Premier muses about extending gas tax holiday

The province is keeping an eye on the impact of high interest rates as it decides whether to extend Manitoba’s gas tax holiday beyond Sept. 30.

“People are travelling a ton this time of year,” Premier Wab Kinew said Monday.

He was asked about Manitobans’ cost of living concerns and whether the gas tax holiday will carry on into the fall. The temporary pause on the tax, which is 14 cents per litre, that started Jan. 1 has helped Manitobans combat inflation, the premier said.

“This an important way that we can put money back in your pocket and ensure you can use it to either catch up on bills, the cost of groceries or head out and enjoy our great Manitoba summer,” said Kinew. His government has credited the gas tax holiday for the province reporting the lowest inflation rate in Canada, at 1.3 per cent.

“Even though inflation has cooled in our province, I think the average Manitoban probably still feels the cost of living is a big challenge — because interest rates are still high, because other costs are still high,” the premier said.

“That’s definitely what we’re going to be looking at as we approach Sept. 30.”

MPI hike in PUB hands: Kinew

Premier Wab Kinew said he has faith the Public Utilities Board will decide on the right rate increase for Manitoba Public Insurance.

Last week, the board of MPI recommended a three per cent rate increase for customers as part of its rate application to the board. MPI’s actuaries, meanwhile, have said a six per cent rate hike — well above the rate of inflation — is warranted to keep the Crown corporation out of the red.

“From my perspective, the average Manitoban would probably look at anything above inflation with a little bit of surprise,” Kinew said Monday, adding affordability is important to his government.

“I’m confident in the Public Utilities Board as the ultimate arbiter of these sorts of balancing questions,” said Kinew, adding he looks forward to the decision, expected later this year.

Progress on supervised drug site

The Manitoba government is making progress on its plan to open the province’s first supervised drug consumption site in central Winnipeg.

The government will work with the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre, which runs an addiction clinic, and consultations are to begin soon to find a location.

“We’ve looked at other jurisdictions. It is clear that there will be an impact when you open a supervised consumption site in terms of the next few blocks around it,” Premier Wab Kinew said Monday.

“So we need to select the location with that in mind. That means it probably can’t go near a school or a daycare. Are there other areas where maybe we could put a community plan around (it) with foot patrol and collaboration with law enforcement?”

Manitoba is the only province west of New Brunswick without a safe consumption site. The NDP government promised $2.5 million for such a facility in its spring budget, with the goal of having it up and running in 2025.

The Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre operates one of the province’s Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine clinics. They are drop-in clinics for people looking to get help with high-risk substance use, and offer services including recommendations on medication to ease withdrawal symptoms.

Landfill search in first phase

The early stages of the Prairie Green Landfill search have begun.

On June 27, landfill material was moved as part of the testing phase in the promised search for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, who both died at the hands of admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki.

“We’re on track at least, at this early stage,” Premier Wab Kinew said Monday when asked for an update.

“Before we search the targeted area, which is where we think there is maximum likelihood of finding the remains of Morgan and Marcedes, we want to test a different area just so we can familiarize ourselves with what’s it like to work with this material. How much do we need to dry it out before we can actually go through that manual search process, and any sort of technical questions that the engineers and our project manager and others still had outstanding.”

An oversight committee with families and Indigenous leadership that will be involved in running the search met last week, the premier said. The committee is co-chaired by members of the Harris and Myran families.

“They’re going to be the ones going through the hiring process, design, and moving through the subsequent phases of the search,” he said.