Kinew announces $7.4M for BU

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This article was published 17/05/2024 (684 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier Wab Kinew came to Brandon for his state of the province address bearing gifts on Thursday, announcing $7.4 million in funding for Brandon University and $2 million for Assiniboine Community College beyond what was promised in this year’s budget.

The room was packed to capacity for Kinew’s first address to the chamber since last year’s election, with the record 510 attendees including the mayors of Brandon, Dauphin and Portage la Prairie, Sioux Valley Dakota Nation Chief Vince Tacan and representatives from other municipalities and Indigenous communities.

“Last year, Brandon University and Assiniboine Community College felt as though they were short-changed by some of the funding,” Kinew said.

“There was an argument that there was inequity regarding the funding that went to Winnipeg-based institutions versus your post-secondaries here in the Westman region.”

At a pre-budget consultation meeting hosted by Finance Minister Adrien Sala at the Riverbank Discovery Centre in late January, BU president David Docherty and ACC president Mark Frison said they believed the “largesse” given to Winnipeg institutions in the 2023-24 provincial budget didn’t extend to Brandon.

“In this year’s budget,” the premier continued, “we devoted a per cent increase to each of those schools to help rectify the situation. But in talking to BU and in talking to ACC, it’s become clear that because of the rising cost of inflation, the rising wage bill, that the ability to meet the growing needs around education for young people in the western region, we’ve got to step up and do more.”

Kinew said someone he looks up to politically is former premier Gary Doer, who has said that the best economic plan is a good education plan. The extra funding, Kinew said, would be good for both of those schools and for the economy of Brandon and Westman.

With that extra funding, the premier said that if you look at the two-year funding picture for ACC and BU compared to their Winnipeg-based peers, that the Brandon institutions are now receiving comparable increases.

With the impact that those schools have by hosting satellite programs in communities like Virden and others in the Parkland region, Kinew said he believes the investment will benefit all of Westman.

In a scrum after the speech, Kinew said funding increases would be coming to other community colleges across the province as well, but didn’t name any in particular.

Reached by phone after the announcement, Docherty said the university has been trying to negotiate for additional funding since the Progressive Conservatives’ final budget last year and that the new NDP government had promised to do what it could but needed time to figure out the best way to implement increased funding.

“While I was initially disappointed in the provincial budget on April 2 that didn’t have those things, there was a commitment to keep the dialogue going and I was aware that something was going to be announced,” Docherty said.

“I want to thank the premier and his government for understanding the requirements of those of us in the regions and that a student in Brandon should feel as worthy as a student in Winnipeg.”

Docherty said he still needed to have more detailed conversations about whether the funding will be directed anywhere in particular, especially after the emphasis the premier placed on nursing in his speech.

Going forward, the university president said he was looking to engage the province on BU’s No. 1 priority — the renovations of the Brodie Science Building and the construction of a new research annex that will house a satellite campus of the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine.

By email, a spokesperson from Assiniboine Community College said they were unable to comment on the announcement on Thursday.

Beyond education, the premier reiterated his promise to have his government balance the budget within its first term in office.

“The government can’t do everything, but one of the things that we can do to set the stage for the economy to grow, and have the private sector take the lead, is for us to be balanced when it comes down to the books,” he said.

During a question-and-answer session with chamber president Lois Ruston, Kinew spoke about his government’s recent international trade mission to Washington, D.C.

He said when arriving in the U.S. capital, it was clear that American politics were on a different level than Canada’s, with former president Donald Trump being arraigned and Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas facing impeachment in the House of Representatives.

“The one thing that they agreed on was trade with Canada and they really valued Manitoba as a trusted trading partner,” Kinew said.

According to him, states recognized Manitoba’s value in agricultural trade as well as a source of critical minerals, low-carbon energy and a young, educated workforce.

Ruston asked about the province’s willingness to work with municipalities on infrastructure, with communities like Brandon needing upgrades to things like water and sewer services so that they can continue to grow and build new housing.

Though Kinew did not make any specific commitments, he said he’s heard about those needs “loud and clear from municipal leaders” and that when his government makes investments, it’s going to support more housing starts.

He said the province is making the case to the federal government to create a successor program to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program to help get dollars into place quickly, praising the recent announcement of the Canada Infrastructure Bank providing Brandon and other communities with low-interest loans to help build water-related projects.

The chamber of commerce will wrap up its luncheon season on June 3, when Ruston will give a state of the chamber address at the Victoria Inn’s grand salon.

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