Finance Minister Adrien Sala, announced that the Manitoba government has recently released its Post Election Financial Accountability Review.
The Department of Finance, on behalf of the finance minister, initiated a review of the fiscal responsibility and financial accountability of specific decisions taken prior to Oct. 3, 2023. The professional services firm MNP was engaged to draft the final report which analyzed financial decisions made by the provincial government prior to October 2023.
The executive summary states, “From the release of the 2023-24 budget to Oct. 3, 2023, budgetary decisions were made that collectively represent high budgetary risk. “The report concluded it was “…reasonable to expect the government to have understood that all the unique circumstances that led to significantly higher revenues in 2022-2023 would not likely repeat in immediately subsequent years”.
The review also found “…the decision to aggressively budget for an above-average net income from Manitoba Hydro and then to fail to adjust for the significant, downside risk to Hydro’s net income in the first quarter update, led to additional fiscal pressure later in the year.”
Additionally, the health human resource action plan funding announced in the weeks leading up to the Oct. 3, 2023, election was not accounted for in any public reporting. The report notes this resulted in “…an incomplete picture of the province’s fiscal pressures.”
Sala thanked MNP for its work, which will contribute to developing a strong future fiscal direction for Manitoba.
The full report is available at manitoba.ca.
