Bill 64 is dead but there is still much to do
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/09/2021 (622 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
As schools across Louis Riel School Division re-open and a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic looms, many in our community are worried what this will mean for our kids’ educations, our job security and, most importantly, for the health and safety of our community.
Right now, all our focus should be on these most pressing concerns – strengthening health care, supporting our schools, and keeping life affordable for working families in St. Vital. Unfortunately, we are not seeing this focus from the Progressive Conservative government.
My team and I spent the summer canvassing throughout St. Vital, listening to concerns of families in our community. That’s why I know how many people in St. Vital don’t support this government’s legislative agenda – including Bill 64.
Back in the spring, my NDP colleagues and I delayed Bill 64 and four other pieces of legislation to this fall. Without that delay, Bill 64 would have already passed into law.
That delay allowed Manitobans time to learn about the bill, to organize and to fight back. Hundreds here in St. Vital and thousands across Manitoba have publicly stood against the bill and signed up to speak at committee hearings in record numbers. I want to thank everyone who joined in our fight – including teachers, staff, parents, trustees, students, and community members who all wanted the best for our kids – and who knew that Bill 64 was not the answer.
I was happy to see the recent announcement that Bill 64 will not be moving forward and is now dead.
It was all of us, working together that made this possible but our work didn’t just protect our schools. By preventing the passage of the other four pieces of legislation we have stopped them from rolling back workers’ rights through Bill 16. We kept liquor sales in public hands so we can fight the addictions crisis and protected Manitobans’ democratic rights to gather for peaceful protest. Last, without the passage of Bill 35, we’ve made it more difficult for another Hydro rate hike to be approved directly from the cabinet table.
However, the fight is not over.
It’s clear that a PC government that supported the gutting of our health care system, voted in favour of hiking Hydro rates during a pandemic – and which was silent as the sickest Manitobans were sent out of the province to receive care at the height of the third wave of the pandemic – isn’t working in the best interests of St. Vital residents.
Please let me know what you think by calling 204-219-5407 or emailing jamie.moses@yourmanitoba.ca
Jamie Moses
St. Vital constituency report
Jamie Moses is the NDP MLA for St. Vital.