June 1, 2021
Manitoba's Spring Session Focused on Protecting Manitobans with Historic Investments in Health Care, Education and Social Services
– – –Committed to Protecting Manitobans through COVID-19, Advancing Manitoba Past the Pandemic: Goertzen
As the spring legislative session comes to a close, the Manitoba government remains focused on protecting Manitobans and the services they depend on through the COVID-19 pandemic, and creating a path for a sustained economic growth and recovery, government house leader Kelvin Goertzen announced today.
The spring session of the 42nd legislature featured the most robust agenda in Manitoba’s history with over 65 government bills passing, including Budget 2021 ‘Protecting Manitobans, Advancing Manitobans’, which made record investments in health care, education and social services, Goertzen added.
“This session we brought forth many important pieces of legislation focused on combating the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting businesses and laying the ground work for post-pandemic prosperity, and most of all protecting Manitobans and our health-care system,” said Goertzen. “We created the Department of Mental Health, Wellness and Recovery to focus on addressing the mental health needs of Manitobans through this pandemic and post-recovery. We supported Manitobans by introducing a Manitoba Paid Sick Leave program, launched our kindergarten to Grade 12 transformative Better Education Starts Today strategy, and started to phase out the education property tax a year ahead of schedule to provide financial relief during this unprecedented time.”
Other bills included:
• modernizing the child-care system to meet with demand with almost 600 more child-care spaces;
• providing more than $248 million in rebates to Manitoba property owners;
• eliminating more than 160 requirements and unnecessary administrative burdens for provincials services;
• strengthening provincial water infrastructure stewardship to manage and protect flood infrastructure;
• providing Manitobans more flexibility by reforming pension benefits to access retirement savings early in case of emergencies; and
• protecting farm and food processors on the farm, through transportation and processing to ensure Manitoba farmers continue to produce world-class, safe and healthy foods in a humane way.
“Budget 2021 made record investments in health care, education and social services, and offered the most generous support programs for businesses to help bridge them through these challenging times,” said Goertzen. “Budget 2021 provides that post-pandemic path forward to advance the provincial economy with economic growth and job creation.”
Budget highlights included:
• health-care funding increase by $156 million to $6.98 billion, the highest level in Manitoba history;
• $1.18 billion for COVID-19 costs including personal protective equipment (PPE), vaccine deployment, education supports and future needs;
• a record investment of $3 billion in the public school system;
• $34-million increase to the Department of Families;
• committing to an investment of $630 million toward infrastructure in Manitoba; and
• helping to prevent homelessness with an investment of $5.6 million to establish the Manitoba Rent Bank to support low-to-moderate-income families.
“I want to commend Manitoba’s health-care heroes, teachers, administrators, child-care workers, emergency personal, enforcement officials and all those working on the front-lines of this pandemic to help keep Manitobans safe. Manitobans can remain confident that our government will continue to protect and safeguard Manitobans’ lives and livelihoods,” said Goertzen.
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