WINNIPEG – Today, the Manitoba government of Premier Wab Kinew delivered its first provincial budget. Premier Kinew and his NDP team focused on healthcare as the No.1 issue of the 2023 election, and, like all our colleagues in healthcare, our hopes were high for this first budget.
After reviewing the budget documents, MNU President Darlene Jackson said it is encouraging to see the path that this government is on, including the announced re-openings of the Mature Women’s Centre and the Victoria Hospital Emergency Room, however, measures for the retention of nurses within our public healthcare system should continue to take top priority.
“There remains plenty of work to do, we know it will take time, but we also hear from our members that patience is wearing thin,” said Jackson. “Government and employers need to be fixated on implementing approaches that will retain nurses in our system. Without this, inadequate staffing and burnout will continue to be major issues.”
As MNU has been stating for many years, capital investments are welcome, but they must go hand-in-hand with investments in human resources.
The Manitoba government recently signed a bilateral healthcare agreement with the Government of Canada. This new deal means the federal government will provide Manitoba with $434 million for a three-year action plan that will go towards bolstering the workforce, including the hiring of 300 more nurses. Under a separate agreement, a further $199 million will fund Manitoba’s five-year Aging with Dignity agreement to expand home, community and long-term care for seniors.
Premier Wab Kinew recently stated that all federal dollars meant for healthcare will go to healthcare, which is a huge improvement over the previous Tory governments. Just like with previous governments, we will monitor how these dollars are spent.
“It is imperative that dollars are spent wisely,” added President Jackson. “Healthcare was torn apart over the last eight years, we want to build back stronger and better, and that depends highly on how the budget dollars are spent.”
MNU represents more than 12,000 nurses of all designations from across Manitoba.