11/22/22

Treaty 1 and Dakota Territory, Homeland of the Red River Métis, Winnipeg MB—NDP Leader Wab Kinew says he would end the PC’s municipal funding freeze. Kinew made the commitment while addressing the Association of Manitoba Municipalities at their annual convention.

“Manitobans want to feel proud of where they come from, and that means delivering resources needed to build a good community. For seven years PCs have abandoned families and communities and left it to municipal leaders to try and fill the gaps. Enough is enough,” said Kinew. “If elected, an NDP government would end the PC funding freeze and work with municipal leaders to deliver reliable, quality services for families and create good jobs across the province. It’s the right thing to do.”

The PCs have frozen operating funds to municipalities for seven years, meaning municipalities are tackling 2022 costs and new inflationary pressures with 2016 levels of funding. The freeze has forced municipalities to cut essential services and scale back on services that matter to families. Municipal operations that contribute to our sense of community, like recreation facilities, have been forced to limit hours or close altogether because of staffing challenges. Municipalities are struggling to maintain culverts and ditches which is making flooding more threatening around the province to homes, farms and infrastructure.

In the middle of the pandemic, while municipalities struggled to maintain essential services, PC Minister Rochelle Squires told local leaders to lay off workers and cut wages to deal with rising costs. At least 1,300 municipal employees lost their jobs during the pandemic because of the PCs reckless cuts.