MGA movement: Let’s make Manitoba Great Again
By Dorothy Dobbie
I think many Manitobans have forgotten what a wonderful province we live in and how many firsts, accomplishments and impacts we have had on our entire nation and around the world.
Yet we have never boasted, bragged or even acknowledged so many of our achievements and that is a shame because you need a certain amount of swagger to keep making progress.
It is important to know that we are the fifth province and that we gained this distinction because of the determination of Louis Riel, a local Metis leader. He showed the true grit this new breed of future Canadians, made up Indigenous, French and Scottish people who had already been comingling since the early 1600s, creating a combination that was enriched in the coming years by waves of other immigrants.
Here we were, in the middle of the continent with no real means of reaching the halls of power without a lot of hard work – remember, the railway didn’t reach coast to coast until 1885, and we had already been a province for a decade and a half by then. What this isolation did was make us very self-reliant. Even well into the 21st century, we were creating things from scratch that we could not readily get from commercial markets.
That is one of the factors that made Manitoba a critical manufacturing province, third only to the power houses in Ontario and Quebec. And we still retain much of that power, building buses, firetrucks, recreational vehicles, heavy duty farm equipment, not to mention aerospace manufacturing as well as maintenance, testing, and overhaul. We also build drones and, yes, we have a satellite development and astrophysics’ infrastructure.
The pharmaceutical industry has long been a key player in Canada with both manufacturing and research for both human and animal health. And even with the mass move to Asian countries over the past few decades, Manitoba still has Canada’s third largest garment industry.
Agriculture continues as a mainstay with livestock production representing 30% of Canada’s swine exports, the country’s third largest beef cow herd, and health dairy and poultry industries. Our grain production is still a leader in Canada along with millions of tons of pulses and soybeans, which are also processed here, generating about $6 billion in cash receipts.
There is more and this is not even touching on the wonderful arts community which pulls more than its weight in Canada’s cultural sector, with fabulous companies such as the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Manitoba Theater Centre, Manitoba Opera and a host of visual arts all complementing the burgeoning film industry.
I have just scratched the surface, and I could write another long article on Manitoba “firsts”, but I still need to let you know where we are falling down. Despite having Centre Port, a huge asset from the standpoint of our transportation sector (our trucking and warehousing sector accounts for 5.1% of the national industry despite having only 3% of the Canadian population) we are still missing opportunities in terms of possibility.
Think of it: We have East, West, South and, eventually, Northern routes to move goods. We should be serving the northwest and central United States, helping them get their export goods to their markets though our access to salt water in the north.
Sadly, too, our mining sector has taken a huge hit from untenable regulation laid down by both the federal and successive NDP provincial governments, where exploiting our vast mineral resources has become almost impossible due to restrictive environmental overkill and “consultations” (which also frustrate the Indigenous population who just want economic activity as much as anyone else).
Twenty years ago, Manitoba’s mining industry contributed 7% to the provincial GDP. This has now shrunk to 1.9%. We have had over 70 mines in the province – new we have four that are active, including one potash mine in western Manitoba. We had smelters processing vast quantities of copper, zinc and nickel, plus gold and silver. Manitoba was the dominant mining and smelting centre of North America!
And no, we did not run out of resources. Indeed, we have 30 of the 34 critical minerals so in demand in today’s battery-operated world. We have some of the purest silica in the world, but the government has denied a mining operation for Manitoba.
We have one of the world’s largest deposits of this “ultra-rare” mineral. The mine, which is now owned by a Chinese company, Sinomine Resource Group, which is said to hold about 84% of the world’s known deposits.
I haven’t even mentioned the energy sector which includes oil and gas as well as hydro, wind and solar power. We abandoned our nuclear research station in Pinawa in the 1980s, although I understand the province is looking into small modular reactors now.
So, given all this and the rest that I haven’t room to tell you yet, why are we not the richest province in the country?
The uninitiated will point to Indigenous blocks but although there have been two or three objections, the activity here has been more perception than reality. So, let’s not blame First nations who right now are clamoring for the right to develop lands within their treaty areas.
It all boils down to lethargy. A kind of “we can’t do it anymore” attitude, but that it not true. We CAN. We MUST. Let’s elect people who want to build to create jobs to earn the kind of money that makes good social services available without sucking all the energy out of the province. Let’s all stand up and say, Yes, we can!
Next month, I will share with you some of the wonderful things our talented and resourceful people have given to the world!
What would it take for Manitoba to grow again?
By Shauna Dobbie
I was born in Winnipeg and lived here until I was 20. I moved around a bit, and now, thirty-some years later, I am so happy to be back. I need to put that up front before I embark on what sounds like harsh criticism.
Manitoba does not lack advantages; it lacks the confidence to use them.
We have hydroelectricity, farmland, freshwater, critical minerals, northern access, a major city, a trade history, a growing population and a tradition of practical public works. Many places would envy that list.
Yet Manitoba often talks about itself as if it is waiting for permission to matter.
The province has become very good at explaining why things are difficult. It is less good at deciding what it wants to become.
We have to build from what cannot be moved
The strongest economic advantages are the ones that cannot simply pack up and leave. A head office, capital, talent… all these can move. A branch plant can close. But our rivers and lakes, farmland, minerals and geography are not going anywhere.
