Looking Back — Feb. 11, 2023

SIXTY YEARS AGO

A raging fire levelled the Canada Packers creamery and egg grading station in Glenboro yesterday with the loss ranging from $25,000 to $40,000.

Clarence Yeo suffered burns to his hands and back as he pulled his three sleeping children from their beds as fire swept through his two-storey home in Belmont yesterday. The house, owned by Hugh Gillis of Portage la Prairie, was the first home built in Belmont back in 1880 by John Bell.

One firefighter was injured, 4,000 bales of hay were destroyed and considerable damage was done to a large new barn on the farm of Bob Lamb just southwest of Margaret today.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau is facing heavy opposition fire over the latest increase in living costs. He told the Commons, “there will be some measure of relief” in the Feb. 19 budget.

FORTY YEARS AGO

Women’s groups have hailed an announcement by Attorney General Roland Penner today. Police will lay charges in all wife-beating cases here.

The government has formally opened the door to testing of unarmed cruise missiles in Canada — after months of negotiation and weeks of hesitation — by signing a new agreement allowing the United States to evaluate weapons systems in this country.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Monsanto Canada Inc. will spend $5.1 million to build a new plant in Morden that will produce a dry version of its popular herbicide Roundup, the company has announced. The plant, which will employ 17 people, is expected to produce about $50 million worth of the herbicide annually and export its products worldwide.

General Motors Corp. reported the world’s biggest corporate loss, ending a dismal 1992 with a total loss of US$23.5 billion for the year. Time may be running out for the $2 bill. The same pressures that killed the $1 bill in 1989 are beginning to build on the paper currency known as Moose Jaw money or the deuce.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

Certainty over Canadian Forces Base Shilo’s future is all Mayor Dave Burgess is looking for by meeting Defence Minister John McCallum. Premier Gary Doer, in Brandon yesterday for his state of the province speech, says he’s trying to set up a meeting between Burgess, the province and the defence minister to make sure the move by the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry to Shilo from Winnipeg goes ahead as planned.

TEN YEARS AGO

The Brandon School Division is poised to launch a new program for “at risk” youth who have had run-ins with the law. The At Risk Youth Program will divert troubled students, including gang members, from city high schools but give them a chance at an education and access to other supports.

Make it a record 10th Manitoba men’s curling title for Jeff Stoughton. The 49-year-old Winnipegger — with his team of third Jon Mead, second Reid Carruthers and lead Mark Nichols — just got by a guard to make a fantastic thin double takeout to score two in the ninth end and secure a 7-4 win over Sean Grassie in the Safeway Championship final in Neepawa on Sunday.