Economic recovery plan missing from leadership race

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/10/2021 (1833 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As businesses are once again being patronized in person by fully-vaccinated Manitobans, it’s time to take a serious look at the province’s post-pandemic economic recovery.

We’re at the beginning of the fourth wave, which has been largely attributed to unvaccinated folks (particularly in the Southern Health region). More Manitobans every day are getting their shots to protect themselves (and each other) against the virus — hopefully, this will continue and we can dodge a fifth wave.

Two of the province’s major economic guides, the Economic Growth Action Plan and Manitoba Works, were launched in 2018 and 2019, respectively. They almost immediately became outdated and were rendered rather useless as Manitoba’s employment sector was shocked by the health crisis.

Manitoba Works proposed 40,000 new private-sector jobs within four years. That was two years ago — before thousands of people lost their jobs to the pandemic.

If either of these plans is to fulfil their goals, they’ll need to be updated and adapted to the world we live in now.

We’ve yet to see detailed blueprints in this regard from Progressive Conservative Party leadership candidates Shelly Glover and Heather Stefanson.

Glover’s website highlights the role of agriculture and small business — the latter, it says, is the “engine” of the economy’s recovery.

Stefanson’s website talks about strengthening the Provincial Nominee program in Manitoba, an initiative that attracts students and skilled workers to Canada to fill gaps in the labour market; getting small- and medium-sized businesses back on their feet; and creating “real economic opportunities for Indigenous Manitobans.”

In the Brandon Chamber of Commerce’s 2021 Business Climate Survey, which was conducted in February, 87 per cent of respondents reported having been negatively impacted by COVID-19.

Their top concerns were the survival of their business and employing staff.

More than half said they had a negative (34 per cent) or neutral (33 per cent) experience with provincial funding programs. Only 16 per cent recorded a positive response.

However, when it comes to the province’s help, fewer businesses wanted additional funding (8.8 per cent) compared to those who simply wanted to reopen (34.3 per cent).

This is a clear indication from businesses that reopening is their top priority and wish.

If Glover and Stefanson are so set on lifting up businesses in Manitoba, why haven’t we seen their economic recovery proposals? Both claim they’ve consulted business owners on recovery matters, but we’ve yet to see the detailed results of those conversations.

To some, strategizing an economic recovery right now in the throes of a fourth wave may seem like misplaced energy — yes, we must focus on protecting vulnerable populations, increasing the vaccination rate, and safeguarding our health-care system from a third-wave repeat.

But 82 per cent of the eligible population has moved on from the early quarantine days of the pandemic; businesses are once again operating and serving the fully-vaccinated population. Manitobans and their economy can’t afford to wait for the remaining 18 per cent to get on board.

Yet, we are waiting, like this is the world’s most dysfunctional group project — vaccinated Manitobans have done their part to move the province forward through this pandemic, while the unvaccinated hurdle endless distractions the province’s way, thwarting efforts for that A+.

The pandemic has consumed all of our attention. And rightly so. But with more than three-quarters of Manitoba’s eligible population fully vaccinated, it’s time to share that attention with another potentially ruinous crisis — that being our economy.

» The Brandon Sun