Over the past weeks, our government has heard from hundreds of Manitobans who attended recently completed in-person pre-budget meetings across the province. Over 50 stakeholders from the business community, rural municipalities and towns, post-secondary institutions, non-profit organizations, health-care providers, First Nations organizations, the arts, sports and francophone communities, and organized labour formally presented their ideas and were heard by Manitoba MLAs. Thousands more have submitted their ideas through an interactive budget website and citizen budget tool.
It is exciting to see the amount of enthusiasm Manitobans are putting behind sharing their input and constructive ideas in fixing our finances, repairing our services and rebuilding the economy. The challenge of building a better budget than we inherited is great, and we cannot reach our destination of taking our province back on a financially prudent course, unless we receive much needed input from Manitobans.
Since the website, www.YourProvinceYourPlan.ca, went online nearly 9,000 Manitobans visited the site and more than 600 submissions were made through the interactive citizen budget tool, with an additional 68 written submissions made online. Our Premier Brian Pallister made a commitment to make Manitoba the most improved province in Canada and we are encouraged at the response this initiative has seen, especially with Manitoba being the first province in Canada to use the tool for public consultations.
Thank you for taking the time to reach out and have much needed conversations about supporting small business, investing in the north, reducing red tape, and investing in education, skills and training. You can continue to share their input with the finance minister via the online tool at www.YourProvinceYourPlan.ca until December 1st.
