As this virus maintains its presence in our province better reporting must be done to keep our northern communities informed about the cases. Reports on northern cases of the virus have remained general by only specifying a number and health authority (e.g. Northern Regional Health Authority) rather than stating a specific community. Whereas, in southern regions information has been much clearer on cases in Winnipeg and Selkirk. The lack of clarification in the north has led to rumours and speculations in the absence of fact. However, more information for people in the north will be beneficial, because with the necessary details people can react accordingly.
While the government has made some investments in research, it has been slow to announce immediate direct financial relief Manitobans. In fact, Manitoba is the only provincial government that has not provided any direct financial assistance to families nor small businesses amid these uncertain times. This is very disheartening, as we should be looking at the effective solutions taken by other jurisdictions to help citizens and follow suit sooner rather than later.
Many of our local business may not survive without some assistance from our provincial government. People who are already struggling may now be getting overwhelmed by debt and despair. It is time for the Pallister government to start caring about people.
We had an emergency sitting of the Manitoba legislature on April 15 to deal with COVID-19 related legislation. Unfortunately, none of these bills dealt with immediate financial relief for Manitobans and the government initially tried to slip in and ram through all their other harmful legislation that would have affected us all for years to come. These bills included Bill 44 – The Public Utilities Ratepayer Protection and Regulatory Reform Act, which would have allowed the government to increase hydro and MPI rates without independent oversight;\, and Bill 8 – The Pensions Benefits Amendment Act, which weakens pensions during these difficult financial times. We were successful in putting a stop to this and the sitting was spent dealing with COVID-19 specific bills. As the Official Opposition we managed to make several amendments to those bills to better reflect the needs of Manitobans. We will continue to work to convince the government to help people and small business to survive this pandemic.
There have now been additional restrictions placed on travel north of the 53 parallel and while some may find this disruptive, we need to recognize the challenges to health care throughout the north. There is a shortage of intensive care beds throughout our region, a shortage of medical staff in all of our communities and overcrowding and lack of access to clean water in many of our northern communities. We must work together to prevent the virus from getting a foothold in our north.
This period has been a time that may fundamentally change the way we do things post-pandemic. For example, changes in how we shop, how we work or where we remain employed. While necessity may be the mother of invention, we need to ensure the future we invent will look brighter for everyone.
While the office is closed we continue to work from home and can be reached by emailat Flinflon1@yourmanitoba.ca or Tom.Lindsey@yourmanitoba.ca or by calling 1-204-687-3246.
