Manitoba Election 2019 Promise Tracker: Where do the parties stand on the major issues?

Manitobans are heading to the polls for a late summer election on Tuesday, Sept. 10.

If you’re undecided on who to vote for, Global News Winnipeg has you covered. From health care and education to infrastructure and the meth crisis, we’re keeping track of every promise made by the main political parties vying for your vote.

Here’s a running list of all the campaign promises made so far.

Manitoba Liberal Party 

• June 20 – The Liberals pledge to create a provincially-run Manitoba Police Service, with special units for Indigenous policing, border security with a focus on illicit drugs, anti-gang and organized crime, white collar and commercial crime, and human trafficking.
• July 5 – Dougald Lamont promises to restore the 50/50 funding agreement between the province and city for Winnipeg Transit, and will always match federal dollars offered for funding transit.
• July 12 – The Liberals say they will restore and expand the ‘Life-Saving Drugs Program.”
• July 14 – The Manitoba Liberals say they will merge all regional health authorities with Manitoba Health, in an effort to return control and decision-making authority to the local level.
• July 19 – The Liberals unveil their meth and addictions plan, which includes drug stabilization units, extending recovery time in public beds and more transitional housing for addicts.
• July 28 – Dougald Lamont promises to appoint an independent commission to review Manitoba’s tax system.
• Aug. 2 – Dougald Lamont promises to fund a process to reduce phosphorus emissions from Winnipeg’s North End Treatment Plant by 70 per cent. Manitoba Liberals would also issue $500-million in “Save Lake Winnipeg Bonds” to help finance infrastructure projects that reduce the flow of phosphorus into lakes and streams across the province.
• Aug. 8 – The Liberals promised to create a publicly-owned Manitoba Business Development Bank if elected. The party said start-up costs for the bank would be $78 million in the first year, but would then become self-financing from return on investment.
• Aug. 11 – Dougald Lamont promises to support the arts by creating a capital fund, earmarking 2.5% of existing infrastructure spending for cultural infrastructure. He also said Liberals would increase municipal funding for the arts per capita by $4 million in the first year, raising to the national average by the end of the party’s first term in office.
• Aug 13 – Dougald Lamont opened the party’s official campaign with a 25-page plan for “green growth and renewal”. He vowed to make Manitoba carbon neutral by 2030 and have the province adopt its own carbon tax. If elected he said the party will establish 500 square kilometres of new wilderness, including urban forests, and restore grasslands.
• Aug. 15 – Dougald Lamont promises to cover clinical psychological therapy as part of medicare and invest in training mental-health professionals if elected. He said a Liberal government would also pay for psychological assessments and treatments for children with learning and behavioural disabilities.
• Aug. 16 – Dougald Lamont promised to create a $7-million annual fund to help communities with lead contamination in their soil.
• Aug. 18 – The Liberals say they plan to make getting a hip or knee replacement faster and restore funding to outpatient physiotherapy.
• Aug. 19 – The Liberals pledge to create 18,000 child care spaces in the province to eliminate the current wait list for subsidized child care.
• Aug. 20 –  Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont says he would increase the minimum wage to $15 within two years of being elected and develop programs to fight poverty, including a voluntary jobs program that would pay unemployed people to do jobs in the public interest as an alternative to taking unemployment insurance.
• Aug. 22 – Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said he would scrap a $500 fee for skilled foreign workers wanting to come to the province and make it easier for foreign workers to be reunited with their families.
• Aug. 23 – Dougald Lamont says he would create 1,200 additional housing units for seniors by 2024 at a cost of $160 million, boost home-care funding by $38 million in his first year in power, put $5 million more each year into programs for seniors, and create the role of an independent seniors advocate.
• Aug. 25 – The Liberals say they’ll create a 10-year strategic infrastructure plan to “prioritize urgent and high-return-on-investment infrastructure projects.” Upgrading Highway 75, the road at the border near Emerson and the highway from the Pas to Saskatchewan will be a part of their plan, as well as accessibility upgrades at schools, public buildings, and businesses.
• Aug. 27 – Dougald Lamont says his party would open a virtual addictions co-ordination centre if elected. Lamont says the centre would cost between $2 and $3 million annually.
• Aug. 29 – Dougald Lamont says his party would bring cellphone service and high-speed internet to every northern community. He estimates it would cost $20 million as part of a cost-shared deal with the federal government
• Sept. 1 – The Liberals say they would increase access to education by adding $5 million to access funding at local universities and colleges.
• Sept. 2 – Dougald Lamont says a Liberal government in Manitoba would boost enforcement of workplace health and safety concerns, rescind the PCs’ Public Services Sustainability Act and wage freeze and commit to ensuring timely labour negotiations.
• Sept. 3 – Manitoba Liberals say they will invest in 24-hour safe spaces for kids in an effort to reduce gang violence. Leader Dougald Lamont says the program would cost $5 million annually and also include spaces for people experiencing domestic violence and warm spots for the homeless in the winter.
• Sept. 4 – Manitoba Liberals vow to fight for a national pharmacare program if they form government.
• Sept. 5 – Dougald Lamont says his party would make sure all Manitobans have access to primary-care health services within no more than 20 minutes of travel time within their first two terms in power. He says improved primary care could be achieved through quick-care clinics, mobile clinics, access centres, doctors and nurse practitioners.
• Sept. 6 – Dougald Lamont promises to invest in French-language education and services, including renovations to schools, more French-language child-care space. He also pledged to recognize the association of bilingual municipalities.
• Sept. 7 – Dougald Lamont announces plans to develop a 10-year educational plan, review curriculums, create new literacy programs and hire more educational assistants. 
• Sept. 8 – Dougald Lamont releases his costed platform, promising to spend $1.4 billion in the first year of his mandate.
• Sept. 9 – The Liberals say they’ll declare a climate emergency and ban single-use plastics by 2025 if elected. The Liberals are also promising that they would make Manitoba carbon neutral by 2030, and would follow the federal party’s lead and raise the carbon tax to $50 a tonne by 2022.

