Trail Talking

It was recently announced that the proposed Sio Silica sand mine in the RM of Springfield will not be moving forward, following a review of information from experts, consultations with the impacted communities and First Nations, and a report from the Clean Environment Commission (CEC).

As your MLA, I have always and will continue to listen to you and to advocate for your concerns. Regarding the sand mine, I pushed for the silica project to be brought forward to the CEC because it is of utmost importance to do everything that we can to protect our environment so that we can continue living long, healthy, and safe lives.

With that said, I was disappointed in the NDP government’s lack of urgency against a historic environmental crisis last month, when more than 228 million litres of raw, untreated wastewater spilled into the Red River and Lake Winnipeg from the City of Winnipeg. For over two weeks, the NDP remained hands-off as Manitoba experienced its worst sewage leaks in decades, offering no help to immediately stop the crisis. While the sewage system is primarily a municipal matter, the health of the Red River and Lake Winnipeg (the tenth largest freshwater lake in the world) concerns all Manitobans. The NDP government failed to inform impacted communities, including downstream First Nations, who’ve stressed the fact that they were not notified about the leak. I was even more dismayed to learn that the NDP environment minister was unaware of the unfolding catastrophe until it was mentioned to her in passing by a chief.

Now that March is here, my PC colleagues and I will be holding the government to account during the spring legislative session for a range of issues that matter most to Manitobans, including the Dawson Trail constituency. The NDP government will also be releasing their first-ever budget this month, revealing to Manitobans exactly which services they’ll have to cut and which taxes they’ll have to raise in order to pay for their $3-billion in election promises.