Last week, Finance Minister Scott Fielding visited a number of cities throughout Manitoba in order to get a feel for what his government should prioritize in their upcoming provincial budget.
On Oct. 16, the minister and his team dropped by the Ma-Mow-We-Tak Friendship Centre to find out how Thompson, and Northern Manitoba in general, fits into that equation.
Throughout this two-hour pre-budget consultation, Fielding heard from business owners, city officials and members of the public about their stance on health care, education and financial aid for mining communities, with substantial job cuts and the permanent closure of Vale’s smelter and refinery fresh in the minds of many participants.
Fielding highlighted what he saw as the current administration’s achievements within these areas, saying that they invested $386 million more in healthcare last year than the previous government did in 2015, while also contending with a large deficit that the NDP left behind.
The minister also pointed to more tangible manifestations of their efforts to invest in healthcare, like the rapid access to addictions and medicine clinic, which opened up in Thompson two days after this meeting took place.
“People recognize the financial mess that the province was left with when we came into office,” said Fielding. “But I think people want to make sure that we’re on a steady pathway to reducing the deficit because they do realize the fact that we’re spending over a billion dollars in debt servicing costs.”
Outgoing Mayor Dennis Fenske, who was a panellist at the Oct. 16 meeting, later told the Thompson Citizen that the Conservative party’s ongoing rhetoric about the deficit is “wearing thin,” especially since the government’s public accounts recently revealed that the summary deficit for 2017−18 was actually $145 million lower than forecast in the province’s 2017 budget.
Fenske also expressed frustration that Fielding didn’t budge when it came to the province’s stance on the Mining Community Reserve Fund (MCRF), which has been a persistent sore spot between the city and the Manitoba government for several months now.
During the meeting, Fielding echoed Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen’s past comments by saying that Thompson won’t be getting access to the MCRF because the funds don’t currently surpass the $10 million threshold that is required through the Mining Tax Act.
Fenske said this argument about not going below the threshold is irrelevant because 2019 represents a new budgeting year with new revenues.
On top of saying that the 2019 budget should allocate more financial aid for Thompson’s mining sector, the soon-to-be-former-mayor also asked Fielding to consider tweaking the Mining Tax Act so that the conflicting interpretations of the province and the city can be resolved in the future.
“The fact that we lose 750 jobs, it’s the largest job loss since the induction of the fund, and that the community affected can’t access the fund, that tells me that the legislation is worded inappropriately,” said Fenske.
Fenske also talked about how this recent meeting featured continued miscommunication between the city and the province, since he and current councillors weren’t originally invited to participate.
In an Oct. 22 email to the Citizen, a provincial spokesperson clarified that sitting members of Thompson city council weren’t invited to sit on the panel at first because the province didn’t want to show favouritism ahead of the Oct. 24 municipal election.
Fenske said he hopes that the new mayor and council will be able to improve these channels of communication so that the two parties can get on the same page when it comes to securing the financial security of the north.
“A relationship means there’s two sides to it and I would hope that both the council and the provincial representatives, our local MLA, would ensure that when there are topics to be discussed pertinent to the City of Thompson that both parties are in the same room and talking as opposed to denying what one or the other is saying.”
Fielding said the province will introduce its 2019 budget in either February or March.
For those who couldn’t attend the pre-budget consultation but still want to have their say, the province has set up an online survey at www.manitobansmakingchoices.ca.
