Manitoba NDP's 1st throne speech pledges geothermal help, Orange Shirt Day stat, but warns of fiscal pain

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew's first throne speech stressed his government will deliver on its election promises — including a new partnership to help convert thousands of homes to geothermal energy — but he warned his government may need to do some fiscal belt-tightening because of the spending practices of the former administration.

"Many commitments the previous government made did not fit within a sustainable approach to the province's finances," according to the speech, which was read Tuesday afternoon at the Manitoba Legislature by Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville.

"These decisions have left Manitoba in a financial challenge."

Still, prior to the address, Kinew told reporters his government will ensure the budget is balanced by the end of its first term in office.

The rest of the throne speech — which outlines the government's priorities for the coming legislative session — repeated many of the promises that helped the NDP win election in October, including commitments to repair the health-care system and address the rising cost of living.

The address began with the claim Manitoba has embarked on a "new day" following the election of an NDP government that received a "mandate to leave no one behind."

The province is committing to introduce legislation in the fall sitting that will cut the provincial gas tax, starting on Jan. 1, make Orange Shirt Day a statutory holiday and lead to the honorary recognition of Métis leader Louis Riel as the first premier of Manitoba.

Kinew said he wants those bills to pass during the three-week sitting of the legislature that started Tuesday. 

Manitoba Métis Federation president David Chartrand said acknowledging Riel as the first premier of Manitoba — which became a province in 1870 — is 153 years overdue.

"We've been waiting a long, long time for this, to correct this historical wrong," he said. "It's a damn good day for the Métis, I'll tell you that." 

The geothermal commitment builds on the NDP's election promise to pay for the equipment and installation of new geothermal systems at 5,000 homes over the course of four years. 

Kinew said the province has an agreement in principle, under Ottawa's oil to heat pump affordability program, to convert the 2,500 homes in Manitoba using home heating oil, most of which are outside Winnipeg. That would cover half the homes the NDP initially pledged.

Kinew accuses PCs of fiscal mismanagement

Meanwhile, Kinew warned "all levels" of his government — which defeated the Progressive Conservatives in October's provincial election —  will be asked to "start tightening their belts," accusing the PC government of making commitments around capital projects in the last months of its mandate without budgeting for them.

As a result, some initiatives promised by the former government — such as a $1.5-billion rebuild of the Health Sciences Centre — may be delayed, he said.

Some of his party's own commitments will be "a challenge" to pay for, Kinew said, "but [are] realistic."

"There may be some more challenging conversations about the 'nice to have' items on the previous government's agenda as opposed to the 'need to have' items," Kinew said.

The Progressive Conservatives, now the Official Opposition, denied the accusation.

Any spending crunch cited by the NDP is the result of their own doing, leader Heather Stefanson said. 

"He's going to have to find the money from somewhere, which means he's going to be cutting programs or raising taxes on the backs of Manitobans."

Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce president Loren Remillard said he'd like more details on the previous Tory measures the NDP considers unsustainable. 

"How does that impact the economic climate that we're trying to build together?" he said.

'No details': Liberal MLA

The throne speech, delivered in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war, also commits to making Holocaust education mandatory for students in the kindergarten to Grade 12 system and to give educators anti-Islamophobia tool kits, prepared by Manitoba's Islamic community.

The government also plans to launch a "health-care listening tour" as it endeavours to fix a beleaguered system.

There was also a promise to introduce a "significant new policy" in the coming days to lower costs for agricultural producers and ranchers. No further details were provided.

Speaking with reporters following the throne speech, Kinew said the universal school nutrition program promised during the election campaign will be available in every school beginning next fall. In the meantime, the province will provide supports to bolster existing nutrition programs in some schools.

The premier also said his government will encourage smaller class sizes going forward by providing incentives to school divisions, rather than going back to the cap instituted by the former NDP administration, which was defeated by the PCs in 2016.

The speech didn't make any new commitments surrounding the search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of missing First Nations women, nor the building of a supervised consumption site in the city. Kinew said his government remains committed to these initiatives.

Manitoba Liberal Party interim leader Cindy Lamoureux said the lack of information on many of the NDP's commitments are worrying, "considering how long they were in opposition."

"They should have actions ready to go, and there are no details," she said.