On Monday, March 16th I was honoured to be present and mark the opening of the First Session of the Forty First Legislature at the Manitoba Legislative Building. This was the very first Throne Speech given by the new Progressive Conservative government, just five days after the 146th anniversary of the founding of our great province of Manitoba.
In the weeks leading up to the Throne Speech, our Premier Brian Pallister was able to share his vision for building a better Manitoba, by laying out an ambitious set of goals for the first one hundred days of government.
The tone of the Throne Speech strengthens those commitments by building a stronger economy, restoring prudent financial management, and aiming initiatives to improve results in healthcare, education and innovation. Our government believes strongly in partnering with our province’s best and brightest front line workers, entrepreneurs and community leaders to create better results that will lead to a more prosperous Manitoba. We are committed to working in partnership with Manitobans to make Manitoba the most improved province in Canada.
Many of the commitments from the Throne Speech follow through on our election promises. The implementation of a comprehensive, value-for-money review across government has already begun and remains one of the most overdue transitions. New trade will be gained through membership in the New West Partnership agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Both of these opportunities have been long sought after for our province and are a welcome addition for Manitoba’s economy. The Throne Speech also included our election promise of abolishing the ‘vote tax’ subsidy for political parties and restoring Manitobans’ right to vote on major tax increases, such as the PST.
I was encouraged to hear the health and education initiatives that will benefit all Manitobans. These include the reduction of ambulance fees, the establishing of a Emergency Room wait time reduction task force, and the initial steps toward the implementation of additional personal care home beds. Also included was investment in the education of future leaders through early years literacy programming, as well as the start of consultations on post-secondary scholarships and bursaries with job creators here in Manitoba.
I feel very fortunate that the residents of Steinbach have put their trust in me to be a part of this new government. As always, I promise to be a strong voice for Steinbach and a tireless advocate for our community. It has always been and continues to be a great honour to serve you and your family.
