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Budget 2017
Protecting Front Line Services and Vulnerable Manitobans
Manitoba spends more per-capita on health care than nearly every other province yet wait times for emergency health care, diagnostic testing and necessary surgeries rank worst in the country. Our government is addressing this unacceptable legacy by launching an expert Wait Times Reduction Task Force, and regional health authorities are already implementing some of the recommendations in a report commissioned by the previous government concerning necessary improvements to health care.
The Manitoba government is focusing its limited resources where it matters most - in health care, supports for families and education. Budget 2017:
- provides record high levels of investment to Manitoba Health, Seniors and Active Living, including $107.5 million in new spending with targeted investments in primary health care services, cancer drugs, expanded dialysis treatment, mental health services and reduced ambulance fees
- makes significant investments in Manitoba Families, increasing its budget by more than $105 million and moving quickly to improve the supply and quality of affordable housing, address wait lists for child care spaces, provide appropriate support for Employment Income and Rental Assistance programming clients and protect the Primary Caregiver Tax Credit
- provides a significant funding boost to Manitoba Education and Training with an overall increase of $36 million, including measures that will focus on reducing barriers to post-secondary education for low-income students and ensure that the province has a highly skilled and adaptable workforce able to meet the economic and labour market opportunities of the future
- provides an increase of $12 million to Manitoba Justice including commitments to innovative approaches to the backlogs that plague our province's justice system, including the integration of restorative justice into community corrections