Panel to study high-profile reports ordered by Pallister government

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This article was published 07/12/2016 (3466 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier Brian Pallister has tapped a former NDP finance minister and the former Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce CEO to lead a panel charged with evaluating several high-profile reports ordered by the Progressive Conservatives.

Members of the Manitoba Government’s Advisory Panel on Fiscal Performance will review the province’s much-hyped value-for-money review, a KPMG report on health-care innovation and sustainability, and pre-budget consultation results from members of the civil service and front-line workers.

The value-for-money audit is expected to identify waste and inefficiency in government and recommend ways of improving service delivery. Meanwhile, the KPMG report will look at ways to make the health-care system more efficient.

The panel will be co-chaired by Janice MacKinnon, a former Saskatchewan finance minister, and Dave Angus, who left the Winnipeg chamber in June. 

The panel’s work will result in recommendations to Finance Minister Cameron Friesen as part of next year’s budget.

MacKinnon was a cabinet minister in Saskatchewan between 1991 and 2001, holding various portfolios including social services, economic development and government house leader. During her time as finance minister, Saskatchewan became the first government in Canada to balance its budget in the 1990s.

Angus spent 17 years as the president and CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and is past-chair of the Joint Public Advisory Committee of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, co-chair of the board of the World Trade Centre Winnipeg, co-chair of the Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council, a member of the board of governors of The Manitoba Museum, the CentrePort Advisory Committee and the Yes! Winnipeg Investor Council.

The other panel members are Mike Sykes, Ardith Sigurdson and Joanne Sullivan. Sykes is a retired agriculture consultant who spent more than 27 years with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives. He currently serves on the Hearthstone Community Group Board and is the City of Selkirk’s representative to the board of the East Interlake Conservation District.

Sigurdson is a former administrator of a successful farm business, who also worked as a nurse in the Interlake region.

Sullivan has extensive volunteer background working with organizations such as the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba and the Lions Prairie Manor Foundation Board. Sullivan works with seniors and active older adults through the Minds in Motion program of the Alzheimer’s Society of Manitoba.