New Democratic Party

• July 30 – Wab Kinew pledges to expand services at the Main Street Project within the first 100 days of being elected to help battle the meth crisis.
• Aug. 8 – Wab Kinew launches NDP campaign plan, vowing to raise taxes for people earning more than $250,000 a year, boost the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and re-open some closed ERs and hire more nurses by spending $35 to $45 million more on health care. He also pledged to put a price on carbon, lift the public-sector wage freeze, and balance the budget by 2024.
• Aug. 12 – Wab Kinew promises to reopen the shuttered emergency rooms at Concordia and Seven Oaks hospitals and add more beds to hospitals throughout the city.
• Aug. 13 – Wab Kinew promised to hire more nurses, starting in critical areas, including in the closed ERs the party has previously vowed to reopen, and add 75 nurse training seats.
• Aug. 14 – The NDP promises that parking will be free at Manitoba hospitals if they’re elected. Wab Kinew pledged $3 million towards the plan to give Manitobans two hours of free parking whenever they visit a hospital.
• Aug. 15 – Wab Kinew said he would increase the number of personal care home spots for seniors across Manitoba if elected, including an 80-bed expansion at Winnipeg’s Park Manor at a cost of $21.3 million.
• Aug 16 – Wab Kinew vows to cut land transfer taxes by $1,000 for first-time buyers and people with disabilities.
• Aug. 18 – The NDP vow to expand ACCESS Centre hours with the goal of all ACCESS Centres to be open on Saturdays and Sundays.
• Aug. 19 – Wab Kinew promises to open a safe consumption site for drugs such as methamphetamines, expand addictions treatment programs and establish a meth intervention program in Winnipeg if they win the provincial election. He  says the measures would cost $3.5 million a year and reduce the number of used needles found around the city.
• Aug. 20 – The NDP say they will aim to reduce the child care waitlist in Manitoba down to zero over the next ten years, and will mandate daycares in all newly built public buildings.
• Aug. 21 – Infrastructure would see $6.64 billion poured into roads, bridges, schools and hospitals, pledged Wab Kinew, which he claimed would create 50,000 jobs.
• Aug. 22 – Wab Kinew promises free feminine hygiene products in schools, along with more midwives and the restoration of breastfeeding programs.
• Aug. 23 – Wab Kinew says he would commit $500 million to help the City of Winnipeg upgrade its main sewage treatment plant.
• Aug. 25 –  Jamie Moses, NDP candidate for St. Vital, says the party will allow MPI to offer online services, including scheduling an estimate appointment, reporting a claim, and replacing a lost or stolen driver’s license.
• Aug. 26 – The Manitoba NDP say they’ll keep the carbon tax at $20 a tonne and not rise to $50 a tonne when the federal rate is set to increase in 2022, give a $350 rebate on energy bills, and transition Manitoba Hydro into a renewable energy company if elected.
• Aug. 27 – Wab Kinew says he would pump an additional $1.5 million a year into free and subsidized mental-health counselling services offered by organizations.
• Aug. 29 – Manitoba New Democrats say they would restore classroom size limits for kindergarten to Grade 3 classrooms and spend $85 million for new classrooms across the province. The also promised $1 million to increase the number of educational assistants and another $1 million for French-language teachers.
• Aug. 30 – Manitoba New Democrats say they will help students by capping post-secondary tuition increases to no more than the rate of inflation.
• Sept. 1 – Wab Kinew promises to cancel the upcoming privatization of home care services.
• Sept. 2 – Wab Kinew says if elected, an NDP government would bump the minimum wage to $15 per hour and ban employers from requiring sick notes from employees for brief illnesses.
• Sept. 3 – Wab Kinew says he would bring back a special drugs program cancelled by the PCs that would cover medication costs for about 1,100 Manitobans. Kinew also says he would freeze the rate of pharmacare deductibles and increase the use of cheaper generics and bio-similar drugs.
• Sept. 4 – Wab Kinew says he would ban mandatory overtime for nurses if his party is elected.
• Sept. 5 – Wab Kinew pledges to keep the province’s main health lab public if his party is elected. The New Democrats estimate it costs $18 million each year to run the facility.

