Protecting Our Habitat

During the 1990s, while many areas were set aside as interim “park reserves”, few areas received permanent park protection. Since then, the Manitoba government has focused its efforts on permanently protecting our most beautiful natural areas and working with Aboriginal and First Nation communities to ensure that they continue to benefit from living on the land. Manitoba’s wildlife populations have also required special protection.

Parks

• Since 1999, six permanently protected provincial parks have been established, covering nearly 800,000 hectares of land - Caribou River, Pembina Valley, Criddle Vane, Trappist Monastery, Manigotagan River and Duff Roblin. Little Limestone Lake was designated a provincial park reserve.



• In 2003 South Atikaki Provincial Park was established with a prohibition on forestry activities.



• In 2007 we increased the protected backcountry area of Nopiming Provincial Park by 186 hectares. Protected backcountry areas were added to Rivers, Beaudry, and Whitemouth Falls Provincial Parks.



• Also in 2007, the permanent designation of the 13,985 hectare East Paint Lake Park Reserve doubled the size of Paint Lake Provincial Park.



• On July 30/08 we announced Canada’s first Interprovincial Wilderness Area with Ontario, to further cooperation on managing parks in the boreal forest and to assist in the creation of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wildlife Management Areas

• Whole or parts of 22 Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) have been protected since 1999, and the areas protected by a further seven WMAs have been expanded. Over 4,000 hectares of endangered tall grass prairie and associated ecosystems owned by the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Manitoba Naturalist Society joined our network, adding private lands to the network for the first time. Wetlands owned by Ducks Unlimited Canada have also been recognized as contributing to Manitoba’s network of protected areas.

Ecological Reserves

• We’ve brought the number of ecological reserves up to 21, with the addition of the Brokenhead Wetland, the Jennifer and Tom Shay, Armit Meadows, Birch River, and the Little George Island Ecological Reserves. Ecological reserves are the most protected of the provincially-designated sites within the network of protected areas.

Forests

• We’ve also established the Bell and Steeprock Canyons Protected Area in the Porcupine Provincial Forest.



• Boreal forests are of special concern because they are a shield against climate change and are home to many endangered and at-risk species.



• Prior to 1999, proposals for forestry, road and hydro development through the boreal forest on the east side of Lake Winnipeg were being contemplated. In 2001 the Manitoba government put a hold on development decisions in order to engage communities in an East Side Planning process.



• Out of these 80 community meetings came recommendations that the government support sustainable economic development, introduce land-use planning, and nominate part of the area for a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation, all of which were accepted. East Side First Nations are developing traditional-area land-use plans with $2.5 million in provincial assistance.



• On June 5, 2008 we launched Trees for Tomorrow, which will see five million trees planted over the next 5 years. This is in addition to the trees that are replanted from forestry - approximately one million more trees are planted each year than are harvested on crown land.

Wildlife

• Manitoba’s polar bears have been given the endangered species designation, and our woodland caribou populations have been listed as threatened under the province’s Endangered Species Act. Our government has banned the practice of penned hunting, the first province in Canada to do so. Regulations have been introduced to ban the practice of elk baiting.

Trails

• Since 1999, our government has provided over $3.7 million to support for new and existing trails across the province, including portions of the Trans Canada trail. The trails include the Bishop Grandin Greenway, the Harte trail, and the Northeast Pioneers Greenway (Marconi Trail). We are quadrupling our investment in trails within Winnipeg with a five-year contribution of $6 million. The Duff Roblin Trail, which will extend 40 kilometres from the floodway inlet to Bird’s Hill Park, is being constructed as part of the floodway expansion.

Canadian Heritage Rivers

• In 2006 the 600km Hayes River historic fur trade route from Norway House to York Factory was designated a Canadian Heritage River. This was done after many years of close cooperation with the four First Nations along the river. It was the culmination of a ten year long effort by the First Nations to protect the river that is so important to their livelihood.



• The June 2007 Canadian River Heritage Conference was the setting for the designation of the Red River as a Canadian Heritage River. The Conference is Canada’s premier venue for discussing river conservation. The Red River was recognized in its designation for its outstanding cultural values ranging from early aboriginal history, through the fur trade and early settlement to the expansion of the floodway. Both the conference and the designation of the Red were the result of intense cooperative efforts between Manitoba and Rivers West - Red River Corridor Association Inc./L’Association du Corridor Rivière Rouge.



• In 2008 a revised management plan for the Bloodvein Canadian Heritage River, and Atikaki Provincial Park, was approved. This management plan will continue the over twenty years of work protecting this outstanding whitewater river with its pictographs of national significance.

Figures are current as of October, 2008

Leading the Globe on climate change

Addressing Climate Change

• Our government has been applauded by the Canadian Energy Alliance, Business Week, the international Climate Control Group, Environmental Defence and the Suzuki Foundation for our action on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.


• Under the NDP, Manitoba has become the first province in Canada to enshrine Kyoto targets in legislation. And we are taking aggressive actions to reduce our emissions.

Clean Energy

• Manitoba Hydro is investing in new dams that emit virtually no greenhouse gases and generate thousands of megawatts of clean energy.


• Manitoba Hydro’s Power Smart has saved 400 megawatts of electricity, the equivalent of two Wuskwatim dams, and 31 million cubic meters in natural gas. This translates into 800,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas reductions.


• According to the Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance, Manitoba is now tied for 1st in Canada, up from ninth when we came to office in 1999.


• The St. Leon wind farm, one of the largest in the country, is generating 99 megawatts of clean electricity, enough to power 35,000 homes. Manitoba’s exports have reduced the production of greenhouse gases in other jurisdictions by 172 million tonnes over 35 years by reducing their need for thermal generation.

Innovation

• Manitoba has become a national leader in promoting geothermal (ground source) heat energy pumps for heating and cooling buildings in an economical and environmentally friendly way. Per capita, Manitoba installs over three times the number of geothermal heat pumps installed elsewhere in Canada


• Our government was the first in Canada to devise a detailed hydrogen development plan and test hydrogen transit buses. And, if hydrogen becomes the transportation fuel of choice, Manitoba will likely be the first jurisdiction on the continent able to produce hydrogen economically, thanks to its abundant supplies of water and hydroelectricity


• Our government is encouraging the bio-diesel and ethanol industry. The use of ethanol-blended gas, as mandated by our government, will result in a 135,000 tonne reduction in greenhouse gases, equivalent to removing over 10,000 vehicles from the road. Our biodiesel mandate was the first one in Canada.


• We’ve introduced a green-energy manufacturing tax credit to promote the development and manufacture of clean energy technology, including geothermal ground-source heating systems and solar equipment.


• We have enshrined in law a 50/50 funding partnership for the net operating costs of regular and rapid transit systems in Manitoba municipalities.


• Our $500,000 Triple-e trucking program helps upgrade trucking fleets in environmentally-friendly ways, such as by installing anti-idling devices.


• Through Trees for Tomorrow, we are planting five million trees between 2008 and 2013 to absorb more carbon from the atmosphere.


• Manitoba is a leader in protecting polar bears and their habitat from the effects of climate change. Our government is supporting a polar-bear centre in Winnipeg that will include a rescue shelter, educational exhibits and a research unit. Manitoba's boreal forests store as much as 30 billion tonnes of carbon. Since 1999, we have accorded permanent protection status to over a million hectares of our land in parks, wildlife management areas, ecological reserves and provincial forests. We are also partnering with First Nations to develop the most comprehensive traditional land-use plans in Canada. They currently cover 42% of our boreal forest. We have enacted Canada’s highest standards for home-heating energy efficiency.

Moving Forward

• We’ve joined other Canadian provinces and American states in the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), which is aimed at developing market-based strategies to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG).


• Manitoba supports WCI’s regional greenhouse gas reduction goal of 15% below 2005 levels by 2020. We’re setting up a recognized carbon-credit registry, the first of its kind in Canada. Manitoba endorses a cap-and-trade system as the most efficient mechanism to meet a regional GHG reduction goal. Manitoba will be initiating industry and stakeholder consultations on the WCI recommendations.


• Manitoba has unveiled a Green Registry to help people understand the sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and how to measure and reduce these emissions


• The recommended cap-and-trade system is an important milestone but we still have much to do in terms of engaging stakeholders and the public to finalize it.


• We have reduced coal use by converting the Selkirk Generating Station to natural gas. This reduced GHG emissions by an average of 100,000 tonnes /year. And we are shutting down our one remaining coal-fired generation plant in Brandon, except to support emergency operations


• Our $10-per-tonne tax on carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions from coal comes into effect July 2011.


• Our government supports aggressive targets for the reduction of vehicle emissions based on the California standards.


• We are developing facilities for capturing the greenhouse-gas emissions from the province’s major landfills.


• The province will be adopting leading-edge standards for energy efficiency for government buildings and vehicles.


• Statistics Canada reports show that greenhouse gas emissions in Manitoba have been relatively stable in Manitoba since 2000. In contrast, between 1990 and 2000, greenhouse gases increased by more than 2.6 MT in Manitoba - an increase of 14%.

Figures are current as of December 2009

Better Health Care, Sooner

Our government has turned the corner on health care. Our system is no longer in crisis. But health care is no less a priority for our government.

More doctors, nurses and other health care professionals

• There are 345 more doctors practicing in Manitoba today than in 1999, including 96 more in rural Manitoba, as well as 148 more specialists. (In the 2007 election we said we would have 100 more doctors working in the province by the end of this term–we’ve already surpassed this goal.)


• For the third straight year, we will welcome the biggest medical school class ever at 110 students. The previous government cut medical school spaces from 85 to 70 in the 1990s. We reversed this cut and have increased medical school spaces to 110 since 1999.


• We’ve introduced and expanded grants to medical graduates in return for service in Manitoba.


• We’re running a successful program to help foreign-trained doctors get the needed accreditation to practice in Manitoba.


• There are 2,532 more nurses practicing in Manitoba today than in 1999. Manitoba saw a net loss of over 1,500 nurses under the previous government between 1992 and 1999.


• We committed in the 2007 election to add 700 more nurses over this mandate, and have already surpassed this goal with a net gain of 943 more nurses.


• We have added 124 additional nurse training seats since 2007, surpassing our election commitment to add 100 nurse training spaces over this mandate. We have doubled the number of nurse training seats since 1999.


• LPN to RN training programs have been extended to rural and northern communities.


• We’ve added nurse practitioners, who are qualified to prescribe medications, order and manage diagnostic tests and perform minor surgical procedures into our mix of frontline caregivers. We have steadily increased funding to increase the number of positions in Manitoba to 76.


• In the 2007 election we committed to hiring 130 technologists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants and have already hired over 100.


• We have expanded technologist training programs in Manitoba. Since 2003 we have added an additional 50 seats for technologist training. In the 1990s, the previous government cut these types of technologist training programs at Red River College.

Moving Forward

• We are continuing to recruit and retain doctors, nurses and other professionals throughout the province. To attract them to rural and northern communities we are offering return-of-service grants, rural training opportunities, relocation assistance and a new rural doctor retention fund.


• We have welcomed several doctors into a new northern and remote doctor residency program. This program trains family doctors and ensures they return two years of service in northern and remote underserved communities.


• We are expanding the midwifery education program to southern Manitoba, with students expected to start studying this year. We established the midwifery education program in 2005, starting first with training in northern Manitoba.

Shorter waiting times

"While many provinces struggle with waiting times, Manitoba bucks the trend.... Manitoba is a provincial star in its bid to reduce health-care queues." (The Globe and Mail, 21 November 2006)

• The wait time in Manitoba for radiation therapy for cancer is now just one week and the shortest in Canada (CIHI Wait Time Tables, March 24/10). When we came into office in 1999, waits were dangerously long at 6 weeks.


• We’ve cut the wait time for cardiac bypass surgery, with 98% of all level one cardiac patients receiving surgery within the medically-recommended benchmark (CIHI Wait Time Tables, 24 March 24 2010).


• We have also seen wait times decrease for hip and knee surgery, cataract surgery, diagnostic procedures such as CT scans and MRIs as well as other procedures. Current wait time information is posted online to assist patients and family doctors at http://www.gov.mb.ca/health/waittime/.


• We are also focusing on reducing wait times for the entire patient journey through several innovative initiatives. These include introducing the Advanced Access model in medical clinics to reduce the wait to see a family doctor and introducing a first-in-Canada Catalogue of Specialist Services to support family doctors in ensuring patients are referred to the right specialist the first time.

Investing in health facilities throughout Manitoba

Since 1999 our government has expanded and modernized more than 100 health care facilities in Manitoba.

• A $135 million redevelopment of the Health Sciences Centre, including new adult and pediatric emergency rooms and operating rooms


• New hospitals in Gimli, Swan Valley, Morden-Winkler, Shoal Lake, Ste. Anne, and Beausejour, with another planned for Selkirk. Several other hospitals across the province have been modernized and expanded


• $17.5 million for developing space for leading-edge programs at the Misericordia, including the new, modern sleep lab


• Community health centres in Wabowden, Waterhen, Camperville, The Pas, Sapotaweyak, Rosenort, Flin Flon, Riverton and St. Laurent, with another on the way in Dauphin, with a community wellness and cancer centre on the way in Eriksdale


• Chemotherapy centres in Pinawa, Deloraine, Russell, Hamiota and Neepawa


• New and expanded dialysis units in Garden Hill, Norway House, Portage la Prairie and Swan River


• ACCESS centres, which integrate community-based health with social services, in Brandon, River East, Downtown Winnipeg and Transcona

Moving Forward

• We have started clearing the site for a new state-of-the-art Women’s Hospital at the Health Sciences Centre to be located across the street from the Children’s Hospital and feature larger, private rooms.


