The provincial government recently released their 2021 budget, which yet again, fails to serve the North and meet our communities’ education, health, vaccines and internet connectivity needs. It also continues to demonstrate this government’s failure to consult and work with our First Nations communities and how little they understand the issues our communities face. That is why I stood with my NDP colleagues in the House and voted against this budget on April 14 as soon as the debate ended.
It was an honour to go on record as the MLA for The Pas-Kameesak and provided my response to the budget during the debate. My response primarily focused on education and health in northern Manitoba. Education should not be messed with. We need a good education system to build strong, healthy communities. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as though this government is focused on improving outcomes for our kids, just their bottom line. I have met with Kelsey School Division to discuss many important issues. Kelsey School Division will likely be facing a shortfall between $350,000-$600,000 for the impending salary backpay shortfall, because of the Pallister Governments unconstitutional wage freezes, unless funding is provided by this budget.
Our communities cannot afford any more cuts to programs at the hands of this government. Any cut could translate into larger class sizes, delaying repairs and new equipment, layoffs and more. Our northern school divisions are also in a unique position compared to the rest of the province as our communities require more resource and counseling services. As a result, KSD spends more of their budget on average in these two areas compared to other divisions in Manitoba (10.5% vs. 7.4%). This budget also fails to allocate more money to improve internet connectivity for Northern students. This issue needs to be sorted out as soon as possible to ensure our students learning is not compromised.
The Pallister government has also announced that education property taxes will be phased out, but have not yet mentioned how this revenue will be made up in the long term. As a parent with children attending school in our school division, I am worried about this. In fact, this has many people worried that our school divisions will see more cuts to make up this shortfall.
Others have argued that these tax cuts were implemented earlier than originally planned in order to divert attention away from this government’s disastrous education reform. Their Bill 64 – The Education Modernization Act, fails to mention poverty or mental health, two factors that greatly affect education outcomes. There was also only one representative from the North on the review committee and when a reporter asked if there was going to be Indigenous representation on these authorities the minister said “skill sets will be looked at”. As an Indigenous woman, I found this response offensive and unhelpful.
Finally, this budget doesn’t address a lack of health care in the North and the need for people to travel to Winnipeg which is very stressful, financially and physically. Many people in the north do not agree with the previous cuts that have been made to the Northern Patient Transportation Program. The program does not serve us well and just creates stress on our families. With that stress, many do not make it to their appointments and their health diminishes.
Access to health care is a human right and we need to uphold that. More investments in the north’s health care system are urgently needed to ensure care close to home and this budget was yet another missed opportunity to improve people’s lives in the north.
Please stay safe. If anyone wishes to contact me with any questions, comments or concerns, please send me an email at Amanda.lathlin@yourmanitoba.ca or call me at 1-204-623-2034. Kinanaskomitin.
