This past week, Manitoba Premier Gary Doer finally announced that he is recalling the Manitoba Legislature to introduce a provincial budget and to allow questions to be asked about the economy and other important issues facing Manitoba.
A provincial budget will be introduced on March 25th, a day after two provincial by-elections are held in long time NDP seats in The Pas and Elmwood.
For weeks Mr. Doer has been ignoring calls for a provincial budget and a legislative session. Instead he has said our country and our province are well positioned to withstand the global economic crisis and has been reluctant to release provincial financial data.
While it is important for all elected leaders to remain positive and forward thinking when it comes to the economy of our province, it is also important that elected leaders are realistic about the very real challenges that many people are facing and that they look for ways to reduce the hardship for these people and their families.
Just this past week it was reported that the number of Canadians drawing on Employment Insurance in December had risen by 25,000 people from the previous month. That represented a 4.9 percent increase to the unemployment rate and does not include the 129,000 jobs lost in January of this year. Many of these job losses were right here in Manitoba and the bankruptcy rate increase in our province reflects the fact many people are having a difficult time making ends meet.
The provincial budget, while coming weeks later than it should have, needs to present a real time and realistic picture of the Manitoba economy. It also needs to provide a road map and a plan the government has to minimize, to the extent it can, the impact of the current recession on Manitobans.
The reopening of the Manitoba Legislature will also provide an opportunity to question the NDP government about a host of other issues. There remains questions unanswered about the tragic death of Brian Sinclair who died in a hospital Emergency Room after waiting 36 hours for care. Both Premier Gary Doer and his Minister of Health provided misleading information to Manitobans on how Mr. Sinclair failed to receive treatment after 36 hours in an Emergency Room. Other questions related to the poor state of many roads in Manitoba, our justice system which fails the victims of crime, and the protection of the right to farm also need to be asked.
Mr. Doer has waited for more than three months to reopen the Manitoba Legislature, preventing direct questioning of the government and avoiding giving updates on the provinces finances. That is not the kind of transparancy required in the best of times, let alone during a financial crisis.
