Manitoba Minute: Issue 116

Manitoba Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Manitoba politics.

📅 This Week In Manitoba: 📅

• Premier Wab Kinew says his government will cut any mining regulation that does not protect the environment, the rule of law, or people's rights. Speaking at a Manitoba Chambers of Commerce breakfast at the RBC Convention Centre, Kinew said nothing prevents Manitoba from pursuing oil, potash, and other critical minerals like Saskatchewan, which became a "have" province nearly 20 years ago and has not received equalization payments since. Asked why the Province was not already chopping mining regulations, Kinew responded that his NDP government, elected 32 months ago, had been spending its time on health care. He said all existing regulations are now being studied, citing paper-based permitting as one example of the red tape industry has complained about. Critics pushed back, with a Climate Action Team Manitoba policy manager doubting many regulations can be scrapped and a University of Manitoba professor arguing that project delays are primarily the result of commodity prices, not regulations.
  
  
• Students and educators at Winnipeg's General Wolfe School are questioning the Province's planned ban on social media and AI chatbots for those under 16, technology the school has been deliberately incorporating into classroom learning. A Grade 7 STEM teacher said news of the ban came as a shock and argued the Province needs to distinguish between educational tools, which he says can bridge learning gaps, and AI for relationships, which he believes should not exist. Students at the school, including some new to Canada, said chatbots help them generate project ideas and answer homework questions when their parents cannot. The school's Principal said educating students on appropriate technology use is critical, and noted students are already talking about ways to get around a ban. Premier Wab Kinew has defended the move, though he said he is open to AI tools in schools if they can be developed in a "walled garden" that is safe for kids. 
  
  
• Speaking of education, the provincial government and the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce have announced a $4.3-million package aimed at rising youth unemployment, anchored by a new program called NextMB that will invest $3.5 million in youth aged 18 to 29. The program will run two streams, one for youth currently enrolled in post-secondary education and another for youth not in education, employment, or training, providing supports such as career guidance, training in high-demand skills, and direct connections with employers. Premier Wab Kinew said a lot of young people in Manitoba and across the country are finding it tough to get that first job. The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce described the Chamber as a bridge between those looking for work and those looking for workers, but did not specify how many businesses have shown interest in the program. NextMB will run for five years, with a new group of youth brought in each year. So far, the announcement outlines only a framework, with no specific eligibility details for youth until more details come in the next few months.
  
  
• Environment and Climate Change Minister Mike Moyes has announced $200,000 in provincial funding for 19 recreational trails across the province, with individual allotments ranging from about $2,000 up to $15,000, and 9 trails receiving the upper limit. Most of the money will go to maintenance and enhancement of existing trails, though the Winnipeg Trails Association will also use some of its funding to mark City trails for winter activities such as cross-country skiing. Trails Manitoba board president Jeana Manning said the grant program has helped expand Manitoba's trail system by 600 kilometers over the past five years, while upgrading 400 kilometers of existing trail and maintaining another 2,800 kilometers, work that required 46,000 volunteer hours and extra money from donors. The funding was announced ahead of Manitoba Trails Day, an annual celebration held on the first Saturday in June. The government also announced the opening of two new backcountry campsites on the Black Wolf Trail in Hecla-Grindstone Provincial Park, which will be first-come, first-served and cannot be reserved.
  
  
• The Government of Manitoba was nominated for a 2026 Teddy Waste Award by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, after spending $90,548 on a billboard ad campaign with the slogan "Permanent gas tax cut starting January 1st." On January 1st, 2025, the government in fact hiked its gas tax by 12.5 cents per liter, after having cut the tax to zero for all of 2024. The Taxpayers Federation calculates that a Manitoba family filling up a minivan and a pickup truck once every two weeks paid about $550 more in gas taxes in 2025 than in 2024. The federal Teddy went to the Canada Revenue Agency, which the auditor general found gave the right answer to individual tax questions just 17% of the time.

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

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