• A new midwife-run Birth Centre in South Winnipeg is already under construction.


• Our government will build a new centre that will bring specialty services for children and youth with disabilities and special needs under one roof, replacing the existing Rehab Centre for Children.


• Planning is nearly complete for an expanded and modernized maternity ward at St. Boniface Hospital.


• Construction is underway on two major health capital projects in Brandon: a new and expanded Westman Lab and a new Cancer Centre, featuring the first linear accelerator for radiation therapy outside of Winnipeg.


• Our government is moving forward with new dialysis units in Hodgson, Berens River, Russell and Gimli.


• The Ste. Anne Hospital is being renovated to increase operating room space, enabling it to double the number of surgeries performed each year.


• New ACCESS Centres with health and social services are being designed for St. James and northwest Winnipeg. New clinics are being designed for Flin Flon and Pine Falls. The Pine Falls centre is a first-in-Manitoba clinic featuring traditional Aboriginal healing and modern primary care.


• A new Cardiac Sciences Centre at St. Boniface and an Aboriginal personal care home in Winnipeg is under construction, and a new first-in-Canada Mental Health Crisis Response Centre is being planned for Health Sciences Centre.

Better emergency services

• We have rebuilt and expanded the ERs at HSC, Children’s Hospital, Concordia, St. Boniface and Seven Oaks, and a new ER is under construction at Victoria Hospital.


• We’ve put $5.7 million in new funding into strengthening emergency care in Manitoba’s busiest ERs, including 60 additional front-line professionals in all six Winnipeg ERs as well as the busiest ERs in rural Manitoba including Brandon, Thompson, Flin Flon, The Pas, Portage, Morden/Winkler, Selkirk and Dauphin.


• Our government has refurbished the entire aging fleet of 160 ambulances and we are adding 13 additional ambulances on top of this. We’ve built a new ambulance dispatch centre for the province that uses computer-aided dispatching and automatic vehicle location technology.


• We have built new and upgraded ambulance stations in many communities, including Neepawa, Kinesota Trails, Morden/Winkler, Oak Bluff, Carman, The Pas, Killarney, Swan River, Minnedosa, Rivers, Ste. Anne, Gypsumville, The Pas, Steinbach, Lundar, Ashern, Altona and Dauphin, with two more on the way in West. St Paul and Arborg.


• We’re expanding emergency medicine education, more than doubling emergency physician training seats from five to 13.


• Pan Am Clinic and the Misericordia Urgent Care Centre are now open seven days a week to give patients speedier treatment for non-life-threatening injuries and relieve pressure on emergency rooms.


• Our province-wide Health Links and Info Santé medical information services assist Manitobans in making appropriate use of emergency rooms.

Moving Forward

• Manitoba Health has reached groundbreaking agreement with the Manitoba Medical Association that will ensure 24-hour coverage in all emergency departments in Winnipeg and provide very competitive salaries for all ER doctors across the province.


• We’re establishing community teaching sites for the U of M’s new ER program at the Grace, Seven Oaks, Concordia and Victoria.


• Five clinical assistant positions have been added to the Grace Hospital’s ER in a pilot project to better support ER doctors.


• Our government has relieved pressure on ERs by making intravenous therapy available in local health or ACCESS centres, and will be staffing these centres with more nurse practitioners to treat patients with chronic diseases.


• Planning is well underway for a new first-in-Canada Mental Health Crisis Response Centre, to be located next to Health Sciences Centre. This will also help to relieve pressure on medical emergency rooms while also ensuring Manitobans experiencing an urgent mental health crisis can quickly get the help they need.

Innovative solutions

• The NDP is introducing a province-wide electronic health record system that gives health-care providers immediate access to a patient’s most up-to-date medical information.


• We’ve installed a gamma knife at the Health Sciences Centre which can remove brain tumours on an out-patient basis — again, the first in Canada. We will soon open a non-invasive cancer knife to treat cancers and tumours in the rest of the body.


• A two-room operating model with an expanded role for clinical assistants is enabling Concordia to perform almost three times as many hip and knee surgeries. Using nurses trained in sedation is helping Misericordia run a similar operation for cataract surgery, freeing up anesthetists to work elsewhere in the system.

Moving Forward

• Our government is investing $3.6 million in constructing a clinical learning and simulation facility enabling health professionals to practice technical and complicated procedures while using highly advanced and innovative equipment.


• We’re implementing a comprehensive cancer strategy over the next five years focusing on prevention, early detection and leading-edge treatment options. We have already invested more than $60 million in this cancer framework since it was launched in 2007.


• We have introduced a new $1,020 tax credit for family caregivers in recognition of the vital contribution of volunteer caregivers that took effect January 2009.


• We are helping to improve the referral process from family doctors to specialists with a unique catalogue of specialized services, to help family doctors refer their patient to the right specialist the first time. Other provinces are already starting to implement similar pilots based on our initial success.


• We are implementing Advanced Access, an innovative scheduling approach for doctors’ offices which helps reduce wait times for patients to see their family doctor.

Figures are current as of June 2010

Strengthening Agriculture

Our government has stood up for farmers and worked to bring better services closer to home for rural residents.

Providing Supports

• Throughout the BSE crisis our government stood beside our cattle producers and offered supports totaling over $158 million.


• This summer we launched a Forage Assistance Program to assist livestock producers who are short of hay, grain and straw due to drought/excess moisture conditions, especially in the Interlake where a 1-in-150-year rainfall contributed to significant overland flooding.


• We also announced an additional $53 million in support over and above the $51.4 million in general agricultural support budgeted for 2007/08. This additional funding provided: $60 million in loan support for hog producers; $25 million for industrial waste-water treatment plants in Neepawa and Brandon; $14.7 million in supports for the cattle industry; deferred principal payments on BSE recovery loans for three years; and, provided cattle producers in the Riding Mountain Eradication Area with $6 a head for TB testing.


• The province has contributed nearly $450 million for farm income stabilization programs from 2003 to 2007.


• We were the first province to introduce a permanent Excess Moisture Insurance program.


• Budget 2008 added an additional $8.8 million to the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation to reflect rising crop values, bringing production insurance coverage to $1.5 billion.


• We were the first province to create an Office of the Chief Veterinarian whose vision can be summed up as “protecting animals, food, and people”.

Economic Development

• While other provinces have cut extension services, we have maintained and expanded Manitoba’s agricultural extension services with the creation of 10 Growing Opportunities (GO) Teams throughout Manitoba.


• To support food processing production in Manitoba we upgraded the Food Development Centre in Portage la Prairie and established a Food Commercialization Knowledge Centre. Our $25 million investment in the Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals at the University of Manitoba will provide opportunities for economic growth through value-added processing and new agricultural products.


• Manitoba is the first province to pilot an Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) program.


• Manitoba Hydro recently introduced the Bioenergy Optimization Program to assist Manitoba farmers in using biomass sources, waste wood, crop residues and livestock manure to produce energy. Hydro has also developed a Power Smart for farmers program to support greater energy efficiency in producer operations.


• We are promoting the development of wind farms which bring considerable economic returns to farmers and rural communities in the form of jobs, landholder payments and taxes.


• We increased the Farmland School Tax Rebate to 70% in 2008, up from 65% in 2007 and 33% in 2004, the year it began. This year the rebate will return more than $30.7 million to Manitoba farmers.


• Budget 2008 invests in biofuels such as ethanol, biodiesel and biomass to provide new revenue streams for Manitoba producers.


• Rural and Northern Manitobans have been saving $16 million each year as a result of our move to standardize hydro rates across the province.


• In 2001 we introduced a subsidy for drinking water testing which the previous government had privatized. With Budget 2007 we will have invested over $130 million to upgrade water systems in more than 100 communities across rural Manitoba.


• To encourage more students to pursue careers in agriculture, we created a $300,000 Ag Centennial Scholarship at the U of M’s Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences. $150,000 was provided by the province and the remaining $150,000 was matched by industry.


• Husky’s $145 million ethanol plant expansion at Minnedosa, supported by Manitoba’s ethanol mandate, will provide a new green energy market for Manitoba farmers.


• We have made an historic $400 million a year investment in our provincial highways without raising the gas tax. This investment more than doubled the highway construction budget - an increase of 125%.


• The Building Manitoba Fund will flow $7.4 million to municipalities over the next two years - $6.3 million for recreation and library facilities and $1.1 million for information technology upgrades.

Canadian Wheat Board

• We are standing up for Manitoba farmers. We support the single desk marketing of wheat and barley. Without the CWB, multinational grain companies would dominate the western wheat and barley industry in an increasingly concentrated global market.


• We believe that farmers, not politicians, should decide on the future of the CWB. When the federal government would not give farmers a fair vote on the CWB, we did. Manitoba farmers voted in favour of retaining the single desk (61.8% for barley and 69.5% for wheat).

Community Supports

• In September 2008 the province expanded its rural health-care strategy by increasing incentives for students in Manitoba’s growing medical-school classes to build their careers in a rural community.


• We’ve committed to doubling recreation funding to over $60 million over four years. Key announcements this summer include the Portage la Prairie Multiplex, the Brandon YMCA and the Arborg Outdoor Aquatic Centre.

Figures are current as of October, 2008

Building Manitoba

• The NDP government has been putting every cent of provincial fuel tax back into Manitoba roads - and millions of dollars more. And we brought in legislation requiring the province to spend the entire amount it collects in road-use gasoline and diesel fuel taxes on road infrastructure.


• We’re now in year 2 of our $4 billion ten-year plan, the first public multi-year plan in our history to allow the highway construction industry to continue to deal with the economic boom that is underway in our province. The multi-year plan will enable us to optimize our scheduling and make the most of our short construction season. Unallocated capital dollars enable us to initiate projects not in the plan and to deal with emerging issues.


• Last year we added more than $2M annually for additional bridge inspections.


• Bridge inspections are prioritized so that older structures are inspected more frequently. The new money will ensure that all older structures are inspected annually at minimum.


• When we identify a specific problem, inspection frequency increases or a maintenance program is initiated.

Some of the major projects

Major Highway Investments

• $61.8 million for the Trans-Canada Highway, which included twinning to the Saskatchewan border


• $83 million for rebuilding PTH 75


• $68 million for PTH 6, our major route to the North


• $60.9 million for PTH 10


• $41.4 million for PTH 16


• $45.4 million for PR 373 and PR 374


• Major work for twinning of PTH 59 North


• $85 million to complete the twinning of the Perimeter Highway and other renewal work


• $59.2 million for PTH 2 and PTH 3


• Commitment for the construction of the first leg of an all-weather road for the East Side of Lake Winnipeg

Some of the additional projects in the works

• Modernizing PR 283 west of Opaskwayak Cree Nation


• Improving PR 384 to Moose Lake


• Upgrading Hwy 10 from The Pas to Flin Flon


• Modernizing PR 373 to Norway House and PR 374 to Cross Lake


• Surfacing the Wanless Access Road


• Significant renewal work on Hwy 2


• Reconstructing Hwy 17 north of Poplarfield


• Improving PR 325 east of Hodgson


• Upgrading PR 326 north of Arborg


• $25.7 million to further upgrade Highway 68 and $31.5 million on Highway 83 to allow for heavier loads. Both projects have important economic benefits, allowing more goods to flow east/west through the Interlake to Ste. Rose (68) and north/south between Swan River and Roblin, as well as into Saskatchewan.


• Paving Main Street and Railway Avenue in Ashern


• Straightening curves on Hwy 6 near Woodlands and Grosse Isle to improve safety


• Reconstructing Hwy 8 from Winnipeg Beach to Hnausa


• Improving PR 234 between Riverton and Matheson Island


• Constructing an interchange of the Trans-Canada and Yellowhead highways and a road-rail grade separation at the nearby CNR line


• Investing a further $125 million over the next four years in bridge construction, maintenance and inspection

Rural infrastructure

• Since 1999 we’ve invested over $130 million in drinking water and sewer infrastructure in over 100 communities across Manitoba.


• The NDP has doubled the drainage budget, helping rural municipalities deal with excess water.


• We’ve put $42 million from the Canada-Manitoba Infrastructure program into rural projects.


• Our Hometown Manitoba program is supporting community-driven projects to improve the appearance of public spaces and businesses.


• We increased the budget of the Community Places program, which funds non-profit community facilities that benefit local residents.

Moving Forward

• Our government is purchasing a second Amphibex for the province for clearing ice jams, dredging, and constructing waterway crossings.


• In partnership with Ottawa, we’re investing in upgrades to the Hudson Bay rail line and the Port of Churchill.


• The Building Manitoba Fund will flow $7.4 million to municipalities over the next two years - $6.3 million for recreation and library facilities and $1.1 million for information technology upgrades.

