Treaty 1 Territory, Homeland of the Red River Métis, Winnipeg, MB - Dougald Lamont and the Manitoba Liberals launched their 2023 election campaign today with the release of their costed platform.
Lamont said the platform offers a clear contrast between the Manitoba Liberal Party and other parties as the only party offering a real choice for real change in the election.
“We want to make it clear to Manitobans: this is our plan to rebuild broken services and fix what’s broken in health, in education, in justice, in our relationships with Indigenous Manitobans and so much more,” said Lamont. “If you are fiscally responsible, progressive and you want solutions that will work in Manitoba for everyone, there is only one real choice for real change, and that is Dougald Lamont and the Manitoba Liberal Party.”
The platform was developed over months of consultations with a wide range of stakeholders - individuals, community organizations, Mayors, municipalities, Indigenous leaders, labour, businesses, and other stakeholders across our province on the best plan to tackle Manitoba’s crises. It will be released in French translation shortly.
Highlights of the platform include:
HEALTH CARE
Reducing wait times and ease staffing shortages with “Thank you bonuses” of $5,000-$10,000 for all front-facing health workers, nurses and health care professionals.
New training positions for doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners with a new faculty of rural and northern family medicine in Brandon
Covering mental health & regulated psychotherapy under Medicare
FISCAL POLICY & COST OF LIVING
Introducing progressive, evidence-based personal income tax cuts. We will provide relief to Manitobans by increasing the Basic Personal Exemption for those who need it most, while gradually reducing the exemption as income rises.
Unlike the NDP, Manitoba Liberals will NOT keep the PC budget or borrowing $453-million to send cheques to out-of-province billionaires. We will repeal the richest 80% of rebates, reducing the deficit by $360-million, while keeping 20% in place to protect low-income, seniors and others who may be facing hardship.
A guaranteed minimum income for seniors 60 and over as well as for people with disabilities
Creating jobs through investments in strategic infrastructure
JUSTICE & STANDING WITH THE VICTIMS OF CRIME
Searching the Prairie Green Landfill with an initial commitment of $42-million
Creating Emergency Shelters for women and children fleeing violence
Fighting Human Trafficking and Organized Crime with new Tools to expose the abuse of corporate “fronts”
RECONCILIATION
The Manitoba Court of King’s Bench found that between 2006 and 2019, the Manitoba Government violated the human rights of thousands of Indigenous children by taking them from their families, confiscating $338-million in federal child supports and passing a law so the children could not sue. The seizures occurred under both the PC and NDP. Manitoba Liberals are the only party committed to righting this wrong.
New supports for birth and other services in the north
Compensation for Hydro-Affected Communities
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Creating a $300-million annual Green Fund, which will pay for investments helping all Manitobans fight climate change
Taking back control of our climate policy and levies
EDUCATION & CULTURE
Ensuring stable funding for our public education system
Screening for learning and other disabilities for all children, so they can get help right away overcoming barriers
REBUILDING RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT
Ranked ballots in provincial elections to end strategic voting
Requiring RHAs, Shared Health and Public Health to report annually and face questions from a committee of the Legislature
Ending the abuse of NDAs for cover-ups
Protecting freedom of expression with Anti-SLAPP legislation and strengthened whistleblower protection
“We need to be realistic. We can’t afford what the PCs and NDP are both promising - which is more of the same. We will restore stable and secure education funding and substantially improve the province’s finances for everything else we need to do,” said Lamont. “The NDP and PCs are running on the same fiscally conservative platform – and fiscal conservatism is not the same thing as fiscal responsibility. There is only one progressive, fiscally responsible choice in this election, and it’s the Manitoba Liberal Party.”
You can read the full 2023 Manitoba Liberal Platform here.
