The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The s e pa s t f e w months have been a b u s y t ime , Bu d g e t 2 0 1 3 wa s announced, there was fear of another flood and I underwent my own my own personal trial. Some of you may not be aware that on May 2, I underwent surgery to remove one of my kidneys and the tumour on I'm very thankful for Dr. Elyas at the Flin Flon General Hospital. His early diagnoses meant that I was able to receive prompt surgery and with a prognosis for a 100 per cent recovery, I am feeling better already. With summer nearing, I thought this would be a good time to connect with you and share some information on what's happening at the Legislature. First of all, I am delighted to inform you that the Community Places Program has committed to funding three projects right here in Flin Flon this year: the Whitney Forum walking track, a renovation to the library and a r e d e v e l o p m e n t o f Queen's Park. In addition, the Sports Opportunities Program is providing funding for six organizations to obtain sporting equipment throughout the Flin Flon constituency. Our community is a great place to live, work and play and these developments will help make sure that our families continue to have access to great recreation opportunities. This year, our government had to make some hard choices with our Budget. Faced with the unprecedented cost of the 2011 flood, and the need to build critical flood infrastructure to protect our communities in the future, we decided not to go the route of We are continuing to invest in Manitoba and i n t h e t h i n g s t h a t Manitoban families say are the most important to them: health care, education, jobs and Municipalities across the province are looking for ways to address current infrastructure needs and the additional one point of PST will be dedicated to infrastructure. That's on top of what municipalities receive now as well as our government'sother commitments to municipal infrastructure, including roads, schools and hospitals. Budget 2013 is investing a record total of $1.8 billion in infrastructure throughout Manitoba. This is a challenging time, but Manitobans shouldn't face reckless cuts to essential services. We need doctors, we need teachers, and we need the frontline services that our families In the '90s, when faced with challenging economic times, the P r o g r e s s i v e Conservatives fired 1,000 nurses and cut $37 million from rural hospitals and Personal Care This year, they proposed to cut $287 million from the Budget, including $52 million from Health Care. That means cuts to doctors, t e a c h e r s a n d o th e r important services. Since taking office, our government has hired more than 500 doctors and we have added more than 3,000 n u r s e s t h r o u g h o u t Manitoba. We have also i n c r e a s e d me d i c a l school spaces from 70 to See 'Expan...' on pg. 6 Continued from pg. 3 However, we always need more doctors and nurses in our northern communities, which is why we've expanded the Medical Student/ Re s i d e n t Fi n a n c i a l Assistance Program to cover the entire cost of a student's four years of medi c a l s chool , i n exchange for a returnof- service agreement in underserved communities. Education and jobs are also priorities for our government. We have built and encouraged apprenticeship programs for our northern communities and Budget 2013 adds more than 100 new training seats in high-demand trades. The Mining Academy in Flin Flon is continuing to provide essential training that is making a positive difference for Flin Flon and all of northern Manitoba. We're also expanding our already significant apprenticeship tax credi t s f o r b u s i n e s s e s , increasing hiring incentives for rural employers and expanding access to skilled training opportunities in our northern communities. Speaking of education and training, I look forward to the upcoming graduation ceremonies, and wish our grads t h e b e s t f o r t h e i r futures. I am also eagerly anticipating the great events going on in area this summer including the Flin Flon Trout Festival over the July long weekend. I'm happy to have had this chance to talk with you. I'm working hard for all constituents, to make the Flin Flon constituency an even better place to live. Thank you for your continued support and your d e d i c a t i o n t o t North. If you have any questions please contact constituency office here in Flin Flon at 204-687- 3367 or e-mail me clarence.pettersen@ yourmanitoba.ca. Hope to hear from you soon!