Winnipeg Region

• In partnership with Ottawa we’re funding the ongoing expansion to the Red River Floodway. This will protect the City of Winnipeg from $12B in potential damage in the event of a one-in-700 year flood.


• We’re backing the much-needed upgrades to Winnipeg’s sewage system.


• We’re putting $50 million into repairs for Winnipeg streets over two years, quadrupling our previous investment.


• The Kenaston underpass was made possible by our participation in a cost-sharing arrangement for its construction.


• We have committed $60 million to improve recreation centres, community clubs and soccer fields in Manitoba, including a $2.9 million commitment to the new soccer complex in south Winnipeg

Schools, colleges and universities

• Over the last eight years our government has invested in 11 new schools, 12 replacement schools, 49 renovation projects and more than 950 infrastructure renewal and access projects.


• Since 1999, the provincial government has provided $483 million in capital funding for public schools, more than double the amount invested over the previous nine year period.


• Since 1999 we have supported almost $500 million in infrastructure investment at our universities and colleges. This includes a new Engineering and IT Complex at the U of M, a new Red River College campus in the Exchange District, renovations to Wesley Hall at U of W, a new state-of-the-art science complex at the U of W, and a new Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre at Red River College.

Moving Forward

• We are expanding the University College of the North facilities in The Pas, building a new teaching facility in Thompson and establishing two new regional centres at Grand Rapids and Oxford House.


• Ongoing investments include support for the new Richardson College for the Environment at the U of W and relocating Assiniboine Community College to Brandon’s North Hill.

Manitoba Hydro

• Construction underway on the Wuskwatim Generating Station - the first new Hydro dam in 20 years


• A commitment to go forward with the Keeyask and Conawapa projects based on export contracts


• Building transmission line Bipole III for reliability and exports


• New Manitoba Hydro headquarters - 60% more energy efficient


• More wind power with economic benefits for municipalities and producers


• More Power Smart energy retro fits for homes and businesses


• Expansion of Hydro’s fuel-testing centre in Selkirk to provide state-of-the-art services to the province’s biodiesel industry

State-of-the-art public health facilities

Since 1999 we’ve expanded and modernized nearly 100 health facilities across the province.

• New hospitals in Gimli, Swan Valley, Morden-Winkler, Shoal Lake, Ste. Anne, and Beausejour, with another planned for Selkirk


• A $135 million redevelopment of the Health Sciences Centre, the largest health project in Manitoba’s history


• Community health centres in Wabowden, Waterhen, Camperville, The Pas, Gimli, Sapotaweyak, Flin Flon, Riverton, St. Jean Baptiste, Brandon, St. Laurent, and Dauphin.


• Modernization and redevelopment of the Westman Lab, and major renovations at the Misericordia to accommodate leading-edge programs.


• ACCESS centres, which integrate community-based health care with social services, in Brandon, River East and Transcona, with another slated for northwest Winnipeg


• Chemotherapy units in Pinawa, Deloraine, Neepawa, Russell and Hamiota

Moving Forward

• Planning is underway for a new state-of-the-art Women’s Hospital at the Health Sciences Centre to be located across the street from the Children’s Hospital and will feature larger, private rooms.


• A new Women and Children’s Health Centre, featuring a community birthing centre, will be built in south Winnipeg. It will include other services such as parenting support, training in childhood injury prevention and dietary counseling.


• Our government will build a new centre that will amalgamate services for children and youth with disabilities and special needs, replacing the existing Rehab Centre for Children.


• We’re renovating and expanding the maternity ward at St. Boniface to include four new beds for high-risk women and four new labour and delivery beds.


• Our government will be constructing new dialysis units in Hodgson, Berens River and Gimli, and rebuilding the emergency room in Portage to provide improved ambulance access, additional treatment rooms, a decontamination area and isolation rooms.


• The Ste. Anne Hospital will be renovated to increase operating space, enabling it to double the number of surgeries performed each year.

Ambitious new amenities

• Agriculture Centre of Excellence at the Keystone Centre in Brandon


• The Millennium Library


• MTS Centre


• Canadian Museum of Human Rights


• Esplanade Riel


• Waterfront Drive


• YM/YWCA facilities in Brandon and in north and south Winnipeg


• Credit Union Place recreation centre in Dauphin

Figures are current as of October, 2008

Investing in Our Young People

More young people in Manitoba

• Manitoba's population has reached an historic high of 1.2 million in 2008.


• More young people are staying or returning to Manitoba - and more are arriving here from other countries.


• In the eight years from 1999 through July 2007, Manitoba has seen a net gain of more than 12,000 young people. Over the eight years ending in 1999, Manitoba had a net loss of more than 5,000 young people.


• By contrast, in the 1990s more young people moved away from Manitoba than came in every year but one.

More opportunities

• More youth are working in Manitoba today than at any time during the last decade, reversing a disturbing trend that started in the 1990s. In the first eight months of 2008, the youth unemployment rate was 9.0%, fourth lowest in Canada.


• Our total job growth increased 1.6% in the last 12 months - 9,400 jobs - this is above the national average of 1.3%. 8,700 of those jobs are full-time, a 1.8% increase, compared to 1% nationally.


• In the first eight months of 2008, employment increased 11,800 relative to 2007. Full-time employment was up 2.9%.


• Average weekly earnings were up 4.2% in 2007, the 3rd highest increase in Canada and above the national increase of 3.2%. This was the strongest increase in nearly 20 years.


• In 2000, we cut college and university tuition by 10% and froze it at that level, making fees here among the lowest in Canada. As a result, university enrolment has increased by almost one-third. We have the lowest College tuition fees in the country and the third lowest University tuition fees.


• We created the tuition tax rebate, giving all post-secondary students who stay and work in the province after graduation a 60% income-tax credit on their tuition fees.


• We established a new Manitoba bursary program that provides $8 million in grants annually to lower income students.


• We have also passed the Student Aid Act to guarantee financial assistance for qualified students.


• We have established a new graduate scholarship fund that provides $2 million annually to attract and retain the highest quality graduate students from within and outside the province.


• Manitoba has the second-lowest student debt levels in Canada (after remission), behind Quebec and the lowest number of students needing student loans in Canada (03/04 to 05/06). According to the annual report from Manitoba Student Aid, in 2006/07, only 14.4% of Manitoba’s post-secondary education students took out student loans.


• We have supported almost $500 million in capital investment in buildings and equipment at Manitoba universities and colleges, including a new Engineering and IT Complex at the U of M, a new Red River College campus in the Exchange District, renovations to Wesley Hall at U of W, and a new Eastman Education Centre in Steinbach. We are also supporting the initiative to relocate Assiniboine Community College to the historic former Brandon Mental Health Centre, having completed the first phase.


• We have launched the University College of the North (UCN) to provide closer-to-home training for northern Manitobans. In 2006/07, the college delivered university and college programs and courses to over 2,100 full and part-time students. UCN has its main campus in The Pas, a campus in Thompson, and regional centres in Flin Flon, Churchill, Swan River (shared with Assiniboine Community College, Campus Manitoba and Swan Valley School Division), Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake), Tataskweyak Cree Nation (Split Lake), Chemawawin Cree Nation (Easterville), Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (Nelson House), Mathias Colomb First Nation (Pukatawagan), Norway House Cree Nation and St. Theresa Point First Nation, along with two new regional centres just announced for Misipawistik Cree Nation (Grand Rapids) and Bunibonibee Cree Nation (Oxford House).


• We’ve introduced cutting-edge programs into our colleges, targeting skills that are in demand in both the private and public sectors. These include aviation maintenance, digital multi-media, medical lab sciences, business information management, technical communications, precision agriculture, and 3-D animation. Red River College reports that 92% of its employed graduates stay in Manitoba.


• As a result of measures such as subsidizing the costs of apprenticeship training for employers, the number of active apprenticeships has shot up by 72% from 1999 through 2008.


• Recognizing the extra financial burden faced by students who live in rural and northern Manitoba, we’ve committed $500,000 in matching grants to community foundations for a new bursary program for rural and northern students wanting to attend college or university.


• Manitoba is developing new, knowledge-based industries such as biotechnology. The province has the fastest-growing life-science sector in Canada, with 40 companies employing 4,000 people at wages averaging $50,000 to $60,000 a year. Manitoba has also become the fastest-growing film centre in Canada, with annual production activity in the $100 million range, and is developing a reputation for video-game creation.


• Our Bridging Generations Initiative has made it easier for young people to take over the family farm when their parents retire.


• In addition to job opportunities and access to affordable education, our young people are looking for exciting and vibrant communities to live in. We are revitalizing our neighbourhoods and our urban centres, through housing, recreation and cultural projects, to make them more attractive to our young people. The new MTS Centre is a perfect example of this. It was the 3rd busiest sports and entertainment centre in Canada last year, and the 27th busiest in the world. Other attractions that the province has supported include the refurbished Millennium Library, an expanded West End Cultural Centre that is still in the works, the redeveloped Keystone Centre, the new skateboard plaza at The Forks (which has been touted as the world’s best), and a revitalized Waterfront Drive.

Figures current as of October, 2008

Paying Down the Debt

• Budget 2009 provided for a $20 million payment on debt and pension liabilities. Over the last 10 years, we have paid $944 million on the debt and pension liabilities - the largest payment in Manitoba’s history.
• We are the first government in Manitoba to address the pension liability. This fiscally responsible approach has earned Manitoba six credit upgrades since we took office:
  

  Moody’s Investors Service - Aa1

  DBRS (Dominion Bond Rating Service) - A (high)

  Standard & Poor’s - AA- (positive)

Lower debt-to-GDP ratio

Since 1999 net debt-to-GDP has decreased more than 25% from 31.5% to 23% this year. The net debt-to-GDP ratio measures the province’s ability to carry its debt while continuing to invest in the infrastructure and services that Manitobans need and expect. The Auditor General has clearly stated that net debt, the figure that tallies our financial liabilities minus our financial assets, is what matters.

Lower debt-servicing costs

• Thanks in large part to sound fiscal management, this government’s debt- servicing costs are down over 50% from 1999 at 6 cents of every dollar of revenue, down from 13.2 cents in 1999/2000.

Bigger Fiscal Stabilization (Rainy Day) Fund

• The Rainy Day Fund has nearly quadrupled since 1999 to $864 million from $226 million.

Higher accounting standards

• Under more rigorous and comprehensive accounting rules recommended by the Auditor General and introduced by our, all new capital investment must be accounted for as debt. Our government is making substantial investments in health facilities, schools and roads.

What they’re saying....

Moody’s Investors Services 17 June 2009

• "Manitoba’s Aa1 rating reflects sound fiscal policy that has helped the province generate positive consolidated outcomes and realize modest improvements in its debt position over the past several years."


• "Manitoba’s fiscal plan remains prudent and in line with the high investment-grade rating assigned to the province."


• "In our view, the province has sufficient flexibility to withstand current economic turbulence and, as such, we do not anticipate any permanent deterioration in the province’s financial position."

DBRS (Dominion Bond Rating Service) 25 September 2009

• "[T]he Province is weathering the recession better than most of its peers. Manitoba’s continued spending discipline and its resilient economy has helped to limit fiscal erosion and debt growth, leaving the Province well positioned to further improve its already sound credit profile when the economic recovery gains momentum.

Figures current as of November, 2009

Improving the climate for Manitoba businesses

How do we measure up?

• Manitoba ranks 3rd best on tax competitiveness for the corporate income tax, small business tax, small business threshold, sales tax, gas tax and diesel tax. And we have committed to eliminate the capital tax in 2010.


• Out of 154 Canadian cities, MoneySense Magazine ranked three Manitoba cities in its top 20 list for overall prosperity - Winnipeg, Brandon and Thompson, more than any province except Ontario. All three also improved in rankings in 2008 compared to 2007. Winnipeg went from 13th to 7th, Brandon from 19th to 18th, and Thompson from 25th to 19th.


• Independent 2008 KPMG studies show:


• Winnipeg has the 20th lowest Total Effect Tax Rate of 102 cities in 10 countries. (Competitive Alternatives, KPMG’s Guide to International Business Location, 28/07/08)


• Winnipeg has the 3rd lowest effective Corporate Income Tax Rate out of 102 cities. (Competitive Alternatives, KPMG’s Guide to International Business Location, 28/07/08)


• Winnipeg ranks 3rd in comparative business costs among mid-sized Midwestern cities behind Oklahoma City and McAllen Texas, but ahead of Edmonton and Calgary. (KPMG, Competitive Alternatives, 27/03/08)


• Winnipeg’s most cost-effective industries were in the R&D and Software sectors (Biotechnology, Clinical trials, Electronic Product Testing, Advanced software and Content development). (KPMG, Competitive Alternatives, 27/03/08)

Lower business taxes

• By 2010 Manitoba will become the first small business tax-free zone in Canada. Thanks to the NDP Manitoba now boasts the lowest small business tax rate in the country — 2%. When we came to power in 1999 it was 8%, the second highest in the country. It will take a still further drop to 1% in January 2009, giving Manitoba small businesses an additional $9.7 million annually in tax breaks.


