View From the Legislature

On Thursday a very busy spring legislative session at the Manitoba Legislature ended. Over the past few months many pieces of legislation were debated and passed, and a provincial budget was introduced and passed as well. This marked the first time in many years that the provincial budget process concluded in the spring session, and it paves the way for a number of important programs and tax relief measures to be delivered to Manitobans.

For example, a new program to support seniors who need to purchase hearing aids is set to be rolled out in June. This is an important program for the many older Manitobans who experience hearing loss and a subsequent reduction in quality of life and who would benefit from support in acquiring a hearing aid.

As well, the passing of the provincial budget means that Manitobans will see additional tax relief on their paycheques as new tax-exempt thresholds (called the Basic Personal Exemption) will soon come into effect. It means that Manitobans will be able to earn more before beginning to pay income tax and it will take thousands of lower income Manitobans off the tax roll all together.

Among the many bills that were passed this session where several that I was pleased to sponsor. One piece of legislation will reverse the onus for those who are distributing intimate images of others. This new provision will require the individual who has distributed the intimate image of another person to prove that they had permission to do so, rather than forcing the individual whose image was distributed to prove that they provided permission.

Another important piece of legislation that I brought forward provides municipalities more options when it comes to law enforcement by providing additional powers to community safety officers. This will allow municipalities to increase safety in their communities and support the work of RCMP officers or other municipal police entities.

It is also important to note that it was a historic session for the passing of private members bills (PMBs). PMBs are pieces of legislation that are sponsored by MLAs who are not ministers. Traditionally, very few private members bills pass, however this session 15 were passed. Of these, 9 came from Progressive Conservative MLAs, 5 from NDP MLAs and 1 from a Liberal MLA. While there is much media coverage about how politicians from different parties do not work together, the passing of an unprecedented number of private members bills shows that much cooperation still does happen.

As Government House Leader, I was glad to work with members of the opposition to see these PMBs passed. And while there are other private members bills that I would have liked to see garner support from all parties, those that did pass reflect an important spirit of cross-party collaboration.

The Manitoba Legislature will not reconvene now until after the fall provincial election. However, there will still be committees and other work happening at the Legislature during the summer prior to the official start of the election in September.