NDP rolls out $6.64-B Manitoba infrastructure plan

By: Larry Kusch Posted: 5:22 PM CDT Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019

NDP Leader Wab Kinew says if his party forms government he would "reset" the province's relationship with the City of Winnipeg and work constructively on infrastructure projects.

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NDP Leader Wab Kinew says if his party forms government he would "reset" the province's relationship with the City of Winnipeg and work constructively on infrastructure projects.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/08/2019 (2209 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew says if his party forms government he would “reset” the province’s relationship with the City of Winnipeg and work constructively on infrastructure projects.

On Wednesday, Kinew pledged the NDP would spend $6.64 billion over four years on Manitoba infrastructure, creating 50,000 jobs. He said that’s $690 million above current funding levels for a whole term of office.

“We will reset the relationship with city hall, and we will be able to build many, many excellent pieces of infrastructure that will benefit people right across the province for years to come,” Kinew said at a campaign announcement in northeast Winnipeg, with a Chief Peguis Trail sign in the background.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
NDP Manitoba leader Wab Kinew announces that his party would invest $6.64 billion over four years in strategic infrastructure resulting in 50,000 more jobs in Manitoba, at a press conference Wednesday morning. — MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS NDP Manitoba leader Wab Kinew announces that his party would invest $6.64 billion over four years in strategic infrastructure resulting in 50,000 more jobs in Manitoba, at a press conference Wednesday morning.

The NDP leader said extending the trail — from Main Street to Route 90 — and widening Kenaston Boulevard are two examples of city projects the party would be prepared to help fund.

Based on formulas currently used by the province to estimate job creation, the infrastructure spending the NDP envisages would create 50,000 jobs, Kinew said.

“We know that when you invest in projects like building roads, building bridges, that puts people to work right here in Manitoba,” he said.

Also included in the NDP’s infrastructure spending total are capital investments in schools, hospitals and child-care centres.

Kinew said under the Progressive Conservatives, who were voted into power in 2016, infrastructure spending has dropped and road construction companies are laying-off staff or getting out of business altogether.

“We know people in the construction industry, in the neighbourhoods that we represent and that we’re campaigning in, are out of work. And that’s simply unacceptable,” he said.

Kirkfield Park PC candidate Scott Fielding said when the NDP was in government it used to underspend its infrastructure budget.

He said the $690 million in additional spending the NDP announced doesn’t jibe with cost figures the party released earlier in the campaign. The new announcement seems to call for an additional $500 million, Fielding said.

“Where are they going to get that money from? Where they’re going to get that money from is they’re going to tax people to the max here in the province of Manitoba,” he said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

On the campaign trail

Huband to run for Liberals

Charles Huband, a one-time Manitoba Liberal Party leader and former Court of Appeal judge, is the Liberal candidate in Portage la Prairie, the party announced Wednesday. Huband graduated from law school in 1955 and retired from the appeal court in 2006. He then practised civil litigation law with a local firm. Huband led the provincial Liberals from 1975-78, but failed to win a seat in the legislature.

Tories clarify numbers

The Progressive Conservatives clarified Wednesday they have seven Indigenous candidates running for office — or more than 10 per cent — not 10 candidates, as PC Leader Brian Pallister had previously said before the official campaign started.

The seven: Colleen Mayer, Alan Lagimodiere, Bob Lagassé, Theresa Wride, Edna Nabess, Ron Evans and Arnold Flett. Close to 40 per cent of the Tory candidates running are women. The provincial party said it’s the most diverse slate of candidates in its history.

Meanwhile, the PCs announced Wednesday their party is the first to have “officially” nominated all 57 candidates, which means all accompanying paperwork has been sent to Elections Manitoba. The NDP was the first party to name 57 candidates, which are initially listed as “prospective” until all documentation is filed.

Under a new Manitoba law, candidates must publicly disclose whether they’ve committed major criminal offences. None of their 57 PC candidates has a criminal record, the Tories said.

Candidates must file all their paperwork no later than 1 p.m., Aug. 26.

The PCs drew the media’s attention to the fact NDP Leader Wab Kinew, who has criminal convictions dating to more than 15 years ago, has yet to file all his documentation.

An NDP spokeswoman said Kinew would do so this week.

Deadline arrives

Thursday is the deadline for Manitobans to update their voter information or register to vote in advance of the election.

Eligible voters who did not receive a voter information card, or who received a card with incorrect information, should contact their returning office before 8 p.m., Aug. 22, to register or update their information, Elections Manitoba says. Returning office contact information can be found at www.electionsmanitoba.ca.

Voters also have until Thursday to register or update their information using Elections Manitoba’s online voter registration service.

Even if they are not registered, eligible voters can still vote if they show ID and take an oath at the voting place, either during advance voting or on election day, Sept. 10.