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.
More promises from the political parties ahead of the Oct. 4 Manitoba election: NDP Freeze university tuition fee increases at the rate of inflation and expand eligibility for Student Aid. Help private sector employers take on more apprentices by increasing hiring incentives to a maximum of $3,000 for level 1 and 2 apprentices, and to a maximum of $5,000 for level 3, 4, and 5 apprentices. Invest $4 million per year in rural colleges, increase hiring incentives for rural employers and expand access to skilled training opportunities for rural Manitobans. $60 million toward the first phase of a new Skilled Trades and Technology Centre for Red River College in Winnipeg. Progressive Conservatives Introduce the Manitoba Community Investment Fund, which would provide $20 million a year to community facilities across Manitoba. Funding would be open to applications from community organizations. Around-the-clock monitoring of dangerous sex offenders who are released into the community, using GPS bracelets that resist tampering. Increased support to the Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) units in Manitoba. The PCs would provide $1.2 million annually to the Winnipeg Police Service and RCMP ICE units to hire additional officers and forensic technicians. Set the long-term goal of making Manitoba a self-sufficient "have" province. Liberals $3 million for a strategy to keep youth in school, including a focus on areas with high dropout rates, more resources for truancy officers, and more technical and vocational programs. Oppose the NDP plan to have Crown corporations establish a rate stabilization fund, which the Liberals claim could mean higher costs for Manitobans. It could also mean that consumers might no longer expect the same rebates from Autopac, as the funds would instead be held in a reserve fund, the Liberals say. New funding to reduce wait times for addictions treatment as part of a plan to tackle violent crime, which is often linked to substance abuse. The first year of this commitment would be worth $1.2 million. Make fiscal responsibility "the cornerstone" of governance.12/9/11