PC Party of Manitoba

• July 8 – Brian Pallister pledges to cancel the provincial sales tax on home insurance, which he says will save the average homeowner $70 a year.
• July 15 – Rochelle Squires says they will cancel the PST on salon services and haircuts over $50.
• July 25 – Brian Pallister says they will eliminate PST on wills combined with the elimination of probate fees — what is also known as death taxes — if elected.
• Aug. 1 – The PC Party promises to roll back PST on tax preparation, saving $3 million a year for Manitobans — or about $2.30 per Manitoban.
• Aug. 7 – The PC Party promises to launch a three-point plan to address meth and other drugs, including a new sobering facility to treat 20 to 30 patients at a time, new recovery and drop-in centres, a new Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine clinic in the Southern Health-Sante Sud region, and more supportive recovery housing units. They promised support for youth anti-drug initiatives and say they’ll update the province’s anti-addictions curriculum and give more resources to school divisions. The party also pledged nearly $8 million for enforcement, including a Crime Stoppers ad blitz in Winnipeg, Brandon, and rural Manitoba, more resources for the Public Safety Investigations Unit, and an expansion of criminal forfeiture laws.
• Aug. 13 – Brian Pallister promises to lower Passenger Vehicle Registration fees. He says passenger vehicle owners will save $35 per vehicle per year under the plan.
• Aug. 14 – Brian Pallister says he would inject an extra $2 billion over four years into the health budget. He is also promising a new emergency department at the St. Boniface Hospital.
• Aug. 15 – Brian Pallister promises to build 13 new schools over 10 years if re-elected. Eight of the schools would go up in Winnipeg, while the rest would be in Brandon, West St. Paul, Morden and Steinbach. The Tories previously committed to building seven other schools, and the total investment for all 20 is about $500 million.
• Aug. 16 – The PCs promise more money for tourism, highways and the film industry and say they’ll expand broadband access in rural and northern areas as part of their economic platform.
• Aug. 17 – The Tories’ Rochelle Squires says they will spend $25 million to retrofit homes and buildings for energy efficiencies.
• Aug. 18 – Heather Stefanson pledges more child care spaces and a new subsidy for low-income families of $500 a month.
• Aug. 19 – Brian Pallister says a re-elected Progressive Conservative government would spend $10 million to reduce crime in downtown Winnipeg.
• Aug. 20 – The Tories promise an additional $6 million tax incentive for the film industry, to encourage film production in the province. This would bring the total tax break to $25 million.
• Aug. 21 – The PCs promise to increase the amount of provincial revenues from tourism given to Travel Manitoba to promote the industry from four per cent to five per cent. Tourism Manitoba says the extra cash would be worth about $3 million a year.
• Aug. 22 – Cliff Cullen promises that the Tories will create 12 new treatment and waiting spaces for people addicted to meth, which would include six holding rooms for those in meth psychosis.
• Aug. 23 – Brian Pallister promises to allow grocery stores to be open on Sundays and statutory holidays if re-elected.
• Aug. 25 – Progressive Conservatives pledged to introduce specialized women’s health care, including investing in mental health and specialized trauma counselling aimed at women who’ve been sexually abused, and the establishment of a four-year bachelor of midwifery program at the U of M. They say they would earmark $3.4 million a year for the initiatives.
• Aug. 26 – PC Leader Brian Pallister says he would hire an additional 200 nurses and 80 rural paramedics.
• Aug. 27 –  Brian Pallister says he would increase the biodiesel mandate – the minimum percentage of biofuels in diesel – to five per cent from two and raise the minimum percentage of ethanol in gasoline to 10 per cent from 8.5. The Tories say the requirements would be the equivalent of taking 75,000 cars off the road.
• Aug. 28 – Brian Pallister says his party will cut the interest surcharge for small businesses owing money on their taxes to three per cent from prime plus six per cent. He says the move would cost about $9 million over the next four years.
• Aug. 29 – The PC party promises a new economic development office in Brandon.
• Sept. 2 – Brian Pallister says a re-elected PC government would support local brewers and distillers by removing markups for alcohol sold in their taprooms or tasting facilities with an onsite sales exemption.
• Sept. 3 – Brian Pallister says his party intends to phase out education property taxes if elected. He says the move would save the average household $2,000.
• Sept. 5 – Brian Pallister says the PCs will hold a jobs summit to connect workers with the private sector a week after being sworn in if re-elected.
• Sept. 7 – The party plans to spend $30 million to build 120 km of bike paths and walking paths, improve the recycling system and $10 million to Enviroteams to clean up green spaces in the province.

