More of the same from Stefanson government

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/12/2021 (1101 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last month, we held an abbreviated session in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly. This session, however, was a historic sitting as the first woman premier in Manitoba’s history — Heather Stefanson — was sworn in to office.

Once again, congratulations to the new premier.

Sadly, we quickly saw just how similar Premier Stefanson is to the former premier, her mentor Brian Pallister. Throughout the session, I watched the new premier dodge question after question about what her government plans to do to mitigate the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. I watched as Premier Stefanson steadfastly refused to implement a vaccine mandate for personal care home staff, thus putting our seniors and elders at risk.

But the clearest example of how the Stefanson government is little more than a repeat of Pallister’s came on the first day of the session in her government’s first speech from the throne. Unfortunately,the throne speech failed to address many of the urgent and critical issues faced by Manitoba families, such as the rising cost of living and health-care cuts, including cuts made while Premier Stefanson was health minister.

While the Progressive Conservatives kept fighting to retain the status quo, the Manitoba NDP and I advanced a positive and progressive vision.

In particular, I was proud to reintroduce a bill to create a buffer zone around abortion clinics protecting Manitoban’s right to access healthcare safely. I also fought alongside my NDP colleagues, calling for an investigation into the province’s pandemic response.

Over the past 20 months, St. Johns families have watched as seniors and elders in personal care homes were left abandoned due to understaffing and while our health-care system was overwhelmed to the point we sent our sickest patients out of the province.

We have a responsibility to take an honest look at what went so horribly wrong to ensure it doesn’t happen again and that we build a more resilient health-care system, economy, and province.

That’s why we’re calling for an dndependent public inquiry overseen by  intensive-care unit doctors, nurses, epidemiologists, long-term care researchers and legal experts.

For now, though, as we continue to navigate this pandemic, my two sons, Jonah and Niniichaanis, and I wish you and your family a happy holiday season!

I can be reached at my office by phone at 204-792-2773 or by email at nahanni.fontaine@yourmanitoba.ca