At the Council of the Federation meeting in Halifax, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew laid out his government’s priorities for Manitobans including addressing the health-care shortage and fairness on affordability commitments.
In a media release, Kinew said “Manitobans have given us a clear mandate to work together to deliver on making life better by fixing health care and lowering costs for families. This weekend, I shared these priorities with premiers from across Canada at the Council of the Federation. We can only solve these challenges if we work together, which is why I was happy to see the provinces commit to stop poaching health-care talent from neighbouring jurisdictions – something that never happened under the previous government. I also shared the important work our government has already started in lowering costs and ending chronic homelessness in our province.”
The November 2023 Council of the Federation was the first premiers’ meeting attended by Kinew. The meeting included a health summit where leaders shared health-care innovations to address growing health-care staffing shortages and strains on local health-care systems.
Kinew noted the Manitoba government has taken immediate measures to support frontline health-care staff including creating direct lines of communication between workers at the bedside and government leaders. Last week, the government also committed to an affordability plan to provide relief at the pump by cutting the provincial gas tax, while also announcing an expansion of shelter hours to offer support to people experiencing homelessness in city centres across the province, said the premier.