• The NDP is also phasing out the general Corporation Capital Tax completely by 2011. The phase out began this year with a drop from 0.5% to 0.4%. The tax has already been eliminated entirely for manufacturing and processing corporations as of July this year to help them adjust to the challenges posed by the strong Canadian dollar.


• Our government has taken the general Corporation Income Tax rate down from 17% in 1999 to 13%. There will be a further reduction in July 2009 to 12%.


• We’re increasing the payroll tax threshold by one-quarter. Fewer than 5% of employers currently pay this tax. One-third of these will benefit from the higher threshold.


• We’ve enhanced the very successful Film and Video Production Tax Credit by introducing a 5% bonus for films with a Manitoba producer and doubling the Frequent Filming bonus to 10%.


• We’ve introduced a new 30% provincial non-refundable income tax credit for individuals and corporations who invest directly in emerging community-based enterprises that require more capital than community partnerships can provide.

Investing in a skilled workforce

• Since 1999 there has been a 72% increase in apprenticeships - from 3,700 to 6,400. We made a commitment to work with employers to create 4,000 new apprentices over 4 years. Budget 2008 increased funding to provide for 1,100 new apprenticeships seats at the colleges beginning in September 2008.


• Red River College’s full-time enrollment has increased by 58 per cent, to 10,433 students from 6,595 since 1999.


• Total provincial operating funding to our colleges has doubled since 1999.


• Through our College Expansion Initiative, we’ve funded over 80 new or expanded cutting-edge college training programs in key economic sectors such as health, aerospace, digital multi-media and information technology.


• Budget 2008 provided $18 million for training, employment support, and skills upgrading in partnership with the federal government under the new Canada-Manitoba Labour Market Agreement - a new program aimed at people who have difficulty entering the labour market.


• We’re building a new $45 million trades centre at Assiniboine Community College that will double apprenticeship and training opportunities to over 1,400 students.


• We’re developing a new and expanded $15 million Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre at Red River College. Since 2001 enrollment in heavy-equipment transportation courses has more than doubled. The new building will allow the college to expand capacity by 60% to 368 students in 2009-10. The expansion will support Manitoba’s growing green-energy economy by conducting applied research and advanced training in leading-edge technologies such as biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen and electric hybrids, hydrogen fuel cells, and emissions and cold-weather testing.


• We’re investing in innovative ways of bringing more Manitobans in to the trades. Two mobile labs worth $3 million will enable Red River College to bring trades training to rural and northern communities.


• Our government introduced a 60% income tax rebate on tuition fees for students who have graduated from any post-secondary program, whether a university, college or apprenticeship program, and have chosen to live in Manitoba.

Cutting-edge services for Manitoba businesses

• BizCoach, an arm’s length non-profit organization, accelerates business learning by linking entrepreneurs with experienced business mentors to assist them with matters such as financial management, business startup, business growth, sales, human resource management, financial management and business networking.


• Business Gateway Website provides one-stop shopping for entrepreneurs with questions on every subject from startup to growth to succession planning.


• Bizpal, a new online business permit and licence service that saves time spent on paperwork and helps entrepreneurs start up faster, and gives ready access to information on permits and licences.


• TAXcess was launched by our government at the request of business owners to provide an on-line file and pay system for PST and other provincial taxes.

From research to business innovation

Learning from regions that have been successful at commercializing research and innovation, the government is working to foster greater collaboration and integration within the community.

• The Innovation Council, made up of business, research and community leaders will advise on the social and economic benefits of innovation and on the commercialization of research.


• Our Integrated Technology Commercialization Strategy will help build a critical mass of leading high-tech companies capable of competing in global markets.


• Our Capital Markets Strategy will address financing, infrastructure and investor awareness measures.

Figures current as of October, 2008

Growing the Economy

Independent economists and think tanks are saying Manitoba is well positioned to weather global economic turbulence:

• According to the Conference Board: “Strong fundamentals will keep Manitoba’s economic outlook buoyant this year. A diversified manufacturing sector, large multi-year capital investment projects, an effervescent housing market, and strong commodity prices will propel real GDP growth to 3.6% in 2008.” (Provincial Outlook, Exec. Summary, pg9, Summer 2008)


• Manitoba real GDP grew by 3.3% in 2007, above the Canadian growth of 2.7%.

Jobs and earnings - Our total job growth increased 1.6% in the last 12 months - 9,400 jobs - this is above the national average of 1.3%. 8,700 of those jobs are full-time, a 1.8% increase, compared to 1% nationally.

• In the first eight months of 2008, employment increased 11,800 relative to 2007. Full-time employment was up 2.9%.


• Average weekly earnings were up 4.2% in 2007, the 3rd highest increase in Canada and above the national increase of 3.2%. This was the strongest increase in nearly 20 years.

Unemployment - In the first eight months of 2008 Manitoba's unemployment rate averaged 4.0%, the second lowest in the country behind Alberta. In the first eight months of 2008, the number of unemployed in Manitoba has declined by 9.4%. This is the largest percentage decline among the provinces.

Youth employment - More youth are working in Manitoba today than at any time during the last decade, reversing a disturbing trend that started in the 1990s. In the first eight months of 2008, the youth unemployment rate was 9.0%, fourth lowest in Canada.

• Fiscal prudence - We have delivered 9 straight balanced budgets under balanced budget legislation. Our government’s fiscal prudence means Manitoba is well positioned:


• Manitoba achieved a surplus of $576 million on a summary basis for 2007-08.


• We increased the Fiscal Stabilization Fund by $155 million to a total of $818 million - that’s three times higher than in 1999/00.


• We reduced the net debt by $277 million in 2007/08 and invested $1 billion in tangible capital assets.


• Since 1999, net debt to GDP, as a percentage, has decreased from 31.5% to 21.3% in 2008.


• Debt servicing costs are down 50% from 1999. They are forecast to equal 6.6¢ of every dollar in revenue in 2007/08 compared to 13.2¢ in 1999/00.

• Investment - Statistics Canada projects that private capital investment in Manitoba is forecast to be up 22.4% in 2008, #1 in Canada, and well over the national average of 3.7%.


• Statistics Canada also projects that total capital investment in Manitoba is forecast to rise 18.8% in 2008, #1 in Canada, and more than 3 times the national average (5.2%).

• Population growth - Manitoba's population has reached an historic high of 1.2 million in 2008.


• Since 1999, 21,975 more people have moved to Manitoba than have left (net). This is a complete turnaround from the 1990s when 16,094 more people left Manitoba than came.


• Since 1999, Manitoba has seen a net gain of 12,537 young people. Over the same period in the 1990s, Manitoba had a net loss of 5,246 young people.

• Housing - In 2007, housing starts in Manitoba increased 14.1% to 5,738 units, the highest level of housing starts since 1987. Housing starts in Canada increased 0.4%. Manitoba’s growth rate was the third highest among the provinces.


• Winnipeg’s home values increased 11.5% over the past year (June 08 over June 07).

• Hydro - Hydro is the largest electricity exporter in Canada. Hydro’s 2008 annual report shows $625M in export sales, second highest in history.


• Construction of the Wuskwatim dam is now under way, in partnership with Nelson House First Nation, and we will be proceeding with the 1,250 MW Conawapa project.


• Major power sales with Xcel Energy of 375 MW, Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) of 500 MW and Minnesota Power of 250MW, announced in the last two years, will provide over $6 billion in new revenue. These sales are a down payment on new generation projects.

Manitoba's Action Strategy for Economic Growth

• Education first - We will continue to make education and training the cornerstone of our economic strategy.



• Building through research and innovation - We will invest today in the jobs and industries of the future.



• Raising and retaining investment - We will work to increase money invested in Manitoba-based businesses.



• Affordable government - We will continue to balance sustainable tax relief, debt reduction, and support for key services in health and education.



• Growing through immigration - We will target the recruitment of 10,000 new immigrants a year.



• Building our energy advantage - We will build new hydro projects and develop alternative energy industries.



• Building our communities - We will invest in key infrastructure in our cities, rural communities and the North.

Figures are current as of September, 2008

Investing in Seniors

The NDP government takes pride in tailoring its legislation and services to the needs of seniors.

Financial Security

• Tax savings on pensions, by allowing spouses to split their income for tax purposes as of 2007


• Special tax relief for seniors in the form of more generous tax credits - a 57% increase in the value of the basic tax credit, a 43% increase in the value of the age tax credit, a 35% increase in the value of the pension income tax credit, and a 28% increase in the maximum education property tax credit for seniors


• A comprehensive modernization of pension legislation, allowing seniors to unlock 50% of their pension funds or to phase-in their retirement


• A new, fully refundable caregiver tax credit of up to $1,020 that is intended to help seniors remain independent as long as possible

Independent Living for Seniors

• An Aging in Place Strategy that gives seniors more choices in the kind of care they receive while continuing to live in the community. We’ve already added new supports for 2,760 seniors in group living situations and 358 more supportive housing spaces.


• 66% more funding for our home care program - the best in Canada


• Geriatric assessment teams to help seniors obtain home care and other services more quickly


• New funding for the Support Services for Seniors Program which assists seniors with transportation, yard work, grocery shopping, and safety checks


• A SafetyAid program that provides low-income seniors with free basic safety and fall-prevention devices such as peepholes, deadbolts and grab bars, as well as forgivable loans for minor home security improvements


• New handi-transit vehicles for 65 municipalities across the province


• We are expanding our home care program that will ensure 2,000 more people can live independently in their own homes


• A three-year housing strategy that includes the conversion of a portion of provincially owned housing into supportive housing units for seniors who need more care, new housing options for seniors in northern and rural Manitoba, and funding for repairs to low-income housing

Health Services Geared to Seniors’ Needs

• The addition of almost 2,000 new drugs to Pharmacare, including new palliative drugs and a new drug for Alzheimer patients


• A state-of-the-art centre for prostate cancer staffed by six specialists which can provide prostate therapy for patients in just two quick visits


• An update to the breast cancer screening protocol that ensures women over the medically-identified target age of 50 to 69 can continue to easily access screenings without a doctor’s referral


• A reduction in the wait times for hip and knee surgeries from 44 to 15 weeks


• A voluntary plan allowing families with drug costs amounting to a quarter or more of their income to pay their deductible in even monthly installments over the course of the year


• Palliative care patients in the community now receive medical, surgical and pharmaceutical supplies and equipment

Personal Care Homes

• Eight new personal care homes, and another under construction in Neepawa


• Renovations in existing personal care homes to replace rooms with three or four beds with more private rooms with only one or two beds


• New, clear standards for all personal care homes


• Improvements to the quality of care in personal care homes by hiring 250 more nurses, 100 personal health-care aides and 50 allied health-care professionals by 2011

Figures current as of October, 2008

Largest tax cuts ever delivered in Manitoba

The NDP has delivered the largest tax cuts in our province’s history to Manitoba families and businesses, meeting and exceeding every promise we have made to reduce taxes.

We’ve done this even while balancing every budget, strengthening key services such as health, education and justice, paying down the debt, and earning six credit rating upgrades.

Fairer income taxes

Income and property tax measures save Manitoba families $726 million annually. Income taxes have been brought down through a number of measures, including tax rate and bracket changes, new and heftier tax credits, and allowing pensioners to split eligible pension income for provincial tax purposes.

Lower education property taxes

• Manitoba is the only province to have reduced education property taxes between 2000 and 2008.


• In fact, the NDP has completely eliminated one property tax, the Residential Education Support Levy, saving homeowners $100 million a year.


• We’ve provided renters and homeowners with additional benefits of $117 million annually by increasing the minimum Education Property Tax Credit from $250 in 1999 to $650 in 2009.


• Since 1999 the education taxes on a home assessed at $125,000 have been reduced by an average of 22%, compared to an average increase of 60% over the 1990s.


• Our goal is to ease the burden on property tax payers by increasing the proportion of total public school expenditures paid by the provincial government from 70% to 80% of the total at the end of 2012.

Lower business taxes

• Manitoba will become the first small business tax-free zone in Canada as of December 2010. Thanks to the NDP Manitoba now boasts the lowest small business tax rate in the country - 1%. When we came to power in 1999 it was 8%, the second highest in the country.


• The NDP is also phasing out the general Corporation Capital Tax completely by the end of 2010. The tax has already been eliminated entirely for manufacturing and processing corporations as of July this year to help them adjust to the challenges posed by the strong Canadian dollar.


• Our government has taken the general Corporation Income Tax rate down from 17% in 1999 to the current 12%.


• We’ve increased the payroll tax threshold by one quarter. Fewer than 5% of employers currently pay this tax. One-third of these benefit from the higher threshold.


• A recent KPMG study notes that Winnipeg has the third-lowest effective corporate income tax rate out of 81 cities across North America.


• We’ve introduced a number of tax credits to encourage co-op education, apprenticeship training, the manufacture and use of green-energy equipment, film and video production, and community-based enterprises.

More information on our government’s tax reductions can be found in the 2009 budget at http://www.gov.mb.ca/finance/budget09/index.html.

Figures current as of November, 2009

Safer Communities

Police

• Since 1999, we have tripled the number of Winnipeg police officers funded by the province from 40 to 120.


• According to the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, in 2009 Winnipeg was tied with Montreal for the highest proportion of police officers in Canada’s ten largest cities. Manitoba had the second highest proportion of police officers among the provinces.


