Upholding their public service promise must remain a priority for Manitoba’s new Government
Apr 20, 2016
On behalf of the MGEU’s
40,000 members, I would like to offer congratulations and best wishes to
Manitoba’s incoming Progressive Conservative government led by Brian Pallister.
As always, our commitment to our members, and indeed to all Manitobans, is that
we will advocate strongly for the protection and enhancement of public
services. It is from this foundation that we hope to build a relationship with
the new government, and there have been some positive signs that we can
confidently begin down this road.
The Progressive Conservatives
made a significant commitment during the election to keep public services
public and to protect those services. I know MGEU members are going to hold the
new government to these promises. We also heard a commitment to moving forward
on self-regulation for paramedics, which is something MGEU has been advocating
for as a way to improve patient care. Their promise to build more personal care
home beds is very welcome – and we’re hopeful this will lead to more
investments in our publically accessible homecare program.
As with any election campaign
there are often issues discussed that are of concern, too. The Progressive
Conservatives, while promising to keep public services public, have openly
discussed their intention to utilize social impact bonds as a way to finance
social services. Social impact bonds are a privatization scheme in which
private companies earn profits from taxpayer-funded services. Our members are,
for good reason, worried and skeptical about this and will be vigilant in
opposing privatization in all its forms.
Our members are very
concerned, as well, about the Conservatives’ aggressive agenda for cutting
taxes and what this will mean for their ability to properly fund public
services. Conservative tax cut promises during the election campaign would mean
$300 million less per year for public services.
I know MGEU members are
interested to find out what direction the new government will take over the
coming months, and the union will make every effort to secure answers on our
members’ behalf. We’ve already made efforts to engage the new government
on a number of these issues and will continue to work with them, through
provincial ministries and the Premier’s Office, to find common ground and
consensus on a path forward.
We are looking forward to
being a strong voice in the debate about our province’s future, and improving
public services. As always, we’ll be taking our direction from MGEU members as
we chart a future course and begin this next chapter.
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