach viewing the images with caution.

She also says the imagery mayprovide enough detail to assist property owners with insurance claims, eligibility funding and other recovery actions.

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Egypt Airline Disappearance

Two orange items believed to be from a missing EgyptAir flight have been spotted in the waters off the Greek island of Crete.

Egypt's aviation minister says the possibility of a terror attack as the cause of the EgyptAir Flight 8-0-4 crash is "stronger'' than the possibility of a technical failure.

The Airbus A320 -- which was carrying 66 people, including a Canadian -- disappeared from radar just inside of Egyptian airspace while on its way from Paris to Cairo early this morning.

Greece's defence minister announced today the flight made abrupt turns, and suddenly lost altitude just before vanishing from radar.