• Our tough action on auto theft is working: Auto theft is at its lowest point in 17 years, declining by nearly 80% since 2004.


• Manitoba has established a number of national precedents to combat organized crime. For example, over 420 crack houses/drug dens/sniff & prostitution houses have been shutdown thanks to our Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act.


• Mothers Against Drunk Driving has consistently recognized Manitoba as a leader in Canada in provincial impaired driving laws. In 2009 MADD awarded Manitoba our second straight “A-” ranking; Manitoba is the first province in Canada to receive two straight A grades from MADD.

Youth Crime

• At federal/provincial meetings in 2006 and 2007, we urged the federal government to amend the Youth Criminal Justice Act to recognize deterrence as a valid sentencing principle for young offenders and to change the YCJA’s bail and sentencing provisions to make it less difficult to keep car thieves and serious and repeat youth offenders in custody.


• We led an all-party mission to Ottawa in 2007 to continue to call for tougher consequences for youth who steal cars and other serious and repeat offenders. The federal government has not yet implemented the amendments to the YCJA that we recommended.

Prevention

• Budget 2009 provided funding for 5 additional Lighthouses for a total of 60. Lighthouses provide youth with a safe, fun place to go at night.


• Introduced in 2003, our Police in Schools initiative has expanded and now includes eight School Resource Officers (SRO) in 62 schools. An evaluation of the North End SRO Program showed a 40 per cent reduction in school suspensions from 2004/05 to 2006/07; incidents of graffiti, loitering, vandalism, bullying and violent acts have dropped dramatically.


• Spotlight, which we introduced in 2006, works with young people at the highest risk of becoming involved in gangs, providing supervision and services to help them deal with substance abuse, stay in school or find a job.


• We have hired seven recreation directors to expand recreation opportunities for youth in the inner city and other Neighbourhoods Alive communities.


• Our Turnabout Program provides supports to families with children who are in conflict with the law but are too young for measures specified in the federalYouth Criminal Justice Act.



Figures current as of March, 2010

Building a vibrant North

Our government has launched a Northern Development Strategy to meet economic, housing, health, transportation and training needs and ensure that all government departments focus attention on the North.

Transportion

• More than $150 million spent on Northern roads including the Cross Lake Bridge, South Indian Lake road and major upgrades throughout the North



• Five year highway plan with over $160 million of investment in the North including the first leg of an all-weather road on the east side of Lake Winnipeg, modernizing PR 283 west of Opaskwayak Cree Nation, improving PR 384 to Moose Lake, upgrading Hwy 10 from The Pas to Flin Flon, and modernizing PR 373 to Norway House and PR 374 to Cross Lake



• The transfer of the Sherridon railway line to Keewatin Railway Company, a First Nations-owned enterprise



• The winter road budget now double that of 1999



• Over 600 kms of winter roads relocated from ice crossings to land for more safety and stability



• New air terminals in Island Lake, Lac Brochet, God’s River, Thicket Portage, Pikwitonei and God’s Lake Narrows, Oxford House, York Landing



• Multi-year commitment to the Churchill Gateway Initiative Housing



• $42 million to the Een Dah Aung (Our Home) program for Aboriginal off-reserve housing. A groundbreaking Aboriginal governance and decision-making process will be developed to oversee this investment



• A northern housing renovation program is on the way - part of our Northern Development Strategy



• Funding of family housing for UCN students at The Pas and Thompson



• Since 2001, Neighbourhoods Alive!, in partnership with the Thompson renewal corporation, committed over $1.2 million for over 50 local revitalization projects



• Neighbourhoods Alive! being extended to The Pas and Flin Flon

Education & Training

• The University College of the North established to provide education and training opportunities for northern Manitobans closer to home



• More that $50 million committed to UCN capital projects



• 12 regional centres for UCN, nine of them on reserves, including two new ones being developed in Grand Rapids and Oxford House



• The first Aboriginal midwifery education program in Canada



• 50 new spaces at UCN to educate nurses in northern Manitoba



• Aboriginal student enrolment up by 77% in universities and 59% in colleges since 1999



• The number of Aboriginal apprenticeships more than tripled since 1999, to over 1,300



• Support for FireSpirit, a First Nation-owned company that will provide employment services and training to northerners seeking jobs, as well as services to employers looking to increase their Aboriginal workforce

Economic Development

• New Hydro projects bringing more jobs and more training opportunities



• Construction on Wuskwatim already employing 200 people



• 300,000 acres transferred to Canada under TLE up from 6,000 in 1999. With additional resources committed we will transfer 150,000 acres annually



• Closing the Gap Initiative to implement provincial Kelowna agreement commitments



• Métis Economic Development Strategy underway with the MMF



• A five-year, $2.5 million funding agreement between the Manitoba government and Wabanong Nakaygum Okimawin (WNO) Council of Chiefs for land use planning



• Mining grew by a significant 25% in 2006, with an overall production value exceeding $2 billion



• New mining developments at Wabowden, Lynn Lake, Snow Lake, and the Grand Rapids region



• $70 million for the rehabilitation of abandoned and orphaned mines



• Aboriginal Employment Partnership Agreements with RHAs, the Manitoba Customer Contact Association and IBM promote the recruitment, employment and retention of Aboriginal people within these organizations



• An Aboriginal Economic and Resource Development Fund for Aboriginal and northern communities

Healthy Communities

• The Northern Allowance raised by 20% in 2005 and a further 30% in 2007



• Gave the Métis and First Nation child authorities responsibility for developing and delivering culturally appropriate child and family services off reserve, the first such authorities in Canada



• A Northern Healthy Food Initiative, which includes garden projects in 27 remote communities, the promotion of traditional foods, food-processing training and two poultry-raising projects



• Water safety programs expanded in 25 new northern and remote communities in partnership with the Lifesaving Society



• Expansion of Manitoba’s long-term care strategy in rural and northern Manitoba



• Elimination of the transportation fee for northern Manitobans needing medical services elsewhere in the province



• Three new teen clinics in northern Manitoba - The Pas, Flin Flon and Cranberry Portage



• Expansion and modernization of the Flin Flon hospital and renovation of Flin Flon’s the Northern Lights Manor Personal Care Home



• $6 million renovation to the St. Anthony’s Hospital in The Pas, and a new facility for training ambulance and Emergency Medical Services personnel



• A new community health centre in Wabowden



• Renovations to the Thompson General hospital, including a re-developed ER and a new CT scanner



• A new $8.5 million addiction treatment centre in Thompson to help people of northern Manitoba with alcohol and drug dependencies

Community Safety

• 90% of the recommendations of the Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission have been or are being followed through



• Expansion of the successful Lighthouses program to 50 sites, including Pukatawagan, Grand Rapids, Flin Flon, South Indian Lake, Thompson and Island Lakes



• Percentage of First Nations people served by Aboriginal police up from 6% to 29%

Figures are current as of October, 2008

Aboriginal People in Manitoba

From the outset our government has given priority to closing the gap in the quality of life between Aboriginals and other Manitobans, specifically in the areas of education, health, housing, economic opportunities and employment.

Aboriginal justice

• Created the Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission, and used its recommendations to make changes in a number of important areas.



• Transferred responsibility for developing and delivering culturally appropriate child and family services off reserve to the new Métis and First Nation child authorities, the first such authorities in Canada.



• Signed agreements to increase fivefold the number of First Nations communities served by Aboriginal police.



• Established on-site circuit courts in Sandy Bay, Pine Creek, Duck Bay and Camperville.



• Created Lighthouses programs, providing after-school recreational activities in 50 communities across the province, including a number of reserves.

Better educational opportunities

• Established the University College of the North (UCN), providing local education and training for northerners from its two main campuses in The Pas and Thompson as well as ten regional centres, with two more on the way. Nine of these centres are on reserves.



• Committed more than $50 million for UCN capital projects.



• Bolstered funding for ACCESS programs, which help Aboriginal students pursue post-secondary education.



• Conferred 700 Aboriginal Education Awards for post-secondary students in cooperation with Ottawa and the Business Council of Manitoba.



• Set up a $60 million fund for pre-project Hydro training with Hydro and the federal government that has benefited over 1,400 northern Aboriginal people, enabling them to meet the demand for skilled labour not only on Hydro projects but also in the province’s growing construction industry.



• Developed an Aboriginal Education Action Plan to help more Aboriginal students complete high school, enter post-secondary institutions, and start careers.



• Partnered with the Winnipeg School Division and the Manitoba Métis Federation to make the counselling services of elders and specially trained support staff available to at-risk Aboriginal students and their parents.



• Tripled the number of Aboriginal apprentices to more than 1,000.



• Set up partnerships with nine Aboriginal communities to deliver apprenticeship training right in their own communities.



• Introduced the LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) training program that will train 175 students over four years in seven Aboriginal communities.



• Set aside 25% of the Winnipeg Partnership Agreement for an Aboriginal training and education component.

Healthier people

• Installed dialysis units in Norway House Cree Nation and Garden Hill First Nation, the first dialysis units located on-reserve in Canada.



• Currently developing dialysis services at Berens River for area communties and at Hodgson for Peguis First Nation.



• Set up community-based diabetes management and prevention training programs, as well as diabetes training programs for Aboriginal homecare aides.



• Launched a Northern Healthy Food Initiative, which promotes nutrition awareness, community gardens, country foods and greenhouse pilot programs in some twenty northern and remote communities in partnership with NACC, Frontier School Division, The Bayline Round Table, Four Arrows Health Authority and partners in the public and non-profit sector.



• Increased the northern remote food allowance for Employment and Income Assistance participants by 20% in 2005, and by a further 30% in 2007 to help offset the higher costs of healthy food in the North. These increases were matched on reserve by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.



• Created an Aboriginal Midwifery Education Program that teaches a blend of traditional Aboriginal and Western practices.



• Created Healthy Schools, Healthy Child and Healthy Baby programs across the province, both on and off reserves.

A flourishing Aboriginal culture

• Restored funding in the first budget to all 11 Friendship Centres, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, the Manitoba Métis Federation, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, the Southern Chiefs’ Organization and the Mothers of Red Nations.



• Funding Aboriginal Languages of Manitoba to promote the preservation and retention of Manitoba’s seven Aboriginal languages.



• Promoting participation in sports and recreation so that youth in remote communities and the inner city alike can benefit from traditional and non-traditional sport and recreation activities.



• Signed an agreement with the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and the Wuskwatim Partnership to protect any heritage resources discovered as a result of the Wuskwatim and Conawapa Hydro projects.



• Working with East Side First Nations on attaining a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation.



• Providing funding for the Manito Ahbee Festival, the Aboriginal People’s Choice Awards, Pow Wows and winter festivals and events such as the National Cree Gathering in Grand Rapids.

Fast tracking economic development

• Created a Northern Development Strategy to ensure that all government departments act on priorities for the North.



• Signed new equity and training partnerships with First Nations for future Hydro developments.



• Moved ahead on the Wuskwatim Hydro project, where two-thirds of the 200 people already employed are Aboriginal.



• Appointed a Ministerial Aboriginal Leaders Advisory Group to develop an Aboriginal tourism strategy.



• Invested 25% of the province’s highway budget each year in northern roads more than double the previous levels despite calls by the Official Opposition to move funding to southern Manitoba.



• Tripled spending on winter roads, took 600 km of winter roads off ice onto safer land routes, and began the first leg of an East Side all-weather road.



• Secured strong representation of Aboriginal business and community leaders on the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council.



• Renounced the province’s half interest in mineral development on reserve land.



• Partnered with MKO and Protega to create FireSpirit, a human resource company that will bring jobs, training and business opportunities to Aboriginals and northern communities in Manitoba.



• Launched TEAM, a micro-enterprise development program for northern Manitoba run by the Communities Economic Development Fund.



• Ensured that Aboriginals and other equity groups under-represented in the construction industry benefited from new floodway jobs. The Aboriginal Set-Aside Initiative has awarded over $25 million in contracts to Aboriginal firms.



• Invested more than $50 million on capital projects in Northern Affairs communities over the past seven years.



• Built new provincial housing in communities like Duck Bay, Camperville and Wabowden for the first time in more than a decade.



• Entered into an agreement with the Swampy Cree Tribal Council committing timber resources to support forestry development, and will continue to work with other First Nations on other forestry projects.



• Committed to providing broadband internet connections to 60 remote communities.



• Sponsored the 2003 Aboriginal Business Summit, organized by the Premier’s Economic Advisory Council.

Moving Forward

• Working with Ottawa and First Nations to advance Treaty Land Entitlement transfers by more than 150,000 acres annually, a tremendous opportunity for economic growth.



• Investing over $100 million for low-income housing for urban and northern Manitobans, of which $42 million will go to Aboriginal off-reserve housing.



• Supporting partnership agreements with 7 large employers, including 5 health authorities, to increase the number of Aboriginal people employed in all areas of the workforce.



• Created the First Peoples’ Economic Growth Fund with the AMC, a $20 million fund to help develop new First Nation businesses.



• Working with the Manitoba Métis Federation on a new Métis economic development strategy and other projects.