Those assets should be the foundation of a more confident provincial strategy.
Hydroelectricity is the obvious example. Manitoba’s electricity system is overwhelmingly hydroelectric, with smaller contributions from wind, backup thermal generation, remote diesel and small-scale customer generation. That gives the province unusually low-emission power today. For decades, we have treated surplus electricity as something to export. And that has had real value. Export sales help support Manitoba Hydro and keep rates lower than they would otherwise be.
But hydro is more than a product to sell. It is a tool for building industry.
The better question is not “Who will buy our electricity?” but “What can we build here because we have this electricity?”
That question is more important now than it used to be. Mines, mineral processing, food processing, manufacturing, data centres, electrified transportation and growing communities all need power. We cannot assume that every large user of electricity is equally valuable to Manitoba. Some projects will create many jobs, local supply chains and long-term tax revenue. Others may consume huge amounts of power while leaving relatively little behind.
We need to be disciplined, but we shouldn’t be timid. Our electricity should be treated as a strategic asset. It should be used to build the highest value economy possible inside the province.
Minerals should be part of the story
We do not have the oil sands of Alberta, but we do have minerals that matter.
Nickel, copper, lithium, tantalum, gold and cesium all put Manitoba inside the critical minerals conversation. The Chinese-owned Tanco mine near Bernic Lake has a globally significant cesium resource and the government says Manitoba contains about two thirds of the world’s known cesium reserves. It’s a rare mineral – used in high-pressure drilling fluids, atomic clocks, telecommunications, GPS-related timing systems and specialized electronics – that most people don’t even know exists here.
The goal should be more mining. Manitoba should want exploration, new mines, mineral processing, northern jobs, Indigenous partnerships and local supply chains. But we should also want more of the value to remain here. A serious minerals strategy is not simply extraction. It is development: finding the resource, building the mine, training the workforce, powering the operation, processing where it makes sense, and ensuring Manitoba communities benefit from what leaves the ground.
Food is already one of our strongest industries
Food processing may be the most practical place to start.
Manitoba already grows and raises what the world needs: grains, oilseeds, pulses, potatoes, pork, poultry and beef. We also already have major processors in the province. The opportunity is not imaginary. It is sitting in front of us.
The question is how much value we keep here. There is a big difference between growing canola and selling oil for export. Every added step means more jobs, more technology, more trucking, more packaging, more maintenance, more management and more tax revenue.
Food processing also suits our temperament. It’s practical. It’s tied to farming. It’s exportable. It is less speculative than many technology ventures and less vulnerable to boom-and-bust cycles than mining or oil and gas. And it’s the kind of industry that can support communities outside Winnipeg while still strengthening Winnipeg’s role in finance, logistics, management and export services.
If Manitoba wants a growth strategy that does not depend on fantasy, food processing belongs near the centre of it.
Ownership is key
It is good when outside companies invest here. A plant owned in New Brunswick, Ontario, France, Idaho or China can still create Manitoba jobs. It can still buy from Manitoba suppliers. It can still pay taxes and support local communities.
But that is not the same as building Manitoba controlled companies.
A branch plant is useful, but a head office is powerful. Head offices bring senior jobs, professional services, board networks, philanthropy, political influence and decision making. They are where strategy lives. When a company is sold or merged into a larger organization elsewhere, Manitoba may keep some jobs, but it often loses the highest value layer. And that has happened too often.
Manitoba has produced important companies, but it has not produced enough new large Manitoba-controlled companies to replace the ones lost through sale, consolidation or head office drift. Too often, a successful local firm becomes another company’s regional operation.
That may be good for the owners who sell, and I absolutely understand why they’ve done it. But it’s not always good for the province.
If Manitoba wants to grow again, we can’t be satisfied with more activity alone. We need more ownership. Not just more plants. More Manitoba-controlled companies that are ambitious enough to grow, and stubborn enough to stay.
Talent is the other resource
Natural resources are not enough. They do not turn themselves into wealth.
People do that.
Manitoba needs to get better at developing, attracting and keeping talent. That means tradespeople, engineers, food scientists, plant breeders, accountants, executives, entrepreneurs, nurses, software developers, logistics experts, mine workers, welders, machinists, teachers and managers.
A province that wants to grow does not simply complain about labour shortages. It builds the training systems, apprenticeships, partnerships and career pathways that solve them. It connects high school students to trades. It connects colleges to industry. It connects northern communities to mining and infrastructure work. It connects universities to companies that can commercialize research here.
And then it gives ambitious people a reason to stay.
We need disciplined ambition
Manitoba’s caution did not come from nowhere.
We have seen large projects become expensive, divisive and politically exhausting. Hydro development, flood protection, downtown renewal and major infrastructure have all taught Manitobans that ambition can carry real costs. But the lesson cannot be that big things should not be attempted. The lesson has to be that big things must be chosen carefully, argued honestly and built well.
Demand evidence. Be honest about costs. Protect the environment. Develop fair partnerships between Indigenous and non-indigenous communities. Do not confuse announcements with achievement. But once a project makes sense, for crying out loud, build it.
That is the attitude Manitoba needs again.