MANITOBA VOTES 2023 – STEINBACH: Health care most important issue for Steinbach NDP candidate

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This article was published 29/09/2023 (582 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When it comes to issues facing both the Steinbach riding and the province of Manitoba, health care tops the list according to Steinbach NDP candidate Gord Meneer.

Meneer is taking his first run at provincial politics but has experience being elected.

The Kleefeld man served one term as councillor for the RM of Hanover, is an active CUPE member, is vice-president for CUPE 998, an area vice-president for CUPE Manitoba and serves on the National Global Justice committee. He’s also donated time to the local Legion and recreational programs.

“I love the community and I’ve lived and worked here,” he said. “I want to see it succeed. I’ve lived and raised my family here for over 20 years and all the while being very active in the community.”

Health care is key to Meneer who said it’s time for change.

“No matter where you live in Manitoba you should have access to health care close to your home,” he said describing it as a priority for himself and the NDP.

There are many ideas that are part of the NDP plan.

“It’s opening more rural health centres, getting more nurses and practitioners, lab techs and trying to get more people involved in the smaller communities and grow those communities,” he said. “There were lots of broken promises that we need to change, and we need to get going in the right direction.”

Staffing is key no matter what infrastructure is built according to Meneer.

“If we don’t have the staff to put in these buildings that we’re building and all the things that are going on, we’re just not doing ourselves good,” he said. “We need to change things for the people of the Southeast.”

Meneer said the five step plan to fix the rural health-care crisis was announced early in the campaign, in rural Manitoba.

That includes a commitment to reinstate the rural physician recruitment fund cut by the PC government and double it, work on shorter wait times for ambulances and better cell service, attract more staff to keep rural health centres open, use health technology to connect patients with specialists, and reimburse home-care workers properly for mileage and build more personal care home beds.

Affordability is also a concern for Meneer who said cutting the provincial gas tax of 14 cents per litre temporarily, freezing hydro rates and creating stronger rental protections is important.

“When you look at all the increases happening with rentals it’s creating something that’s unsustainable here and it’s really concerning,” he said.

Ensuring surge pricing does not become part of hydro billing is also key.

“It’s critical if we’re trying to help the middle income and lower income families that are struggling right now,” he said. “We have to create change now and that’s what we’re trying to do here.”

On Sio Silica Meneer said it’s important to listen to those most effected.

“I think that it’s important to listen to the people as it relates to that and get them involved and engaged with what’s happening in the area and how it could and can affect them, and not making any decisions for them,” he said.

An NDP commitment to hire more teachers and EA’s to help kids with additional needs, reduce class sizes for the youngest learners, and to work with communities, educators, and families to strengthen the K-12 curriculum with a specific focus on math and reading is one Meneer supports.

He pointed out that the PC government tried to take away local input with a plan that would have removed school boards.

Funding for municipalities would be also be addressed by an NDP government.

“We’ve announced that we will be bringing in multi-year funding models so that municipalities can count on reliable funding programs, infrastructure and maintenance,” he said.

He added they will work to make the funding flexible with local voices being able to shape where the money is most needed.

He said the NDP would also review Bill C-37, criticized by municipalities for giving the provincially appointed municipal board authority over land-use decisions, and giving developers the opportunity to appeal to the board in the event they are denied by the municipality.

Carrying the NDP banner in the Steinbach riding is no easy task. It has remained solidly PC since it’s first election in 1990, with no PC candidate ever taking less than 74 percent of the vote.

The best the NDP has done is 15.2 percent back in 2003 when Bonnie Schmidt ran a distant second to the then rookie PC candidate, Kelvin Goertzen.

In 2019, Robert Jessup won eight percent of the vote for the NDP.

But Meneer is optimistic.

“There’s a lot of people right now that aren’t very happy with the current government and they’re expressing their concerns to me, “he said. “It is a tough riding, there is no way to get around that, but I think there is change that can happen.”

“I hope that people are seeing that we need to change the current direction that we’re going,” he added.

But in the end, Meneer would just like to see people take part.

“I just want every eligible voter to know that on election day everybody’s vote is equal,” he said. “One vote can make a difference. “