Government not doing enough for Manitobans: Kinew

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This article was published 05/10/2020 (1544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobans from all walks of life are making sacrifices to keep the public safe during the pandemic, while the Pallister government is failing to do its part, NDP Leader Wab Kinew said Tuesday, as he unveiled his party’s “alternative throne speech.”

High school students are receiving in-class instruction every second or third day, businesses are struggling, and grandparents haven’t seen their grandkids since the start of the school year due to the inherent risks to their health, he said.

“Everybody in Manitoba has been making sacrifices all year long,” Kinew said. “I would ask you, ‘Has the government of Manitoba met your level of sacrifice with an equivalent effort to make your life better?'”

The NDP leader says the answer is no, and the government’s failure to properly grapple with long lineups for novel coronavirus screening tests is the proof.

“When you look at the work that the government is putting into staffing these testing sites, can you honestly say that they’ve matched your commitment with an equivalent level of effort?… I don’t think so,” he said.

It’s been a tradition in recent years for the Opposition party at the Manitoba legislature to unveil an alternative blueprint for the coming legislative session in advance of the government’s speech from the throne.

The NDP’s nine-page document is long on criticisms of the Pallister government and short on ideas for action it hasn’t already shared with the public.

Kinew said the government needs a better COVID-19 plan, one that boosts testing capacity by training and hiring more staff and redoubles efforts to recruit retired nurses — as well as health-care aides who received nursing training in other countries — to staff screening sites.

The NDP is advocating the establishment of a booking system at coronavirus screening facilities to alleviate long lineups — particularly before winter sets in.

The party is also pressing for greater staffing of personal care homes, improved funding for child care, and more targeted aid for entrepreneurs.

Small businesses will require more direct financial assistance if they are to weather the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kinew said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca