View From the Legislature

Once again this year, as has been the tradition for three separate decades, the provincial government will hold a round of pre-budget consultation meetings. And once again this year, as has become a tradition under the NDP government, the Steinbach Constituency was not included as a stop in these consultations.

Only once in the 12 years that the NDP have been in government have they come to the City of Steinbach to hold a pre-budget consultation. To any objective observer, that would seem strange, since the City of Steinbach and the Steinbach Constituency are growing faster than virtually any other area of Manitoba. One would think that the provincial government would want to learn about the successes and hear the ideas that residents have to share regarding the budget.

But on closer examination, perhaps it’s really no surprise at all. That is because under the NDP government, pre-budget consultation meetings, which are designed to give Manitobans an opportunity to shape the coming budget through their input, have become little more than a sham.

As an example, little is done to actually invite the public to these meetings. This year’s consultations were announced in a January 9th government press release with the first of the six meetings starting that very night. Not even 10 hours notice. And the meetings themselves are held so close to the budget that they cannot have much real impact.

The last of the meetings this year will be held on January 25th, which would be about six or seven weeks before the time that we might actually expect the budget to be unveiled. Preparation for the budget by now is well underway and these meetings under the NDP have more of the feel of a confirmation meeting for what the NDP plan to put into the budget rather than a true consultation meeting.

In fact, when you compare what the NDP have actually done with their budget to what Manitobans want, is sure doesn’t appear that they are listening. This year alone the NDP are projecting a billion dollar deficit and while they will suggest that is a result of the spring flood, the fact is the majority of that deficit is overspending and mismanagement in other areas of government.

Certainly there is no evidence from past budget consultation meetings that Manitobans were asking the government to run up record deficits. So that means the NDP are holding these meetings but simply not listening.

So while it is frustrating that the NDP have decided to once again ignore the Steinbach Constituency when it comes to the latest round of pre-budget consultations, perhaps more frustrating is the fact that regardless of where the meetings are held, they are nothing more than the NDP pretending to listen while doing nothing of the sort.