Figures are current as of October, 2008

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"Everything we do as a government, from budgeting to social policy decisions, is weighed for its ability to reduce poverty and increase the inclusion of low-income Manitobans in all aspects of community life."

Greg Selinger, May 21, 2009

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Our government marked 10 years of fighting poverty with the launch of its AllAboard strategy. It builds on our successes over the last decade in helping Manitobans find and keep jobs so they can fully participate in our economic and social life.

There are four pillars to the strategy:

• safe, affordable housing in healthy neighbourhoods


• education, jobs and income supports


• strong, healthy families


• co-ordinated services that are easily accessed

The strategy recognizes that poverty is about more than money alone. It’s complex, and requires long-term solutions that get at root causes.

The results to date

• Manitoba has reduced the rate of child poverty more than any other province since 2000. We now have the second-lowest child poverty rate in Canada.


• Manitoba has the second lowest overall poverty rate in Canada.


• The rate of single mothers in poverty has declined by 67% since 2000. Manitoba now has the lowest poverty rate for single parents.

Better wages and benefits

• 50% increase to the minimum wage since 1999. Currently $9.00 per hour, and as of 1 October 2010, $9.50


• Increase in the amounts Income Assistance recipients may earn before their benefits are affected


• Rewarding Work Health Plan benefits for those moving from income assistance to work


• Better jobs through more training opportunities


• New allowance for job seekers


• Rebound to Work - retraining and job referrals for low-income workers left jobless by the current downturn


• Second-lowest college tuition fees in Canada


• More scholarships and bursaries


• 4,000 more apprenticeship spaces


• High school graduation rates over 80% in 2009, up from 71% in 2002

More affordable housing

• Over $144 million invested in partnership with other levels of government to build or acquire and renovate over 6,600 affordable housing units across the province, with a portion of these units to be leased at rent-geared-to-income levels.


• A rent subsidy – Manitoba Shelter Benefit – to help low-income families, seniors and persons with disabilities pay rent for housing


• A commitment to add 1500 social housing units over five years.

Child care

• 84% increase in the child care budget over five years (2008 – 2013)


• 6,500 more funded child-care spaces to date – a 28% increase since 1999.


• A new $37 million building fund for up to 35 more child care centres and the conversion of surplus school space into child care centres


• Lowest child-care fees outside Quebec


• New child benefit program for low-income families, including the working poor

Full citizenship for Manitobans with disabilities

• marketAbilities program to help persons with disabilities find and keep jobs


• New funding for fully accessible public housing


• Increases to Income Assistance for persons with disabilities, as well as increases to the amount that they may save without affecting their Income Assistance benefits


• Introduction of Registered Disability Savings Plans


• Opening Doors consultations for a new long-term vision for Manitobans with disabilities

Raising the prospects of Aboriginal Manitobans

• Closing the Gap – a 10-year initiative to reduce the gaps in living standards between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people


• An Aboriginal Education Action Plan to help more Aboriginal students complete high school, enter post-secondary institutions, and start careers


• Employment and training opportunities with northern Hydro projects, the floodway expansion, and construction of an all-weather road on the East Side of Lake Winnipeg


• 45% more Aboriginal students enrolled in colleges, 275% more in apprenticeships

A better start for newcomers

• A code of practice for the fair assessment and recognition of the credentials of immigrants, overseen by a fairness commissioner


• More investments in settlement services, including language training, for newcomers

Due regard for seniors

• Special tax relief for seniors in the form of more generous tax credits and provisions for couples to split pension income for tax purposes


• An Aging-in-Place Strategy that gives seniors more choices in the kind of care they can receive while continuing to live in the community

Figures are current as of July 2010

A Green and Growing Economy

The Manitoba government is partnering with businesses and communities to fuel economic growth that will capitalize on our clean energy and natural environment advantages. It’s building on the growing realization that measures to promote environmental sustainability can contribute to economic growth, and that enlightened economic growth can in turn contribute to environmental sustainability.

Hydropowering the economy

• Manitoba Hydro’s environmentally responsible and renewable Hydro resources can meet more of North America’s electrical energy needs and, in so doing, further reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.


• Manitoba can double its current generating capacity of more than 5,000 megawatts, triggering over $10 billion in new investments.


• Partnerships with Manitoba Hydro will enable First Nations to share in the profits, training, and employment opportunities arising from future Hydro developments in the North. Hydro has partnered with the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation on the 200 megawatt Wuskwatim project on the Burntwood River. We will be proceeding with the construction of the 1,250 megawatt Conawapa project on the Nelson River, which was mothballed by the previous government. The dams will have minimal impact on the local environment, flooding less than one-half a square kilometre and 5 square kilometres of land respectively.

Going underground for energy

• Our province has become a national leader in promoting geothermal (ground source) heat energy pumps for heating and cooling buildings in an economical and environmentally friendly way. Manitobans installed 40 per cent more geothermal heat pumps in 2007 than in the previous year.

Hydrogen, the ultimate fuel

• Hydrogen is the ultimate fuel of the future. Manitoba was the first province in Canada to devise a detailed hydrogen development plan and test a hydrogen transit bus. And it is targeted to be the first jurisdiction on the continent able to produce hydrogen economically thanks to its abundant supplies of water and hydroelectricity. The Winnipeg-based New Flyer Industries has won the contract to build the first commercial fleet of hydrogen-fueled buses in North America, worth up to $624 million.

Harvesting the wind

• Our government has committed to developing 1,000 megawatts of wind-generated power to its system over the next decade. This will enable greenhouse gas reduction of more than 3.5 mega tonnes annually and stimulate $2 billion in new investments as well as ongoing, sustainable jobs. The St. Leon wind farm, one of Canada’s largest, is already turning out 99 megawatts.

Planting our fuel

• We’re helping Manitoba farmers and processors to surge ahead in the new bio-economy where trees and crops will yield fuels that have traditionally come from non-renewable resources. A mandated 8.5% of the pool average of gasoline sold in Manitoba be ethanol will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 135,000 tonnes per year, equivalent to taking 10,000 vehicles off the road. During the 2007 election we promised to mandate biodiesel at 5% blends by 2010. The Biofuels Act, which enables the creation of a biodiesel mandate, was reintroduced this session. In Budget 2006 we made biodiesel exempt from road taxes for 5 years. Our world class biodiesel testing facility in Selkirk is now up and running. Successful biodiesel demonstration projects are underway with the Manitoba Hydro fleet, trucking companies and Winnipeg School Division #1.


• In addition to the environmental benefits, the biofuels benefit Manitoba economically by helping to reduce gasoline imports, stabilize farm incomes, create alternative markets for agricultural products and stimulate sustainable economic development and create jobs in rural areas.

“Environmental sustainability requires the promotion of economic activity that is ecologically efficient, raises the level of society’s economic welfare, and can be maintained over the long term.”

Provincial Sustainability Report for Manitoba, 2005

Manitoba Conservation

Figures are current as of October, 2008

Full Citizenship for Manitobans with Disabilities

Immediately after the 1999 election, Premier Doer appointed a minister responsible for persons with disabilities, following the recommendations of groups representing people with disabilities. In 2001 the government issued "Full Citizenship: A Manitoba Provincial Strategy on Disability", a report based on discussions with community groups.

Full Citizenship presented 5 priorities for action to address concerns of Manitobans:

1. improving income programs;


2. strengthening employment opportunities;


3. addressing issues concerning Aboriginal people with disabilities;


4. increasing access to government policy development processes, facilities and programs; and
   
5. enhancing disability supports.

Full Citizenship also committed the government to 16 principles which would guide future policy direction and program design. Since the release of the report, most of the commitments in Full Citizenship have been met.

We also acted on our commitment to establish a Disabilities Issues Office in 2002, a central review body for all provincial departments to assess new policies and programs for people with disabilities.

As a result our government has done much to help people with disabilities enjoy the full benefits of citizenship.

Disability Programs

• Between 1999/00 and 2008/09, the Supported Living Program (SLP) budget has increased by $124.8 Million or 206% with an average annual increase of 12.8%.


• Manitobans with disabilities living in an institution or hospital can now use certain lump sum payments (such as proceeds from an inheritance or life insurance policy, compensation payments, gifts, proceeds from the sale of a home or land) to improve their quality of life.


• SLP provided funding to agencies through Staffing Stabilization Phase IV to increase the wages of direct service workers to $11.25 per hour.


• Through the Human Resource Strategy to develop a qualified workforce, SLP sponsored accredited training for 390 staff employed by funded agencies. 17 staff obtained their certificate in Disability and Community Support from Red River College.


• The SLP continues to provide funding to install sprinklers in residential facilities providing service to persons with disabilities who are non-ambulatory or unable to care for themselves. In 2007/08 the Life Safety Sprinkler Initiative funded 12 residential care homes with residential sprinkler systems and/or life safety upgrades.


• An increase of over 100% to the Children’s Special Services budget since 1999.


• 20 residents of the Manitoba Developmental Centre moved to the community from 2006 through 2007.

Health

A 62% increase to Home Care funding since 1999 to respond to growing demand.

An expanded Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) program for children with autism.

A comprehensive strategy to improve and expand mental-health and addiction programs and services.

A monthly payment option allowing families with drug costs amounting to a quarter or more of their income to pay their Pharmacare deductible over the course of the year.

Housing

A new Manitoba Shelter Benefit which provides financial assistance to lower income individuals with disabilities, seniors, and families who are renting housing in the private market.

Innovative housing models in Brandon to meet the needs of mental health consumers, another in Winnipeg to respond to the needs of younger people with complex disabilities, and a third in Morden for lower-income people with disabilities.

The MHRC has provided 5 more newly renovated units (at an approximate expenditure of $310,000) in the Housing for Assisted Living (HAL) project in its building at 340 Princess Street. There are now a total of 12 fully accessible, renovated units available to younger, low-income tenants with complex health needs who require on-site health-related services and supports to enable them to live independently in the community. Meal service is also available from the renovated kitchen on site.

The Manitoba Shelter Benefit (MSB) replaced the existing Shelter Allowances For Elderly Renters (SAFER) program and Shelter Allowances for Family Renters (SAFFR) in 2006. The MSB provides for a higher maximum benefit and provides the benefit to all persons with disabilities. A flat rate monthly benefit is also available to persons receiving the disability benefit through Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) who are not living in subsidized housing.

An average monthly benefit increase of $31 will come into effect January 2009.

Employment

A Career Assistance Program for People with Disabilities to facilitate employment within the provincial civil service.

An Employability Support Unit to help individuals with disabilities become employed.

Rapid Re-enrollment Policy: In 2005/06 EIA established a Rapid Re-enrollment process for participants with disabilities whose cases closed because of employment. Should these participants wish to re-apply to EIA, they are no longer subject to a medical eligibility re-assessment if the re-application occurs prior to the medical review date.

Income Assistance

Income Assistance for Persons with Disabilities (IAPD) - This benefit increased by $300 annually to $1,260 beginning in January 2008.

A 30% increase in the amount people with disabilities can earn before their Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) benefits are reduced, recognizing the higher costs they incur in being employed.

Continuation of health benefits such as prescription drug coverage for 12 months after EIA participants with disabilities have become employed.

A higher exemption limit for people with disabilities so that they can use certain lump-sum payments to improve their lives without their EIA benefits being reduced.

Doubling of the liquid asset exemptions for income assistance participants with disabilities, effective April 2007.

New tax benefits that take into account the additional employment and education-related costs borne by persons with disabilities and their caregivers.

An expansion of the list of disability-related expenses eligible for tax deductions.

Clawback relief in determining eligibility for social assistance will include Registered Disability Savings Plan savings and income.

Education

Legislation was passed in Manitoba in 2004 enshrining the right of special needs students to receive appropriate educational programming and to be educated alongside their peers in school.

Funding for special needs children in the school system is up 49% since 1999.

Funding for a new master’s program in disability studies at the U of M.

Accessibility

A universal design access policy to improve accessibility to government-owned and leased facilities. A wheelchair ramp at the front entrance of the Legislative Building was completed in 2007.

Legislation requiring that voting places be accessible to persons with physical disabilities.

Moving Forward

The Get Ready component of the Rewarding Work initiative will support people with disabilities to attend approved education and training programs, including university and other post-secondary programs, for up to 2 years.

The Manitoba Works component of Rewarding Work will provide employers with wage subsidies for up to one year so they can hire and train people with disabilities who are currently receiving income assistance.

The marketAbilities fund is supporting innovative employment partnerships in rural and northern areas to help people with disabilities find long-term employment.

A 30% increase in Income Assistance for Persons with Disabilities, which helps support employment preparation, volunteerism and offset the costs associated with living in the community, effective January 2008.

An additional $500,000 is being invested in vocational rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities.

The Sara Riel Work Placement Force Program provides pre-employment supports to persons with mental health concerns.

The Personal Attendance Community Education (PACE) is a five week program offered by the Independent Living Resource Centre that trains people to become Independent Living Attendants.

Liquid asset exemptions doubled for persons on assistance with disabilities - up to $4,000 for the applicant, $2,000 for the first dependant, $1,000 for additional dependants, up to a family maximum of $8,000.

Figures current as of November, 2008

Our Water Quality

Our government created Canada’s first Department of Water Stewardship to consolidate water resources and services and introduced a first of its kind Water Protection Act in 2004.

