While a new legislative session is underway in Manitoba, I’m proud of several of our government’s recent announcements and achievements.
The number of children in the care of Child and Family Services (CFS) in Manitoba has decreased for the first time in 15 years. It’s a strong indication that our provincial government is on the right course with the CFS transformation we began last year to bring better results for families and children. I’m also pleased that Manitoba is no longer the child poverty capital of Canada. We will build on these successes as we continue to reduce these numbers.
Our work to streamline health-care services, better co-ordinate service delivery and more easily embrace innovative ideas that improve patient care has allowed us to invest an additional $5.3 million in hip, knee and cataract surgeries in 2019. This will ensure an additional 1,000 hip and knee replacements and 2,000 more cataract surgeries next year. We have also reduced MRI wait times by 30 per cent and will reduce them further, ensuring better care sooner.
We are committed to greater transparency and public engagement in our education system. For the first time in 20 years in Manitoba, Grade 12 provincial test results at the school division level have been made public, enabling parents to become better informed. The divisional results of the Grade 12 tests will provide important context for our government’s upcoming review of Manitoba’s entire kindergarten to Grade 12 system. The review, to begin in 2019, will be the first in-depth study of Manitoba’s child education system in decades and will engage parents, education professionals, international experts, students and stakeholders on ways to improve it.
Finally, I congratulate owner Lori Mann and operations manager Lona Barnowich on the grand opening of Maple Bus Lines at Burntwood Village Plaza in Thompson last weekend. It’s rewarding to see business owners like Mann and her team recognizing the tremendous opportunities and potential of the north, and investing in that optimism with and for northerners.
