Rural mayors get chance to lay into province on pot plans, transit and health-care changes

Mayors from across the province are inBrandon this week wheremunicipal leaders are expected togrill Manitoba government officials over changes totransit funding, the closure of rural emergency medical stations and how much responsibilitymunicipalities have been saddled with in the sale of pot, among other issues.

The meeting comes less than a week after the Pallister government delivered its 2017-18 throne speechin Winnipeg,which focused on streamlining the civil service and continuing to transform health-care across Manitoba.

It alsopromised to identify areas of "overlap and duplication" between provincial and municipal services, including the delivery of road maintenance, water and drainage, snow removal and more.

Reeves,councillorsand mayors will get a chance to take onprovincial ministers Tuesday morning in a "bear pit session" ministerial forum following presentations on changes to rural EMS.

Members oftheOfficialOpposition, Manitoba Liberal Partyand provincial officials will also be at the meeting.

Grandview EMS closure

The continued changes to health-care include the planned consolidation of rural ambulance services. The province announced in June it plans to shutteremergency medical stations (EMS) in 18 communities to better co-ordinate services.

Manitoba NDPleader Wab Kinewattended a meeting in Grandviewthis pastweekend where community members, and residents from nearby TootinaowaziibeengFirst Nation (Valley River),echoed concerns raised in August over the looming loss of thelocal emergency medical station.

"It was great to see the two communities joining hands and standing up together, what's unfortunate is the circumstance in which they are united, and that is toprotest of the planned closure of the ambulance station," Kinew said Monday during question period at the legislature.

Kinew said members ofthe communities,both of which are about 300 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, fear shuttering the station will sever a valuable service and result in cuts to front-line health-care jobs in the area.

"It's a reminder that health-care is the heart of any community and its strength directly affects the success of the families who live there," Kinew said, asking the province to reverse its decision to close the Grandviewstation.

Health Minister Kelvin Goertzensaid the decision was made based on recommendations that came out of an ambulance services review ordered by the previous NDPgovernment recommendationsthen-health minister Theresa Oswald supported.

"[Oswald] said that the recommendations would lead to a more co-ordinated and more responsive era for EMS in our province," Goertzen said.

Kinew said residents in Grandview dispute the notion that the community EMS station has suffered from low response times or low call volumes.

Kinew said locals conducted their own review of EMS response timesand found that the Grandview EMS workers "responded to more calls in the last six months than 62 per cent of the other stations in the Prairie Mountain Health region."

"And then theyalso further discovered that the response time is faster than the average response time in every category except for one,where they are only 11 seconds slower," Kinew said.

"When we take into account that there's going to be closures across the Westman and Parkland regions people of Boissevain, Oak Lake, Swan Lake if the facts are in dispute about Grandview, how can they be sure that the ambulance station closures in their communities are rational?"

Goertzen said concerns over EMS in western Manitoba have been on the rise in recent years as call volume has risen but response times have lagged. That's one reason why the province committed to hiring 28 more full-time rural paramedics in 2016, Goertzen said.

Transit funding cuts

Kinewalso criticized the province for backing out of its 50-50 funding deal with Winnipeg Transit.

The province announced earlier in 2017 it will no longer cover half ofWinnipeg Transit's costs that aren't covered by bus fares. Instead, it has implemented a "basket funding approach" that doesn't earmark provincial funds for transit, but rather sends the transfer in a lump sum and lets the city allocate it accordingly, Agriculture Minister RalphEichlersaid Monday in question period.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman announced last week that transit fares will increase by 25 cents and 23 routes couldbe cut or reduced by early next year, blaming the funding change.

Transit usershave criticized the province and city over thechanges; poverty advocates have blamed both governments for the fare increases the highest since 2008and say they will hurt low-income and marginalized communities the most.

But Eichlerpushed back, sayingWinnipeg ranks third-highest in provincial funding across Canada and the city can decide how to spend itsallocation.

"The city can invest in measures as they see are their priorities,"Eichlersaid.

Kinew said apart from the societal impacttransit fare hikeswill have, there are good environmental reasons to focus on growing bus ridership in the city because it would get more drivers off the road, thereby reducinggreenhouse gas emissions.

Kinewadded the 50-50agreement was a stable source of funding municipalities had come to rely upon, the absence of which places an unfair financial burden on small communities.

Eichlersaid the government is committed to giving municipalities a "fair say" onprovincial funding transfers at the Association of Manitoba Municipalitiesin Brandon Tuesday.

Along with changes to EMS and transit funding, officials will go over the provincial retail pot approach a "hybrid" private-public sales model that lets municipalities decide whether to allow weed to be sold in their communitiesand the "Made-in-Manitoba" climate change and carbon tax plan, among other hot-button issues.