COLUMN: Report from the Legislature – Health care and affordability

It’s been a busy few weeks of preparation for the start of the new legislative session.

The Manitoba legislature began its spring sitting last week—it will sit until the first week of June.

Health care and affordability are the two main issues our PC team is tackling first.

Under Wab Kinew and the NDP, health care has become demonstrably worse.

ER wait times are at record levels—as high as 15 hours in some hospitals. Surgery and diagnostic wait times remain high.

Despite the premier’s claim that they “have the numbers”, nurses continue to work thousands of hours of overtime in the province and hundreds of positions remain vacant (289 in Southern Health alone).

Three Manitoba hospitals are currently grey-listed—that is, deemed by staff as unsafe to work at—a record, and the premier and minister of health continue to dismiss the concerns of frontline staff. Small wonder the Manitoba Nurses Union (longtime political allies of the NDP) have laid the blame of the current crisis directly at the premier’s feet, and given his minister of health a D minus rating.

To make matters worse, the premier is diverting health resources and nurses from hospitals to staff his new drug injection site.

Most alarming, in recent days four Manitobans have died in ERs waiting to receive care. I was shocked by the premier’s dismissive and callous response to the families last week as he refused their requests to hold a public inquiry into the deaths.

For a premier and government who ran an almost single issue campaign on health care in the last election, Manitobans expected more and deserve better.

Affordability and the cost-of-living crisis remains a top concern for Manitobans.

I hear from constituents all the time. All they do is work and they can never get ahead.

Fifty percent of Manitobans are within $200 a month or less of not being able to pay their bills and service their debt, and under Wab Kinew and the NDP the cost of living just keeps going up.

Taxes have gone up 19.5 percent under the NDP and with a spring budget just around the corner, they are likely to go up again.

To make matters worse, despite the premier’s repeated denials, election talk is rampant around the province. The NDP are positioning themselves to call a snap election.

Manitobans cannot afford four more years of Wab Kinew and the NDP. They can’t afford to live now after two.

Only Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives are listening to the affordability and healthcare concerns of Manitobans.

Only PCs have a proven track record of cutting taxes.

Only PCs have a plan to make your life more affordable, and get Manitoba back on track.

As your MLA, I will continue to be your voice. As critic for agriculture and the economy, I’m standing up for farmers, small businesses, and families advocating ways to grow our economy, and make life more affordable for Manitobans.

As always, if you have any needs or questions related to the provincial government, you can reach me at info@konradnarth.ca or call my constituency office at 204-434-6736.