Citizens have their say at budget meeting

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This article was published 07/01/2020 (2263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

More children in child care with higher paid staff. Allow optometrists to incorporate their offices. Pump more money into senior centres.

These are just some of the ideas put forward by more than two dozen citizens when given the chance to tell the provincial government what it should spend its money on.

Finance Minister Scott Fielding hosted the province’s first budget consultation of the year at the Sturgeon Heights Community Centre on Tuesday night.

Fielding said the province is budgeting on building 20 new schools over the next 10 years, spending $2 billion on health care, and boosting employment by 40,000 new workers.

But Fielding said the consultation meetings are a chance for Manitobans to have their voices heard in the province’s budget process.

Jodie Kehl, executive director of the Manitoba Child Care Association, said the government needs to put more money into child care so not only will more children get spots, but also so the staff who look after them can be paid more.

“We want child care to be accessible and affordable for all families,” Kehl said.

Dr. Tanya Dillon, president of the Manitoba Association of Optometrists, asked the province to allow them to incorporate like other professions are able to do.

Dillon said this would allow individual optometrists — who are small business owners — to invest the monies saved into new equipment plus staff wages and benefits.

Connie Newman, executive director of the Manitoba Association of Senior Centres, and Doug Mackie, director and founder of Mansheds, said more funding needs to be invested in seniors.

“If you don’t look after the senior population your health care costs are going to skyrocket,” Newman said. “If we invest in recreation facilities, it allows me to age in a healthy environment and keeps me out of the health care system.”

Mackie, whose organization encourages men to socialize together to keep them active, said “there are more seniors in Canada than children 15 and under.”

Mackie noted that if men are kept healthy, they can help keep the province’s health costs lower by looking after family members at home longer.

Future budget consultations will include Gimli on Jan. 9, Opaskwayak Cree Nation near The Pas on Jan. 13, Swan River on Jan. 14, and Steinbach on Jan. 27.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca