Manitoba’s Conservative government has unveiled its road map for the coming year.
In its 2017 Speech From the Throne the province announced plans to push ahead with its agenda of cutting costs, reducing bureaucracy, repairing the health care system and building a framework for more public-private partnerships in infrastructure, schools and day cares.
The plan also includes a promise to reduce ‘layers of senior management that add costs’ and a review of provincial and municipal services with a goal to ‘streamline’ road repairs, snow clearing water control.
“What we’re trying to do is build on that relationship with local governments and with others,” Premier Brian Pallister said.
The premier did not detail how those changes could work.
The 14-page speech read by Lieutenant Governor Janice Filmon also outlined proposed changes to Child and Family Services that would make foster care easier. “Moving children from government care to guardianship with adult caregivers has been shown to provide stable, healthy, and lasting relationships that greatly improve the long term social, emotional and physical health of children and youth.”
The conservative government is also moving forward with changes to the health care system province-wide. While the throne speech touted more rural doctors, with 89 new primary care physicians, it did not indicate what changes could be coming to rural health care.
READ MORE: Manitoba health care changes improving system: WRHA
Winnipeg is already seeing changes to city hospitals with two emergency rooms being converted to Urgent Care Centres, and two closed.
The government also said it’s beginning the next step of “reducing the spans and layers of senior management”. The province has already mandated core government reduce staff by 15 per cent. Earlier this year crown corporations and health authorities were also told to reduce management by 15 per cent.
RELATED: Manitoba Tories to cut 112 government jobs to save $10M
It was not made clear if further reductions to senior management with core government would be achieved through attrition or layoffs.
“It’s about creating a more vibrant and functional civil service,” Premier Brian Pallister said.
This is the conservative’s third thrown speech. The first was in May, 2016, the second in November 2016.
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