Pallister celebrates political goal
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/09/2020 (1452 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister took time to celebrate accomplishing one of his major political goals Tuesday, while fending off questions about his future.
The government announced it had balanced the province’s budget last year, for the first time since 2009, posting a surplus of $5 million.
Placing the province on a more solid fiscal footing has been a key objective of the 66-year-old Pallister since he became premier in 2016.
Asked if he was going to run again in the next election, Pallister would not tip his hand.
“My intention is going to be shared with you when I decide to say something about that. My intention right now is to continue staying focused with (Finance Minister) Scott (Fielding) and others on our team, our cabinet, our caucus, to make sure that Manitoba leads the way in getting back on its feet after this COVID challenge is over. And more than that, that we continue to grow our province — as we’ve done here,” he said.
Asked if he might make an announcement next spring, the premier said: “It might be the spring, summer, it could be the fall, and it might be the winter. It might be 2029, it might be 2036. I mean, I’m half the age of (U.S. presidential nominees) Joe Biden (77) and Donald Trump (74). So I have all the energy in the world to focus on helping rebuild our province. And I’ll stay focused on that.”
While the province also released Tuesday its latest estimates of revenues and expenditures for the current fiscal year — and the possibility of a $2.9-billion deficit — Pallister dwelled on the success of balancing last year’s budget in his remarks to reporters, calling it “historic news.”
“Today, we celebrate the accomplishment of balancing the budget. We did it. And we did it with discipline and we did it with compassion. We didn’t do it with reducing services. We did it by growing the economy,” he said.
larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
Larry Kusch
Legislature reporter
Larry Kusch didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life until he attended a high school newspaper editor’s workshop in Regina in the summer of 1969 and listened to a university student speak glowingly about the journalism program at Carleton University in Ottawa.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Larry Kusch
Legislature reporter
Larry Kusch didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life until he attended a high school newspaper editor’s workshop in Regina in the summer of 1969 and listened to a university student speak glowingly about the journalism program at Carleton University in Ottawa.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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