Right in the centre - Firm but fair

Details

Published on Friday, May 20, 2016

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

It was an impressive scene to watch the parade of 40 new PC MLAs parade into their swearing-in ceremony last week. Not since 1915 had such a large group of MLAs from one party been sworn into government. The throne speech was impressive this past Monday, but was basically a re-stating of the PC election platform. A look at the seat map for the legislature shows the 40 PC seats, the 14 NDP and the three liberals in their seating arrangement. It’s a massive majority for the PC party and Premier Brian Pallister.

If the PCs do their job right, Manitoba can become a much better place to live. The NDP had descended into an abyss of closed minded methods that left innovation on the scrap heap of history. They were hide-bound in their determination to not allow anything to happen in Manitoba that was not union driven, publicly funded and heavily regulated. The NDP went far beyond safety concerns and normal care and caution to bind the imaginations and initiative of Manitobans in a dull grey, wet blanket of suppression. Even the NDP became tired of the NDP ways and realized that their government was out of gas, out of ideas, beyond logic and with no chance of re-capturing the imagination and faith of Manitobans.

So the PC party has four years to assess where Manitoba is at, bring about necessary changes and go back to the electorate for a renewed mandate. They need to act carefully but decisively. The proposed legislation for union certification and de-certification needs to be passed quickly. It has been the height of arrogance and irony that Manitoba labour has been subjected to a very undemocratic method. To not have had secret ballots in union halls across Manitoba is an embarrassment to all Manitobans. Secret ballots have to be brought back, they are the sacred heart of democracy and true freedom.

The PCs have to find out how bad the debt is and it is bad, about $32 billion. That figure seems ridiculous for a province our size, but it is what it is. The debt will have to be addressed and the first step is to make sure it doesn’t go higher. Seeing as the budget comes out at the end of May, two full months into the fiscal year, will mean there will be a deficit, another addition to the debt.

Definitions are important. Many people don’t understand the significance of the debt. Provinces don’t pay back debt, they simply revolve it. Some debt is paid off each year, but equal or greater debt is added. The debt continues to grow as long as there is an annual deficit. There is a difference between deficit and debt. Deficits (or surpluses) are annual. Deficits get added to the debt load, surpluses either reduce the debt or get put into reserve funds.

The new government has to decide what it is going to do. More importantly, it has to decide what it is not going to do. The government should make it clear to First Nations communities that the province does not have direct responsibility for First Nations affairs, that’s the federal government’s job. The province also has no obligation to bail out industries or communities. That is neither the responsibility of the province nor the federal government. Because communities and industries have become so dependent on government loans, subsidies and grants, it will take a while to institute a weaning program. Like a cow herd in the fall when the calves are taken from the cows, there will be a lot of bawling. 

The province needs to sort out what the various levels of government are responsible for. While there is a huge overlap provincially, federally and municipally, there are many things that don’t get done very well. How do I know that? It’s quite easy. While there is much hoopla about human rights, the very basic human right of clean water has been denied to many communities in Manitoba. 

Perhaps the biggest area for improvement can come if the government actually carries through in its plan to partner with private initiative on capital projects. Many communities need more care home spaces. That is an obvious area where private capital and provincial money can come together to make this happen. It’s a pretty simple system to leverage a huge investment in our seniors well being and in the economy in general.

We have a huge opportunity to bring about meaningful long term change. Fairly and firmly, it must come about.