Pallister vows not to forget about rural Manitoba

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Published on Monday, January 23, 2017

Premier Brian Pallister speaking in Neepawa on Monday, Jan. 16

By Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Press/Neepawa Banner

Much like a long haul truck driver, Brian Pallister has recently seen a large swath of the provincial highway in a very short amount of time. Last week, Manitoba’s Premier travelled nearly 1,300 kilometres to attend several events across the westman region. The itinerary included a pair of tributes for retiring MLAs, one in Neepawa for Stu Briese and the other in Shoal Lake for Leanne Rowat. As well, he participated in meetings in Swan River, Dauphin, Virden, Brandon and Portage la Prairie, over the span of three days.

During an interview with the Press during his stop in Neepawa, Pallister noted this effort to meet with Manitobans outside the perimeter began well before he became Premier.

“I started this when I became opposition leader. It’s something that was a big part of my commitment as party leader and now as Premier. For too long, there’s been too much of a demonstration of concern on issues central to Winnipeg. That’s understandable, as the majority of the population resides in the city. I get that, to some degree,” said Pallister. “However, that creates a sense of isolation, a feeling of being forgotten, being taken for granted. I don’t want people to feel that’s what their government thinks of them. Our stance is to ensure rural Manitoba, communities within rural Manitoba and their issues are part of the conversation.”

As part of that conversation, Pallister outlined the challenges the current government continues to face when it comes to being fiscally responsible, while also meeting its required spending commitments. He spoke of the need for a cautious approach to lowering the current deficit and downsizing government. On top of outlining his views on the future, Pallister talked to those in attendance about what actually concerns them directly. He said in each community, there seem to be a few similar issues brought forward.

“There are three major issues that have come up. One would be health care. There are concerns about the federal government’s position in respect to reducing of support for health care. So that’s heightened in rural Manitoba because there are challenges throughout the system, but there are some greater ones in evidence in rural Manitoba. I don’t think a lot of people understand until they come to the communities and speak to the people. For example, in Swan River, pediatrics are a concern. Expectant mothers have, in the past, had to travel to Yorkton or Dauphin for care. That’s a real issue,” stated Pallister “There are concerns as well, in connection to where we are going as a country on the carbon tax issue, that’s been in the minds of a lot of rural Manitobans because it is of course an issue that impacts agriculture significantly, which is a key contributor to our economy and a major source of jobs. In a couple of my meetings, the issue of night hunting has also been brought up. Some are worried about overhunting and fair hunting practices. So that’s something that’s come up. We’ve stepped up our enforcement and the seizure of vehicles. Ultimately, we have to work together to create a change in attitude, because policing that issue, it’s really not [feasible], the number of issues has doubled, I believe from last year. We’ve got to work on that and I think we have some solutions that’ll move us in the right direction on those issues.”