Safer Drinking Water

• We’ve added 15 more staff to monitor drinking water safety since 1999, and are investing 450% more in drinking water budget than the previous government did in the 1990s.


• Our Drinking Water Safety Act establishes tough new standards for drinking water quality, all drinking water plant operators in Manitoba must now be certified, and we reinstated a subsidy for well water testing.

Healthier Lakes and Rivers

• Our Water Protection Act, the most comprehensive legislation in Canada to provide legal protection for water quality “at source,” regulates the distribution of nutrients and encourages responsible nutrient management planning to help reduce the growth of algae in our lakes and rivers.


• We have brought in new water protection areas to protect our water and sensitive lands from excess nutrient loading from farms, golf courses, lawn and garden fertilizers and even municipal sludge from wastewater treatment systems. Nutrient limits are being incorporated into all new municipal sewage treatment licences and we expanded a ban on winter spreading. These initiatives result in fewer algae growing nutrients ending up in Manitoba’s lakes and rivers.


• Our government established the Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board to help Manitobans identify further necessary action to reduce nutrients to pre-1970 levels in the lake, amounting to a 10 per cent reduction.


• Our government has put nutrient limits on effluents from waste-water treatment facilities in Brandon and Winnipeg, and has contributed to the upgrade of water infrastructure in more than 100 Manitoba communities.


• At the NDP’s request, the Clean Environment Commission (CEC) conducted a full, independent and public review of the environmental sustainability of the hog industry. Following that review and based on the advice from the CEC, we have announced three new regional moratoriums to protect marginal and sensitive lands and deal with the highly developed saturated areas.


• Manitoba has invested millions for new and ongoing research in and around Lake Winnipeg including support for the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium through funding of the research ship, Namao.


• We committed $2.5 million in Budget 2007 to help farmers begin to adapt their operations to comply with new water protection regulations.


• In 2004 Manitoba led the way in getting an agreement with Minnesota and North Dakota to reduce nutrients flowing into the Red River and into Lake Winnipeg by 10 per cent


• We have aggressively fought the Devils Lake diversion in North Dakota to stop the artificial flow of foreign biota into Lake Winnipeg. We continue to press for an advanced filtration system and stronger environmental standards for the Devils Lake outlet that will prevent invasive species of water life and pollutants from spilling into the Red River.

Conserving Our Valuable Water Resources

• The NDP has legislated a ban on all bulk water exports.

Moving Forward

• We’re introducing a water conservation programme to help Manitobans save money on their water bills while conserving our water resources.


• We’ve legislated made-in-Manitoba restrictions on dishwasher detergents containing phosphorus while pushing for a national ban.


• We are moving forward with restrictions on spreading of lawn fertilizers containing phosphorus.

Figures current as of October, 2008

Sharing the Hydro advantage equally

It's the people of Manitoba who built Hydro, and it's the people of Manitoba who should reap the benefits.

• Our government passed legislation preventing the privatization of Manitoba Hydro without the explicit approval of the majority of the province's citizens in a referendum.


• Shortly after coming to power the NDP legislated equal rates for every household in Manitoba, saving rural and remote northern residents $16 million a year.

Low rates

• Manitobans enjoy the lowest electricity rates in North America.

Clean energy

• Ninety-eight per cent of the electricity Hydro produces comes from either wind or water. We have phased out the use of coal to generate electricity by converting Hydro’s coal plant in Selkirk to cleaner burning natural gas, and phasing out the use of coal at the Brandon generating station.


• The St. Leon wind farm is fully operational.

Energy efficiency

• Three times in a row the Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance has given Manitoba the top marks in the country for energy efficiency.


• Hydro’s highly successful Power Smart strategy has helped reduce electricity consumption by 400 megawatts since 1999, enough to power a city the size of Brandon. Power Smart is like a virtual dam, freeing up twice the energy generated by a hydro project such as Wuskwatim.


• We have greatly expanded Power Smart retro fits to make homes and businesses more energy efficient.

Economic potential

• Hydro can double its current generating capacity of more than 5,000 megawatts, triggering up to $10 billion in new investments —more than the largest Alberta oil sands project.


• Work is underway on the $1.6 billion Wuskwatim project, and a commitment has been made to go forward with the Keeyask and Conawapa projects based on export contracts. The four Keeyask Cree Nations have entered an agreement partnering them with Hydro for the development of the Keeyask Generating Station. If developed, the Keeyask project would be the 4th largest of our current generating stations.


• We are building the transmission line Bipole III to enhance reliability and export capacity.

Environmental awareness

• Manitoba is a world leader in redesigning Hydro projects to greatly reduce flooding and environmental impacts. “New Generation” dams, such as Wuskwatim, have incorporated traditional First Nations’ knowledge in the redesign to reduce flooding to less than half a square kilometre.


• Hydro’s new 21-story headquarters will be one of the most energy efficient in the world, using 60% less energy than a comparable conventional office tower.


• Hydro will be running its new transmission line Bipole III from northern dams to the west of Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipegosis in order to protect one of the world’s last remaining pristine boreal forests on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.

Downtown revitalization

• The new Portage Avenue headquarters brings over 2,000 Hydro employees into Winnipeg’s downtown, adding a new dynamic to the area and local businesses.

"Manitoba Hydro is “a strategic economic advantage for Manitoba. Recognition of that has only increased with all the attention in Europe and the UN and the U.S. on energy security and the whole climate change issue."

Mary Webb, Scotia Bank senior economist (Winnipeg Free Press, 18 February 2007)

Figures current as of November, 2009

Safer and Healthier Workplaces

Since 1999, our government has significantly improved the labour relations climate in Manitoba and contributed to safer and healthier workplaces. These changes have contributed to a healthier economy, fewer workdays lost to work stoppages, and improvements to the work-life balance.

Workplace Safety

• The workplace injury rate in Manitoba has fallen 25 per cent from 2000 through 2007.


• The NDP government updated the province’s Workplace Safety and Health Act, the first major overhaul in 25 years.


• Changes to the Electricians’ Licensing Act ensure that those working with electricity in Manitoba are properly trained and supervised.


• Changes to the Workplace Safety and Health Act require the use of safety-engineered needles in the health sector to protect our health care workers from accidental needlestick injuries.


• Fourteen new safety inspectors have been hired since 1999 and the number of safety inspections has more than tripled to 5,200 in 2005. Another 20 new workplace safety and health officers will be hired, including one for rural Manitoba focusing on farm safety, as well as one for Flin Flon, and two for Thompson.

Workers Compensation

• In the first expansion of WCB coverage in Manitoba since the 1960s, over 7,000 more workers became eligible for workers compensation benefits as of January 1, 2007.


• Workers compensation coverage will be extended to an additional 30,000 workers as of January 1, 2009.


• Benefits are no longer reduced for workers over 45.


• We amended the Workers Compensation Act to expand coverage for firefighters for work related illnesses. Firefighters are now covered for three new cancers and for heart attacks that occur within 24 hours of an emergency response. Part-time and volunteer firefighters are now covered as well.


• Compensation for permanent injuries is fairer today. Workers who have been off the job because of their work injuries for more than two years will no longer see their benefits reduced.


• Our successful injury prevention programs in partnership with the WCB have resulted in a 20% reduction in the time loss injury rate from 2000 through 2005.

Healthy Job Market

• Manitoba’s unemployment rate so far in 2008 has averaged 4.0%, the second lowest of all the provinces.


• Our total job growth increased 1.6% in the last 12 months - 9,400 jobs. This is above the national average of 1.3%.


• Average weekly earnings were up 4.2% in 2007, the 3rd highest increase in Canada and above the national increase of 3.2%. This was the strongest increase in nearly 20 years.

Healthy Housing Market

• While still affordable compared to the rest of the country, Winnipeg’s home values increased 11.5% over the past year (June 08 over June 07). This is the fourth highest rate of growth in Canada (behind Saskatoon, Regina, St. John’s), well above the national average of 3.5% and well ahead of cities to the east.

Minimum Wage

• Since taking office, we have increased the minimum wage annually - by 42% so far. It is now $8.50 per hour.

Opportunities

• The NDP government has made multi-million dollar investments in improved technical-vocational education in our high schools, colleges and apprenticeships.


• The number of active apprentices has shot up by 72% since 1999.


• Our 10% cut in tuition, which has been in effect for the last 8 years, has made college and university more affordable, as has our 60% tuition fee tax rebate for graduates of any eligible college, university or apprenticeship program who choose to live and pay taxes in Manitoba.

Low Cost of Living

• Low-cost child care, auto insurance and hydroelectricity rates have helped ensure Manitoba has the lowest cost of living in Canada for a one-earner family of four making $40,000.

Job Protection

• We’ve brought in new employment standards rules including new family and bereavement leave days (unpaid), new protections for children working alone, limits on payroll deductions, better statutory holiday pay for part-time workers, and guaranteed reporting pay.


• Agricultural workers now benefit from modern protections under the employment standards code, including minimum wage, maternity leave, restrictions on child labour, work breaks, and vacation pay. This is the first change to employment standards for Manitoba agricultural workers in more than 50 years.


• We introduced legislation to ensure that reservists’ civilian jobs and benefits would be waiting for them when their service is completed.

Figures are current as of October, 2008

For Manitoba families

Child care

Family Choices, our new five-year, 12-point child care agenda

• The new five-year agenda will increase the child care budget by 84% or $92 million


• 6,500 more funded child care spaces—a 28% increase


• A new centralized wait list system to give families straightforward help in looking for child care. This system will be up and running in 2010.


• A new $37 million building fund for up to 35 more child care centres and the conversion of surplus school space into child care centres


• Nursery school for 1,300 more children—a 33% increase


• Age-appropriate curriculum in every child care centre


• A 20% overall funding increase for pension plans and wage increases


• Canada’s first Child Care Safety Charter


• Lowest fees outside Quebec through regulated maximum fees, and ensuring predictable costs for families

We fulfilled the commitment made in the Five-year Child Care agenda announced in 2002

• We exceeded the commitment of 5,000 newly funded spaces. We have funded a total of 7,160 new spaces since 1999.


• We introduced a $5 million capital program for the expansion and construction of child-care facilities.


• We reduced the child-care fees for low income families. Manitoba has the second lowest child care fees in the country.


• We trained 700 child care workers, including 252 who graduated in 2007.

How does our child care compare?

Even before our historic child care announcement, the University of Toronto’s Child Care Resource and Research Unit said Manitoba had one of the best child care programs in Canada.

Spending per child: Manitoba spends the second most per child in Canada. Quebec is the only province ahead of us.

Access: Manitoba ranks third for the number of regulated child care spaces for Manitoba children. Quebec and P.E.I are the only provinces ahead of us.

Affordability: Manitoba and Quebec are the only provinces in Canada to limit fees, keeping child care affordable for parents.

Quality: Manitoba’s training requirements for early childhood educators (ECE) are among the highest in Canada. Manitoba is the only province that requires directors to have further credentials in addition to a 2 year ECE diploma.

Wages: Manitoba has the third highest wages in Canada. Ontario and Quebec are higher.

Not-for-profit: Manitoba has the 2nd highest proportion of non-profit centres (94%) following Saskatchewan.

Healthy Child

The NDP government established Healthy Child Manitoba, a series of initiatives designed to support families and children. The Health Council of Canada singled out Healthy Child Manitoba as an innovative and exceptional program that should be replicated across the country. (You can read the council’s report or watch its video on Manitoba’s program, “Their Future Is Now” at www.healthcouncil.ca )

• We have worked with communities to develop 26 Parent-Child Centered Coalitions across the province. These centres provide parenting, nutrition and literacy resources for parents and children.


• Our Positive Parenting Program provides advice, information, and supports for parents.


• We struck the all-party Healthy Kids/Healthy Futures task force. After touring the province to hear what Manitobans want, the task force made its recommendations to our government, all of which have been acted on.


• We instituted compulsory phys-ed in all grades in schools.


• All school divisions have now banned smoking on school property.


• We have already launched the Protect Your Noggin’ bike helmet campaign, including subsidized and free helmets to kids, required schools to develop nutrition plans, and initiated Manitoba’s In Motion physical activity program.


• We’ve developed a co-ordinated Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder strategy for expanding our existing multi-department, multi-million-dollar disability prevention activities and improving service supports available for people with FASD from birth through adulthood.

Healthy Baby

• Our Healthy Baby program provides a nutrition allowance to all pregnant women on low incomes to help ensure that their babies get a healthy start in life. Healthy Baby also offers informal prenatal and postnatal training in wellness and nutrition.

Recreation Opportunities

• Since 2000, the Community Places program has provided $11.4 million in funding to recreation facilities such as arenas, community halls, swimming pools, parks and playgrounds.


• We created the Lighthouses program, which funds evening programs at schools and gyms, offering young people safe places to play and study. There are now 47 Lighthouses across the province, and more on the way.


• We’ve invested $11.5 million so far in building trails across the province.


• We’ve added or upgraded more than 600 campsites since 2004.

Moving Forward

• We will be launching First Sports, a new program to provide community centres throughout the province with funds for sports equipment and gear.