Green Party

• Aug. 9 – Manitoba Green Party leader James Beddome launches the party’s platform, calling for a rising carbon tax — $50 per tonne in 2020 rising by $10 every year after — and free public transit. He also promised a guaranteed basic income and government help to restore inter-city bus service in rural and northern areas.
• Aug. 11 – The Greens cost out their pledge for a guaranteed basic income – $1.58 billion, in the form of a refundable tax credit. The bigger the family, the bigger the tax credit, to a maximum guaranteed $75,000.
• Aug. 16 – The Greens pledge more action on poverty initiatives – with Federal Leader Elizabeth May pledging to help.
• Aug. 20 – Manitoba Green Party leader James Beddome commits to building 2,000 new licensed child care spaces per year over the next 10 years at an estimated cost of $31 million a year. Under the Green plan, Beddome said no parent earning less than the poverty line would pay for licensed child care, and the cost of care would gradually increase to a maximum cost of 10 per cent of net family income.
• Aug. 23 – The Greens release more details about their plan to provide free public transit. They say they’ll pay 60 per cent of any city’s transit operating expenses that adopts a free-fare transit system.
• Aug. 27 – Green leader James Beddome says his party would apply a 20 per cent tax to all beverages sweetened with sugar in an attempt to drive down diabetes rates. He says the tax would raise $20 million a year, which would be put back into health care. He says he would eventually expand the tax to cover junk food as well.
• Aug. 31 – The Manitoba Green Party would implement some sort of proportional representation election system in the province.
• Sept. 3 – Green leader James Beddome says his party would push for labour reforms including an immediate move to a card check process for union certification. He says the party would also reverse the Public Services Sustainability Act, increase the minimum wage, and implement a 35-hour work week.
• Sept. 4 – James Beddome says his party will eliminate education property tax and instead fund schools through corporate and personal income taxes. Beddome says the overall change would end up being revenue neutral.
• Sept. 5 – James Beddome says as premier he would immediately convene a first ministers meeting to establish an all-jurisdiction task force to figure out how a universal national pharmacare program could be implemented within two years.
• Sept. 6 – James Beddome says Greens would commit 10 per cent of the health budget to mental health and addictions.
• Sept. 7 – The Greens detailed their plans for a zero-waste Manitoba by including cost-sharing compost programs, banning single-use plastics and increasing producer responsibility for waste diversion.

Can’t read all of that? Here’s a cheat sheet for the top three election issues (health care, taxes and crime.)

MB Election Top Issues by ElishaDacey on Scribd