Provincial budget consultation tonight
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/01/2024 (805 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Manitobans wanting a direct line to provide feedback on this year’s provincial budget will have that opportunity tonight.
Finance Minister Adrien Sala and other representatives from the provincial government are hosting a budget consultation session in Brandon at the Riverbank Discovery Centre starting at 6 p.m.
Speaking to the Sun by phone on Tuesday, Sala said while a telephone town hall for residents of northern Manitoba was held Monday, the Brandon session is the first in-person event in the leadup to the 2024 budget.
“It’s going to be an open format,” Sala said. “We’re there to listen and to learn from folks from Brandon and surrounding areas about their priorities … We want to hear from Manitobans across the province, from all walks of life.”
While there will be an opening presentation, Sala emphasized that the session will primarily be for government representatives to listen to the public. He said Brandon East NDP MLA and Sport, Culture and Heritage Minister Glen Simard will accompany him on Tuesday.
Health care and affordability were the two biggest concerns that Manitobans expressed to his party during last year’s election campaign, Sala said, and he’s interested in hearing perspectives on those fronts and any other priorities people have.
While Sala is in Brandon, he will be meeting privately with the Brandon Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Jeff Fawcett and Coun. Bruce Luebke (Ward 6) in his role as chair of the Keystone Centre’s board of directors.
Brandon’s administration called for the province to provide financial assistance after a fiscal report issued by accounting firm MNP last month suggested hefty tax increases are needed over the next decade for the city to remain sustainable. Brandon City Council is scheduled to deliberate on its 2024 budget on Friday and Saturday this week.
When Premier Wab Kinew and his cabinet spoke at the Association of Manitoba Municipalities’ fall convention in Brandon late last year, they warned delegates that a bleaker than expected financial situation inherited from the previous government was going to make implementing some of the NDP’s election promises a difficult task.
Sala said Tuesday that tackling the situation will be a challenge, but “one we’re ready to take on.”
Future in-person budget consultation sessions are scheduled for Winkler on Feb. 12 and Winnipeg on Feb. 26. A Feb. 7 telephone town hall will be aimed at Winnipeg residents with another scheduled for rural Manitoba tomorrow.
Advance registration for budget events and telephone town halls is required and can be completed at engagemb.ca/budget-2024-public-meetings and engagemb.ca/budget-2024-telephone-town-halls.
An online survey about this year’s budget can be filled out at engagemb.ca/budget-2024/surveys/survey.
» cslark@brandonsun.com
» X: @ColinSlark