Meth epidemic, health-care cuts top issues for Liberals in mock throne speech

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/11/2018 (2230 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Liberals say they would use income from taxes and levies on legalized cannabis to fund drug-awareness programs and supports for meth addicts.

In releasing their “alternative throne speech” Monday, the Liberals, led by Dougald Lamont, called meth addiction “a fast-moving epidemic” and characterized the government’s response so far as “stuck… in slow motion.”

The province’s second opposition party would use an estimated $12.8 million in cannabis revenues to create drug-stabilization units so people can “detox in a safe, secure setting.” It would also create transitional housing, with mental-health supports, for addicts. It also committed to working with Ottawa and municipalities on longer-term housing so addicts could stay sober and resume independent lives.

The fourth session of the 41st Manitoba legislature kicks off Tuesday with the speech from the throne. Last week, the Opposition NDP presented an alternative throne speech, focusing on what it would do if it were in power. And on Monday, the Liberals, with four seats in the house, followed suit.

The Liberals said the Progressive Conservative government’s cuts to the province’s special drugs program are forcing some Manitobans with diabetes “to choose between insulin and bankruptcy” because of new costs that are not covered by Manitoba’s Pharmacare program.

The party said it would use federal health-care funding to restore the special drugs program and create public awareness programs around diabetes. It would also fund the provision of insulin pumps and make insulin test strips free, or more affordable.

“We have people who are suffering from chronic conditions who could be much healthier if better care were to be available earlier,” Lamont told reporters.

Meanwhile, the Liberals called on the Progressive Conservatives to “immediately cease” any plans they may have to amalgamate school divisions, arguing that there is little evidence that amalgamations would save money or improve education.

The party said, if it were in government, it would create an independent “integrity commissioner” with powers of investigation and enforcement for conflict-of-interest and harassment complaints against MLAs and municipal officials.

Citing a Free Press story showing that the provincial government had spent more than $16 million over the last two years on outside consultants to help draft policy, the Liberals noted that little of the money went to Manitoba-based consultants. It proposed to end the practice of contracting to out-of-province companies or consultants “with no skin in the game.”

The provincial Liberals did not attach a cost figure for the promises contained in their 12-page blueprint.

Nor did they explain how they would find the money to pay for a vow to take less money annually from the financially strapped Manitoba Hydro. In 2017-2018, the province received $383 million in taxes and fees from the Crown corporation, the party said.

Lamont said a Liberal government would eliminate “a considerable portion” of what the province now collects from Hydro. He said the corporation’s financial situation is dire because of past financial mismanagement, and the province is in a better position to assume some of its debt.

“We have to be realistic about it. Preventing Hydro from collapsing is the No. 1 thing because it affects the ability for the government to pay for everything else,” he said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca