It was a full day of briefings on Wednesday for Cameron Friesen as he hit the ground running, returning to the role as Manitoba's Finance minister. Three-and-a-half years have passed since the Morden-Winkler MLA last headed up the department from 2016-2018 before going on to serve as the province's Minister of Health, and Justice Minister and Attorney General.

"It's been my delight, my honour these last twelve months to serve as Manitoba's Justice minister and Attorney General. We did some very very good work, launched some important legislation, had important conversations moving us forward with the Grand Chiefs of Manitoba, and the Chief Justices of our courts," said Friesen, adding he is now delighted to return as Finance minister.

Friesen added, while the world has changed since he last held the post, he said the challenges of creating financial stability to benefit Manitobans remains.

"It is an incredibly important time for us in Finance in this province," noted Friesen. "Obviously, we are not yet emerging from this global pandemic. People have also had their lives significantly disrupted, and their finances in some cases. It is no longer 2016 and so, I believe a good Finance minister will always be cognizant of his or her surroundings and the context, and the context now will be very important as we plot our way out of the pandemic. We want Manitoba to lead," he added, noting Manitoba has some of the lowest unemployment rates in Canada but needs its economy to grow. "Yesterday (Tuesday), the Premier said, and I thought it was a good line, that we need government to now work at the speed of business in order to benefit all Manitobans."

With the Manitoba government set to present the 2022/23 budget this spring, Friesen will be reviewing the work that's been done so far, and the submissions that have come in from Manitobans.

"The budget is actually a cycle that takes an entire year. It takes a lot of input from Manitobans - from stakeholder groups, a knowledge of what the economy is doing, of how revenues are doing against projections, of how departments are holding to their expenditure allocations and so, that work is in process," said the Minister.

Tuesday's cabinet shuffle also Premier Heather Stefanson shifted ministerial responsibility for Manitoba Hydro under the Finance umbrella.

"I think it's a recognition on our government's part that there are significant actions that are necessary in order to stabilize Manitoba Hydro," said Friesen, who now assumes responsibility for the Crown corporation. "Manitoba Hydro is a good news story for Manitobans, and it has been for years. It's afforded us the ability to generate power in a very clean way, it has provided Manitobans with among the lowest rates for energy of any jurisdiction in Canada but we also know that some decisions by the past government has dropped billions and billions of dollars of debt on to the books and the debt, of course, needs to be paid back. And so, there are significant decisions that lay ahead about how we sustain Manitoba Hydro so that it continues to serve Manitobans and becomes and important part of our economic development story because it is part of Manitoba's competitiveness story."