Leading up to the provincial election, Manitoba's municipalities have four critical requests of the provincial parties and their candidates. The requests relate to municipal funding, physical infrastructure, social infrastructure and safe communities. These priorities form the AMM’s “Let’s grow Manitoba together” initiative.
Municipal funding
For funding fairness & predictability Government needs to:
- Work with municipalities to establish a simplified, predictable funding model with an annual escalator
- Rebate the PST paid by municipalities, similarly to the federal GST rebate. It’s not fair for one level of government to tax another for providing service to residents
- Streamline existing tax tools; grant greater tax flexibility and autonomy to municipalities
Physical infrastructure
To invest in core infrastructure Government needs to:
- Increase Manitoba Water Services Board funding for water and wastewater infrastructure, and commit to advocate for a permanent federal and provincial infrastructure fund
- Amend Bill 37 to enshrine the primacy of elected municipal councils over the unelected Municipal Board
- Improve coordination between economic development offices and agencies for efficiencies, synergies and responsiveness to municipal economic development needs
- Commit to comprehensive rural broadband and cell service – essential infrastructure for economic growth, public safety, education, and health care
Social infrastructure
To invest in people Government needs to:
- Accelerate a comprehensive provincial strategy to recruit health care professionals and paramedics throughout Manitoba
- Implement recommendations from the Immigration Advisory Council to increase regional settlement incentives for foreign-trained doctors and other professionals
- Implement training opportunities for licensed professionals closer to home, and keep government services locally in our communities
- Care closer to home – a plan to keep paramedics, doctors and other health professionals working in all our regions
Safe communities
To improve public safety Government needs to:
- Press the federal government for bail and conditional release reform to be tougher on repeat offenders, while also prioritizing social spending on crime reducing programs
- Refuse downloading of policing reform costs (RCMP collective bargaining, body cameras, etc.)
- Expedite the provincial policing review to provide predictability on local police resourcing, and flexibility to move some enforcement and social service functions from RCMP to other funded authorities (transit, mental health, etc.)
- Increase funding for policing to combat rising rates of crime and drug trafficking
- Expand municipal Community Safety and Well-Being plans
Find out more at https://www.amm.mb.ca/election-2023/
