The Manitoba Government unveiled its plan for the upcoming Legislative Session in the Speech from the Throne, read today by Manitoba’s Lt.-Gov. Philip Lee. Below you will find a bulleted list of some initiatives of interest to MGEU members.
• New Manitoba Youth Corps;
• Innovative 'Early Returns' program phased-in at licensed daycares and nursery schools;
• Online child-care registry to be expanded provincewide;
• Expansion of infant-care spaces;
• Pension plan for child-care workers beginning Dec. 1;
• New ambulance helicopter;
• 100 per cent access to a family physician;
• Quick-care clinics staffed by nurse practitioners;
• Primary health-care bus;
• Mobile units for minimally invasive surgery;
• Legislation to cap health-administrative costs;
• Construction of ACCESS St. James, new Women's Hospital, Ste. Anne Hospital and Mental Health Crisis Centre at the Health Sciences Centre (HSC) to begin this year;
• Establishing a new mental-health court;
• Planning for new correctional facilities;
• Strengthened FASD strategy;
• Further increase to minimum wage;
• Improvement to pension rules;
• Regulation of residential development outside of Winnipeg to ensure proper water and waste-water treatment;
• New nutrient-reduction targets to save Lake Winnipeg;
• Improvements to provincial parks including repairs to damage caused by the recent bad weather;
• New five-year highways and bridges plan;
• Work toward better access to Red Seal Apprentice designation in rural and remote areas;
• Expanded drainage, especially in the Interlake region;
• Long-term downtown redevelopment strategy for Brandon;
• Construction of Westman CancerCare Centre and Flin Flon Clinic, provision of dialysis services at Gimli, Russell and Peguis, and ambulance facilities at Ste. Rose and Arborg which are now underway; and
• New emergency ward at the Dauphin Hospital