December 3, 2020

Treaty 1 Territory, Winnipeg MB –On the last day of the Fall Session of the Legislature, the PCs again refused to make public their plan to cut schools and repeatedly failed to show leadership in the Second Wave of the pandemic.

“Manitobans are struggling today and worried about tomorrow,” said Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew. “But instead of passing legislation that protects seniors and makes it easier for families and business owners to make it through this pandemic, the Pallister government raised Hydro rates for families and small businesses and continued to push forward their agenda of privatizing Manitoba Hydro. They failed to ramp up testing and contact tracing, and voted down our motion for the province to save lives by taking over Revera Personal Care Homes. Instead of being open and transparent, the Conservatives opposed our bill to end political interference in public health orders.”

NDP House Leader Nahanni Fontaine called out the Pallister government for hiding 20 bills that include “massive changes to Education, Childcare, and Police accountability.” “Manitobans deserve to know what’s in these bills before they are passed into law and have a direct impact on their daily lives” she said.

The 20 undistributed bills also include changes to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Amendment Act that will make it harder for journalists and the Official Opposition to hold the government to account. The PCs also rammed through an omnibus budget bill that raised hydro rates, increased childcare fees, granted the government unprecedented ability to interfere in the operations of school boards, universities and colleges, and prevents Indigenous families and organizations from filing lawsuits against the province for clawing back funding for children.

The Manitoba NDP fought to keep Manitobans safe and help them make ends meet. They introduced bills that would legislate minimum hours of care for Seniors in Personal Care Homes, address systemic racism in the public sector, make it harder for the Pallister government to privatize Manitoba Hydro, and provide supports to Northern children and youth who are victims of sexual assault.

“We know the next few months will be hard for Manitobans” said Kinew. “We will continue to fight for a safer, more affordable Manitoba outside of the Legislature."