Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew’s second throne speech promises to stop grocery stores from preventing competitors from opening nearby, and to freeze electricity rates for a year despite Manitoba Hydro’s historically high debt.
The provincial government will introduce legislation that eliminates the use of restrictive covenants for grocery stores, which limit the kinds of stores that can open near a particular company’s location, Kinew said.
More competition in the grocery sector will decrease the cost of groceries, he said.
“We’re going to end that practice here in Manitoba to save you money but also to support small business and local grocers who want to be able to compete in those parts of our province,” Kinew told reporters during an embargoed briefing before the throne speech was read.
The premier said the government would iron out some details with its legislation, including whether pre-existing contracts would be banned as well.
The throne speech — which outlines the government’s priorities for the coming legislative session — also says the government will open more than 100 beds at health-care facilities, unveil a new strategy for cutting ER wait times and commission a new statue to replace the Queen Victoria monument that was toppled in front of the Manitoba Legislature.
The one-year freeze on electricity rates, one of the affordability promises in the throne speech, will start in 2025.
Kinew promised a freeze in the 2023 election campaign, and while in office has said the utility has the means to service large new industrial customers in spite of warnings from Manitoba Hydro about a looming capacity crunch and the need to generate more power. The Crown corporation has said its infrastructure requires billions of dollars in fixes.
The premier told reporters he’s confident Hydro can build the infrastructure it needs in the years to come, while simultaneously saving ratepayers’ money.
“The thing about running a large corporation like Manitoba Hydro is that you have to be able to implement your long-term plan, while also delivering on your core short-, medium-term objectives.”
On health care, the throne speech commits to opening 102 staffed health-care beds throughout the province, but it doesn’t indicate where the beds will be.
There’s also a pledge to unveil a new strategy to reduce emergency room wait times.
It will replace a similar strategy the former PC government commissioned in 2016, its first year in office.
“And how did that one go?” Kinew said, talking about how the PCs went on to consolidate emergency departments, and wait times ultimately increased post-pandemic.
The province is also vowing to increase surgical capacity by conducting another 800 hip and knee procedures at Selkirk’s hospital.
As of December, Manitobans will be able to apply for a new plastic health card. The design of the cards will feature an image of the northern lights, the design that got the most votes in a government-run contest.
The throne speech also says a new statue will be commissioned for the front lawn of the legislative building, replacing the Queen Victoria statue that was torn down by protesters in 2021 during a demonstration over the deaths of Indigenous children at residential schools.
The new monument will feature a mother and child bison that will be “a symbol of all Manitobans” that acknowledges how the history of residential schools harmed the bonds between parent and child, the throne speech says.
“I think there’s an opportunity here to send a values message about who we are as Manitobans.”
The previous statue, which the former government said was beyond repair and will not be restored, will be displayed and honoured in some fashion, the government said.
The speech says the statue “carried great historical, cultural and emotional significance to Manitobans,” and a group of cultural institutions, museums and history and heritage experts will decide how best to display what remains.
