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In 2021, the Progressive Conservative (PC) Government in Manitoba was issued a stern warning: “continue on the path of austerity they had started when elected in 2016 and Manitobans and the public service would suffer.” The report, commissioned by the Manitoba Government Employees Union (MGEU), focused on the Department of Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure (MTI) whose mandate is to provide safe, reliable, and sustainable infrastructure to Manitoba and its communities.
Transportation and infrastructure play a key role in achieving and maintaining a high standard of living in the province. Well-designed infrastructure is a key driver of economic prosperity as it connects people and products, creates jobs, and improves productivity. Networked infrastructure such as transportation ensures Manitobans have access to essential services vital to their safety and security.
In 2022 a similar study was undertaken, and its findings will be published in a new book entitled: Public Service in Tough Times: Working Under Austerity in Manitoba (edited by Jesse Hajer, Ian Hudson and Jennifer Keith). According to workers surveyed for the new study the situation has continued to deteriorate. Workers reported that they continue to lose staff with a vacancy rate of 36 percent by 2021. This resulted in supervisors operating equipment because of lack of frontline staff, and frontline staff taking on supervisor roles because of lack of management. These avoidable staff shortages mean that fewer commercial vehicles are being inspected, expensive equipment is not being maintained and is underutilized, and work formerly done in house is being contracted out to keep up with demand.
The chronic staff shortages also resulted in work not getting done due to a loss of expertise and difficulty compensating for this loss. One worker reported: “we lost all legacy knowledge in our organization due to the [austerity] measures with no succession plan in place and it took months to fill positions with no one to train new recruits.”
A shocking 87 percent of respondents felt that austerity measures have resulted in a reduction in service quality. One stark example is the provision of justice services in northern communities. As predicted by department employees, privatizing air transportation services has resulted in 50 percent -70 percent of flights being canceled making lawyers, judges and community members feel like “someone is playing a joke on them.”
Tragically, austerity measures have compromised public safety as well. 66 percent of respondents believed that expenditure cuts and restraints had worsened public safety. One respondent commented that “transportation services have been severely reduced in the province and are now creating dangerous roads and highways for the public.” Air ambulance services and water bombing have also been contracted out leaving “northern and rural communities … with less capable airplanes, and a lower level of service.” Respondents point to commercial vehicle inspection saying that a “lack of manpower means less inspection [for compliance] when the industry is growing…[meaning] the public is not very safe.” Western Canada has seen very serious commercial truck accidents over the past five years, clearly this is not the time to reduce services whose priority is to ensure safe commercial vehicles and drivers.
Nowhere is the impact on the life of Manitobans more evident than in the provision of air ambulance services. Since the privatization of Manitoba Government Air Servives there have been reports of a lack of care during medical transports and most tragically, the loss of life. In May 2021, Krystall Mousseau died after her medi-vac flight was abandoned. As predicted by doctors and pilots, privatized medical transport service providers did not have the experience or equipment to deal with Ms. Mousseau’s condition.
Despite the critical nature of these Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure assets and services, and their direct linkage to safety and prosperity, the current government continues to ambitiously implement austerity measures. The 2021 CCPA report and those who participated in surveys and interviews predicted that if the trajectory of the government towards aggressive austerity measures did not change, things would get worse. These warnings fell on deaf ears, and significant damage has already been done. Employees have left, government spending continues to dwindle, and staff are focused on damage control and triage rather than planning, growth and programs and services. There is no doubt now, the public service and Manitobans are paying the price.
Grant: Community-Driven Solutions to Poverty: Challenges and Possibilities - 2020-2027
Category: Community Economic Development