
View the policy of the Manitoba NDP Caucus regarding these specific areas by clicking on the bar to expand the content area.
Health care

Better care, sooner
- 405 more doctors and 2,532 more nurses practicing in Manitoba than in 1999
- Wait time for radiation therapy cancer now just one week and the shortest in Canada (CIHI Wait Time Tables, 24 March 2010)
- Expansion and modernization of more than 100 health care facilities in Manitoba
- Strengthening of emergency care in Manitoba’s busiest ERs
- On the way – a Women’s Hospital, Mental Health Crisis Response Centre and a Birth Centre
Updated 20 July 2010
Our colleges and universities

Investments, not expenses
- A 60% tuition fee rebate for graduates of any eligible college, university or apprenticeship program who choose to live and pay taxes in Manitoba
- Largest bursary program in Manitoba’s history
- A 73% increase in overall funding to Manitoba colleges and universities
- Almost $700 million in new buildings and facilities for our universities and colleges
- Creation of the University College of the North with 2 main campuses and 12 regional centres, nine of them on reserves
Updated 12 June 2009
Highways

- Linking our communities, supporting business and connecting us to the continent
- A ten-year plan for highway renewal to improve safety and help stimulate the economy
- $545 million for highways in the 2009/10 budget, more than triple the previous government’s budget for 1999/2000
- Crews will be at work on 1,500 kilometers of Manitoba highways this season
- Construction begun on a road to link communities on the East Side of Lake Winnipeg
- Work underway on CentrePort Canada Way, a four-lane expressway linking the truck and rail inland port to the Perimeter Highway
Updated 15 June 2009
Immigration

Supporting economic development and enriching our culture
- 71,000 immigrants brought to Manitoba in the last decade
- A code of practice for the fair assessment and recognition of the credentials of immigrants, overseen by a fairness commissioner
- Legislation to better protect foreign workers from unscrupulous recruiters
- More investments in settlement services, including language training, for newcomers
- Resource guide for immigrant women, the first of its kind in Canada
- Funding for Philippine, Hindu, Islamic, Sikh and Hellenic ethno-cultural organizations
- Training programs to assist internationally trained professionals such as doctors, accountants, agrologists and engineers in obtaining Manitoba credentials
Updated 23 June 2009
Seniors

Tailoring legislation and services to the needs of seniors
- Special tax relief for seniors in the form of more generous tax credits and provisions for couples to split pension income for tax purposes
- An Aging in Place Strategy that gives seniors more choices in the kind of care they can receive while continuing to live in the community
- A SafetyAid program that provides low-income seniors with basic safety and fall-prevention devices
- Nine new personal care homes
- 90% more funding for home care – the best program in Canada
Updated July 2010
Poverty reduction

Fighting poverty on many fronts
- since 2000 Manitoba has reduced the rate of child poverty more than any other province. We now have the second-lowest child poverty rate in Canada.
- Manitoba has the second-lowest overall poverty rate in Canada.
- The rate of single mothers in poverty has declined by 67% since 2000. Manitoba now has the lowest poverty rate for single parents.
- Our government has increased the minimum wage by 50% since 1999 to its current $9.00, rising to $9.50 October 2010.
- We marked 10 years of fighting poverty with the launch of our AllAboard strategy. It builds on successes over the last decade in bringing more and more Manitobans on board as fully fledged participants in our economic and social life. http://www.gov.mb.ca/fs/allaboard.
Updated 20 July 2010
Taxes

Fair and responsible tax cuts
- Income and property tax measures save Manitobans $726 million annually
- Manitoba the only province to have reduced education property taxes between 2000 and 2008
- Education taxes on a typical home reduced by an average of 22% since 1999 – in the 1990s there was an average increase of 60%
- Elimination of the residential Education Support Levy
- Elimination of the small business income tax by December 2010
- Elimination of the general Corporation Capital Tax by 2011
- A nearly 30% decrease in the general Corporation Income Tax
Updated 27 July 2009
The workplace

Safety, prosperity, work-life balance
- 27% reduction of time lost to workplace injuries
- Steady increases to the minimum wage – from $6 in 1999 to $9 by the end of 2009
- Improvements to the Employment Standards Code, including provisions for family responsibility/sick leave, guaranteed reporting pay and new protection for children
- Workers Comp coverage extended to more industries
- Agricultural workers under the protection of the Employment Standards Code
Updated 27 July 2009
Business

Improving the climate for Manitoba business
- Help for businesses in dealing with the current tighter credit and capital markets through expanded tax credits, larger loans for expanding or upgrading businesses, and more funding for innovation
- Competitive tax rates – lowest small-business tax rate in the country, elimination of the general Corporation Capital tax by 2011, and lowering of the general Corporation Income tax rate to 12% from 17%
- Reshaping post-secondary education for the 21st century – aerospace, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, new media, info technology
- Strengthening the skill base of our economy by expanding apprenticeship programs
- Development of CentrePort Canada, which will connect Manitoba to export markets around the globe, create jobs and attract business investment
Updated 29 July 2009
Infrastructure

Stimulating the economy by advancing investments in public assets
- A visionary $1.6 billion investment in infrastructure projects this year by the government to stimulate the economy and create jobs, including CentrePort Canada, water-treatment plants, community centres, parks and trails
- Highways – A ten-year plan for highway renewal, including $545 million in this year’s budget, more than triple the previous government’s budget for 1999/2000
- Knowledge-based infrastructure – historic redevelopment of the U of M’s Fort Garry campus, training centre for Red River College at the Union Bank Tower, expansion and renovations at Assiniboine Community College, security upgrades at Brandon University, new labs at the Canadian Mennonite University
- Social housing – the province’s largest ever investment in safe, affordable housing
- Health infrastructure – Redevelopment of Westman Regional Lab, new dialysis units in Russell, Gimli and Winnipeg, revamp of the ER at Victoria General, Winnipeg’s first personal-care home for Aboriginal elders
Updated 5 August 2009
Manitobans with disabilities

Full citizenship
- A Disabilities Issues Office to give persons with disabilities more say in the programs and services which affect them
- A 223% increase in funding for the Supported Living Program for persons with intellectual disabilities
- New funding for fully accessible public housing throughout Manitoba
- A Manitoba Shelter Benefit to help persons with disabilities and others pay rent in the private housing market
- Goal of having persons with disabilities hold 7% of provincial government jobs
- A 31% increase in monthly assistance for persons with disabilities which helps support employment preparation and volunteerism, and offset the costs associated with living in the community
- Launch of consultations for a new long-term vision for Manitobans with disabilities with the discussion paper Opening Doors
Updated 2 September 2009
Families

Helping families flourish
- 40 per cent fewer Manitoba children are living in poverty than a decade ago
- Over 5,000 housing units repaired, renovated or built for low-income families
- 10,000 new child-care spaces funded
- Rebound to Work – retraining for low-income workers left jobless by the current downturn to return to the workforce
Updated 2 September 2009
The next generation

Keeping Manitoba’s young people
- A 60% tuition fee rebate for graduates of any eligible college, university or apprenticeship program anywhere in the world who choose to live and pay taxes in Manitoba
- Manitobans have enjoyed the most stable economy in Canada over the last decade. And Manitoba is among the top three when it comes to affordability.
- A youth unemployment rate that consistently ranks among the lowest in Canada
- Vibrant sport, culture and entertainment scene – MTS Centre, for example, was the 3rd busiest showbiz venue in Canada last year, and the 19th busiest in the world
- Brandon and Winnipeg make Top 10 of 154 communities in MoneySense magazine’s annual ranking of Canada’s Best Places to Live
- Manitoba gained 12,000 more young people between 1999 and 2007, reversing the drain of young people during the 1990s
Updated 14 September 2009
Manitoba Hydro

Keeping Hydro for the benefit of all Manitobans
- Manitoba Hydro rates among the lowest in North America
- Regina homes pay $601 more/year
- Toronto homes pay $573 more/year
- Calgary homes pay $485 more/year
- Best energy efficiency rating in Canada – Hydro’s Power Smart program has saved twice the power of a major hydro generating station such as Wuskwatim since 1999
- $15 billion investment in new Hydro projects – more than the largest Alberta oil sands project – to develop 2000 more megawatts of clean, renewable power for many generations to come
- $20 billion in Hydro export revenue projected over the next twenty years.
Manitoba Hydro is "a strategic economic advantage for Manitoba. Recognition of that has only increased with all the attention in Europe and the UN and the U.S. on energy security and the whole climate change issue."
Mary Webb, Scotia Bank Senior Economist
Updated 17 February 2010
Justice issues

Both tough and smart on crime
- Auto theft at its lowest point in 17 years, declining by nearly 80% since 2004
- Over 420 drug dens, bawdy houses and booze cans shut down under our Safer Communities Act
- 210 more police officers, 300 more correction workers across the province
- Nearly twice as much funding for the Prosecutions Branch
- Innovative crime-prevention programs for young people – Turnabout, Ototema, Lighthouses, Spotlight
- Toughest anti-gang and drunk-driving legislation in the country
Updated 10 March 2010
Our schools

Giving our kids the best start educationally
- 42% more funding for public schools over the past decade – in contrast to a mere 2% increase during the 1990s
- High school graduation rates soared from 71% in 2002 to 79% in 2008
- Community use of schools in less populated areas to keep them viable
- Manitoba the only province to have reduced property taxes between 2000 and 2008
- Education taxes on a typical home reduced by an average of 22% since 1999 – in the 1990s there was an average increase of 60%
Updated 10 March 2010
Climate change

- The first government in North America to set Kyoto targets for greenhouse-gas reduction into legislation
- First place for energy efficiency in the Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance’s ranking – up from ninth under previous government
- Trees for Tomorrow – five million more trees in the ground over five years
- Unprecedented expansion of clean energy supplies, including hydro, wind and geothermal sources
- Substantial investments in rapid transit, dedicated bicycle paths and recreational trails
- Ban on bulk water exports to maintain control of our water supply and safeguard our ecosystems
Updated 11 March 2010
Green and Growing

- $15 billion investment in new Hydro projects – more than the largest Alberta oil sands project – to develop 2000 more megawatts of clean, renewable power for many generations to come
- Manitoba a national leader in promoting geothermal (ground source) heat energy pumps for heating and cooling buildings
- Manitoba the first province in Canada to devise a detailed hydrogen development plan and test hydrogen transit buses – 20 of the Manitoba-manufactured buses operating at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics
- A green-energy manufacturing tax credit to promote the development and manufacture of clean energy technology
- "Sustainable development has become an economic linchpin in the Canadian province of Manitoba." Business Week 2 December 2005
Updated 15 March 2010
The economy

Building Manitoba’s future
- Consistently outperformed Canada as a whole in major economic indicators in 2009
- Stepped-up investments in health, education, water and transportation infrastructure to stimulate the economy
- Manitoba continuing to have one of the strongest labour markets in Canada since the start of the global downturn, having created 3,400 net jobs compared to a loss of 258,900 jobs at the national level.
- Strongest population growth in 38 years, as thousands of skilled immigrants make Manitoba their home
Updated 16 March 2010
Natural Areas

- More natural areas (1.26 million hectares) protected as parks, provincial forests, wildlife-management zones and ecological reserves
- Most comprehensive traditional land-use planning in Canada – 42% of our boreal forest now covered
- Support for East Side communities in getting recognition of their area as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO
- Endangered-species designation for polar bears, and a threatened-species listing for woodland caribou
- Ban on logging in 80 of Manitoba’s 81 provincial parks
Updated 16 March 2010
Responsible debt management

Paying down the debt
- A decrease in the net debt to GDP as a percentage from 31.5% in 1999 to the current 24.4%
- Debt-servicing costs reduced from 31.2 cents of every dollar of revenue in 1999 to six cents
- Largest payment in Manitoba’s history on the debt and pension liabilities – $944 million over the last 10 years
- Six credit upgrades since 1999
- Adoption of more rigorous and comprehensive accounting rules, as recommended by the auditor general
Updated 17 March 2010
Agriculture and rural initiatives

Responding to the evolving needs of rural Manitobans
- A doubling of the Agriculture budget between 1999 and 2009
- $407 million in income stabilization payments since 2008 through Growing Forward
- A 75% Farmland School Tax Rebate
- Made an increase in slaughter capacity possible by investing in upgrades to water- treatment plants in Neepawa and Brandon
Updated 18 March 2010
First Nations

A new era for Manitoba First Nations
- East Side Road Authority – Community Benefits Agreements signed with several First Nations ensuring that they are able to directly promote local employment
- Legislation ensuring that jobs and training opportunities are available for the residents of the East Side as work proceeds on the construction of an all-season road
- Working with First Nations to improve winter roads so that they remain open longer
- Northern Healthy Foods Initiative continues to take on new partners – currently over 300 northern gardens
- Setting aside of over 150,000 acres annually for First Nations as part of their treaty land entitlement
- $5 million fund for Aboriginal communities for consultations whenever any proposed provincial law, decision or action may interfere with Aboriginal rights
Updated 18 March 2010
The North

Building a vibrant North
- Amending Communities Economic Development Fund Act to give it wider powers to spur economic development in the North
- Finalizing agreements with Norway House Community Council and Cross Lake Council over past hydro developments
- Working with northern communities on improvements to northern housing
- Expansion of WASAC North to help young Aboriginals become more physically active and develop skills and leadership abilities
- Appointment of the MLA for Rupertsland as Deputy Premier
Updated 18 March 2010
Water

Protecting a valued resource
- Canada’s first and only government department devoted exclusively to water
- Implementing Framework for the Future, a blueprint for creating and maintaining healthy watersheds
- A national leader in comprehensive legislation to protect surface and groundwater from the impacts of phosphorus
- Established the Lake Winnipeg Action Plan to restore the health of the world’s tenth largest lake
- Initiated WaterSmart Manitoba to inform Manitobans of the benefits of conserving water
Updated 18 March 2010





















