Dorothy Dobbie
Issues in the News
"All you gotta do is put your mind to it.
Knuckle down, buckle down,
Do it, do it, do it!"
Where will the good days come from in Manitoba and Canada in 2023?
My friend and colleague, Ian Leatt, gave me a wooden sign for my birthday. It reads, “today is a good day for a good day”.
I put it on the windowsill in front of my computer and every day, when I glance up, it reminds me to stay positive and to look forward to tomorrow because today will be a good day.
I think about that when I consider where we are as we get into the second month of 2023 and wonder how every day will be this year. Will every day be a good day focused on the future and positive things we can do together? Or will it be a bad day focused on the negative and all the bad things that might happen to humankind?
How’s it going, Manitoba?
Here in Manitoba, I have a wonderful feeling that it will be a good day every day as the current government finds its feet under a now seasoned leader and begins to make the changes so many have hoped for. They aren’t tough changes – those were undertaken by the previous premier – the cuts, the big adjustments. Premier Stefanson now has a clean slate and while there is a limited time to move the agenda forward, she is determined to do so.
Mostly it is attitude. We Manitobans had lost our mojo, but I feel we are about to get it back.
Can the genius project, Neestanan, happen? Yes, it can, and it can set a higher standard for First Nations participation in the new economy. The communities through whose land the rail line to Port Nelson will run will be major stakeholders with various other communities outside of Manitoba. They are a savvy bunch who are perfectly capable of making this a billion-dollar enterprise, changing the position of the prairie provinces from supplicants to the governments of Canada and those who command gateways to the east and west coasts to being in control of our own resources and trade options.
How about the management of mineral resources in the north? Can we finally find a way through the murky obstacles and barriers to mining that frustrated investment and development under the NDP? Yes, we can. Premier Stefanson made short work of all that nonsense, the blockers were sent somewhere else, and the doors have been opened while she personally hung out the welcome sign at the PDAC conference in Toronto last spring. She has dealt with the issues of permit delays, claim registration and mapping. The government is open to supporting roads in and out of mineral discoveries as well as facilitating better road access for isolated First Nations.
On the social services front, what has been quietly happening is revolutionary, which is why you aren’t hearing that cry from the NDP. Just this week, the Peguis First Nations announced it will be the first community in Canada to take over control of its own child and family services.
How about Canada?
Federally, things are not so sweet. There is far too much focus on divisive issues such as race and gender and far too little thought going into major issues such as housing. While nobody begrudges the opportunity for immigration, new people must be accompanied by more housing in a market where we are woefully short of housing and the prices are beyond the ability of everyday people to afford.
In the 1960’s we were taught to budget for 25% of our income to go toward housing. In the 90s, it was probably around 30%. By 2003, that had risen to 40% in Ontario and 45% in B.C. By 2021, the amount needed for housing had risen to an overwhelming 60% of household income in those two provinces.
Here in Manitoba, social housing is geared to a ceiling of 30% of gross income (before taxes, etc.). A family earning $3,200 a month would be paying $960. The average rent, however, for a two bedroom apartment in Winnipeg is between $1,100 and $1,400 month. And the renter must put down first and last month’s rent to be accommodated.
The shortage is due to a myriad of issues: speculation, continuing supply chain problems, labour shortages and various government approval processes. CMHC estimates that we will need to add an additional 3.5 million affordable units, most of those in BC and Ontario, by 2030 to ensure that there are enough houses to go around. Why does this matter to Manitoba? We already see the answer with ex-pats moving back home to take advantage of lower housing costs. That will put pressure on supply and costs.
The cost of food is also a major issue. While cost of living monitors claim food costs of have risen five to seven percent in 2022 and predict a rise of the same amount again in 2023, my food bill experience at the grocer says it is much higher than that, maybe because I buy fresh vegetables which rose 11 percent in 2022 alone.
Additionally, things are not functioning the way they should be. Airports can’t seem to handled luggage or weather, airlines are squeezing the heck out passengers both physically in terms of leg room but also with prices and extras. Cancellations, delays, and lack of communication with passengers are exacerbating the problems.
Government departments, with many, many civil servants working from home, are not able to meet service commitments. It takes months to get a passport, the payrolls system still is not working after seven years, immigration is backlogged. When Pierre Poilievre says it feel like everything is broken, it does.
All this is due to the COVID lockdowns, which in hindsight according to more and more experts, did more damage than good and cost many more lives (due to no access to hospitals and surgeries) than the exercise saved.
Despite all this, we will get through this economic crisis one way or another. I am determined that, indeed, today is a good day for a good day. In the tried-and-true Canadian pioneer tradition and as expressed in the old song about roller skating in a buffalo herd:
All you gotta do is put your mind to it.
Knuckle down, buckle down,
Do it, do it, do it!
