Finance Minister Scott Fielding announced the Manitoba government budget will be released April 7, setting out the province’s financial and economic plan to protect Manitobans and recover the economy.
“Budget 2021 will reinforce our government’s priority to continue to protect Manitobans from COVID-19, as we chart Manitoba’s path forward with a roadmap to recover to grow our economy post pandemic,” said Fielding. “As we finalize our fiscal plan for the year ahead, we thank all Manitobans who participated in our public engagement process to identify their priorities and help shape this budget.”
Nearly 51,000 Manitobans participated in province’s budget consultation process, an increase of 178 per cent from 2020. Engagement included telephone town halls, virtual meetings for stakeholders and the public, an online survey, and an invitation for email and written submissions.
More than 38,000 Manitobans participated in four telephone town halls, more than double the amount of participants as last year. Approximately 150 Manitobans participated in virtual meetings for the public and stakeholders, held for the first time this year.
An online survey at EngageMB.ca received more than 5,500 responses and 6,800 people participated in a quick poll. The province also received more than 150 emailed submissions and written submissions.
“Our budget engagement process was completely virtual this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as we offered several options for Manitobans to provide their input,” said Fielding. “More Manitobans than ever before participated in 2021 provincial budget consultations and provided valuable feedback on what’s most important to them.”
Of online survey respondents, 73 per cent identified their Budget 2021 priority as improving health care and 57 per cent indicated getting the COVID-19 vaccine to Manitobans is the highest priority area of provincial health spending.
Manitobans can view public engagement results, listen to the telephone town hall recordings and watch the virtual meetings at https://engagemb.ca/budget-2021.
