Premier Greg Selinger

Manitobans will head to the polls in just over three months in a provincial election. Premier Greg Selinger says his party's election platform, which will be rolled out later this summer, will focus on ensuring Manitoba families have a high quality of life in this province.

The province hopes to significantly reduce wait times for cancer treatment in Manitoba.
Cancercare Manitoba estimates the full cancer patient journey takes three to nine months. Premier Greg Selinger says the government would like to reduce the total journey to two months or less.

The project, which is the first of its kind in Canada, is modeled after similar successful initiatives undertaken first in England as well as in New Zealand and Australia.

In other news, the Manitoba government launched a multi-media ad campaign this week urging Ottawa to reconsider its plan to deregulate the Canadian Wheat Board. Manitoba Conservative Party leader Hugh McFadyen says the campaign is going to accomplish nothing.

He says farmers will have a choice now and choice is a good thing.  The Wheat Board will have the opportunity to be successful in capturing a good part of the marketing and distribution work that needs to be done but it does change things in a post-monopoly scenario.

Meanwhile, the opposition leader is accusing the province of building an  empire of health bureaucracy in Manitoba. McFadyen says statistics obtained through the Freedom of Information and Personal Protection Act reveal bear this out.

Over the past year, 488 new positions were created within the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority alone.  Across the province there are now 52 vice presidents.  The department of health which was supposed to shrink when RHA's were created has grown more than 15 % over that time period.  He recalls the NDP talks about how much money is being spent on health care.  The trouble is the money is being spent on bureaucracy and not front line.

McFadyen says the province's bureaucratic approach to health care needs to be stopped.