Last week, an MHCA delegation met with Provincial Finance Minister, Adrien Sala, at the Manitoba Legislative Building. The delegation included: MHCA Board Chair John Highmoor, along with Board members Kevin Brown, Nicole Chabot, Marcel Machado, Richard Wilson, along with MHCA President & CEO, Chris Lorenc and MHCA Vice-President, Felicia Wiltshire.
The discussion focused around six key subject areas including:
- A call for a significant increase to the Manitoba Transportation & Infrastructure (MTI) annual highways capital budget, which we currently believe is well below the level of funding required to maintain and repair the existing infrastructure
- A recommendation to allow MTI to tender over budget in order to ensure all funding allocated to the highways capital budget is spent within the year
- Along with a request to allow MTI to carry over any unspent budget in the event work cannot be completed within the year it was allocated
- A recommendation that the federal and provincial government should each pay 40% of the costs associated with major capital investments in trade gateways and corridors, such as Route 90 and Chief Peguis Trail, leaving on 20% of the capital costs for the municipal government, who will end up having to carry the ongoing costs of maintaining those assets.
- The need for the Province of Manitoba to invest in a Transportation System Asset Management & Investment Strategy to provide an evidence-based investment strategy for Manitoba’s transportation system
- And finally, a request to establish an Economic Development Agency to help bring focus and action to the Provincial Economic Development Strategy that the Provincial government released in September.
We had a very engaging conversation with Minister Sala, and felt our messages resonate with him. We look forward to continuing these discussions in the coming months.
