Manitobans will hit the polls Tuesday to elect or re-elect a party to form government for the next four years.
A highly competitive race has unfolded over the last four weeks with dozens of campaign promises made by the main three political parties. With just days to collect ballots in their favour, here is a last-minute guide for voters who are still undecided.
Central platform
The Progressive Conservative Party led by Heather Stefanson, the New Democrats fronted by Wab Kinew and the Manitoba Liberal Party headed by Dougald Lamont, made key promises to improve health care, address public safety concerns and tackle the rising cost of living.
Here is a breakdown of what each party is promising Manitobans if elected:
Health care
The governing Tories committed to spending millions of dollars recruiting health-care workers and filling vacant spots at existing and new facilities.
The PCs said they would give upwards of $10 million for the Quest Health Recovery Centre in downtown Winnipeg and change legislation to allow pharmacists to prescribe medication for common illness like strep throat, pink eye, and tick bites.
The opposing New Democrats promised to re-open three shuttered emergency rooms in Winnipeg and open four new medical centres in Winnipeg and one in Brandon that would be staffed with doctors, nurses and technologists. They would also build a new ER in Ericksdale, Man. if elected.
The NDP also pledged to hire 600 more nurses, open five new minor illness and injury clinics, and expand the University of Manitoba Bannatyne campus to train more doctors, increase surgical capacity and make prescription birth control free.
The Manitoba Liberals said they would allocate a bonus between $5,000 and $10,000 to all front-line health-care workers, expand palliative care and reinstate the Life-Saving Drugs program, which covers the cost of medication for diabetes and cystic fibrosis.
Public Safety
The NDP released a five-point plan to address rising crime rates which includes tightened bail conditions, a rebate program for homes and businesses to install security systems, bringing on 100 mental health workers to work with police and providing housing and mental health supports.
The New Democrats plan to give more money to municipalities to pay for policing if elected, as well as replace the shuttered Dauphin jail with a justice centre.
The PC party pledged more money for Winnipeg police officers and the service’s property crime unit if re-elected. The party would also spend millions to install security cameras to monitor street racing, establish a fund businesses hit by vandalism and petty crime can tap in to and spend $2 million to expand Brandon’s Downtown Community Safety Partnership.
The Liberals promised to give more money to community organizations like the Bear Clan Patrol and form non-police-operated mental health and addictions crisis teams.
Cost of living
The governing PCs promised broad tax cuts including cutting the tax rate on the lowest provincial income tax bracket in half by 2028, instructing Manitoba Hydro to remove the federal carbon tax from hydro bills, phasing out payroll taxes for businesses and eliminating the land-transfer tax for first-time homebuyers.
A Tory-run government would allow senior homeowners to defer some or all of their property taxes until they wish to sell their homes and introduce a tax credit for people with mobility aids.
Rental fees for agricultural Crown lands would be cut in half under the PCs and the PST on trees and flowers would be removed. The party said it would also ditch the provincial sales tax on restaurant meals.
The NDPs pledged to temporarily suspend the gas tax and freeze hydro rates for one year if elected. The party will also implement a middle-class tax cut and introduce a $700 renter’s tax credit, as well as apply $10 per day child-care to weekends, summer months and statutory holidays.
Both the PCs and NDP committed to balancing the budget if elected.
The Liberals promised a minimum income for people over 60 and people with disabilities, as intend to set up a provincial business development bank.
If elected, a Liberal government would eliminate the top 80 per cent of education property tax rebates but continue doling out rebates to the bottom 20 per cent of properties.
Other promises
To address child poverty the NDPs promised to establish a universal school nutrition program, while the provincial Liberals said they would pay out approximately $338 million in federal child benefits withheld from Indigenous children in the care of child and family services.
When it comes to housing, the Tories pledged to put up money for a planned housing development for homeless veterans.
The NDP party said it would lift the PST off the construction of rental units and committed to ending chronic homelessness within two terms.
The Liberals said they would bring in same-day housing by 2025 so no one needs to sleep in parks or bus shelters.
To address addiction and mental illness the PCs said they would fund more addictions treatment spaces and spend $5 million on programs which help first responders living with PTSD, while the Liberals said they would have Medicare cover the cost of mental health services.
The NDP promised more money to the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program at Health Sciences Centre to hire more nurses and improve upon the initiative. The party also pledged to make National Day for Truth and Reconciliation a statutory holiday in Manitoba.
The Liberals promised to fund half the cost of a landfill search for the remains of two Indigenous women believed to be murdered.
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