Manitoba bills on booze, elections, housing and more delayed until fall

The Progressive Conservatives are moving debate on five bills to the fall, including one banning the sale of liquor at gas stations and convenience stores.

WINNIPEG — Some of the bills now before the Manitoba legislature will have to wait until the fall to be passed into law.

The Opposition Progressive Conservatives have exercised their right under legislature rules to hold back five bills for further debate beyond the summer break.

One bill would forbid liquor licences in urban convenience stores and gas stations — a move the Tories say will affect small businesses and customer choice in the few locations where such licences have been issued.

Another bill would lower political donation limits and require political parties to have a code of conduct for election advertising.

A third bill would prevent owners of many government-funded social housing units from selling their buildings without provincial consent.

The bills are almost certain to become law anyway, given the NDP majority in the legislature, but the Tories say a delay will allow for more time for debate.

“We’re going to take the time on behalf of Manitobans to ask some questions, to do further consultations,” interim Tory leader Wayne Ewasko said Monday.

The fourth bill being delayed is aimed at protecting people from lawsuits designed to prevent them from speaking on matters of public interest. Defendants would be given more power to ask a judge to dismiss the suits.

The fifth bill contains several changes to observances at schools. O Canada would have to be sung daily, and a little-used provision that required God Save The King to be played would be eliminated.

The bill removes the royal anthem as an “optional patriotic observance,” the Tories said, affecting a Canadian tradition that recognizes the constitutional monarchy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2025.

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press