View From the Legislature

2019 Spring Legislative Session

  • Kelvin Goertzen, Author
  • Member of the Legislative Assembly, Steinbach

The spring session of the Manitoba Legislature will resume on March 6th. There will be a number of significant pieces of legislation that will be introduced during this session as our government continues the work of repairing of service and fixing our finances.

There will be an important update given on the state of the province’s finances when the 2019-2020 provincial budget is tabled on March 7th. That budget will show the progress we are making to reduce the provincial deficit. Manitobans will remember that the annual deficit was on track to be more than $1 billion dollars under the former NDP government. That annual overspending was resulting in the provincial debt increasing at an unstainable rate. It resulted in increased taxes (most notably the increase of the provincial sales tax from 7% to 8%) and a reduction in the provincial credit rating, which is costing taxpayers more interest on the provincial debt.

The budget will show the continued progress that we are making to ensure that we get back to balance in a way that is responsible and reasonable for Manitobans.

Following the introduction of the provincial budget, the legislature will go through its annual process of looking line by line through the budgets of individual department budgets. This is a process in which MLAs are able to ask questions of Ministers about the budgets of their departments. I have had the opportunity to both be on the side that was asking questions to Ministers and over the past three years to be in a position to answer questions about the Departments of Health and now Education.

While many Manitobans will be familiar with the period of the day known as Question Period, which tends to be the part of the Legislature’s day which gets the news, the 100 hours that are set aside to review department budgets is a much less energetic but very important part of the legislative process. It is a way for MLAs to gain a better understanding of the spending of individual departments. While it takes a significant degree of work on behalf of Ministers to prepare for this budgetary process, it is a very valuable exercise for all involved and an important part democratic accountability.

In addition to being the Minister of Education, Training and Immigration, I also serve as the Government House Leader. In that role I work with House Leaders from the other recognized parties to ensure that the work of the Legislature gets done while ensuring that there is the needed accountability in our system that is provided MLAs not in the governing party. I look forward to working with all political parties this spring session to ensure that the work Manitobans elected all of us to do is achieved.