The Pallister government wants to reconvene the Manitoba legislature next week in order to pass a number of measures into law that address the COVID-19 crisis.

Premier Brian Pallister wants to call the legislature back into session on Wednesday, April 15, but with only one-third of the members present in the chamber.

"This will allow measures to be adopted with a quorum and also protect the health of, not only members of the legislative assembly but also of our staff here and the people who work in the legislative building."

Pallister says the move is necessary in order to continue governing the province.

"We will need a day to free up literally billions of dollars to support frontline health workers. We will need to make it easier for retired health professionals to come back to work and we will need to adopt measures to ensure that Manitobans have the financial flexibility they need in these uncertain times."

Pallister points out most of these measures related to COVID-19 have been announced but need to be enacted into legislation.

On Tuesday the official opposition had called on the Premier to reconvene the House. Legislature