Funding non-profit organizations gives good value for money

By Shauna MacKinnon, Several small non-profit organizations (NPOs) are nervously awaiting Manitoba’s 2017 budget. Funding sources they’ve come to rely on have been ‘on pause’ for months and its beginning to affect the services they provide. Many organizations …

Fudging numbers presents distorted picture

By Lynne Fernandez In Aiming for ‘average’ could help Manitoba, Peter Holle resorts to sleight of hand to convince us that Manitoba’s public sector is responsible for the province’s budgetary shortfalls. He states that the size of province’s …

Pulling back the curtain on University budget reports

By Cameron and Janet Morrill The need to “tighten our belts” is heard so often in the public sector, it is pretty much accepted without question. This is certainly the case for Canadian universities: actions such as raising …

Submission: Legislative Committee hearing on Bill 7

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. I hold the Errol Black Chair in Labour Issues at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. On behalf of the Chair, I wish to speak in opposition to …

Provincial Budget Consultation submission from CCPA Manitoba

  This is the presentation Lynne Fernandez, Errol Black Chair in Labour Issues made in person for the Provincial Budget Consultation on October 26th, 2016.  Minister Friesen and Panel Members, thank you for inviting me to present this …

Budget 2016: the waiting game

By Lynne Fernandez It will take more than one budget – hastily prepared – to fully appreciate the Conservatives’ master plan, but the Throne Speech, a fiscal update and Ministerial mandate letters tell us what we should be …

What We Need in the Throne Speech

By Jim Silver An issue that needs to be addressed in the forthcoming Throne Speech on November 20th, is the persistence in Manitoba of a deep, complex and damaging poverty. Important gains have been made in recent years …

Outsourcing Under Scrutiny

By Lynne Fernandez There has been a greater tendency for governments to outsource, and the City of Winnipeg is no exception. Outsourcing can be complex and lack transparency, particularly when public-private partnerships (P3s) are used. Under a P3, …

The High Cost of Low Taxes and Urban Sprawl

By Lynne Fernandez Much of Winnipeg’s infrastructure is in desperate need of repair or replacement. The City’s 2009 administrative report found that just to maintain our existing infrastructure in its current state required $2.1 billion be spent over …

Municipal Budgets: You Get What You Pay For

Winnipeg’s mayoral race is now officially underway. Any serious contenders are going to have to convince a very skeptical public that they can turn around what really has been a winter of discontent with City services. Unfortunately, problems …