Dauphin's MLA says yesterday's throne speech was business as usual.
Brad Michaleski says the speech takes Manitoba in the direction the PCs campaigned on.
"We got a very strong mandate from the Manitoba people to fix our finances, repair our services, and rebuild the economy, and we're very focused on doing that."
Some highlights from yesterday's throne speech include bringing in a bill to control public-sector wage increases, cutting some of the province's agencies, boards and commissions, reducing the number of children in the child welfare system, developing a long-term literacy and numeracy strategy, and introducing a made-in-Manitoba carbon pricing and climate change plan.
Michelle Gawronksy, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union, says the speech was the first she's heard about a plan to limit wage increases for public-sector workers. Head of the Manitoba Federation of Labour Kevin Rebeck says the government seems focused on cutting services instead of protecting them.
As for carbon pricing, Michaleski says the province has two options:
"There's an in-and-out strategy, I think. Or you can adopt and create something within the province, and I think -- well, I know that's the direction we're going: a made-in-Manitoba approach."
The feds say they will impose a national levy on carbon by 2018 for any province that doesn't have its own system in place.
