Manitoba Minute: Issue 123

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

📅 This Week In Manitoba: 📅

• Manitoba has been ranked Canada's top-performing province for reducing internal trade barriers, earning an A rating and the highest overall standing in the Canadian Federation of Independent Business's 2026 Internal Trade Report Card. The province also received a perfect score for direct-to-consumer alcohol sales, where it was recognized as a national leader. Business, Mining, Trade and Job Creation Minister Jamie Moses says the ranking reflects Manitoba's efforts to eliminate barriers that restrict the movement of goods and services across the country. The recognition follows the Fair Trade in Canada (Internal Trade Mutual Recognition) Act, passed in June 2025, and a Mutual Recognition Agreement with provinces and territories that lets many products approved in one jurisdiction be sold in another without meeting additional provincial requirements. The province has also signed a memorandum of understanding on trucking aimed at reducing barriers that affect the movement of goods.
  
  
• Meanwhile, the Manitoba government is telling homeowners it has lowered grocery prices in a pamphlet now arriving in mailboxes, but a new report suggests the total cost of essentials is still rising in Winnipeg. Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab found the combined price of 50 standard food items in Winnipeg increased by 1.7% between June and July. The pamphlets, which declare "lower grocery prices" and feature a photo of Premier Wab Kinew, were sent to roughly every household represented by a government MLA, close to 300,000 homes. Statistics Canada reported that Manitoba had the second-highest food inflation of any province in June, at 5% year over year, 1.5 percentage points above the national average. Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan says the NDP is misleading Manitobans, arguing the promoted tax savings are not making a difference for anyone wanting a healthy meal. Finance Minister Adrien Sala claims the tax cut is working because shoppers are paying less than they otherwise would.
  
  
• Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine has announced an external review of the funding model for Manitoba's Child and Family Services system. Fontaine said the decision followed preliminary findings from audits of child welfare authorities, the impact of nearly seven years of upfront annual funding, and concerns raised by Indigenous leadership and agencies. The province has provided more than $77 million in additional annualized funding across the child welfare system since 2023. The review will examine the fiscal health and pressures of the system, along with the financial management practices and governance structure that support funding decisions and accountability. An independent third party will conduct the review, which the Minister hopes to have arranged before October, with findings made public by the end of 2027.
  
  
• Manitoba's only supervised consumption site will fully open on August 11th at a provincially owned building on Henry Avenue in Winnipeg. The facility will be run by Aboriginal Health and Wellness, an Indigenous community health agency, and will operate from 11:00 am to 6:45 pm, Tuesday to Saturday. The province says the site will not supply drugs, but will permit people to use drugs under the supervision of trained staff who can respond to overdoses. The site will initially operate in collaboration with members of the Mobile Overdose Prevention Site, a van that has provided safe-injection and drug-testing services since 2022. The facility was originally supposed to open in March, a timeline the government abandoned, with Premier Wab Kinew then saying it would open in June. It ultimately operated for just one day in June as part of a gradual opening.
  
  
• Finally, the provincial government and Manitoba Public Insurance have asked a judge to throw out Tesla's bid for a court review of the company's exclusion from Manitoba's taxpayer-funded electric vehicle rebate program. Tesla's Canadian subsidiary filed for judicial review in the Court of King's Bench in late April, arguing the government's decision to exclude its vehicles was unreasonable and procedurally unfair. The government announced the exclusion in March 2025 in retaliation for US tariffs, at a time when Tesla CEO Elon Musk held a job in US President Donald Trump's administration. In court filings, the Province argues the case raises issues outside the court's proper constitutional role, that Tesla lacks standing in Manitoba, and that the company waited too long to file its challenge. MPI, which administers the rebate program, also argues Tesla unreasonably delayed filing its application, and both are seeking legal costs from the automaker. 

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

🪙 This Week’s Sponsor: 🪙

This week's sponsor is you! We don't have big corporate backers, so if you like what you're reading, please consider making a donation or signing up as a monthly member.

Having said that, if you are a local business and are interested in being a sponsor, send us an email and we'll talk!