Campaign promise tracker for the Manitoba election

WINNIPEG — Fixing roads, boosting university grants and cutting taxes; there are a lot of promises being made during the provincial election campaign and it may be difficult to keep track.

Global News broke down the promises made by the major political parties since the campaign kicked off March 16.

April 13

Progressive Conservatives

• Released their plan for the first 100 days. Promises not made prior in the campaign listed below:
  • Abolish the NDP ‘vote tax’ subsidy for political parties
  • Restore the right to vote on tax increases
  • Initiate the value for money review
  • Reduce the size of Cabinet
  • Table The Protecting Children Act
  • Implement the Open Government initiative
  • Establish Red Tape Reduction Task Force
  • Meet with City of Winnipeg, AMM and other municipalities to provide Fair Say on strategic infrastructure investment
  • Engage indigenous leaders on duty to consult
  • Initiate 96/4 Tourism commitment and launch Yes! North
  • Establish the Premier’s Enterprise Team
  • Send Bipole III project to the Public Utilities Board for a proper review

Liberal

• Amend Phosphorus Reduction Act
  • Eliminate phosphorous from all soaps including industrial use soaps and detergents.
  • introduce legislation to ban micro beads from all products sold in Manitoba

April 8

Progressive Conservatives

• Release platform “Better Manitoba”
  • Link to “Better Plan for a Better Manitoba”
  • Link to platform costing report

April 7

NDP

• The party promises to boost funding to fix Winnipeg roads.
  • Party would give provincial capital $65 million a year to patch potholes and fix dozens of streets.
  • That money would be on top of the $250 million the NDP already promised to spend on roads over the next five years.

Progressives Conservatives

• The Progressive Conservatives said they’ll boost funding for home-based daycares to lower wait list for child care spots.
  • Create 550 home daycare spots in 2016.
  • Review regulations for daycare operators to make them less cumbersome.
  • Work with schools to establish daycare centres.

April 6

NDP

• Party promises to complete an inner ring road, moving out rail lines and expanding rapid transit.
  • Funding will come from the NDP’s $10-billion core infrastructure plan.
  • Will fast track the completion of the inner ring road, starting with Chief Peguis Trail.
  • Relocate urban rail lines our of residential neighborhoods.

Progressive Conservatives

• Promise to spend more money to promote tourism.
  • $28 million over five years.

April 5

NDP

• Promise to set up a new patient advocate in the health-care system.
  • Leader Greg Selinger says the advocate would be independent, conduct their own investigations and report to the provincial ombudsman.
• New money for health-care centres, including one-third funding for the Concordia Wellness Centre in northeast Winnipeg.

Progressive Conservatives

• Party promises to bring the province into the New West Partnership Trade Agreement if elected.
• Would reduce the number of kids in the care of Child and Family Services by improving Manitoba’s economy.

Liberals

• Improve annual registration process for campgrounds.
  • New system would have registration accepted six months in advance of the first day of the booking camp sites.

April 4

NDP

• Promise more apprenticeship training spaces.
  • Cover course fees and living expenses for 1,500 new apprenticeship students each year.
  • Help more women become instructors for trades courses at Red River College and Assiniboine Community College.

Progressive Conservatives

• Promise to cut income taxes within a year of taking office.
  • Increase income tax brackets and index them to the rate of inflation in his first full budget year.

Liberals

• Party says it will cut benefits for legislature members, such as eliminating car allowances for cabinet minsters and the opposition leader, and slashing mailing budgets.

April 3

NDP

• Promise to create $25 million capital fund for public and community-operated child care centres
  • Would include a new child care centre in St. James neighbourhood, with an allotment of at least 100 spaces.
  • Eliminate the wait list by creating 12,000 new spaces
  • A promise to double training for child care workers and increase wages.

March 31

NDP

• Promise to cap school fees.
  • Greg Selinger says he would not allow schools to charge more than $100 a year for regular programming, school supplies, instrument rentals and intramural sports.
  •  The province would provide an extra $1 million a year to school divisions to help them abide by the cap.
  • Also promise to give parent councils $1,000 grants every year to help offset child-minding costs and fundraising efforts.
• Party says it will help boost Gimli’s ecomomy by investing $450,000 in the Viking Park and improving Gimli Beach.

Progressive Conservatives

• Promise to create a plan to ensure fairness and better value for taxpayers from government purchases.
  • Tory government would only resort to untendered contracts in exceptional circumstances such as emergencies.
  • Would give the auditor general more power to do random audits of purchases by departments and Crown corporations.

Liberals

• Promise to remove the $5,000 cap on school taxes on farmland.

March 30

NDP

• Pledges to cut Manitoba Hydro loan interest rates by one per cent.
  • Rates would be cut to 2.9 per cent from 3.9 per cent for homeowners. For commercial businesses, the rate would drop to 2.9 per cent from 5.6 per cent.

Progressive Conservatives

• Party says it will establish a new business advisory council, which would help create jobs and boost the economy.

Liberals

• Promise to reduce number of kids in CFS care in half.
  • The party says it would spend more money on working with family than on apprehending kids.
  • Liberals would also give children option to remain in care until age 25.

March 29

NDP

• Party promises to build two new soccer pitches in Brandon.
• Greg Selinger says his party would create a women’s 24/7 drop-in support centre in Winnipeg’s inner city.
• Promise to appoint a minister for LGBT issues if re-elected.
• Party says it would keep health care public and invest in front-line staff for hospitals and clinics.
  • Recruit more doctors and nurses, hire at least 50 more nurse practitioners, 50 new physician assistants and 25 new midwives.

