You could send a cheque or money order for $1.75 to reserve tickets for the Leroy Van Dyke performance at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair advertised in our March 20, 1968 issue. You could also pick up tickets at Eaton’s in Brandon.

On our front page we reported that Trade Minister Jean-Luc Pepin had told the House of Commons that in order to meet U.S. and Australian competition, Canada had decided to sell wheat at below the minimum of $1.68 per bushel under the International Grains Arrangement.

The Federal Task Force on Agriculture had recommended “short-term — very short-term” measures to help an estimated 120,000 Canadian farmers whose earnings were below the poverty line.

We reported the death of former premier John Bracken, a farmer well known for animal husbandry who became president of the Manitoba Agricultural College. In 1922 — with no leader — the United Farmers of Manitoba party won the provincial election. After twice refusing, Bracken finally agreed to become leader and premier after winning an election in The Pas. The UFM governed as the Progressive Party of Manitoba, and Bracken served as premier for more than 20 years. In 1931, his Progressives formed an alliance with the Liberals, and the two parties eventually merged. In 1940, Bracken formed a wartime coalition government that included the Conservative, Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and Social Credit parties. When Bracken left politics in 1943, there were only five opposition MLAs. The coalition remained intact until 1950, although the CCF left in 1943.