Trail Talking

December was a busy month for Manitobans, from Christmas concerts to festive gatherings to preparing for the new year. I hope everyone had time to enjoy the holiday season with their friends and families, and to celebrate with warm food and many joyous memories.

As this new year begins, our new provincial government continues to work hard for Manitobans. And as their MLA, Dawson Trail constituents have entrusted me to act in their best interests as our government remains committed to fixing Manitoba’s finances, repairing our services and rebuilding our economy.

The year 2017 is beginning with challenges. The most recent report on this fiscal year forecasts Manitoba’s summary deficit at $1.004 billion for 2016-17, an increase of $93 million from the $911-million deficit projected in 2016. The projected net income of government business enterprises is down, primarily from Manitoba Public Insurance and Manitoba Hydro, while expenditures in social services have increased.

However, with a great team and clear direction, we will turn this around through targeted initiatives and measured plans. We are conducting a fiscal performance review and a review of health-care sustainability and innovation, while we streamline management in government and prioritize investments in infrastructure.

Our new government will do better than the previous administration, whose waste and lack of fiscal discipline threatened front-line services. Our focus heading toward Budget 2017 is on prudent financial management and the protection of services Manitoba families rely on.

Other changes coming into this new year include our Red Tape Reduction Task Force, which will identify excessive regulations that hurt the competitiveness of Manitoba companies and degrade the services provided by non-profit agencies. The task force will develop and recommend solutions to remove overbearing regulations and to eliminate unnecessary red tape.

We are, in addition, reducing ambulance fees across the province. On Jan. 1 in Winnipeg, for example, the ambulance fee for individuals was decreased to $475 from an average of $522. Our government is committed to reducing ambulance fees by 50 per cent over four years.