Manitoba Legislature begins spring sitting

Manitoba politicians returned to the legislature Tuesday to begin a spring sitting that will focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, health-care capacity and proposed changes to election rules.

The annual budget is likely to be delivered in the first half of April, Premier Heather Stefanson said, and will include more money for health care.

"We know that there are many investments [to be made], particularly in the area of surgical and diagnostic backlogs, so we'll be looking to make more investments in those areas," Stefanson said in an interview Monday.

The pandemic has hit Manitoba hard. The province has recorded the second-highest per-capita death rate behind Quebec, data tracked by the federal government indicates.

Hospitals, which had little extra capacity, were stretched last spring to the point where dozens of intensive care patients were flown to other provinces. Thousands of surgeries and diagnostic tests have been postponed so that staff can be redeployed to provide COVID-19 care.

The Opposition New Democrats said they will use the spring sitting, which is to go until early June, to push Stefanson for answers about health care.

"She failed to fix the surgery backlog her government created ... and has no solutions to fix health care," NDP Leader Wab Kinew said in a news release.

Stefanson, who took over as Progressive Conservative leader and premier in November following the retirement of Brian Pallister, has also decided to lift COVID-19 restrictions. A health order requiring proof of vaccination at public indoor venues was dropped Tuesday. Having to wear masks in indoor public places is to end March 15.

The budget will contain another deficit. Aside from one small surplus in 2019, Manitoba has recorded red ink every year since 2009.

Stefanson said the Tories still aim to balance the books by 2028 and to phase out education taxes on property — promises she inherited from her predecessor. But, she said, the government will take a cautious approach, given the pandemic's effects and the potential economic fallout from the war in Ukraine.

"There are obviously so many things out there that are just beyond our control," she said.

Condolences speeches were the first order of business Tuesday for former legislature members who died recently, including New Democrat Danielle Adams, who was killed in a highway crash in December.

One of the bills to be introduced in the coming days could change the Elections Act to make it easier for voters and reduce the load on workers at polling stations.

One change, proposed at a committee hearing last fall, would allow voters to cast ballots at any polling station in their constituency instead of at one designated station.

Another proposal would make greater use of electronic machines to accept and count ballots.

The government is also mulling the idea of no longer publishing the home addresses of candidates online over increased concerns about personal safety in recent years.

The spring sitting marks the return of all legislature members to the chamber. Many have taken part via video conferencing during the pandemic to reduce the number of people in the chamber and allow those attending to spread out.

The option will still be available for any member who is ill, Stefanson said.