Tories delay four bills to fall, ‘disgusted’ labour group fumes

The Progressive Conservatives are delaying four government bills from passing until the fall — including ones that would give job-protected leave for serious injury or illness to Manitobans for up to 27 weeks and lower the compulsory age to six for children starting school in 2025.

Under the rules of the house, the official Opposition has the opportunity every year to hold back as many as five government bills until the fall.

The Tories have chosen four bills to delay in order to give Manitobans more time to review them, and the governing NDP an opportunity to reconsider or “scrap them altogether,” Tory opposition leader Wayne Ewasko said Wednesday. The bills cannot pass before the house rises in June but, with a majority government, are all but guaranteed to pass when MLAs return in the fall.

Opposition house leader Derek Johnson said the Tories are holding back only four bills rather than five because the NDP brought forward such a light legislative agenda. Many of the bills the NDP promised to bring forward did not make it onto the agenda this spring, he said.

The four bills being held over until fall include:

— Bill 7: The Public Sector Construction Projects (Tendering) Repeal Act would require major, publicly-funded construction projects to use unionized labour;

— Bill 9: The Employment Standards Code Amendment Act would extend protected sick leave for Manitoba workers to 27 weeks from 17 weeks;

— Bill 16: The Regulatory Accountability Reporting Act and Amendments to the Statutes and Regulations Act seeks to undo some of the red-tape regulatory changes enacted by the Pallister government. The new legislation sets out to streamline government and make it more accessible, reduce red tape and give the public opportunities to provide input on regulations, the NDP said;

— Bill 21: The Public Schools Amendment Act would lower the compulsory age for school attendance to six from seven starting in the 2025-26 school year.

PC education critic Grant Jackson said the Tories aren’t opposed to Bill 21 in principle. “The problem is our new education minister has not done his homework.”

Education Minister Nello Altomare hasn’t provided data to show how many more students will be added to the public school system by lowering the age at which they must attend. Jackson said the minister hasn’t delivered a plan to enhance school capacity when student populations are surging across the province.

“We are holding this bill over to give the minister a little more time to do his homework.”

Labour critic Jodie Byram said the PCs are delaying Bill 7 because it is “reckless” and “is going to cost taxpayers more money.” She said it repeals legislation that levelled the playing field for all bidders on government construction projects, and ensured they were evaluated based on their ability to do quality work, on time and on budget — whether they were unionized or not.

The Tories are holding up the bill that extends sick leave for workers, even though a provincial Labour Management Review Committee unanimously recommended it in 2023 when the PCs were in power.

“We feel that there just needs to be a little more time to look into some of the impact this will have on the work force,” said Byram. The member for Agassiz said she sympathizes with workers but feels there needs to be further consultation with business owners and industry.

The Manitoba Federation of Labour said it is “disgusted” the Tories are delaying the bill.

“Because of these PC delay tactics, it is possible that a worker could access the 27-week EI sickness benefits but still be terminated by their employer after their leave lasts more than 17 weeks,” it said in a news release.

The labour federation said delaying Bill 7, which requires project labour agreements for big publicly funded construction projects, “hurts good family-supporting jobs.”

“(They) have a strong track record of delivering high-quality infrastructure built by Manitobans on time and on budget.”

PC justice critic Wayne Balcaen criticized the red-tape reduction bill saying it would shorten the length of time to consider new regulations being put forward by government and would result in less accountability and transparency.

Government house leader Nahanni Fontaine said the NDP were elected with a mandate to rebuild health care, lower costs and create more good jobs for Manitobans.

“Regardless of what procedural tactics the opposition will use to delay our agenda, we are determined to get the job done and deliver for Manitoba,” Fontaine said in a statement late Wednesday.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca