Why Should We Believe Them Now?

Just seven months prior to a provincial election, The NDP government has begun to roll out multi-million dollar election promises designed to cover-up 11 years of missed opportunity.

The most recent announcement came this past week when Premier Greg Selinger promised to spend $200 million over the next 10 years on personal care home (PCH) beds because after 11 years in government he seems to have just realized that there is a shortage of PCH beds in many parts of the province. Of course, the NDP government has been aware of this shortage for a very long time. After all, it has been the reports of their own government that have been indicating for years that there is a shortage of personal care facilities in many parts of Manitoba.

But it took until last week, after 11 years in power, for the NDP to promise to get to work on this problem. This despite the fact that the NDP government has been on the receiving end of over $30 billion in federal transfer and equalization payments from Ottawa over the past decade. Why weren’t the long wait lists for personal care home placement a priority over a time when the province was receiving record transfers from Ottawa?

But on the eve of a provincial election Greg Selinger and the NDP want Manitobans to believe them that now this has finally become a priority.

For residents of southeastern Manitoba, that may be an especially hard pill to swallow. After all, the shortage of PCH beds has been as acute here as anywhere in the province. Countless long-time residents of our local communities have been forced to live out the last years of their lives in homes that were remote from the communities they helped to build as a result of a shortage of personal care home beds. The shortage in this area of the province, as well as others, has been well documented for many years. Letters have been written, petitions have been signed and stories have been published about the need. It certainly has not been a secret that this region needs more personal care home spaces.

And yet, after a decade of ignoring those needs and those concerns, seven months before an election the NDP would have Manitobans believe that this is a priority for their government. Whatever the motivation, for the many families who have seen loved ones live out their final days in places far removed from their home communities, it is quite reasonable for them to ask Premier Greg Selinger and the NDP, ‘Why should we believe you now?’