Residents air concerns at PC event in Dauphin

DAUPHIN — Health care, affordability and public safety were common concerns among attendees at a Progressive Conservative event in Dauphin on Thursday.

Opposition Leader Obby Khan said the NDP’s announcements haven’t resulted in safer communities, improved health care or more money in people’s bank accounts.

“Our health care is not getting better, you are taxing us more money. We are taking less home and things are getting worse,” Khan told a crowd of roughly 75 people, though many others had already left during the come-and-go event at Credit Union Place.

“I know as Manitobans, we deserve more,” he said.

The public reception and barbecue were part of a PC caucus retreat.

Khan told the Sun during the event that people are fed up with Premier Wab Kinew’s hollow promises.

“People in Dauphin, in the Parkland region, are really tired of just empty announcements by the premier. They want action. They want the flooding relief that he promised,” he said.

Residents, he added, also want more certainty regarding the Dauphin Regional Health Centre, which saw its ER reopen this week after it closed July 1 due to flooding.

The PCs will take those concerns back to the legislature, he said.

Khan said he wants to see Manitoba’s premier making trade deals like Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has.

Moe joined Prime Minister Mark Carney in China earlier this year as trade negotiations were discussed. Moe also joined Carney on a trip to India later in the year.

Attendees at the event said health care was among their biggest concerns.

Rob Craig of Dauphin said the NDP has made a lot of promises, but there haven’t been results, particularly when it comes to staffing levels for hospitals.

“Health care is just a big thing and we’re lagging behind, and I don’t know what it is or why we can’t seem to retain people,” Craig said.

Craig said he came to the event to hear what the Tories had to say.

Sam Leighton, from Grandview, said the hospital in her community is overrun and that she wants the Dauphin hospital to get fixed soon, or for the government to come up with an alternative.

She said medical care is important for her and she doesn’t want to drive three and a half hours for care that should be offered 30 minutes from her home.

Rural Municipality of Mountain Reeve Keith Behrmann said he wants more staff at a long-term care facility, so that empty beds can be filled.

“If they can listen to us and they can take those concerns forward from their perspective … I believe that communication is key,” Behrmann said about the PCs.

Swan River MLA Rick Wowchuk said he also wants the NDP to keep their promises for people in the Swan Valley area affected by flooding.

“Everybody suffered where their worlds got put upside down during these floods, and you know, the premier came up, he made a lot of promises … We heard just the flow of cash to the municipalities is quite slow,” Wowchuk said.

“This premier, the province, has to ensure that these people can get their lives back and continue where they were,” he added.

In the future, the province has to be proactive to avoid devastating flooding from happening again, he said.

“What could possibly happen to prevent the Dauphin hospital from flooding like it did? Would a dike work? You know, (we need to be) thinking outside the box.”

Both Riding Mountain MLA Greg Nesbitt and Agassiz MLA Jodie Byram said affordability are the main concern they’ve heard from residents in their communities and in Dauphin.

“Life isn’t getting easier for people, grocery prices are going up and salaries aren’t keeping up with it,” Nesbitt said.

“Right now we’re in back-to-school mode, so some parents are maybe having to compromise or find priorities in what they’re going to do,” Byram added.

Byram said homelessness is becoming a larger issue in rural communities, while Nesbitt said economic development is lagging behind.

“Some (people) don’t see much of a future. There’s no economic development happening. I think they elected an NDP government thinking maybe they could spur some economic development. Quite honestly … they’ve done nothing,” Nesbitt said.

The legislature is set to resume Sept. 29.

» alambert@brandonsun.com