September 17, 2023 | Treaty 1 and Dakota Territory, Homeland of the Red River Métis, Winnipeg MB - Today Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew announced that a Manitoba NDP Government will build the new Cancer Care Building to expand cancer services at the Health Sciences Centre. CancerCare was due to get a second building, but Heather Stefanson and the PCs cut it in 2017. 

Dr. Dhaliwal, former CEO of CancerCare Manitoba from 2003 – 2013, and recipient of the order of Manitoba, endorsed Kinew’s plan. 

 “The current CancerCare building was full the day it opened in 2003,” he said. “We shouldn’t have to send patients away to receive the care they should receive here at home in Manitoba. The new building is essential and urgently needed. So I wholeheartedly support Wab Kinew’s plan to build a new addition to CancerCare.” 

A new CancerCare building had been planned a decade ago to expand cancer screening, early detection, and treatment as well as capacity for clinical trials.  When Heather Stefanson became Deputy Premier in 2016, however, one of the first things she did was cancel the new CancerCare building.  Current CancerCare CEO Dr. Sri Navaratnam said at the time: "The decision that we received, it's not something that I wanted to hear.”  

CancerCare currently spends operating funding to rent space from other buildings on the HSC campus just to deliver care to patients while the lot where the new headquarters was supposed to be built sits empty to this day.  

“The last twenty years have led to dramatic advances in cancer treatments, but many are complex and require highly trained staff and equipment,” Dr. Dhaliwal added. “Clinical trials, research and coordinated team care are the bedrock of high-quality cancer management. Renting poorly planned space wastes precious operating dollars and fragments care. The current building cannot cope; and if we cannot keep up with the newest developments then we are delivering yesterday’s care. Implementing the proposed plan is not only necessary but urgently required.” 

Wab Kinew said his plan to build a second CancerCare facility at HSC will bring the best cancer care and research under one roof. “The new centre will attract leading clinical providers and researchers, bringing them together to collaborate on the latest research and treatments for patients so we can deliver world-class cancer care for every family in our province.”  

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