The Premier says his government's Steady Growth, Good Jobs campaign is a great way of letting Manitobans know of the investments being made to infrastructure. Greg Selinger is responding to the Opposition's call for an audit into the initiative, requesting an all-party agreement that would open the door for greater scrutiny of all political ad campaigns in the future. "Manitobans have said 'We want to see results, we want to see our roads and our sewer and our water fixed up,' so we're letting them know just by very simply putting a sign up saying that's the project that's being done here." Selinger adds government remains open to ideas that'll increase transparency and accountability, but says the idea of politicizing this is unfortunate. "Instead of recognizing that we have a responsibility to let people know that we're on their side, making things better in Manitoba."

Meantime, the Premier issued an apology last week to survivors of the '60's Scoop for the province's role in the event which saw thousands of aboriginal children removed from their homes and placed with non-aboriginal families during the 1960's.

 

 

"And then to take additional steps that will allow people to regain a sense of who they are and their identity and their background, language and culture," adds Selinger. He says this starts by opening up adoption records and letting people know from where they came. "And then we can also look at ways to help families reunite and repatriate people from other jurisdictions that want to come home."

 

 

This past weekend the Premier announced he'll introduce legislation this fall for a new First Nation, Metis and Inuit education policy for teaching the history, culture and contemporary lifestyles of aboriginals, as well as the significance of treaties.

Selinger notes this is one step along the way towards healing and helping people recapture who they are and function effectively in society. "We want to continue down that path by supporting people in that journey."

This apology is the first of its kind issued by a Canadian province and Selinger says it's part of a long-term commitment to making sure everybody in Manitoba is comfortable with who they are and is respected for who they are. "It's about human dignity, it's about a recognition that we are a very diverse society and there's a place for everybody here."

Meantime, there is less than a week to go before the Manitoba Legislature lets up for the summer and MLAs on both sides of the floor are busy trying to push through legislation. Selinger says they're working on passing thirteen government and Opposition bills. "We want to get legislation passed that deals with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among people that are on the front lines, environmental protection against Zebra Mussels, the recognition of Terry Fox Day, legislation that deals with protecting daycares and allowing occupations to become certified that creates better paying jobs and smaller class sizes for students in school." The Premier says the end goal is to ensure Manitoba's economy stays strong and to create good job opportunities.