RCMP in The Pas are now investigating a recent school fire as an arson.
Mounties did not initially consider the blaze at Mary Duncan School to be
suspicious.
But further investigation and the acquisition of new evidence has changed their mind.
The fire started in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Sept. 28. The school suffered extensive damage, but no one was injured.
Police ask anyone with information to contact them or the anonymous Manitoba Crime Stoppers line.
Hydro protest
Residents of the northern Manitoba reserve of Cross Lake have begun occupying a hydro dam in hopes of resolving outstanding grievances with Manitoba Hydro, APTN reported Wednesday.
The protest involves the Jenpeg Generating Station, located 19 kilometres from the reserve, noted the news agency.
Tommy Monias, one of the protestors, told APTN the occupation relates in part to treaty rights to land.
Costly clean-up
The Manitoba government says the clean-up of an abandoned northern mine site is one reason the province posted a larger-than-expected deficit in 2013-14.
The province says it spent an additional $30 million to remediate the Ruttan mine site near Leaf Rapids to prevent acidic tailings from causing long-term environmental damage.
Newly released figures show Manitoba had a deficit of $522 million in 2013-14, $4 million higher than projected.
