The provincial government is inviting residents of Manitoba to participate in their fiscal planning discussions in the lead up to next year’s budget. In January and February, in-person sessions and telephone town halls will be announced to encourage public participation.
The first in-person meeting has already been booked in Brandon for January 31.
“Our government is committed to stabilizing the province’s finances, while taking action to fix healthcare and lower costs for people,” says Adrien Sala, Minister of Finance. “We want to hear from Manitobans on their priorities to make sure Budget 2024 meets the needs of Manitoba families.”
Anyone interested in participating is asked to pre-register and reserve a spot for an in-person meeting or sign up to receive a phone call for the telephone town hall.
Manitobans can begin participating in the conversation already by completing an online survey through EngageMB or sending email comments or written mail.
According to announcements made by Sala and Premier Wab Kinew earlier this month, it’s going to take some judicious number-crunching to get back on track. Upon review of the province’s second-quarter fiscal update, the deficit had already exceeded $1.6 billion, more than quadruple the $363-million predicted by the previous PC government last spring.
This is said to be the highest shortfall in the province’s history, with the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new government has since reported that they’ve identified $123 million in savings in the coming budget planning sessions. These savings will be used to fund the party’s commitments rather than offset the new deficit.
Some of these savings will be realized by disbanding the PC government’s surgical taskforce, cancelling a government fund to support the ideas of civil servants, and shutting down the COVID command centre.
As well, duplicative work in the healthcare administration will be eliminated and personal protective equipment stockpiles will be scaled back.
The $123-million savings will be applied to the $82 million that will be lost due to the upcoming provincial gas tax holiday. New spending will include healthcare costs like hospital beds and providing temporary accommodations for homeless and new arrivals to Manitoba.
