Trail Talking

Our government has been busy since we returned to the House in early March to work on legislation for the benefit of Manitobans. This period has also given me opportunities to present a couple of private member’s statements in honour of inspiring residents of the Dawson Trail constituency.

The first statement was about Chris Maxemuck, who 17 years ago gathered with 40 other hockey players from the Dawson Trail area to create the 36-Hour Hockey Marathon as a way to raise money for a possible new arena in Lorette. The marathon raised $80,000. Then this past fall, Chris asked area residents to show their support again for the cause, this time by purchasing $10 hockey pucks customized by various local businesses and organizations. The result was more than 1,500 pucks sold and with additional donations, they raised $20,000 for a total of about $100,000 through both initiatives.

The second statement I made at the legislature in March was about Jen and Will Bergmann, the recipients of this year’s Outstanding Young Farmers of Manitoba Award. This is a couple who have garnered a lot of well-deserved attention through their love of farming. Their community-supported garden provides organic fruit and vegetables for subscribing families and restaurants, and they have a significant presence on social media. Will uses a blog and Instagram to educate people about food and agriculture, and has managed to raise farming’s profile.

I’m proud to be the MLA for an area that has such outstanding people.

I’m also proud to be part of a government that’s doing so much for Manitobans. Our 2019 provincial budget was announced on March 7, bringing great progress in reducing the deficit to $360 million while increasing investments for education, families and health care to their highest-ever levels in Manitoba. Budget 2019 keeps our commitment to improve strategic infrastructure with an investment of more than $1 billion a year, and provides $313.5 million in basket funding for local governments.

With this budget, we have also kept a promise by reducing the provincial sales tax (PST) to seven per cent as of July 1. Our PST reduction will bring savings of about $500 per year for the average family of four and nearly $2 billion overall for Manitobans by the end of our second term in government.

The PST cut will save businesses province-wide more than $130 million annually and up to half of these savings will be passed to households, benefiting the average family of four by an additional $170 per year. As well, government agencies including health authorities, post-secondary institutions and school divisions will save $16 million a year.

We are getting the job done for Manitobans, leaving more money on their kitchen tables and giving them the government they want at a price they can afford.