Progressive Conservatives

• Leader Brian Pallister promises to fast-track the construction of 1,200 personal care home beds.
  • Beds would come at a cost of $160 million and be implemented during the party’s first two terms.
• Promise to establish an international curling centre of excellence. Pallister says this would build on Manitoba’s reputation as the curling capital of the world.

Liberals

• Party promises to give municipalities their fair share of the PST to fund infrastructure projects.
  • Divert the one per cent PST increase to a municipal infrastructure fund on a a per capita basis.

March 28

NDP

• Party promises to invest $20 million to reduce hospital parking rates and cut ambulance fees in half.
  • Would spend $20 million on the plan, while also removing the per kilometer ambulance fees for rural and northern families.

Progressive Conservatives

• Tories say party would double post-secondary scholarships and bursaries to $20 million.
  • Would do this by increasing the Manitoba Scholarship and Bursary Initiative fund to $6.75 million, with a one-third matching component from government to allow for more private donors.

Liberals

• Leader Rana Bokhari says her government would balance the budget in five to six years by limiting the growth of spending and growing the economy.
  • Party would hold the increase in spending in health to four percent, education to 2.5 percent and all other departments to two percent.
  • The Liberals say they could reduce the deficit by about $200 million annually.

March 24

NDP

• Pledge to create 1,000  new personal care home beds for seniors.
  • Says this will include 100 beds in St. James that will specialize in helping patients with dementia, 100 beds at the Convalescent Home of Winnipeg, 75 beds with Riverside Lions in St. Vital, and more beds for rural communities.
  • Would improve home care with extended respite hours, expanded pilot programs offering longer after-hours services and more support for intensive home care services.

Progressive Conservatives

• Promise to boost literacy in elementary schools.
  • Tories would create a program to ensure kids could read at or above national levels by Grade 3.

Liberals

•  Party promises to ensure indigenous citizens have a seat at the table (10 per cent of the seats).

March 23

NDP

• Party promises to invest $10 billion over the next six years on infrastructure.
  • Greg Selinger says $100 million would go to active transportation.
  • Provide more funding to major infrastructure projects in Winnipeg.
  • Start to work to twin the Trans-Canada Highway east to Ontario and to raise speed limit to 110 km/h by 2022.

Progressive Conservatives

• Tories promise to build a Lake Manitoba outlet to alleviate flooding.
  • Say it would cost $495 million, but $248 million committed by the federal government.

Liberals

• Commit to increase amount of daily exercise in Manitoba schools.

March 22

NDP

• Party promises to spend more money on scientific research to help protect Lake Winnipeg by increasing funding by $500,000.

Progressive Conservatives

• Promise to find ways to keep more doctors from leaving the province and establish a new doctor recruitment program.
  • Brian Pallister says he would also promote hometown doctors through education in local communities and do exit interviews with departing physicians to understand their reasons for leaving.

March 21

NDP

• Party promises to convert student loans to non-repayable grants.
  • Provide free tuition up to age 25 for students in or emerging from the child-welfare system and to double funding for scholarships and bursaries.
  • Greg Selinger says it would cost $40-million.
• Promise to invest $125 million over five years to help build and renovate arenas, pools, parks, libraries and other facilities.

Progressive Conservatives

• Tories promise to set up a committee to look at how to reduce healthcare wait times, which would include front-line workers.

Liberals

• Liberals promise to end student loans and use grants instead — a move they said would cost $10 million.
• Rana Bokhari says she would stop a planned $400-million bypass around St. Norbert at the south end of Winnipeg. She says the money should be redirected to fixing existing roads.

March 19 and 20

NDP

• Promise to increase the minimum wage by at least 50 cents per year.
• Also promise to create 300 new social housing units a year, working to create a pension-like income program for persons with disabilities, and introducing a targeted benefit for single, low-income Manitobans.

Progressive Conservatives

• Tories promise an economic development plan to promote sustainable development of forestry and mining in Manitoba’s north, as well as tourism in the region.

Liberals

• Promise to double funding for the Winnipeg Drug Treatment Court, which currently gets $400,000 from the federal government.

March 18

NDP

• Promise to invest $50 million to create safer schools with modern technology and high-quality classrooms in the arts.
• Manitoba schools would also be upgraded with $30 million for shops classes, $20 million for science labs and $25 million for child care.

Progressive Conservatives

• Brian Pallister promises to cut ambulance fees in half within his first term of office.
  • Party says it will cost $11.4 million dollars.

Liberals

• Liberals say it would offer rebates on low emission vehicles to encourage drivers to buy green.
  • Rebate would include hybrid and electric vehicles, while also extending to Smart cars.
  • Say it would cost around $2 million annually.

March 17

NDP

• Promise to double up on the number of QuickCare clinics.
  • Expand clinics to 16 and extend hours at every location in the province.

Progressive Conservatives

• Party says it would give Manitobans a vote on any proposed major tax increase.
  • Cabinet ministers will have 20 per cent of ministerial salary cut if they break pledge.

Liberals

• Promise free ambulance service for low-income seniors.
  • Would reimburse ambulance fees for anyone over 65 and with an annual income of less than $20,000.
• Rana Bokhari says she would eliminate the province’s business payroll tax.

March 16

Progressive Conservatives

• Brian Pallister promises to lower the PST from 8 per cent to 7 per cent during his first term.

Liberals

• Promise to bring in all-day kindergarten, which would cost around $50 million.

Files from The Canadian Press