That’s a wrap: fall session ends with passage of three bills

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This article was published 07/12/2023 (680 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Kinew government capped the fall sitting of its first legislative session with the passage of three bills focused on reconciliation and cutting fuel taxes.

Before legislators emptied their desks for the winter break, Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville gave royal assent to laws that recognize Louis Riel with the title of honorary premier; establish Sept. 30 as a statutory holiday for Orange Shirt Day; and pause the 14-cent per litre fuel tax for at least six months, starting Jan. 1.

“It’s really important for Manitobans to know that you have a government that’s going to deliver on the commitments we made to you,” Premier Wab Kinew told reporters after his “state of the province” address to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce earlier on Thursday.

“Saving you money with the fuel-tax reduction is one of the first major acts of our government.”

The NDP defeated the Progressive Conservatives on Oct. 3 to form government for the first time since 2016.

The 43rd legislative session opened on Nov. 21 with Kinew’s first throne speech, which emphasized the government’s plans to deliver a “new vision” for health care including improved emergency-room wait times, increased surgical slates and robust seniors and long-term care.

In the months since the election, and during the three-week fall sitting, the premier said his government has started to make good on those plans.

“We’ve been investing in health care, we’ve been investing in new beds in new surgical slates at the Grace and other hospitals across the province,” Kinew said. “We’re working on these challenges, which are going to take a long timeline for us to make the full progress we want to see happen.”

When asked how his government plans to pay for the fuel-tax holiday, estimated to cost the treasury $164 million over six months, Kinew said they’d be “pulling back on certain areas where we need to tighten our belts as a government.”

He wouldn’t provide examples but said the government is looking at “lapsed funds, vacant positions or initiatives that didn’t get off the ground.”

“In other areas, it has to do with commitments that were made where the leg work was never done to be able to deliver on,” the premier said.

Examples of where belt-tightening can be expected and “a full accounting” of how the government plans to pay the gas tax holiday will be released next week, he said.

For weeks, the NDP government has warned it will be forced to tighten the province’s purse strings and revealed the full scale of the government’s financial “challenge” on Tuesday.

The government has a forecast $1.6-billion deficit as of Sept. 30, as per the province’s second-quarter fiscal update.

A projected $161-million loss at Manitoba Hydro, a $419-million shortfall in projected tax revenue, and increased health spending have deepened the deficit, which was projected to be $363 million just six months ago.

In the final question period until the spring, the Opposition PCs continued to discredit the NDP’s fiscal update and tried to press the government on its plans for the education property tax rebate.

“All the (economic) indicators are showing that Manitoba is moving in the right direction,” leader Heather Stefanson said. “Why does this premier want to indicate that things are so bleak in Manitoba? Is he just trying to justify a future tax hike on the backs of hard-working Manitobans?”

Kinew shot back saying “one very bleak element” of the fiscal forecast was the former PC government.

“The good news is our team has a plan to fix it. We’re going to invest in health care and lower costs for your family along the way,” he said.

Speaking to reporters, Opposition house leader Derek Johnson described the fall sitting as underwhelming, saying he expected the NDP to do more to advance its legislative agenda over the past three weeks.

“There should have been a lot more legislation on the docket that we could discuss and they haven’t gotten there,” he said.

Johnson said the opposition showed its influence over the past three weeks by ensuring the fuel-tax holiday included dyed gas.

Meanwhile, the NDP government received high praise from Manitoba Métis Federation president David Chartrand, who was in the chamber to witness the Louis Riel Act become law on Thursday.

“We never gave up hope that one day the right thing would be done,” said Chartrand, who had warned that opponents of the bill would “have an enemy for the rest of your life.”

He applauded all parties for ensuring the law passed quickly.

“Our young kids, the Métis kids, can say ‘I’m proud to be who I am. I’m proud to be Métis, and I’m proud that my leader was a premier of this province,’” Chartrand said.

The session will resume with the spring sitting on March 6.

— with files from Carol Sanders

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca