This afternoon, Manitoba’s newly elected Progressive Conservative Government unveiled its first budget. The budget charts a course for how the Province will invest tax dollars in the coming year and sets a tone for other organizations to plan for their futures.

MGEU President, Michelle Gawronsky was watching to see whether the government’s commitment to protecting public services was reflected in today’s budget. MGEU members have consistently brought forward concerns about being stretched thin with fewer resources and increased workloads because of positions going unfilled as part of vacancy management programs. Their hope was that some of these concerns would be addressed in the budget, as well.

“Manitobans voted for change in who will lead them over the next four years, but they haven’t changed their minds about the importance of public services – they want them protected,” Gawronsky said. ”Manitobans don’t want austerity and cuts, they want investment in services and jobs, and that’s what we wanted to see today.”

What today’s budget revealed was not radically different from recent budgets under the previous government, but there were signs of concern. Of particular note was the inclusion of language about privatization schemes, like social impact bonds, being used to fund public services, the relative lack of attention paid to alleviating poverty, and no mention of an increase to the minimum wage. There was also a $1.8 million funding cut to the Manitoba Developmental Centre.

On the positive side, the budget included continued support for home care, long term care, community living, and colleges and universities, while the Selkirk Mental Health Centre and Addictions Foundation Manitoba also saw their funding maintained.

For MGEU members, of course, the discussion will always centre on protecting and enhancing services and Manitobans share these priorities. Recently, MGEU released the results of a public opinion poll that underlined the top priority for Manitobans, as it has consistently been in the past, is protecting public services. Based on poll results, and advice from its members, MGEU recommended that the government hold true to their commitment to protect public services, ensure no privatization of services takes place, including using social impact bonds or other privatization schemes to fund and deliver public services, and increase taxes on large corporations and on households with before tax annual incomes of $200,000.

“These priorities reflect the wishes and values of Manitobans,” Gawronsky said. “And while this budget did not contain a lot in the way of cuts, we’ll be taking a closer look at the details in the days to come."