Regardless of their source, solutions must make sense

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/02/2024 (583 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Not so long ago, our former premier, two steps back, used to pontificate ad nauseam about the need for “made-in-Manitoba” solutions for our political, financial and health-related woes. It was, truly, his favourite catchphrase.

Need to come up with a plan to address climate change to ward off the irritating Trudeau government and its pan-Canadian carbon pricing demands? Enter Brian Pallister’s made-in-Manitoba solutions on carbon pricing under the Progressive Conservative made-in-Manitoba green plan.

Do you have soaring wait times for health-care access that every other province is experiencing, too? Listen to the public health-care leaders, including doctors, nurses and other health professionals and invest in “solutions that are made-in-Manitoba for Manitobans.”

Have COVID on the doorstep, Manitobans getting sick and businesses needing financial support? Invest $100 million to procure essential medical supplies and equipment, hotel capacity and other needs that “will allow us to support made-in-Manitoba products and solutions from local businesses.”

The former premier’s hope for solutions to be found from within Manitoba for our province’s modern problems was more than just merely political grist for the masses. He put his political fortunes and the future of the province behind this idea.

Unfortunately for him — and us — the made-in-Manitoba solutions for the ills plaguing the province’s population didn’t quite meet the identified needs.

Emergency room and surgical wait times are still a major problem in Manitoba. The Trudeau government grew impatient over Pallister’s green plan posturing and imposed its own carbon pricing on our province.

And as for the COVID cash, well, the Tories were never going to win a popularity contest by trying to do what was necessary to defeat a pandemic. And the business community in our province is still reeling from the financial after-effects of that fight. But yeah, probably a few select Manitoba businesses made some dough out of the deal.

Closer to home, the City of Brandon’s brain trust would seem to have the opposite problem, in that we rely on the notions and ideas of other communities and municipalities in other provinces as guidelines for our own local policies.

We’re constantly comparing ourselves to other communities, whether it be in terms of salary projections for city and emergency crew staffing, crime rates and how to address them, and most recently the issue of taxation.

In its financial report made public late last year by the city administration, the accounting firm MNP compared Brandon’s property tax rates to those in several other cities, including Fredericton, N.B., Prince Albert, Sask., and Medicine Hat, Alta., to name a few. The report noted that Brandon’s taxes were 47 per cent lower than in those municipalities, per capita (an odd metric).

The idea, of course, is that we need to keep up with the municipal Joneses in other provinces where the financial grass apparently looks a little greener.

This was clearly the case when, late last year, Brandon City Council approved fare increases to downtown parking meters. These changes, which have essentially doubled the rates motorists pay for roadside parking, were completed just last week.

Now, where $1 used to purchase two hours of parking, $2 is now needed for the same amount of time. Thirty minutes now costs 50 cents, up from 25 cents. Twelve minutes costs 20 cents, up from 10, and six minutes now costs 10 cents, up from five.

During the December council meetings where the decision was made, a note in an agenda document stated that the increases were based on a study of 10 other municipalities, where the average cost across these jurisdictions was about $1.50.

“We were just trying to make sure that we’re comparable to other communities,” said the city’s director of public works, Pam Richardson. “The rate increase was probably long overdue. And maybe moving forward, more timely increases to make sure we’re in line is something that we should be looking for.”

The city’s 2024 budget predicts parking revenue will rise by nearly $100,000 as a result of these fee hikes. But that seems overly optimistic, particularly at a time when fewer and fewer people are coming downtown to shop or go for lunch, and downtown businesses that can are looking to relocate out of the area.

Increasing fees for people to park will do little to entice more people to make the trip downtown, making it even more difficult to find workable solutions to its continued deterioration.

See, the problem isn’t about where ideas and solutions come from — whether generated internally within Manitoba or sourced from other communities — but rather if they make sense, and can fairly address the problem at hand. Not just on a financial ledger, but out in the public in the real world where the idea will take shape.

And some ideas, if thoughtlessly implemented, can do more harm than good.