Right in the centre-Choosing change

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Published on Thursday, August 17, 2017

Just about every election is run on a promise to change. Most town and municipal councils, provincial and federal governments get elected promising to do a better job than their predecessors. For certain, the Manitoba government lead by Premier Brian Pallister was given a huge mandate to change. After 17 years of NDP government, it wasn’t hard to see the need for change.

Few of the Pallister induced changes have had an easy ride. The decision to reduce the number of city hospitals that could have an emergency room was unpopular, but it was the right decision. Winnipeg had more ERs than the population justified and the current ER staff can be better utilized in fewer centres. Of course, there wasn’t much debate in rural Manitoba, as most rural ERs were closed by the NDP a long time ago. Few, if any, people in Winnipeg complained when dozens of rural centres lost their ER.
The decision to build some new ambulance centres and close some low volume centres is the right one as well. It is also a decision backed by the Paramedic Association as the medics theoretically will all be fully trained. There is another reason this decision is correct and that is in days gone by with rural volunteer ambulance staff, the idea was that they could get you to staffed ER quickly. That option is gone in many towns so it’s important to have full-time paramedics who can treat emergencies on site and en-route, as the trip to an ER may be a lot longer than it used to be.
Change is necessary and an essential part of any society or economy. Change has to be embraced and sad to say, we didn’t see balanced change in the NDP years. We could go back to the 1950s, but I doubt that very many people would be happy. Well, some would like the rock and roll music and the neat cars, but that is about where it ends.
I well remember the 1950s and could be forgiven for wanting to go back. Farms were smaller, neighbours were closer together. Some of the small towns that are now gone were still clinging to life. The Halboro store was still open and so was the historic Co-op store at Moline.
Those neat old cars that are now classics, were rear wheel drive and got stuck really easily. I wouldn’t go back to a rear wheel drive car on a bet, except maybe for a parade vehicle. The municipal roads in the winter time weren’t open at times and at times for days on end. I remember one six week stretch when we used a sleigh with a closed in van and a team of horses. Farming was a dirty, dirty job. Some will remember the combines, swathers and tractors that didn’t have cabs.
Just as farming and rural communities have had to change, so must our delivery of government services. The Pallister government has to bring about changes, we can’t afford not to have changes. They could and should do a better job of explaining what they have in mind and how they are going to change and when. I have told everyone I have met in the provincial cabinet, their staff and the premier that their communications process is lacking. I think the words I used were, “It sucks.”
We need changes, big changes, in health care, education and all other government services. We need to embrace new ways of doing business and new ways of allowing businesses to provide services. The changes are coming and some good initiatives have been rolled out. The province needs better planning and better communications. It’s not too much to ask.