• We’re doubling our investment in recreation centres, community clubs and soccer fields to $60 million over four years. This includes funds for a new rec centre in Southdale.


• We’re committing $1.8 million over three years to helping the Winnipeg Trails Association develop 32 kilometres of trails across Winnipeg.


• Another $2 million will be added to the annual capital budget for park and campground improvements - $500,000 will be invested in modernizing campgrounds at Asessippi Provincial Park. Another 1,000 cottage lots will be made available.

A Sound Education

• Following through on our commitment to fund education at the rate of economic growth, our government has invested an additional $238 million in our public schools system - a 31% increase since 1999.


• In our first nine years in government we have invested $483 million in school buildings, renovations, expansions and other infrastructure projects, more than double what was spent in the last eight years of the previous government.


• According to the last Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results (2007), when compared to other provinces in Canada, Manitoba ranked 4th in science, 5th in math and 5th in reading. Canada ranks within the top four countries in the world, and Manitoba students continually rank in the top five among Canadian provinces. Manitoba ranks ahead of other countries such as Switzerland, Australia, Denmark, Sweden and Germany. The United States on average ranks outside the top 30.


• High school graduation rates have risen steadily and the number of adult learners graduating has doubled.


• We recently passed the Strengthening Local Schools Act - which will help to ensure that, where possible, schools are kept open in the face of declining enrolment.

Moving Forward

• Our government will create up to 16 new libraries, and modernize book collections and computer technology at existing libraries. This will ensure that 95% of Manitobans have access to libraries, up from the current 83%.


• In addition to funding for adult literacy programs, the provincial government supports literacy development through a Reading for Life early literacy program for families to encourage parent-infant bonding and child development. Rural and northern libraries are also benefiting from the province’s new library technology fund and successful new library pilot projects are being continued on First Nations reserves.

Figures are current as of October, 2008

Unparalleled Success

• In 2009 Manitoba welcomed 13,520 new immigrants, the highest level since the start of modern recordkeeping in 1946.


• Manitoba’s immigrants have come from over 140 countries and have settled in over 130 communities in Manitoba. These are the people that help keep Manitoba growing, fill our skilled labour shortage and enrich our social and cultural fabric.


• Manitoba has the most successful Provincial Nominee Program in Canada and attracts more nominees than any other province. In fact, 75% of all immigrants to Manitoba came through Manitoba’s Provincial Nominee Program.


• Thirty-one per cent of Provincial Nominee arrivals chose to settle in communities outside of Winnipeg in 2009, helping to meet the local need for more workers and families.


• Manitoban immigrants had the highest employment rate (82.6%) as well as the lowest unemployment rate (4.8%) among immigrants in Canada in 2009.

A better start for newcomers

• We have taken a leadership role in establishing a nationally-recognized model for the ethical and effective recruitment and protection of foreign workers.


• We launched an expanded Settlement Strategy to improve services for immigrants and strengthen community involvement. It includes better orientation for immigrants before and immediately after their arrival, a Language Assessment Centre, and several hundred additional seats for English-language training across the province.


• Funding for settlement services and language training has increased more than six fold since 2000. Last year we provided funding for 61 settlement workers and funding for 98 teachers of English-as-an-additional language.


• Our four-week Entry Program helps newcomers learn about living in Manitoba, increase their English communication skills, and find settlement and community resources.

Recognizing credentials

• Manitoba has been a leader in improving credential recognition for skilled immigrants.


• We’ve put legislation in place to ensure that registration practices for regulated professions are transparent, objective, impartial and fair, and established the Office of the Manitoba Fairness Commissioner.


• Our government was the first in Canada to establish a permanent program to assist international doctors in obtaining licenses to practice.


• We’ve partnered with employers and educational institutions to deliver specialized, job-oriented language training for newcomers.


• Our government has also partnered with the Certified General Accountants Association of Manitoba to help internationally trained accountants gain credentials.


• Since creating the Internationally Educated Engineers Qualification Program at the U of M, we have expanded the number of participants from 12 to 40 a year.


• Our qualifications-recognition and bridging projects have also supported internationally educated agrologists, nurses, medical laboratory technologists, midwives, bank and credit union workers, and early childhood educators.

A rich multi-cultural mosaic

• We’ve helped fund the construction of centres for Philippine, Hindu, Islamic, Sikh and Hellenic ethno-cultural organizations.


• We have increased support for ethno-cultural organizations and value their role in attracting and keeping new immigrants in our province by helping smooth immigrants’ transition to their new home.

Welcoming refugees

Between 2000 and 2010, Manitoba accepted 11,215 refugees at a rate of about 1,100 a year. In partnership with the federal government, Manitoba is investing more in orientation, settlement and language training programs to ease the transition to a new land. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) provides income support for the initial resettlement of government-assisted refugees for one year. Funding for resettlement services is jointly provided by CIC and Manitoba’s Immigrant Integration Program.

Figures are current as of June, 2010

Building 21st century highways

The NDP government has been putting every cent of provincial fuel tax back into Manitoba roads - and millions of dollars more. And we brought in legislation requiring the province to spend the entire amount it collects in road-use gasoline and diesel fuel taxes on road infrastructure.

Long-term investment

Four billion dollars. That’s what we’re investing in Manitoba highways over ten years, between 2007 and 2017. We’re making up for the neglect of the 1990s, when the previous government found only $1.6 billion for our roads.

Efficient, multi-year planning

We’ve launched the first multi-year highway plan in Manitoba’s history. Such long-term planning helps us fine tune schedules and make the most of our short construction season. The current plan, which runs from 2007 through 2011, gives us a blueprint for completing a record number of projects. It also puts aside some money for projects not in the initial plan and for unforeseen events.

Some of the major projects for 2007-2011

• The twinning of the Trans-Canada to the Saskatchewan border - now completed
• Reconstruction of Highway 1 east of Winnipeg
• Completing the four-laning of the North Perimeter Highway
• Construction of CentrePort Canada Way, which will get trucks off some of Winnipeg’s busiest roads while drawing businesses to the new transportation hub in the city’s northwest
• Major work on Highway #6 north
• Major repairs and upgrades to Highway #75 south of Winnipeg and near the US border
• Construction of an all-weather road for the East Side of Lake Winnipeg
• Reconstruction of Hwy 8 from Winnipeg Beach to Hnausa
• Improving PR 234 between Riverton and Matheson
• Paving Main Street and Railway Avenue in Ashern
• Improvements to roads which are the sole land routes to remote communities such as Cross Lake and Norway House

Some additional projects in the works

• 18th Street bridge in Brandon
• Brandon east access
• Improving PR 384 to Moose Lake
• Upgrading Hwy 10 from The Pas to Flin Flon
• Modernizing PR 373 to Norway House and PR 374 to Cross Lake
• Surfacing the Wanless Access Road
• Significant renewal work on Hwy 2
• Reconstructing Hwy 17 north of Poplarfield
• Improving PR 325 east of Hodgson
• Continuing upgrades on Hwy 83 and Hwy 68 to allow for heavier loads
• Upgrading PR 326 north of Arborg
• Straightening curves on Hwy 6 near Woodlands and Gross Isle to improve safety
• Constructing an interchange of the Trans-Canada and Yellowhead highways and a road-rail grade separation at the nearby CNR line

For more information on Manitoba’s highway renewal plan, please go to http://www.gov.mb.ca/highways/

Figures are current as of December 2009

Education - An investment, not a cost

• We have met and exceeded our commitment to fund education at the rate of economic growth each and every year since coming to office ten years ago. This amounts to an increase of over 42%” since 1999. By contrast, the increase in education funding during the entire decade of the 1990s was only 2%.


• The provincial share of school funding has reached 75.1 per cent, up from 60.9 per cent in 1999.


• Expenditure per pupil is the highest in Canada, and our class size ratio is the third lowest.


• The province has invested over $568 million in public schools capital projects this decade, an increase of $302.5 million from the previous decade. In that time, we have built 17 new schools, 12 replacement schools and completed over 55 additions and renovations.

Property Tax Relief

• Budget 2009 increased the Education Property Tax Credit to $650, up from $600 last year and $250 in 1999, and increased the Farmland School Tax Rebate to 75 per cent, up from 70 per cent in 2008, and up from 33 per cent when we created it in 2004. With these most recent increases, Manitobans will save $18 million this year.


• We have completely eliminated one of the province’s two property taxes - the Education Support Levy, saving homeowners $100 million a year.


• Since 1999, annual property taxes in Manitoba have been reduced by over $250 million. According to Statistics Canada, Manitoba is the only province where property taxes have declined between 2000 and 2008. Since 2000 they have decreased by 0.5%, while Saskatchewan property taxes have increased 21.6%.

Responsible Oversight

• We’ve ensured more dollars are flowing into the classrooms by reducing the number of school divisions from 54 to 37, limiting administration costs, and reducing the number of school trustees.


• We’ve enshrined in legislation the right of special needs students to receive appropriate educational programming. We’ve increased special needs funding by 49% since 1999. The increase during the decade reign of the Filmon government was 4.7%.


• Our Strengthening Local Schools Act helps keep small schools open in rural communities, encourages communities to take advantage of surplus space in school facilities to provide other services such as day care, and requires school boards to do their best to ensure that no pupil has to spend more than an hour riding to or from school.

Moving Forward

• According to the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (2007), Manitoba ranks fourth in science, fifth in math and fifth in reading among Canadian provinces. Canada ranks within the top four countries in the world, and Manitoba students continually rank in the top five among Canadian provinces.


• High school graduation rates have gone from 71.1% in 2002 to 79% in 2008.

Figures are current as of February 2010

Developing the potential of our citizens

Affordability

• We’ve introduced a 60% tuition fee rebate for graduates of any eligible college, university or apprenticeship program who choose to live and pay taxes in Manitoba.


• We cut tuition fees for Manitoba undergraduates by 10% in 2000, and kept them frozen at that level ever since.

All the while the province provided more money to colleges and universities to compensate them for foregone fee increases.

• We’ve increased scholarships and bursaries for students by $166 million since 1999.


• We’ve reduced the interest charged on student loans by 1%.

Our government’s financial incentives for students have been working. Enrollments are up by about 30% since 1999. Manitoba now has the lowest student debt levels outside Quebec.

“Manitoba’s tax credit for tuition is a terrific idea, and it is great to see the province being proactive in stemming the outflow of young people.”

Todd Hirsch, Chief Economist, Canada West Foundation

Moving forward on affordability

• We are extending the tuition reduction for one more year through the 2008-09 academic year, while gradually bringing fees back to the 1999 level after this year.


• As the fees begin their gradual rise next year, we will also begin to raise the Manitoba Bursary by $8 million over the next three years, doubling its value to $16 million.

Inclusion

• To help more students overcome obstacles to completing high school we’ve invested $1 million in a Bright Futures fund.


• To encourage more residents of our remote northern communities to pursue a post-secondary education, we’ve created the University College of the North, with two main campuses and 12 regional centres, most of them on or near reserves.


• We’ve bolstered our ACCESS programs by nearly two-thirds since 1999. These programs provide a support network to students from under-represented groups, specifically people of Aboriginal ancestry, northerners, residents of the inner city, people with disabilities, women, single parents, immigrants and refugees.


• We’ve increased the number and value of our Training for Tomorrow scholarships for women studying math, science or technology at any of Manitoba’s community colleges.

Aboriginal student enrollment is up at our universities and colleges. The number of Aboriginal apprenticeships more than tripled since 1999, to over 1,300.

Moving forward on inclusion

• A new bursary will be introduced in 2009 to assist rural and northern students who experience unique costs associated with pursuing post-secondary education.

Quality

• Since 1999 we’ve increased the operating funding to colleges by 100%.


• We’ve removed all property taxes for universities.


• Since 1999 we’ve increased the operating funding of universities by 51.3%, or 58.4% when property tax relief is included.


• Our government has supported $478 million in new capital funding at our post-secondary institutions, including the Richardson College of the Environment at the U of W, the relocation of Assiniboine Community College to the refurbished Brandon Mental Health Centre, the Brandon University Health Studies Building, the new Engineering and IT Complex at the U of M, a new student union building at Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface, a new downtown campus for Red River College, and renovations to Wesley Hall at the U of W.


• Through our College Expansion Initiative, we’ve funded over 80 new or expanded cutting-edge college training programs in key economic sectors such as health, aerospace, digital multi-media and information technology.


• Budget 2008 increased funding to provide for 1,100 new apprenticeships seats at the colleges beginning in September 2008.


• In partnership with Ottawa we’re investing in an $18 million program to provide training, employment support, and skills upgrading for people having difficulty entering the labour market.


• We’re building a new $46 million trades centre at Assiniboine Community College that will double apprenticeship and training opportunities to over 1,400 students.


• Two mobile training labs will enable Red River College to offer training in rural communities.


• We’re investing in a new and expanded $15M Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre at Red River College. Since 2001 enrollment in heavy-equipment transportation courses has more than doubled. The new building will allow the college to expand capacity by 60% to 368 students in 2009-10.

Moving Forward on Quality

• We’re putting $47 million over three years into the historic redevelopment of the University of Manitoba’s Fort Garry campus in a six-stage development plan called Project Domino.

Figures current as of October, 2008