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Opinion: Arena Deal Leaves Taché Residents Out in the Cold
By Chris Wiebe
With great fanfare, Premier Heather Stefanson and Dawson Trail MLA Bob Lagassé announced this week that the Lorette Multiplex was finally being fund- ed. This was long overdue and is a necessary hub for our growing community.
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The federal government is contributing $4.4M and the province is contributing $3.6M. Unfortunately, the total project costs are estimated at $21M. This means that the residents of Taché and the RM will have to raise the additional $13M on their own. The fundraising efforts of our community have been absolutely incredible, and they have resulted in us getting closer to our goal.
However, the RM will still be short millions of dollars for this deal, resulting in either reduced services, higher property taxes, or borrowing money to make the arena a reality here. None of these situations is desirable.
Unfortunately, this is part of a greater trend of this MB PC government of austerity cuts and under funding services. The transfers to RMs were frozen under Pallister, making it difficult for RMs to balance budgets and pay for what residents need.
We are seeing teachers paying for school supplies out of pock- et, hospitals crowd funding for important medical equipment, and in Taché, citizens fundraising for years to help make this arena possible. This is unfair.
Tax breaks to the rich while the PCs have run us into the ground for services have led to one of the most unpopular MB PC governments in recent memory, and for good reason. In Dawson Trail, our MLA has been missing in action, not responding to constituents nor doing much for our community for six years. Only when there is an election year is there some spending for a long awaited arena, only to have a shortfall of millions of dollars that the residents of Taché will have to shoulder.
After years of PC cuts, our community needs a willing partner in government who will help families today with accessible childcare; better seniors care and truly invest in our future. This day late, dollar short announcement isn’t good enough.
