COLUMN: View from the Legislature – Sleight of hand more trick than treat

Just a couple of weeks away from Halloween and the Manitoba NDP government used some sleight of hand recently to change government policy that, when looked at closely, will feel a lot more like a trick than a treat to Manitobans.

The first is regarding their quest to balance the provincial budget next year by doing anything that doesn’t actually require being careful with the finances of the province or growing the economy. The most recent trick will see the NDP begin to include the surplus funds from the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) as part of the finances of the province. It is worth remembering where WCB money comes from and what it is intended for. The funds come largely from employers who contribute so that it is there for employees who are injured in the workplace.

At times, the WCB fund can have tens of millions of dollars in it. This is money that is being held to support workers or, if the surplus grows too large, can be partially returned to employers. By adding this money to the government finances, it can artificially reduce the provincial deficit even though the money is put in by businesses and intended for workers. The province is simply the administrator. But the NDP are looking for any way they can to make the finances look better after running deficits in the hundreds of millions of dollars and yet promising to bring in a balanced budget. The sleight of hand on the WCB money will not improve the reality of Manitoba’s finances. As concerning, it may provide an incentive for the government to either raise premiums for employers or to maintain a larger than needed surplus, either of which would artificially reduce the provincial deficit when included on the provincial books.

As another example, last week the NDP pulled what they must have thought was a fast one on some of the most vulnerable people in the province. Manitoba’s lone Liberal MLA, Cindy Lamoureux, had brought forward a private members bill (a bill not sponsored by the government) on the need to develop an autism strategy in Manitoba. It would be a strategy that would include support for all people living with autism (children and adults). Despite some delay, and as a result of significant pressure from the autism community, the NDP finally agreed to support the bill.

On Friday of last week, a 14-hour committee hearing was held on MLA Lamoureux’s bill where Manitobans came to tell of their experience either personally living with autism or having friends and family members living with it. There were many emotional testimonies and it was made clear that adults with autism continue to need support and that it is important they were in the strategy as stated in the bill. The NDP members repeatedly stated that they supported the bill.

Then, at the end of the committee meeting, as it was getting close to midnight, the NDP used their majority to change MLA Lamoureux’s bill and remove adults with autism from the strategy. This has rightfully caused many who spent hours in a committee room on a Friday, and who were told that their suggestions were being accepted, to feel betrayed by the government.

These are just two of the most recent examples of political trickery that doesn’t always get widespread attention but that leaves the province worse off today and in the future.