Building a vibrant North

Our government has launched a Northern Development Strategy to meet economic, housing, health, transportation and training needs and ensure that all government departments focus attention on the North.

Transportion

• More than $150 million spent on Northern roads including the Cross Lake Bridge, South Indian Lake road and major upgrades throughout the North



• Five year highway plan with over $160 million of investment in the North including the first leg of an all-weather road on the east side of Lake Winnipeg, modernizing PR 283 west of Opaskwayak Cree Nation, improving PR 384 to Moose Lake, upgrading Hwy 10 from The Pas to Flin Flon, and modernizing PR 373 to Norway House and PR 374 to Cross Lake



• The transfer of the Sherridon railway line to Keewatin Railway Company, a First Nations-owned enterprise



• The winter road budget now double that of 1999



• Over 600 kms of winter roads relocated from ice crossings to land for more safety and stability



• New air terminals in Island Lake, Lac Brochet, God’s River, Thicket Portage, Pikwitonei and God’s Lake Narrows, Oxford House, York Landing



• Multi-year commitment to the Churchill Gateway Initiative Housing



• $42 million to the Een Dah Aung (Our Home) program for Aboriginal off-reserve housing. A groundbreaking Aboriginal governance and decision-making process will be developed to oversee this investment



• A northern housing renovation program is on the way - part of our Northern Development Strategy



• Funding of family housing for UCN students at The Pas and Thompson



• Since 2001, Neighbourhoods Alive!, in partnership with the Thompson renewal corporation, committed over $1.2 million for over 50 local revitalization projects



• Neighbourhoods Alive! being extended to The Pas and Flin Flon

Education & Training

• The University College of the North established to provide education and training opportunities for northern Manitobans closer to home



• More that $50 million committed to UCN capital projects



• 12 regional centres for UCN, nine of them on reserves, including two new ones being developed in Grand Rapids and Oxford House



• The first Aboriginal midwifery education program in Canada



• 50 new spaces at UCN to educate nurses in northern Manitoba



• Aboriginal student enrolment up by 77% in universities and 59% in colleges since 1999



• The number of Aboriginal apprenticeships more than tripled since 1999, to over 1,300



• Support for FireSpirit, a First Nation-owned company that will provide employment services and training to northerners seeking jobs, as well as services to employers looking to increase their Aboriginal workforce

Economic Development

• New Hydro projects bringing more jobs and more training opportunities



• Construction on Wuskwatim already employing 200 people



• 300,000 acres transferred to Canada under TLE up from 6,000 in 1999. With additional resources committed we will transfer 150,000 acres annually



• Closing the Gap Initiative to implement provincial Kelowna agreement commitments



• Métis Economic Development Strategy underway with the MMF



• A five-year, $2.5 million funding agreement between the Manitoba government and Wabanong Nakaygum Okimawin (WNO) Council of Chiefs for land use planning



• Mining grew by a significant 25% in 2006, with an overall production value exceeding $2 billion



• New mining developments at Wabowden, Lynn Lake, Snow Lake, and the Grand Rapids region



• $70 million for the rehabilitation of abandoned and orphaned mines



• Aboriginal Employment Partnership Agreements with RHAs, the Manitoba Customer Contact Association and IBM promote the recruitment, employment and retention of Aboriginal people within these organizations



• An Aboriginal Economic and Resource Development Fund for Aboriginal and northern communities

Healthy Communities

• The Northern Allowance raised by 20% in 2005 and a further 30% in 2007



• Gave the Métis and First Nation child authorities responsibility for developing and delivering culturally appropriate child and family services off reserve, the first such authorities in Canada



• A Northern Healthy Food Initiative, which includes garden projects in 27 remote communities, the promotion of traditional foods, food-processing training and two poultry-raising projects



• Water safety programs expanded in 25 new northern and remote communities in partnership with the Lifesaving Society



• Expansion of Manitoba’s long-term care strategy in rural and northern Manitoba



• Elimination of the transportation fee for northern Manitobans needing medical services elsewhere in the province



• Three new teen clinics in northern Manitoba - The Pas, Flin Flon and Cranberry Portage



• Expansion and modernization of the Flin Flon hospital and renovation of Flin Flon’s the Northern Lights Manor Personal Care Home



• $6 million renovation to the St. Anthony’s Hospital in The Pas, and a new facility for training ambulance and Emergency Medical Services personnel



• A new community health centre in Wabowden



• Renovations to the Thompson General hospital, including a re-developed ER and a new CT scanner



• A new $8.5 million addiction treatment centre in Thompson to help people of northern Manitoba with alcohol and drug dependencies

Community Safety

• 90% of the recommendations of the Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission have been or are being followed through



• Expansion of the successful Lighthouses program to 50 sites, including Pukatawagan, Grand Rapids, Flin Flon, South Indian Lake, Thompson and Island Lakes



• Percentage of First Nations people served by Aboriginal police up from 6% to 29%

Figures are current as of October, 2008

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