Public Service Delivery Minister Mintu Sandhu said the cases the provincial government launched before Manitoba’s municipal board will be the first of many, as it seeks to overturn private deals that stop new supermarkets and grocery stores from opening. The legislature passed a law last year to forbid new real-estate agreements that protect exclusivity for one grocery-store operator, and to let the government challenge existing ones. (The Logic)

Talking point: The federal Competition Bureau has taken aim at property restrictions like these, saying they’re meant to restrict consumer choice and make sense only in very limited circumstances. In Manitoba, the provincial announcement said, many covenants and restrictive lease clauses have been eliminated since the NDP government passed its bill in 2025, but 43 remain “and the Manitoba government intends to bring a case against each one.” These cover three Sobeys locations (one each in Winnipeg, Brandon and Steinbach) and another in Winnipeg where Sobeys no longer even has a store.