Dear Editor,
So now we are anticipating the provincial NDP selecting a new leader to move Manitoba forward. Here’s a quick look at what these candidates offer.
During the last election, Greg Selinger promised not to raise the PST. Gary Filmon’s PCs even passed a law to ensure the PST would not increase without a referendum.
Mr. Selinger broke his promise and went against the legislation by adding a full one per cent to the PST. ALL members of the NDP sitting in the legislature voted to support this increase.
Then there is the curious case of the Bipole III transmission line. Both Messrs. Selinger and Steve Ashton support the western route despite its technical and fiscal shortcomings. It will cost at least $4.6 billion to build.
We were assured the costs of this project would be paid for by exports. Have you checked your hydro bill lately? As one of the end-users of hydroelectricity, annual four per cent increases are the only certainty I can look forward to for the foreseeable future.
Manitoba Hydro keeps telling us of the need to expand capacity to meet possible future export demands. Is electricity demand from foreign markets increasing? We used to enjoy the lowest electricity rates in North America.
But we have Theresa Oswald to save us. She oversaw the establishment of the midwifery program in Manitoba.
Training was offered in Thompson. A birthing centre was built in Winnipeg, a mere 800 kilometres from the training centre. Ten midwives were trained. Cost: $1 million per midwife and a birthing centre used at 30 per cent capacity.
The excuse: it takes time to get such programs running. At the rate Ms. Oswald works, glaciers will start advancing over Manitoba again before we see any progress on this front.
Years ago health care services in Flin Flon were considered quite excellent. Many of the problems that plague the provincial health care system trace back to Ms. Oswald’s term as health minister.
She seems good at reacting to situations, but her abilities to be proactive appear limited. If this is progress, it’s not what Manitoba needs.
And Mr. Ashton wants to decentralize the civil service, spread the wealth beyond the Perimeter. This is nothing new and earlier decentralizations have been attempted.
But Manitoba Mineral Resources no longer has offices in Thompson or The Pas. Vacancies in satellite offices remain unfilled. It makes for some discussion points, but the ultimate results of such initiatives appear miniscule.
Provincial government generosity is front and centre in Mr. Ashton’s constituency. Prime example: $82 million for the new UCN development in Thompson.
But then Mr. Ashton always was part of Mr. Selinger’s inner circle. In fact, there appears to be little real difference between the two.
Unfortunately the choice of candidates doesn’t offer anything new with respect to a vision for the future of Manitoba. Paraphrasing a popular musical, “What a bunch of geezers, my word, what a sorry little lot.”
