REALITY CHECK: PALLISTER’S CUTS MAKES LIFE HARDER FOR PEOPLE IN THOMPSON
Thompson, MB – Brian Pallister has made life harder for people in the North – he’s cut supports for health care by cutting the Northern Patient Transportation Program, privatizing LifeFlight, cancelling a consultation clinic for Thompson and delaying investments for a new roof for Thompson hospital.
“Pallister has ignored Northern Manitoba for three years while jobs have been lost and services cut,” said Danielle Adams, NDP candidate for Thompson. “They refused to use millions from the Mining Community Reserve Fund to help Thompson when hundreds of jobs were lost at the mine – how can Northerners believe anything he says now?”
Pallister’s record shows he has done nothing for the North for three long years:
• Pallister refused a request from the City of Thompson to use funds from the Mining Community Reserve Fund to help as hundreds of good jobs were lost
• Pallister and his PCs said it was ‘business as usual’ as Thompson lost over 430 jobs at Vale’s mining operations in 2018, leaving many families struggling
• Pallister cut millions from the Northern Regional Health Authority while cancelling important projects like a clinic for Thompson
• Pallister cut $19 million – a 30% cut – from 2015/16 to 2017/18 from the Northern Region Infrastructure office cancelling important road and highway projects in the North
“Pallister’s record is clear – he doesn’t care about the North. Wab Kinew and the NDP have a plan to rebuild the Northern economy after three years of Pallister’s cuts,” said Adams. “We will invest in infrastructure, use the Mining Community Reserve Fund to help communities experiencing job losses and mine closures and invest in health care for communities across the North. If Pallister spent as much time in the North as he did in Costa Rica, he would know Northerners are tired of being ignored and are ready for change”.